Featured Chef

Presenting our Featured Chef

Carrie Levin

Carrie Levin, the Chef and Owner of Good Enough to Eat, was born in New York City, but moved with her parents and her little brother to Belgium at the age of five. She grew up in Brussels, learning French (and a smattering of Flemish) and spending a lot of time in the two small restaurants her family owned there.

Her grandparents, who still lived in the States, would often visit during Carrie's school vacations, taking the family on eating tours of different European countries. Their generosity meant Carrie spent many of her holidays eating, playing—and sometimes cooking—in the kitchens of some of the biggest hotels in Europe.

After completing college in Aix-en-Provence, France, Carrie attended Pru Leith's School of Food and Wine in London. Returning to New York in October 1979, she worked briefly at the Russian Tea Room, where she met her husband-to-be, William Perley. Her fluency in French soon helped her land an apprenticeship under Seppi Renngli, then Head Chef at the Four Seasons. Carrie acknowledges Seppi as her biggest influence and inspiration, dedicating her cookbook, Bountiful Home Cooking (with Ann Nickinson, Simon & Schuster, 1987) to him.

In 1981, with an opportunity to open her own restaurant—and create her own menus—Carrie recognized her desire to create and serve "good, old-fashioned American food." She partnered with Ann Nickinson, a talented cook operating a small take-out and catering business on Amsterdam Avenue, and together they opened the first Good Enough to Eat restaurant. The eatery became a huge success, noted first for its all-day, bountiful breakfasts featuring omelets, pancakes, waffles, and buttermilk biscuits. Further renown came soon with homemade soups, huge sandwiches, and classic Turkey and Meatloaf dinners, establishing Carrie—with her sophisticated European culinary training and palette —as one of the first Chef's in NYC to create and celebrate "traditional" American cuisine.

In 1989, Good Enough to Eat moved two blocks north on Amsterdam Avenue, doubling its size from 10 to 20 tables. Two years later, Carrie became sole owner and chef when Ann left the partnership to pursue other ventures.

Today, visitors from all over the world—English, German, French, Japanese—come to Good Enough to Eat to enjoy classic American food. They sit side by side with Upper West Side "regulars," enjoying wholesome, mouth-watering (and ample) plates such as Macaroni and Cheese, Lemon Parmesan Chicken, Pecan Trout, Caesar Salad, Sweet Potato Fries, the now legendary Meatloaf and Turkey Dinners, and Peach Pie with homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. The appetite for wholesome, authentic, traditional American food only seems to be growing – both here and in cultures across the globe. Carrie Levin has made it her mission to satisfy that hunger at Good Enough to Eat.

 

Featured Recipe

Sugar-Cured Bacon

INGREDIENTS:

8 rashers of Hatfield bacon
2 teaspoons of cane (sugar-in-the-raw) or light brown sugar

Prepared in the oven:

  • This is the way we cook the bacon at the restaurant.
  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the rashers (slices) of bacon on a cutting board and scrape them out with the back of a knife. This retards shrinkage. Place the rashers on a baking sheet and sprinkle each with a very slight amount of sugar. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, more of less, depending on how well done and crunchy you like your bacon.
  • Remove the bacon from the pan onto some paper towels to blot up the excess fat. Serve with practically anything else on the breakfast menu.
Prepared on the griddle on in the pan:
  • Preheat on the griddle to high heat. (A frying pan should be preheated as well, although it will heat faster than the griddle.)
  • Scrape out the bacon as described above, and place on the griddle. Sprinkle each slice with a little bit of sugar. Turn the rashers after 5 minutes and sprinkle a very little sugar on the second side. Turn again after another 5 minutes and flatten the bacon with a spatula. Continue to turn and flatted for another 10 minutes, until the bacon is cooked the way you like it.
  • Remove the bacon to some paper towels and blot away the excess fat. Serve.