Forgive my tardiness this week, I was watching the Met carpet and got severely distracted.
This week is special, a newsletter devoted to *arguably* one of the greatest culinary feats in recent history. Someone decided romaine, a hard salty cheese, anchovies, and big croutons should be put together in a bowl, married with an emulsified, lemony, mustardy, peppery dressing. It does sound like the best thing in the world because it kinda is, and I am here to tell you I am not really patient with caesar salad slander. I am, however, wary of how many caesar salads exist in the world, especially in New York City. The caesar market is completely oversaturated with every restaurant from classic American diners to French brunch spots highlighting one on their menu. As you can imagine, so many caesars in one city can not all be created equal, some really and truly stand above the rest. A subpar caesar will never do, especially when I am getting charged $19+ for one.
I can’t even get into the caesar salad wrap craze, that’s an entirely different food group that Tik Tok has covered 100 million times. Milano Market is very good and I will leave it at that.
I have tried so many caesar salads, although certainly not all of them. My judgements are based off of dressing quantity, lettuce selection, anchovy additions, and topping ratios. If the lettuce is wrong the whole thing is a bust; if there is no cheese and 400 croutons, that is also no good. The following salads have passed my litmus test for the best of the best and the good news is they’re all really close to one another… which is a little bit weird. Is there a caesar equivalent to what the internet named the “pizza corridor” in Williamsburg? The anchovy trail? Should I trademark that? Anyways, enjoy.
Leo
Has been featured before, will be featured again. Leo’s caesar salad actually changed between the summer of 2021 and the summer of 2022 which, at first, was not exactly exciting. Large romaine leaves were swapped with little gems and treviso, the breadcrumb quantity decreased as did the portion size. HOWEVER! While in 2021 when I first had a Leo caesar, I was convinced it was the best of its kind, three years later I maintain that statement despite its changes. Through its iterations, the flavor of this salad has remained consistently delicious. A lighter leafy green is paired with a bitter red radicchio, the addition of sourdough breadcrumbs***note, not croutons***is a generous revelation, and the dressing is sufficiently anchovy-y.
One of my favorite things to order, at one of my favorite places, at any time of day—this salad is rich yet light, its creamy and sharp, the leaves are well-dressed, the breadcrumbs add a crunch without scraping the top of your mouth or requiring serious fork-stabbing. At a stunning $16, this is my meal of choice. If you need me, I will be at the slice shop all summer drinking wine and eating caesars.
In the images below you can see, from left to right, a 2021, 2022, and 2024 Leo caesar. Please play a minor game of spot-the-difference if you please!
For more Leo….
Diner
A new addition to my “Favorites,” and almost exclusively because of the caesar salad. I went to Diner just last week with Hallie for the purpose of this newsletter and rounding out my research. If you haven’t been, Diner’s whole shtick is the retro ambience they have established in a nearly century-old Pullman Dining Car. The restaurant is dark, moody, and not overly sophisticated. Diner does maintain an air of class despite the sheets of paper pulled over each tabletop, the canvas for the menu to be written out by your server upon sitting down. Central to Diner’s ethos is their relationship to the produce and meat they procure from farms in the greater tri-state area. With seasonal availability in mind, the menu changes often and is therefore presented to you, live from your table, to reflect what is being sourced and prepared that very day.
Diner is, in the world of New York restaurants, the eldest of many nepo-siblings. Andrew Tarlow and Mark Firth opened Diner in 1998 and, since its opening over two decades ago, Tarlow and Firth have established some of Brooklyn’s most quintessential specialty stores, bars, and restaurants. For your knowledge, these are the masterminds behind Marlow & Sons, Roman’s, Achilles Heel, She Wolf Bakery, and my personal favorite, Stranger Wines. This is not even an exhaustive list of what the pair has established together, as purveyors of good food, good wine, and good provisions throughout Brooklyn. I don’t think you will have the best meal of your life at any of these places, but I am fairly certain they won’t be bad. Diner is fun and easy, the menu is straight-forward and appealing, the wine and cocktails are consistently delicious.
The caesar, to return to why we are here in the first place, is in a league of its own. For $19 dollars, it is enormous. It is also difficult to eat which I willingly forgave because it was so good. The romaine isn’t even sort-of trimmed or cut allowing large green leaves to drape over a sharing plate with additions of radicchio, as is the Brooklyn way. Croutons are cut from She Wolf sourdough—they are enormous and crunchy and impossible to pick up with a fork. The anchovies are rich and salty and the dressing coats the lettuce just enough so you can’t totally tell it’s a salad in the first place. Most importantly, the salad is finished with a blanket of shaved parmesan. Have we all heard the “parm arm” phenomenon originated at Don Angie due to the generous coating applied to their Chrysanthemum salad? I image the Diner kitchen has a reliable parm arm, too.
You should go to Diner, at least for the salad. I also really enjoyed their french fries. If you would like more deets on this here dinner, please let me know I would be happy to share.
*Diner reservations open 3 weeks out but aren’t too difficult to snag last minute!*
Chez Ma Tante
The bad news is, Chez Ma Tante is temporarily closed due to construction. Hopefully, they will reopen as expected before 2024 closes out. Also bad news, I still haven’t been for dinner service, though prior to their February closure I was a frequent patron of their brunches (even as a mild brunch hater). For the sake of honesty, the people visiting CMT for brunch on the weekends are some of my least favorite people I have encountered in New York and are a huge deterrent to going, even though the pancakes are ridiculous and the caesar is perfect. The staff is so nice and I am always happy to wait when I go in without a reservation, I just can’t stand their customers—what does that say about me do we think?
In the daylight, Chez Ma Tante’s interior, like its exterior, is minimal and dainty. White painted brick walls offer a stark contrast to the dark wood bar and seating. The space always feels bright, and often feels crowded. I am partial to sitting at the bar or outdoors, where I think you get the most space! I sincerely hope they reopen soon so you all can enjoy the absolute treat that is splitting a pancake and a salad with someone for breakfast.
Like Leo, the lettuce CMT uses is a mixture of crisp greens and beautiful castelfranco, a nice balance of mild and bitter. They also caught onto the genius of a breadcrumb topping, which we should all collectively adopt as the salad norm so we don’t fling croutons across the room trying to pick them up. I am especially fond of the long, thicker shavings of cheese that they use, and the generous anchovies garnishing the salad. Their dressing is less creamy and more on the vinaigrette side, a bit more lemony and a bit less rich. No complaints here—given the stick of butter that is included in an order of their pancakes it is a well-executed balance. I also really love their quiche, egg sandwich, and various smoked fish plates, though I hardly stray from the order photographed below. It is just too good.
*Check Chez Ma Tante’s instagram for updates on reopening! I will be patiently waiting.*
If I allowed myself an unlimited list, The Fly would absolutely be on here. Try their caesar too <3
Where to next…
Don Angie (I have to go once, right?)
See you next week and drop a comment if you have topic and/or neighborhood requests xo
never realized anchovies was a caesar essential !!!
Diner YES.