Restaurants
EDITED BY ROBIN RAISFELD AND ROB PATRONITE
Week of August 13, 2001
Pollen counts: Fennel pollen-dusted beef carpaccio at Petrossian.

Roundup
Pollen: Nothing to Sneeze At
Bees do it -- traffic in pollen, that is -- and increasingly, so do humans. The powdery microspores that fertilize plants and flowers are now being used to flavor food by some of New York's more innovative chefs. Fennel pollen is the most popular, and the less species-specific bee pollen is also making an occasional menu appearance. "Fennel pollen releases a more delicate aroma than the fennel vegetable," says Petrossian's Dave Cunningham. "You can get the same flavor without using fennel shavings or fennel seeds." Sample the flavor for yourself at any of the following restaurants, or buy your own at Gourmet Garage. Or just wait for a strong wind.
Petrossian
Beef carpaccio covered with shaved chives, shallots, lemon and caviar powders, and fennel pollen, served with caviar.
182 West 58th Street
212-245-2214
Thom
Steamed halibut in verjus with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, lemongrass, lemon zest, lime leaves, and fennel pollen.
60 Thompson Street
212-219-2000
Arabelle
Morel flan with asparagus, sweet corn, and fennel pollen.
37 East 64th Street
212-606-4647
The Tonic
Lemon-and-fennel-pollen-crusted cod served with braised fennel, orzo, and a sweet garlic broth.
108 West 18th Street
212-929-9755
Babbo
Goat-cheese tortelloni with dried oranges and fennel pollen.
110 Waverly Place
212-777-0303
Sugar
Bee-pollen pound cake filled with dried fruit.
311 Church Street
212-431-8642
-- BETH LANDMAN KEIL

Best of the Week
The Parade of Rosés
Most establishments only serve one pink wine by the glass -- and it tends to be the kind of plonk that gave rosé its rotgut reputation. This summer, Morrell offers the Parade of Rosés, over ten selections from Sancerre (a unique, strawberry-blonde rosé) to Muga (dusty and cleanly stated grape).
Morrell Wine Bar and Cafe
1 Rockefeller Plaza, at 49th Street
212-262-7700


Dog-gone good: Cornmeal-battered sausage on a stick at Good.
Cravings
The Corn Dog Days of Summer
August is a tough time of year for transplanted Midwesterners nostalgic for tractor pulls, sheep-shearing races, and giant-zucchini competitions. A few restaurants around town, however, offer solace in the form of that indispensable state-fair staple, the corn dog. At Good, chef-owner Steven Picker serves his cornmeal-battered chicken sausage on a stick with a honey-mustard dipping sauce and watermelon-and-red-onion salad (available Sunday nights only, through Labor Day); at Stepmama in the East Village, an excellent classic version, sweet and crunchy outside, juicy within, comes with a couple of packets of Gulden's. And fatphobes will like the stickless, dogless corn dogs made from soy, with or without a smothering heap of meatless chili, at Veg-City Diner. Now, if only someone would tackle the funnel cake.
Good
89 Greenwich Avenue
212-691-8080
Stepmama
199 East 3rd Street
212-228-2663
Veg-City Diner
55 West 14th Street
212-490-6266


Object of Desire
Dream Team
Late summer's star ingredients -- fresh corn and ripe tomatoes -- meet on delicious terms at Le Zinc, where chef de cuisine Michael Sullivan tops two discus-size corn cakes with a tart red-onion-and-tomato salad and a generous dollop of sweet crème fraîche.
Le Zinc
139 Duane Street
212-513-0001




Shopping

Terra Haute
What the makers of Terra Chips did for obscure root vegetables like taro, parsnip, and yuca, they now hope to do for Belgian-style pommes frites -- deep-fry them into crispy, eternal-shelf-life submission. The new line of Terra Frites, made from Yukon Gold and European Bintje potatoes, is a crunchy cross between French fries and those Durkee's potato-sticks-in-a-can, and they come in four flavors: garlicky aïoli, touched with saffron and mustard; seasoned salt; malt vinegar; and Américaine, tinged with tomatoes and sweet onion. Hold the ketchup.
Eli's Manhattan
1411 Third Avenue
212-717-8100
Whole Foods Market
250 7th Avenue at 24th Street
212-924-5969
Also available at local health food stores

Ask Gael

Why in the world should I go to Monkey Bar now?
We're revisiting Planet of the Apes -- why not Monkey Bar? You feel witty and grown-up in this sophisticated den with its nostalgia for the days of Hollywood glamour-pusses at the Stork Club. For me, the place lost its imperative when chef John Schenk defected. A parade of Great Hopes failed to rekindle the heat. Enter David Walzog (pictured), chef-hero of Michael Jordan's Steakhouse and Strip House, with a straightforward market-driven menu. The day's special corn chowder with avocado mousse and the asparagus salad are elegant and delicious; his colossal crab cake, a triumph. Smartly turned-out tuna, crusty rib chop with choron sauce, and a top-notch sirloin with caramelized marrow almost distract me from my mini dried-out cut of halibut. And there's no anticlimax at dessert time. But: baby-green salad for $13? And why not throw in those fabulous fries with the $32 steak? And please, drill the clueless staff, just in case shell-shocked New Yorkers rally to celebrate Monkey Bar's renaissance.
Monkey Bar
60 East 54th Street
212-838-2600

Bites & Buzz Archive
Week of August 6
Best of both worlds at Medi, La Fondita's tacos, Hamptons home cooking
Week of July 30
Seven great ways to catch halibut, al di là's sweet breads, Tonic boom, Hamptons price war
Week of July 23
Green market tasting, Fiorucci's Fashion Cafe, Affordable Hamptons dining
Week of July 16
Fermentation in the Heartland, Proseccheria's pop culture, Gael goes global
Week of July 9
Citarella to go, Gael on La Fondita

and more ...

Photos: Carina Salvi, Patrick Rytikangas(2), Kenneth Chen(2).