HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Happy holidays, my dear friends!! I am leaving for Asia in a less than 12 hours and of course cannot bring myself to finish packing! What else is new.

I hope you have all been really getting into the holiday spirit - especially with the recent onslaught of BLIZZARD activities!!! Despite the torrential downpour of snow ruining any potential of having a social life on Saturday night, it at least allowed me to 1. watch Blades of Glory on TV and 2. get a good night's sleep in order to prepare for a field trip to the Guggenheim on Sunday.


I hadn't been to the Guggenheim in a while, so I was happy to be able to catch the Kandinsky exhibit in its last few days on view.

But before we embarked upon our trek around the circular corridors of the Guggenheim, we decided to dine in the museum's very-recently-opened restaurant, The Wright.


As you can see the interior design of the The Wright is exceptionally modern and unique. The design of the bar area also ties back to the architecture of the museum itself - an homage to the museum's architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.


I started with the Roasted Red and Golden Beets, Sheep's Milk Cheese, Citrus, and Pistachio appetizer. Fresh and substantial. As naturally rich as vegetables can get.


I then ordered the Lobster Roll Brioche (let me see your surprised face). It wasn't the best lobster roll I've had...actually didn't even come close. They put LETTUCE in their sandwich!!! I mean, come on!!! And the roll wasn't the best carb to waste your calories on. Don't get me wrong - the sandwich was definitely edible...but if you're expecting a lobster roll, bring your hopes back down to Earth. The lobster roll slip-up, however, is by no means a reason why I will not return to The Wright. The overall quality of the food and environment of the restaurant is enough to warrant a return...to try a different dish.


Dessert really made the meal for me. I shared the Spiced Pumpkin and Chocolate Cake with Pumpkin Sauce and Pumpkin Seed Oil Ice Cream. Absolutely DELICIOUS.


Who would have thought that there would this soft, cool pumpkin puree would hiding underneath that soft layer of dark chocolate!?! Basically a slice of pumpkin pie dipped in chocolate. HEAVEN. Mixed with the pumpkin seed oil ice cream!?!?! HEAVEN WRAPPED IN HEAVEN AND THEN TOPPED WITH HEAVEN AND THEN DIPPED IN HEAVEN.

The service at The Wright was also notable - the servers were constantly attentive, wanted feedback, and were extremely friendly. Even the manager came to converse with our table. This kind of interaction always makes me want to revisit a restaurant.

And onto the exhibit. There was of course, the typical Kandinsky pieces - bright, colorful, abstract. Some pieces that caught my eye:



And other smaller works of his on paper that I had never seen before. I absolutely loved this softer, more precise and intentional side of his work.



After we had wound our way up and then down the museum, we noticed a lot of hustle and bustle in the lobby. We just so happened to be lucky enough to come on the same day as the Guggenheim's FREE HOLIDAY CONCERT!!!!


They handed out tons and tons of small Christmas cookies, cider, and juices.


And the sounds of the Vox Vocal Ensemble filled the air as they sang and walked around and around the museum's upper levels. The acoustics in this building are phenomenal!!!


They finally made their way down to the lobby level and put on a truly delightful performance of Christmas songs. There were even several songs where the audience was encouraged to sing along!!!! I left the Guggenheim on Sunday evening full of the holiday spirit and so thankful that I live in New York City!!! I hope that each of you find that special spark this season and I wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I am off to Shanghai and Seoul until January 3rd...it is my intention to blog throughout the trip, but I'm not really sure how blogging works in China...so I'll take the opportunity now to also say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

SOTO.

My mother came into the city on Thursday evening so we could attend a performance of the New York City Ballet's Nutcracker. It was absolutely lovely!!! All the young child dancers were absolutely adorable and engaging. And the principal dancers were such a pleasure to watch - they made everything look marvelously effortless and elegant. It really put me in the holiday spirit!!

We then ate dinner at Soto, a phenomenal Japanese restaurant in my neighborhood. You would never really notice this restaurant on 6th Avenue because there is no signage or name indicating it exists. The view into the restaurant is obstructed by a white wall with a few slits cut-out so you can barely peek inside.


I was feeling adventurous and wanted to try something I had never eaten before. So our first dish was the sea cucumber intestine which you mixed with seaweed and raw quail egg. Although I'm happy I gave it a chance...my brain just couldn't get over the slimy texture and the EXTREMELY salty, ocean taste.


Next up was the Chyu Toro Tar Tare, which was absolutely DELICIOUS and MIND-BOTTLING (term I stole from BLADES OF GLORY) and made me forget all about the sea cucumber intestine incident. Chopped fatty tuna with avocado coulis, garnished with caviar, chive, and nori and served in a sesame ponzu sauce. There was something mixed into the tuna tartare that really made it out of this world - but I don't quite know what it is. This has got to be, hands down, the best tuna tartare I have ever tasted in my life.


Next up was the Minute Steamed Tai, which is a quick-steamed Japanese sea bream with ginger scallion oil. This was marvelous. The thin slivers of fish were nice and soft and held the ginger and scallion flavors quite well. After the tuna tartare, this was my second favorite dish of the evening.


How could a meal with my mother go without me ordering LOBSTER. This was the Steamed Lobster with Uni Mousse dish - layers of steamed lobster and uni mousse wrapped in a lotus wrap and garnished with smoked uni and caviar. The presentation, though quite lovely, is absolutely pointless and destroyed when you actually dig into this delicious monstrosity. The crispness from the cucumber and lotus has a nice bite when paired with the creamy uni and lobster mixture. Really lovely dish, as well.


Then the Saba Ginger Roll - made of clam and ginger. I have never had clam in sushi before and it was really quite good!!!


And finally, we have the mochi ice cream dessert. Strawberry, green tea, mango, red bean, and vanilla. The strawberry was wayyyyy too artificial-tasting and who wants to eat vanilla mochi?? But the mango was very nice. As was the green tea. The red bean, surprisingly, had no taste.

This meal was fantastic. We were very impressed with most of our dishes, and it is hard to impress mothers. I will definitely come back to try some of the other unique dishes Soto has to offer!!!!

EN JAPANESE BRASSERIE.

So..in the battle between East Side vs. West Side...the one argument that I will let the East Side have is that they have really great JAPANESE FOOD...and usually for CHEAP. If only St. Mark's Place moved over 2-3 avenues...then the West Side could be considered no less than PERFECT.


However, now that I have discovered EN Japanese Brasserie a few blocks from my apartment, I am no longer quite as jealous. Although a little more on the expensive side, the food is absolutely amazing and the atmosphere is quite wonderful. There is an open kitchen where you can see piles of Japanese ceramic dishware waiting to be used. In the center of the main dining room is an extremely large center piece of branches that extends to the ceiling. A communal table surrounds the center piece on all four sides and there is also seating on the outer perimeter of the room.


Dinner started off with a good note because I ordered the Seppun - which means KISS in Japanese (how cute!!!). It is shochu with yuzu citrus, fresh grapefruit juice, and shiso. The waiter described it as a mojito...it totally wasn't but I don't care because the drink was absolutely delicious!!! Strong yuzu flavors evened out by the sour grapefruit.


EN Japanese Brasserie is very well known for their homemade tofu. It is made fresh just about every hour during the dinner service and it is absolute heaven. It comes in large creamy, milk blocks.


You scoop it into your bowl and top it with some wari-joyu, which is soy sauce that is spiked with a bit of fish broth. The creaminess of the tofu is sensational!!! This is the ice cream of the winter season. The mildness of the tofu picks up the flavor of the wari-joyu so well!! Each spoonful makes you melt inside.


Next up was our order of the Nama-Fu Sanshoku Dengaku - three different varieties of wheat cakes (sesame, yomogi, and classic) spread with miso and grilled. It is a traditional dish from Kyoto. Basically very lightly flavored mochi...I wasn't in love with the gritty, dense texture.


But not to worry because our Clay Rice Pot of salmon arrived soon after!! Make sure to allow 40 minutes for this dish to be prepared. Salmon sat gently atop a bed of rice inside the clay pot. Our waiter came over and mashed the elements together (I LOVE salmon mashed into rice - this happened to be one of my favorite dinners as a child) and scooped it into our bowls.


We were then allowed to top the rice and salmon mixture as we wished with salmon roe and some sort of green, herb thing (that was NOT seaweed). This was such a simple, comforting, delicious dish. The rice was soft and warm and just wet enough to congeal easily around the salmon bits. The refreshing pops from the salmon roe added interest to the warm mixture. And the little herb tasted familiar, but could not be identified.


Our Kani Chawamushi (snow crab egg custard) arrived along with the clay pot. I happen to LOVE steamed egg (another favorite dish of mine was mashing steamed egg into rice...notice a trend?) and I thought it could only be improved upon by the addition of crab. My one complaint about this dish was that the consistency was a bit too watery for my liking. Otherwise, the flavors were great and the crab definitely worked well with the egg.


And finally, my dessert of Flourless Chocolate Cake with a scoop of green tea ice cream. A perfectly sweet way to end an overall salty meal!!! The flourless cake was just a tad melty and fudgy in the middle. The subtle (but great) green tea flavor of the ice cream could not be tasted when eaten with the cake, but the dessert was still yammie overall.

I enjoyed EN Japanese Brasserie very much - definitely pop in for a warm, comforting Japanese meal during the winter time!!!

ALMOST-FREE SUNDAY.

HOW TO HAVE AN ALMOST-FREE SUNDAY:

1. Cling onto friends that work for companies that are patrons of the arts and donate heavily to museums and beg them to take you to the new Tim Burton exhibit at the MOMA!!!

What a great exhibit - getting a glimpse into Tim Burton's brain is mind-blowing. And being able to see the ideas and work that went behind the creation of his characters was tres interesting!!!! I also liked seeing the little side projects of his that never came into fruition. And tears from his sketch books, and letters he had written to colleagues concerning his work, and work from his younger years in school...

Some images that tickled me:

"Never shoot a constipated poodle."

"Money, love, sports, girls, questions, death...I'm too young to be thinking about these things."

Romeo and Juliet

"Ta da!"

With the money you saved on admission fees to the museum and the special exhibit, treat yourself to a snack at the museum cafe!! I happen to love eating at museum cafes all over the world- I know they are usually just terribly overpriced and usually serve pretty shazzy food...but I just can't help it. The MOMA cafe is actually a great one.


I got myself a tasting of three bruschettas - white bean basil tapenade, marinated squash, and ricotta salada; pumpkin puree with braised swiss chard toasted walnuts; and cured tuna, black olives, and lemon. Would have been yummier if the bread had been toasted!

2. Continue onwards with your Almost-Free Sunday by going to CHINATOWN for a meal!!!! I know you all are probably like - DUH JEAN, of course meals in Chinatown are cheap. WE KNEW THAT. But guess what, this is MY BLOG and I can discover things at my own pace. So whatever - I DISCOVERED CHINATOWN TODAY. But in all seriousness, this was probably my 4th time eating in Chinatown in the 3 years that I have lived in the city. And after tonight, I forsee my 5th and 6th times happening in the very near future.

We went to Shanghai Kitchen, as per my veteran Chinatown-eater-friend's suggestion.


I don't usually pay much attention to price when I'm ordering from a restaurant - but I couldn't help but overlook the fact that the last page of the menu was entirely dishes over rice that cost a mere $4. Not even $4, I'm talking $3.95. I ordered the shrimp and broccoli over rice...for $3.95. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?!? Will definitely be returning to try the many other enticingly cheap items they have on the menu.


Then hop next door to the MECCA of ice cream - the CHINATOWN ICE CREAM FACTORY!!!! I have been meaning to try this place for a few years now. And I'm mad that I haven't come sooner!!!! Their green tea ice cream and black sesame ice cream are seriously out of this world - unlike other matcha or black-sesame flavored ice creams I have had in the past. But be warned - do not expect CHINATOWN-PRICES in this joint. Two scoops for $5.75. I'm not saying I would have preferred a medium Pinkberry with three toppings...but I'm just saying...

3. Take the opportunity to save another $2.25 and burn a few calories by WALKING HOME.

A day in NYC, under $20!

HOLIDAY ACTION PLAN.

ATTENTION WORLD: there are only a few shopping days left before Christmas!!!! You have this weekend to practice your drop kick, perfect your flying phoenix, and learn the Sushi Roll (to fend yourself from angry mobs and crazy shopper robots); next week to shop online while you are at work; the following weekend to have a panic attack because none of your online shipments have yet arrived so you have to dust off your combat boots and fight off the crowds at Old Navy for $5 fleece sweaters; and then 3 days to book a last-minute vacation to Maui because you realized that everyone you know is allergic to fleece and the reason the sweater was $5 was because it is see-thru. And the only thing you can do now...is run away.

Well, fret not my dear readers - I have got a perfect HOLIDAY ACTION PLAN for you. And boy, do I have place for you to get a LOT of your holiday shopping out of the way!!!! How much do we love the Brooklyn Flea!??!?!!? How much do we hate going all the way out to Brooklyn!?!!?! How excited are you to learn that there is now a MANHATTAN OUTPOST OF THE BROOKLYN FLEA!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? ::mind officially blown::


Not only is the Gifted Holiday Market a neat compilation of some of Brooklyn Flea's vendors, it is also INDOORS!!!! So you can truly take your time browsing through vintage jewelry, handmade crafts, leather goods, weird handmade shoes, etc. You are bound to find SOMETHING for SOMEONE, so I urge you to make your way over!!!!!

You know how I like to be aware of all possible access points to food wherever I am.


I immediately spotted the Kumquat Cupcakery stand. Mini bite-sized cupcakes being sold at $1/piece!!


I immediately started digging around for loose change and procured myself this little Irish Cream cupcake drizzled in caramel.


The Liddabit Sweets stand was also quite enticing!!!! Their slurtles were quite tempting - pretzels or potato chips covered in hardened beer caramel.


I walked away with two of their candy bars - the King Bar and the Pumpkin Pie Bar.


The King Bar was layers of brown sugar-brown butter cookie, peanut butter nougat, fresh banana ganache, and dipped in milk chocolate. Although I will give them credit for creativity and adorable packaging...I gotta admit, I'd still prefer a good ol' Snickers. But these would make really nice stocking stuffers!!

After trying on every piece of vintage jewelry and sneaking enough samples of McClure's Pickles, it is time to get yourself well-nourished to continue onwards into the holiday season.


We walked a few avenues over to St. Mark's Place and ate at Udon West. Nothing like a good bowl of noodles to stave away the blustery cold (and DAMMMNNNN, it's getting cold out!!!). I opted for a combination tray of negitori on a bed of rice and a simple bowl of udon. Tasty and fresh!


After we were sufficiently warmed up, it was time for dessert from Momofuku Milk Bar. THANKFULLY they decided to finally switch over to new flavors!!! That stuffing and fruit cobbler mess really made me lose all confidence in this place!! How embarrassing is it to drag a group of people to "the coolest dessert place in the East Village - YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!!!" and then find them serving cups of rotten soft serve!!!!! I'll never live that one down. Anyways - David Chang finally came to his senses and their offerings are now Old Fashion Donut, Cereal Milk, Chocolate Malt, and Salty Pistachio Caramel. I opted for the Salty Pistachio Caramel topped with cornflake clusters - really yummy but it gets SUPPPPERRRR salty by the end of the cup.

So there you have it - my HOLIDAY ACTION PLAN. Now peel your noses away from the computer screen and MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!!