- 1 day ago
Join Chef and bestselling author Alison Roman as she explores her favorite Brooklyn food spots for Where the Chefs Eat. From soulful Vietnamese food at Di An Di in Greenpoint to tuna crudo and clam toast at Hart’s in Bed-Stuy, and incredible Indian dishes at Tera Mera in Cobble Hill, this is her ultimate Brooklyn food guide.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00I love clams so much I have a clam tattoo on my arm,
00:01which is so lame now to say.
00:03I have a shrimp tattoo.
00:04Oh, there we go.
00:05Exactly.
00:14Hi, I'm Alison Roman, and today I'm going to take you
00:17to some of my favorite places to eat in Brooklyn.
00:20This is where the chefs eat.
00:23How would I describe Greenpoint?
00:24Greenpoint is like the person who never texts you back.
00:27This is where I spent a lot of my youth.
00:28I drank a lot of alcohol here.
00:31I came home at really improper times of the evening.
00:35I did a lot of dancing, so let's call it a homecoming.
00:41Today we're going to Dian Di, which is a Vietnamese restaurant.
00:44This is a place that I used to go very often,
00:47and when they first opened, I felt like it was one of the first,
00:50at least in Greenpoint, Vietnamese restaurants
00:52that was doing the type of food that went beyond pho or banh mi.
00:57It just felt like a really unique and soulful expression
01:00of Vietnamese food that I hadn't seen before.
01:03So I'm Vietnamese, she's Korean, but we both have laps.
01:07Sad culture, yeah.
01:08And so for them, it's called sam, this lettuce wrap.
01:11And so we always say that this is our emoji.
01:14Literally.
01:15There's a pearl.
01:16This plate is us like this.
01:18Yeah.
01:18This is a platter that Kim and I came up with.
01:22It's a deconstructed gul and you want to wrap.
01:26She comes to the table sometimes if she sees a guest and she will sit and wrap.
01:32I feel like you're doing it wrong and I can't bear watching you do that.
01:35Yeah.
01:36This is banh hoi, which is woven rice vermicelli, which is our...
01:39Oh, it's so elegant.
01:39It's our starch.
01:41We have four different kinds of herbs.
01:43We make these pork skewers.
01:45You're basically eating a salad in a roll.
01:47Yeah.
01:47I love it.
01:48I love pickles.
01:49So this is pickled hikama.
01:51And she's always pickling something downstairs.
01:53Yeah.
01:53I mean, if it's a vegetable, why not pickle it?
01:55Exactly.
01:55That's how I feel.
01:56I totally agree.
01:57And then you just wrap it off and then if you don't mind me feeding you.
02:02No, I would love that actually.
02:03This is her thing.
02:04This never happens to me.
02:05I'm always feeding myself.
02:06Take a big ol' day.
02:07Thank you so much.
02:11So good.
02:12I feel like Vietnamese food, there is so much to say because it is never boring because it's like,
02:17it's funky, it's sweet, it's salty, it's bitter, it's so sensory and it's crunchy.
02:23And there's like so much going on.
02:24I think that's why I really gravitate towards it.
02:26This entire thing is satisfying every single thing that I want to eat.
02:36Really, you're just going to like break off a piece.
02:39Dip it.
02:40Yep.
02:40And it could be eaten for an afternoon snack.
02:44It's unlike anything I've ever had.
02:46It's like not what I expected at all.
02:47Because it also looks like tofu.
02:49Yeah.
02:50Almost like pork belly or like it's going to be something that I'm familiar with.
02:53It's so like custardy.
02:55Yeah, it's beautiful.
02:57It's a gorgeous custardy outside.
02:59Yeah.
02:59And again, not just a breakfast dish.
03:03Yeah, no, but would eat this for breakfast.
03:05I mean, I am eating it for breakfast.
03:13So, Kim and I went to Vietnam and there's a place in Hanoi.
03:17This is one of the dishes we ate together.
03:19And it was so impressive to me where this one particular place, this is what they specialize in.
03:28I never thought about using dill.
03:30Dill is my proprietary herb.
03:31Yeah.
03:31Oh, really?
03:32No, I'm joking.
03:33You were like, but you were saying, you're like, oh, I never think about dill with this on here.
03:36And I'm like, I'm only thinking about dill all the time.
03:38It's the only thing I think about.
03:39So most restaurants will get dried noodles from Vietnam and you rehydrate them.
03:46These are made fresh.
03:48I poured over our nip chum, which is our fish sauce vinaigrettes and then peanuts.
03:53And then just a little squeeze of lime.
03:55And then we have this sesame cracker that also you just kind of break up as a textural thing.
04:01And then you're just going to mix it in.
04:03Perfect lunch.
04:04This fish is so delicious.
04:06It's not that spicy, but it's spiced.
04:08Yeah.
04:08Which I really appreciate.
04:10In Asian cultures all across the board, it's communal dining and it's shared.
04:15It's very rare that you'll see somebody say, this is my plate.
04:18That's your plate.
04:20Yeah.
04:20It's all about sharing.
04:21This is like maybe my ideal way of eating.
04:32We are in Bed-Stuy and we are standing in front of Hearts,
04:35which is one of my favorite restaurants in all of New York, not just Brooklyn.
04:38I love it here so, so much.
04:40I would say Bed-Stuy feels to me the most like Brooklyn.
04:43It feels like it embodies like when you think of Brooklyn, what it looks like,
04:46what it feels like.
04:47It has like a really useful energy in terms of like entrepreneurial spirit.
04:51I feel like the neighborhood really cares for its small businesses.
04:57Thank you so much.
04:59I feel like I just bought out my favorite restaurant.
05:01You did.
05:02It's cool.
05:03Part of the joy of eating here is that like,
05:05you kind of don't know what is going to be around.
05:07So this is the tuna crudo.
05:09It's yellowfin tuna.
05:10That's from New Jersey and it's really special.
05:12We always put a light cure on it.
05:13For the crudo, it's basically always some variation of onions,
05:17a really nice olive, some chili oil, some acid.
05:20This particular version has gourdal olives, which I love.
05:24So good.
05:24I just bought a giant like food service jar.
05:27I've been using it for martinis, but also like gilded and stuff.
05:30They're so delicious.
05:31I use them for Newcastle and Toronto.
05:32They're so good.
05:33You put it here first.
05:34Yeah.
05:34And one thing I love about the way that you cook is that you're not afraid of alliums,
05:37which are my favorite ingredient.
05:39And I feel like part of the success of this crudo is like the texture and like the,
05:45I don't know, the alliuminess that the onions bring.
05:47And it's like, you do not hold back.
05:49And I, it's exactly what I want.
05:51I want to eat like a pile of onions.
05:52And I love that.
05:53I feel like these onion rings are like, pardon me for saying this, nachos.
05:56They kind of are.
05:57Yeah.
05:58But in heart style, we added a radish and horseradish too.
06:03So like something that's spicy and something that's refreshing, just sort of off, but the
06:07deeply fried quality.
06:08They're so good.
06:09What's the creamy dressing?
06:11It's a horseradish vinaigrette.
06:17I would say if I were a food, I would be a crispy cutlet with anchovies on it.
06:22That would be me.
06:23It's so good.
06:24Yeah.
06:25This is the Allison set, I think.
06:26Oh, I'm honored.
06:28And it really does have all, it's like mustard, caper, anchovy, lemon.
06:31Yeah.
06:38The clam toast has been on the menu since day one.
06:40It's clam steamed open with lots and lots of light wine and a sofrito that has pancetta,
06:49garlic, onions, fennel, celery, all sort of like stewed together.
06:53And then it gets poured over fried bread.
06:55It's been rubbed with garlic.
06:56It's so good.
06:57Every time.
06:58Yeah.
06:58We love it.
06:59It's like crispy, crunchy, garlicky, buttery, the fennel, the celery, the onion.
07:04Is there celery in it?
07:04Yeah.
07:05I love clams so much.
07:05I have a clam tattoo on my arm, which is so lame now to say, but I do.
07:09I have a shrimp tattoo.
07:10Oh, there we go.
07:11Exactly.
07:12I'm in good spirits.
07:12Good company.
07:19We are in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
07:21We're at Terra Mara, which is a wonderful little restaurant that I started coming to
07:26over the summer.
07:27When you walk in immediately in the sort of front dining room, there's this pantry set up.
07:31And it's small, it's humble, but it's full of things that you might not have heard of,
07:35maybe don't have in your own home.
07:37Maybe you don't know where to get them.
07:39And to me, what makes it special to be in a restaurant ran and operated and owned by true
07:43home cooks that also want you to be a home cook?
07:46Definitely do one of the blends.
07:48Okay.
07:48Makes it real easy to make, which we toast them, grind them in-house.
07:52My sister and I make them.
07:54We do subsea, which is lighter, tandoori, classic garam masala.
07:58I feel like it's sort of a dream to be able to go to any version of a grocery store,
08:03to be like, this is what you should buy.
08:04This is the best version of something.
08:05Can I make you some food?
08:06Please.
08:07I'm so- I'm actually-
08:07Definitely, let's go.
08:08Let's make some food.
08:15Mani curry and paneer 65.
08:20It's spicy, usually chilies, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves, mustard seeds.
08:27It's usually battered and fried.
08:29But I just feel like I wanted it to be lighter and to really taste the paneer.
08:33And in order to cut through the spice, we came up to confit lemons.
08:37Because a lot of times, they squeeze fresh lime juice.
08:39So we thought, let's do something a little bit more interesting,
08:42where you can actually eat the lemon with the paneer.
08:44Such a fan of that.
08:45Yeah, I love it.
08:46So, yeah, that's the paneer 65.
08:48My God.
08:49Yeah.
08:49I mean, it's marinated overnight.
08:51Yeah, it's marinated overnight.
08:53Yeah, that's true.
08:54That is so good.
08:56I love it.
08:56And I love to eat the curry leaves.
08:58Eat the curry leaves.
08:58People eat curry leaves.
09:00Don't put them to the side.
09:01It's so good.
09:02And the whole lemon.
09:03Eat the whole lemon.
09:04Eat the whole lemon.
09:09When I go to India, I can eat like 50 of these.
09:11So they're sold on the streets.
09:13We call them Pani Puri in Bombay.
09:15Delhi, they call them Golgapas.
09:17Certain areas, they call Fuchkas.
09:19There's always someone on the street and they hand it to you one by one.
09:22And he knows when you're done and he remembers how many you had.
09:26It's quite wild.
09:27It's like you're like a three or like an eight.
09:29Here you go.
09:30So you fill it.
09:31Okay.
09:32One shot.
09:32One shot in your mouth.
09:34Okay.
09:34Yeah.
09:34One shot.
09:37That's incredible.
09:38I feel like this will heal you.
09:40I feel like if you're not well, you could take a shot of this and it will do a lot
09:44for you.
09:44It's really good for digestion.
09:45It feels extremely medicinal in the best way.
09:48Like I'm healed from whatever.
09:49I don't know.
09:51Is there a chickpea in there?
09:52Black chickpeas.
09:53Black chickpeas.
09:54Okay.
09:54Which are smaller.
09:55Yes.
09:56And like more nutty.
09:57Yes, exactly.
09:58I feel like I'm winning.
09:59I feel like I'm doing a good job.
10:01Yay!
10:02What is this wine?
10:03This is Cabernet Sauvignon.
10:06Oignet and a little bit of Ciroc going from the Nandi Hills, which is just east of Bangalore in India.
10:12That's wild.
10:12It is made by an excellent winemaker named Grover's Ampa.
10:15They started in the 1960s.
10:16They're considered the father of Indian viticulture.
10:19They've done a lot to expand the industry.
10:21Incredible.
10:22This will be my first ever Indian wine I think that I know of.
10:26Yeah.
10:26It'll go super, super well with the go.
10:28Oh, I cannot wait.
10:29Thank you so much.
10:30Enjoy it.
10:30Cheers.
10:31Thanks.
10:33Mmm, you're right.
10:34Fabulous.
10:34You're in our home.
10:35We want you to feel welcome.
10:36We want you to have what you love.
10:42And then over there is the crab curry.
10:44It's coconut milk with green chutney and lump and claw.
10:48It's so good.
10:49It's so rich.
10:49It's like creamy, but herby.
10:53It's fabulous.
10:54And now...
10:55The goat.
10:56I'm so excited for this goat.
10:57Now the goat, we get it from our, as you know, from our butcher.
11:01And we, I marinated it like for 48 hours with all the ingredients and everything blooms.
11:06And then after I slow cook it and just let it do its thing.
11:10This is incredible.
11:11Yeah.
11:12It's so deliciously tender and insanely flavorful.
11:18And the lentils on the bottom are like crazy creamy.
11:22And this is phenomenal.
11:25Everything is just right.
11:27But like the spice level, everything is just enough to make you want to keep eating all of it.
11:32It's so good.
11:34It's also just so cozy.
11:35It's cozy.
11:36It's like a hug.
11:36Yeah.
11:37I can't thank you enough for this and like sharing all of this with us.
11:41And being generous enough to let us come into your space like this.
11:44We love cooking and we love feeding people.
11:46We love feeding people.
11:47Oh, I can tell.
11:48Yes, we do.
11:49Are you, like really?
11:51This is so rare to feel this in a restaurant and to like have this kind of food.
11:55I'm serious.
11:56Thank you so much.
12:06And that is it.
12:07Those are some of my favorite places to eat in Brooklyn.
12:09Please go to them, but not so often that I can't still get into them.
12:13And have fun.
Comments