BRAEBURN.

Since I'm on this sudden blogging frenzy, I might as well catch up on some old blog posts that, for no reason in particular, never made it into the cyber world.

A few weeks ago, I dined at Braeburn - a casual, dimly-lit restaurant in the West Village that basks in a quiet elegance. I wasn't feeling particularly hungry that evening so I decided to order two appetizers for my meal.


The Poached & Panko Crusted Farm Egg was a delight to look at. Cutting into the light, crispified-egg white revealed a rich flow of yolk that covered the Jerusalem artichoke hash. The parmesan foam served to reference and enrich the delicateness of the egg.


The Roasted Beet Salad was mixed with small cubes of Braeburn apples (an ode to the restaurant's namesake), spicy walnuts, and served over a thick smear of goat cheese fondue. A perfect mix of earthy and creamy, bitter and sweet, crunchy and smooth.


To finish off our meal, we shared the warm Braeburn Apple Cobbler, which was topped with a crumbly brown sugar streusel and cinnamon ice cream. A cozy, comfortable, and delicious way to end the evening.

The Braeburn is a lovely restaurant. To enhance your evening, be sure to seat yourself at the bar and chat it up with the friendly bartenders. They offer some of the best advice. And often have some of the best stories.

CHOCRI.

Oh, hallo!! Willkommen in meinem Blog-Entrag über meine neue Leidenschaft Schokolade!!! In case you don't understand DEUTSCH SPRACHE (the German language), allow me to translate: Oh, hai!! Welcome to my blog post about my new CHOCOLATE OBSESSION.


A few weeks ago, I discovered CHOCRI, a German startup that allows you to create CUSTOMIZED CHOCOLATE BARS. There are over 100 toppings to choose from and the chocolate bases (milk, dark, and white) are organic, fair trade chocolates from BELGIUM (FANCY!!). Beyond delivering delicious SCHOKLADE, 1% of Chocri's revenues are donated to DIV Kinder, which is an organization that helps to provide the homeless and orphaned children of the Ivory Coast with shelter and supervision. A third of the world's cacao beans come from the Ivory Coast so farms utilize child labor in order to remain in business. Because of this, the future of Ivory Coast children is in jeopardy.

Take a few moments to explore the website and have fun making your own chocolate creation while also doing a bit of good. There are tons of different dried fruits, spices, nuts, candies, grains, and decorations you can choose to suit your tastes and desires!!!!


I decided to create two different bars. The first was made of a milk chocolate base with dried apples, cinnamon, bourbon vanilla, and macadamia nuts. The second I wanted to be a bit more unconventional - so I mixed white chocolate with cornflakes, organic sesame seeds, and black sesame seeds (because you KNOW how much I love sesame and the cornflakes were inspired from Momofuku's Cornflake Marshmallow Cluster cookie). Both were absolutely DELICIOUS!!

Chocri chocolate bars are a great treat for oneself and also make a great gift!! Be sure to place you order well in advance, however, because it takes about 2 weeks for these little bars of happiness to arrive from Germany!!

BLUE WATER GRILL - PART DEUX.

Obviously, as per previous post, I still had a sushi craving that I needed to address. The person I was dining with on Friday evening has a severe AVERSION to sushi, so we had to find a restaurant that offered both sushi and other seafood dishes to placate both of our interests. Blue Water Grill came to mind. Although I wasn't entirely impressed on my last visit there for brunch, I was still curious to understand the popularity of this restaurant and give it a second chance.


We started with the Shrimp and Lobster Spring Roll with a sweet chili glaze. And we're off to a good start!! But encasing shrimp and lobster in a lightly-fried, thin, crispy wrapper is obviously going to work out favorably. Next challenge.


We shared a side of Lobster Mashed Potatoes to accompany our entrees. Once again, a crowd-pleaser. Being able to find chunks of lobster within the buttery mound of glory was simply icing on the cake.


Blue Water Grill has quite an interesting variety of sushi - if you are looking for truly authentic sushi, I wouldn't recommend coming here. They serve a Filet Mignon roll, which I think would be a compelling option for any meat eater. I ordered two rolls - the Grilled Shrimp & Spicy Salmon roll (with thai basil, cucumber, and tobiko) and the Pad Thai Roll (with shrimp, spicy yellowtail, and toasted peanuts). Both rolls appealed to me because they included ingredients that I have not seen served in sushi before - mainly the basil and the peanuts. Both rolls were enjoyable and I loved the added crunch of the peanuts in the Pad Thai Roll.


The final test - dessert. You know I'm usually not a big proponent of ordering molten chocolate cake at restaurants, but I was a few drinks in and could not imagine wanting anything else except chocolate inside chocolate. We ordered the Warm Molten Chocolate Cake to share (topped with a bittersweet chocolate crisp and malt crunch ice cream). Crunchy and gooey are always a power texture-combination (which is maybe what makes a Snickers bar so DANGEROUSLY enticing).

I was happy with my meal at Blue Water Grill - we had quality seafood prepared in a variety of delicious approaches. And while the sushi couldn't be considered award winning, it was innovative in its own right.

E-MO KIMBAP.

Alright, so the pickle diet thing didn't really work out. But I managed to not eat out for the entire first half of the week!!! That's honestly a pretty big step for me. During that time period, I developed the absolute CRAZIEST craving for sushi. Like you have no idea. So...even though I told myself I wasn't going to eat out for dinner...I didn't tell myself I couldn't go all out during LUNCH. Lunch for me is about an $8-10 affair anyways - and I usually get the same old salad everyday (despite all the different things I eat, I am still very much a person of habit). So I thought- why not use that $10, and put it towards something ELSE to prevent myself from sitting at home and crying every evening while I spoon cereal over a bowl of Greek yogurt.

The cheapest food you can find in the city is usually of the Asian variety. I work a block away from the small Koreatown strip on 32nd street between 5th Avenue and Broadway. Usually I think of Korean fare as a bit too heavy for lunch time, but there are actually a lot of cheap lunch options that don't leave you in a food coma by 2pm.


E-mo is a literal hole in the wall joint that serves up freshly made rolls of kimbap - aka Korean sushi. The two-man line-up in the back works quickly and efficiently to assemble a variety of kimbaps for hungry lunchers, made-to-order.


Each 12-piece roll, ranging from $5.50-$6, also comes with a small bowl of warm soup (WOW). I ordered the Spicy Tuna Kimbap - which is made from canned tuna that is mixed with a spicy mayo. Even though I was impressed with the amount of food that faced me when I got back to my desk...I wasn't entirely blown away. Despite the hot feeling each piece leaves in your mouth after consumption, the roll is actually quite bland in flavor.


Of course I couldn't go to E-mo without trying two different kinds of rolls (hi fatty)...and good thing I did, because I liked the Kimchee Kimbap a LOT more, which was surprising!!! The kimchee gave the roll a ton more flavor and the kick that the Spicy Tuna roll really needed. Maybe next time I should ask if they can make me a Spicy Tuna Kimchee Kimbap!!

While it didn't really satisfy my craving for sushi (the kimbap rice is flavored with sesame oil rather than vinegar...which I think makes a HUGE difference), I would definitely recommend E-mo for a quick snack or light lunch (unless you buy two rolls like me ::embarrassing::).

ONO GRINDZ WEEK IN REVIEW.

Soooo...it's kinda sick...but I ate out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT this week. Do you love it? Yea, I kinda thought it was not super attractive myself. Ugh, someone do me a favor and sign me up for the next season of Biggest Loser!!! Well, what's done is done. Which is why I am vowing to go on a PICKLE DIET this week. Like SERIOUSLY - I am eating PICKLES for dinner. God's answer to a low calorie snack that isn't made out of air or water. I don't care if I die of a sodium overdose - at least I'll be on the ROAD TO SKINNY, b*tches!!!

So with that - I am going to write a MASSIVE (but brief) week in review post before I retire from restaurant-ing for the next few days. Don't miss me too much.

Monday: Dovetail (see previous post)

Tuesday: Souen

Eating a macrobiotic diet is super complicated because it's all about balancing the yin's and yang's of your food intake. In order to classify the yin or yang-like nature of a food, you compare it against brown rice - which is considered the closest to ultimate balance between yin and yang. Having to first categorize and then mix-and-match all of my foods seems so time-consuming that I would sooner simply not eat.

Good thing Souen does the work for you! A macrobiotic gem in my neighborhood - the food is tasty, homey, down-to-earth, and most importantly, BALANCED. It makes the secret to prolonging my life just a little less out of reach and in a super yummy way.


We started with the specials appetizer of brussels sprouts with peanut sauce.


I decided to go with the Inspired Vegetable Curry with extra tofu - a wonderful medley of mushy broccoli, cauliflower, squash, white mushrooms, snowpeas, and onions in a homemade mild curry, tumeric, and ginger root sauce. I love eating rice with vegetables that have turned into mush. Each bite of this dish seemed to transport me closer to VITALITY. Not really, but it's good to feel safe about what you are putting into your body.


For dessert, the New York Tofu Cheesecake Pie - simply horrendous. Like other "tofu cheesecake" pies that have tried to trick me before. Cutting a hunk of tofu into a pie-like wedge DOES NOT MAKE IT PIE. Grr.


Thank goodness we also ordered the Cocoa Creamy Parfait - cocoa mousse with vanilla soy cream and granola. A nice pudding consistency and chocolate-y flavor for a vegan dessert.


Wednesday: Blue Ribbon Bakery

I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally check out the Blue Ribbon restaurant that is diagonal from my apartment. And now that I have seen and conquered - I am concerned about my future as a SKINNY B*TCH.


I started with the Roasted Red Pepper and Cacio de Roma crostini. Fluffy pieces of toast topped with peppers and cheese...reminded me of mini pizzas. Yummo!


I ordered the Grilled Striped Bass for my main course (sorry for the AWFUL image - it was so dark!!). It sat atop a medley of butternut squash, cabbage, and sauteed lentils and was served with a side salad of arugula. The dish leaned towards the heavy side due to the white wine-cream sauce but I thought the dish was rather tasty.


And finally - the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. MMM. There is nothing fantastically unique about this dessert - just brioche bread toasted, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and doused with an excessive amount of hot fudge sauce. Simply sweet and delicious.

Thursday: Menkui-tei and Momofuku Milk Bar

Before meeting my Hawaiian friend for dinner, it was only natural that I brush up on my pidgin slang. Ono - great. Grinds - food. And great food is the what K and I tend to find ourselves eating when we are together! The best thing about dining with K is that he knows how to eat well on the CHEAP. He got me hooked on the mind-baffling affordability of the culinary treasure that is Chinatown. Tonight, we hit up the East Village.


I ordered the Seafood Curry - a beautiful mound of fried rice (with egg and scallion) surrounded by a pool of delicious curry sauce swimming with squid, shrimp, and fish and then topped with a healthy amount of crab meat. GLORIOUS!!!! Japanese comfort food at its' best.


Of course I also had to make a pit stop at Momofuku Milk Bar before heading home to check out their new softserve flavors - Carrot Cake, Cream Cheese Frosting, and Red Velvet. I sampled the Cream Cheese Frosting and thought it tasted too similar to plain Vanilla. So I went with a cup of the Carrot Cake softserve sprinkled with cornflake clusters and happily trotted home.


When I got back to my apartment, however, something HAUNTED ME. And it lurked in the bag that K had handed me when we were at Menkui Tei. K had made some blueberry butter mochi bars and kindly gave me a few to sample. Despite having just eaten enough to feed the island of Kauai, I just HAD to try one before the night was over. I heated them up and the smell of deliciousness (probably butter?) wafted through the air. MMM they were so YAMMY!!!!! The mochi gives the cake a slightly gelatinous and chewy texture that is extremely ADDICTIVE. Majorly impressed. I will post the recipe if I can ever weasel it out of K.

Friday: Casa

So when I tell people the cross streets of my apartment, many of them ask if I have ever been to Casa, a Brazilian restaurant a few blocks away. When I regretfully inform them of the ugly truth (no, I have never been to Casa) they immediately pull up the Opentable application on their smartphones and ask if I need help making reservations and proceed to gush about the food for 3-4 minutes. Duly noted.


When the opportunity for a meal with my girls arose, Casa was the first restaurant that came to mind. The passion fruit caipirinhas are sweet and tart and get you geared up for a fun night on the town. (Please excuse the horrendousness that is my HAIR. I KNOW. This situation is one of my top priorities this week.)


Whenever I eat Brazilian food I always ask for an order of Pao de Queijo - or what I lovingly refer to as "cheesy bread." The Brazilians do cheesy bread SOOOOO fantastically well. This soft circular ball is moist and doughy and chewy on the inside. If I could wrap myself in something on a bad day, it would be within the confines of this magical sphere of carbs.


There was no question that I would be ordering the Camarao na Moranga. I mean...it's a kobacha squash carved out and used as a serving bowl for its own puree with shrimp and Brazilian catupiry (which is a cream cheese). OMG, was this DELICIOUS!?!? I liken this dish to the Brazilian version of Japanese curry as it is a thick sauce/gravy and protein that is that is served over rice. The thick puree is like a butternut squash soup but slightly richer in flavor. Casa sure didn't skimp out on the shrimp either!!! Loved, loved, loved. VIVA BRASILIA.

Saturday: Soy Cafe (not pictured) + Bhojan

I tried another crepe at Soy Cafe for lunch - one with soy ham, soy cheese, tomato, and basil. Note to self to never use soy cheese in a crepe again.

Later that night, we went to Bhojan - a new vegetarian Indian joint in Murray Hill. What makes Bhojan stand out in the row of Indian restaurants on Curry Hill is the fact that it doesn't REEK of Indian food. The worst part about eating Indian food is that your hair and sweater will probably smell like a kati roll for the following three days. Not the case at Bhojan!! It is also super clean and snazzy looking inside. We decided to go with the thalis (set meals) - there are three to choose from: Ashram Thali (the "light and healthy" option that does not use onions or garlic), Gujurati Thali, and the Maa Ki Punjabi Thali.


With your Gujurati Thali you get a salad, starter, 2 entrees (I got an eggplant mush one and an okra and potato mush one), gujurati kadhi (the creamy looking soup), daal (chickpea mush), raita (yummy yogurt dip thing), papad (type of bread), chutney, achar, breads, rice, and dessert (sweet milk looking dessert). I really enjoyed my meal and was thankful that we didn't end up at an Indian buffet where I would have no sense of self-control. The thali is a great way to experience a variety of Indian dishes in reasonable portions. Among all of the little bowls of food, there has to be SOMETHING you take a liking to. I pretty much ate everything except for the milky/soupy looking concoctions, as they were a bit too sweet for my liking. I was with a friend who grew up in India and he said the food was all very authentic.

Sunday: Commerce + Shake Shack

Commerce Restaurant is located in a cute little enclave/dead-end in West Village. Although it claims to be a "contemporary American" restaurant, the brunch menu featured several Israeli dishes. Quite interesting!!


We started with an order of the Cinnamon Rolls. Commerce's version is a lot neater and refined than a Cinnabon. Despite the fact that it was still tasty, I kind of didn't vibe with the laced-up version.


I chose the Israeli Working Man's Breakfast - which is a fresh, warm, homemade pita bread topped with hummus, scrambled eggs, and an Israeli salad. A very simple dish that served its function to fill my tummy but did nothing to wow me - but what could I really have expected from a working man's meal?


Before enjoying the rest of the day in Central Park, we took a side step into a flea market in the Upper West Side. ERMMM...WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE!!?!? A $375 vintage milk shake mixer?!?!!? I NEED THIS.


And of course, the flea market was located conveniently across the street from Shake Shack so we had to get our milkshake fix. I ordered a vanilla custard milk shake with peanut butter sauce and bananas. This was donzo before I even finished walking the 3 blocks and 1 avenue over to Central Park.

So, there you have it. Are you not surprised I am going to eat nothing but PICKLES for the rest of the week!?!?! I will say, however, how incredible it is that I can live everyday eating something different and/or trying something new. New York is such an amazing city and I am thankful that I can enjoy it, one bite at a time.

DOVETAIL.

I love restaurants that celebrate vegetables. People have such stigmas against vegetarians and the food they graze on, so I get excited when I hear about kitchens that put consideration and thought into their veggies. Starting this week until the end of summer, Dovetail will be offering a completely vegetarian menu every Monday evening featuring produce from the Union Square Greenmarket. When I heard this, I quickly made reservations for the very first Monday veggie feast.

The meal was outstanding. Even if you are a carnivore - I suggest you give the vegetarian menu a chance. Half of the dishes are purely vegetarian and the other half are vegetable-focused dishes that contain meat (so you don't have to go completely cold tofurkey). For a mere $38, you are entitled to choose three courses and one dessert. You simply cannot go wrong.


We began our meal with a drink. I ordered the Riverside - which is vodka, basil, ginger beer, and brown sugar. Super delish!! Like a spiked gingerale.

My dining partner ordered the following four dishes and allowed me to steal bites...a prerequisite of anyone that chooses to eat with me.


The Mason Jar Vegetable Consomme was presented to us in the actual mason jar before it was served to us. Later on, a large bowl holding two dumplings was brought to our table and the tangy broth was poured over the dumplings. The small carrot chunks had an intensely strong vinegar taste (even after lingering in the consomme for a while) which countered the subtle and delicate pouches of mushroom. It was a delicate balance of flavors and done very well.


I also had a bite of my friend's English Cucumbers and Potato Stew. It was topped with shiso, jalapeno, and little drops of sea urchin. All these ingredients were sitting atop a thin layer of congee (Asian rice porridge). A very interesting mix, to say the least. The salty sea urchin worked nicely to dress the softened potato. Cucumbers take on a whole new life when they are cooked, and I loved them.


My friend also ordered the Rye Spatzle - a wall of spatzle surrounded a beautifully poached egg and the fortress was be-sprinkled with a few strips of chicken and stood in a moat of butternut squash puree. Somewhere in the mix, mustard was also involved but I didn't taste this dish on account of the chicken...it was, however, definitely a thing of beauty.


My friend chose the Irish Cream Parfait for dessert. I had only one bite so I couldn't get a great feeling for the flavors and textures but my companion said it was the best part of the meal. And she hadn't been complaining about the previous dishes by any means.

Now onto my choices!!!


The first that came out was the Carrot Cake Crepe. The crepe was filled with a decadent cream cheese and wrapped itself tightly around several sticks of the softest, sweetest carrots in a range of beautiful colors. The puree of smoked split peas brought the crepe back down to earth and off the dessert menu. The whole combination melded so perfectly into one and I could not stop raving.


Next up was the Cannelloni - the texture of the pasta was unlike any pasta I have had before - softer and...drapy. The whole dish worked together so well that the pasta practically disguised itself AS a vegetable. It was filled with a puree of gigante beans and feta cheese, laid in a saucy pool of sundried tomatoes, and sprinkled with crispy brussel sprout leaves. Heavenly.


And my Yucca Bouillabaisse (the waiter kept ANNOYINGLY pronouncing it as BOO-YA-BEZ...and I was just like "OK, I GET IT. It's FRENCH") with lobster, snap peas, and saffron. I have NEVER EVER in my life eaten such AMAZINGLY tender morsels of lobster. At this point I was ready to run into the kitchen and propose to the chef. I couldn't really get over the lobster's level of excellence so the rest of the dish was kind of a blur - but I know I was obsessed with every single bite.


Et finalement (FEE-NAL-MONT), the dessert!! I ordered a Maple Cheesecake with apple compote and (chantilly?) cream. Believe it or not, this puppy was VEGAN!!! And it didn't taste like a wedge of tofu drowned in maple syrup!!! The consistency of the cake was light, soft, and whipped - which is a pleasant departure from your normal, supremely decadent, run-of-the-mill New York Cheesecake. The filling was flavored with the perfect amount of maple and complemented the apple compote well. Bursts of tart flavor from the pomegranate were welcome and the crust added a great crunch to each bite. I would go back again next Monday simply for this dessert.


We ended the meal with a complimentary plate of sweets. The sugared ginger was nothing that interested me...but the PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES. Ohhhh, those peanut butter cookies. I mean. Simply phenomenal. The consistency reminded me somewhat of a Butterfinger - kind of dehydrated/airy/but still cookie-like??? Like a soft chunk of PURE PEANUT BUTTER crumbling in your mouth. Fantastic.


When our checks came, we were each presented a small token of gratitude from Dovetail - a little container of peanut butter granola. How sweet!!

I had an absolutely superb meal at Dovetail and will gladly return again in the near future. The service was spot-on and the food was spectacular. And I hope I was able to convert a few carnivores into being vegetarian for just one meal.

SANDWICHED.

In collaboration with Danny Meyer and the Union Square Hospitality Group (umbrella group to famous restaurants such as Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Maialino, Eleven Madison Park, Shake Shack, and The Modern, to name a few), the Whitney museum is currently home to a temporary pop-up cafe, Sandwiched. The menu features sandwiches created by some of USHG's most renowned chefs and are available ONLY at Sandwiched.


I started with a bite of my friend's Lemon Whoopie Pie - a light and airy treat.


The Cured Salmon sandwich I ordered was a creation by Chef Carmen Quagliata of the Union Square Cafe. It was possibly life-changing - healthy amounts of cured salmon sitting atop avocado cream cheese, cucumber, radish, and watercress on a soft sourdough rye. I didn't know sandwiches could be so awesome. The watercress really provided a sharp, fresh, bright contrast to the fatty salmon and the avocado cream cheese worked well to soften and moisten the sandwich. I completely enjoyed every bite of this sandwich. And I am hoping Danny Meyer decides to expand Sandwiched as a franchise to compete against the Subways, Pret a Mangers, and Au Bon Pains of midtown.

By now you must be wondering if I went to the Whitney just to sit around and eat sandwiches. I am not afraid to admit that Sandwiched was the main draw of my trip to this museum, but here are a few art pieces that caught my eye. All of which bring me back to childhood...are we surprised?

From series Raising Hell by Tam Tram

From collection of flower drawings by Charles Ray

From More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid by Mike Kelley

Check out Sandwiched while you still can (you have a while...it should be around until Fall 2010) and get your fill of contemporary art on the side.

HAPPY PI(E) DAY.

Oh hai everyone!! Wishing you all a wonderful Pi-Day from Chinatown!!! Thank you, William Jones, for adopting the Greek letter "pi" to represent the number 3.14. The fact that it was a homonym to "pie" made the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter a whole lot more interesting to me. Especially because it means every March 14th, I have an excuse to eat PIE!!! Well...since we were stuck in Chinatown...it meant we had to settle with the Asian version of pie...aka cakes from Lucky King Bakery!!!! Which I wouldn't really consider "settling", per se. I see it more as a worldly approach to this holiday. Hope you all had a delicious one.

LUNCH FOR ONE: SOY CAFE.

Well boys and girls, the flood hath arrived. Which is good news for all my readers, because it means I am stuck inside blogging. Due to hurricane conditions in Manhattan, my afternoon plans were canceled and I was left to my own devices. After a particularly lackluster attempt at working out, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to expand upon my Lunch for One category and finally check out Soy Cafe, conveniently located a block away from my gym.

As you can probably guess from the name, Soy Cafe is one of those vegan and vegetarian-friendly joints. But the good news is - carnivores and non-carnivores alike can enjoy this establishment because any dishes containing "meat" can contain true meat products or soy-based meat products!! Everybody wins!!!

When I first got there, the place was filled with people typing away on their Macbooks and hitting the books. It was eerily quiet and signs reading "No Cellphones Allowed" scared me to the point that I whispered my order at the register. I never whisper. By the end of my stay there, however, more lively patrons had appeared that were there for a chat rather than a study space...so the place definitely got a lot louder.


I ordered the special soup of the day - Tomato Florentine with Spinach. The salty tomato base was thankfully thickened with a healthy amount of leafy greens rather than with cream. Yummy and filling.


I also ordered a Soy Ham, Swiss Cheese, and Egg Crepe (which was gluten-free or something of that nature). Being gluten-free did not make the crepe any less tasty, however. I loved the texture of the dish - softly dense would be the best way to describe it. Definitely enjoyed my protein-filled dish.

There were so many dishes I wanted to order off their menu, but did not out of pure embarrassment (you can only get way with ordering large quantities of food if you are getting take-out, because then you can lead people to believe you are ordering for a large group of people. "Oh yea...I guess I need an extra fork..."). You have no idea how badly I have wanted to try a Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame ever since I discovered the concept of brunch. Now I can finally try one (a vegetarian version) at Soy Cafe!!! Great place to spend a rainy afternoon and definitely worth checking out in sunny weather, as well.