Guest Food Adventure: Jillian Tamaki at Sel de Mer
Jillian Tamaki is one kick-ass illustrator and she happens to be a kick-ass person as well, which in our minds, made her the perfect partner for our newest special guest food adventure! She’s the artist behind the awesome graphic novel Skim and she’s also published a book of collected illustrations called Gilded Lilies. You’ve probably seen her work in The New York Times, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, or The New Yorker, just to name a few. Originally from Calgary, Canada, she currently lives here in Brooklyn, NY, with her talented husband Sam Weber (who also joined us for dinner along with our honorary NumNum partner Joel Speasmaker). Since she’d read about Sel de Mer (347 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn) in New York mag, and had passed it running errands in the neighborhood, she picked this newish Williamsburg seafood spot for our culinary adventure and we, of course, didn’t object. 
Sel de Mer’s smallish space is nice, as Jillian noted: “It felt homey and cozy without being overly conceptual.” The light is low and warm and the whole place has a vintage sea vibe (the menus are crafted from old book covers!). It’s also one of those restos where the list of specials is longer than the menu and you have to rely on your server’s recollection to get a full grasp of the offerings. Our waitress did a pretty good job but I laughed in my glass of pinot grigio when Jillian said, ” I wish she wasn’t chewing gum!” I’m a sucker for a bread basket and Sel de Mer did not disappoint. They served it warm with a dish of butter that was sprinkled with sea salt (the combo is my new favorite snack!)
We started the meal with an oyster sampler, a must for any self-respecting seafoodie. $9 for a 1/2 dozen (three from the West coast, three from the East) made it a pretty affordable app and the watermelon relish that accompanied it as a topper sealed the tasty deal. After polishing them off, along with a bowl of mixed olives ($4), we were ready for our entrees.
Jillian got one of the specials: Cobia with Israeli couscous and artichokes. She said it was perfectly cooked and totally delicious, but that didn’t stop her from having a bit of dish-envy when Joel’s fish and chips arrived (see below for proof of their epicness), as she told us later. “I try to restrain myself from ordering fries all the time (because believe me I would…nothing beats a fried potato), but I’ll be back with a friend to order a fish and chip tower to share. That thing has been haunting my dreams!!”
New York mag recommended the fishcake sliders, so that’s what I went for. A huge amount of food for not a whole lot of moolah (I forgot to write down the price but I think they were $12? I blame the pinot). Seriously, one of these puppies was enough for a meal. The fact that the fishcakes came served on a toasted English muffin though, gave me a serious college flashback (since nearly every meal I ate as an undergrad included those staple nooks ‘n crannies). I skipped the coleslaw altogether (not a fan!) and still took half the plate home with me.
The fish and chips, also comparatively cheap at $15 (all of the specials were $20+) were pretty much the meal’s piece de resistance: enormous hunks of crispy, battered fish and a salty stack o’ fries. Delish. (Though the tartar sauce left much to be desired.)
Sam likes eating any fish that comes whole, so he looked this guy in the eye for a second before grabbing his fork and digging in.
For those of us who like our fish without a face, Caroline got the Chilean sea bass special which came atop ratatouille with a really flavorful saffron-infused sauce.
And since it’s not a complete food adventure without a dessert course, we ordered the only sweet thing Sel de Mer was offering that night: creme brulee. The light, custardy brulee was a not-too-sugary finale to a seafare-filled meal. Our favorite part? That first, satisfying crack!
Read on for some of Jillian’s food-related insight and a peek at her kick-ass illustration.
What’s your favorite meal to eat out? Your favorite meal to stay in and cook?
My favourite [Ed's note: See? She's Canadian!] eat-out meals are those which are excellent and cheap. Thankfully, they are plentiful in NYC. I just came back from my hometown of Calgary, Alberta, where Vietnamese food is available on every corner. I don’t know how to make proper bún at home, so that’s probably my favourite thing to eat out. I’ve only found two places in NYC that do it as well as they do in Calgary. My favourite thing to cook is probably soup. You can’t beat soup and sandwiches.
What’s your earliest food memory?
Peeling Chicken McNuggets. Did you know that the round ones are white meat and the oblong ones with the foot are dark meat?
What’s your can’t-live-without food item?
Bread.
Do you have a favorite cookbook?
I have two: Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Apparently I enjoy all-inclusive cookbooks.
What’s your go-to cocktail?
Gin and Tonic. It has been since I was 20 (the drinking age is 18 in Canada). Back then people would say, “What are you, 80 years old?!” Not so much anymore…
Any future projects?
I have a little collection of drawings and comics coming out this year called Indoor Voice. Drawn and Quarterly will be publishing it!
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sam has really hairy arms. food looks cool too.
Comment by josh — January 28, 2010 #