Rachael Ray

A 4 Hour and 43 Minute Trek All For a Piece of Warm Date Cake

It was 7:15 pm and our night was off to a solid start. The gameplan was to begin at Marlow & Sons, have a few apps and then head to DuMont for a couple more. It was a food crawl - an easy way to knock a few restaurants off my go-to list in one night.*

Marlow & Sons

As my friend and I sat outside of Marlow & Sons, we perused the menu. Nothing was screaming at us. I had heard that they have specials - many specials - and that this was the way to go. Our server sat down at the table next to us and revealed the Specials of the Day, one after the other, each one sounding better than the next. We explained to her that we were on a food crawl and that we would be trying (not necessarily finishing) a few dishes and that we were then headed to DuMont afterwards. We didn’t order anything from the everyday menu, although I’m sure we would have been happy if we had.

We started with the Spring Garlic Soup.

It was drizzled with homemade crème fraiche and had small pieces of pickled ramps (wild leeks) throughout. To my surprise, my friend had been picking them out the whole time and I barely got any (there must be food crawl rules against this!). The soup was light, flavorful and had a velvety texture; it was the perfect start to the meal. The pickled ramps added a nice little zing to the sweet spring garlic flavor.

After witnessing our demolishing of the soup, our server dropped by and recommended that we go to Dressler as part of the crawl, which the table next to us had also recommended. She also mentioned a restaurant called Rye and then suggested that we finish up with the best dessert in Williamsburg from Moto: the Date Cake.

But back to the food at hand. Next up at Marlow & Sons was the Soft Shell Crab Sandwich served with homemade potato chips. It was lightly pan-fried and served on a light brioche bun with ramp aioli. It was the beginning of soft-shell crab season, and this was a delicious way to kick it off.

After the sandwich, we had the Pappardelle with Pig Head and Pig Feet.

The pork was tender as can be and studded the dish throughout. There were also a few greens, an egg yolk to richen it up and some fresh Parmigiano Reggiano cheese topping things off.

By this time we had officially befriended the table next to us, and we noticed that they ordered the Crostini of the Day, a toasted semolina bread with goat cheese and rhubarb compote. Lucky for us, they cut us off a piece to try. It was amazing.

To round it all out, our server surprised us all with what she deemed “the second best dessert in all of Williamsburg,” a Chocolate Tart. It was a tart shell that was lined with a generous layer of caramel and soft chocolate ganache, then finished with a sprinkle of sea salt. I’m a fan of the salty-sweet thing so to me, it was truly the icing on the cake.

(Marlow & Sons, 81 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, 718-384-1441, www.marlowandsons.com)

Next up was a little detour from DuMont and on to its sister restaurant, Dressler. We grabbed a couple seats at the bar, chatted a bit with the bartender and ordered a couple more apps, but only with the bartender’s approval that we were not missing anything on the menu that was a must-try.

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We started with the BBQ St. Louis-Style Ribs with Bourbon Glaze. These were fall-off-the-bone tender and the BBQ bourbon glaze gave them great flavor. Next we tried the Warm Artichoke Heart Salad (picture above). This was a big artichoke heart that was hollowed out a bit, served with cranberry beans (similar to white beans), baby arugula and parmesan and artichoke vinaigrette. Fresh and light, this was basically a Caesar-dressed baby arugula salad, but scored points for the creative presentation and admittedly darn good flavors.

Last was the Grilled Baby Octopus, which was braised and then grilled. It was served with baby arugula, preserved lemon and cut potatoes. Simply put, it was cooked to perfection.

(Dressler, 149 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, 718-384-6343, www.dresslernyc.com)

On recommendation from our bartender, we took yet another detour and headed to Walter Foods. We walked in, briefed them on our food crawl intentions and headed to the newly opened patio in back. We took the recommendation of the host, server and manager and ordered the Pigs in a Blanket, Walter Foods-style.

This was a chorizo sausage wrapped in puff pastry and cut into bite-size pieces. It was a tasty little riff on your classic pigs in a blanket.

We also had the Lollipop Chicken Wings, which, as the name suggests, were chicken wings that had the meat scooted down on the bone so they resembled a lollipop. They were fried until crispy and tossed with a mild Buffalo wing sauce. They were nothing to write home about, but satisfied my wing craving. The manager was generous enough to give us a taste of oysters from the raw bar, which my friend took care of. Oysters and I don’t get along too well.

(Walter Foods, 253 Grand St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, 718-387-8783, www.walterfoods.com)

From Walter Foods, we headed to the newly opened restaurant, Rye, thanks to the recommendations of our star server at Marlow & Sons, along with our host and server at Walter Foods. It was recently opened by the chef that originally opened Dressler.

Another friend joined us at this point. We started with the Artichoke Stew, which was not a stew at all, but a very similar preparation as the artichoke salad we had at Dressler. This one had some beans as well, along with roasted tomatoes and spinach.

Gnocchi with Duck Confit

Next was the Homemade Gnocchi with Duck Confit. The duck was cooked perfectly - tender and crispy on the outside. In addition, my friend had been craving halibut all night, because everywhere we went it was on the menu. We finally got it. It was served with asparagus, fresh peas and micro greens on top. The fish was cooked nicely and the presentation was simple, not over-the-top.

(Rye, 257 South 1st St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. http://www.ryerestaurant.com)

With not a second to spare, we speed-walked over to Moto to try “the best dessert in Williamsburg.” We walked in, looked around everywhere for a server to put our order in, and finally eyed one. In fact, if I saw what went down correctly, my friend actually tapped a server on the shoulder as she was taking an order from the table next to us - he was not going to miss our opportunity to get our order in! With about two minutes to spare, they agreed to serve us the cake, even though their bar clock was a little fast. What came to the table was the warm Date Cake, served with a toffee sauce and a little dollop of whipped cream on the side. The taste and texture were both phenomenal. I’m a big bread pudding fan, so most warm desserts get my vote, but this cake was indeed pretty special.

(Moto, 394 Broadway, 718-599-6895, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY www.circa1938.com)

So with that, five restaurants later, and just two minutes to spare, we completed one fine Brooklyn-based food crawl. Next up? You tell me.

*To note: while a food crawl might sound a bit gluttonous, we respected the food we were served. Where possible, we got smaller portions; if we met a neighboring table, we let them try our food. Sure, there were some leftovers here and there since we were essentially sampling the fare, not much went back to the kitchen. And we’re looking forward to the opportunity to come back with loved ones and enjoy a full meal.

Andrew “Kappy” Kaplan loves food. A professionally trained chef, these days you’ll find him on the road talking up kids and cooking as Director of Yum-o! and keeping special projects running smoothly for Rach, all the while taking a bite here and a bite there as he samples and shares local flavor from across the country, from taco trucks to fancier finds. See what’s On Kappy’s Plate!