missmaggiepops

I’ve spent February in NY, and the dining has been good to me so far. I recently went out to brunch with my good friend in the East Village at Northern Spy Food Co, and it was finger lickin’ good. I ordered the grapefruit and ginger seltzer, and we split the buttermilk biscuits with apple preserves. The seltzer was great: refreshing and not sickly-sweet, and those biscuits were so good my friend ordered another round for herself.

The decor is exactly what you would expect out of a farm-to-table restaurant: disheveled wood, prop-styled perfect sugar bowls, and chalkboards describing their wares. All ingredients are locally sourced and seasonal (hence the name: Northern Spy is a variety of apple).

For the main course, I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich with the most perfectly cooked poached egg. It was amazing. Definitely not first-date food; no, this sandwich is meant to be eaten with a significant other, or a really good friend, that is in it for the long-haul. It’s just too messy to be eaten around someone you’re trying to make a good impression on. But what’s messy, just like a bad boyfriend, is oh-so-damn-good going down.
My only complaint with this restaurant, and with dining in general lately, is seeing kale, and pork belly on the menu. I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda’ over kale. Kale has become the Justin Beiber of menus: obsessed over, everywhere to be found, and then all of a sudden, just like the Bieb’s, it won’t go away. Same goes with pork belly. Pork belly has become so common it’s like calamari: you’ll find it everywhere, no matter how fancy or not the joint is. I think the problem is the overuse of these ingredients; and for that matter, the availability. When ramps come into season, we all obsess over them, they’re on every single special, and then magically they’re gone when the clock strikes summer. Either restauranters find a new ingredient to obsess over, or chefs should think about using some other humble, yet nutritional-superstar veg, in place of kale- broccoli or cabbage anyone?
Even with my neurotic rant over kale, you should still definitely check out Northern Spy Food Co. You will not be disappointed.