The bread is excellent (a little tip: make sure to ask for the sweet butter as opposed to the chive butter). For appetizers the farro risotto is a great non-traditional take on a typically heavy dish. Light and loose, the wild rice is tossed with roasted foraged mushrooms, sautéed with porcini broth and truffle emulsion. Other delectable autumn choices include the crispy duck confit salad (served atop mesclun greens, butternut squash, honey-roasted peanuts, asian pears and scallion-shiitake relish), the seared Atlantic salmon celeriac purée with sweet baby carrots, pearl onions and hen of the woods mushrooms and the lobster bordelaise. Appetizer and entrée portions are small so be sure to order accordingly.

The dessert selection was surprisingly gourmet. Molecular gastronomy techniques were employed for the sweet corn ice cream with white-chocolate cornmeal cake, molasses popcorn, caramel sauce, lime powder, and corn tuile. Another unique and popular choice is the goat cheese pannacotta plated with stone pine liqueur-roasted figs, and quinoa tuile.

Bergamot

–Melissa Matarese

Food trucks have long been a staple feeding the hungry lunchtime masses in cities like Philadelphia and Portland. And while New York has always had its share of hot dog hawkers and coffee carts, it wasn’t until 2008 that the City’s food trucks began to take on a gourmand element of their own. Once shunned as the rejects of the of the “real” culinary world, in the past two years, food trucks have moved into the culinary fast lane with gourmet fare such as foie gras and pork belly. Even the most quintessentially traditional of trucks — the ice cream truck–has evolved thanks to Coolhaus’ Ginger-Wasabi ice cream sandwiches and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck’s Olive Oil and Sea Salt soft serve. The arrival of haute cuisine heavyweights like Michelin-starred chef Anita Lo’s Rickshaw Dumpling Bar and former Le Cirque Pastry Chef Jerome Chang’s Dessert Truck has helped to stymie the stigma which once accompanied food trucks and effectively quashed the common cart connotations of stale pretzels and shriveled hot dogs once and for all.

Abetted by the combination of layoffs, the lower start-up costs of a truck relative to a traditional brick-and-mortar box, and budget-conscious consumers seeking gourmet food experiences at a fraction of the cost of a sit-down fine-dining establishment, the food truck boom was a natural extension of recent economic downturn. Providing a natural substitute for the multitude of independent restaurants forced to shutter in light of the rapid decline in consumer demand for once highly sought-after trifles such as $5 cupcakes or $20 burgers, the proliferation of the food truck revolution was further facilitated by Facebook and the growing importance of social media. With Twitter becoming an increasingly quotidian communication medium, it has become quite easy to start a food truck and gain widespread advertising at a fraction of the cost of a traditional media campaign.

It was into this streetscape that Mexicue first hit the road last year, seeking to carve out a niche for itself amongst the already scores of trucks which had cropped up. While the accessibility and widespread popularity of the taco has lent itself to a number of Mexican fusion trucks, ranging from the Korean-Mexican Korilla to the Turkish Pera, Mexicue was the first, and to date the only, barbeque-Mexican fusion truck in the City.  The combination of American comfort food with the intricate and complex flavors of Mexican fare has created a powerful combination which has struck a chord with a wide cross-section of New Yorkers, helping Mexicue to become a favorite of both foodies and fiery-food-ophobes alike.

As Mexicue celebrates its one year anniversary and the opening of its first brick and mortar store, View from the Front Row sat down with Thomas Kelly, co-founder of Mexicue, to talk about the company’s rapid growth trajectory and what to expect over the coming year.

Rachel Horowitz: Whose idea was the truck and how did you guys get your start?

Thomas Kelly: When I moved to New York, I started off doing marketing for local publications and I also started working in kitchens in New York. I was very curious about that world and have always loved food. I have been cooking for a long time and was trying to determine whether I wanted to get into the fine dining world in New York, so I started working at Craft as an intern. I worked at Craft and then Hearth for six to seven years — unpaid the whole time — and would go for five or six hours after work, which was a great experience and taught me that food was my passion, but also taught me that the fine dining world in New York was not for me, both because of the lifestyle and the whole culture of fine dining in New York. I decided that I definitely wanted to be doing something in food though, and I pursued those parallel paths for seven or eight years until [co-founder] Dave [Schillace] approached me about a year and a half ago with the idea for starting a food truck.

He was doing medical device sales but was done with the corporate world and wanted to do something more entrepreneurial. He didn’t have a restaurant or culinary background but was intrigued by the trend of food trucks and he approached me about helping to develop a menu and we started cooking in my kitchen in Prospect Heights. At that point, I ended the media marketing part of my career, and at the time was doing some social media and online marketing, which ended up being a perfect segue into the marketing we do for Mexicue, which is so heavily tied into social media.

RH: Have you been thinking about opening a brick and mortar store for a while, or was the truck more of the focus at the outset?

TK: I think brick and mortar was always at the back of our minds. We wanted to take advantage of the whole food truck trend and get ourselves out there and see how the model unfolded first and the truck was a great way to get out there and test the market and see if people would take to this type of food. The truck helped out with that so we were sure that there would be enough demand to justify a brick and mortar store. I think it also helped us build a following so that once we did open an actual store, we already had an established customer base.

RH: How did you come up with the idea to do Mexican barbecue?  What was the inspiration for the concept?

TK: In terms of the decision to do Mexican barbecue, that’s something that I have been cooking at home for a long time. I am from Minnesota originally, but I have always loved both types of food and growing up we cooked a lot of Southern-style barbecue and then I cooked a lot of Mexican in college. I think we also decided to go with Mexican barbecue because both foods are really accessible and have mass appeal. However, we took two accessible styles of food that people like and then elevated them, so we are doing things that you can’t get at your average Mexican or barbecue restaurant.

RH: Why do you think the food truck craze caught on in New York City, and more specifically, amongst the dozens of trucks which have popped up over the past two years, why do you think Mexicue has been such a tremendous success?

TK: I think food trucks really took off because they are providing good quality food at really reasonable, accessible prices. I think the other side of it is the service side. There is an inherent interaction with the customer that you have in a truck that you don’t have in a typical restaurant. One of the challenges with the [bricks and mortar] store is going to be maintaining the same level of interaction with the customer. The popularity of social media has also been critical, because it helps to create an open dialogue with the customer which is reinforced at the truck itself.  In terms of why we have been so successful, our products are really unique and I think one of the things that has helped us is that there is really nothing else like us out there. We’ve also created a brand that people have become really attached to.

RH: Did you anticipate this type of demand when you first started?

TK: Definitely not. We thought that we would be able to cook out of our first kitchen, which was extremely small, for the first three months at least, but the demand was so much greater than we expected that we outgrew it in just three weeks. After that, we had a series of kitchens but had to keep moving because each time the demand kept outpacing our new space because we were growing so quickly. We thought we would do well but we had no idea that we would have lines around the block or be featured on every food blog out there, and given the nature of the food truck industry and the impact of social media, once you begin to get featured, it really snowballs, so we grew a lot faster than we ever would have thought.

RH: To have that type of demand from the get-go is pretty incredible. Given your social media background, did you start generating demand and building a name for yourself before the truck launched?

TK: Not really. We were really excited to have that type of demand, but at the same time, we really weren’t ready for it. It was great but it was a little too much too fast at the beginning.

RH: Has it been difficult to manage the growth given how fast it came?

TK: Yeah, our kitchen crew has grown very quickly. We have 18-20 people up on Seventh Avenue, we have a catering staff of about 10-15 people that do corporate catering, music festivals, private parties, art gallery and film openings, fashion shows and other events, which at this point is about a third of the business. We will have three people at the new store and all-in, we will be 40-50 people.

RH: Wow, it’s incredible to think that just a year ago you were three people operating out of a truck and today you are almost 50 operating out of three locations. Does it ever become difficult to manage all of those people?

TK: We have actually been incredibly fortunate with all of the people we have brought on. Dave and I are friends, but we are actually great business partners as well because we have very complementary skill sets and different risk thresholds. Dave is more open to risk, while I am more risk-averse so we balance each other out well. He’s our CEO and handles a lot of the day-to-day operations and business development, while I oversee all of our product development, working with our chef in the kitchen, recipe and product development, and our marketing. I think the key for us has been bringing on people who are skilled in areas that Dave and I know we are not as knowledgeable in, and who are hard-working, smart and love food. We always look for people that are smarter than we are and who are incredibly passionate, and have been really fortunate to find a ton of great people.  Julia Collins is a great example of that. Julia joined us as our CFO last fall after working for Union Square Hospitality Group. Not only does she have a solid understanding of restaurant finance and operations, but she’s a huge food lover and passionate about Mexicue. And we love that.

RH: Let’s shift gears to the truck specifically. From a logistics perspective, how do you decide how long to take the truck out for, where to put it, etc. on a day-to-day basis?

TK: Until a few months ago, Dave was managing that whole process and then we brought on one of our guys, Adam Johnson, to manage the truck full-time. To be honest, it’s a lot of trial and error in terms of hours, location, etc. We started off doing a really solid Monday through Friday lunch and we moved around to different locations but there are a lot of issues that factor into the decision of where to park the truck. We think about where we will be busy, but we also think about other restaurants — which we want to be sensitive to — and parking regulations. It’s a lot of trial and error to find the right spots which have all the characteristics we are looking for.

RH: Speaking of being sensitive to other restaurants, some of the tensions between food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants, food trucks and the City, and even amongst food trucks themselves have been well documented. Have you encountered any hostility and how have you navigated those situations?

TK: We have made a lot of effort to develop good relationships with everyone around us and we actually haven’t encountered that much hostility as a result. We are definitely sensitive to brick and mortar restaurants and when we want to park our truck somewhere, we go in and check with them first and make sure its OK with them before we park. It’s really critical to have respect for everyone around you in this industry. Most of the trucks and owners that we have dealt with are very respectful, and I think all these “issues” that people are talking about will resolve themselves because finding a solution is in everyone’s best interest. There is a food truck association — which we are a part of — and I know they are moving forward carefully and respectfully with the City to find a solution to some of these issues and I think they are productively finding solutions that will benefit all of us.

RH: What do you think about the emerging food truck “lots” of trucks gathering together as they do in other cities to address some of the parking issues? Would you welcome the idea of being stationary and located so close to your competitors, like a food court in a brick and mortar shopping mall?

TK: We love them. We do those types of things all the time and whenever we do them it benefits all of [the trucks].  [The lots] generate a critical mass and customers tend to flock to them because they can choose from many different types of food. As our CFO likes to say “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

RH: Looking back on the past year, what has been your favorite part the job?

TK: I think the customer interaction is probably my favorite part of the job. Unlike when I was working as a pastry chef in fine dining, where I was stuck in the kitchen all the time, our business really gives us the opportunity to interact with our customers every day and hear what they have to say about the food. I think this is one of the best things about the whole food truck movement — it allows people to really become part of their dining experiences. We do things like the menu contest, where we engage our customers and poll them to see what they want on the menu. Social media is really a natural fit for food trucks because it really allows you to talk to your customers virtually, which is then reinforced with the face-to-face customer interaction in the actual truck. We have also used social media to poll our customers and to respond to their comments. For example, we respond directly to every complaint we see, which helps us to build stronger customer relationships and create long-term loyalty.

RH: How about any regrets looking back on the past year. Is there anything you would have done differently?

TK: We have been incredibly fortunate and are pretty pleased with most of the stuff we have done from a big picture perspective and I don’t really have any regrets. One interesting thing we learned early on was with catering, where we deviated from our core product a bit in order to grow that business more quickly. We learned that we are going to be most successful when we stick to our core product line and our business strategy and who we are.

RH: Do you think there will be a tipping point where there will be too many food trucks and people get tired of them?  How do you expect the food truck movement to evolve going forward?  Do you think we are currently experiencing a food truck “bubble”?

TK: I do think there is a lot of frenzy surrounding food trucks right now, some of which will likely subside, but the basic trend I think is here to stay. Food trucks are a great contribution to the culture of the City and they really help to create a more democratic food experience and make great cuisine available at much more accessible price points.

RH: You guys have had an incredible 12-months. What can we expect out of the Mexicue team over the next year?

TK: Dave and I have a few other concepts that we have tossed around but Mexicue is really our focus for now. The brick and mortar stores and catering will become a lot more important to the overall business and the truck will become a smaller piece. The trucks will not keep up with that growth because it’s just too difficult.  A lot of people think that the trucks are easier to operate but people definitely underestimate the costs and the level of work required to maintain the truck. You have to deal with permitting issues, the truck breaking down, weather, etc. There are a lot of unique challenges and costs that come along with operating a truck. It’s a lot easier to start a truck but a lot harder to maintain. Going forward, the truck will be more of a marketing vehicle than anything else. We will be opening [the Lower East Side] restaurant in the late summer or early fall and we would like to do other stores afterwards. After our truck experience and all of the challenges we have dealt with there, we definitely feel that we are prepared to handle the challenges [that come with] brick and mortar stores. We would ideally like to open a few more brick and mortar stores in the city and then perhaps replicate the process with trucks and then stores in other markets.

To learn more about Mexicue visit Mexicue.com and follow them on Twitter @Mexicue

–Rachel Horowitz

Chicken katsu, at only $11, is a hearty portion of crispy chicken breast served in a bowl of rice and finished with an egg. With it comes a plate of shredded cabbage salad that can be coated in miso dressing.

With a line out the door, know that this is not your leisurely luncheon spot — but the tasty food and great prices make it worth it.

Katsuhama

11 East 47th street (between Madison and 5th)

Katsuhama.com

– Melissa Matarese

Fried artichokes are crispy and accompanied with fresh lemon. The Tropicale salad of romaine lettuce, hearts of palm, avocado, tomatoes, and shrimp is topped with a citrus vinaigrette. My favorite item on the menu is the Calamaretti Alla Griglia, grilled calamari steaks that are a special treat and difficult to find, plated with arugula salad and finished with balsamic. Ask for the Calamari atop of your favorite salad.

For pastas, Brio’s red sauce is solid. Rigatoni Norma with friend eggplant, plum tomato sauce, and ricotta salata was a steal for $13 and beats many upscale Italian restaurants. Also of note is the Cavatelli Romanesco, a hand-made pasta with cauliflower, esposito sausages and hot chili flakes.

–Melissa Matarese

That is why I was so happy to attend their New York press preview to get to see what all of the fuss is about first hand. I sampled just about every ice cream flavor available thanks to the barrage of generous samples Case handed my way. I was surprised to find that some of the oddest flavors like foie gras and brown butter candied bacon were amongst the yummiest. Some of the traditional flavors were also delicious–including the dirty mint that incorporates real mint leaves and a red velvet cake flavor with actual chunks of red velvet cake in it.

To mark its New York debut Coolhaus will host a four-day giveaway from April 28th to May 1st sponsored by Firefox/Mozilla giving out free ice cream sandwiches around Manhattan. So be sure to keep your eye out for one of the Coolhaus trucks to get a jump-start on summer.

–Leah Bourne

Follow Leah on Twitter @Fromthefrontrow

The fundraiser featured 22 restaurants and was basically a one-stop shop to try the best of Boston’s foodie scene.

Chef Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger was hard at work serving a gingered sweet potato soup and happily greeting those who wished to get a book signed. Longwood Events served a fantastic cedar roasted salmon with sweet pea-heirloom carrot salad and lemon confit. Chef Jose Duarte of Taranta whipped up lamb braised green tamales to order.

If dinner were not enough to satiate appetites, Joanne Chang, chef and owner of Meyers + Chang, offered a lovely variety of desserts and Asian fare. Her meringues were filled with citrus cream and topped with blueberries. Harvard Sweet Boutique showcased a plethora of handmade chocolates and cookies, some of which are diabetic friendly to boot.

To learn more about the Joslin Diabetes Center and how you can get involved click here.

–Melissa Matarese

Pairing former Surf Lodge head chef and Top Chef alum Sam Talbot with the trendy opulence exuded by the Mondrian brand, Imperial No. 9 bills itself a sustainable seafood concept, dedicated to providing the freshest fish available. But in an era where the words “local,” “organic,” and “responsible” have become almost meaningless in their ubiquity, Imperial No, 9 goes well beyond merely paying lip service to the aggrandized notion of sustainability.  Appropriating the sea-to-table procurement process he pioneered at Surf Lodge, Talbot personally vets each and every purveyor to ensure that all dishes adhere to his rigorous standards of sustainability.

Beyond sourcing, Surf Lodge’s influence is also resoundingly evident in Imperial No. 9’s décor, which marries laid-back Hamptons chic with downtown swank. Split into two rooms, the main dining room is a massive glass-encased greenhouse adorned with trees, potted plants and a funky, slightly discordant collection of wicker and wire chairs.  Whitewashed walls and watering cans doubling as water pitchers enhance the East End garden party feel, with a wooden swing completing the effect. Conjuring images of the Garden Room at the now-defunct Tavern on the Green, the room showcases a series of ornate crystal chandeliers and assorted glass vases and urns which help create an enchanted feeling.

While no less luxurious than its verdant counterpart, in sharp contrast to the airy, spacious greenhouse, Imperial No. 9 also features a smaller, more intimate dining room with a style that is more stereotypically Soho. Despite nods to the garden party next door provided by white tables and resplendent chandeliers, the smaller room features gold and white leather banquettes and a large mirror-topped communal table more characteristic of the see-and-be-seen nightspots of nearby Kenmare Street.

The combination of posh environs, a series of high-profile after-parties during February’s Fashion Week and a star-studded opening of its own in early March have already helped the Mondrian to attract a regular clientele of celebrities and socialites alike. Given its budding reputation as one of the City’s hottest nightspots, that Talbot strives for gastronomic excellence when mediocrity would suffice makes Imperial No. 9 all the more impressive.

While Talbot offers a few storied classics including fried oysters and the requisite raw bar, he flouts the mundane orthodoxy which plagues many seafood houses with both the structure of his menu and its offerings. Loosely organized into smaller and larger dishes, rather than formal, sequential courses, dishes are served family style. Despite the potential to create confusion amongst guests, the highly attentive and well-trained staff members are more than willing to assist with menu suggestions, helping diners to order appropriately. Also defying convention are the somewhat unconventional flavor combinations which showcase Talbot’s creativity with several innovative takes on familiar seafood fare.

For example, while raw tuna is a mainstay on any serious seafood menu, Talbot’s interpretation is creatively prepared with mustard seeds and grapefruit. The bright red chunks immediately distinguish the dish, and the mustard oil finish gives the tuna an unexpected yet welcome kick.

Likewise, in contrast to the bland, overcooked chewiness often associated with octopus, Talbot’s take features large, tender pieces rubbed with a soffrito pepper paste that combines the spice of jalapeño with the saltiness of soy, the acidity of lime and a slight hint of sweetness. The result is an incredibly complex, yet delightful combination that won over even the octopus-haters in my group.

Other seafood standouts include the striped bass, which is fresh, flaky and well-seasoned, with a crisp peppery skin and topped with a light, soy-infused broth which complements the fish without overpowering it. The scallops are equally well-executed, firm and nicely browned, and are garnished with a vibrant ragout of razor clams, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms, with green onions and leeks lending a layer of color and bacon providing a subtle smoky undertone.

In perhaps the most successful variation of an old classic, Imperial No. 9’s King Crab a la Plancha features a plateful of massive crab legs, broiled and browned, with a crisp crust on top. This rendition is drizzled with a just a splash of sweet and sour butter, allowing the delicate flavors of the moist, sweet meat to speak for themselves. A garnish of garlic chips provides an interesting textural contrast and helps make the dish a virtually unanimous crowd favorite.

Despite its focus on fish, Imperial No. 9 offers a number of stellar non-seafood options, including an organic skirt steak laced with chimichurri, served with duck fat potatoes, and an Iberico pork belly with toro and a daikon dashi broth. Particularly notable is the lamb belly. Seared and sliced into thin strips, the dish has a rich, gelatinous quality and is presented atop a bed of kale checkered with mushrooms and eggplant and infused with a subtle suggestion of olive. The saltiness and slight acidity of the olive helps to cut the flavor of the meat, serving as the perfect counterpoint to the fattiness of the lamb.

Amongst smaller dishes, a number of vegetarian options reflect Talbot’s mission of sustainability, emphasizing fresh, locally-sourced produce such as organic beets and heirloom corn. The toasted couscous topped with regional roasted squash is beautifully presented, showcasing a soft, runny poached egg atop a dish of creamy couscous, so smooth as to approach a risotto-like richness. The miniature cauliflower fritters–a creamy liquefied mix of cauliflower and ricotta cheese encased by a delicate, lightly fried outer shell–are easily one of the menu’s best offerings.

While somewhat unexpected given the menu’s savory focus, desserts at Imperial No. 9 are far from an after-thought. Keeping with the theme of updated takes on old classics, Talbot’s caramel popcorn ice cream features a creamy salted caramel ice cream sprinkled with small white pearls of popcorn-flavored powder. Drawing on the avant-garde techniques of molecular gastronomy, the popcorn powder virtually explodes in your mouth, providing an unexpected burst of flavor. The brioche banana bread pudding, which alternates cubes of pudding with scoops of vanilla ice-cream, is presented over a chocolate-brushed plate and is light, airy and nothing short of heavenly. A decadent chocolate caramel tart atop a thin graham cracker crust and two dollops of whipped cream and an assorted warm cookie platter rounded out the dessert menu—the chocolate peppermint, gooey chocolate and particularly the peanut butter cookies are delicious and borderline hedonistic in their richness.

To complement the creativity of its menu, Imperial No. 9 offers an equally elaborate and inventive cocktail list. Paying homage to its Chinatown surroundings, drinks are labeled by number rather than name. Several cocktails echo menu elements, creating easy pairings; the signature No. 9, for example, features Rum, bitters, demerara sugar and coconut water, a natural accompaniment for the raw yellowtail served with black vinegar and coconut chili water. Likewise, the No. 1, a Champagne Chai concoction topped with a cooling cucumber foam, is the perfect match for the spicy cucumber kim chee. Talbot’s commitment to sustainability also permeates the wine list, which presents a number of organic offerings alongside more traditional varietals.

While it may not leave much of a carbon footprint, with its combination of top-notch cuisine, stellar service and stylish scene, Imperial No. 9 is sure to leave its mark on the City’s dining landscape, making it both an environmental and epicurean success. And despite the deluge of recent celebrity chef and hotel pairings, it is this rare trifecta that distinguish Talbot’s latest concept, and help make Imperial No. 9 nearly a 10.

–Rachel Horowitz

With the popularization of Chinese herbal medicine, healthy, eastern ingredients are working their way into western fare. Chen focuses on flavor profiles that are diabetic friendly, yet satiating. At the event, he will serve a gourmet preparation of deviled eggs, infused with green tea and bacon. Slow cooking preparation is a four-day process, enabling intensification of already strong flavors. Eggs are boiled in green tea and soaked for two-three days. Meanwhile, pork belly is steamed for three-four days during which approximately 70% of its fat content is removed, leaving behind moist, rich meat. Yolks are tossed with shallots, garlic and spices and then finished with pickled radish, cilantro, and scallions.

With a younger generation demanding interactive and innovative dining experiences, Chen finds himself creating novel dishes that pay homage to not only his roots, but also spark interest among youthful gourmands.

To purchase tickets visit Events.joslin.org/ginger

Take note of the bar and lounge area perfect for a drink before or after dinner to lounge with friends. Here, one of my favorite white wines, Villa Bucci, is served in abundance.

Fine for a neighborhood meal but not worth a trip.

–Melissa Matarese

For starters, try the artichoke velouté, garnished with crème fraiche and black truffle.  Curried prawns have great flavor, tasting like meaty lobster. For mains, the black miso cod is a heavy, buttery fish, with essence of barbeque plated with spinach and celery root. The cannoli sundae, a deconstructed version of ricotta sorbet, crumbled pistachios, chocolate, and fresh and candied orange was light yet, bland. The better choice is the coconut panacotta.

Despite small portions, intense and rich flavors are surprisingly satiating.

–Melissa Matarese