Sunday, September 2, 2007

W 14th St Food




Since the purchase of my bike just a few weeks ago, getting around town has been easier than ever. Besides dodging taxis, surviving oncoming traffic and the hidden pot holes of death - it's not too bad. You get exercise, build quad muscles and get to burn calories.

Ah yes, burning calories.

After burning all those calories, one can only be expected to fill themselves back up with energy-providing food. And when that one person just happens to find themselves in the lovely, quaint, cobblestone-infested land of the Meatpacking District where better to satiate one's hunger other than a pie shop and burger joint?

How American.

In an article I did for Valentine's Day '06, I made sure to highlight Little Pie Company for its famed Sour Apple Walnut. Decadent, blissful and buttery throughout - I knew I had found the ultimate pie slice of New York. Yet in the back of my head, I always had a desire to try the dark cousin of Sour Apple, Mississippi Mud. How it's a cousin, or even related to the former, I have no idea.

However, after trying it just the other day I've come to the conclusion that this mud pie definitely has the consistency of bottom-of-a-river mush. True to what I'd expect the Mississippi's riverbed to be like - covered in silt, oil and sludge from all those Old-Bessie boats - the pie was dense, rich and mucky.

Sadly, it was too mucky. Too leaden, too viscous and overly gummy. Lacking any sort of pie-like construction, this plop of brownie-epoxy kept me wondering if any form of food in the shape of a triangle could pass for 'pie'.

It's flavor was that of intense dark cocoa and butter. Had I been in the need of a deep-moisturizing lather that day, I could've rubbed Mississippi Mud lovingly across my body. Only with the assistance of a sad, whipped cream blob to the side was I able to gulp each slice down.

Horrible, not so much. But in need of a layer of either solid chocolate ganache or a discernible crust (for structural purposes), yes.

If the authenticity of mud is what Little Pie Company was going for, they got it. But if taste and enjoyment - similar, if not paralleled to cousin Sour Apple Walnut - was what they're trying for, I suggest keep searching.

But I'm optimistic, since there's always room to grow for the little guys.

Little Pie Company
407 W 14th St @ 9th Ave
Mississippi Mud Pie
$3.79

Pop burger = horrible, peppery, all eye candy, insipid thousand island dressing. Worst idea ever. Overcooked meat, tasted of pepper-meatloaf and wished I had never felt the emotional need to try the place. But I'm sure stoners would love the place. Or those in search of a New York White Castle substitute.

Pop Burger
60 9th Ave @ W 15th St
(2) Pop Burgers
$6.50

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