Friday, February 3, 2012

Pret Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

I just have to do a quick shout out to Pret A Manger for their Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. It is delicious and perfect with the little bun they give to you. At my location they only serve it on Tuesdays so call ahead and find out what day it's served. Enjoy!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Burma Superstar!

Welcome to San Francisco!
Last evening was the first of many dinners out this week. Let's hope my waistline can handle this. My best friend recommended a place that she likes here where I wrote to her panicked that I had to find a place for two of us to go. She excitedly suggest Burma Superstar! Here is what we had:

Lemon Mint Tea to drink

Tea Leaf Salad*
Featured on Food Network
Yes, we really do go to Burma to get the tea for this salad, and it's worth the trip. With textures from fried garlic, peanuts

Lettuce Cups
Crisp lettuce cups with a cured pork, pickled radish, carrots, and water chestnut stuffing

Pumpkin Shrimp*
Tender shrimp stew slow cooked with kabocha squash and ginger

Nan Gyi Dok*
(mild coconut chicken rice noodle curry, not available vegetarian)
Burmese rice noodles with a mild chicken coconut curry sauce, eggs, split yellow pea, and fried onion

Coconut Rice (per person)*
Aromatic jasmine rice cooked with coconut milk and topped with fried onions

Everything was very delicious. The Tea Leaf Salad was prepared table-side for us by a gentleman who explained each component that was in the dish. The textures of each ingredient was great. The lemon he squeezed on top added a refreshing element to it. This dish and the Coconut Rice were pushed strongly by my friend so I was sure to get both of those. I got the Nan Gyi Dok as my main and my dining partner shared the sauce from his dish which I put on the rice. I'm salivating just thinking about this. I left satisfied and full. This local place in a residential area is off the beaten path and is a must do if in the SF area.

4 out of 5

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Pachenga Patterson

Last evening my friend and I had a date night at Pachanga Patterson in Astoria. Oh so delicious. Our gracious host greeted us and invited us to sit at the bar while we waited a few minutes for our table. With a rustic feel, lights webbed across the ceiling, and tables close I felt like I was in a little nook with friends and family. J and I settled on the half litre of Pachanga sangria (apples, oranges, mango juice, rum). Then after much more deliberation we decided to share the Cheese Quesadilla with oyster mushroom, roasted corn, and Monterey jack cheese. And after discovering that the Cider Braised Pork, ancho chili pork filled tamale was in fact not spicy we both picked that. Oh heavens. The pork fell right off into the pool of sauce sitting on the plate waiting to be absorbed into the tamales. The little salad made me feel super healthy. Of course we had so much room left in us that we needed dessert.  We decided on the El Diablito Cake which the blog We Heart Astoria describes so perfectly. I then proceeded to run 5 miles in an attempt to ever feel hungry again.

4 out of 5

Friday, January 6, 2012

Starbucks

I am very happy to report two things:

1. I have officially become a gold card member at Starbucks.

2. Regarding my previous post about becoming a 'regular' at a restaurant...today I walked in and the guy taking orders looked at me and said 'Ah, I can't remember it...'. Which means there was a spark of recognition. And I'm not that memorable. Sigh. So close!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Barbuto & Sugarfreak

Barbuto
Last minute I was invited to Barbuto in the West Village and am very glad I said yes. Not because of the food. Ok well, partly because of the food. I'll get to why in a minute. As I sat at the bar waiting for my dining partners to arrive I chatted away with a woman who was a 'regular'. Oh how I dream of becoming a 'regular' at an establishment. But therein lies some problems.
- One, I am financially unable to frequent a restaurant enough for the staff to recognize me.
- Next, There are waaaaay to many people in the city for my infrequent trips into a place to establish my presence
- Lastly, the turnover. There is high turnover in restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Just when I'm starting to make friends with someone, they are bound to leave me and find another 'regular' elsewhere.
Recently I was bestowed a Starbucks gift card. This delighted me because I love my chai latte's and also it allows to me to visit my Starbucks at work a lot more then normal. Every time I go in I wait .4 seconds to say my name when they ask in the hopes that they will look at me and say, 'oh hey! tall chai latte AND it's on the house.' Sigh, one can only hope.
So my new lady friend was and remains regular. I mean, A regular at Barbuto. She is financially stable, goes enough to this place to be recognized and a nice restaurant like this does not have high turnover. Rather it is bustling with staff that is highly knowledgeable of the menu and comfortably welcomes you to sit down and spend a few hours amongst friends. And let me tell you about these friends. A man walks by and I say to my to cohorts, my, that looks like Bobby Flay. Indeed, it was. Then his wife was recognized by us followed by Michael Symon. Apparently, Gabrielle Hamilton and another female chef were present along with the two chefs of the night, Jonathan Waxman and Marc Vetri. Whew! After I had my panic attack, then realized I am now a New Yorker and must follow the cardinal rule of being a New Yorker and celebrity spotting: do nothing, be subtle in your gawking, but again, DO NOTHING. Let the tourists look like morons.
Here is what we had (tasting menu/beverage pairing):
On the table - Wild Mushroom Bruschetta w/ Modelet Brut Rose, Angrois, NY
First course - raw shaved brussels sprouts w/pecorino & toasted walnuts
- celery puntarelle salad with anchovy dressing w/Sorachi Ace, Brooklyn Brewery
Second Course - Rigatoni w/Spicy Duck Ragu w/Pinot noir rose, Copain 2010
- Robiola francobolli w/chanterelle mushrooms & thyme w/Savuto odoardi, 2006
Third Course - Lombardia style pork ribs
- Veal breast "al Latte" w/fried sage
- Braised greens w/caramelized onions & ricotta salata
- Fennel Gratin w/'Soffumbergo' Comelli, 2008
Dessert - Olive oil cake
- Caramel Panna Cotta

I was pleasantly full and drunk at the conclusion of the meal.

3 out of 5

Sugarfreak
Located in the heart of Astoria Sugarfreak is not a bakery. Yes, this is what I thought until I was told otherwise. It is the home of Louisiana Homestyle Cooking. If you like the style design of 'shabby chic' (See Rachel Ashwell and you'll know what I'm talking about) then this is the cutest, most comfy place to go. Cut out snow flakes sat behind the bar while mismatch curtains filled space between booths. Adorable. After speaking with the bartender while I waited for my dining partner to arrive I was told his top 3 favorite menu items. I'm telling you, if you want to talk to the interesting people and get the gossip on the restaurant, get to the place early, sit at the bar and talk with the bartender or the 'regular' who happens to be sitting right next to you.
I decided on the Blackened Catfish with a side of macaroni and cheese. And it came with a salad to make things a little healthy. I sipped on Stella Artois. My partner ordered the fried catfish with sweet potato fries. It was at my urging that the fries were ordered because they had never had them before. Gasp! For dessert we shared bread pudding soaked in Bailey's.  Yes, you heard right. Delicious.
And yes, I did visit the bathroom. And I did not want to leave. I felt like I was in the most quaint outhouse of my life. With a radio perched above my head playing old timey music, a chain to flush the toilet and a metal pail as the sink I was in bathroom heaven. I cannot wait to go back and try some jambalaya!

3 out of 5

Monday, November 21, 2011

Insomnia Cookies

Back in college my friend, J, who went to Syracuse would rave about this magical cookie place that one could go and fetch warm, just out of the oven at Grandma's house cookies. Take a moment to let your mouth begin to salivate. Whilst J's sister and I were out at Amber last week we, as normal sweet seeking women were in search of dessert after our sushi filled dinner. As we ambled up through Murray Hill we suddenly both stopped, looked up at the sign and without a word to each other raced to beat each other into Insomnia Cookies. K had the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie and I indulged in the s'more cookie. Both the deluxe edition of the cookies. Let's just say people gave us looks as we attempted to land the cookie from the wax bag, all warm and gooey, into our mouths.
A few months ago a co-worker was lucky enough to get Insomnia Cookies for their birthday and Ronnybrook Farm Milk. A divine combination if you ever pick up a bottle at Chelsea Market and make your way to Murray Hill for a cookie.

5 out of 5

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Back in the City

DBGB
Now back from traveling to Colorado I am able to focus all of my eating energies back on NYC. This past week a group of us traveled to DBGB Kitchen and & Bar of Chef Daniel Boulud. As a group of 7 this meal was destined to take many hours to complete. In preparation of this jaunt I donned a dress with no elastic around the belly so that I could dine in comfort. Nothing is worse that sitting there, stomach expanding, threatening to take over the table and you haven't had your main yet. No! I would not succumb to this! Here is my menu for the evening:
Drink(s): WHITE COSMO (vodka, st. germain elderflower liqueur, white cranberry, lime). An attempt was made with the PEAR SIDECAR (old weller bourbon, pear liqueur, lemon, rhubarb bitters) but the bourbon was a little to pungent to continue drink that. My cohort gladly took over finishing it for me.
First: BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP spaghetti squash, pumpernickel croutons caraway cream, pumpkin seed oil.
Sausages (shared, listed in order of favorite): (1) ANGLAISE pork banger with sage & white pepper yorkshire pudding, english peas a la francaise , (2) THAI pork, lemongrass and red curry links, green papaya, basil fried rice, chili sauce, quail egg, (3) LOUISIANE new orleans-style garlic & pepper andouille crayfish & ham gumbo, fried okra
Main: HOUSE-MADE GNOCCHI "PARISIENNE" apple cider braised veal breast, parsnip puree
pearl onions, mushrooms, gingerbread crumbs brussels sprouts. When the waiter presented me with the dish I challenged him and said, no I ordered the Gnocchi. This reaction was caused by the fact that French Gnocchi is a different shape then Italian Gnocchi. My first thought of the French Gnocchi was that they resembled mozzarella sticks. But oh, were they creamy and delicious.
Dessert:  CHOCOLATE-MALT malted meringue, cookie dough, brownies chocolate fudge & whipped cream. It looked enticing but I did not need this dessert. Nor did I love it. Turns out I am not a malt fan. Don't tell me co-eaters but I only ate the cookie dough and brownies - definitely a childish move but it was necessary.

I do hope to return to this location to sit at the bar and people watch. We arrived early so we could see the parades of people walking in and the intense raise in volume and our voice levels. The bathrooms were clean. Our waiter was knowledgeable and friendly.

4 out of 5

Amber
LivingSocial coupon! My friend and I each printed out the deal for Amber. You may think, hey she has already been to Amber, this is breaking one of her rules of going to the same restaurant multiple times! Alas my friends I thought I was going to the same Amber. As I was on the subway K texted me saying she would see me at the 27th street location. Good thing because I was headed up to 80th. So yes it's the same restaurant, but a different location. We had to sit on the ground floor underneath a loud speaker. Lucky for us we are loud talkers and easily yell at each other. Our table was barely big enough to fit our 'Sushi For 2' platter but we made it work. K sipped on a Red Samurai martini while I had a Mango Martini praying that I would not break out in rashes as I did last time a mango entered my body. The Sushi for 2 was the perfect amount of food for the two of us and included some of my favorites including eel which I can never tire of. Some of the fish tasted a little too 'fishy'. Don't give me and eye roll. It did. With the coupon we only paid about $23 each.

3 out of 5

Earl's Beer & Cheese
Here's an embarrassing fact: I went to the Quidditch World Cup on Saturday. It was hilarious. Even if you are not a HP fan it is quite entertaining. Between the improv announcers who commentate on the people rather then the game, the shirts being sold that read 'Occupy Gringots', and the snitches dressed in all gold spandex running around the pitches it is a funny event. As the evening faded to dark and we turned and appreciated the beautiful view of the skyline from Randall's Island and realized, we were hungry! And cold - my plaid, fur lined, elmer fudd hat only kept me so warm. E (not E from Entourage, I wish though) suggested we go to Earl's Beer & Cheese as she described ' the hip new cheap place in nyc'.
As I would trust her with my life, I trusted her with this decision. We took the water taxi to Manhattan and ventured up to 97th and Park. With no sign I had to ask the patrons in the front if this was Earl's. After they said yes we four ventured in. I approached the small bar in the back and asked if there was a list and was told that it was first come, first sit. We ended up splitting up two at the bar and two at the wall rail. E and I split the Beer-Cheese which had NY State Cheddar, House Lager, Fresh Garlic With Toast and the NY State Cheddar with Pork Belly, Kimchi, Fried Egg on Sourdough. With no menu to look upon we relied on the chalk board and the good word of other patrons in this packed shoebox. I literally did not know what was on the Grilled Cheese sandwich until later when I looked a stray menu sitting at the bar. I don't know if I would have indulged in the Grilled Cheese knowing there was Kimchi on it and on Sourdough. Turns out it was amazing.
E departed and L and P and I were left at the bar. If I hadn't had enough carbs I thought, why not get the bread pudding? Ha.Ha.Ha. Thank the Lord on High that I did. I asked our bar woman/wench how was the bread pudding. It was loud. So I thought she said apples, bread, and topped with cotton candy. Alas when the dish arrived many minutes later it WAS cotton candy. And because everything was still very hot it disintegrated into the bread and apples which then proceeded to burn my tongue as per usual. I drank a Pale Ale with my meal. This place reminded me of London as you order at the bar, pay, and are done. If you want more you can get more, if not you don't sit around waiting for the check to arrive, you can just leave. Very enjoyable experience.

4 out of 5

I think there is a holiday approaching that involves a lot of eating? Oh wait, that's right, my dad and I have already started menu planning for Thanksgiving. I worry about us sometimes.