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Disappointment at Huntley Taverne

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Let's set the scene: my wife's cousin and husband proposed to go for a lunch date to a restaurant in Summit, NJ where they went for their wedding anniversary and had a great dinner. They know how much I love food and you do not need to ask twice...We even went to the website of the restaurant few days before and already knew when we walked in what we would eat! 
Huntley Taverne is a nice restaurant, very warm with an interior that reminds me of the chalets you would find in Switzerland or in the French Alps. The service was very nice and attentive, but we must have ended up on a bad day...

Their menu made me want to order every item! They had some soups in the special menu and I found it very smart to propose a soup sampler. I think that restaurants should propose samplers so people can try different dishes. While we were waiting for our food, they brought us some delicious focaccia bread with a small portion of ricotta cheese. That was a good way to start!

We then ordered:

  • Trio of sliders (Vermont cheddar burger, BBQ pulled pork on a cheddar scone, mini crab cakes with creole remoulade). Of the three, the only one I liked was the BBQ pulled pork: it was perfectly cooked and moist. The burger was overcooked and the bread they used for the burger and crab cake slider was very dry too. According to the manager, it is because the chef is tasting a new recipe for his potato bread. Thanks for trying a new recipe on us!!! It is sad because the crab cake was pretty good but they should have put some more sauce because it was also a little dry. Apparently the crab cake sandwich entree, served with a brioche bread was delicious and not dry at all. Maybe because of their size, sliders are more difficult to make. 
  • Truffled Mac&cheese: I could taste the truffle, but the cheeses were bland and it was barely warm.
  • Mushroom pizza with Vermont cheddar, truffle oil and onions. Ok, this one was good! The mushrooms were delicious and paired well with the vidalia onions and the cheddar. 

It seems they had an off day: they came few times apologizing for the lateness of the food (they had an issue with their fryer and I guess the food sat a bit) and felt really sorry to hear that the sliders were not good. It is sad, because their menu was so mouth watering! I would give them a second chance and would probably go for the crab cakes entree or appetizer, but not the sliders.

Enjoy (I wish I did)!
Huntley Taverne on Urbanspoon
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Fresh Pasta and tomato with porcini mushrooms sauce

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In our last trip to Eataly in New York City, we bought some delicious fresh pasta and a nice tomato and porcini mushrooms sauce. Simple and delicious!

I remember back then in France, going to an Italian restaurant was primarily to eat pizza as we considered that we could make pasta at home and it was considered cheap. I truly discovered great Italian food in the US and there is nothing better than fresh pasta! If you go to Eataly, try them and visit their amazing pasta section with so many different sauces!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

Cheese night!

Yesterday we went back to Eataly in New York City and picked some bread (great baguette!) and cheeses for a nice little dinner. The place was packed! Seriously, they did a great job with this market place! It was crazy in there!
So, we decided to pick different cheeses than last time. I was surprised to see that they were selling non Italian cheeses there! We ended up with:

  • Avonlea cheddar from Canada: was ok. I prefer a sharper cheddar. It might be better for grilled cheese or mac & cheese.
  • Double cream from Vermont: very creamy. Delicious on a piece of bread.
  • Creamy gorgonzola from Italy: extremely creamy and not strong at all.
  • Brescianella semi aged from Italy: it is a semi soft cheese that has a very stinky smell! I like stinky cheeses, but did not like that one. I am wondering if it is not because they packaged it 9 days before and it got this pungent smell and taste. I will be more careful  next time when picking cheeses over there!
















With the cheeses, we bought 3 different jams (very small jars awesome for tasting - 1.5 oz): blueberry, peach and cherry. Jam, honey or butter is a good way to eat cheese, especially strong ones. Of course, if you put too much of it, you will miss the taste of the cheese you are eating!

Enjoy (I did)!
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Friedman's Lunch: The Return of the Pastrami Reuben

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My wife would say that I am sometimes obsessed by food. When I try something good, I am going to talk or dream about it. Better than dreaming about zombies, no? I then need to have it again. This is what happened with the pastrami reuben from Friedman's Lunch in Chelsea Market (see prior post here)!!!

We went there today; early enough to avoid the crowd and we were right!

So we tried the Pastrami reuben and their take on the grilled cheese: they make it with swiss and cheddar cheeses, caramelized onions and bacon. I think it is great that they do not just propose a standard grilled cheese. It was good, but I have two complaints: it should have been hotter and I would have used a sharper cheddar. 
The Pastrami Reuben was good too, but the meat was a little tough this time. Last time, it was so buttery! I guess restaurants can have a bad day too! Don't get me wrong: the sandwich was still delicious, but not outstanding! I am still a big fan!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!
Friedman's Lunch on Urbanspoon

Waffle Tasting!

I know: you heard about food tasting or wine tasting, but most likely never of waffle tasting. I am sure, like me, you did some tastings at some point but never called it this way. How fun is that: waffle tasting? 

We just bought free flavors of waffles at Whole Foods (no, I am not sponsored), and tried them at the same time. I should do that more often: garlic tasting, salt tasting, flour tasting...

So, there are many providers of waffles in the city, like Waffles and Dinges, but there are also supermarkets like Whole Foods who can sell some good ones. We tried the brand Julian's with three flavors: vanilla, maple and cinnamon. It is in fact the order I liked them! They are pretty dense with some crystals of sugar on it. I usually eat them cold but you can also heat them. It is a perfect breakfast or snack with a coffee or tea.

If you know any other delicious brand, let me know!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!


If you recall a prior post from last August, I mentioned that the Thai restaurant Topaz had a Grade Pending. They had an inspection on 9/28 and it seems that they went from a C to a B (violation points between 17 and 27). This is what you can find on the website of the NY Department of Health and Mental Hygiene:


Violations recorded in the following area (s) and a Notice of Violation issued at the reinspection conducted on 09/28/2011.
"Critical" violations are displayed in red.

Violation points: 24

Sanitary Violations
1) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.
2) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
3) Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.
4) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
5) Proper sanitization not provided for utensil ware washing operation.


Now, understand that restaurants can contest their grade in court. The NY Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released some statistics that can be scary!!!
For the period of July 2010 to September 2013:
  • of the 12,503 hearings in court for restaurants with a grade B or C, 41% were able to contest enough violations that their grade was up by at least one letter.
  • 261 restaurants with a C grade were able to improve to an A in court!
  • At the time of inspection, the repartition of grade was:
    • A: 60%
    • B: 28%
    • C: 12%
  • Final grades:
    • A: 78%
    • B: 18%
    • C: 6%
I am not sure if finally we were not better off without the grades!


For more information about grades, click here.

Shekshouka recipe!

Shekshouka (aka Chakchouka) is a dish of North African origin. Some cook it with an egg; my family cooked a different version of it, made of tomatoes and roasted peppers. As you will see, it is a nice and healthy dish. We eat it different ways: with bread, in crepes with some goat cheese (incredibly good) or as a side dish.  

Recipe - side dish:
  • olive oil.
  • a spoon of garlic.
  • 24 oz roasted red pepper
  • 30 oz diced tomatoes or 4 tomatoes.
  • salt
Cut the tomatoes and red peppers in small cubes. Put all the ingredients in a pan and cook at medium heat for 2 hours. Add water from time to time so the tomatoes and pepper do not attach to the bottom of the pan.

Et Voila! You can also eat it hot or cold.

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!
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Build your own burger at The Counter in Times Square, NYC

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Image of Burger at The Counter in Times Square, NYC, New York
Burgers are a big deal in the US and there are more and more burger joints opening with tasty burgers that have nothing to do with Mc Donald's or Burger King! Even famous chefs like Bobby Flay or Laurent Tourondelle launched their own burger restaurants. 

The Counter proposes to build your own burger from A to Z. It is a chain with many locations across the country. When you biuld your burger, you choose:

  • The meat: beef, turkey or veggie. They also propose the market selection. Today was lamb: I decided to go for it. Then you pick how much meat you want: 1,2 or 3 patties. 
  • You can either eat your burger on a bun or in a bowl (with lettuce and tomatoes).
  • A cheese: swiss, cheddar, brie, american...There is a pretty nice selection. I picked Tillamook cheddar.
  • Up to 4 toppings: a selection of 21 toppings. I picked grilled onions and jalapenos. You can also pick a premium topping like sauteed mushrooms. None for me!
  • A sauce besides ketchup. I have to say that they have a nice selection of non standard sauces: chipotle aioli, roasted garlic aioli, hot wing sauce...I picked russian dressing.
  • The last part is the bun. Strangely, they did not have any burger bun! We were early for lunch! So I went for the pretzel bun. They also propose English muffin or onion buns. The pretzel bun was perfect because it did not have any salt (that could have been disastrous!).
For sides, we got the 50/50: fries and onion rings. This was very good. I like the fact that they serve them with sauces: ranch dressing and bbq sauce. The onions were awesome and very tasty. 

The lamb burger was good but I probably should have gone for a one patty as it was very juicy and it quickly became a big mess to eat. The pretzel bun started to fall apart and I ended up eating with my fork. There was a lot of cheese (2 slices) and a lot of delicious grilled onions. The russian dressing was perfect with it and the jalapenos gave a subtle kick that I love! I think that, after I went to Sobelman's in Milwaukee and tried it, I became a fan of jalapenos in burgers!

To help the burger come down my stomach, I had a vanilla milk shake: thick but not too much, but could have had a little bit more vanilla syrup in it.

The restaurant was nice, bright and modern looking and the service was good. I would just have preferred that they brought the sides with the burgers and not way before! Otherwise, I found it pricey compared to higher quality burger joints like BLT burger.

A good spot though if you are in Time Square and want a burger!

Enjoy (I did)!
The Counter: Custom Built Burgers on Urbanspoon

I tried for you: The Tallegio Grilled Cheese!

Image of Taleggio Grilled Cheese
In my post for Eataly in New York, I mentioned that Tallegio cheese is apparently good for grilled cheese. Well, we tried and it is! The bread was a thick homemade bread (French loaf with some vegetable oil to give some moisture and thicker consistency). We ate it with a basil tomato soup and dipped the grilled cheese in it. It was excellent! You should definitely try it!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!
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Basile's Pizza - Another Pizza Joint in Hoboken, NJ

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In Hoboken, there will soon be as many pizza joints as bars! Basile's pizza opened recently, in a very good location: corner of the block of Carlo's Bakery (The Cake Boss). It used to be a realtor office: I guess it is easier to sell pizza to people who wait on line for The Cake Boss than selling them houses! It is also close to the path, so people going to bars can't miss it...
Since they opened, they have been busy, especially on the week ends! So far, they have only offered outside seating, but I guess they will soon setup tables inside.

People there are courteous and I have to say that their pizzas are delicious! We tried three of them:
  • The fresh mozzarella and basil.
  • The white pie.
  • The sicilian.
Image of Pizza at Basile's pizza in Hoboken, NJ

So, here are couple of common things to these slices: the pizza sauce is amazing! Especially on the sicilian. This one does not have that much cheese on it, but it does not matter at all! I guess it is their "grandma" pizza. The crust is crispy and the pizzas are not greasy at all.
What I liked with the white pie is that there was no garlic: I hate when they put too much garlic on it! What do they think? That we will be attacked by a bunch of Vampires???

Definitely good pizzas there. Try it out!

And remember: I just want to eat!
Basile's pizza on Urbanspoon
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Food Gallery 32: a Korean food court in the heart of New York

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Image of Frozen Yogurt from Red Mango in Food Gallery 32 NYC, New York

The first time we noticed Food Gallery 32 (on 32nd street in Koreatown), we were in fact looking for Red Mango to have a frozen yoghurt! So we decided to go back and check it out. The place is really bright and modern and the majority of the crowd is young. There are three floors where you can comfortably sit. In term of food, you have a large choice: from sushi to bulgogi (Korean bbq), to ramen. All of this at a very reasonable price. The food is cooked on the spot and they give you a small buzzer so you can pick up your order as it takes few minutes to cook.





Image of Tofu Ramen at Noodle 32 in Food Gallery 32 NYC, New York
So we went for Noodle 32, specialized in ramen. There are more than 20 sorts: chicken, pork, seafood, vegetarian. All dishes are coming with Kimchi that is a fermented vegetable, usually cabbage. It can be spicy, but not there! They put a film on the soup so you can find a spot to eat without dropping some of it on your tray (or yourself)! The soups are extremely hot! I already spoke in a prior post about the Korean seafood miso ramen. The Tofu ramen was good but very spicy! We would have known, I am sure they would have done a mild version.

Walking around the gallery, any foodie will find something to eat! All the food they serve looked so good! I will definitely go back there and try other stands!!!

Enjoy (I did)!
Food Gallery 32 on Urbanspoon
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The Old German Bakery in Hoboken, NJ

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It has been a while I wanted to sit in the Old German Bakery in Hoboken to sip a hot cocoa and try one of their cakes. The bakery opened in January 2011 and I think it is a good alternative to Carlo's bakery! Not that German and Italian pastries have anything in common! It might be because of the crazy lines in front of Carlo's, made of people who do not care about those who are just trying to pass through and use the sidewalk for what it is supposed to be! 

Anyway, I already tried the Old German Bakery before for a quick snack: their pretzel bread is excellent, not too salty; their almond croissant is to die for! Very buttery with a decadent almond paste in it! It has been a very long time I did not have such a good one!
So today, after a long walk in the cold, we decided to go have a hot chocolate and try one of their cakes. I am very particular when it comes to hot chocolate: I need milk, not water! Although it took them a little bit of time to prepare it, it was good. Not the best (like Angelina in Paris or Max Brenner in NYC), but good! And with milk...This was perfect for a cold day!
For the cake, we decided to try a cherry and crispy chocolate one: this might not have been the best choice and we should have probably tried a more standard cake like a black forrest or a strudel. The top part with the cherry was my favorite part. The issue I had was with the bottom part: there was something chewy! 

I will definitely go back and try a different cake (they have plenty) with my hot chocolate!

Image of Hot Cocoa and pastries at The Old German Bakery in Hoboken, NJ
Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

Old German Bakery on Urbanspoon
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The feast at Second Avenue Deli in New York!

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I love eating in a deli: they have simple and hearty food that can be so good! I never knew what a deli was before coming to this country as we do not have this in France. 
Deli comes from delikatessen (German) inherited from délicatesse in French and means delicates things to eat! It is typically stores where you will buy food by their weight. In some European countries, delicatessen are fine grocery stores. New York is well known for deli and outside the big apple, some deli will even call themselves New York deli! The most famous ones in New York are: Katz's (also famous because of the movie "when Harry met Sally" - I am sure they are fed up to be reminded), Carnegie Deli and Second Avenue Deli. I would personally add Junior's.

The Second Avenue Deli opened in 1954 on the second avenue, but had to close from its original location because of a rent increase and dispute. It reopened in 2007, after a two years hiatus, right below Murray Hill and has now a second location on the Upper East Side. Its history has been marked by the dramatic murder of its owner in 1996 during a robbery and they are still offering a reward for any information that would lead to the arrest of the murderer.
The menu offers traditional deli dishes like matzo ball soup, potato pancake, chopped liver, as well as new items such as smoked fishes.

Image of Matzoh ball soup, potato pancake and pastrami sandwich at 2nd second avenue deli in NYC, New York
So, we decided to go for a nice little lunch. The restaurant was not as packed as what I thought. Maybe because of its location. This place has a nice nostalgic atmosphere with the booths and the old photos on the wall. The service was courteous and efficient, although they were ready to clear the table before we finished eating!!! What I like in deli, is that they bring you pickles and cabbage in different forms (pickled or as a slaw) at the beginning! The pickles were sour pickles, very good but also very, very salty! We tried three of their specialties:
  • The matzo ball soup: it was served with spaetzles (egg noodles from Eastern Europe), carrots and dill. The soup was good, but not as good as Junior's: the broth was not as tasty, same for the matzo ball.
  • The potato pancake with apple sauce (you can pick sour cream). It was ok. The apple sauce was not that great and the potato pancake was kind of tasteless. Once again, Junior's is the best.
  • Hot Pastrami sandwich: this was good. The meat was fatty enough and tasty. They serve it on rye bread only. I put some cabbage to add some crunchiness to the sandwich.
Image of Bosco chocolate soda at Second 2nd Avenue deli in NYC, New York
At the end of the meal, they offered us a Bosco chocolate soda shot: this was a nice touch. First time I tried and I liked it! Pretty interesting  to have a cold sparkling cocoa!

So, at the end, the food was not bad, but I definitely prefer Junior's or the incredible Pastrami Reuben at Friedman's in Chelsea Market!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!
2nd Ave Deli on Urbanspoon