Revisit: Taka Taka in New York, NY

Taka Taka in New York, NY

Taka Taka characterizes itself as a Mexican Sushi and Japanese Tacos joint. I guess you understand: this is a Mexican / Japanese fusion restaurant with a very interesting menu, branching out to these two distinct cuisines. It is not our first time there (previous review here) and we were looking for an original place, close to the heart of Tribeca, to celebrate my cousin Sandrine's visit.

dining room at Taka Taka in New York, NY

Another originality of this place is its conveyor belt or kaiten sushi. It is like a fun way to eat: dishes with a number will pass in front of you and you decide to pick them or not. The number refers to the menu on the table set, so it quickly becomes a game. First you will look at what is passing by and then quickly try to know what it is, and then, it will be the reverse: you will be waiting for that number 5 to come. But do not worry: if you really want a roll, you can just ask them and they will make it for you.

menu at Taka Taka in New York, NY

Each plate has a color that corresponds to a price, so be careful: it can be a fun game, a pricey game...

plates at Taka Taka in New York, NY

To start our dinner, we decided to order some mocktails. Sandrine and Jodi got  Kiiro that is tangerine juice, basil and a touch of lime.

Kiiro mocktail at Taka Taka in New York, NY

Kiiro mocktail at Taka Taka in New York, NY

I ordered the Gogo, a mango frappé with macerated blackberries:

Gogo mocktail at Taka Taka in New York, NY

I preferred the Kiiro that was an interesting combination, very refreshing, over the Gogo that was a bit difficult to drink because it was too thick.

So it was time for us to try some of the dishes. We decided to go exclusively with the kaiten sushi and passed on the menu. This is what we got (read: number - outside / filling):

05 - Seaweed / crab, cream cheese, avocado with chipotle:

Crab, cream cheese and avocado rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

15 - Tampico dressing / crab, salmon skin, cucumber, chile serrano and sriracha sauce (this was quite spicy!):

salmon, chile serrano and sriracha rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

17 - Fresh tuna / avocado, cucumber, asparagus with jalapeño dressing:

avocado, cucumber, asparagus rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

19 - Spicy tuna / shrimp, baby spinach, masago and guacamole:

shrimp, baby spinach, guacamole rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

01 - Seaweed / lettuce, avocado, cucumber with tampico dressing:

lettuce, avocado, cucumber rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

07 - Rice and sesame seeds / salmon, cucumber and cream cheese:

salmon, cream cheese, cucumber rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

10 - Shrimp with chile piquin / mango, cucumber, fried plantains and avocado:

mango, cucumber, fried plantains rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

06 - mixed sesame seeds / sweet potato tempura, zucchini, avocado with tempura drops (one of my favorite ones):

sweet potato tempura, zucchini, avocado rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

03 - Cucumber / banana, tomato, asparagus and avocado:

banana, tomato, asparagus and avocado rolls at Taka Taka in New York, NY

We could not get this last one from the conveyor belt as we kept looking and it never came. So, we ordered it and it came fairly quickly, meaning that you are not bound to whatever is created by the Chef.

For dessert, we got the fried ice cream that was fantastic and decadent. Think about it: fried ice cream!

fried ice cream at Taka Taka in New York, NY

This was a fantastic meal and I am glad that we got to get Sandrine discover this place. Next time we go, we will go for their menu as I believe it is where you see the fusion in all its splendor.

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Hogar Dulce Hogar, a Basque Bakery in Soho

Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

Last Sunday, I got invited for a review of Hogar Dulce Hogar, a Basque Bakery that opened two and a half weeks ago. It is always exciting to go to a place that just opened, although you never know if you will have a good experience, the kitchen or staff needing sometimes some adjustments at the beginning.

Located in Soho, this place is the sister restaurant of Hogar Dulce Hogar in San Sebastian, Spain, an area thriving with fantastic food and a culinary culture that made it the city with the most Michelin stars per square meter in the world! 

So, we arrived at the restaurant a little after noon. Of course, we could not miss the sign outside, that did not get fully register to me, probably because I was too busy taking photos. I opened the door and the second thing I saw were...blankets!

And behind them, a little space with a couch that was like a living room, minus the TV.

Looking up was a screen where movies were playing and an incredible suspended garden all along the wall, going to the ceiling. At that point, you wonder in which world you just entered, but know that this is going to be different.

We met with the manager Gonzalo who introduced us to Miguel Blanco, who came with the concept and took care of us, explaining to us not only the food, but also the kind of experience he wanted to give to his customers. So, we were wondering about the couch area? They wanted to make it like an extension of a living room. The blankets? It is just in case you get cold. How thoughtful. The general idea is to make you feel cozy and at home. Normal, considering that Hogar Dulce Hogar means Home Sweet Home in Spanish. 

So you can just go there and, besides eating and drinking, read or surf the internet with the iPads they provide (they also have a free wifi). You can also go in the back in a little space covered with a chalk board and draw:

Or use some of the chalk and small chalk board signs located on each tables.

There are plenty of little details all over the restaurant that surely make this place unique, such as the mint plant on the coffee table:

or the plants on each table:

The screen is also interesting: in the morning, they project videos showing what is happening in the kitchen that is located upstairs. Later, the video will change based on various criteria. For instance, in the winter, you may see a video of beaches or dogs with their head outside the window of a car. In the Summer, when it is hot, mountains.

Every detail is there to make you think about happy things, why not vacations when seeing the surf boards hanged against one of the walls or reading some positive saying such as the one at the entrance (today is good day to smile).

Food wise, they make everything on site, but know that it is not a pure bakery: they also serve lunch, brunch or dinner. We got sweets, but definitely, their savory dishes look yummy, like the toast with Iberico ham or one of their best sellers: the apple and bacon burger. They also serve a 50-second fresh squeezed orange juice. The idea behind it is that the vitamins in the juice will start to fade after the first 50 seconds because of the contact with the oxygen, so they commit to bring it to you...in 50 seconds.

So, we started off with beverages. Being a coffee drinker, I was curious about their choices. Miguel explained that their coffee is a blend of 6 different beans from countries like Indonesia or Ethiopia that they roast for 12 minutes, instead of 14 minutes, in order to obtain a sweeter and less bitter taste. They then ship it from San Sebastian, close to 4,000 miles away. You can get an espresso or a latte, but they also propose some interesting creations, such as the bombon that is made with dulce de leche, or the café Magdalena aka Muff’nJoe, made with a muffin!

I decided to try the café donut or DoughJoe, that is coffee and a donut put in a blender. Don't worry: it does not taste like baby food, but like a very creamy coffee, not too sweet and with a slight coffee taste.

Jodi went for the hot chocolate. Ok, this is not your regular hot chocolate. Let's zoom a bit so you can understand:

A little more detail:

As you can see, it is a very thick hot chocolate, closer to a pot de crème rather than a regular hot chocolate. Miguel warned us and said that it was so thick that a spoon would stand on its own. So we did the test...

And it stood on its own, right like Miguel said. It was very chocolate-y and a bit sweet, but still addictive. 

Then, the first pastry we tried was torrija, a Spanish specialty close to a French toast (another best seller).

Instead of using some old bread, they use a brioche that they dip in milk and orange, then dip in eggs and fry. It is then put in powdered sugar and cinnamon, the sugar melting as the bread is hot. 

It was delicious and definitely reminded me of the pain perdu we use to make at home when I was a kid.

We then tried the amonna cake (grandma's cake):

Think about it as a sweet version of a quiche.

This was sublime and my favorite: I could not stop eating it! The inside, simply made with cream, eggs and sugar, was sweet, but not too much. The crust was crumbly, adding a bit of texture to a pastry that I surely recommend.

We then tried the Santiago Almond Cake:

I thought it was like the almond cakes you find in any other bakeries, but I was mistaken. 

There was no crust. It was pure almond, like a concentrated version of marzipan. Not too sweet and definitely a great pastry if you love marzipan.

After that, we tried their gelato that are also homemade and made with high quality ingredients.

We tried the following:

• Quark (dairy product) with honey and walnuts. It tasted like a frozen yogurt gelato.
• Dark chocolate (definitely for the chocolate lovers).
• Green apple.
• Hazelnut.
• Super lemon.

My favorite was the hazelnut one as this is one of my favorite flavors with praline for ice cream, but I admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the green apple and lemon one, fruity flavors being more associated for me to sherbet rather than gelato.

I really liked what we ate at Hogar Dulce Hogar and had a good time talking to Miguel who was definitely passionate about his business, placing quality and hospitality above everything, so people feel like home, in a place that has some character. I cannot wait to go back there to try their savory dishes and get some more pastries.

And do not feel bad leaving your dog outside while you enjoy your meal or treat inside: they have a spot created specifically for them, where they can enjoy some fresh water and dog treats. If these are as good as what we got, maybe I should bring some home for a snack!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Restaurant Information

tabelog.us

	* Restaurant Name
	Hogar Dulce Hogar
	* Overall
	★★★☆☆
	* Neighborhood / Cuisine
	SoHo / Spanish
	* Street Address
	341 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013
	* Phone
	(917) 510-7351

Brunch at Tartinery in Nolita, NYC, New York

We were looking for a place to get some brunch with our friends Jen and Gary and ended up at Tartinery in Nolita. I was expecting a small bistro, but when we arrived, we discovered a fairly modern place that seems to cater to a younger crowd rather than families.

Although, there is a bit of nostalgia as can attest the black and white photos on the walls (Jimi Hendrix, Serge Gainsbourg, a popular and scandalous French singer on top of his career between 1970 to 1991 when he passed away - check his interaction with Whitney Houston on Youtube...).

There are two main sections: upstairs, next to the bar, where couple of tables are lined up.

And downstairs, a more spectacular room with huge ceilings and wine bottles sitting in enclosures several feet from the floor, only accessible using the iron ladder.

The restaurant describes itself as a contemporary bistro: I would agree, although it can give the impression of dining in a dungeon!

Well, as you probably know, restaurants assign a number to their tables; at Tartinery, they paint the number on the tables themselves...so there is no confusion...

Let's talk about the menu: the main concept is a tartine, a French term for a slice of bread with a spread on top. At Tartinery, it is simply a whole meal served on a piece of rustic bread. Imagine a buschetta but with limitless choices on top of the bread. There, you can pick three different breads: country peasant and health multigrain from Eli's bakery or rustic sourdough from Poilane bakery in Paris.

Before we started our meal, we ordered some beverages. Gary went for a beer from Corsica called Pietra.

I went for a fresh squeezed juice, the Delicious Trio, made with apple, pineapple and orange:

This was very good, the taste of each fruit still standing on it's own.

But an espresso was also welcome.

Anyway, before we ordered our tartines, there was one dish that caught my eye: Ravioles De Royans. Ravioles are little ravioli filled with cheese that you find in the Dauphiné province. It is sold in supermarkets, usually in sheets of 48 ravioles (left), and are cooked like pasta (right).

They can be eaten simply with a cheese sauce (Crème fraîche and roquefort is succulent), in gratin or even on pizza (all photos from my last trip to France - and yes, I take photos of everything I eat)!

At Tartinery, they made the ravioles with some cream and truffle oil.

This was small and it is unfortunate because I would have eaten it on my own. It was so good, so creamy, with just a hint of truffle scent.

If you go to Tartinery, you cannot miss this dish!

Then, we had our tartines. Jodi ordered the Saint Marcellin:

 It was composed of Saint Marcellin cheese, prosciutto, arugula and olive oil.

It looked good, but was a total miss: not enough cheese and the prosciutto was very, very, very salty.

Jen and I each ordered the Croque Monsieur:

It was made of cooked ham chiffonade, gruyere cheese and béchamel sauce. 

This was another miss: dry probably because not enough béchamel sauce and very salty. 

Gary seemed to have a better chance with the Benedict tartine.

I was so disappointed when I left: not only I did not like the food, but I thought it was overpriced. This is unfortunate because this is a great concept. At least I got the delicious ravioles...

Enjoy (...)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Nipponista event at Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

Last Wednesday, I was invited to Nipponista, an event organized by Tabélog US, the largest Japanese restaurant review website and hosted by Isetan, the largest department store in Japan at Maison O in Soho. The purpose is to showcase Japanese fashion, art, food, lifestyle and craftsmanship. 

The dinner, prepared for the occasion by Chef Tadashi Ono, the former executive chef of Matsuri (above) was paired with Mizubasho sake presented by Mr Shoichi Nagai (below), the chairman of Nagai Sake Inc. who made each sake presentation interesting.

He greeted us with a glass of Mizubasho Sparkling Sake:

I never had sparkling sake before and did not even know it existed! 

The evening continued with a presentation by Kanso groceries of dashi and an explanation about umami,  the fifth taste sensation after sweet, sour, bitter and salty. To show us how dashi enhances flavors, they made us taste some miso with water (left) and some miso with dashi (right).

We could definitely taste the difference, the first one being tasteless and the second one being flavorful. They proceeded to explain to us how to make it, using dried bonito:

and Hana-Kombu (kelp):

You let both elements infuse like you would make tea, et voila! 

Then, we had some amuse bouche. The first one was Dashikarikori-kan with black truffle:

And the second one Kumamoto Oysters:

They were served with ponzu ice:

Then, we go a black cod:

It was steamed with sake and served with a dash-kanten gravy. In the bottom was some daikon. This was a great dish: the fish was perfectly cooked, flaky with a delicate taste. 

It was paired with a Mizubashojunmaidai-ginjo premiere sake:

They served it in a silver cup that is suppose to give a smoother taste to the sake. 

In fact, we event tried in a regular sake glass and definitely tasted the difference.

They came a dish that I really wanted to try as soon as I read the menu: a ribeye steak with caramelized onions and a grilled rice ball:

The presentation was beautiful and this dish delicious. First of all, the ribeye was perfectly cooked medium. Then, there was this rice ball that was crunchy on the outside and not dry at all on the inside, pairing perfectly with the steak and even with the caramelized onions that added a nice sweetness to the dish.

With the steak, we had a glass of Mizubasho vintage 2004 sake:

I truly appreciated it with my steak and even ranked this sake my favorite of the evening. I admit that I never thought about drinking sake with a ribeye, going usually for a bold red wine like pinot noir.

Last was dessert. 

It was a dish composed of a coconut panna cotta with a melon compote.

This was very light and refreshing and we could definitely taste that it was made with coconut milk.

The second dessert was a Green Tea tiramisu:

This was also very good: light, it was interesting to see how green tea and coffee pair well together.

As it was a sake tasting, it was served with a dessert sake:

The packaging was beautiful and looked a bit like a perfume bottle in a way.

We had a wonderful time at Maison O, enjoying the evening with our friend Malini, The Restaurant Fairy, and talking with other bloggers, especially Chubby Chinese Girl Eats, Johnny Prime Steaks and The Cake Dealer as well as the organizers and hosts. It is always interesting to discover other cuisines, other flavors

Thanks to Tabélog, Isetan, Nagai Sake, Inc and Maison O for this great event that was covered by NHK TV:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20140213/k10015216531000.html

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Finally!!!

I tasted it! Yes, I know, some of you are envious right now! So let me say it in plain English: I ate a cronut! I am sure you are either wondering how I ended up with one (two in fact), maybe thanks to my blog, or thinking that I went this time at 6am to get the precious pastry after a three hours wait! It is not what happened. Before I tell you how I ended up with two cronuts, let me summarize the previous episodes. 

Episode 1:

I heard about the new creation from Chef Dominique Ansel. Being a fan, I decided to try and with confidence, showed up at 11:30am on a week end to get a cronut. They are sold out (of course!). The buzz increases and the press reports long lines in front of the bakery. 

Episode 2:

We decide to try again, but show up a little before 8:30am this time, the bakery opening at 9am. After three hours of wait, we are in front of the door hoping to get rewarded. Suddenly, a woman, not fearing for her life, screams "I got the last one!" . At this point, I really thought there would be a riot! Some people left, disappointed, but we decided to wait a little more to get some breakfast: a delicious Kouign Amann and a fantastic almond croissant. Were we disappointed? Sure, but it was a fun experience: the excitement of maybe getting one, talking to people in line, but also to the passerby who were wondering what we were waiting in line for. The funniest being their faces when one responded "a cronut" and they had no idea what it was. 

So, now is episode 3! 

My friend and blog fan Benedicte brings me two cronuts ($5 each) on Monday, cronuts that she purchased after a now famous three hour wait. I receive the precious package, hiding it from everybody around me, taking care of it as if it was a family heirloom. I carefully carry the two cronuts in my possession home and proceed with unwrapping them from the aluminum foil they are in, some of it sticking to the icing. After taking photos and eating dinner, it is time for a tasting. Jodi and I each get one, me secretly hopping she will only eat half of it...

The first bite is divine! You get four layers in fact: 

- the icing: not too sweet at all

- the outer part of the cronut, full of granulated sugar, similar to a sugar twist. 

- the flaky buttery croissant like inside. 

- the cream with it subtle but fantastic coconut taste (Jodi's favorite on top of that!). 

Although we ate it the next day, it was very good, not dry at all, probably thanks to the butter and cream. It tasted more like a donut (I mentioned earlier a sugar twist), but with butter and a flakiness close to a croissant. 

We are happy now to be part of the few of had the chance to try it! I bet that, fresh, it would have been spectacular, more flaky and a bit crunchy! But I am not sure I am ready for another long wait...Although you never know!!!

Enjoy (I sure did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!