It’s no secret that we love to eat at R & B. While we don’t need a special occasion to do it, having one never hurts. For R& B founder Moira’s birthday last week, we literally went hog-wild with the whole pork butt dinner at Hell’s Kitchen BBQ standby Daisy May’s. The joint is operated by Adam Perry Lang, a protégé of Daniel Boulud, who worked in several high-end fine dining establishments (Daniel, Le Cirque) before turning his hand to the pit. His pork recipe won 1^st place at the Kansas City World Series of BBQ a few years back, and it didn’t disappoint. The butt itself, slow-cooked and torn to saucy shreds, feeds about six—but this being Moira’s birthday, we had twice as many people, so meaty reinforcements were called into order, in the form of ribs, brisket bits, barbecued chicken, and burnt ends in giant plastic bowl. Oh, and did we mention that we also got macaroni and cheese, Texas toast, collard greens, baked beans, and coleslaw? Because we ordered that, too. And beer. We are by no means peckish eaters, but this was a lot, even for us. The pork butt was served in its own chafing dish, complete with a Sterno burner underneath to keep it warm and juicy. Everything else came out picnic-style, on giant platters with plastic utensils. (Highlight? Burnt ends. Why are these not the next faddish food trend? The only thing missing was a bib.

Daisy May’s is a great place for a large-scale meat celebration, but you don’t have to completely pig out (get it? Sorry, sorry) to enjoy a meal there: swing by for lunch or dinner any day of the week. Just don’t forget the Wet-Naps.

Daisy May’s BBQ USA

623 11th Ave. (corner of 46th St.)

212-977-1500

Here at Rum & Blackbird, we love our exotic eats, but classic desserts are always on our mind, too! When our sweet tooth kicks in, we follow the sugar-dusted, homey smell of fresh-baked pie right to Little Pie Company in Hell’s Kitchen. While the aromas might bring you back to your childhood, this isn’t your grandmother’s pie: check out our fave, the sour cream apple walnut pie, which leaves us scraping our plates, to savor every last bite.

 What makes this pie so special? Two words: crust crumb. Say goodbye to flaky pie crusts—once you’ve had this crumb topping, traditional pie will never be the same. You’ll always be wishing for the crunch. On top of that, the sour cream gives the pie filling a creamy tanginess that melds perfectly with the crunchy brown sugar and walnut struesel on top. Instead of chunky apple slices, the pie filling is artfully crafted with thin slices of Granny Smith apples, piled high, with a bit of crunch.

The best part? Waiting on a retro diner stool at the cherry-red countertop while your pie warms up in the oven. It’s nostalgia with a twist.  

Little Pie Co., 424 West 43rd Street, New York – (212) 736-4780

Here at Rum & Blackbird, lunch is the most important meal of the day. The best way to do lunch? Make it a smorgasbord. Today we had a takeout adventure, visiting two completely different parts of Asia, from the comfort of the R&B headquarters in Hell’s Kitchen. We sampled Afghani cuisine from Ariana, and Japanese fusion from Ajisai. Our kitchen counter morphed into a colorful buffet, with everything from teriyaki and sushi to hand-pulled Afghani noodles and pumpkin curry. What did we like best? Read on:

 Alyssa’s Take: My top picks from our lunch adventure were the Spinach Samusa from Ariana and the Vietnamese Spring Rolls from Ajisai. For the Spinach Samusa I was expecting a crispy, Indian-style samosa, but was pleasantly surprised to receive a spinach dumpling more reminiscent of a mini-empanada. They were simple, and thankfully, not too greasy. The Vietnamese Spring rolls showcase the pan-Asian quality of Ajisai, where there is not only sushi on the menu, put pad thai and Indian pancakes as well. The spring rolls were the perfect summer appetizer. They were lightly fried and chock-full of rice vermicelli and funky black mushrooms. My favorite part of the lunch battle royal? Cross-cultural condiment pairings, like dipping the Afghan bread in the spicy spring roll sauce.

 Jamie’s Take: At first glance, the menu at Ariana looks like a million other falafel and kebab joints across the city. But if you dig a little deeper, there are seriously delicious Afghani specialties to be found. I was way into the Aushe Burida from Ariana—hand-sliced noodles, topped with yogurt sauce, garlic, mint, and ground beef curry. It was hidden away on the menu under the more standard-looking kebabs and sandwiches, so I’m glad we spotted it. The noodles were thick and springy, and the spicy ground beef was nicely tempered by the mint and yogurt sauce. It wasn’t the prettiest dish, but it sure was tasty. I also really liked the tender pumpkin curry from Ariana, even if it’s more of a hearty winter dish. With all the falafel and kebab joints in Hell’s Kitchen, I’d like to put in a word for the slightly more unusual offerings at Ariana—you just have to know where to look.

Ariana: 787 9th Ave.; (212) 262-2323

Ajisai: 615 9th Ave.; (212) 757-2688

Have you ever heard of a bureka? A boreka? A boureka? A burek?

A boureka is a flaky, savory pastry that is usually filled with cheeses, meats and vegetables. Whichever way you spell the Middle Eastern delight, Gazala Place, nestled in Hell’s kitchen, is the best place to try one.

Gazala makes two versions of the delicious pastry, one with goat cheese and spinach, another with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. What makes their boureka so special?

These bourekas are unique because of the freshness of the ingredients: the goat cheese and the pastry dough are made in-house, and the spinach is never frozen. Owner Gazala Halabi buys fresh yogurt to make into goat cheese, which takes four to five days. Her bourekas stand out because of the goat cheese filling—instead of the usual feta— giving these bourekas a rich, tangy center. The dough tastes deliciously buttery, but surprisingly is made only with olive oil. The flakiness of the pastry is achieved through a two-day process of refrigerating the olive oil, cutting it and rolling bits of cold oil into the dough. Though the boureka-making process takes days, it’ll only take you a few seconds of bliss to finish one.

 –Alyssa Maldonato

Have we mentioned that it’s hot here in NYC? It’s HOT! Like, fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. And who wants eggs when it’s this sticky outside? Not us. No, we here at R & B prefer something a little cooler: the 1000 year old ice cream sandwich at tasting partner Xie Xie.

What, does the prospect of a dessert that’s been sitting for half a millenium not excite you? It should. Xie Xie’s Angelo Sosa’s (currently competing on this season’s Top Chef) dessert takes its name from a riff on the classic Chinese snack, a preserved hard-boiled egg that we can assure you is not nearly as refreshing as pastry chef David Andrew’s version. His is made up of caramel ice cream pressed between two thin cocoa wafers, and hidden within the ice cream is a stash of gooey, black, salted caramel. Refreshing? A thousand years can’t be wrong.

A few days ago was the first official day of summer, and we here at R&B are very excited. Summertime is all about sun, BBQs, and of course, beer. And we just so happen to have a great beer bar around the corner from the R&B HQ in Hell’s Kitchen–Pony Bar, which is dedicated to serving up America’s finest craft beers. This place has 20 (20!) craft beers on tap at all times, plus two hand-pumped cask ales, all of which are doled out for a measly $5 a pop. There’s a lot of yeasty goodness to choose from at Pony Bar, but now that the temperature is a-risin’, we have eyes only for limited-edition summer ales. A recent fave: Saranac’s summer brew, a European-style blend of German Radler lager and lemonade.

Seriously. Lemonade + Beer= So. Refreshing!

It’s brewed in upstate New York, but one sip will take you out of the smoggy city heat and into your own relaxing, breezy paradise. Crisp and light, with a lovely citrus sweetness, this is our new go-to summer brew. Grab some for yourself: Pony Bar is located at 637 10th Ave (45th St.), and you just might see us there.

A lovely midweek lunch at the Rum & Blackbird headquarters, from our neighbors Sullivan St. Bakery. Sullivan’s owner, Jim Lahey, has racked up all sorts of buzz (see here) for his patented low-yeast, no-knead breadmaking method, and has even authored a book (the appropriately named “My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method“) on the subject. But in addition to loaves of gorgeous pane pugliese and filones, the Sullivan St. wholesale home base in Hell’s Kitchen also doles out simple, expertly constructed paninos for a quick, rustic-style lunch (and only lunch; they’re almost always sold out by midafternoon).

Our little picnic consisted of breadcrumb-dusted gruyere-and-zucchini pizza; cremini mushroom and thyme pizza; marinated beet, arugula, and goat cheese panino; and the brilliant PMB (pancetta, mango, basil and chili powder) panino. The panini bread was, unsurprisingly, killer–light and chewy, with a hint of salt; while the pizza has enough crustal integrity to stand up to a hurried jog from the bakery to R & B. Now that’s a revolutionary lunch.