the underground gourmet
Lamb-Me-Down
Marc Solomon, chef-partner of Manhattan Valley's itty-bitty A, has taken to spreading the French-Caribbean gospel (and his delectable curried-lamb pies) all over upper Manhattan. When his friend and customer Shae Russell asked for advice on converting his Washington Heights bakery, Coda Café, into more of an atmospheric after-work gathering place, Solomon not only gave Russell some menu pointers but bequeathed his coveted curried-lamb recipe. "It's too much work," he says. "I hate baking." Luckily, Russell doesn't — he'd been baking pastries and cakes at Coda anyway — and he still does a nice brownie. He and co-owner Jeanne Lee renovated Coda and renamed it Café 66, and he's made the transition from American sandwiches to tropical tapas with aplomb. Nothing on the five-item menu, which includes jerk chicken wings with mango mayo, creole codfish cakes, and corn croquettes, costs more than $8, making it a welcome addition to the neighborhood and a relatively posh alternative to the Dominican cuchifritos truck across the street.
Café 66
1030 St. Nicholas Avenue, at 162nd Street
212-568-5405

best of the week
Beacon's Second Annual Beefsteak on May 21
Joseph Mitchell immortalized the then fading nineteenth-century event called a beefsteak in a story called "All You Can Hold for Five Bucks." Three generations later, the price is $85 — but the tradition remains the same: Eat all the steak, lamb, bacon, and crabmeat you can possibly pack into your belly on May 21.
Beacon
25 W. 56th Street
212-332-0500