Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

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

Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

A few years ago, the idea to go to a vegan restaurant would have made me cringe. Today, I am kind of excited at the idea to try some new flavors. So yes, I was excited when I got invited to try Café Blossom on Carmine, especially after reading the statement from one of its founders, Ronen Seri:

My vision for Blossom was to create a place with outstanding food, not just for vegans, but

for everyone to enjoy.

Yes, I am not a vegetarian and much less a vegan, so going to this kind of restaurant can be a real test.

Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

I like the place: simply decorated, I love the contrast of the dark wood with the white brick wall, like the ying and yang.

dining room at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

They push the concept to having a communal table situated right in front of the open kitchen.

dining room at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

dining room at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

The menu offers small and large dishes, some of them looking familiar such as the Caesar salad or the pipette Margherita, but with a vegan twist if I may say: the cheese is for instance replaced by tapioca cheese, bacon by tempeh bacon.

menu at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

We started off with some drinks. Jodi ordered their belvoir sparkling elderflower lemonade:

belvoir sparkling elderflower lemonade at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

And I ordered the house brewed fresh ginger ale:

fresh ginger ale at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

Then, we shared two appetizers:

The first one was the buffalo risotto croquettes served with pickled carrot ribbons and blue cheese sauce.

buffalo risotto croquettes at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

There were three croquettes that were divine: think about rice balls made with buffalo sauce that are deep fried and then topped with blue cheese.

buffalo risotto croquettes at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

This was a very successful dish, very flavorful and I loved the fact that these little rice balls were not dry.

The second appetizer was the taco trio:

tacos trio at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

It was made of roasted mushroom adobo, corn tortilla, cabbage, huitlacoche, carrot/onion escabeche and micro cilantro. I had no idea what huitlacoche was and later discovered that it was corn mushroom, corn smut or even called Mexican truffle (that's pushing a bit!).

tacos trio at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

This was a delicious dish: very flavorful, I did not mind at all that it was vegetarian. I love the crunch of the cabbage, as well as the bold flavor of the roasted mushroom adobo. Another great dish!

For the entrées, Jodi ordered the soy bacon cheeseburger:

soy bacon cheeseburger at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

She decided to have French fries as a side rather than field green: after all, it is a burger.

soy bacon cheeseburger at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

It was composed of seitan patty, tapioca cheddar, caramelized onions, grilled shiitake mushrooms, soy bacon, lettuce, tomato, chipotle aioli on a sesame bun. I admit that it was a bit messy to eat because of the soy bacon that was too hard and make it difficult to cut through. I also did not like the texture and taste.

On my side, I decided to order the huevos rancheros, curious to see how one of my favorite brunch dishes would end up.

huevos rancheros at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

The dish was made of tofu scramble, adobo sauce, tapioca cheddar, black beans, soy sour cream, served on a crispy corn tortillas.

huevos rancheros at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

This was a nice interpretation of that dish. Being eggless, it did not have the same smoothness that the egg yolk usually gives, but I found it quite interesting, the tofu being moist and flavorful, perfect mixed with the beans and sour cream. I wonder if the yellow color is coming from turmeric...

Last was dessert. We went for the peach and strawberry crumble, served with vanilla ice cream:

peach and strawberry crumble at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

And the New York cheesecake, served with a peach reduction, strawberries and chocolate chips:

NY cheesecake at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

The desserts were quite good, especially knowing that they do not use butter. The crumble was the best one, although I would have liked more fruit in it. But the cheesecake was fabulous too, with its crust that was very coconut-ey.

My meal could not be complete without a coffee and, instead of going for an espresso, I went for a cappuccino, curious to see how they would pull it off without milk (they use almond milk in fact). And it worked!

cappuccino at Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

This was a nice meal, surprising in a lot of ways. If you go to Café Blossom, I definitely recommend the buffalo risotto croquettes, the tacos and the desserts. You will not regret it!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Revisit: Table Verte, French vegetarian restaurant in NYC, New York

I was recently re-invited to Table Verte, a French restaurant that serves only vegetarian dishes.I am definitely a carnivore and, most of the meals I had when I was a kid, growing up in France, had a dish with either a meat, fish or poultry. My wife Jodi, loves burgers and filet mignon, but have an inclination to order vegetarian dishes. It is with her, when we were dating, that I went to my first vegetarian restaurant: Zen Palate, at their location in Union Square that since closed. Then I went to others, like Gobo or Angelica kitchen, the latter being the worst vegetarian meal I ever had, the food being bland and mushy.  I discovered Table Verte beginning of the year, and it made me realize how we easily get stuck with labels. Think about it: in Italian restaurant, we may order pasta with a tomato and basil sauce. We do not call that vegetarian. A cheese pizza is not called vegetarian. A ratatouille is not called vegetarian. etc. etc. I could go forever with dishes that we love but never think about associating them with being vegetarian. 

Execute Chef Ken Larsen (left) & Sous Chef Matt Roth

So, what makes Table Verte different from other vegetarian restaurants?  Over there, Ken Larsen, the Executive Chef (who lived and worked in France) crafted a menu where he did not try to replace the meat or fish by other soy based proteins such as seitan or tofu. In the years he worked in France, he understood the importance of the garnish on the plate. In France, everything has to taste good: the garnish included. So, he decided to eliminate the meat and make the garnish the star of the dish. He also does not try to recreate a specific dish, but rather be inspired by it and make his own creation.

The difference between my last visit and today was, besides new dishes, that they replaced the a la carte formula by a series of prix-fixe menus. I admit that I prefer when both a la carte and prix-fixe are available, as we sometimes just want to have one dish each. 

So, here we are at Table Verte (the green table), in the dining room, where all tables are...green.

We decided to share some dishes and started with appetizers. We started off with roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic glazed strawberries.

I rediscovered Brussels sprouts few years ago, after eating a couple in a restaurant, regretting not to have more on my plate. Yes, when I was a kid, I hated it, but it might have been the way my Mom cooked them (Sorry Mom!) or maybe my palate evolved...What was interesting with this dish was the pairing with strawberries, not a sweet and salty combination because strawberries are not that sweet, but rather adding a different texture and maybe a delicate sour taste that made this dish successful.

The second dish was beets with a horseradish sherbet:

Chef Larsen thought about this dish after a trip in France back in August where he tried some crepes with savory flavored sherbets. Although it was very creative, it was my least favorite dish, the sherbet being a bit too icy and not having that much taste.

Then, we got my favorite appetizer: truffled mushroom duxelle.

Chef Larsen wanted to add a spread on the menu, similar to a pâté that is a traditional appetizer in France. The presentation was identical, with cornichons and mustard, but, instead of bread, he made a pâte sablée that is a rich crumbly crust.

The way you eat it is by putting a some duxelle on the pâte sablée, with or without mustard.

I have to say that I loved that dish. When it came to the table, we could smell the truffle, and the taste of the mushrooms was divine.

Then, for the entrées, we picked the eggplant lasagna:

It was made of goat cheese, Swiss cheese, spice roasted eggplant, harissa chickpea ragu and sautéed spinach. The pasta was cooked al dente. Jodi loved it to say the least! I liked it, especially because there was lost of cheese and was expecting a little kick from the harissa, but it was not the case.

The second entrée was Olive Polenta, made with an onion confit (fantastic!), roasted peppers, artichokes and cippolini onions with parsley caper sauce.

The presentation was sensational and it was as if the delicious olive polenta was like a piece of meat, soft, but not too much, perfectly paired with the onions that gave some sweetness to the dish and the haricots verts some crunch. 

These two entrées are the perfect example of dishes that do not need meat or fish and left us satisfied. But of course not enough to skip dessert! We ordered the Banana Brûlée made of French pastry cream, sweet cookies, with a caramelized sugar coating:

If you like banana, you cannot miss this dessert that is between the banana pudding and the creme brûlée.

It was creamy and not too sweet; so good that we finished it!

The second dessert was the tarte au chocolat:

I had that dessert last time, but it slightly changed: the crust was made with raisins this time and you could definitely taste it. 

The chocolate part was rich, dense with a strong chocolate taste and if you wonder how they make it, I know that they replace the butter with avocado that is a perfect substitute and a vegan dessert. 

I had again a nice dinner at Table Verte, a restaurant that more carnivores should know!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Please note that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

Vegetarian dinner at Zen Palate in NYC, New York

Zen palate was the first vegetarian restaurant I went to, when I was dating Jodi. I would characterize their food as Chinese inspired vegetarian cuisine: makes sense considering that if you are vegetarian, Asian restaurants has been for a long time the perfect place for you, although it is changing more and more. I still remember their location at Union Square, that closed few years after and then reopened close by and then closed again...They also have a location in Hell's Kitchen and if you recall, we walked out of the restaurant the last time we went because they completely forgot our order. We decided to give it another chance though. 

We went on a Friday evening: the restaurant was busy and they sat us in the back, a room that looks less modern than the one in the front.

To accompany the dinner, I ordered a soy milk. I love soy milk: it is not milk so it does not taste like milk for sure if you never tried. It has this weird taste and can have a richer texture than cow milk; it is perfect for lacto vegetarian or vegan diets, or people who are either lactose intolerant or have a true milk allergy. Some people, like me, like it plain, others prefer it flavored with vanilla or chocolate (No, I have not been endorsed by the soy industry!!!).

For starters, we ordered the scallion pancakes:

They put inside some soy protein, so i is like a sandwich. It is one of my favorite appetizers at Zen Palate. The pancakes taste like the ones you would have in any Chinese restaurant, are a bit crispy and not greasy. The addition of the protein is nice, but not necessary.

Jodi ordered The Sweet and Sour sensation:

It is a soy protein that is fried and dipped in sweet and sour sauce. It reminds me in a certain way of sweet and sour chicken. It was served with blanched broccoli as well as brown rice and a spring roll. The spring roll was too doughy and the broccoli bland. However, the protein smothered with sweet and sour sauce was fantastic: extremely tasty, you would probably forget it was soy protein when eating it, even if the texture is softer than chicken. It is definitely a good dish to try if it is your first attempt at vegetarian food.

On my side, I got the Cantonese pan fried noodles:

The plate was big and the presentation very nice with the colors of the veggies (sweet peas, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, bokchoy and carrots). The sauce was Kung Pao sauce.

First, they should have chosen a better plate, because when they brought it, I thought I would end up with some sauce on my pants! Then, I was disappointed by the amount of noodles that was not enough compared to the veggies. Last, the veggies were a bit bland. I only appreciated the mushrooms and sweet peas. Too bad!

I think Zen Palate is good, but a bit pricey compared to the food you could get in a good Chinese restaurant in NYC. If it is your first time trying vegetarian food, I suggest the Sweet and Sour Sensation as well as the scallion pancakes.

Enjoy (...)!

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French Vegetarian at Table Verte in NYC, New York

Before you read this, please note that this post is about a press dinner: understand that the restaurant knew who we were and this was a complementary dinner.

Going to a French Vegetarian restaurant sounds like an oxymoron so I was extremely curious to go to a Press Dinner at Table Verte, located in the East Village. I had vegetarian experiences previously either in true vegetarian restaurants like Gobo, Zen Palate or Angelika Kitchen, as well as Asian restaurants where vegetarian dishes are always available (think about Indian, Chinese or Thai)! But French? I was excited to see what it was all about!

So, here I am, walking to this place, passing the crowded Saint Marks Place, and ending up on the same block as Caracas, the Venezuelan restaurant that serves delicious arepas! Fortunately, I always rely on the address because I could have passed next to Table Verte without noticing it: no extravagant lights or outside decoration. The place is tiny with its 38 seats (each table is green, matching the name of the restaurant) and I retrieved there the type of atmosphere that I was used to when living in Paris, especially at La Butte aux cailles, in the 13th district, close to Place d'Italie. La butte aux cailles has these small restaurants, very casual, warm, where the food is the star and where you feel so comfortable, you tend to forget you are in a restaurant and are just enjoying the moment you share with others at a meal. In fact, the press dinner was on a Tuesday and the place was packed. I did not notice though that they were rushing people so they had to eat quickly and free their tables for other customers as it is customary in a lot of restaurants in New York. 

I did not meet with the owner, Chef Didier Pawlicki (Taureau and La Sirène), but had a quick chat with Executive Chef Ken Larsen. Chef Larsen was classically trained at the French Culinary Institute, and spent few years as a Chef in France, near Nancy. There, he discovered that French people attach a lot of importance to food and that everything on the plate has to be good, including the garnish.

Later, being himself a vegetarian, he decided to make these garnishes the star of the dishes, without trying to recreate proteins with tofu or seitan, crafting a menu with not only vegetarian, but also vegan and gluten free dishes. I was pretty intrigued, of course as a Frenchman, but also because vegetarian has not always been successful in the past (Angelika kitchen was terrible!).

We started the dinner with a medley of salads that the Chef proposes on his menu - Le plat froid:

• Celeri rave remoulade: shredded celery root marinated with lemon juice and dressed with homemade mayonnaise.
• Lentils vinaigrette: lentils served with a brunoise of carrots (carrots are first julienned and then turned a quarter turn and diced again, producing small cubes), celery and leeks with Dijon vinaigrette.
• Beets with horseradish seasoned with shallots, tarragon and herbs.
• Assiette de carottes: carrots, chickpeas, leeks and raisins in a lemon spiced vinaigrette.

I really liked it: rustic, pretty traditional, it easily reminded me of a dish my family would serve at the beginning of a meal (in France, the entrée is the appetizer). I truly liked the flavors and appreciated the fact that it was not overdressed. The assiette of carottes had definitely a Mediterranean influence thanks to the raisins. The salads were served with some delicious homemade onion focaccia bread that I could have eaten entirely!

The next dish was the cassoulet vegetarien, served with yam cake.

I would not have associated the yam cake with French cuisine, but the cassoulet is definitely one of the most famous French specialties from the South West and I could hardly imagine what the vegetarian version would be! If you never had a cassoulet, know that it is made of white beans with different meats: pork, duck or goose. This one, that was vegan and gluten free, was made with mixed beans that were stewed with roasted shallots. Normally, the restaurant serves it with wild rice, that is not how you would serve it in France. This time, it was served with a yam cake that was delicious! It was made of layered sweet potatoes seasoned with nutmeg and cinnamon. This was smooth and sweet, and paired very well with the cassoulet: going from sweet to salty was fantastic. We even told Chef Larsen that instead of serving the cassoulet with wild rice, he should always pair it with the yam cake! He told us that he would definitely consider it and that in fact, he likes to have feedback from the diners: that is how he came up with some ideas of items, such as the vegan chocolate ganache cake!

I loved the cassoulet because it was very hearty with great flavors: it was definitely a surprise, because it stood up on its own and I did not miss any meat in it! I was also thinking that this is the type of dish that people could try to make home.

The next dish was the Gnocchi Parisien au gratin: Chef Larsen's own version of Mac & Cheese. 

It was made with truffles, white sauce and Swiss cheese. This dish was fantastic! First of all, they used real truffles and not truffle oil: you could tell the difference. Then the gnocchi were very light and not potato-y. This dish was very rich, but it was so good that I finished the side portion they served us; I cannot imagine eating the full size by myself...although, knowing me...

As Table Verte is a French Vegetarian, they could in fact stay true to their theme and call the gnocchi "vegetarian quenelles"!

Last, came dessert!!! We started off with the long awaited Tarte au chocolat vegetalienne et sans gluten (vegetarian and gluten free chocolate tart):

As mentioned above, it was based on the suggestion of a diner. The crust is made of overcooked rice, raisins and almond flour. The chocolate ganache is made with chocolate and avocado (not surprising as avocado can sometimes replace butter because of its fatty content). I liked the crust that was crunchy, but did not really like the ganache where the dark chocolate taste was a bit lost.

However, the next dessert was amazing! It was a banana brulée!

This was a great way of finishing the meal! It was made of banana, nilla crackers, Crème Pâtissière (custard) and had a caramel crust similar to a creme brulée. The crème was smooth and definitely tasted banana. It was not too sweet and perfectly set, like a fusion of banana pudding and crème brulée! Definitely a dessert not to miss!

This was an incredible and sensational dinner! I did not know what to expect, but this concept not only makes sense, but works! I really liked the passion of the Executive Chef that really came through his food. Apparently they started to serve brunch, so I will have to go back to see what they have!

In conclusion, Table Verte can satisfy any type of diner: vegetarian or not! 

Enjoy (I did)!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Vietnamese Food at Chapa's in NYC, New York

We passed by ChaPa's Noodles and Grill, a Vietnamese eatery, several times and each time, this restaurant was packed. So we decided to give it a try. In fact, we gave it two tries! The first time we went and picked various dishes and then saw many people ordering their Pho (a Vietnamese dish consisting of broth,  rice noodles, herbs, and meat); so we decided to go another time to try the Pho.

So, the first time we went, we shared several plates.

The crispy calamari or Muc Chien Don:

I loved it: the calamari was not rubbery, the batter well cooked and very crispy, not greasy at all. The sweet chili sauce gave a nice Asian twist to this dish!

The veggie dumplings - steamed:

I liked these: the main problem I have usually with vegetable dumplings is that the shell can be very thick. These were perfect and very tasty!

The crab cakes:

It was made of crab meat seasoned with green onions, lemon and panko crumbs. The sauce on top was a spicy lemongrass mayonnaise. Although not the best crab cakes I ever had (lots of filler and not as much crab meat as I like), it was a nice Asian version of a crab cake and the lemongrass mayonnaise was a killer!

The Vietnamese Crispy Rolls (Chia Gao):

Inside the fried rice paper, were pork, taro, mushroom, carrots and glass noodles. Although a classic dish as opposed to most of the dishes we had so far, it was pretty good and tasty; the kind of dish that has a certain comfort into it...maybe from the frying part...

The Fried Tofu Mon Chinh:

This was my least favorite dish! The rice is on the left of the plate and looked like a thin net made of rice that was tasteless. I guess the idea is to make like a crepe with it, but I probably did not do it correctly...

Then we had the Pho: the vegetarian one.

And the meaty one called the Super Bowl:

Both came very, very hot! The Super Bowl had shrimp, squid, brisket, steak and beef balls. I enjoyed the seafood, although not that much and hated the meat: it was tough and the beef balls tasted like some processed meat (disgusting)! Both dishes were just ok and did not have the wow factor I was expecting! Even the broth was missing some depth. It was disappointing.

Last, for dessert, we ordered each time we went the black rice pudding:

Yes, you read well: we ordered it twice! It was so good! The black rice had a great chewy texture and with the coconut milk, it was to die for! Too bad they do not put enough milk on it!

So I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. We had some great dishes and some others not that great. Considering the number of Vietnamese restaurants in NYC, I am not sure, even after writing this review, that I would go back...Although the black rice pudding is fabulous!

Enjoy (I did)!

Vegetarian dinner at Gobo in NYC, New York

"In the Kingdom of the Vegetarian, the Carnivore is King"

Jean-Philippe - October 2012

I started this blog post with this sentence because I realize that it is easier to be a carnivore in New York than being a vegetarian and forget it if you are vegan! Yes, there are options in the city, but they are still limited and it is easier for a carnivore to eat in a vegetarian restaurant than the contrary. I love meat, from beef, lamb, mutton...But I do not mind trying a meatless dish sometimes, especially if it is different from the usual salads and has some flavors...The first time I tried a vegetarian dish was at Zen Palate, many years ago, at the time they were located at Union Square. Their fake sweet and sour chicken was fantastic! Then I tried Gobo on the Upper East Side. These restaurants show that you can make great vegetarian food! So, I promised Jodi to go back to Gobo for dinner.

We went on a Saturday night. The restaurant was at first not packed, but started to fill up as the evening went by. I like the setting of the restaurant, with its large table at the entrance that gives the impression you eat in someones' kitchen.

Or its communal table...

The menu offers a large choice of dishes in three formats: quick bite, small or large plates. The smaller sizes are ideal for sharing or to try different specialties. So we decided to order few of them.

We started off with the avocado tartare served with a wasabi lime sauce.

The green color of the avocado and the sauce was vibrant and the dish looked appetizing. They were served with some sort of homemade chips to give some crunchiness to an heavenly good and creamy dish. The wasabi lime sauce perfectly enhanced the flavors and was not spicy at all.

The second dish was the crispy spinach and soy cheese wontons.

This was pretty good: the phyllo dough added some crispiness to a very soft filling. The soy cheese did not have that much flavor alone, but was well complemented by the sauce and the spinach.

The third dish was the roti canai.

Roti canai is a specialty inspired by Indian cuisine, found in Malaysia and Indonesia. The first time I tried it was a Wild Ginger in Maplewood, a Thai restaurant that is fantastic. The bread (the roti) was served with a Malaysian curry. In fact, we kind of made a mistake by also ordering a slow cook Malaysian curry....

They were both similar and we did not expect it! The protein served with the curry was seitan that is made with soy. It was just ok for me. You could recognize the flavors of a curry and the curry sauce was delicious, but the seitan was not my favorite...

The last dish ordered was the scallion pancakes.

They were served with a homemade mango salsa. I devoured it! Although a bit greasy, it was crispy and delicious with the mango salsa that added some freshness to the dish and was original. This was a hit.

With the meal, I drunk some soy milk, that I love when eating vegetarian...

They served a lot of it for $3!

Although I did not like the curry, the rest of the dishes were very good, especially the avocado tartare and the scallion pancakes. The service was so so: they did not check if everything was ok with the food, if we needed anything and brought us the bill straight away without even proposing a dessert!

Gobo is definitely one of my favorite spot for vegetarian. What about you?

Enjoy (I did)!

Vegetarian food at Angelica kitchen in New York, NY

In search for the best vegetarian place, we ended up at Angelica Kitchen in the East Village, after having heard about it by my wife's cousin, Jessica. As mentioned in prior posts, I am more a carnivore, but I am always interested in trying different types of cuisines.

We went to that place on a Saturday, for lunch. I thought it would be more crowded, but it was not the case. 

As the weather was still nice, we needed a nice drink to rehydrate. Jodi ordered a lemonade and I ordered an hibiscus cooler. The lemonade was really good and not too sweet. The cooler was surprisingly good considering that the only hibiscus I ever saw was in a pot at my Mom's place...

We decided to skip the appetizers and ordered Angelica's cornbread.

Forget any reference to cornbread as it does not at all taste like it! The wheat is replaced by rice that make it very dense. It was good, but a bit dry. They give you a big piece of it and we could not finish.

For the main dish, Jodi ordered the wee dragon, half a portion of a dragon bowl.

This dish used to be served in a Chinese bowl (hence the name) and came in a plate. I was not sure how to take the photo as no angle made it look good...The bowl was made of rice, beans, tofu, sea vegetables & steamed vegetables. You just need to pick a dressing to go with it. Jodi picked the balsamic vinaigrette. None of us liked the dish unfortunately: it was mushy and bland. Definitely disappointing.

On my side, I ordered one of the special of the day: Ancho Autumn Equinox, a gluten free dish.

This dish had a nice presentation at least! It was a coconut-vegetable curry served with red bell peppers,  tomatoes, yukon gold potatoes, sweet peas, carrots, celery, lemongrass and basil. It was accompanied with tofu, broccoli and roasted yellow squash. This dish had definitely more flavors than the dragon bowl, but it was not as tasty as a curry (even vegetarian) you would find in a Thai restaurant. I at least enjoyed the rice that was a bit sticky, as well as I enjoyed the tofu and squash. 

The way the food was, we of course decided to skip dessert and have something sweet somewhere else...

So I was a bit disappointed with Angelica Kitchen. For vegetarian, I prefer Gobo or Zen Palate, or even vegetarian dishes you would find in a Thai or Indian restaurant. It was a miss for me!

Enjoy (the post)! 

Salads at Pita Grill in Hoboken, NJ

After a week end full of food, we decided to have a salad at Pita Grill in Hoboken. Pita Grill is a chain that you can find in lots of places. The concept is healthy Mediterranean food.

We started off with a fresh squeezed orange juice.

This was a real fresh squeezed OJ, not a watered down one and for $3, there was a nice quantity of it!

For the salads, Jodi had the Goat cheese salad.

It is composed of mesclun greens, golden raisins and roasted walnuts tossed with a lemon honey vinaigrette. Served with grilled pita, topped with Goat cheese and caramelized onions. This is one of my favorites, especially the pita with caramelized onions and goat cheese! The sweetness of the onions completes so well the tartness of the cheese. Definitely to try!

On my side, I got a Pita Grill salad.

It is made of grilled chicken and basil-rubbed eggplant over mesclun greens, dried cranberries, crumbled Feta and with a roasted red pepper vinaigrette. That was delicious and fresh! The chicken was perfectly cooked: moist with a nice burnt taste on the charred areas. The vinaigrette was very light and subtle. I finished my plate!

So definitely, this is the place to go for a healthy lunch! I will try to remember the day I go to another food marathon...

Enjoy (I did)!

Delicious food at The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport - NYC, New York

Yesterday, Jodi and I went to The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport. This festival takes place couple of times a year, always at the same place, and features close to 30 food trucks from all over the city!

We decided to go in the morning, at around 11:30am as last year we went later and it was packed! This year, we picked the correct time! Not that many people, so limited wait! Our plan was to go to different trucks and try one of their dish on the menu.

We started with Chinese Mirch.

Mirch means chili in Hindi. This truck is a fusion between chinese food and indian food. We decided to try the Tibetan Momos, that are hand-rolled pan fried dumplings. We picked the vegetarian ones, made with cabbage, potatoes, carrots and some "secret" spices. 

The dumplings are served with a hot or sweet sauce. We chose the sweet as it was hot outside. The dumplings were pretty good: the shell was light and well cooked (I was surprised to see it steamed as they advertised pan fried!). The stuffing was delicious and flavorful. The only negative was that there was not enough sauce. Besides that, I really enjoyed it! The 5 dumplings costed $4.

The second truck was The Kimchi Taco Truck.

I love Korean food and was eager to try a fusion taco! What was great is that they proposed a tasting of 3 tacos for $7. Our pick was (top to bottom on the photo):

• Tofu edamame falafel: tofu, edamame and chickpea blended with Asian spices with kimchi infused refried beans, cucumber kimchi, pickled daikon and pico de gallo.
• BBQ beef short ribs served with their signature marinade, topped with red cabbage, apple, pear kimchi slaw.
• Fried chicken, battered in sweet rice flour tossed in organic blue agave nectar and ginger, garlic Korean pepper sauce and served with pickled diakon, queso blanco and sesame seeds.

They put the tacos next to each other and the shells were too small for the quantity of stuffing, so it was a bit messy to eat! The tofu edamame falafel was a bit mushy: I did not like it. The BBQ short rib was pretty good: it was tender and not dry thanks to the marinade. The last one I tried was the chicken one: I would have never thought it was fried chicken! Last, the taco shell was a bit hard on some parts of the tacos.

I was a bit disappointed: I think they put too many things on the taco and you lose the main flavors.

The next truck was Nuchas truck that serves empanadas.

They offer different types of empanadas: meat, veggie or sweet. We ordered the Argentine empanada ($3): ground beef, onions, pepper, scallions, potatoes and olives.

When the empanada came, it looked like the cocas that my family cooks with sheshoukah! It really liked it although it was a bit greasy. It had nice flavors and was just a bit spicy, but not too much. 

Then was the long awaited Valducci's pizza truck!

We were looking forward to get a slice from that truck since we tried it last year! It was so good! So we reordered the same slice: thin crust, pizza sauce, just a bit of cheese and olive oil.

This pizza is the proof that less is more! The crust was incredibly crispy and the sauce amazing! I think it is one of my favorite pizza in New York! I would not have liked to try other trucks, I would have gone for another slice! The slice costed $5.

Next to Valducci's was the Gorilla Cheese truck, specialized in grilled cheese.

They have standard grilled cheese as well as more elaborated ones. I decided to try a standard one and picked the Cheddar grilled cheese with white bread.

For sure there was a lot of cheese.

But, for $6, you can expect a better cheese and a better bread! I can make a better grilled cheese home for cheaper! Disappointing!

Then, we were on our way to leave when we saw the Red Hook Lobster Pound! Last year, I ate a fantastic lobster roll there! With all the food we ate, I was not sure I could have one. But Jodi knew how to find the good words to convince me: "If you do not get one, you will regret and keep talking about it!". I did not need more to order the $16 Connecticut lobster roll:

It is pricey, but there is a lot of lobster in it (I got 2 claws for sure as you can see on the photo), making it a bit challenging to eat! I love the Connecticut one: it is poached in butter! Better than with tons of mayo that could overpower the lobster taste!
The bread was deliciously buttered and toasted. If you do not like butter, it is not for you! I love this place!

After that, I was full and could not even try any of the desserts trucks. This is a great festival and I am looking forward for the next one!
On a side note, it was funny to see people eating at the terrace of the restaurants next to the festival: why would you pay overpriced food when you have an incredible event like this next to you?

If you went to the Food Truck Festival, let me know what you think!

Enjoy (I did)!

After burgers, onion rings and chocolate mousse, let's have a healthy meal! Couscous is a healthy grain that can be eaten in many ways: with meat and veggies, in salads such as a taboule, or buttered as I will show you (I know: it is supposed to be healthy and I add butter!). To make it, I am using a couscousier, but you can use a steamer. Some cook it by simply adding boiling water on it, but the taste is totally different and the grains are not going to be as light and fluffy as with a steamer. For 4 servings: 2 cups of couscous 1 teaspoon of salt 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil 2 tablespoons of butter 1 cup or 2 cups of edamame (based on your taste) in a bowl, mix the couscous, the salt and the oil with a cup of water. Put in the steamer, add the edamame and cook for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid packets of semolina. Add the butter and stir until fully melted. Et voilà! You can then serve it hot with a boiled egg, raisins or green olives. It can also be eaten with buttermilk in it (try and adjust the quantities)! Bon appétit!