- 5 months ago
Fanum goes gourmet at The Corner Store in NYC. Fanum joins GQ as the self-proclaimed ‘hood chef’ chows through the coveted menu to see if The Corner Store hype is real. From starters (“I’ve never had caviar”) to dessert (“tastes like happy memories”), Fanum taste tests his way through the menu at The Corner Store.
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Director: Nick Collett
Director of Photography: Eric Teti
Editor: Phil Ceconi
Host: Fanum
Guest: Jimmie Saito; Chef Michael Vignola
Producer: Camille Ramos
Line Producer: Jen Santos
Production Manager: James Pipitone
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Camera Operator: Sam Cowan
Gaffer: Alexandra Hart Brown
Grip: Max Garstak
Sound Mixer: Lily van Leeuwen
Production Assistant: Ashley Vidal; Erica Palmieri
Post Production Supervisor: Jess Dunn
Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Special Thanks: The Corner Store
----------
Director: Nick Collett
Director of Photography: Eric Teti
Editor: Phil Ceconi
Host: Fanum
Guest: Jimmie Saito; Chef Michael Vignola
Producer: Camille Ramos
Line Producer: Jen Santos
Production Manager: James Pipitone
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Camera Operator: Sam Cowan
Gaffer: Alexandra Hart Brown
Grip: Max Garstak
Sound Mixer: Lily van Leeuwen
Production Assistant: Ashley Vidal; Erica Palmieri
Post Production Supervisor: Jess Dunn
Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Special Thanks: The Corner Store
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00What's the world y'all? I'm Phantom. I'm a bit of a food connoisseur, a food enthusiast.
00:04I'm not a chef or nothing like that, but I am a hood chef.
00:06No, I feel about food. You all feel about food. Come on, let's be real.
00:09This is a lifestyle.
00:10We at the corner store in New York City, and it's hard as mmm to get a reservation in.
00:14Ever since Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey came here, it's been a three-hour line just to get in.
00:20What's the word, pa? We got GQ, so we got us a table. Pull up y'all, let's do it.
00:24I'm eating my way through the menu, and I'm rating each dish to make sure Chad knows that this is fire.
00:31Ayy.
00:33This is fire.
00:35How are you doing this evening? Welcome to the food store.
00:36Doing all right. What's going on? What's up? My name is Phantom. Nice to meet you.
00:39Jimmy, nice to meet you.
00:40Jimmy, this is menu. Beautiful.
00:42If you want to know the fan favorites, pizza rolls, lobster rolls, wagyu French dip.
00:47You have to save room for dessert. There's Samoa sundae.
00:50All right, let's do it like this. Let's get the jumbo shrimp cocktail.
00:53Let's get the spinach, the lobster rolls, and let's do the pizza rolls.
00:57We're going big.
00:57Facts.
01:00Let's do it, Jimmy.
01:01All right, Phantom, we have the spinach and artichoke dip right here, lobster and caviar rolls.
01:07Caviar.
01:07Five cheese pizza rolls.
01:10I bet. Thank you, Jimmy. Appreciate you.
01:12As a kid, growing up, mom made pizza rolls, you feel me?
01:14My mom never made pizza rolls, but I'm gonna eat some pizza rolls right now, no cap.
01:19A little drizzle, a little drizzle.
01:24Damn.
01:25Damn.
01:26Damn.
01:27Yeah, y'all did it with this one.
01:28I'm not sure what's on top. I ain't gonna lie, that shit just good as fuck.
01:31My bad.
01:31Fresh one of the crunch.
01:33Wow.
01:34The flavor on the inside, wow again.
01:36The honey give it that sweet taste to it, though.
01:38You get two plus one plus three plus all type of different flavors.
01:41I mean, like, damn, son.
01:43It tastes like sixth grade.
01:45Like, you happy as shit.
01:46The honey, it just give it that swag, that suave to it.
01:50You know why they say chef's kiss? Phantom kiss, baby.
01:53Ooh, you see the steamy, man. You see the steamy?
01:57Is this, like, a healthy alternative?
01:59Or is this fire?
02:01This is a starter, right? These are all starters?
02:03Mm-hmm.
02:03Damn.
02:04So if this is a starter, then, like, there's better shit coming.
02:07Oh, shit.
02:08Now, we got lobster rolls.
02:09I never had caviar.
02:11You know what I'm saying?
02:11Caviar.
02:12I don't even know how to say it.
02:13You know what I'm saying?
02:13Yo, where's Phantom at?
02:14You guys see my boy Phantom?
02:15Yo, chef, what up, baby?
02:17Are you good?
02:17So the lobster roll, like, what's in it?
02:19I've never had caviar.
02:21Is that how you say it?
02:21Caviar.
02:22Caviar.
02:22Caviar.
02:23Well, good.
02:23Let's try some.
02:24We just have a little bit here.
02:25Oh, just take it?
02:26Yeah.
02:27Always with a non-metal spoon.
02:29Why?
02:30Metal spoons are going to react to the eggs.
02:32Big old scoop of caviar.
02:33Push it to the roof of your mouth and let the pearls pop.
02:39Salty, buttery.
02:42It almost gets like a nutty kind of flavor.
02:46Damn.
02:48First one's free.
02:49Like, you could, like, literally feel it, like, releasing its flavor into your mouth.
02:54Like, that sounds kind of crazy, but just know, like, it was amazing, bro.
02:57No caviar.
02:58I swear to God, look.
02:59All caviar, or 90% of it, if it's called caviar, is sturgeon roe.
03:03Sturgeon roe.
03:03The more regal it sounds, the fancier and better it is.
03:06All right, man.
03:07Shit.
03:07So, uh, are you going to teach me how to make the lobster roll?
03:09Lobster roll.
03:10We take main hard-shell lobsters.
03:11We steam them.
03:12We cook them down.
03:13We clean them fully.
03:14Chop them up into small pieces.
03:16We make an aioli.
03:17Fancy word for house-made mayonnaise.
03:19Intense, beautiful, small potato roll.
03:22Buttered with copious amounts of salted butter.
03:24This is going to take a few minutes.
03:26Tristan, you're aware.
03:30That's it.
03:31All right.
03:31And then our beautiful lobster mix right on top, and then copious amounts of caviar.
03:36It's almost like a miniature glizzy.
03:38It's called a quenelle.
03:39That's my quenelle.
03:40Dubs in the chat.
03:42I like it.
03:43Do we eat it now or not?
03:44Yeah.
03:44Cheers.
03:45Cheers.
03:47Wow.
03:48Damn.
03:49Oh, yeah.
03:49Can we get more of these?
03:53Like, can I get a couple more of these?
03:55Yeah, I think caviar might be something I'm going to start doing a little bit more often
03:58nowadays.
03:58You know what I'm saying?
04:02So, we're going to rate them like this.
04:04So, if I go W, it's a W.
04:07If I go wow, it's a wow.
04:09And if I go explode, you're going to put the explosion in?
04:13Explosion.
04:14Pizza Rose, me personally, out this world.
04:18And I would literally eat this every day.
04:20The lobster rose with the caviar on top.
04:22I mean, this is a movie.
04:23You know what I'm saying?
04:24This for me is wow.
04:26You feel me?
04:27Like, oh my God.
04:29The artichoke.
04:30I didn't think I was going to be a fan.
04:31I'm not a big fan of like a lot of greenery shit.
04:33You know what I'm saying?
04:33Wait, can I curse?
04:35Are you happy as shit?
04:36I'm about to pour this sauce all over this motherfucker though.
04:38Damn, they all good.
04:39Fuck.
04:39That shit is good as fuck.
04:40My bad.
04:41For me, this is a W.
04:43The melted cheese on the inside.
04:45You know what I'm saying?
04:45With the dab, it just, for me, fire.
04:49Oh man.
04:51So we got the shrimp cocktail right here.
04:53This is the Caesar salad.
04:54It has everything big on cream cheese croutons.
04:57St. Lesh.
05:00Wow.
05:01I'm not a big fan of salad.
05:03But listen man, this one right here.
05:04When you break apart the cream cheese crouton,
05:07it provides sauce.
05:09Jumbo shrimp cocktail.
05:11I've never even seen shrimp as big.
05:13Damn, it's like, yeah, we like that.
05:15What's the type of sauces?
05:16I'm not even sure.
05:17Jimmy!
05:18Jimmy!
05:19What is this, Jimmy?
05:20Golden cocktail sauce.
05:22Golden cocktail sauce.
05:22So we use Italian yellow tomatoes
05:24that have been imported directly to us.
05:26Appreciate that, Jimmy.
05:27Appreciate that.
05:29Jimmy's a good guy.
05:32The sauce complements it heavy.
05:34You don't need the sauce,
05:35you want the sauce though.
05:36You know what I'm saying?
05:37For Idaho potatoes, handcuffed fries,
05:40triple washed, triple fried.
05:41Three different dipping sauces.
05:43Avocado ranch, horseradish aioli,
05:45and the secret sauce.
05:46Secret sauce.
05:48Secret sauce.
05:49Can't forget about the French dip.
05:51This is the au jus.
05:52You're going to dip your French dip in it, okay?
05:54Like coffee.
05:56Wait, what am I dipping in this?
05:58How y'all make the secret sauce?
06:00Well, it's a secret.
06:01I can't tell you.
06:02Come on, Jimmy.
06:03It's just me and you.
06:03I'm going to find out what's in here
06:07and then I'm going to tell you.
06:12Definitely may have been ketchup,
06:13but then everything else,
06:13I don't know what it is.
06:14You can see things in there,
06:17but there's no, you know what I'm saying?
06:19It's a secret sauce.
06:20Horseradish aioli.
06:22Dip, dip, dip.
06:25It got some twang to it.
06:28Avocado ranch.
06:28Nice and green, like a sage green.
06:30Damn, they all good, fuck.
06:34Oh my God, I don't even know which one is my best one.
06:35This might, I ain't going to, damn.
06:37I think these are all my favorite ones.
06:39They are hard to change.
06:41Moving on to the French dip.
06:42Wow, look at that, look at that.
06:44Look at that, get in there.
06:45Get in there.
06:46Who's this guy on top?
06:48Look, I'm a Monopoly character.
06:49We're going to go ahead
06:50and put some horseradish on it.
06:52You know what I mean?
06:52And then he said this wasn't black coffee,
06:55but it looked like black coffee, okay?
06:58I'm just going to be real with y'all.
06:59You know what I'm saying?
06:59I'll have to keep it real.
07:01Let's go ahead and dip it.
07:03And it's steaming high.
07:04You see the steam?
07:08One more bite.
07:11I ain't going to lie.
07:13I wasn't, you know what I'm saying?
07:14Like, I ain't think you was good.
07:15Dipping sandwiches,
07:16that don't really make sense to me,
07:18but you know what?
07:19The taste makes sense to me, though.
07:20I ain't going to lie.
07:23Damn.
07:24Oh my God, bro.
07:27Jimmy, y'all did it with this one.
07:28It's amazing, isn't it?
07:29I ain't going to lie.
07:30This is a bang movie explosion.
07:32Wow.
07:33This is like what you didn't know
07:35and now you know kind of thing.
07:36This waggle right here,
07:38I'm still processing my emotions.
07:40I ain't going to lie.
07:40Chad, you missing out.
07:42I'm trying to tell you.
07:45You know what, Jimmy?
07:46I think it's time for me to pick my steak.
07:48I want to talk to the chef.
07:49I want to go talk to the big dogs.
07:51Is that possible?
07:51Yeah, absolutely.
07:53Let's go.
07:53I'm picking my steak.
07:56Let's go.
07:57All right, chef,
07:58so is this where you make the secret sauce?
08:01I can't tell you.
08:01It's the secret.
08:01Why you can't tell me?
08:03Two of my favorite cuts.
08:04Both of them dry-aged.
08:06Dry-aged?
08:07Funky, intense,
08:08really makes it more beefy.
08:09What does dry-age mean?
08:10Dry-age is like taking the meat,
08:12putting it in a cigar humidor,
08:13letting it dry out
08:14so you're intensifying the beef,
08:16the marbleization,
08:17and lessening the water weight.
08:19Flavor.
08:20Bone-inch strip.
08:20You can see that age,
08:21kind of gives you that bark on there.
08:23This is from Gerber Brothers
08:24out of South Dakota.
08:25They only serve about 50 head a week,
08:27so we get them all.
08:28Damn!
08:28Yeah.
08:29Then we have a beautiful
08:30Double R Ranch ribeye.
08:31I love the ribeye
08:32because it has two cuts into it.
08:33The decal,
08:34spinalis,
08:35whatever you want to call it.
08:36Spinalis.
08:36And then the eye of the ribeye there.
08:38Okay.
08:38Let it cook,
08:39let it rest,
08:40slice it,
08:40season it to perfection,
08:41call it a day.
08:42So why do you let it rest?
08:43When you let it rest,
08:44all the juices flow back
08:45into the steak.
08:47All right, chef,
08:47so which one am I having?
08:49I would go for the ribeye
08:50or the bone-inch strip.
08:52I want both.
08:52No cap.
08:53I'm just really,
08:53you know what I'm saying?
08:54I'm getting both,
08:55you all right?
08:55You know what I'm saying?
08:55Respectfully, though,
08:56you know what I mean?
08:56All right.
08:58All right, it's time for the main course,
08:59the entrees.
09:01Come on, Jimmy,
09:01what we at?
09:02We've got the lobster frites.
09:03Lobster frites.
09:05You know,
09:05I always thought it was frites.
09:07But you know what?
09:08I guess it's frites.
09:09The ribeye.
09:10Ribeye.
09:11Bone-inch strip.
09:13And we have the roasted heirloom carrots.
09:15Whipped mash.
09:16Is it weird to start off with mash first?
09:18Look at that.
09:20Beauty.
09:24Nice and creamy, boy.
09:25Jimmy,
09:26what is this?
09:27So this is roasted
09:28in an orange almond gremolata,
09:30and it's finished off
09:31with some yuzu whipped lamb nae.
09:32Gremolata.
09:33Gremolata.
09:33Gremolata.
09:34Gremolata.
09:35Gremolata.
09:36All right, thank you, Jimmy.
09:38Thank you, Jimmy.
09:41Gremolata.
09:42Let's go ahead and do this.
09:45Okay.
09:46Good texture.
09:49I ain't going along.
09:50I feel like he had a five-star life.
09:54Let me try this one out.
09:55Oh, wow.
09:56Look at that.
09:57Nice!
09:59Fire.
10:01I'm a big fan of steak
10:01with mashed potatoes, though.
10:03This is exactly how I would do it.
10:04You know what I mean?
10:05Jimmy,
10:05they both good as fuck.
10:06Different characteristics,
10:07but both are really good.
10:08Hell yeah.
10:12Let's go in and tackle the lobster.
10:15I'm about to pour this sauce
10:15all over this motherfucker, though.
10:17Respectfully, though.
10:19Let's do a little bit.
10:20We're not going to do too much.
10:21I'm lying.
10:22God damn, son.
10:25What the...
10:26The tail fell out.
10:30Oh, it literally came out like butter.
10:36Mr. Crab.
10:38Shrimp, ribeye.
10:39No, ribeye, shrimp.
10:41Shrimp, wow.
10:43Ribeye, movie.
10:45Mashed potatoes.
10:47Okay.
10:49Two of them.
10:50Carrots, grilata.
10:52Grimolata.
10:53Grimolata.
10:53See, that's why you got to have a Jimmy in your life.
10:56You got to have a Jimmy in your life.
10:57The lobster,
10:59out of here, too.
11:02I've heard you might still be a little bit hungry.
11:04Here is our most luxurious fish on the menu.
11:06It is our line-caught wild Dover salt,
11:08simply cooked in a little bit of brown butter,
11:10finished off with some crispy capers.
11:12Enjoy.
11:12Thank you, chef.
11:13And by the way, chef,
11:14so far,
11:15everything has been amazing.
11:17Our pleasure.
11:18Can't wait for dessert.
11:19Let's do it.
11:23Texture is,
11:33when you use a big word,
11:34like,
11:34stupendous.
11:37I ain't gonna lie.
11:38A little bit of crunch,
11:39not too crazy, though.
11:40The chef did his thing on this one.
11:41Let's rate it.
11:42Not one,
11:43not two,
11:43but three of them.
11:44Boom, boom, boom.
11:45It's fire.
11:48So I only ate a little bit of food.
11:55You know I got some space for dessert.
11:56You know what I mean?
11:58Harry's Berries with a side of chocolate ganache.
12:00They are flown in from Oxnard, California.
12:02Flown in.
12:03So it's like first class,
12:04you know what I'm saying?
12:05Like, you guys own seat.
12:06Along with the Samoa Sunday,
12:07probably the most popular dessert here at the corner store.
12:11And the apple hand pie.
12:12I'm gonna start off with the berries.
12:13Some cream on top.
12:15Chat, chocolate ganache.
12:17Tastes like happy memories.
12:20Apple hand pie.
12:21This one is Honeycrisp apples,
12:23Granny Smith apples.
12:24Wrap it around with a buttery short crust,
12:25served with a side of homemade vanilla ice cream
12:27with a spiced caramel swirl.
12:28Crunch, sweet, savory.
12:32So this is a Samoa Sunday.
12:35Girl Scouts dropped this off
12:36and you guys made magic with it.
12:45I need to see how this is made.
12:48Caramel and chocolate.
12:49What I need you to do,
12:50drizzle it.
12:50Drizzle it.
12:51Make a mess.
12:51Go ahead.
12:52Toasted coconut.
12:53Toasted coconut.
12:53Pour it in there.
12:54Pour it in there.
12:54Coat the whole bottom of the glass.
12:56Here's our shortbread girl scout kind of cooked.
12:58I trust your hands.
12:59All right, man.
13:00I saw you wash them.
13:01Yeah, hell yeah, you did.
13:05This is the hardest part.
13:06Those kids at Dairy Queen,
13:07they make it look easy.
13:08This is our coconut soft serve.
13:10It's a ringer.
13:12Push.
13:12There you go.
13:15Caramel and chocolate again.
13:16Caramel and chocolate again.
13:17Yeah, you feel me?
13:18A little some chef, a little some chef.
13:20And we coat it.
13:20Yeah, yeah.
13:21And more.
13:22Cheers.
13:23Cheers.
13:26Hit up.
13:26Right?
13:27Hit up.
13:27It's legit.
13:30I've never tasted ice cream like this before.
13:33Like, no troll.
13:33Like, no joke.
13:35If there was a, like,
13:36a bougie-ness of ice cream,
13:38I thought this would be it.
13:39Like, this is, like,
13:40here.
13:41Like, you got your regular ice cream,
13:43chocolate, vanilla, strawberry shit,
13:44and then you got this bitch.
13:45Like, it's just, like,
13:46over there.
13:47I'm ready to rate.
13:50One more bite before I rate.
13:55Okay.
13:56The strawberries,
13:57amazing.
13:58Fire.
13:59Like,
13:59top tier.
14:00The apple pie,
14:01fire.
14:02Crunchy.
14:03Warm.
14:03You add that cold with the heat.
14:05It's like,
14:06boom.
14:06You know what I'm saying?
14:06Like, it's like,
14:07you know what I'm saying?
14:08Now, this, though,
14:09this
14:10is, like,
14:13the ratatouille scene for me.
14:14Oh, my God, bro.
14:19A billion explosions.
14:22You know what I'm saying?
14:22Like, the Big Bang,
14:23like, just happening.
14:24You know what I'm saying?
14:24Like, it just,
14:25it forms of, like,
14:26flavor and shit.
14:26Like,
14:27one of one.
14:29Nah, I'm a deadass, though.
14:30Like,
14:31I'm being serious.
14:32I'm, like, throwing it.
14:32Like, I swear.
14:33No, this shit's so fucking good.
14:37Chef, secret sauce.
14:38No.
14:39No.
14:39Not telling you.
14:39Come on.
14:40No.
14:40Why you can't tell me?
14:42Four minutes,
14:43six minutes,
14:43yeah?
14:43Yeah.
14:43He just mumbled in my head.
14:46He's not trying to tell me the secret sauce.
14:48He's going.
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