Sunday, February 21, 2010
Mark Your Calendar! 3/21/10
Cochon 555: The only competition in the US featuring heritage pigs from local farms, chefs, butchers, and family owned wineries.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Masala Kraft Cafe, Hartsdale
This Saturday we decided to check out Masala Kraft Cafe, located in the snug downtown area of Hartsdale.
To call Masala Kraft Cafe a "cafe," is sort of misleading. Those who are fond and knowledgeable of Indian food would call this a "chaat house." Chaat being the small or portable snack type things usually found in road side vendors in larger metropolitan areas in India (such as sev puri, samosa chaat, chana bhatura, dosas, etc).
To call it a "chaat house" is not a way to denigrate this fine establishment. I make the distinction to put a finer point on what type of place this is. It would be on par with a deli, sandwich shop or coffee shop, offering a limited menu of items for early to mid-day meals or snacks, rather than an establishment to go for a multi-course dinner.
Masala Kraft Cafe is very thoughtfully appointed with a modern, yet nondescript type of atmosphere. It is clean, modern, and accommodating, with some nice decorator touches, but without the typical decorations one would expect from an Indian establishment. Even the stoneware dishes the food is served upon has the personal touch, as each are emblazoned with the Masala Kraft Cafe name.
The restaurant itself is fairly small with about six tables and a long granite snack bar with high bar stools which face out onto the busy main street to accommodate a small amount of patrons at a time. The place was just about full when we arrived.
Parking is conveniently (and if you're not familiar with the downtown area, it's deceptively) around the corner in a municipal parking garage, we happily parked our car and walked in the cold for what we hoped would be a great lunch.
We placed our order and settled into some bar stools up front to "people watch" until our food arrived.
Masala Kraft Cafe has been open for roughly seven months, and business was bustling for a Saturday, especially one where the temperature outside was near freezing. I can only imagine how busy this place will be once the weather warms up. I gladly snagged one of their take out menus, and intend on enjoying their food by way of take out, rather than fight the crowds with a stomach grumbling.
Service was good. The person taking our order was helpful with suggestions, and the person delivering the food to where we sat was pleasant and unharried.
My husband ordered pao bajji which was on the specials menu (pao = bread; bajji = vegetables cooked on a grill with spices), however we had the option to have it served in a dosa (a crispy south Indian crepe made from fermented rice and white urad, a type of lentil), which came with coconut chutney and a vegetable sambar (a south Indian brothy soup/condiment thing made with thoor dal, another type of lentil, and south Indian spices and tomato). I ordered the channa bhatura, which is a type of channa masala (spicey chick peas with a tomato gravy) with a deep fried biscuit. Both of our items came to us hot, and made to order.
The bhatura was delicious and decadently crispy, almost too brittle for me to wrap around the channa to eat traditionally (barehanded), so I'd tear off some of the bhatura and spoon the channo on top, but I wouldn't even call the brittle-ness a complaint. Every last morsel was eaten gladly.
The dosa containing the "pao" bajji was delicious, and reminded me of a masala dosa. The chutney was fresh and intensely coconutty, and the sambar was traditional, authentic and tasty. Typically dosa is eaten by pinching off a fingerful and dunking in the sambar and then put a bit of the chutney on top for the "perfect bite."
Each component, the dosa and the sambar were delicious independently as well as together. I didn't let a drop of the sambar go to waste. When my husband finished his meal, I slurped the last few spoonfuls of his sambar down. Speaking as an American who is well-versed in south Indian cuisine (I even make my own sambar), I feel sambar could play the part of a (stand alone) soup quite nicely, especially given the cold snap we are having. Sadly, their menu does not appear to have sambar vada (vadas are deep fried fritters made from a batter of rice and lentils). I wonder if I asked for it, if it could be made as a special request.
We topped our lunch off with a faluda, which was served drink style in a tall glass. Faluda was a milky type sweet drink, flavored with rose water, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some cooked vermicelli and I believe basil seeds. I believe this is something more adventurous Americans would have to acquire a taste for. I love rosewater in sweets, but the notion of the cooked vermicelli is a little odd. But all in all a deliciously unusual treat. (At my own wedding we had faluda, as it's one of our favorite items.)
Though a tidy and limited menu, they seem to offer nearly everything you could want in the "chaat" subset of Indian food. It's all vegetarian, and all made to order. There are daily specials and a wide array of beverages from which to choose. There are interesting twists on their offerings such as their Salad Dosa, Masala Taco, and Bombay Roll; as well as an assortment of traditional items such as Masala Dosa, Papadi Chaat and Dal Vada.
Portion size, quality of food and price are all exceptional.
One last modern convenience: You can place your order online.
I wonder how far they will deliver to? Hmmm?
To call Masala Kraft Cafe a "cafe," is sort of misleading. Those who are fond and knowledgeable of Indian food would call this a "chaat house." Chaat being the small or portable snack type things usually found in road side vendors in larger metropolitan areas in India (such as sev puri, samosa chaat, chana bhatura, dosas, etc).
To call it a "chaat house" is not a way to denigrate this fine establishment. I make the distinction to put a finer point on what type of place this is. It would be on par with a deli, sandwich shop or coffee shop, offering a limited menu of items for early to mid-day meals or snacks, rather than an establishment to go for a multi-course dinner.
Masala Kraft Cafe is very thoughtfully appointed with a modern, yet nondescript type of atmosphere. It is clean, modern, and accommodating, with some nice decorator touches, but without the typical decorations one would expect from an Indian establishment. Even the stoneware dishes the food is served upon has the personal touch, as each are emblazoned with the Masala Kraft Cafe name.
The restaurant itself is fairly small with about six tables and a long granite snack bar with high bar stools which face out onto the busy main street to accommodate a small amount of patrons at a time. The place was just about full when we arrived.
Parking is conveniently (and if you're not familiar with the downtown area, it's deceptively) around the corner in a municipal parking garage, we happily parked our car and walked in the cold for what we hoped would be a great lunch.
We placed our order and settled into some bar stools up front to "people watch" until our food arrived.
Masala Kraft Cafe has been open for roughly seven months, and business was bustling for a Saturday, especially one where the temperature outside was near freezing. I can only imagine how busy this place will be once the weather warms up. I gladly snagged one of their take out menus, and intend on enjoying their food by way of take out, rather than fight the crowds with a stomach grumbling.
Service was good. The person taking our order was helpful with suggestions, and the person delivering the food to where we sat was pleasant and unharried.
My husband ordered pao bajji which was on the specials menu (pao = bread; bajji = vegetables cooked on a grill with spices), however we had the option to have it served in a dosa (a crispy south Indian crepe made from fermented rice and white urad, a type of lentil), which came with coconut chutney and a vegetable sambar (a south Indian brothy soup/condiment thing made with thoor dal, another type of lentil, and south Indian spices and tomato). I ordered the channa bhatura, which is a type of channa masala (spicey chick peas with a tomato gravy) with a deep fried biscuit. Both of our items came to us hot, and made to order.
The bhatura was delicious and decadently crispy, almost too brittle for me to wrap around the channa to eat traditionally (barehanded), so I'd tear off some of the bhatura and spoon the channo on top, but I wouldn't even call the brittle-ness a complaint. Every last morsel was eaten gladly.
The dosa containing the "pao" bajji was delicious, and reminded me of a masala dosa. The chutney was fresh and intensely coconutty, and the sambar was traditional, authentic and tasty. Typically dosa is eaten by pinching off a fingerful and dunking in the sambar and then put a bit of the chutney on top for the "perfect bite."
Each component, the dosa and the sambar were delicious independently as well as together. I didn't let a drop of the sambar go to waste. When my husband finished his meal, I slurped the last few spoonfuls of his sambar down. Speaking as an American who is well-versed in south Indian cuisine (I even make my own sambar), I feel sambar could play the part of a (stand alone) soup quite nicely, especially given the cold snap we are having. Sadly, their menu does not appear to have sambar vada (vadas are deep fried fritters made from a batter of rice and lentils). I wonder if I asked for it, if it could be made as a special request.
We topped our lunch off with a faluda, which was served drink style in a tall glass. Faluda was a milky type sweet drink, flavored with rose water, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some cooked vermicelli and I believe basil seeds. I believe this is something more adventurous Americans would have to acquire a taste for. I love rosewater in sweets, but the notion of the cooked vermicelli is a little odd. But all in all a deliciously unusual treat. (At my own wedding we had faluda, as it's one of our favorite items.)
Though a tidy and limited menu, they seem to offer nearly everything you could want in the "chaat" subset of Indian food. It's all vegetarian, and all made to order. There are daily specials and a wide array of beverages from which to choose. There are interesting twists on their offerings such as their Salad Dosa, Masala Taco, and Bombay Roll; as well as an assortment of traditional items such as Masala Dosa, Papadi Chaat and Dal Vada.
Portion size, quality of food and price are all exceptional.
One last modern convenience: You can place your order online.
I wonder how far they will deliver to? Hmmm?
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