Zinc Bar, 82W. Third St., Mulberry St., at Prince Street (David Levenson / Rex Features)
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, 533 Henry St., Brooklyn Heights (
)
PDT, 113 St. Marks Place, between First Avenue and Avenue A (
)
DANIEL Humm has nice things to say about the competition. (
)
Daniel Humm has nice things to say about the competition. The chef of Eleven Madison Park (which received three Michelin stars after he took over from his mentor, Danny Meyer) is enthralled with the food of his adopted city. “I love old-fashioned New York,” declares Humm, who also just came out with “Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook.” The 36-year-old from Switzerland, came to the city six years ago but knows secret spots to get hot dogs, the best place to take kids (specifically his kids) for pizza and plenty more for the hungry gourmand. This is his foodie New York.
PHOTOS: DANIEL HUMM’S NEW YORK
1 Parm and Torrisi Italian Specialties, 248 and 250 Mulberry St., at Prince Street
“For a casual restaurant, I like Torrisi. At Torrisi, they don’t have a fixed menu, so you never really know what to get, but whatever they [make is good.] I go there usually for dinner — but I’ve been [to Parm] for sandwiches. The chicken parm is excellent.”
2 Zinc Bar, 82 W. Third St., between Thompson and Sullivan streets
“I love jazz, and there’s a big connection with Eleven Madison. We play a lot of jazz in the dining room because a couple of years ago we got a review in the New York Observer that was 3½ stars and they said they ‘wish this place had a little more Miles Davis.’ I didn’t know what that meant. I listened to a lot more Miles Davis . . . This got taken into our mission statement. Zinc Bar is a great place to go see jazz on Tuesday nights . . . all the great jazz musicians played there. It’s now where a lot of the younger musicians play.” The space was a jazz club in the ‘40s where Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk performed.
3 Westside Highway
“I’m an avid runner; I go on the runner’s track along the Westside Highway . . . New York is a great running city, [and running is] definitely good for a chef. You do taste a lot of foods that are maybe not so healthy. I love eating, so this allows me to eat whatever I want.” When Humm finishes at the other side of the bridge? He often gets “pizza at Grimaldi’s — to undo all the good that I just did.”
4 Kitchen Arts & Letters, 1435 Lexington Ave., between 93rd and 94th streets
“This is probably the best cookbook store in America — we just did a cookbook signing there. They were really excited to have us. It’s cool to have our book in such a great place . . . I love cookbooks. I have a huge collection.”
5 PDT, 113 St. Marks Place, between First Avenue and Avenue A
“You know the hot dog place, Crif Dog? Have you ever been through the phone booth there? [On the other side], they serve the ‘Humm Dog,’ [which Humm collaborated on]. It’s wrapped with bacon, then it’s just fried, and it comes with Gruyere, celery, relish and black truffle mayonnaise.”
6 The Raines Law Room, 48 W. 17th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues
“We have ourselves a pretty amazing bar, and our bartender [Leo Robitschek] is pretty in the know about the great bars of the city. Raines, which breaks down their cocktail menu, [by ‘Tall & Fizzy,’ ‘Stirred & Potent,’ ‘Short & Shaken’] is really comfortable. It’s one of the most beautiful bars in New York.”
7 Bohemia, 57 Great Jones St., between Bowery and Lafayette streets
“It’s behind a Japanese butcher shop, you really have to know where you’re going to get there. There are about 20 seats, and it feels like being in someone’s living room. They have great whole fish. It has a Japanese sensibility — and a Japanese chef.”
8 Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, 513 Henry St., Brooklyn Heights
Before dessert is served at Eleven Madison, Humm offers a unique palate cleanser: an egg cream. “We thought it’s really fun and refreshing, too.” [Humm’s egg cream involves vanilla malt, olive oil and sea salt.] The first place he tried the egg cream was at Eisenberg’s [174 Fifth Ave., between 22nd and 23rd streets]. “It’s a real old- school place . . . It was just a regular chocolate egg cream with U-bet syurp, milk, seltzer water, stirred with a spoon.” But for a really spectacular one, he takes the family to Brooklyn Farmacy. “That has a new style—a little more like we do it.”
9 Mast Brothers Chocolate Factory, 105A N. Third St., Brooklyn
“These are two brothers [Michael Mast,near right, and Rick, not pictured], making the most amazing chocolates in America. They’re out of Brooklyn. We use their chocolate at the restaurants — they make great gifts. I’m from Switzerland, so I grew up with great chocolate. They have a little store where you can stop by — it’s very cool, and they’re all about organic and local. Of course, the cocoa bean’s not a local product; [they] get their cocoa beans from a sailboat, so they’re not using any energy to get that.”
10 Franny’s, 295 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn
“When we go, we get the charcuterie and the clam pizza. What I love about Franny’s — since I have kids — is they have a garden in the back. In the summer on a Sunday, I go with my kids and my wife, drink some wine and have good food — it’s great.”