yaokui

Chinese food history is perhaps just as colorful and complex as the Chinese history itself. The cuisine is approximately 5000 years old, and on a high level can be divided into northern Chinese and southern Chinese cuisine; and between these two regional cuisines, it can be further classified into Cantonese, Szechuan, Shandong and Jiangsu Cuisine. Growing up as a Malaysian Chinese who has never been to China, I won't pretend to be the expert of Chinese food but we do have a lot of good traditional Cantonese food in our country that I grew up eating. However, it's only after I moved to New York City when I was first exposed to Northern Chinese cuisines.

Compared to the other cuisines, Chinese cuisine is actually pretty adaptable; There are traditional cooking techniques that chefs will always use, but the dishes are often adapted to the local palate and preferences. You will notice differences between the Chinese food here in America and those in South East Asia, in Europe or anywhere else.

After becoming out of favor for a while (and after years of becoming just the reliable-but-not-exciting takeout cuisine), New Yorkers have once more find authentic Chinese food interesting, and have been flocking to flushing Queens, the mecca for adventurous foodies, to get a taste of real good Chinese food. As demand for good Chinese food becomes more prominent, and as people become more exposed to other types of Chinese food besides the ones you find at the takeout places, more and more good modern Chinese restaurants are making their way to New York City. Hakkasan from London and Mission Chinese Food from San Francisco should be opening here in Spring or Summer.

One of the most interesting development in modern Chinese food in New York City however, is the opening of Red Farm restaurant by Chef Joe Ng of Chinatown Brasserie and Chinese food expert Ed Schoenfel. Chef Joe Ng and co-owner Ed Schoenfeld's intention when opening Red Farm was not to create an authentic Chinese restaurant which competes with those in Flushing. Instead, Red Farm makes Chinese cuisine inspired dishes, using seasonal and local ingredients. Their main focus is to make food that is delicious, regardless whether it taste like Chinese food or not. I like that.

What I like even more are Red Farm's creative dishes that taste just as good as they look. Shu Mai Shooters, Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles, kowloon filet mignon tarts, Kumamoto Oysters with Yuzu-lemon ice, 'Pac Man' shrimp dumplings, pork and crab soup dumplings are just some of the dishes we ordered when we went there last time. The Kowloon filet mignon tarts were flavorful and the beef was cooked perfectly, the pork and crab soup dumplings are delicate and juicy, just like good xiao long bao should be and the 'Pac Man' dumplings are so cute and taste delicious as well. Our favorite dish there is none other than the Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles. A perfect example of combining Chinese and Western cooking technique and ingredients to create the most amazing and luxurious seafood noodles. We have similar dishes like this in Malaysia so this noodle dish at Red Farm definitely reminds me of home every time I eat it. Needless to say, Red Farm is one of our favorite restaurants right now.

The restaurant doesn't take reservation, so go early if you want to score a table!

Recommended dishes: Shu Mai Shooters, Kumamoto Oysters with Yuzu Lemon Ice, Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles, Pork and Crab Soup Dumplings, Kowloon Filet Mignon Tarts.

Shu Mai Shooters

Kumamoto Oysters, Yuzu-lemon Ice

Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles

Pork and Crab Soup Dumplings

Kowloon Filet Mignon Tarts

'Pac Man' Shrimp Dumplings

Cocoron Soba

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:49:00 PST

Address: 61 Delancey St, New York, NY (Between Eldridge St & Allen St)

Phone: 212-925-5220

http://www.cocoron-soba.com

This tiny soba shop on Delancey Street at Lower East Side call Cocoron is probably one of our favorite restaurants in New York City these days. Cocoron (which mean "warm heart" in Japanese), makes the most original and delicious soba dish in town. When the weather is cold and freezing, nothing beats a nice bowl of homemade soba served in the most amazing broth ever. Cocoron offers a selection of cold soba and hot soba soup, but our favorite there is the stamina dipping soba with chicken meat balls -- a bowl of homemade broth and chicken meat balls served on miniature hot pot, with a plate of cold soba on the side to be dipped into the lovely broth just before eating. Normally, there is a region where a certain style of soba/ramen are from in Japan; but when asked about where stamina soba was originated, the owner proudly told us that it was a NYC creation! Thumbs up!

Just like most soba restaurants, Cocoron does not take reservation and it can get pretty crowded during week nights. So make sure you go early!

Traif

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 07:42:00 PST

Address: 229 S 4th St, Brooklyn, NY (between Havemeyer St and Roebling St)

Phone: 347-844-9578

http://traifny.com

Time flies! Gan and I have been living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for almost four months now and we are loving every minute of it. We moved there because we fell in love with the food, the people, the shops... basically everything there. So nowadays, instead of driving into the city for brunch on the weekends, we enjoy exploring our neighborhood and trying out good places that most Brooklynites have already discovered some time ago. Pies N Thighs, Dokebi, Samurai Mama, Diner, Marlow and Sons, Caracas Arepa and Egg are just some of the good restaurants in the area.

When most places concentrate on making the same old brunch menu to satisfy the NY brunch crowd, Traif differentiates itself by doing what it does best - unique and interesting small dishes/tapas style food. Roasted beets with yogurt and cheese, bacon wrapped stuffed dates on spinach, egg-in-a-nest, comice pear salad are some of the dishes we really liked. The sweet and savory comice pear salad and roasted beets with yogurt and cheese were light and appetizing, great starters to prep the palate before the heavier dishes arrive. The smoked salmon bravas was also a nice take on the traditional Spanish patata bravas dish, it was playful and delicious! We thought the fried chicken and biscuit dish was just alright, especially when compared to the ones served at the fried chicken temple - Pies N Thighs.

Overall, we had a wonderful dining experience at Traif --- dishes were creative, delicious and we had a nice table at the patio garden. Our waitress was fantastic and helpful as well. Can't wait for summer so we can enjoy the food at their open air garden seating.

Recommended dishes: Comice pears salad, smoked salmon bravas, egg-in-a-nest and roasted red beet, bacon-wrapped blue cheese-stuffed dates (this one especially is a surprise. it looks like some type of mutated bug but it tasted absolutely delicious.. even the crispy bacon outside and goeey and sticky cheese inside gives it a bug texture. yikes! be adventurous, it's worth it.)

Comice pears, Cranberries, Radish, Bacon, Blue Cheese, Pistachios, Greens, Truffle Vin

smoked salmon bravas, Traif version of Patata Bravas

Bellflower pasta

bacon-wrapped blue cheese–stuffed dates, spinach a la catalana (the bug dish)

egg-in-a-nest, brie-roast portabello panini, truffle cream

bacon-egg-cheese sliders, smoked belly, blue cheese, sweet potato fries

Roasted red beets, Burrata cheese, Pomegranate,Yogurt, Mint

Le Comptoir

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:35:00 PDT

Address: 5, Carrefour de l'Odéo, Paris

Phone: +33 (0)1 44 27 07 97

It's been about five months since our Paris food tour in February, and I'm missing Le Comptoir more and more each day. Of all of the places we have eaten in Paris this last trip (L'Arpege, Chateaubriand, L'atelier de Joel Robuchon, Frenchie, L'epi Dupin), Le Comptoir is definitely our favorite. Maybe we are bias because we stayed in Relais Saint Germain hotel next door (also owned by Le Comptoir Chef Yves Camdeborde and his wife Claudine) and get to eat the most amazing breakfast at Le Comptoir every morning, but it was the restaurant's $57 five course set menu dinner that totally blew us away. I haven't had baby eel (angulas) since Asador Etxebarri, and Chef Camdeborde's angulas with roasted garlic was superb, enhanced by the slight smokiness and aroma of the perfectly roasted garlic, this dish was to die for. Similarly, the mackerel with squid ink was the single best fish dish that we have ever tasted. The mackerel was grilled to perfection and served on top of a bed of squid ink. Who knew they'd go so well together? We were thoroughly impressed! The other dishes like oysters with lemon zest, lobster with macaroni and sweet breads were sublime as well. The highlight of the dinner was definitely the Le Comptoir generous cheese course; which restaurant in this world would hand you a large tray of different types of cheese like Timanoix, Beaufort, Brie etc with lovely Cerise Noir and tell you to enjoy it as much as you can before passing the tray to the next table? Needless to say, Gan and I were in cheese heaven that night. You may be surprised to hear this, but getting a reservation at Le Comptoir was actually harder than getting a reservation at Chateaubriand or Frenchie. When I first called the restaurant for a table in February, I was told that it was fully booked until May, and it will be impossible to get a table. But with a combination of research and luck, I discovered that the restaurant does reserve a few tables for its hotel guests at Relais Saint Germain hotel next door, and that was the only other way to score a table at Le Comptoir in February besides personally knowing the chef!

Some of you may not know, but Chef Yves Camdeborde is actually a legend in the restaurant industry, known as one of the first few chefs who started the food culinary movement in Paris known as "Le Fooding" in the early 90s. Le fooding movement is all about going against the old fashion and inflexible standards and rules for French cuisines and their single and most important lifelong goal of pursuing the Michelin stars by reaching for perfections in every single aspects. Le Fooding is all about presenting elegant and creative food minus the pretense, snobbery and hefty price tag. It is about giving every food lovers out there a chance to taste world class, ambitious French cooking that is used to be available only for those who can afford to eat at places such as Le Meurice, Ritz and Hôtel de Crillon. We love Chef Camdeborde for paving the ways for new generation of Le Fooding chefs like Inaki Aizpitarte of Le Chateaubriand and Gregory Marchand of Frenchie restaurant, and for cooking amazing French food that does not cost an arm and a leg.

Just like the Noveau cuisine movement that had modernized French cuisines in the early part of the century, Le Fooding is the 21st century French culinary movement that will once again propel French cuisines to the next level, making it a world class cuisine that is current and here to stay.

Restaurant interior

oyster with lemon zests

angulas with roasted garlic

mackerel with squid ink

sweet bread

Lobster with macaroni

dessert

out-of-this-world cheese course

World's Best Restaurants - Top 10

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:57:00 PDT

In conjunction with the newly released S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants 2011, here is a short review of the 7 restaurants we've tried from the Top 10 list (pictures and links attached).

#1: Noma -- Hope to try soon!

#2: El Celler De Can Roca -- Need to make a trip to Spain again for El Celler De Can Rosa!

#3: Mugaritz -- One of our favorite restaurants. See posting and food pictures here.

#4: Osteria Francescana -- The food is so out of this world it's hard to describe in words (hence no proper posting yet). But here are some of the food photos for now:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

#5: The Fat Duck -- It's nice, but abit too gimmicky if you ask me. The whole experience was like going to a food circus, except all I wanted was to eat. Some pictures of the food we ate in Fat Duck:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

#6: Alinea -- Hands down the best restaurant in America. Grant Achatz is a genius.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

#7: DOM -- Next stop, Brazil.

#8: Arzak -- We are big fans of Juan Mari Arzak and Elena Arzak, and the Arzak restaurant. They came to say hi to everyone at the table and had proper conversations with us. Food was spectacular; even though we were already overdosed with our 13 course meal at Asador Etxebarri earlier. See what we ate at Arzak here.

#9: Le Chateaubriand -- The food was good, but we weren't wowed. Maybe due to chef Inaki Aizpitarte not present in the kitchen that night.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

#10: Per Se -- One of the best restaurants in New York. See posting here.

The French neo-bistrot movement

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:39:00 PST

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

When I read the neo-bistrot movement on the Wall Street Journal/New York Times, it made me think. What is it that makes people in food industry to want to make a statement, consciously or unconsciously?

To draw a parallel, this is not much different than another creative industry. Independent music has been changing how consumers listen and attend concerts. In a way, they are the anti-mass consumerism, anti-mass media appeal, anti-establishment of their industry. Food is no different. I think Anthony Bourdain captures the essence of the movement succinctly. If you are a young turk, looking to unseat the U2's of the world, it is your duty to piss on the establishments. High end fine dining and Michelin starred restaurants, take notice! This is the shot across the bow by the hippies of our generation.

Our trip to Paris is in a way, our pilgrimage back to where our fine dining culinary adventure began. As I sit comfortably in the Eurostar making its bullet fast trip from London to Paris, listening to Temper Trap's Sweet Disposition, I started pondering what we would find in Paris. Frenchie, Le Chateaubriand and Le Comptoir. They are not exactly still struggling to rise up. To be fair, they are probably an establishment even more difficult to get a reservation than L'atelier de Joel Robuchon or l'Arpege. I think Sarah had drawn up an immaculate list of the old U2 establishments versus the new Phoenix establishments.

I feel alive.

Hakkasan @ Hanway Place

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:56:00 PST

Address: 8 Hanway Pl, London

http://w3.hakkasan.com

Phone: 44 20 7927 7000

I like Hakkasan. Never mind that the restaurant has often been classified as "westernized" Chinese restaurant, the food is actually very familiar and yet creative. Quite often, chefs/restauranteurs who tried to create modern Chinese restaurants in the West got it all wrong; trying to create a haute Chinese restaurant without understanding the true origin of the cuisine, and the palate of the Chinese people often resulting in one dimensional and soulless Chinese restaurant. Sadly, New York City seems to have tons of these type of restaurants, for some reasons. But not Hakkasan, it is modern but really authentic at the core. The restaurant is sometimes called the Chinese Nobu of London, but honestly I feel it is better than Nobu (Sorry Robert DeNiro). I've heard about Hakkasan for as long as I can remember. Even though Alan Yau, the founder of the restaurant no longer owns it, head chef Tong Chee Hwee who has been running the kitchen since its inception in 2001 is still there. You can count on Chef Tong to continue serving his Michelin Star world class modern Chinese cuisine.

One word to sum up Hakkasan menu - exciting! I don't think I was able to contain my excitement looking at the menu, as there were so many interesting dishes to choose from. Hakkasan menu is a modern adaptation of traditional Chinese dishes that I am somewhat familiar with, but it sounds more fascinating than the traditional ones. Taste wise, it was even more satisfying. Roasted Silver Cod with Champagne and honey is chef Tong's answer to Nobu's famous Miso Cod. I think that Hakkasan's version is much better using Champagne and Honey! How can you go wrong with that combo? It's a lot more subtler than the Nobu version but still gives you the delicate balance between the sweetness of the honey and the tanginess from the champagne. I also really enjoyed the stir fry Venison dish we ordered. I remember growing up eating Venison in some restaurants in my hometown but haven't had it since I left Malaysia. Hakkasan cooked the meat perfectly, so tender and juicy. The dish that really surprised me most was the Japanese tofu with blue swimmer crab toban. A nice touch of vinegar made the tofu dish very appetizing. I could eat this tofu dish with rice anytime! Salt and pepper squid and ostrich wrapped in lotus leaf was really nice as well.

My only complain is that food photography is not permitted at the restaurant and the manager was so serious about it. I'm still puzzled as to why not? Are they not confident of their own dish? Other than that, I would say two thumbs up for Hakkasan! If only there are more modern Chinese restaurant like that in New York City! With that said, Hakkasan should have opened its first shop in the US in New York City instead of Miami. There's such a void in exciting high end, high quality modern Chinese restaurant here. Hopefully Tasameem, the Abu Dhabi-controlled property fund which owns Hakkasan will include New York City in its next expansion plan.

didn't get a chance to snap better photos of the dishes since the manager at the restaurant prohibits it. clockwise from the top: roasted silver cod with champagne and honey, stir fry venison, japanese tofu with blue swimmer crab toban, ostrich wrapped in lotus leaf, and salt and pepper squid.

Yauatcha

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:05:00 PST

Address: 15-17 Broadwick Street. Soho, London

http://www.yauatcha.com

Phone: 44 20 7494 8888

Dim Sum is generally good in New York City but lacked options. There is a sufficient supply of good traditional dim sum places in Chinatown, ie Golden Unicorn and Oriental Garden but refined/high quality dim sum restaurants such as award winning Lai Wah Heen in Toronto and Ming Court in Hong Kong is almost non-existence here. Which was why I absolutely have to try the One Michelin Star Yauatcha when we went to London as Chinese food in London is said to be better than those in NYC.

Two dishes that you must not miss in Yauatcha is the restaurants famous Venison puff and Penang fried kway teow (kwetio on Yauatcha menu). In place of pork, the venison gives you a stronger flavor and leaner meat than you will find. It compliments well with the intense black pepper seasoning. We would even venture to say that this is even better than the five spice char siu (roast pork) fillings that we are so familiar with. Yauatcha's Penang fried kway teow is not as good as the actual ones in Penang, but it is darn close, and the kway teow here is famous among Malaysians in London. The refined touch that Yauatcha uses here is the scallops. Ask most Malaysians in London and they can tell you that Yauatcha's fried kway teow is their cure to kway teow cravings. The dim sums from the ala carte menu which we ordered, ie. Roasted duck pumpkin puff, Har Gau, Shiu Mai, Prawn and beancurd roll, Prawn and beancurd cheung fun, congee etc were equally memorable as well.

I was told that restaurateur Alan Yau who founded Hakkasan and Yauatcha no longer own both of these restaurants, Abu Dhabi's property investment company is the current owner. But it looks to be that the restaurants are doing just fine without Alan Yau. Hopefully he will open a restaurant in NYC, I think business will be just as good, if not better!

圍蝦滑燒賣 Prawn shui mai with chicken

筍尖鮮蝦餃 Har gau

黑椒鹿肉酥 Venison puff

黑椒火鴨金瓜酥 Roasted duck pumpkin puff

香煎鮮蝦腐皮卷 Prawn beancurd roll

荷葉珍珠雞 Sticky rice in lotus leaf with chicken and shrimp

馬式炒貴刁 Stir-fry Penang kwetio noodle with prawn and scallop

腐皮蝦腸粉 Prawn and beancurd cheung fun

St. John Bar and Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:56:00 PST

Address: 26 St. John Street, London

http://www.stjohnrestaurant.com

Phone: 020 3301 8069

It's fascinating to see how Gan's face lit up and how he behaved giddily like a kid in a candy store responding to the menu he just saw at St John. "Ox heart! Vennison offal! Woodcock! Roast Middlewhite! Hake! Arbroath! I don't know what they are or how they taste like but I want to try them all!" I guess I made the right choice picking this San Pellegrino top 50 restaurant over the rest in London! St John's menu is absolutely worth getting excited with; where else can you get a taste of traditional English dishes that make use of a whole animal, which most people now no longer prepare or eat since they are more affluent and can afford premium cut meats? Offals, animal heads, game birds which used to be staple proteins for the commoners were brought back by chef and owner Fergus Henderson and cooked in the most scrumptious way possible, no wonder the One Michelin star.

For starters we ordered the langoustines and mayonnaise, roast bone marrow and parsley salad, braised squid and salsify, snail and oakleaf to share between the four of us. And for main dish Gan ordered Woodcock and I felt adventurous and went with the Ox Heart with horseradish and beetroot dish. All the starters were actually not terribly impressive, but my ox heart dish, my goodness it was absolutely heavenly. Char grilled to perfection with just enough chewiness and tenderness to make anyone completely in love with the dish. Thank you St John for this wonderful introduction to ox heart! I am now and forever a fan of this "cut" of meat. Gan's woodcock dish was rather interesting, and extremely challenging to eat even for the most open minded eater. The bird's head was cut in half with the brain exposed so it could be eaten with the bird. I couldn't tell if he really liked it. For sweets, we had the traditionally prepared Eccles cake and treacle sponge cake that our English friend recommended. Yummy!

Dinner at St John was perhaps one of the more memorable dining experiences we have had in London. We'll choose this place over Fat Duck or Gordon Ramsay anytime. Would love to meet chef Fergus Henderson and shake his hand for this special dining experience, but was told that chef rarely comes into the restaurant due to his Parkinson disease. But good to see that the restaurant is still doing well despite his absence, with attentive and unfussy kitchen and front of house staffs. St John is doing admirably, trying to preserve ways of cooking which may not be as appreciated by the McDonald's generation. But for each of them, hopefully there's another yaokui out there who is open minded and willing to explore the origins of modern civilization cooking.

Native Oysters

langoustines and mayonnaise

Braised Squid and Salsify

Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

Woodcock

Ox Heart, Beetroot and Horseradish

Steamed Treacle Sponge and Custard

Eccles Cake and Lancashire Cheese

Trattoria Sostanza

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:35:00 PST

Address: Via della Porcellana, 25, Florence, Italy

Phone: 055 212691

If you are planning a trip to Florence, Trattoria Sostanza is definitely a restaurant you must not miss. This tiny 147 year old trattoria serves some of the best dishes we've tried in Italy during our trip there in September. Sostanza's Tortellini in brodo, trippa alla Fiorentina and petti di pollo al burro (chicken in butter!) were absolutely fantastic, especially petti di pollo al burro. I have never eaten a chicken dish as good as the petti di pollo al burro there, it was like crack. Needless to say, we had multiple servings of it throughout the night. The restaurant also makes one of the best bistecca alla Fiorentina in town, but we didn't get to try it since we've already ordered so many dishes. Don't bother spending extra money on wine, go with the restaurant's house wine instead and you will be pleasantly surprised by how good a cheap house wine can be. (EUR 3.50 for 1/4 bottle!)

Trattoria Sostanza is definitely a place you'd need to make reservation ahead of time as it's always packed. Also, expect to share tables with others since there are only long communal tables available. But I doubt anyone who goes there has any issues with that; if anything, I felt that sharing tables with strangers actually contributed to a more relax and convivial atmosphere.

Outstanding traditional cooking, lively atmosphere and amazingly wonderful wait staff made Trattoria Sostanza my top five favorite places to eat in Italy.

trippa alla Fiorentina - tripe in tomato sauce and cheese.

Zuppa Alla Paesana - a flavorful and hearty soup dish with bread

Tortellini in brodo - wonderfully prepared homemade tortellini in light broth.

petti di pollo al burro - Chicken in butter, one of the best dishes I have tasted in Italy!

Ai Fiori

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 22:32:00 PST

Address: 400 Fifth Avenue, New York. The Setai Fifth Avenue, Level Two

http://www.aifiorinyc.com

Phone: 212-613-8660

Just when I thought I have tried all of Chef Michael White's restaurants (Convivio, Alto, Marea, Osteria Morini) and wonder if the chef could ever outdo his sea urchin malloreddus dish at Convivio, he surprised me with his sea urchin gnocchetti at his newest restaurant Ai Fiori. Located on the second floor of ultra luxury The Setai Hotel on Fifth avenue at Murray Hill, Ai Fiori is probably the most upscale restaurant the chef owns. When we went there, Ai Fiori customers seems to be the fur coat, fancy hat and expensive suit wearing kind of crowd. Albeit the crowd, ambience at Ai Fiori is not at all stuffy, which may be partly due to its friendly waitstaffs and maitre d'. The executive chef of Ai Fiori, Chris Jaeckle (who used to cook in Morimoto and Eleven Madison Park) even came out and chatted with us. Apparently, he has a friend who shares the exact same first and last name as me. Note to self: try convincing Chris Jaeckle that it'd be cool to have 2 friends with the same name. Always nice perk to know chefs or people in the food business, if only for their colorful personality. :-)

Since the big boys aka New York Times, New York Magazine, Eaters and Serious Eats have not yet officially published a review on Ai Fiori, we figured that explained why the restaurant was not fully booked when we went there on a Friday night. I'm glad that we had a chance to eat before it gets too popular, the food is really that good. With Michael White no longer affiliated to partner Chris Cannon and the Convivio and Alto restaurants, Ai Fiori will be the new best place for Michael White lux pasta and Osteria Morini will be the place to go for laid back comfort Italian food, and especially its pasta. Can you imagine MW was out of job just a few years ago? He sure is taking New York City by storm!

Ostriche - poached wellfleet oysters, cucumber, sturgeon caviar, beurre blanc

Uovo with Fried Sweetbread

Just like in all of Michael White restaurants, the menu in Ai Fiori is simple and utilitarian (I think I've used the same description for Marea's menu), with adequate selections of wonderfully prepared Antipasto, Pasta, and Pesce/Carne main dishes to choose from. The menu here are French Riviera and Italian Riviera inspired, and they served a ligurian pasta called Trofie which is unique to places like Cinque Terre. I didn't order that but I had oysters for appetizer, sea urchin gnocchetti for pasta and poached lobster for pesce entree. Gan had the uovo (poached egg with sweetbreads), sea urchin gnochetti for pasta and rack of lamb for carne. I just have to say --- Ai Fiori's sea urchin gnochetti is absolutely heavenly, even better than Convivo's sea urchin malloreddus! Portion was larger and there were more crab meat to go with the rich creamy sea urchin sauce and the perfectly al dente gnocchetti. The poached oysters with sturgeon caviar dish delivered great satisfaction, and poached lobster dish for my third course was just butter-succulent. Gan's uovo was also pretty darn good - light foam with runny egg yolk complimented the fried sweetbreads nicely. Unfortunately he wasn't as impressed by the rack of lamb dish he ordered. For dessert, we ordered ligurian olive cake with ricotta and gelato al caffe, which was a nice finish to our perfect dinner at the restaurant. If you've been to MW's restaurants as much as we have, you should have noticed a few similar dishes reincarnated in slightly different versions such as the sea urchin pasta, uovo, and affogato. Say what you want, but MW knows what works and is adept in reinventing his food to keep it interesting and most of all, delicious.

Service was excellent throughout the night. We remember seeing some familiar faces in the front of house, and later on found out that Ai Fiori had in fact hired quite a few people from Corton, including Corton's director/maitre d' Susan Lee. Dessert chef Robert Truitt made the same trek uptown from Corton to Ai Fiori. I guess besides ex partner Chris Cannon (who gave the chef his big break when he hired him at Convivio), Michael White will probably not be in friendly terms with Corton's Drew Nieporent any time soon? In the mean time, the restaurant war does not concern us diners, as long as we can still have good italian food and good pasta. Nobody does it better than MW!

Torchon - foie gras au naturel, spiced figs, ormeasco mostarda, pistachios, brioche toaste

Granchio - blue crab, avocado, grapefruit, tarragon, crispy farinata

Gnocchetti with sea urchin and crab meat

Ragu ravioli

Astice - butter poached nova scotia lobster, root vegetable fondant, chateau chalon sauce

Rack of lamb

Torta di Olio - ligurian olive oil cake, ricotta, pear confit, port, gelato al caffé

Jewel Bako

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:10:00 PST

Address: 239 East 5th Street, New York, NY

Phone: 212-979-1012

Jewel Bako, a One Michelin Star sushi restaurant in East Village is (ex) NYC couple Jack and Grace Lamb's first venture into the restaurant business, before they started Degustation Wine and Tasting Bar next door, Jewel Bako Makimono (which has since closed down) and Jack's Oyster Bar. The couple also owns a restaurant near their home in Greenwich Connecticut call Harvest Supper, run by a former chef at Hearth. When Jewel Bako first opened a few years ago, East Village was not a place to go for good sushi. The landscape has improved since, with places such as Kyo Ya, Kajitsu, Ushiwakamaru entering the Japanese food domain. But in terms of the place to go for world class sushi in the East Village, Jewel Bako perhaps still reigns over the rest.

The secret to Jewel Bako's success, aside from good sushi chefs and intense management (I felt the intensity of the lady manager when I went there), is its ability to get fresh fish directly from a purveyor in Japan and serving the fish next day after they are caught. The restaurant is perhaps the only in NYC which serves live Lobster Sashimi? I remember watching one of Andrew Zimmerman's Bizarre foods NYC episodes a few years ago, where he went to the restaurant and tried its signature dish - live lobster sashimi. We did not order lobster sashimi when we went there (not sure if it's still on the menu), but the sushi ala carte (Uni, Toro, Unagi, Ebi etc) and spicy yellowtail sushi rolls we had were excellent!

Sushi ala carte

Spicy Tuna Yellowtail with scallions and cucumber

Restaurant interior

ABC Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:34:00 PST

Address: 35 E 18th Street, New York, NY

Phone: 212-475-5829

Of all the Jean Georges' restaurants in New York City, I probably dislike ABC Kitchen the most. Yes the restaurant has a nice contemporary shabby chic style interior, being that it's co-owned by ABC Carpet and Home next door, but to me, that's all there is. The dishes, which focus on local and organic ingredients were mediocre; they were cooked nicely, not burnt, not overcooked, undercooked or anything like that, but it was really pricey for the lack of inventiveness. For example the grilled lamb chops dish we ordered, which cost about $37 inevitably raised our expectation on the dish but they were short on the delivery. The cherry tomato barbeque sauce was rustic but lack the tanginess I was expecting. It's different than the typical mustard or mint sauce but I couldn't find my lamb in there. All there was was the sauce which was confused about being a pomodoro sauce or barbeque sauce.

Overall, ABC Kitchen is a pretty restaurant, with really pretty people dining there. But if you are looking for good food by Jean Georges, look elsewhere in his empire.

Fluke sashimi with sliced grapes, sea salt and tarrago

Cauliflower Soup rye croutons and rupert cheese

Grilled lamp chops with cherry tomatoes barbeque sauce - it was ok, but pricey @ $37

Crispy Organic Chicken

Girl and The Goat

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 09:19:00 PST

Address: 809 W Randolph St, Chicago IL, 60607

http://www.girlandthegoat.com

Phone: (312) 492-6262

I cannot talk about Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard's 6 month old Girl and The Goat restaurant without mentioning how amazing her Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face dish is. If you have tried Head Cheese (a type of European cold cut/meat jelly made from the head of a cow or pig) and really liked it, I can guarantee that you'll be blown away by her Pig Face dish. Pig face is essentially her take on the traditional head cheese, instead of serving it as cold cut, she braise and roast it in a wood oven. The end product is an absolutely sublime, crispy/juicy/gelatiny meat jelly served with sunny side egg, tamarind and cilantro sauce. It's delicious, different and gutsy. I love this dish.

Other dishes on the menu are equally interesting and exciting, we especially enjoyed the Hiramasa crudo, sauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette as well as the doughnut dessert. Our only regret was that we weren't able to try more dishes since we had a pretty heavy lunch at The Publican a few hours earlier.

Girl and The Goat is one of the most popular restaurants in Chicago right now and I can see why. It is essentially a gastropub with really awesome food, something like Breslin in New York. Everything about the restaurant reflects Chef Izard's fun loving personality, her techniques and creativity. So I'm actually surprised that Michelin Guide Chicago didn't give the restaurant a One Star. It definitely deserves more than just a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod, if you asked me. But keep up the good work Chef Izard, I'm a big fan of yours now! And your restaurant is a must try in Chicago!

Wood oven roasted pig face with sunny side egg, tamarind, cilantro and potato stix

Open Kitchen and part of the dining room

warm oysters dish

Hiramasa crudo with crisp pork belly and aji aioli

Sauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashews

doughnut dessert

Minetta Tavern

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:02:00 PDT

Address: 113 MacDougal St., New York (Between Bleecker and West 3rd Street)

http://www.minettatavernny.com

Phone: 212-475-3850

I doubt Keith McNally of Minetta Tavern really care that his restaurants were not awarded Three Stars Michelin or were not placed on the Top 50 San Pelligrino's World Best Restaurant list. His restaurants (yes - Odeon, Balthazaar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Pulino's etc) are extremely successful and most of the time, difficult to get reservation.

I still remember when Minetta Tavern first reopened in 2009, getting a table for two was almost impossible. Not only was the phone line eternally busy, you practically need to be a celebrity to eat there. Thankfully, the hype and craziness had died down somewhat one year later, and we the commoners are finally getting our chance to dine at this McNally revived institution. A legendary speakeasy and restaurant which started in the 1930s, Minetta Tavern had deteriorate over the years and lost its charm, when McNally bought it over one year ago and revamped it back to its glory days.

Although I did not particularly like the food at Balthazaar and Pastis, I have to admit that McNally is a genius restaurateur who truly understands his clients and what works in this city, building his own successful trademark restaurants. You know when you are in a McNally restaurant: old school and it's so bloody popular (with pretty people).

Since it was only the two of us, we decided to order Côte de Boeuf (for two), rather than their famous black label burger. Minetta's dry aged Côte de Boeuf was truly the best steak we have ever eaten in the city. Move over Peter Luger, I don't think I will be seeing you much after this! We also had an order of Pasta Za Za, another of the restaurant's famous fettuccine with pancetta dish, supposedly named after legendary sexy siren Zsa Zsa Gabor. This simple runny egg, pancetta and al dante fettucine dish is so satisfying!

Pasta Za Za

fresh pasta with pancetta, sage, Parmesan, and a fried egg

Dry Aged Côte de Boeuf for two, with roasted marrow bones and sucrine lettuce salad

Trattoria Gianni Franzi

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:12:00 PDT

Address: Piazza Marconi 5, 19018 Vernazza, Italy

http://www.giannifranzi.it

Phone: 0187-821003

A lot of people chose to park their cars at La Spieza and take the train to the villages but we thought we would just drive to Vernazza, which is located 4 villages away from La Spieza. It turned out to be one of the scariest driving experience; the road was narrow and winding, and we had many heart-stopping moments driving our stick shift rented car especially when facing speeding cars (drivers love to speed in Italy, even on narrow-one-lane mountain roads). Once we arrived at Vernazza, we were dead tired and all we wanted is food. Since our hotel Gianni franzi is also a popular restaurant in the village, we just went there and not expecting much; but the food there turned out to be really good! From their classic spaghetti polmodoro, to Fritto misto to beef ragu, all the dishes were cooked perfect and very flavorful. House wine was delicious too. Needless to say we went back again on our second night!

Frito Misto

Ravioli Pesce (two thumbs up!)

Pomodoro

Spaghetti Vongole

Trofie al Pesto - a Lingurian specialty

Il Refolo

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:31:00 PDT

Address: 1459 Santa Croce, Campo San Giacomo dall'Orio, Venice, Italy

Phone: 39-041-524-0016

Il Refolo is the sister restaurant of one michelin star restaurant Da Fiore, one of the most exclusive and successful restaurants in Venice by famous chef Mara Martin. While chef Mara runs the kitchen in Da Fiore, his son Damiano takes care of il Refolo near Santa Croce. Il Refolo markets itself as an upscale pizzeria and cicheteria rather than a restaurant, and its location by the canal, surrounded by old Venetian buildings, a bridge and a church, gives a whole new definition to outdoor seating with a view. It is as Venice as it can be.

The food is equally impressive. Their specialty fig and prosciutto pizza was truly amazing, a perfect pie with sweet and savory element combined to create one of the best pizza I've had. The pasta and salume were delicious as well. The excellent house wine also got my "wine shy" friends into drinking wine throughout the trip! Venice is famous for its seafood, but I assure you, you will not be disappointed by Il Refolo's non seafood menu!!

Salume

Prosciutto and fig pizza, classic Magherita pizza

Il Refolo Pasta dish

Da Romano

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 17:48:00 PDT

Address: Via Galuppi, 221, 30012 Burano, Venice

Phone: 041-73-00-30

What is risotto? What makes a good risotto? I'm not familiar with risotto growing up but the main component that makes up risotto, rice, I am very familiar with. Rice is a common starch component in any person's diet growing up in Asia. We have rice for almost every single meal. It's not uncommon to see rice accompanying breakfast. However, as much as rice is a blank canvas as potato is to most western cuisine, they are usually cooked bland in Asian cuisine. We usually start a plate with plain boiled rice and then drench it with main entrees which are usually sauce based or are soupy. When I first had risotto, it was as foreign as it is familiar. But it all makes sense eventually. Why not make it rich and creamy? Why not infuse it with meat or fish or vegetable based broth? Why not make it as flavorful as you can and serve it as is?

When I first saw Da Romano on No Reservation, I knew I had to go there one day. I'm constantly searching for the best Risotto and the Risotto which Anthony Bourdain ate at Da Romano was one of the most appetizing Risotto I've seen. But what is Goh Risotto? Well, apparently Goh Risotto is risotto made from Goh Fish, which is a type of fish that lives in the mud of Venetian lagoon. Da Romano has been making and serving this dish for over a 100 years! But to get to the restaurant, which is in Burano (lace) island, takes about 45 mins ferry ride from Venice. Sounds like a long ride just for food? I promise you it's worth every min of the nauseating ferry ride.

The restaurant is located on the main street, just ask around once you get to the island and you'll find it in no time. Our waiter was very friendly, we told him we came here to try the restaurant's famous Goh risotto after watching it on no reservation. He turned around and announced to the owner of the restaurant (who also appeared in the episode dining with Tony) that it was Anthony Bourdain that brought us here! (I think)

We were invited to visit the kitchen when the chef was preparing our Goh risotto. Even though I have seen it on television, it was still pretty fascinating to see it in person. Watching the chef flip the risotto up in the air with just wooden laddle and the pot was like watching a circus act in a carnival. All of that didn't matter if the end product is not impressive, but the Goh Risotto, just like how it looked on television, was really one of its kind. Maybe it was the intense flipping action which release the starch in the rice in a certain way that blends perfectly with the intense flavor of the "poor man"'s Goh fish broth. Or it could be the bountiful of butter. I can still vividly remember the taste. We also ordered the squid ink risotto (surprisingly is tomato based and has a different flavor profile), Spaghetti ala vongole, Mix seafood crudo with sardine, baby squid, baby octopus, sea snail, langoustines/shrimp, and they were all amazing. The star of the meal was definitely the Goh risotto and it has taken the trophy as the best risotto I've ever had. It was one of the most memorable dish we've all had during this Italy trip. If you're ever in Venice, do take that nauseating ferry ride to Burano for this risotto. It's worth it, and the island itself is really charming, peppered with bright colorful buildings and other photo opportunity. It's as close to an Italian vacation as you'll be able to seek.

We witnessed the famous "risotto flipping" action when visiting Da Romano kitchen. Thank you for letting us into your kitchen!

Our charming and friendly waiter

Mixed seafood crudo

Goh Risotto

Squid ink risotto

spaghetti ala vongole

Cantina Do Mori

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 05:05:00 PDT

Address: San Polo 429, Venice (Near Realto)

Phone: 041-522-5401

I am sure if we had more time in Venice, we would have been able to do a bacari crawl and taste different styles of cicheti at both traditional and modern bacaro in Venice, and wash those glorious food down with ombra (wine) - Venice food tour a la cicheti e ombra style. Instead we only had time to check out Cantina Do Mori at San Polo near the Realto this trip. But I hope this is just an introduction to the Venetian bacari world, to be continued in our next trip here.

Cantina do Mori looks like it's been around for a long time; its narrow and dim interior is decorated with pots and pans hanging down from the ceiling, wooden table with stools, cicheti displayed on glass shelves and wine served in glass from wooden barrels. We told the waiter/bartender to put together a mix platter of their best cicheti for the four of us and 2 glasses of vino bianco and vino Rossi to go with the food. He gave us croquettes, tomato with bread crumbs, salume, cheese and some finger sandwiches, some of the cicheti were pretty similar to the pintxos we had in San Sebastian. Now, the quality of the food at this bacari is not as exciting when compared to the more traditional style of pintxos like Ganbara in San Sebastian, Spain. There's a lack of similar excitement that you would get pintxos hopping in San Sebastian as you seem to get with bacari hopping in Venice. Not sure whether it's the lack of diversity of choices, quality of what is served on the plate, non-specialty food like the mushrooms you get in Ganbara, or most likely, due to our lack of time to explore more while in Venice. The traditional cicheti at Cantina Do Mori is pretty decent but I think I would also like to try the more modern cicheti in Venice next time. I heard there's a whole world of sophisticated bacaro in Venice!

Cantina Do Mori's quaint interior

Wine Barrels at Cantina Do Mori

Our mixed platter with croquettes, tomatoes, sandwich, salume etc

Yaokuis in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 01:19:00 PDT

Buon Giorno, food loving creatures! Today is our last day here in Italy and we are sad that our gastronomy tour will soon come to an end. Gan, myself and two other friends have literally been eating up Italy all the way from Venice, Rubano, Cinque Terre, Modena, Florence, Siena to Rome using the food itinerary I have put together. Travel websites and travel blogs were really helpful for my research on eating places, but as customary to my food inspiration, I rely a lot more on Anthony Bourdain's recommendations, as well as suggestions on chowhound.com, food blogs and tripadvisors. Our goal was to eat good local food, go to places where there are as few tourists as possible and as authentic as possible. Lo and behold, since "No Reservation" is such a popular show, we ended up seeing a lot of American tourists eating at the same restaurant Bourdain featured on his Italy episodes. He is now officially an industry in the food-turismo (we've been seeing quite a few agroturismo movements here). If all restaurauteurs pay him commissions for each cover he helped guide tourists to their restaurants, I won't be surprised if Bill Clinton will be challenged in his position as the richest man on the planet. Well, I'm sure Bourdain would not, as he always do say in his books, "sell-out" to the evils of the $$ or in this case €€.

The craziest thing we have done for food this trip was driving 1 hour from our hotel at Siena di Torrita to Siena for dinner at Il Canto late in evening and returning back to Torrita di Siena/Montepulcino mountains at 2am in the morning. Imagine, driving down the Italian autostrada with no street lights and even more unnerving, driving through the treacherous Tuscan countryside windy roads with approaching Italian drivers driving at like 200kph! Aside from that, I have also gotten food poisoining for the very first time during a trip. I'm guessing the unpasteured cheese I ate at the Siena mercato was too much for my stomach to handle. But nothing is stopping me now, especially when we are in Rome. Traditional Roman Cacio e Pepe dish we had last night at Roma Sparita was a good start to our short Roman holiday. Step aside, Anita Ekberg! I'm having my own La Dolce Vita, cibo style. Looking forward to eating as much as we can today and sharing the food stories and photos soon! Ciao!

Sam James Coffee Bar

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:48:00 PDT

Address: 297 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario Canada

http://samjamescoffeebar.com

Phone: (647)341-2572

Hours: Mon-Fri 7-7, Sat 8-6, Sun 9-5

My love affair with good coffee began when my friend Nick introduced me to Abraco in New York City and I started realizing how good a cup of coffee can be. I have since turned into a coffeeholic, not a 3-4 cups a day kind of coffeeholic but more of an I-want-the-best coffee-wherever-I-go kind. So for my very short trip to Toronto, I decided to check out Sam James Coffee Bar, which blogto.com says serve the best cappuccino in town. Another reason why I picked Sam James Coffee Bar over the rest? The owner and barista, Sam (the guy in black t-shirt) is the Canadian Central Regional Barista Champion! Got to try the best!

The aroma of coffee beans immediately awoken my senses as soon as I walked into Sam James' cute 1930's inspired coffee bar. The stylish barista made me a deliciously smooth cup of cappuccino and I was a very happy girl. One of the best cup of cappuccino indeed. Since there were not many people that day, we were able to chat with Sam for a bit and have more photos ops! Excellent coffee and service with a smile, I'm starting to like this town!

one fine cup of cappuccino!

Service with a smile =)

Sam with my yaokui partner in Toronto

Lai Wah Heen

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:09:00 PDT

Address: Metropolitan Hotel, 108 Chestnut Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

http://www.laiwahheen.com

Phone: (416) 977-9899

New York has one of the biggest Chinatown, however we don't really have outstanding dim sum places like those you can find in Hong Kong or Canada. Which was why I had to check out Lai Wah Heen when I visited Toronto last week. There are actually quite a number of good dim sum restaurants to choose from but I picked Lai Wah Heen because it's high end dim sum and Toronto's own blogto.com rated it as one of the best dim sum restaurants, and I can see why!

deep-fried roll of mixed vegetable and exotic mushrooms

steamed bbq pork bun - char xiu bao

My friend and I ordered some "Lai Wah Heen Famous dim sum" such as steamed bbq pork bun (char xiu bao), crystal shrimp dumpling (har kao), sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, and "Chef Terrance Chan's innovative dim sum" such as deep fried roll of mixed vegetable and exotic mushrooms and steamed lobster dumpling. Char xiu bao was definitely good, but the crystal shrimp dumpling and sticky rice in lotus leaf were just amazing! The chef's specialty dim sum, deep fried vegetable rolls were memorable as well, so crispy and flavorful. Steamed lobster dumpling in a lobster shape was just too adorable (and delicious too!)

Sticky rice filled with assorted seafood and meat, wrapped and steamed in lotus leaf

Steamed lobster dumpling stuffed with shrimp and finely diced vegetable flavored with butter and garlic

Dim sum experience at Lai Wah Heen was definitely a memorable one, wished I can go back to Toronto more often to try the other dim sum places. It's really that good. Now, can someone please open a really good dim sum place in NYC, please??

Lunch @ Midtown

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:01:00 PDT

Ever since I started working in midtown Manhattan a few months ago, I've been exploring the lunch scene there tirelessly, checking out interesting food trucks/food carts and restaurants around the area. My midtown food experience has been wonderful, not good for my waistline, but I can diet when I'm done trying most of the places. My favorite food at this point are the buttery kati rolls from Briyani Cart, everything at Cafe Zaiya, kurobuta (black pig) katsu at Katsuhama, korean soup at Cafe Duke and quality salad at Chop't. Like most people working in midtown, I follow my favorite lunch trucks on twitter to find out their schedule, and midtownlunch.com to find out new places for food.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Here are some of the places/carts/lunch trucks I have tried:
1) NYC Cravings Truck - fried chicken thigh/fried pork chops over rice, chinese zhong zi (rice dumpling)
2) Schnitzel and Things - pork schnitzel with potato salad
3) Briyani Cart - kati roll, briyani rice with chicken
4) Katsuhama - kurobuto katsu (breaded pork cutlet) with rice
5) Rickshaw Dumpling - chicken and basil dumpling with peanut sate dipping sauce wasn't my favorite, will have to try the pork and Chinese chive dumpling with sesame soy dipping sauce next time
6) Aunt Kim's lunch cart - fried fish over rice or bulgogi over rice @ 46th street and 6th ave
7) QBA lunch truck - cuban steak and plantains
8) Maze at the London NYC
9) Margon Restaurant - Serving good Cuban/Latin American food
10) John's Shanghai- xiao long bao (soup dumplings)
11) Cafe Zaiya - one stop Japanese lunch place - bento, sushi, bakery etc.
12) Wu Liang Ye - solid Szechuan dishes
13) Burger Joint - at Le Parker Meridien Hotel
14) Topaz Thai - Thai restaurant near 56th and 6th/7th Avenue
15) Cafe Duke - Korean deli with massive selections o salad, hot food buffet, sushi and sandwiches
16) Chop't - expensive but good quality salad
17) Pret a manger
18) Chipotle
19) Monster Sushi - "monster" size sushi
20) Korean noodle soup cart - champong seafood noodle soup
21) Bulgogi and Kimchi street cart - I didn't like the spicy chicken and bulgogi beef over rice here

Some places near Midtown West thatI still need to try:
1) Ma Peche
2) Wafle and Dinges
3) Shake Shack Times Square
4) 53rd and 6th Halal cart
5) Hallo Berlin

Even though my lunch option has expanded tremendously, I'm starting to miss the limited but excellent lunch choices in Jersey City, especially Milano's Italian Deli, Krave Korean BBQ lunch truck, Louisianaa Spice truck, Taco truck and Grandma's Pizza. I'm also missing my yaokui lunch buddy, Gan; it would be even more exciting if he is there in Midtown to explore the lunch places with me!

Crab Boil at Back Forty

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:52:00 PDT

Address: 190 Avenue B, New York, NY (12th Street)

Phone: 212-388-1990

http://www.backfortynyc.com

Whether you enjoy eating crab or not, Back Forty restaurant's Crab Boil event is definitely a fun summer dining experience, worth the $42 per ticket if you ask me. But before you start calling the restaurant to make reservation, you need to know that in order to attend this special summer (Tuesday only) event, you'll have to purchase tickets online at brownpaper.com one week before, on Wednesday at 10am. And be sure to get the tickets on time if you want to attend earlier dinner, or they will be gone in seconds!

The crab boil at back forty is really All You Can Eat and our waitress was great in making sure that we have enough all the time -- buckets of blue crab steamed with house made spicy old bay spice were poured onto our newspaper covered table even before we can finish the previous batch! The dinner also comes with baked potatoes, string beans and corn bread as side dishes, but I suggest you skip those side dishes. You should save room for the seasonal fruit cobbler dessert though, it's a sweet finish to the crabby meal.

Blue crab steamed with house made spicy old bay spice

finger licking good!

raspberry cobbler dessert

The Breslin Bar and Dining Room

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah and Gan) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:11:00 PDT

Address: 16 West 29th Street, New York, NY (Btw Broadway and 5th Avenue)

Phone: 212-679-1939

http://thebreslin.com

April Bloomfield is no doubt the queen of gastro pub in New York City. Her spotted pig restaurant has reached a cult like status, with diners and fans flooding its tiny restaurant daily for a taste of its world famous burger, shoestring fries and gnudi. The chef and her business partner Ken Friedman tried venturing into a more grown up seafood restaurant, John Dory last year. Unsuccessfully, they closed John Dory and opened Breslin a few months later at Ace Hotel near Flatiron.

Breslin is all about refined rustic food, and lots of meat. It's back to basic for the chef. The chef de cuisine Peter Cho and April created a pretty solid menu, especially the breakfast menu, where dishes such as Baked Egg on a cast iron pan, fish sausage, toasted almond pancake, Full English breakfast (which we didn't try) etc makes breakfast interesting again. The Baked Egg with spiced tomato and chorizo was truly awesome, the chorizo provided necessary saltiness and spiciness to the perfectly cooked egg. Homemade seafood sausage was also unique and delicious, light but flavorful, definitely carnivors approve. The toasted almond pancakes was pretty good too, but still can't beat Locanda Verde's almond pancakes.

I really want to go back to Breslin to check out their lunch and dinner menu, especially the suckling pig dinner (for minimum 8 people, so let me know if you are interested). And maybe hang out at their semi hidden bar on the mezzanine level after dinner, enjoying some "Liquid Swords", "Lust for Life" or "London Calling" etc cocktails.

Toasted almond pancakes

Homemade fish sausage

Baked Egg with spiced tomato and chorizo