Since being named Rolling Stone’s “hot stand-up,” Aziz Ansari has risen to still more prominence as — quite memorably — the racist fruit vendor on Flight of the Conchords and a star of MTV’s Human Giant (now filming its second season). One of the latter show’s memorable skits has Aziz taking a blood oath with his co-stars Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel to visit the fictional BBQ joint KC Rib Tickler’s (having grown up in South Carolina, Aziz is indeed a barbecue fan). Though they have yet to actually shed blood over it in reality, Aziz and his co-stars are passionate about checking out newly opened spots (using Adam Platt’s reviews as a pointer, we’re happy to hear!). We asked him where he’s been this week.
Sunday, November 11
I met up with fellow Human Giants Paul Scheer and Jason Woliner for a brunch at Park Avenue Autumn. I got the fried-chicken-and-waffle sandwich and did a 50-50 split with Jason on his fried eggs with filet mignon. I’m fiercely in love with L.A.’s Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles and basically set myself up for disappointment with my ordering choice. I had to request maple syrup! Really? I was gonna have chicken and waffles with some fancy maple mustard?! Jason’s filet mignon was great, but the eggs didn’t do it for me.
For dinner, I went to the always reliable/clichéd food-nerd hot spot Momofuku Ssäm Bar. I went with Paul and my friend Merlin after we checked out No Country for Old Men. Even the ruthless Chigurh would have to give it up for the Ssäm Bar’s delicious steamed pork buns and hangar-steak ssäm.
Monday, November 12
On Monday, we were shooting Human Giant, so my lunch was from catering. I went with some pasta and a salad. (I opted out of their makeshift Thanksgiving turkey and dressing dishes.) After the shoot, a lot of the crew went out for drinks for a farewell gathering for our makeup artist Juliet at 2A. After a few drinks I got hungry and knew exactly what to do — two delicious carne-asada tacos, please! Oh, hello, Snack Dragon on 3rd Street and B! I’d put it up against any late-night drunken/snack offering in the city.
Tuesday, November 13
Tuesday morning I got an early e-mail from a friend about this thing called the Waffle Truck. After a positive experience with the Dessert Truck last week, my openness to truck-served food was quite large. I headed over very quickly after seeing the pictures of Nutella, strawberry, and whipped cream drenched over Belgian waffles on their Website. The waffle and Nutella were pretty good, especially considering their truck-based origins.
For lunch, I met up with Paul, and we headed to Frankies Spuntino 17. This place is near my house, and their sandwiches are a great small snack. I always get the sweet soppressata and provolone. I was tempted to get the cavatelli pasta, but I held back.
I met up with my friend Deana for dinner, and we went to Bun. I’d been meaning to go here for weeks but was waiting for a group to go with me to maximize small-plate exposure. I decided to just pull the trigger. I made the right call. Bun was fucking awesome. We started off with a bang with the duck spring rolls. We then got the hangar steak and rice-vermicelli bun and the crispy sea bass. Both were excellent, but shit got real when the guinea hen arrived. It’s served in a pot where its juicy tenderness awaits. Right by that pot, some sticky rice with — wait for it — tiny slices of duck sausage! Holy fuck, it was good.
Wednesday, November 14
I had some Daisy May’s BBQ for lunch. I went for the delicious beef-brisket sandwich.
For dinner, I’d been meaning to bring my fellow Human Giants Paul and Jason by Little Owl for a while. I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to squeeze in as a walk-in with a party of three, but the staff let us in to their delicious abode. We did a three-way split of each course. For our appetizers — the cavatelli, the artichoke, and the gravy meatball sliders. For our main entrées we went with the crispy chicken, the pork chop, and the lamb shank. All were excellent. We topped it off with their great chocolate cake with espresso gelato and the raspberry-filled doughnuts with Nutella.
Thursday, November 15
I swung by another reliable favorite, Caracas. I got the always tasty pabellon arepa and the de pollo arepa (with grilled paisa instead of Cheddar — this substitution takes the arepa to a whole other level, trust me!). And to round it out, their delicious passion-fruit juice. Another great lunch courtesy of the nice folks at Caracas.
Related: They Might Be Giants [NYM]
