"I have a solid rule: If I see a line for any food place anywhere, I get in it. And so I saw this line, and I got in it." —Gilt Taste's Ruth Reichl (Grub Street).
Something that I live by as well.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
B & B.
New York is littered with restaurants all claiming they are the "best." Best pizza, best falafel, best Chinese, best burger joints are on every corner of the city and beyond. While I'm not trying to eat the "best" every time I dine out, I am looking for quality and delicious food (especially at these prices!) My dad came into town, which means lots and lots of posts to come and me trying to cleanse my body of all the delicious (but fattening) food we ate... Anyways, while my cousins and I couldn't decide what to eat, my dad requested somewhere with a good burger. Sounds simple right? I think wrong because many restaurants can screw up a burger. Luckily, my cousin knew of a place right by his apartment (again, he never fails!).
We went to B&B (Burger & Barrel) on West Houston Street. It was dark inside, but has a great gastropub vibe that seemed upscale, but where you can also relax and enjoy a beer and food. They also have other tasty looking food on the menu like fried chicken, steak, pork chop and various small plates to share. We started with warm shrimp and artichokes (leeks, tomato, onion, basil). One of my favorite food combinations are shrimp and avocado, but I love artichokes as well. The shrimp were perfectly cooked in a flavorful sauce that was constantly dipped in with the bread provided.
All four of us ordered a different burger. One of my cousins ordered the B & B Classic (lettuce, tomatoes, sliced pickles, american cheese), the other cousin ordered mushrooms and gruyere, my dad ordered the Bash Burger (caramelized onion, bacon jam, american cheese-also a "2009 NYFF Award Winner) and I ordered the Puebla Burger (roasted chili, red onion relish, queso fresco). Not only do I enjoy a juicy burger, but that the toppings accent the juicyness. After enjoying green chiles on my Grill 'Em Burger in L.A., I wanted to try this combination again. The burger was cooked well and I really enjoyed the ingredients accenting the meat and its tenderness. The queso fresco cheese was nice and gooey and stretched out when I took a bite. I also had half of my dad's Bash Burger and who doesn't love the combination of bacon and caramelized onions? Though it is a bit pricey ($14 for burger and fries), it is the quality of the burger that matters and this is definitely worth the price and knowing you'll get something good.
It was a dark place with only candlelight and my iPhone to try and get some pictures! Shrimp and Artichokes.
My Puebla burger with substituted sweet potato fries. I strangely don't like baked sweet potatoes, but love sweet potato fries. I guess it's really true: everything is better fried.
My cousins mushroom and gruyere.
Half of my burger and half of the Bash Burger. I wanted to showcase the pink insides with the perfectly gooey cheese, but the lighting is bad!
I'm always a happy camper after a good burger :)!
We went to B&B (Burger & Barrel) on West Houston Street. It was dark inside, but has a great gastropub vibe that seemed upscale, but where you can also relax and enjoy a beer and food. They also have other tasty looking food on the menu like fried chicken, steak, pork chop and various small plates to share. We started with warm shrimp and artichokes (leeks, tomato, onion, basil). One of my favorite food combinations are shrimp and avocado, but I love artichokes as well. The shrimp were perfectly cooked in a flavorful sauce that was constantly dipped in with the bread provided.
All four of us ordered a different burger. One of my cousins ordered the B & B Classic (lettuce, tomatoes, sliced pickles, american cheese), the other cousin ordered mushrooms and gruyere, my dad ordered the Bash Burger (caramelized onion, bacon jam, american cheese-also a "2009 NYFF Award Winner) and I ordered the Puebla Burger (roasted chili, red onion relish, queso fresco). Not only do I enjoy a juicy burger, but that the toppings accent the juicyness. After enjoying green chiles on my Grill 'Em Burger in L.A., I wanted to try this combination again. The burger was cooked well and I really enjoyed the ingredients accenting the meat and its tenderness. The queso fresco cheese was nice and gooey and stretched out when I took a bite. I also had half of my dad's Bash Burger and who doesn't love the combination of bacon and caramelized onions? Though it is a bit pricey ($14 for burger and fries), it is the quality of the burger that matters and this is definitely worth the price and knowing you'll get something good.
It was a dark place with only candlelight and my iPhone to try and get some pictures! Shrimp and Artichokes.
My Puebla burger with substituted sweet potato fries. I strangely don't like baked sweet potatoes, but love sweet potato fries. I guess it's really true: everything is better fried.
My cousins mushroom and gruyere.
Half of my burger and half of the Bash Burger. I wanted to showcase the pink insides with the perfectly gooey cheese, but the lighting is bad!
I'm always a happy camper after a good burger :)!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Dinges.
This post is dedicated to my cousin and dinges lover. He never fails when taking me out to eat, so I knew this was going to be great pit stop. It was the Wafels and Dinges cart. I was first really confused at what it was when I read it on the food blogs, like what the heck is a dinges??? My cousin responded with: I'm not really sure, but it's pretty damn good. But he said the dinges is what they call the toppings to put on the wafel.
There are different kinds of wafels, but all they had was the liege wafel that night, which is more soft and chewy while the other one is light and crispy. Nonetheless, picking the dinges' is the best part. We went off my cousin's favorite combination: spekuloos spread, bananas and vanilla ice cream. I agreed, but added nutella on top as well :). Spekuloos is...actually I'm not quite sure, but it's probably the best thing next to nutella. I would eat it out of a jar if I could (they sell it individually, so maybe I will in the near future). Their website describes it as "that looks like peanut butter, but it tastes like traditional Belgian gingerbread-cinnamon cookies." Yummy. The wafel was warm and chewy with the edges being the best part-like almost every desert. Paired with the all the toppings, it's pretty much heaven on a wafel. I love that the warm nutella froze over the ice cream and the cold ice cream contrasted with the chewy wafel so well. And the spekuloos-you just have to try it!
(*Side note: I usually stay away from desserts because I'm not a big fan of sweets, but for some reason lately I've been all about the cakes, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. I mean I haven't had any, but I have been craving some which is really out of the realm for me. And quite dangerous. So I was definitely up for a wafel).
So there is no doubt I'll be follow/stalking the @waffeltruck truck for their whereabouts in the city. Maybe a jar of spekuloos as an early birthday gift to myself? Yes please. There is also a truck hotline you can call. Wafels are available just at your fingertips! (BTW that number is: 1-866-429-7329). I'm thinking I should get a free wafel out of this loving review...??
Wafels & Dinges getting ready for an evening service.
Love the wafel decoration. Would look great in my room.
A little closer look.
A line is forming...
The wafel masterpiece! (liege wafel, spekuloos, bananas, nutella and vanilla ice cream)
There are different kinds of wafels, but all they had was the liege wafel that night, which is more soft and chewy while the other one is light and crispy. Nonetheless, picking the dinges' is the best part. We went off my cousin's favorite combination: spekuloos spread, bananas and vanilla ice cream. I agreed, but added nutella on top as well :). Spekuloos is...actually I'm not quite sure, but it's probably the best thing next to nutella. I would eat it out of a jar if I could (they sell it individually, so maybe I will in the near future). Their website describes it as "that looks like peanut butter, but it tastes like traditional Belgian gingerbread-cinnamon cookies." Yummy. The wafel was warm and chewy with the edges being the best part-like almost every desert. Paired with the all the toppings, it's pretty much heaven on a wafel. I love that the warm nutella froze over the ice cream and the cold ice cream contrasted with the chewy wafel so well. And the spekuloos-you just have to try it!
(*Side note: I usually stay away from desserts because I'm not a big fan of sweets, but for some reason lately I've been all about the cakes, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. I mean I haven't had any, but I have been craving some which is really out of the realm for me. And quite dangerous. So I was definitely up for a wafel).
So there is no doubt I'll be follow/stalking the @waffeltruck truck for their whereabouts in the city. Maybe a jar of spekuloos as an early birthday gift to myself? Yes please. There is also a truck hotline you can call. Wafels are available just at your fingertips! (BTW that number is: 1-866-429-7329). I'm thinking I should get a free wafel out of this loving review...??
Wafels & Dinges getting ready for an evening service.
Love the wafel decoration. Would look great in my room.
A little closer look.
A line is forming...
The wafel masterpiece! (liege wafel, spekuloos, bananas, nutella and vanilla ice cream)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
OTTO.
I feel like I'm always apologizing for not updating my blog. It's not that I haven't been eating because I definitely have been eating a lot of great food in New York. I've just been so busy and tired. Not that anyone really reads this?? Hello is anyone out there?? I have a couple of great posts coming up. I've eaten at some great places and food trucks and I'm excited to share the food mecca that is NYC. Living here gives me the pleasure of trying so many different foods and eating at places that are famous for their craft. I am now a lover of falafel and cous cous and even sweets (I never thought I would see the day!). Weirdly I've been craving cookies, cakes, ice cream, pie, cupcakes, brownies, etc. and I have never had a sweet tooth. I have no idea why... this is not good for my body conscious self or my wallet! But I am enjoying every minute of it and every morsel I put in my mouth.
I met up with a family friend who took me to OTTO. It seems I have a slight obsession with the Batali family with all of my recent visits OTTO and Salumi. OTTO is opened by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. I read that OTTO is modeled to look like an Italian train station. They are known for their pizza and gelato-which is what my friend was craving when she picked out the restaurant. We went on a Tuesday night and wow was it crowded. We waited around 45 minutes for a table and the way they tell people their tables are ready is really clever and cute (and now I understand the train station theme). They give you a little slip (probably to resemble a train ticket) with a city in Italy and when your table was ready, the city would show up on a little board thingy that flipped the letters just like at a train station. Sorry that was a horrible description, but you'll see in the pictures below. (*forgot my camera so pictures taken with my iPhone=not great quality).
Once we were seated, we both devoured the bread and packaged breadsticks they gave us. Since OTTO is known for their pizza, we decided to just order two different kinds. My friend mentioned something about the Otto Lardo pizza. I was immediately intrigued because I know lardo is pretty much Italian cured back fat. I mean how can that not be good? The other pizza we decided on was the Fennel & Bottarga. I think we both were trying to feel better about balancing out the lardo with some fennel (kinda vegetable-y?).
I was confused when the Otto Lardo pizza came out. It was very plain looking but when you looked carefully, you could see a thin square of lardo. It doesn't need other toppings because the lardo has such a unique flavor that shouldn't be masked. Definitely something to try once, but not sure I would order it again. The Fennel & Bottarga pizza on the other hand was very good. It was full of flavor and the fennel gave it a nice texture, plus the freshness of the tomato, cheese and fennel were an excellent combonation. I kept wanting to eat that pizza.
Even though we were stuffed, we just HAD to order some gelato. You can pick up to three flavors and it was a tough choice. One of them had to be olive oil because it's one of their specialities, then we picked milk chocolate and hazelnut. The gelato was amazing, especially the olive oil. It sounds weird, but olive oil gelato is incredible a the sprinkle of sea salt. The gelato is creamy and rich and I wanted to lick the bowl and spoon. That's always a good sign.
Hey Mario!
So clever and fun to pray your city comes up next when the letters switch.
Lots and lots of wine.
A much needed glass + more.
Otto Lardo-yup those are lardo squares.
Fennel & Bottarga-this picture doesn't do it justice.
After this pizza, I want to try more dishes with fennel!
Last but not least...
The gelato, had already dug into the milk chocolate. The olive oil to the right, drizzled with olive oil and the hazelnut in the back. If you go to OTTO, the gelato is highly recommended!
So which Batali restaurant should I go to next...
I met up with a family friend who took me to OTTO. It seems I have a slight obsession with the Batali family with all of my recent visits OTTO and Salumi. OTTO is opened by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. I read that OTTO is modeled to look like an Italian train station. They are known for their pizza and gelato-which is what my friend was craving when she picked out the restaurant. We went on a Tuesday night and wow was it crowded. We waited around 45 minutes for a table and the way they tell people their tables are ready is really clever and cute (and now I understand the train station theme). They give you a little slip (probably to resemble a train ticket) with a city in Italy and when your table was ready, the city would show up on a little board thingy that flipped the letters just like at a train station. Sorry that was a horrible description, but you'll see in the pictures below. (*forgot my camera so pictures taken with my iPhone=not great quality).
Once we were seated, we both devoured the bread and packaged breadsticks they gave us. Since OTTO is known for their pizza, we decided to just order two different kinds. My friend mentioned something about the Otto Lardo pizza. I was immediately intrigued because I know lardo is pretty much Italian cured back fat. I mean how can that not be good? The other pizza we decided on was the Fennel & Bottarga. I think we both were trying to feel better about balancing out the lardo with some fennel (kinda vegetable-y?).
I was confused when the Otto Lardo pizza came out. It was very plain looking but when you looked carefully, you could see a thin square of lardo. It doesn't need other toppings because the lardo has such a unique flavor that shouldn't be masked. Definitely something to try once, but not sure I would order it again. The Fennel & Bottarga pizza on the other hand was very good. It was full of flavor and the fennel gave it a nice texture, plus the freshness of the tomato, cheese and fennel were an excellent combonation. I kept wanting to eat that pizza.
Even though we were stuffed, we just HAD to order some gelato. You can pick up to three flavors and it was a tough choice. One of them had to be olive oil because it's one of their specialities, then we picked milk chocolate and hazelnut. The gelato was amazing, especially the olive oil. It sounds weird, but olive oil gelato is incredible a the sprinkle of sea salt. The gelato is creamy and rich and I wanted to lick the bowl and spoon. That's always a good sign.
Hey Mario!
So clever and fun to pray your city comes up next when the letters switch.
Lots and lots of wine.
A much needed glass + more.
Otto Lardo-yup those are lardo squares.
Fennel & Bottarga-this picture doesn't do it justice.
After this pizza, I want to try more dishes with fennel!
Last but not least...
The gelato, had already dug into the milk chocolate. The olive oil to the right, drizzled with olive oil and the hazelnut in the back. If you go to OTTO, the gelato is highly recommended!
So which Batali restaurant should I go to next...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
A quick post...
I just wanted to share something I read today from Serious Eatsthat really inspired me and puts into words to express the special relationship one has with food. Some might think my food obsession is "weird," but food is my sense of adventure, my connection to family and friends and the creation of long lasting memories. After a hard day of work, I can't think of anything better to do but to go to the grocery store and plan out my meals for the week (ie. what I did last night). I love being able to share my travelings and food adventures with people who are maybe too scared to try or never get the amazing opportunities that I have had in my life. This statement is just one of the few things that makes me a proud food lover in world full of them.
I've often wondered why the food-obsessed do what they do. Why do we visit our favorite food blogs on a daily basis, gossip about restaurants, or view hours of cooking shows on television? I like to think that it's more philosophical than honest gluttony—perhaps it's part of the natural human curiosity instinct. Food is indeed a topic with no rules and limitless possibilities, and there's always something new to hold rapt our attention...
-Chris Hansen
p.s. Spotted James Oseland, Top Chef Masters judge and editor-in-chief of Saveur Magazine while eating brunch with a friend in Gramercy!
I've often wondered why the food-obsessed do what they do. Why do we visit our favorite food blogs on a daily basis, gossip about restaurants, or view hours of cooking shows on television? I like to think that it's more philosophical than honest gluttony—perhaps it's part of the natural human curiosity instinct. Food is indeed a topic with no rules and limitless possibilities, and there's always something new to hold rapt our attention...
-Chris Hansen
p.s. Spotted James Oseland, Top Chef Masters judge and editor-in-chief of Saveur Magazine while eating brunch with a friend in Gramercy!
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