Cocktails in NY vs Seattle, plus Momofuku Ssam

Well, I'm staying firmly planted right.here.in.Seattle for a while (thank goodness), but the last few weeks I've been traveling more often than not. This past weekend I was in sunny, chilly, gorgeous NYC eating my way around town. I won't drone on and on about every little thing we ate (Gramercy Tavern, Fada, Bocco Lupo, Libertine, Spotted Pig), but I'll hit the high points for you.

First, though: You probably noticed the NY Times bartending article in last week's food section, which featured hometown greats Murray Stenson and Jamie Boudreau. In the article, Tailor, the restaurant opened by WD-50 alum Sam Mason a year ago, was mentioned for its molecular gastronomy-esque cocktails. I wanted to get to WD-50 but didn't think I'd be able to fit it in, so I figured drinks at Tailor would be a decent substitute.

All the "it" boozes are accounted for on Tailor's list: rye, aquavit, Benedictine, etc. And while my Blood & Sand (scotch, sweet vermouth, cherry ale, orange head, $14) was good (especially the orange frothy head, which was bubbly and almost had a gelatin-like texture to it), the drinks across-the-board were a touch on the sweet side. I kept thinking back to the amazingly balanced rye cocktail I had at Licorous, made with Amaro, house-made bitters and a wonderfully aromatic orange twist. It had that edge from the rye but the aromatics of the orange. A much better cocktail in my mind. BTW, Tailor's signature pork belly in miso butterscotch? Kind of gross. Maybe if I'd been able to get even a slight hint of miso I'd be singing another tune, but our dish tasted like pork belly in plain old butterscotch. On top of the overly sweet cocktails, it was just too much.

On to Momofuku Ssam Bar. I'm not going to give the history behind the Momofuku craze, because if you haven't heard of David Chang or Momofuku, it'd behoove you to google one or both and read one of the hundreds of articles on him and it. But in short, David Chang is the food biz's bees knees right now, and after trying to get into his ramen bar almost three years ago and showing up 8 MINUTES LATE (back then they closed from 3 to 5pm), I was determined to make it to Chang's second spot, the Ssam Bar, at least for lunch.

Chang's pork buns--essentially braised pork belly in little spongey taco shell-shaped soft buns, with a smattering of pickled cucumbers, cilantro and a touch of hoisin--are a rare case of living completely up to all of the orgasmic buzz they've garnered. I mean, with a little squeeze of Sriracha, those little guys are nothing short of fatty, porky, meaty awesomeness. Yes, I said awesomeness! You get two of the little guys for $9, which is relatively steep. Still, after trying the pretty-good octopus salad and the very good (but $9!!) banh mi, we went back and ordered two more buns. Those babies might be the best thing I tasted during my entire trip to NYC.

Now I just want to get back to Licorous for my favorite cocktail.