New York Food Blog

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​Even though there's seating upstairs in the tiny shop, many would prefer to eat their sandwich al fresco.

Num Pang is a sandwich shop whose purpose is to tweak the banh mi formula in unexpected directions. If you go there jonesing for a traditional banh mi, you'll be sadly disappointed, but many of the sandwiches have an exciting traction all their own. Because chef Ratha Chau was born in Cambodia, some of the sandwiches swing in that direction, tastewise.

Somewhat paradoxically (since many of the selections are relentlessly meaty), my favorite sandwich is the only vegetarian selection on the regular menu.

​The roof garden at French bistro Juliette awaits forlornly the return of summer.

The growth of Williamsburg restaurants in the last dozen years has been meteoric, and, where once there were a dozen or so places that might be worth trying, now there are probably 200 or more.

​A couple of weeks ago, desperate for a taste of Central Italy, I bought a black summer truffle at Buon Italia, and scrambled it up with some free-range eggs. I found the taste somewhat disappointing, mild and flinty, though the bargain price of $10 hadn't been horribly expensive, and it had been a thrill to hold the specimen in my hand. But a few days later, I spied a jar of the more-highly-priced white truffles in the same store, with what looked like an astonishingly expensive price tag: $2,320.00 per pound!

The white truffle, also known as the Alba truffle, is the most highly prized truffle in the world. The truffle represents the fruiting body of a fungus called Tuber magnatum, which is found only in the northern reaches of Italy. It represents something of a holy grail of gastronomy, with a flavor that is earthy, pungent, and delicate all at the same time. While hiking near Rivergaro in northern Italy one day, I'd smelled one of these truffles that was still undergound, and had begun to dig for it like a dog.

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​Though a newcomer to Bedford Avenue, Doner is already a hit with cost- and flavor-conscious consumers. But does it have the moxie to make Our 10 Best?

Tomorrow bright and early look for Fork in the Road's 10 Best Williamsburg restaurants. We've agonized over a list of dozens of places we've eaten at in the sub-borough, from expensive joints to virtual hash-houses. Maybe you've eaten at some of these places, maybe you haven't, but please have your own recommendations at the ready.

See you tomorrow, in the meantime, here are some past 10 bests:

​Flying Pigs' Liverwurst is a solid column of variety-meat goodness.

What the hell is liverwurst, anyway? Think of it as the German response to French pate.

​"This is Chinese food?" said an incredulous tablemate." Indeed, "sauteed pine nuts and corn" might be mistaken for American succotash.

This week Counter Culture forges ahead to M & T, a Flushing restaurant whose owners came from the city of Qingdao in Shandong Province, directly across the Yellow Sea from Korea.

​Not to be confused with the Spanish sauce romesco, romanesco is a very strange cultivar of common cauliflower.

​The "clean slate" at Saltie is one of the few sandwiches not made with focaccia.

Saltie is a new sandwich shop (mainly carryout but with some counter seating) that seeks to redefine what a sandwich is. Above is the "clean slate," a vegetarian sandwich made with a homemade naan, which has a crisp surface and spongy interior.

​Ribs and chicken struggle to escape the french fry quicksand.

Love barbecue but hate paying top dollar? Jump on the PATH train, which swoops over the picturesque Meadowlands, and take a quick trip to Newark's Ironbound neighborhood, just a few blocks from the terminus of the PATH at Newark's Penn Station.

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The new Bon Appetit (we call it "The Bone") hit the mailbox today, and the cover was a head-scratcher.