KINOKUNIYA.

One of my favorite past times as a child was begging my mother to drive hours to Edgewater, New Jersey to take me to Yaohan, which is now known as Mitsuwa Marketplace. I loved eating ramen and bento boxes in their food court and then going to the Japanese bookstore and forcing my mother to buy me lots of stickers, stationary, and art/design books. Japanese bookstores always have the best stickers, stationary, and art/design books.

The Kinokuniya Bookstore near Bryant Park is no exception and it is even better than the bookstore at Mitsuwa Marketplace because it is in Manhattan and a mere subway ride away.


Can you just feel the amazingness!?!? And do you see that Kristen already ran down the stairs ahead of me so she could point out the HUGE TOTORO in the stationary/office supply/toy section!?!?


I tumbled down the stairs and the HUGE TOTORO jumped into my arms. Pure bliss.


The Cat Bus took an immediate liking to Kristen and begged her to take him home.


What, Totoro?? You think I should purchase this little $10 White Totoro keychain??


Why, yes, I agree. Say hello to my new zipper pull.


And one thing non-Miyazaki related. I spotted INUIT ART OWL CARDS!!!!njsegnlseg I am absolutely OBSESSED with Inuit art (and was deeply disappointed that Borders did not carry another Inuit Art calendar for 2010), probably because they commonly use owls as subjects in their work. The Inuits have deep respect for all living things so when you study birds and other animals in Inuit art, you will notice that each one has its own special character. From top to bottom: "OH HAI, I LOOK POWERFUL BUT IT'S JUST BECAUSE I DON'T MOVE MUCH AND AM USUALLY JUST HONGRY." "OH HAI, I AM NERVOUS AND ALERT." "OH HAI, I WANT A LOVE MARRIAGE."

Love marriage!??? Just a way for me to segue into the best song I have heard in quite some time. Thank you, Wilbur Sargunaraj.

I LOVE EATING SNOW.

The snowflakes today were particularly tasty. Something about their size and the fact that they didn't instantly melt as soon as they hit your comparably-warmer skin...and possibly the fact that I was letting them fall on my tongue as I walked to the gym at...oh...noon. On a weekday. If you can put two and two together, you will be able to deduce that I HAD A SNOW DAY TODAY!!! A truly unexpected miracle!!!


The mounds of snow I faced when I walked out of my apartment in the West Village.


Later on in the day, I made my way over to Bryant Park. Here you can get a good gauge of the snow fall level, as it was nearly covering the subway sign!! The snow never stopped falling from the previous morning!!!


Look how beautiful the New York Public Library looks when coated in a frosty white and guarded by snow-covered trees.

So, as I was saying...the snow tasted EXTRA WONDERFUL today. It made me suddenly begin to have crazy cravings for shaved ice and patbingsu!!! And started making me somewhat delusional...


It took all my willpower to not shove my face into this perfect POWDERED SUGAR DONUT...until I finally came to grips with the fact that it was, in actuality, a GARBAGE CAN.


I meannn...does NO ONE see a Drake's Cake coffee cake in that middle mound!?!? To the left is obviously a Starburst, and to the right is obviously one of those fun sized chocolates.

OK, DONT DAMAGE WITH ME. I, like, JUST came from the gym and I was HONGRY, dammit.


It was a good thing I quickly made my way over to Cafe Zaiya before I started diving into the piles of snow screaming, "WHO NEEDS FOOD STAMPS WHEN YOU CAN ENJOY ALL THE GLORIES OF MOTHER NATURE!?!?!" Which would have resulted in me being shipped straight to an old Roosevelt Island mental facility and suffering from a bad case of frostbite on my lip. They have a super yummy BLACK SESAME SOFT SERVE there!!!! If there is one thing I love more than ice cream, it is SOFT SERVE. I have NEVER had black sesame flavored soft serve before and this one was 100% YAMMIEZ - super creamy, full-bodied (not fluffy, Tasti-D style), and DERICIOUS.

I became kind of concerned about the fact that I was SURROUNDED by ice, slush, and snow and still felt the need to consume some form of ice and cream. Which got me to thinking...is there like a ICE/SLUSH/SNOW version of PICA, a disorder in which people feel an unnatural urge to consume inedible materials such as paper!?!! WHY DO I LOVE EATING SHAVED ICE, SOFT SERVE, FROZEN YOGURT, AND ICE CREAM SO MUCH!?!?! Oh right. That disease is called obesity.

F THE SNOW.

Well, apparently because of my recent interest in politics and my politically slanted blog posts (please see my one previous blog post concerning Madeline Albright's brooch collection), Mayor Bloomberg has taken the initiative to contact me in an attempt to sway me into a career with his office. I am, of course, completely taking things out of context and overexaggerating - is this considered SLANDER!?!?! But I was, however, invited to Mayor Bloomberg's Lunar New Year reception which took place on this fine, snowy, rainy, slushy evening.


The crumpled envelope that suffered being dropped in a pile of wet snow and slush and the invitation donning a SNOWY TIGER, in honor of the Chinese year of the tiger. P to the S, did ya'll know that this is the year of the WHITE TIGER which signifies TERRIBLE LUCK and MISFORTUNES and comes only once every 48 years!!?!? Stay on your toes, my friends...


They transformed the Surrogate's Court with this festive Asian theme - red lanterns and red lighting aglow.


There was also plenty of yummy Asian food from various restaurants in Chinatown being served up...and most importantly, OPEN BAR! Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg!!!


Ah, there's the big guy now. Apparently he was born on February 14th which coincided with this year's Chinese New Year!!! New York has the highest Asian population compared to other cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston and the population has drastically increased. throughout Mayor Bloomberg's 8 years in office. Which is no wonder he felt the need to address and celebrate with the Asian people this evening.


The surprise performance for the evening was Columbia University's LION DANCE Team. There is the gong, trying to wake up the lion!!!


Ohh!!! I SEE HIM!!!!


And who would have thunk that the underneath the lion costume was a GIRL?? I have never seen a girl lion in all my years of watching the Lion Dance. Truly inspirational, Columbia University Lion Dance Team!!! The drums were loud and invigorating, and it was nice to take a quick stroll down memory lane to those years in Chinese School when we would perform the Lion Dance every year. Watching this performance makes me proud of my heritage. Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg took this opportunity when the entirely Asian audience was obviously CAPTIVATED and DISTRACTED by the Lion Dance to slip away. GRRRRRRRR. So no picture with the Mayor...boo.


I ended the evening on a sweet note - with a scoop of Almond Cookie ice cream from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory!! Delish!!!


Then it was off to Gallery Hanahou in Soho for the opening night of Lisa Grue's "Owls Have More Fun" exhibit. Uhm...an art exhibit dedicated to OWLS?!?!? YOU KNOW I'M THERE.


Here is a shot of the artist talking about her work. Grue is a graphic artist/illustrator from Denmark. When I spoke to her, I asked her why she chose owls as her main subject and she responded, "There are many areas in our lives where we can be more wise and remember to be wise. Owls remind us of this...and remind us of the magic of everyday life." Lovely!! I could always use a little reminder to think twice and to appreciate the present.


HUGE carpet trimmed with adorable, florescent pom-poms. This child (I believe she may be Baby Hanahou) thought the floor rug was quite comfortable. My dream home will, mark my words, include this rug.


One one side of the gallery was a large mural with graphic illustrations of owls and fauna. On the other side was Grue's hand-designed plate collection. I am unsure of the larger pieces, but the smaller plates were priced between $100-150.


Here you will see her resounding message to "Be Wise" and "Don't Howl with the Wrong Wolves".


I love that "STAY AWAY" owl...ugh, so ME and my emo self!!!!!! I need this plate in my life!

So go on down to Gallery Hanahou (try not to get lost - it's right next to the Crate and Barrel) and purchase some gifts for me. You can't go wrong!! KTHXBAI!

READ MY PINS.

OMG, MY APOLOGIES BLOGGIESPHERE!! I cannot believe my visit to the Museum of Arts and Design well over a month ago completely SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS!!! I wanted to share with you some highlights from the READ MY PINS exhibit, which featured Madeline Albright's extensive BROOCH collection. OOHHHH, SPARKLY. Unfortunately, the exhibit has since closed and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas and will be on display in Washington, DC in Summer 2010.

Madeline Albright, as you are most likely already aware, was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and also the first female U.S. Secretary of State under the Clinton administration. Apparently she was famous for her "pin diplomacy" - which I had NO IDEA ABOUT...and would have maybe taken a greater interest in politics and foreign policy HAD I KNOWN. Throughout her diplomatic career, she donned pins to represent her mood and feelings. If she thought a message was "something like a sting", she would wear a bee pin. If she was in particularly high spirits or if negotiations were going well, she might have adorned herself with a balloon pin. If she was called a serpent by Saddam Hussein's government and press, she may have chosen to sport a snake pin at her next meeting with Iraq. She "found that jewelery had become a part of [her] diplomatic arsenal." SO PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE. I LOVE IT. And without further ado, I present to you two photos I snapped illegally while at the MAD.


ERMM..LOBSTER BROOCH!?!? Madame Albright, you and I are speaking the same language!! But instead of wearing it because lobster is one of her favorite foods and one of her interests on Facebook, she wore it to convey her impatience with the pace of a discussion.


And OF COURSE, she wore my personal favorite - OWLS!!! They were obviously a symbol of her intelligence. Oh, Albright, you wise sage.

So then I got to thinking...what kind of brooches would I wear to best exemplify MY feelings and thoughts?!?


I found this one that is shaped like an ALMOND so I can wear when I'm feeling a little NUTTY...aka daily.


RAWR. This Panthere brooch from the House of Cartier will obviously represent how BLINGBLINGCASHMONEY I am, as it values at just over $1.3 million.


And finally - I thought this one might be useful on all of those DATES I go on (right)!! Perfect way to make the statement that he TICKLES MY FANCY.

If you are interested in learning more about the mystique and intrigue of Madeline Albright's brooch collection - feel free to purchase her new book, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box, and then let me borrow/keep it afterwards. KTHXBAI!

LUPA OSTERIA ROMANA.

My recent meal at Maialino really opened my eyes to the possibilities of a great bowl of pasta, especially ones birthed from Rome. Which was why I was especially excited to dine at Lupa Osteria Romana, Mario Batali's cozy Roman trattoria in the West Village. This place emanated a lively warmth and was teeming with jovial diners even on a Monday evening. Our 8pm reservation turned into a 8:15pm reservation because the previous diners at our table enjoyed themselves so much they wouldn't leave.


A plate of delicious, soft, spongy bread was whisked to our table. I don't know what this kind of bread is called (a fat focaccia is the only way I can describe it) but my eyes always light up when I see its inviting, porous depths. It absorbs oils extremely well, has an extra salty flavor, and doesn't require canine teeth to chew.


I ordered an antipasti of Brussels Sprouts with Pecorino - which the waiter claimed to be his favorite vegetable from the Verdura section of the menu. I was hoping it would be a replica of Todd English's shaved Brussels sprouts salad from Olives...unfortunately, it wasn't. The shreds reminded me more of cabbage and tasted rather bitter. Furthermore, the cold slaw did nothing to complement the cheese. If the Brussel sprouts had been warm, they may have been a bit more inviting to the fairly large crumbles of Pecorino...instead these two ingredients sat together in the bowl like oil and water.


But all of Batali's transgressions were forgotten as soon as this huge bowl of Bavette Cacio & Pepe arrived at the table. Batali's version was a lot less cheesy than the one I had tasted at Maialino - but it was still wonderful and comforting. Broken hearts and troubled thoughts simply melt away as you twirl delicious strands of bavette into a satisfying spiral around your fork. The butter/olive oil sauce decadently coated the perfectly cooked pasta and the strong flavors from grated pepper danced in the spotlight. My only problem was the puddle of oil I spotted in the bowl as I made my way near the bottom, which made it impossible for me to finish my meal (or maybe this was actually an act of God's saving grace???).


For dessert, Caramel Gelato. The was by far the strangest gelato I have ever experienced. I stuck my nose into the cup (which is something I often do, if you have never dangled food in front of my face before) and found the substance was ODORLESS. Upon letting the gelato fill your mouth, you immediately experience what my dining partner best described as "liquid caramel" - which was exactly what this was!! Caramel in a cold, less dense form. The taste did not linger and as fast as the flavor blast appeared, it also left. Truly strange but enjoyable!!

Overall, I definitely enjoyed my meal at Lupa and am glad to have dined at this West Village gem. However, I will say that having a quiet, intimate conversation with a friend can be quite difficult in this loud, somewhat rambunctious environment.

CITY CRAB & SEAFOOD COMPANY.

The empty lobster tanks that greeted me at the door should have been the first indication to turn myself around and march right back through the front doors of City Crab & Seafood Company. As I begrudgingly gave the host my reservation name, I was not offered to be seated nor shown to the bar...so instead, I was forced to continue staring at the empty fish tanks that housed snails and decomposing sea crud. And no, escargot was NOT on the menu. After a few minutes of overexaggerating my discomfort from having to stand (near the questionable fish tank, nonetheless), I went back up to the host and demanded to be seated immediately. He obliged, but not quickly enough to avoid a menacing glare from yours truly.

No water was offered to me when I was seated at the table...now that's not very nice, is it. In fact, we were never offered water until I finally asked for it 15 minutes into my dining partner's arrival. I was already fairly off-put by the whole situation but what REALLY got me was when the waiter had ZERO CLUE what was in the Louisiana Gumbo. "Uhmm..there's some seafood in it..." Like??? "Uhm..I dunno..like shrimp..maybe some crab...there might be some lobster in there." Well WTF, your menu isn't that extensive (half of it is crab cakes cut into different sizes and offered as appetizers, entrees, and sandwiches). Get a clue. It kills me when waiters don't know what they are serving me. There was a whole separate fiasco with the gumbo later on (which I won't get into), but let's just say the gumbo was returned to the kitchen. Next.


We ordered two appetizers - the first of which being the Lobster Macaroni and Cheese. In writing, this should be the most delicious pot of carbs and shellfish money can buy. Unfortunately the metal pail we were served held nothing of interest to me. The elbow macaroni was hard and stiff...and the orange substance surrounding the pasta would not be considered cheese if there was some sort of FDA Fermented Dairy handbook. It didn't melt, it wasn't gooey, and some of it congealed onto the pasta while the rest was left a watery puddle at the bottom of the dish. I've had better macaroni and cheese from an Easy Mac packet. And believe it or not, throwing overcooked lobster into the mix doesn't help.


Because the gumbo was sent back, we decided to try our luck on the Crab and Lobster Spring Rolls. While the rolls fared better than the macaroni and cheese, the crab and lobster was nowhere to be seen. These rolls could have been stuffed with cabbage and potato (what I am assuming to be the two cheapest vegetables in the world) and they would have tasted the same. This measly dish would have cost $2 in Chinatown. At City Crab, it cost $12.


For my entree I ordered the Tossed Cobb Salad - which includes lobster, shrimp, crabmeat, egg, tomato, artichoke, avocado, cucumber, red pepper, celery, carrots, and bleu cheese (hold the bacon and the onion rings). Now that I think of it, I don't recall any lobster, red peppers, OR celery being present in my salad - those bastards. Being that the lobster tank was empty, I'm not surprised about the dearth of that crustacean on my bed of lettuce...but red peppers and celery!?!?! COME ON. There was actually more than enough seafood in my salad. Although it is not really a salad of note, I have no true complaints about this dish.


But maybe that's because it was compared to the entree my dining partner had ordered (sorry for the blurriness). That, my friends, is City Crab's Baked Shrimp Imperial - 5 puny shrimps with a little spoonful of crab stuffing and "Imperial sauce" - $24. The sad mound of fries, believe it or not, DID NOT come with the meal. They were an additional $6. Imagine what the plate would have looked like had it only served the $24 portion of the meal. I cannot personally attest to the taste of the dish but my dining partner could not even stomach the shrimp and merely picked at the crab meat topping. From my experience thus far - I am making a grand assumption that City Crab serves ridiculously awful food for ridiculously high prices. I am not the type of consumer that often pays attention to price - I shop and choose my meals without much discretion towards price tags and am willing to spend a lot of money on quality food. For me to have noticed outrageous and unfair pricing means that this restaurant must have done some serious disservice.


For dessert we ordered the Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Cake. This was probably the highlight of our meal and honestly it was just cookies & cream ice cream cut into a pie-slice shape and dusted with Oreo cookie crumbs. Nothing of culinary excitement.

I have been aware of my negative restaurant reviews as of late and made a conscious decision to avoid reporting about bad dining experiences (I do not want people to think of me as a jaded, unsatisfiable critic) - but this experience was above and beyond horrendous. My dining partner is allergic to berries, and when the ice cream cake arrived - it was drizzled with what smelled like a strawberry sauce. I asked the waiter if the sauce contained strawberries and he replied that he "honestly did not know." Well I HONESTLY beg of you to please inquire with your pastry chef WHAT THE FUCK he drizzled on this ice cream because if you don't tell us, then your ass will be sued when my dining partner is rushed out of this joint in an ambulance with an EPIPEN stabbed into her throat!!!! Being clueless is bad enough. Not offering to find an answer is even worse. City Crab - you serve terrible food and you employ even more terrible waiters. Do the city a favor and close down.

SHOULDER ACTION.

Watch out, world - there is a new shoulder trend emerging. So in Fall/Holiday 2009 - we were noticing a lot of BIG SHOULDER action (think shoulder pads, sharp extensions, and angular silhouettes). Now that the snow is melting, it is time for our ACTUAL shoulders to make an appearance!!

I think there is nothing more alluring than a revealing shoulder. I don't know if men will agree with me on this one or not, but I certainly think a glimpse of the shoulder bone is rather INVITING. I think it is a particularly SENSUAL part of our bodies and one that is typically covered by most articles of clothing, save a strapless dress - now imagine that same article of clothing with a shoulder-hole (yes, like a neck-hole) cut into it...HOTTTTTSIZZLE!


Which is why I was so excited to see this image from the Zero + Maria Cornejo Fall 2010 runway show. Don't know if you can tell or not - but there are total SHOULDER-HOLES all up on that shirt (see slight concave curvature on upper portion of sleeve)!!! LOVES IT. Just enough skin showing to call attention and peak interest.


Same concept can also be seen in her Spring/Summer 2010 collection.


Phillip Lim also featured this subtle attention grabber in his Fall 2010 runway show.


And spotted in Nanette Lepore's Fall 2010 runway show.


Good thing I was already into this shoulder-hole thing before I even realized it was a trend. The more I hear about "jeggings", the angrier I get because I swear to god I invented those in my head.


Thank you to Urban Outfitters for making all of my shoulder interest dreams come true. This Insight Phantom Lover Dress is basically the runway for $30. The image is a bit deceiving - there are two shoulder-holes on this dress. Simple, with just enough edge to be considered fashion.


I love the mixture of frumpy and sexy in this Insight Shine On Dress. Reminds me of that comfortable, over-sized grandfather sweater that hangs off one shoulder - casual coyness.

Now if you have learned anything at all from this post, you should already be scrounging around for your fabric scissors and cutting holes in every garment you own!!!

MAIALINO.

Maialino, the Roman trattoria housed in the Gramercy Park Hotel, has been receiving a lot of positive press over the past few months so I decided to check it out last Tuesday evening. If you attempt to make dinner reservations here, be prepared to dine anywhere between 9:30pm-11pm because every "normal" reservation from now until next month is completely booked. Coincidentally our reservation happened to be on the night when a huge snowstorm was predicted to devastate the city and its surrounding boroughs - and our 9pm reservation thankfully turned into an 8pm due to cancellations. A little snow certainly wasn't going to stop us piglets from getting our grub on.


Despite the fact that Maialino features its own bread bar, our bread basket was filled with slices of some uninspired loaf and thin bread sticks. The only slight saving grace may have been this softer flat bread that would have tasted better had it been salty and/or garlicky.


The pasta at Maialinio is fantastic. Don't expect to find a lot of red sauces and meat ragus at this establishment - the Romans don't treat their pasta that way. The Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe makes me wonder why Italians thought tomatoes belonged on pasta in the first place. The tonnarelli, which can best be described as a square-ish spaghetti, is lovingly and perfectly coated in a light sauce of Pecorino cheese and black pepper by Chef Nick Anderer. The simple components in this dish remind me of that Breyer's commercial where children read off the ingredients found in a container of Breyer's ice cream - "Just milk, cream, and sugar." I am amazed at the power of a few ingredients.


I ordered the Raviolo Al Uovo - which is a ravioli filled with egg, spinach, and ricotta!!


As soon as you cut into the ravioli, the egg yolk comes pouring out and mixes with the slightly sweet sauce (of brown butter and nutmeg). I made sure to cover each bite of wrapper, ricotta, and spinach in a healthy amount of sweet-yolky-sauce. It is an absolutely delicious and decadent mixture. My mind was also completely BOGGLED by the engineering of the ravioli. How did they manage to get (what I thought was) a poached egg wrapped into a ball of cheese and spinach...and then covered by a ravioli wrapper!??!!? The mystery consumed me until I came upon...


...THIS IMAGE from the gallery of Lupa, another Roman restaurant in West Village. OMG it makes SOOO much more sense now - it is not a POACHED EGG (silly me). It is simply an egg yolk dumped into a mound of cheese/spinach that is already sitting atop a ravioli wrapper. The wrapper is not folded over like that of an Asian dumpling. Rather, the Italians CHEAT and simply place another wrapper on top of this mixture and seal the edges. I am kind of disappointed now that the magic is gone...but that's not going to stop me from eating another one of these amazing egg raviolis in the future.


My secondi was a Olive-oil Poached Halibut Filet on top of Swiss Chard and Farro Stew. I don't know why I always order fish at Italian restaurants when time and time again, I am disappointed!! I need to grow over my fear of carbs and just order TWO primis next time. The halibut meat did not absorb any flavors from the sauce. And I didn't like the rough texture of the farro in the stew - it reminded me of soup from a Progresso can (ouch, burn).


For dessert my friend ordered an olive oil cake which basically tasted like pound cake that had been soaked in olive oil for a few hours. As you can imagine, I did not enjoy it.


My dessert choice, however, was a little more enjoyable. I ordered the chocolate and hazelnut bread pudding, which turned out far better than your typical bread pudding.


The cake shell was nice and warm and had a slightly gummy texture which I enjoyed. Once you broke into the middle, you found lovely bites of chocolate and hazelnut nestled in between the cake's gummy fibers. Delicious!

And for my closing statement - I would visit Maialino again but make the conscious decision to get my calorie-fill from a comforting bowl or two of carbs, rather than from their larger entrees or desserts.