Post- Pilates Brunch at DOVETAIL

Okay, so this post is late, but it seems attempting to hold down three jobs the summer before leaving for college leaves me with no free time. Nonethless, it must be posted!

Days together with my mother are dwindling fast. Past days/lunches with my mom and friends are all the more precious, because they mark the ending of an era in my (short lived) life. Meals like these, also mean my mom is willing to go almost anywhere I recommend. So, post-pilates a few weeks ago, I suggested we go and try Dovetail's Restaurant Week menu. Of course I had forgotten that it was August 1st, the day after RW deals had ended, but Dovetail offers a $28 brunch menu with items that were on the RW menu, such as their lamb lasagna, veal schnitzel and seared cod.

We were greeted by an empty, cavernous dining room and cheerful hosts, whose overly huge smiles expressed their relief to have someone in the restaurant. Well, I'll just cut right to the food.

Brunch includes canapés for the table, an entree and then assortments of dessert. Bread consisted of Focaccia with inclusions of rosemary, topped with a roasted tomato, sweet mini muffins with crumbly sugar topping and a flat honeyed muffin. They were cute, but the first batch was not heated, resulting in a spongy foccacia, chewy tomato, and deflated muffins.

First course of canapes consisted of yogurt parfait, tomato gazpacho, cucumber tea sandwich, salmon tartare, and duck meatballs. I have to admit I was not impressed. Grape slices topped a peanut infused granola with a creamy Greek yogurt, whose flavors were reminiscent of a PB & J. It was the only thing that my mother and I showed interest in as we tasted stale brioche circles with a cucumber slice and duck meatballs covered in a sweetened Worscteshire sauce.

A salty corn chip base overpowered a lump of tuna tar-tar with minced shallots whose bland flavor was a huge contrast, compared to the instant heat of a tomato gazpacho blended with cilantro.

Our entree choice of veal schnitzel and seared cod was based on RW menu raves.
My mother, more keen to meat, chose the flattened, pan fried, encrusted veal hidden beneath butter lettuce and pale yellow green beans.

Brushed underneath the plate was a minuscule amount of mustard, unable to alleviate the thin dryness of the pounded meat. The crunchy outer layer made it hard for my mom to chew, almost brittle and scratchy in each mouthful despite an extra side of mustard. I knew something was amiss once she flopped half of the meat onto my bread plate.

My seared cod, whose white flesh flaked with a light press of my fork was on a bedding of peppers, zuchini and corn infused in a buttery, oil broth. A crunchy top layer, spiced by a cilantro or parsley flavor, contrasted in both flavor and texture to the vegetables lounging underneath.

The Cod retained a fishy flavor, one of the ocean, that my mother is adverse to, but nonetheless we were both impressed by the colors of this dish and looking down into the deep porcelain bowl, I stared into swirls of red, yellow and green, mesmerized as if by a kaleidoscope.

Dessert included a fudgy walnut brownie, small dish of tender macerated figs, a small button of crème brûlée and a mini pecan coffee cake. Light creme hid under a slightly burnt, crunch top and prompted me to scoop small amounts of it onto the (what appears to be fuzzy in the picture) dry, spongy coffee cake. The figs were juicy by themselves, but once I poured some cream I received with coffee, into the little glass bowl, the natural sweet of the fig's fleshy texture made it a simple and delicious dessert.

My mother and I did not feel like the food matched up to the $70 bill. My mother did not touch her veal schnitzel and I thought that the cod was not extraordinary, though it looked pretty :). That aside, the service was perfect, well timed with empty water glasses, polite and not overbearing. Yet, I wonder if the service would be the same if we were not the only ones in the restaurant. The dinner menu looks enticing and I hope to return soon., but for now mom and I would rather stick to Shakshuka from the Hummus Kitchen as a post-pilates feast.

Dovetail

103 W 77th St
New York, NY 10024-6909
(212) 362-3800

Tomato Festival at the Sea Grill + 2X Kyotofu = :)

Patina Restaurant Group served up tomato-based dishes at the launch of its first national Tomato Festival two weeks ago. But before I attended the event, which was at Rockefeller Center, I killed some time with a visit to Kyotofu to taste the new soft serve flavor of the week.

A small, "Seven Spice" (supposedley the seven spices used in Japanese cooking) Chocolate, and Vanilla twist with one topping cost only $4.16. The soft serve is made of soy, but unlike many vegan ice creams there is no soy aftertaste. Instead the texture is creamy, light and flavorful. The flavor changes weekly and with a mochi topping (depicted here is Kinako Motchi) it gets me so excited that I have brought friends multiple days in a row just to have an excuse to go.

I was so thrilled by an abundant amount of soft serve that I decided to go for a white peach and green tea macaroon. The macaroon was not chewy, the shell had a slight crunch and the inside is a type of jelly rather than Bouchon's overly sweetened cream-like filling.

ANyway to get back to the press event.....Did you know there is a tomato blight going on? I could just tell from the sullen expression on the face of Farmer Tom Barber from Double Decker Farms, that the blight is a serious matter. Yet, I am afraid explanations of a tomato fungus could not be heard over the rumbling stomachs of guests who had expected a filling meal, but instead were served miniscule portions. The event was held at The Sea Grill, one of the restaurants owned by Patina Restaurant Group. Guests got a little more than buzzed off of free-flowing, Tomato inspired cocktails, such as a Tomato-tini. “The food for this event should be included in the Guinness Book of World Records for smallest H'orderves," exclaimed one guest who hungrily sipped her tomato cocktail, scouting for the tall server who appeared on occasion, at her own risk, amongst grabbing hands of hungry press.

A long table assorted with tomatoes in various shapes and sizes lacked the usual thirty plus tomato relatives found in the North East. Instead only a small selection of ten varieties were quartered and served with a dish of salt. Soggy miniscule cones were passed around, filled with a fabulous tomato sorbet, whose tart flavor was balanced by a spicy avocado spoonful nestled beneath the scoop.

It was a proper mess to eat, but they were delicious. Skewered alongside large tomato quarters were juicy, yellow and pink watermelon cubes along with basil leaves.

There were other h'orderves, but I was not fast enough to get pictures of them nor grab one of the five on a tray, that were hungrily scoffed up by others. Peak of Conversation swirled around lack of sustenance and the occasional guest who inspected a tomato basket, picked out a gnarled, green, perfectly round, crimson or even fetus shaped (look at picture below) tomato and chomped into the thin skin.

With juices oozing over their hands a huge smile would come across their face by the prospect of being accepted by the roomful of foodies and not being exorcized for eating a tomato like an apple. I admit, I pocketed two of the nicer, more colorful and probably seven or eight dollars at Whole Foods tomato varieties, but most of them left in baskets on tables would have gone to waste.

After Farmer Tom gave his sermon Karen (head of The Nibble) and I were ready for some real food. We braved the thick, blanket of humidity and annoying large groups of tourists awaiting us in Midtown, for dinner at Pam Real Thai on Ninth Avenue. Previously at the event, I had a chance to meet and bond with Tim Cooper, who works for Rachel Ray magazine, over Pam Real Thai’s Anchovy Fried Rice. Sounds weird and even smells weird, but order it because the complex of flavors makes this one of the best dishes I have had at Pam’s. No one flavor overpowers the next. Fixings encircling jasmine rice sprinkled with dried shrimp included red onions, thai omelet slices, honey chicken, and Thai chili peppers.

Layers of flavor attract me to this dish and go beyond the gentrified, basil, spicy, Southern Thai flavors New York Thai cuisine has become. There is no distinct fish taste, but a heated, aromatic spoonful of rice, sweet glazed chicken portion, sharp red onion and the occasional cilantro leaf combined with a subtle saltiness provided by the anchovy paste was heavenly.

It won hands down against salty hunks of duck in a goopey tomato, basil sauce. Without crispy skin, duck lacks something I crave and my full attention was devoted to finishing the Anchovy Fried Rice, using all of the ingredients in each forkful.

Kyotofu’s convenient location around the corner, and my ability to consume vast amounts of food prompted my boss and I to venture for dessert. Ok, I know it was my second time there within four hours, but I can’t get enough of their soft serve! Karen ordered the ice cream sundae with “seven spice” chocolate and vanilla twist, accompanied by a strawberry compote and whip cream.

You already know it was good. I opted for their coconut-shiso cupcake, paired with a mini soft-serve and compote. New York magazine dubbed Kyotofu's cupcakes as the best in the city and they definitely win me over with flavor and texture, but there is too much cupcake.

Eating one by itself, without any accompaniments, leads for a dry, congealed mouthful; tasty but hard to swallow. So, to solve my problem I took a scoop of soft-serve, placed it on top of a slice of Coconut-shiso cupcake and ate a creamy, baked mouthful....yumm.

Pam Real Thai
404 W 49th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 333-7500

Kyotofu
705 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019-7929
(212) 974-6012

Hooters

As someone attending an all girls school in the fall, a place intended to motivate thousands of young girls to bypass stereotype and develop into their own woman beyond the confines of men, Hooters would be the last place to find me. Until, my mother thought it a splendid idea to make a night of it and eat at the 56th street location because she had heard of my raves over the 20 piece chicken wings I had eaten in Atlantic City….strictly take-out. So, mother, father and child walked into an un-crowded, wood paneled room, decorated with Xmas lights. Cooking staff, working at grills in the back, provided the rousing barks of a bar scene, but besides that, the place was relatively empty.

“That one has no junk in her trunk,” exclaimed my mother who was having a grand ole time as she watched various waitresses jiggle on by, in tight, black, booty shorts. Our waitress, Gabrielle, took our order leaning over the table, conveniently closer to my father. I’m sure you can imagine my embarrassment, just by being in the place, but it got worse once mom, in a gush of motherly pride, while I was in the bathroom, proclaimed to the manager that I was going to be writing an article about dinner for my food blog. After I had returned, it seemed strange to me that our waitress would come over to the table every three minutes, start flirty conversation, and ask if everything was okay. I suppose that equaled Hooter’s exclusive hospitality.

(spicy, Buffalo Wings)

Well it was the wings I had come for and not bursting bosoms. The wings come mild or spicy, un-breaded or breaded, options for ten, twenty, thirty and even 50 wings, and at least six different, corn syrup based dipping sauces to choose from.

(boneless Buffalo Wings)

Dad ordered ten-piece boneless buffalo wings (basically chicken nuggets) while Mom and I split a twenty piece order; mine un-breaded and spicy, while hers were breaded and mild. I warn you, do not get breaded and spicy wings. Spicy means that the wings are doused in a hot sauce and soggy fried breading is not what you want to end up with. There were too few juicy, boneless buffalo wings to appease all three of us and we should have ordered more, because my mom did not like her oily, but crispy breaded wings, mainly because Hooters has no honey, and my mom only eats fried chicken with honey.

(Breaded, non-spicy, Buffalo Wings)

So, half of her wings were left to me as I also consumed my hot wings that swam in a sauce I considered mild. A side order of bleu cheese dipping sauce hid the spice completely, but added a nice tang. I think the bleu cheese is the only thing made in house.

It makes no sense to me why Hooters is expensive. I am sure I could easily find better and cheaper wings at Atomic Wings or Bon Chon, but go once to marvel at boyfriends who consider the place a good date spot and parents with children who regard it as a good, wholesome, family meal.
Ok, or rather you can skip out on sitting, order take-out and try their hot ten piece wings, for $10. Oh wait I forgot to mention the sugary, pre-prepared, nearly solid key lime cake that the staff personally decorated with smiley faces. My dad ate the whole slice….my mother and I did not.

Hooters
211 W 56th St # 2,
New York, NY‎
(212) 581-5656‎

Pichet Ong With Almonds and a ridiculous amount of food with Emily in Chinatown

Working at The Nibble allows me to attend various press functions, and food events. A week ago the French Culinary Institute, the Almond Committee of California hosted a kitchen demonstration conducted by pastry chef Pichet Ong (of the late Batch bakery, and P’ong dessert restaurant).

Hors douvres consisted of tasty almond inspired recipes, like the pictured rendition of a almond butter and strawberry jelly sandwich, 

pictured below, the tender, short ribs with a tomato Romesco sauce and also a fizzy, rum raisin float with a scoop of almond ice cream nestled in the bottom of the glass. 

Here is a shot of him looking very sexy into the camera. He's got the "fierce-like-Tyra look" downpat. Also, the profile of the man, to Pichet's left, is the Pastry Chef for One if By Land and Two if By Sea. We chatted for awhile and he was very sweet. :) 

 Pichet Ong prepared three confections. First, a caramel butter cream, and almond cupcake, filled in the middle with a soft pear caramel compote. In the demonstration, the icing was made with granulated sugar, but we sampled an icing made with brown sugar. I am not sure if it would make a difference, but the caramel had an unpleasant aftertaste. 

The compote inside was delicious, with fruit that absorbed deep caramel flavor. Next on the list was an acai, chocolate and almond coated truffle. He humorously added that the acai inclusion made the dessert “healthy,” in order to ease the qualms of us stuffing our faces with sugar, and butter. 

The rounded cookie was an almond protein bar. Roasted flavor of almonds halves mixed in an oatmeal based batter played nicely with the sweet tones of large dried cherries whose flavor was more pronounced by salt sprinkled on top. These cookies were very large, the way Pichet likes them. 

He noted that a large cookie allows the eater to experience different textures; the gooey center, crunchy sides, juicy cherries and hard almonds made this baked good one of my favorites. After the demonstration, there was a bit of Q & A, and brief discussion over recipe variations. Upon leaving Karen were a goodie bag, containing, what else, almonds, a packets of almond butter, recipes from the demonstration, and Pichet’s new cookbook. (IT’S SIGNED!@!) 

 

After stepping out of the building, I realized how close I was to the house of a co-worker, Emily. I called her up and met her at Union Square to go on a foodie venture.

We really reallyreallly wanted to go to Parisi Bakery. So we waited for the subway in the humid underground, walked the crazy streets of Chinatown, elbowed some tourists in Little Italy, and arrived at Parisi….while they were closing up, too late for any food. L It seems they start clearing up around 4 if it is not busy.

To make up for our loss, Emily took me to Cafe Roma in Little Italy for these puffy almond cookies, whose meringue consistency melted in an airy, nutty, mouthful perfectly accompanied by a light coating of confectioners sugar. I could easily eat two bagfuls of these airy pillows and just for you, I stuck the camera in our bag for this shot.

Defeated but determined we wandered around and decided on going to the Vietnamese spot Bun. I went based on a friend’s recommendation, so I had no idea what we would end up with.

Beaded lamp fixtures sparsely light forty five seats across from a dining counter/bar, that leads back to the bellies of the kitchen. Bun is apparently a type of noodle and based on the fact that it is the name of the place Emily and I ordered the King Crab Spring Roll (pork king crab meat and water chestnut) and Bun Shrimp -- a bowl of bun noodles with shrimp, Berkshire pork belly, cucumber, and herb salad.

 Let’s just say we were not pleased by our choice. The King crab roll had a light crunchy exterior but there was no flavor except for the taste of carrots and spoiled fish. The sweet and spicy dipping sauce hid the bland taste, but it did not make up for my dislike of the dish.

The bun was a noodle salad, comprised mostly of lettuce strips with a pile of noodles, cucumbers strips, carrots, three slices of pork belly, and four shrimp. The pork belly was chewy, one mass of fat and sliver of meat; oily, unpleasant, and gray. The shrimp had a nice crisp, but not good enough to make up for the fact that we paid $12 for noodles, lettuce, bad meat, and two shrimp. Let me just say we were disappointed, yet again, and continued through Chinatown.

Emily took me to Shanghai Café for soup Dumplings. Eight pork steamed dumplings served in a bamboo basket with lettuce, juicy, not oily and all for $5. When our waiter arrived, and revelaed the steaming dumplings, we impatiently stuffed our mouths and immediately regretted our eagerness as we grabbed water to cool singed taste buds. 

Never the less, these little purses of broth and pork were delicious. I recommend waiting till they are cooled in order experience the warm, liquid burst of soup, smooth noodle, and flavorful pork insides. 

Emily also ordered the red bean pancake. Two layers of fried dough, sandwiched by gooey red bean paste made for an unsweetened dessert, A little on the oily side, but that fried flavor always satisfies.

Content and in the wandering mood, we walked uptown towards Spring street and Broadway to try Baked by Mellissa cupcakes. Right off of Spring is a take-out counter for quarter-sized cupcakes of the flavors listed down below. 

$3 bought me these three adorable, mini cupcakes; Ti-dye, S’mores, and Cookies & Cream. They all looked very cute, and had a moist cake but the flavors were disappointing. The ti-dye had a vanilla icing, with cheerful sprinkles and slightly reminded Emily of Pilsbury’s Funfetti mix. A small graham cracker and teeny marshmallow was just too cute, but it’s size was not enough for me to taste the marshmallow, let alone share the tiny graham cracker with Emily. 

The cookies and Cream was too sweet for me, probably because of the icing, which matched the commercial sweetness of the oreo piece on top. The chocolate cake of the cookies &Cream tasted burnt to me, but it could have just been the taste of dark chocolate. I’ll have to go back to try all of the options. 

As true foodies do, Emily and I continued walking on Crosby St and came across Housing Works bookstore, which we realized had baked goods inside! Not that we don’t appreciate books, but at that moment a raspberry shortbread bar was too tempting. After I had spilled water all over the counter (and Emily’s hand and even on a small child) we sat down to enjoy our confection. Powdered sugar adorned the crispy surface of a crumble top layered above a raspberry jam. Below the raspberry was an oozey layer of shortbread whose bottom was slightly browned. Although there was a lot of butter in this small square, whose rich flavor was balanced by the tart raspberries, it proved to not be overwhelmingly sweet.

After book conversation, and a water break, we started to walk uptown, through NYU infested St. Marks,  over to Second Ave, and into the doors of Momfuku Milk Bar. Strange how Emily is a die-hard sweets fanatic, lives in the area, and has never entered the bakery doors. Of their soft serve, we tasted Rosemary and Apricot, two of this month’s soft serve flavors, which happen to be Rosemary, Apricot, Lemon Verbena, and Blackberry.

The Rosemary had a very powerful flavor and a salty aftertaste, disguised in the creamy texture of soft serve, which slightly confused my taste buds. The apricot was mildly sweet, refreshing and very good. After out tastes we decided on cake, a $5 slice of Banana Cake to be exact.

A bit of chatting revealed rumors of next month’s flavors, which will be based on old-word desserts. Also there is talk that the cereal soft-serves might be available at all times.

Butter marks seeped through the Momo box as we un-lided our slice. Smooth banana cream puffed between layers of banana cake partnered with a hazelnut crunch whose texture was similar to that of a Butterfinger nougat. Giaduja fudge, which is a combination of chocolate and hazelnut flavors was layer on the top of our slice along with bits of hazelnuts. Our very large piece was finished, sporkfuls after sporkful, within minutes.   

Ridiculously stuffed, Emily took me to Sunrise mart so she could buy milk-tea ice cream pops for her sister, and some groceries for dinner. We then parted ways, walking away, stomachs first, into throngs of New Yorkers who had no idea how much food we had consumed that day. I walked back to Midtown in heels (not recommended), burning as many calories as I could power walking and elbowing tourists and upon reaching home -- power napping!!

Caffe Roma Pastry 

385 Broome St

New York - (212) 226-8413

Bun Soho 
143 Grand St # 1, 

New York - (212) 431-7900

Shanghai Café

100 Mott St

New York, NY 10013

Baked By Melissa

529 Broadway

New York, NY 10012

(212) 842-0220

Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
126 Crosby St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 334-3324

Momofuku Milk Bar

207 2nd ave (corner of 13th and 2nd)

nyc 10003

Father's Day Flavor explosion: Whole Red Snapper at Wondee Siam and Molten Chocolate Cake at Kyotofu

I found my parents sitting in the small woodpaneled room of the first Wondee Siam, perplexed by the menu. Late, I meekly walked in and sat quietly, picked up the menu and knew what I wanted immediately; the Yum Ped Yang. When you go to Wondee, you have got to get this dish. My parents, one a child of the Depression, the other under the protection of 50’s suburbia, contemplated, felt overwhelmed and blindly chose items off the menu. Unfortunately, my father had removed Wondee's secret menu from the table,thinking it was a wine list. The menu stands prominently on the table and is not so secret unless it is removed. Guess we will have to go back to try it.

Appetizers included Kanom Jeeb ($4), spicy pork fried dumplings whose meat was tough but flavorful and Thai Spring Rolls ($4) whose outer crust flaked and remained crunchy after dipping into a duck sauce. 

Alas, the Tofu pad king ($9.50) was a disappointment. Dry, shriveled squares accompanied onions, scallions, peppers, carrots and large juicy shiitakes that tasted ordinary enough. 

Thankfully the dish was greasy, but saucy. I could tell my mother did not enjoy what she ordered. Half of it was left untouched and I picked at it in between forkfuls of my Thai salad. 

Wondee's Yum Ped Yang ($10.50) is delicious. A spoonful is highly flavorful with lime juice, chunks of sweet pineapple, spicy heat and the crunch of duck and cashews. An Initial taste of pungent sour lime is balanced by sweet pinneaple and heightened by a burning aftertaste. 

Duck at many Thai venues consists mainly of bone and very little meat. Not at Wondee. Large strips of crispy duck add a layer of roasted flavor.

Fried and deluged by garlic clusters,  my father’s whole red snapper ($19.95) was amazing! You have to work the flesh out from between the bones, but it’s worth the labor. 

Crack the crisp, garlic outer layer to reveal white fish that slides off the bone with the slightest pressure from a fork. Oil that seeps from the fried layer only adds appeal to the heaps of garlic on top, surrounding and underneath the snapper. At $20 it’s on the pricey side, but very enjoyable.

I could tell my father was happy as he sat back in his chair picking up leftover bones and sucking at the tender meat. My mother was not happy, sour faced until we left Wondee and went to Kyotofu for dessert. One of our favorite places in Hell's Kitchen, Kyotofu is a hidden gem that my mother and I have frequented since it's opening, a few years ago. She always enjoys the jasmine tea, whose aroma can calm her instantly. 

My mom ordered one of her favorite Summer desserts, Rhubarb-strawberry cobbler  ($12). Warm, tender and juicy rhubarb pieces are immersed among the liquor of strawberries.

 Atop the fruit lays a crispy tofu biscuit, once cracked into, absorbs the syrup of the fruit and retains it's crunch. A bite into a wedge of rhubarb allows the tongue to experience a tang countered by a sweet, creamy shiso-mint ice cream. To me, for some reason, the rhubarb tastes like cherry paste from the dentist's office, but my mother adores this dish, and besides I am happier with their warm miso chocolate cake ($10). 

To me this dessert emulates Japanese flavors. Compared to the sweet, heavenly, European renditions of a chocolate souffle or molten cake, muted mochi swirled into a dark chocolate center, takes the sweetness to a deeper, grounded level. A balance in taste that connects the flavors of an artistic matcha brush stroke, include an earthy, almost musky tone, paired with a thick, sweet crème anglaise. 

My father was a little shocked by the original representation of his Strawberry Shortcake ($12). 

Sansho pepper shortcake cubes, of a pound cake consistency, remained dry despite the wetness from strawberry pieces, a tofu cream, and strawberry jelly cubes. The dishes saving grace was a strawberry nigori sake sorbet. Each spoonful should include at least a tid bit of sorbet, which provides the needed moisture to swallow the shortcake. 

I should probably post the rest of my Kyotofu outings, which also include some things from their to-go bakery, located in the front of the store. Also known for some of the best cupcakes in the city, defiantly go. Did I mention they have soy soft serve, that is healthy? I'll leave that for another post. 

Happy Eating

Wondee Siam

792 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10019 
nr. 53rd St.

Kyotofu

05 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019-7929
(212) 974-6012

 

Caffeine Fix at Nespresso Press Event, shots from Abraco, and Disappointment served by the Cupcake Stop

This summer I have been working two jobs, one as a Lifeguard/swim instructor and the other part-time at a specialty food site called The Nibble. It is really a wonderful site, containing glossaries of products for every food group, along with in-depth histories of foods. My work is at the main hub of the Nibble, cooking in the test kitchen, tasting new foods and going to press events. A few weeks ago I went with Karen, the Queen Bee of the Nibble, to a Nespresso event for their new Citiz Espresso machines. The invitation was sent, first class mail, in a black bubble wrap envelope. The invitation itself was a metal card, monogrammed, with date, location, the enticing fact that Table 8 would be catering and even better, that we would be picked up via car service, courtesy of NYC Green Car. It basically defied all recession logic.

We were picked up and brought to the Cooper Hotel, where we ascended in an elevator that took romantic lighting to the extreme, (bypassing dim to pitch black) and let us out into a master sweet with views of the Lower East side and beyond. It was breathtaking.

Crisp northern light reflected off of titanium espresso machines, set on pedestals, to be admired at their $500 and up price tag. One lone barrista made drinks for guests, who chose their desired coffee strength from a color wheel of Nespresso blends.

Servers were handing out Table 8 fare, including mini croissants, pain a chocolat, and bite sized breakfast sandwich, complete with slice of cheese, chorizo, and egg.

Smoked Salmon and goat cheese layers atop crackers were passed, along with sweet breakfast samples including, mini-triangle French toast with peach topping, little yogurt cups sprinkled with granola and berries, and also my favorite of the selection, ping pong sized doughnuts filled with a lemon crème.

I seemed to be the only one eating and drinking numerous cups of espresso, and I was happy. Free food is my favorite.

Five comparisons of Arpegiao blend to Induya, and four demonstrations of their milk aireator, which is magical to watch, Karen and I left in the car we had to our disposal. Wired and shaking from caffeine, we made a trip round the block to Abraco, for the sake of research, to compare Italian roast to Nespresso pressed packets. Attached to the door of our NYC Green car was a Nespresso flag waving in the morning air and it must have looked pretty hilarious as two women ran from a Nespresso labeled Lincoln to the crowded inside of Abraco, ordered four of their pastries, got a sock in the face from deeply roasted italian espresso and dashed back into the plush confines of our ride.

Our verdict was that Abraco and Nespresso serve a very different bean. Italian espresso is known for its punch because the bean is roasted at least twice as long as a French espresso bean. Abroaco’s espresso has the taste of the earth and wrinkled Italian men playing baci in an coastal village smoking cigars, while Nespresso’s strongest blend is badly speaking Italian into a Rossetta Stone microphone. Although Nespresso roast may be bad at baci, it delivers a smooth, delightful and pleasurable experience for the coffee drinker who would rather not receive an instant wake up. It is for those who appreciate choice; dare to be bold with cacoa hinted Indriya from India, or a velvety and subtle Levanto. The better coffee depends on preference.

The pastries we bought at Abraco were eaten later, but for the sake of sequence I will talk about them now.

The Lavender sugar cookie had a nice flavor but each piece I broke off reduced to crumbs. A close up sniff brings one back to the garden, but be wary of those around you who think it strange to get a whiff of cookie before consumption.

More remeniscent of a corn bread, the olive oil loaf was rather bland, moist but not very special.

Tthe contrast of salty cured olives in this sweet shortbread will always be one of my favorites. 

Second on my list is this rose cookie. Pressure to the meringue-like shell caused the cookie to crumble, but remain an intact. It was too sweet for me, but the airy texture melted in a rose-hinted mouthful and would have been nice paired with a robust coffee. 

Before venturing back uptown, we stopped by at the newly opened Cupcake Stop. Parked in the West Village we tracked down the truck via Twitter and bought one of each flavor; Red Velvet, Double Chocolate, Mint CHocolate Chip, Oreo Crumb, and Cookie Dough.

When it first started, the truck received so much hype that I had to try some of their goods. I havn't been there since mainly because of this experience, but for their sake I hope they have improved the recipe. Overall, the cake had a signifcantly better flavor than Magnolia's, but the icing was ashy. 

Especially the icing plastered on top of the double chocolate cupcake, pictured above, 

whose cocoa cake tasted like charcoal and had a texture similar to styrofoam. 

 

The cookie dough had a considerably better flavor, but the vanilla frosting was too sweet, and unsatisfying with the unpleasant texture of the cookie dough topping. 

The Red Velvet was the best of them all, probably because the frosting was different from the others -- a cream cheese frosting with a thicker, creamier consistency. The cake was crumbly and dry, but the oozy frosting made up for its lack of flavor. Unfortunately it did not salvage the rest of my batch. 

I could not even taste the creme de menthe used in the Mint Chocolate Chip cupcake. Never-mind flavor, the texture, again, was dry and foamy.

The Oreo Cupcake was the moistest, yet the sweetest of the bunch. An oreo lays beneath the cake topped with a sickeningly sweet, artificial vanilla icing, whose taste was similar tocommercial Oreo filling. 

For a well rounded review I will have to track down the truck again for another tasting. It has been a month since my first try, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume their cupcakes have gotten significantly better, considering that the truck is still mosying along New York streets. At least I was happy with the pictures for the day.

Abraço

86 East 7th Street
New York, NY 10003

CupcakeStop

(check http://twitter.com/cupcakestop for various locations and daily menu)
(212) 388-9731

A Ladies Brunch: Whym, Amy's Bread

A ladies lunch on a Sunday, is always a treat for me. No, we are not the ladies with hoarse voices, nostalgic over Scotch on the rocks, but the ones who enjoy a pleasant early afternoon snack.

Most often I brunch on Sunday's before my mother gives tours at the Museum of Arts and Design. This particular day we were accompanied by two of our neighbors, who were to go on the tour with my mom.

Whym, an up-scale branch of Eatery, was our destination. A recent expansion has doubled the size of the restaurant and allowed my mother to exercise her skills at table hopping, better known as, “lets sit at every table in the room, before we sit down and order." She swears the ambiance is different on the left side of the room. By this time in my life if I was not used to this one habit, it would be a problem. Thankfully, I have grown accustomed to her favorite game and the staff was more than happy to let her have a go.

Located on 9^th, right off of 57^th, we Whym is close enough for us to have have eaten there many times, most often when my mom and I don’t feel like going far for a spot of Sangria.

My mother always orders the Steamed Gingered Shrimp and Vegetable Dumplings ($8.95). Every time we go this is the first thing she tells the waiter, even before we sit at the chosen table of the afternoon. Daikon radish salad, and soy-red sauce make this a flavorful mouthful. 

The noodle wrapping is slightly chewy and the inside was particularly bland and  nothing that I couldn’t find much cheaper in Chinatown, but one forkful accompanied by daikon and dipped in sweet sauce makes for a pleasant bite. There were enough for the four of us and we all shared as we waited for our entrees.

Our brunch companions ordered the Seared Sashimi Tuna salad ( $16.95) and Grilled Chicken Salad ($9.95). The chicken was lightly breaded and served atop a huge bowl of mixed greens. Pleasant and not out to offend, I was told it was satisfying.

The Sashimi salad was delicious once large, crunchy polenta croutons were put on a bread dish along with a sweet salsa glopped on the top. 

Without the two accompaniments, the tuna was fresh, large enough to feel satisfied, paired with shiitake mushrooms, sugar snap peas, and creamy avocado that partnered well with a ginger-lemon vinaigrette.

Mom ordered the Crabby Benny ($14.95). A blue crab-potato cake was the base for poached eggs, grilled asparagus drenched in a fennel hollandaise. 

The potato/crab cake consisted of more potato than crab and turned slightly mushy drenched in hollandaise, whose fennel taste was barely noticeable. “Anyone can cook an egg,” was my mother’s comment towards the dish. Definitely not worth $14.95, but for brunch it's an average price in NYC.

My egg-white “Whymlette” ($13.95)  was filled with chunks of shrimp and large skewers of asparagus. 

The occasional tomato was nicely paired with salty parmesan mixed throughout, and I enjoyed the combination of ingredients, but I couldn’t help but feel that the dish would have been easy to prepare at home.

A ladies brunch almost always includes dessert, and what better choice than a chocolate molten cake. Fudgy and moist cake surround a chocolate liquid core, which once revealed with the side of a fork spills into the space of scattered blueberries lounging in the melting’s of a vanilla scoop.

Our other dessert, Apple-Raspberry Empanadas ($7.95), had a thick shell, with a slight crunch. Too doughy for me, but tasty immersed in a crème anglaise on a spoon with a tidbit of vanilla gelato. A nice sprinkle of cinnamon sugar intensified the tart, gooey apple/raspberry insides.

My three lunch partners went for their tour at the museum and left me to wander around 9th Ave. in the blistering sun of a summer afternoon. My long sleeved shirt got the better of me and it wasn’t long before I found myself in at a round circular table in Amy’s Bread. I rested, ice coffee in hand, along with, (I know I am ridiculous) a red velvet cupcake just to try. Vanilla butter cream was smooth and swirled high on top of the cupcake, probably taking on a deep red hue due to a dash of cocoa powder. 

Overall the presentation was adorable, in part because of July 4^th themed sugared stars, yet in terms of flavor, there wasn’t much of it.  I expected some sort of taste to accompany the pleasant moistness of the cake, but besides a slightly burnt flavor of cocoa the vanilla in the icing was hardly noticeable and the cake bland. Maybe it was an off day, because I have heard wondrous things about their cupcakes. But for now I will stick to their large slices of cake. 

Whym Restaurant 
889 Ninth Ave. at 58th St.
New York City 10019
866.978.1874

Amy's Bread
672 Ninth Avenue (Between 46^th & 47^th Streets)
New York, NY 10036
(212) 977-2670

Pam Real Thai, Billy's Bakery, and Gray Dog Coffee

A mid-week craving for Thai led Allison and I to Pam Real Thai in Hells Kitchen. We sat at wooden, shaky tables in the cramped front room, elbow-to-elbow with other Thai loving eaters. 

I have heard so much about their flavorful Pad See Ew. Many of the Thai restaurants crowding the streets of Hell's kitchen are mediocre, serving greasy variations of this noodle dish. Pam Real Thai's flat noodles are not oily but wet with a sweet soy sauce. 

Once I overturned the flat noodles, a plume of steam whisped from the center core of the dish, revealing chewy, flat pieces of beef scattered among chinese broccoli and egg. 

Allison went for classic chicken Pad Thai.  Our taste buds were demanded to attention by a sugary sweetness, layered with subtle flavor of lime, and a roasted crunch from peanut bits.

The chicken was tender and the noodles were  but I could only muster a few forkfuls before the flavor became overwhelming.

With almost every meal I require dessert, as do most of my friends, but we were so stuffed that we decided to stroll down ninth before eating anymore. It wasn't long before we reached Chelsea and found ourselves in front of the baked goods at Billy's Bakery. Innocently placed eye level was a Peanut Butter Pie, whose peanut butter chips, chocolate sauce swirls, and Reeses pieces immediately caught my eye.

A chocolate crumb crust was filled with a fluffy, peanut butter mouse, whose airy texture dissolved on the tounge, leaving various toppings to be enjoyed in an aftertaste of peanuts. Allison opted for a double chocolate cupcake. I have never liked the dry cake and grainy buttercream of Billy's cupcakes sold in the Chelsea location. This cupcake was no different and we left half of it untouched.  

A good dessert needs coffee, so we walked over to University Place and enjoyed a cup of tea and cappuccino at the Grey Dog. A soothing conclusion to a fulfilling foodie evening. 

Pam Real Thai

404 W 49th St 

New York, NY 10019 

(212) 333-7500

Billy's Bakery

184 9th Ave 

New York NY 10011-4919 

(212) 647-9956

The Grey Dog's Coffee 

90 University Pl (212) 414-4739

Father's Day Bouchon Bakery de-virginization

Fathers Day prompted my father to stay home from work and sleep in for a change, while my mother and I filled out his card with loving words of past memories, times to remember for him in the coming years when I will no longer be at home. Mom ventured to Whole Foods to pick up nova and bagels for our morning breakfast, while I decided today was the day I would buy from Bouchon for the first time.

Yes, I know you may think it is blasphemous that I live so close and have never sampled their baked goods. But after this visit, I’m not sure why everyone has been raving over their items and let me just say what I sampled was not convincing enough to make me venture back.

 I decided to listen to the raves of fellow friends and spent $8.50 on the adored Fluffer Nutter and two macarons. I ventured back home, made my father breakfast, served him in bed, prepared a bit of brunch for myself, green tea, and sat down for a Bouchon de-virginization. Let me say, it was not enjoyable.  

Overwhelming peanut butter mousse sandwiched 1 inch thick between two heavy oat cake flavor cookies oozed as my teeth sunk in for a bite.  It tasted exactly like a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread, which was pleasant, but after a few chews, my mouth was caked shut, glued by roasted peanut paste. 

For any peanut enthusiast this would be the way to suffocate, but for me, it was too much, and I was forced to swallow a congealed mouthful. I could only manage two hefty bites before I decided to sample something lighter.

Or at least I thought they would be lighter. I had bought a blueberry cheesecake macaron and a carmel macron. Why I chose the most unusual flavors, I don’t know but it was a bad choice. A chomp through crumbly deflated cookie led me to a sickeningly sweet inside. The taste was similar to Denny’s maple syrup, to the sweetnes of Smucker’s strawberry jam, just disappointing, overpowering and bad. 

Carmel Macaroon on top of Blueberry Cheesecake

I spit that one out. The blueberry cheescake’s sweetness was subtle. I couldn’t taste any blueberry until I had consumed half the macron, and by that time the thick inside, not jellylike, but, for both macrons, with a consistency of non-whipped creamcheese.

If it wasn’t for the medley of roast vegetables I had prepared for lunch, the afternoon would have been sad. Father’s Day dinner at Wondee Siam will be posted soon.

 (leave it to roasted veggies to save the day)

Bouchon Bakery

Ten Columbus Circle, Third Floor

New York, NY 10019

Bar Bao: Sibyl Family Dinner

Imagine my excitement when I was invited to Bar Bao for a family meal with my friend Sibyl and ended up ordering off of an all- you- can- eat tasting menu!  For $28, who can stop when the fare is tasty Vietnamese food ? Granted, had we not ordered off of the tasting menu I would have consciously scanned the menu for the cheapest dish; a la carte, Bar Bao is expensive, almost pretentious, but their three course tasting is a great deal, especially when any dish can be ordered over and over and over again.

Upon entering, Bar Bao’s plush booths, curtained netting, sultry lighting, wooden floors, and wooden slat ceilings transport the diner into an atmosphere of an upscale, Asian fishing village dive, in of course the well kept and clean kind. 

Sunday, early evening yields little to no business and around 6:30 pm we were one of the few seated. Our waiter, an actor, with piercing blue eyes and boyish face introduced us to the idea of the tasting menu and highly recommended it, but only if everyone at the table was in on the deal. And we were.

First course included four dishes. Spring rolls filled with pork, shrimp, jicama, and a sweet nuoc cham sauce, whose flaky wrap oozed grease and had no distinct flavor. 

The clean, taste of rice noodle wrapped around sticky rice, veggies, and possibly crab were a nice contrast.  Pink fried shrimp served with a kiwi yuzu dipping sauce issued sweet juice with each bite into its lightly battered exterior. 

Peanuts and scallions garnished short-rib slices wrapped round lemongrass skewers, whose peanut dipping sauce offered a nice nutty flavor and masked the overcooked and chewy consistency of the roasted meat. 

The favorite of the first course was the shrimp, which disappeared in a matter of seconds as greasy fingers and mouths took a respite  from the fried spring rolls, and sticky peanut sauce.

Tofu, meat and seafood were offered for our main course. Plenty of rounded, juicy, but chewy slices of Wagyu Hanger Steak rested on top of noodles, and were served with leaves of mint and scallions. 

A noodle dish, with lemongrass, ginger, fermented black beans along with bok choy, was a nice vegetarian option. 

Next came a red curried stew consisting of large pieces of chicken, with sweet notes of red pepper and lemon. 

My favorite dish of the night was the Mekong Market Clay Pot, with a giant prawn greeting us from a metal bowl filled with chives, bean sprouts, and hunks of red snapper. 

The mildly spiced broth absorbed into the snapper's flesh and along with chives it made for a refreshing and tasty spoonful. 

The reaching, passing, and sharing type of communal meal is my favorite way to eat. Sampling all the dishes provides discussions, allows people to not be confined to one flavor and just makes everyone happy.

Sibyl’s father ate the lone prawn from the Markey Clay Pot and the rest of the table pined after more shrimp. And then we all realized – we could order any dish we had eaten, again! This realization pepped everyone up and we ordered another fried shrimp appetizer and some other favorites of the table.

By the time our extra orders had arrived, the restaurant was becoming crowed.  People funneled into the restaurant, tripping over chairs due to “romantic”, pitch black lighting, and filled all the chairs in the main dining room. I was surprised to find the restaurant was so popular, especially on a Sunday. And where did they find people to pay those prices in a recession anyway?

Dessert was included of course, and our “hot” waiter gave us the option of two scoops ice cream, one vanilla the other spicy chocolate along with the choice to walk in the back to their ice cream topping bar. Bowls of M&Ms, Oreos, malted milk, chocolate and carmel syrup, along with Reeses pieces, lost their contents to my plate of one scoop chocolate and one scoop vanilla. The spicy chocolate provided a subtle heat in the back of my throat as I consumed all the substandard, delicious, commercial candy piled on top.

 By the end of the meal, the five of us were stuffed! I am so glad Sibs let me tag along! 

Bar Bao

100 W 82nd St 

New York, NY 10024-5502 

(212) 501-0776