BBQ at Blue Smoke in NYC, New York

We finally made it to Blue Smoke, that I tried last June at the Annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party in New York! They have two places: the original on 27th that we visited and another one in Battery Park city. 

The place on 27th is huge with very high ceilings and an industrial feel, from the apparent air duct and the lightning.

But, contrary to place like Dinosaur BBQ, my nose was not overwhelmed by the smell of BBQ when we entered! 

They sat us in a booth and we were ready for a feast! At least, I was...

We started of with deviled eggs. They sell them by the half.

They were delicious, with a nice amount of mayonnaise and we could definitely taste some spices.

Then, we tried the corn bread:

I love corn bread with a BBQ meal and this one tasted fresh, was not too firm and delicious.

Then we tried the Mac & Cheese:

It was a nice presentation in a small rectangular cast iron dish. The top was a bit burnt, but no crunch. However, it was extremely creamy and I truly appreciated that they did not add any seasoning that would have overpowered the delicious taste of the cheese.

Jodi ordered the Caesar salad with pecorino cheese and croutons.

It was a bit too salty...

On my side, I went for the ribs sampler, my bucket ready for the bones!

The sampler was composed of (from bottom to top):

• Kansas City spareribs.
• Memphis baby back ribs.
• Texas ribs.

The ribs were good, with the meat falling off the bone. My favorite was the Texas rib that was more flavorful with a bolder taste. Of course, I tried some of the sauces that were on the table...

But did not tried their spiced salt:

At the end of the meal, we were too full to get dessert. Too bad, because I saw that they serve a banana cream pie and they even have a dessert sampler that is one of those things that more restaurants should do! The food was good, but a bit overpriced. For instance, the rib sampler was $20 and did not include any side! If you are in the area and want to eat BBQ, then go to Blue Smoke. Otherwise, Southern Hospitality remains my favorite

Enjoy (I did)!

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Lunch at Awash Ethiopian restaurant in Brooklyn, New York

I was recently invited to the Brooklyn location of Awash, a restaurant serving Ethiopian cuisine. In fact, Awash has three locations: the original one on Amsterdam that opened in 1994, one in the East Village, that opened in 2004 and the latest one in Brooklyn, more precisely in Cobble Hill, that opened in May 2012. We spoke a bit with Boge, who, with her sister, owns the place and gave us some insight about the restaurants and the menu.

The restaurant has a good size, with a bar on the left:

On the right, next to the window, you can decide to eat in these woven baskets, perfect if you would like to share your meal and enjoy a totally different experience.

Then, the dining room, with its warm red color, paintings and photos.

Boge explain to us that Awash is one of the main rivers in Ethiopia and that it is a reminder of their childhood. Their menu consists of family recipes that is always great as it passes along from generation to generation, with sometimes this little secret that makes a dish unique. I tend to think that Indian and Ethiopian cuisines have few similarities, from the spices, to the use of lentils that reminds me of dal. They use so many spices and condiments, the most common being: ginger, garlic, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon...

In fact, Boge told us that they purchase their spices in Indian grocery stores. Indian food is quite popular in New York, with lots of restaurants and even the whole area of Murray Hill that is often called Curry Hill, but Ethiopian is not. There are for sure few restaurants: Awash, Meske or Queen of Shebah to name a few, but it is very limited compared to Washington DC for instance. On top of that, the only chef of Ethiopian decent is Marcus Samuelson who showcases more traditional American cuisine (Red Rooster) or his "adopted roots" from Sweden with Aquavit. If he were to open an Ethiopian restaurant in New York, it could make people want to try this mysterious cuisine.

    

When eating in an Ethiopian restaurant, you can either ask for a knife and fork, or simply use the bread, called Injera, that is made with a flour called Teff. 

It is an interesting bread, that looks like a crepe and has the consistency of a sponge!

I admit that I would not eat it alone, but with food, it is pretty good. You take a piece of it and scoop some food with it.

Et voila!

So it was time for us to start our discovery of Awash! First were the appetizers.

Sambusa:

At the beginning, I was wondering if it was like a samosa, but I quickly saw (or tasted) that it was not! It was a pastry shell made of phyllo, that is filled with spiced vegetables (collard greens - not bitter-, potatoes and carrots)  and fried. It was served with a vegetable sauce.

I liked it with and without the sauce. The shell was crispy and the inside, although spicy, was delicious. My mouth started to be on fire, but I could not stop eating it...

The second appetizer was Mushroom tibs:

The presentation was really colorful and these mushrooms fantastic: fresh with a nice sautéed taste, they were smothered in a berbere sauce. They were served with onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. There was definitely a kick in this dish, but overall, it was good.

Then was the main dish, or shall I say dishes!

It was a combination platter that we shared with Jodi, made mainly of vegetarian dishes sitting on an injera bread! This presentation was beautiful with all the colors! So, here is what we got:

Special tibs (in the center): beef cubes sautéed with onions, garlic, ginger, jalapeños and awaze (paste of hot peppers). It is one of their signature dishes.

It had this vibrant red color coming from the sauce that fortunately was not spicy (except of course when eating a jalapeños...) but was very flavorful. The beef, cut in small cubes, was tender and completely smothered by that sauce! 

Brown whole lentils (off menu):

Yemisir Kik Wak or split red lentils cooked in berbere sauce:

Yater Kik Alicha or yellow split peas cooked and seasoned with onions, peppers and herbs:

These last two reminded me of the Indian dal in a way! There were my favorites, each of them having a different taste, more pronounced in the Yemisir Kik Wat because of the berbere sauce. 

The next dish was Shiro: ground, mildly spiced chick peas cooked with chopped onions and tomatoes. 

It was like a thick paste packed in spices. Good dish too.

There was also Gomen, or collard greens cooked with onions, garlic and green peppers:

I do not like collard greens, so I cannot really comment on that dish, that I tried anyway...

Key Sir Alicha or red beets, carrots and potatoes:

The color given by the beets was fantastic! All the veggies were fully cooked and had a bit of sweetness.

String beans and carrots cooked and seasoned in a spicy garlic sauce:

Nice dish, but I have a doubt about how spicy it was as some jalapeños of the special tibs overflowed a bit in that dish...

Some salad:

It was a good addition to attenuate any fire that some of the dishes may have created!

Shimbera assa that are chickpea balls (off menu):

You could think of them as denser version of falafel. I liked it, especially the sauce that I guess is the berbere sauce.

Butcha, (off menu), made with chickpea:

This was interesting because it looked like scrambled eggs, the color probably coming from the use of turmeric. It was ok for me: I preferred more the dishes with sauce.

I ate my meal with some Ethiopian beer called Meta:

It had a sweet taste that was perfect whenever the spiciness started to build up in the back of my throat, although I admit that most of the dishes were not spicy, that I truly appreciated (if you like spicy, I am sure you can ask them to add spices).

It was a nice lunch and a great discovery of Ethiopian cuisine. Similar to my past experiences in Ethiopian restaurants, I really enjoyed the vegetarian dishes and if you are non-vegetarian, try the special tibs: it was awesome!

Enjoy (I did)! 

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Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose 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! 

Another visit at Le Relais de Venise in NYC, New York

I am back at Le Relais De Venise, one of my favorite steak places in New York! I love the concept: they have a prix fixe menu for $26.95 (at the time of this post) where you get steak frites and a salad. There is no other food and you can only order alcohol, desserts (nice selection), tea and coffee. At least, there is no waiting for anybody to decide what they want!

This menu and concept is identical in all three locations: the original in Paris (opened in 1959), that I visited last winter, the one in London, that I saw when looking for what was supposed to be the best fish and chips in town and the one in New York.

What I did not notice in the one in New York last time, were the paintings on the wall representing scenes of Venice (well it is called Le Relais de Venise after all!). Go figure, in a French restaurant! The explanation is simple: the original original restaurant used to be an Italian restaurant and the owner left the decor as is, keeping the name.

The way it works is that they ask you for the temperature of the meat. It can be cooked blue (rare is already pretty red as you will see on a photo later, so blue? Do they bring the cow on the table at that point???), rare, medium and well done. To remember who wants what, they will map the table on the paper table cloth and write the customer's choice on it.

Then, they bring you a green salad with walnuts.

I admit that it was a bit overdressed...

Then, there is a first serving of meat and fries. Yes, you read well: a first serving, meaning that there is a second one. But do not worry, it is not like a Man vs. Food challenge where they will serve you a huge amount of food! The servings are reasonable and the two will be close to what a regular serving would be in a brasserie. While you wait, you see the staff carrying the trays containing the fries and meats cooked at different temperature, the most impressive one being the stack of fries (no, this was not one portion!)!  So, I got my first serving, asking for the sirloin steak to be rare.

And the second serving.

That time, I asked for some sauce on the fries! Like disco fries without cheese... The meat, sliced, was cooked perfectly and of good quality. I loved the sauce (it is a secret recipe) that was rich, slightly creamy and slightly salty. And with the fries, that was definitely delicious, softening the fries and pairing perfectly (as you can see they put lots of sauce the second time...).

Then was dessert! I did not pick Le vacherin du relais, one of their signature desserts, that I tried the last time I came here and also in Paris: it is a huge and very sweet dessert and at that point I started to be full. I preferred going for something "lighter" and cold, because, similar to my previous visit, it was warm in the restaurant. Therefore, I went for the Praline Liegeois.

It is a praline ice cream (very creamy) with whipped cream. Praline being one of my favorite ice cream flavors, I inhaled it!

I was also able to try the profiteroles that are made on the premises.

It was fantastic! The chocolate sauce was divine: made with dark chocolate, it was not too sweet and really had a great chocolate taste, not diluted, that completely bathed the profiteroles!

Steak frites is a brasserie and bistro standard. Having a place specialized in it, you can expect that they will make it good and I think that Le Relais de Venise delivers: great fries (soft inside and crispy outside with a nice golden color), delicious meat (sirloin, perfectly cooked) and fantastic secret sauce (people are still trying to figure out how it is made, some hinting that there might be chicken liver in it!). Know that there you cannot make reservations and, the last time I went, I noticed a lot of families.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Hoboken Dhaba, Indian street food! - Closed

Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

When Hoboken Dhaba replaced The Hummus Bar, I was thinking: what? Another Indian restaurant? How many do we need? Think about it: we had plenty of restaurants serving Middle Eastern dishes, mainly focused on falafel and hummus and now, only few of them are still standing. So Indian? Ok, India on the Hudson that was my favorite closed recently because of rent increase (hopefully they will relocate!), but there is still Bombay West, Matt & Meera and Karma Cafe. So I was wondering what would make Hoboken Dhaba different. It was time to check that out!

I discovered what Dhaba is after I went for a press dinner at The Masala Wala in New York: it is a street side shed where people can eat some food sold by street vendors. Now, looking at the decor, it make sense! They have the equivalent of booths that are in fact representing dhaba.

Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

It is a very colorful restaurant, with bright colors on the walls, banquettes, pillows, and with tables being used as a display for spices that are pretty common in Indian cuisine.

If you go there, you will also notice the lamps hanging from the ceiling that are made of forks, knives and spoons!

Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

So, there are two things that characterize Hoboken Dhaba: the street food and the all-you can-eat formula of the week end, that is potentially equivalent to the buffet at Karma Cafe and India on the Hudson. We decided to try both at two different occasions. The first time was the all-you-can-eat. 

They propose two versions: vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Jodi picked the first one and me the second. It is not a buffet: they bring you their selection of the day at the table, starting with the appetizers.

vegetarian appetizers at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

The vegetarian appetizer was, besides a small salad, vegetable pakora (fritters) and chili pakoda (green chili lightly battered in a chick pea flour and fried). So, both were fried, but not greasy. The pakora was very good. the chili was good too (a tiny bit spicy), although not my favorite.

On my side, the non-vegetarian appetizer was made of the same salad, tandoori chicken and some chicken smothered in a chili sauce.

chili chicken and tandoori chicken at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

The chicken was good! The chili one was not as spicy as I thought when I heard it was a chili sauce and it was both sweet and sour. The tandoori chicken was very good: still moist, with a beautiful red color, a bit of char and the delicious taste of spices.

Then came the main dishes. For Jodi, the vegetarian platter.

vegetarian thali at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

It is what is called a Thali, a selection of dishes served on a tray, concept that I discovered years ago in Mumbai and that is also served at Bombay West. It was composed of:

• Rajma (top left): this was a special made with beans that was also on my thali. A bit too spicy, it had the consistency of a thick dahl (lentil dish).
•  Aloo Gobi (bottom left): potatoes cooked in spices (spicy).
• Eggplant with paneer cheese (top right): another special of the day. It was very good and not spicy this time.
• Cauliflower in a chili sauce, very hot (bottom right).

On my side:

meat thali at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

It was composed of:

• Rajma, similar to Jodi's dish (bottom left).
• Cauliflower in a chili sauce, very hot (top left).
• Chicken Tikka Masala (top right): this was my favorite! Very creamy, not spicy, I could eat that sauce with a spoon!
• Another chicken dish that was spicy.

What was disappointing is that I asked them to point out on the menu what the items were and they were not that forthcoming, explaining why I could not retrieve the name of the dishes. I think what was a bit disappointing for my thali is that they served two chicken dishes: I would have preferred two different proteins. Also, they served two vegetarian dishes that are not on the menu: I personally would probably serve dishes that people can order when they come back or recommend if they love it.

With the meal, we got some delicious fresh naan:

naan at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

And they were nice enough to bring us some raita (no charge) to extinguish the fire caused by the spices!

raita at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

My other weapon against spices is always lassi. This time, I decided to go for a sweet lassi, although it was not on the menu.

sweet lassi at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

Lassi is a yogurt drink where water, spices and sometimes fruit is added to the yogurt. Depending on the restaurant, it has different levels of thickness. The one I ordered was thick, not too sweet and had some cinnamon on top. I really liked it, but it was very filling!  The second time I went to Hoboken Dhaba, I chose the mango lassi.

mango lassi at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

It was delicious: creamy with this wonderful taste of mango. Again not too sweet but very filling!

Then, we got dessert! And it was my favorite: gulab jamun!

gulab jamun at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

Gulab Jamun is a cheese ball that is fried and then dipped in a sugar syrup. This was fantastic: cooked all the way through, sweet, it was served slightly warm.

Even if my first experience at Hoboken Dhaba did not meet my expectations, we decided to go back, but this time to try the street food!

We started off with the vegetarian sampler.

vegetarian sampler at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

For $8, there was surely lots of food! It was composed of:

• Vegetarian samosa: light and crispy, with a bit of spiciness.
• Chili pakoda, similar to the first time we went.
• Batata Vada: battered fried spicy potatoe balls, similar to croquettes, but with Indian spices and spicy!
• Veggie pakora: a bit greasy and overcooked this time.

Then we ordered the Bhel Puri or crispy puffed rice mixed with chutney and spices.

Bhel puri at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

I was a bit disappointed: it was not as crispy as the one at The Masala Wala and not as good either. I did not eat too much of it...

Then, the Dahi Puri that are lentils shells filled with veggies and yogurt.

dahi puri at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

This was very good, but not as spectacular as the one I tried at The Masala Wala (sorry, I repeat myself, but it was a memorable dinner!!!).

dahi puri at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

This is a one bite thing and I loved the different layers, from the lentil shell that was very crispy to the veggies and yogurt. We ate it all!

I also wanted to try the lamb samosa.

lamb samosa at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

I love lamb, but, unfortunately, this did not meet my expectations: the lamb was dry and the shell was overcooked.

Last was the chicken lollipop:

chicken lollipop at Hoboken Dhaba, New Jersey NJ

It really looked like lollipops! But again, it was a miss...The problem was that they left the skin that was  not fried and gave a gelatinous taste to the dish. They would have removed it, or even fried it, it would have been a great dish.

So, at this point I am really on the fence after these two visits: I liked the classic dishes but disliked most of what we ate...I will probably go for a third time to make up my mind and will stick with some classics.

Enjoy (...)!

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Churchwarden pipes and mutton chops at Keens Steakhouse in NYC, New York

This is it! After visiting the oldest pizzeria in the US (Lombardi's), here we are at the oldest steakhouse in New York City: Keens Steakhouse that opened in 1885. So, Keens, that is considered by many as the best steakhouse in the city is known for two things: its churchwarden pipes and its mutton chops. A few people at work went there and had mixed feelings about that place; it was time for me to try it.

This is a big place, with its three floors (we were on the second floor, in the Lincoln room). The atmosphere is definitely the one of a traditional steakhouse: dark wood and dark leather banquettes with tons of political drawings.

But what makes Keens unique is the decor: the ceiling is covered with churchwarden pipes. Keens is said to have the largest collection in the world. I have tried to find the number and it seems to be more than 90,000. The tradition, as they explain on their website, comes from the 17th Century, in England, where travelers were checking in their 15 inches long pipes made of clay at their favorite Inn, the pipe being to fragile to be carried.

These pipes are a strong reminder that steakhouses were originally only reserved to men and women were not allowed! To the point that, in 1905, Lillie Langtry, an actress, sued Keens for denying her entrance and won in court!

Interestingly, at Keens, each table has a small pad, so you can take notes.

After we ordered our food, they brought us some veggies with an addictive blue cheese sauce.

It was celery, carrots as well as some olives with ice on top to keep it cool! 

They also gave us some bread and butter.

But we did not come for this! We came for steaks! Jodi ordered a filet mignon. It was served with a roasted pepper.

I admit that when it came, it did not look that appetizing. It looked more like a dry piece of overcooked tuna. It is the first time I saw a thin slice of filet mignon like this! And the taste was just ok, the quality of a filet mignon I would expect in a regular restaurant, not a steakhouse. It was not as juicy as I like and fortunately, we ordered some delicious béarnaise sauce.

On my side, I had to order their signature dish: the mutton chop!

This was a gigantic piece of meat, a 26-ounce saddle of mutton, that has been on their menu on day 1. If you love lamb, you cannot go to Keens and not try that! It was cooked medium, was juicy, with enough fat and a nice char. However, I think that it was way overpriced and restaurants like Dino & Harry's offer lamb chops that are tastier with a fabulous char, for a cheaper price.

However, I loved the mint jelly that I guess was homemade!

With the meat, we ordered French fries:

They were just ok and I thought the quantity was small compared to what other steakhouses would serve.

Last was dessert! We could not leave without it! We went for the banana foster with dark rum and vanilla ice cream.

It was good and I loved the bananas that were caramelized. It was sweet but the ice cream kind of neutralized the sweetness of this dessert. Hopefully the price ($14), that is high for a dessert, was justified by the quality of rum...

At the end of the meal, we were disappointed and a bit more when the bill came...

It was definitely some bad news...Overpriced and not as good as people say. I would add also that the service was just ok: they barely checked on us and did not make us feel welcome. So the only reason to go to Keens Steakhouse would be for the history, not the food!

Enjoy (...)!

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Desserts at Bann, a Korean restaurant in Midtown NYC, New York!

I went to Bann for dinner few months ago to try some Korean food, especially their Bibimbap, and ended up going back recently for lunch with my colleagues. I like this place that is pretty big! To go to the dinning room, you first go through the bar area:

Then a small corridor:

With wine bottles on one side (left on the photo above) and chopsticks boxes on the opposite side.

Then, the kitchen and its counter where you can dine and at the same time observe the Chef cooking!

Then we arrived in the dining room (they have two in fact: a large and a smaller one). They first brought us some kimchi, pickled cucumber and I think daikon.

If you have never been to a Korean restaurant, know that a meal always starts with banchan or small dishes. Similar to last time, I was a bit disappointed that there were only three different dishes, being used to close to 6 in other restaurants. But I was pleased to see that they served kimchi!

They then brought us some salad with sesame seeds and a vinaigrette sauce.

We ordered our dishes that looked very good, such as the bibimbap that, in the lunch menu was a colder version, meaning not served in a very hot bowl!

Or the Un Dae Gu Jo Rim individual box:

The individual box contained a spinach miso soup, salad, rice, some side dishes (kimchi, broccoli and daikon), as well as some sort of pancakes. Then, the main dish was blackened cod simmered in a spicy garlic soy reduction.

Then I tried some fantastic fried rice with shrimp:

It was very tasty and not greasy, that can sometimes be the problem with fried rice. It was in fact my favorite dish!

On my side, I went for the Kimchi Chi Ge, a stew made with spicy pickled kimchi, tofu, onions, scallions and pork belly.

It came in a very hot bowl and between the temperature and the spiciness of the dish, I admit it was a challenge! But overall, it was good, spicy, but good and I tried to counteract the spiciness with rice...

It worked a bit but my mouth was on fire!

I also thought that there was too much kimchi compared to the rest: there was a lot of firm tofu, but not enough of the delicious pork belly. So it was good but not the type of dish I would surely recommend (the fried rice however...).

Then was time for dessert. I admit that I was not expecting anything as, in the past, I was not that thrilled with the dessert menus proposed in Korean restaurants. Well, Bann is different! They have a fantastic dessert menu and the desserts presentation is phenomenal!

Here is what we tried:

Hot Chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream.

It was a chocolate molten cake that was very light, not too sweet and perfectly...uncooked, so the center was flowing like lava!

Asian pear crumble:

This was my favorite dessert! There were two components worth describing: the sorbet and the crumble itself.

The crumble first: it was very buttery with the sweetness coming mainly from the pear that had a fantastic taste, the juice soaking the cake in the bottom.

Then the pear sorbet that was also very good and was probably homemade, with some small bits of pear in it, to add some fruity taste. On top was a rose petal coated in sugar that was delicious and crispy (my assumption at the time was that it was meant to be eaten and not just for decoration...).

The most spectacular in term of presentation was the tropical snow:

It was shaved coconut ice with jellied fruits, sweet beans, coconut ice cream and creme anglaise. Imagine a big bowl of ice with all these elements on top. It was pretty good, especially the coconut ice cream that was very creamy.

Yellow mungbean cups:

The mung bean can have various colors, one of them being yellow, and is cultivated in Asia; it has some sweetness to it making it perfect for both savory and sweet dishes. It was the central element to this dessert where they made a custard with it added toasted pistachios and baked everything in a small phyllo cup. It was good and creamy, a bit too sweet.

The last dessert was macha green tea ice cream.

The ice cream was laid out on ice that looked like a little boat, keeping it cold. I am usually not a big fan of green tea ice cream because it can be bitter, but this one was very good and creamy. Surprisingly, after they brought the dish to the table, we started to hear some noise coming from the ice, like a whistle! Probably created purposely by the ice melting.

So, these desserts were definitely the big surprise of this lunch: the creativity and the presentation were phenomenal and I surely did not expect it. I am wondering now if one should go to Bann for the dishes or for dessert...Let say for both!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at Incognito Bistro in NYC, New York

This week, I was invited at Incognito Bistro in the Flatiron District for a press dinner. I was very intrigued by the description of the restaurant: "Roman with Scottish flair"! I was already imagining some strange fusion dishes like black pudding lasagna or haggis pizza. It is not the case: the Chef, who is from Scotland, introduced a Scottish corner, featuring some traditional dishes that I was lucky to try that evening.

So here I am at Incognito Bistro, greeted by the owners, Adriana Moretti and Chef Paolo Montana, with a glass of prosecco. Both of them are Scottish Italian (on top of that, Paolo having an Irish mother), raised in Glasgow, explaining why there is this "Scottish flair". Right away, I understand that it will be a fun dinner thanks to their personalities that made me feel like I was eating dinner at a friend's home!

Chef Paolo Montana (Press photo)

One particularity of the restaurant is that it is the only one in New York City to showcase the Italian Tartan from designer Michael Lemetti, that brings together the Italian and Scottish cultures (there are more than 60,000 Scottish with Italian roots in Scotland). So, if you go to Incognito Bistro, look at the ties of the staff!

Italian Tartan (Press photo)

The restaurant has three sections: the bar with a warm and casual feel.

The main dining room, with a more elegant setting and an impressive wraparound champagne color banquette. 

Then, a smaller room, with 40 seats, perfect for private parties or for celebrities to be apart from the regular crowd and the autograph chasers! The walls are covered with either abstract paintings from Patricia Moretti, Adriana's mother, or beautiful black and white photographs of European dining scenes.

In the back, is the kitchen that I got the chance to see.

Yes, it is the base of a pizza that you see and pizza was in fact the first course!

It was a fennel and mushroom pizza with roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The crust was thin and crispy, a bit puffed up on the outside. What I love the most was the freshness of the vegetables and I truly appreciated that it was fresh mushrooms, and lots of them! I was a bit worried at the beginning that the fennel would be overpowering, but it was not the case at all. Last point to mention: there was a lot of mozzarella! 

The second dish was braised octopus:

I love octopus! I admit that I was secretly hoping they would serve it after reading the menu at home! This dish was made with capers, anchovies, olives, black beans (what? Black beans in an Italian dish?) and a tomato broth. The octopus was very good and tender. The overall dish is pretty successful with different components that, although can have pronounced flavors, like the capers or anchovies, work well together. For sure, they add some saltiness to the dish, a bit much, but it is easily forgotten. 

Then we got the beef carpaccio, served with rucola, parmigiano cheese and truffle essence.

When the dish came, my nose immediately picked up the truffle essence. You probably wonder, like me, what truffle essence is compared to truffle oil? Truffle essence is a synthetic concoction recreating the scent and taste of real truffle oil. For that reason, you get it for a cheaper price. At least, to write on the menu that it is truffle essence is honest and know that lots of oils named "truffle oil" are also made synthetically instead of being truly infused with truffles. 

I liked the presentation of the carpaccio: nice colors with a bit of marbling on the thin sliced beef. I liked it, but would have like a bit more oil on the plate or at least on the rucola.

Then, they served us s nice red Italian wine: a Montepulciano.

The next dish was a soup made with roasted tomatoes, tuscan bread and...Greek olive oil!

I loved it! It was a very comforting dish that combined successfully the robust savor of the roasted tomatoes with the sweetness of the olive oil. Unfortunately, this dish is not on the menu and was only the soup of the day! I would definitely put it on the menu!

Then came the first Scottish dish: Highland Haggis!

Haggis is in fact considered The National dish of Scotland. The definition on Wikipedia is for sure not as appealing as the photo can be:

"Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours". 

The one from Chef Paolo was made of: lamb sausage (with oats - Mc Cann's Irish oatmeal brand that we could see in the kitchen from the dining room!), turnips, creamed potatoes and whisky jus. Now, forget the definition I just gave you! This dish was very good and the Chef succeeded in making an elegant version of it! Although we had a smaller quantity because it was a tasting, I found it light with a nice balance of flavors. The whisky jus was perfect: the alcohol content was reduced so it did not overwhelm the dish and definitely contributed to the success of the dish.

Then we had a pasta tasting. Interestingly, only few pastas are homemade: the ravioli and capellini if I remember. For the others, they use Barilla pasta. Adriana told us that is because the taste of al dente pasta is different between homemade and boxed pasta and they have been raised with the boxed one so prefer it. 

It was composed of:

Butternut squash ravioli, mascarpone sauce and green peas:

Believe it or not, but the part I liked the most was the sauce! Rich and creamy, with a smooth taste. Adding the peas gave some texture. The ravioli was ok for me: a bit too thick, it sometimes overshadowed the delicious butternut squash filling.

The risotto - afumicato:

What was interesting about this dish is that everybody was trying to figure out where the bacon was as it was smokey. We were all wrong: this dish is vegetarian and the smokiness was coming from the cheese! It was good, but I am not sure I could eat a full plate of it.

Piccante:

That was my favorite pasta dish and apparently a very popular one at Incognito bistro! It was penne pasta with crumbled sweet sausage, marinara sauce, chilies and ricotta. The penne were cooked al dente and that rich sauce was to die for! Yes, it was rich and spicy, with bold flavors, but comforting at the same time. Definitely a dish I recommend!

Then came another wonderful dish: the Isle of Skye scallops:

It was for sure a big piece of scallop and what you see on the left is the roe, that is most of the time served in Europe, but not in the US. It has a very rich, smooth and sweet taste. I finished it first! Then on the right was the scallop: perfectly cooked, it had this fantastic parmesan crust that added some crunch and salt to the scallop. It rested on a nice creamy bed of mashed potatoes. This was a very elegant and rich dish: another favorite!

The scallops were paired with a glass of Chardonnay:

Then, for the last entree, we had another taste of Scottish cuisine: Ayrshire pork with Stornoway black pudding, apple julienne, a sort of twice baked slice of potato, some caramelized onions and a grain mustard sauce.

The Stornoway black pudding (Stornoway is a city in Scotland) is a blood sausage. Interesting to see all the different versions of blood sausages across Europe: from Black pudding to boudin noir in France or morcilla in Spain. There are also different texture: from soft to dry. This was deliciously dry and homemade. The pork was perfectly cooked, tender and moist, perfect with a bit of caramelized onions for some sweetness or with just some grain mustard sauce that was very tasty. This was another Scottish dish that I appreciated!

At this point, I started to be very full...But I could not refuse some dessert, especially after seeing this:

I had two favorites, although all were good: first was the chocolate torte with a salted caramel sauce.

It was a soft and creamy chocolate cake that paired very well with the caramel, and the combination was not too sweet. But rich! This is the kind of dessert that chocolate lovers would appreciate.

The second favorite is called a cranachan:

It is a mascarpone cream with meringue and toasted oats, served with a wonderful berry compote:

It was like pairing something delicate (the mascarpone cream, smooth and light) with something bolder (the compote), the first one neutralizing a bit the sweetness of the second. 

The two other desserts were more traditional: 

The tiramisu:

The tiramisu was more like a cake than the creamy version I sometimes encounter in Italian restaurant. It was pretty light and, similar to all the desserts I tried at Incognito Bistro, not too sweet.

And last was the panna cotta:

The vanilla panna cotta was firm and gelatinous. Again, not too sweet and not a heavy dessert.

Desserts were served with a deliciously sweet moscato wine.

This was a fantastic tasting: great presentation and great taste. I liked both the Italian and Scottish dishes, although I do not know how many people will go for the Scottish ones: with a name like Incognito, people will probably be ready for an all Italian meal. But you never know! If you ask me, the Scottish dishes are worth trying!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose 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! 

Pizza at Mezzaluna in Soho, New York City, NY

Mezzaluna is a tiny Italian restaurant located in Soho. Yes, tiny represents 17 seats, some if them at the counter next to the kitchen and then the one next to the window, perfect if you practice people watching!

The decor is interesting: colorful chairs, dark wood for the walls with plenty of pizza cutters hanged.

In fact there is even a pizza cutter on the plates!

The menu is of a reasonable size, featuring a mozzarella "bar" (three different ways if serving mozzarella di buffala, my favorite, for appetizer), salads, pasta and pizza. 

The pizzas are cooked in the wood fire oven visible from the dining room.

As we were going to have an early dinner, we decided to go for a "light" lunch. We started off with a special: gazpacho.

It was good, nothing exceptional, but good and refreshing.

Then, we ordered a Quattro formagi pizza or four cheese pizza.

It was made with mozzarella, fontina, Gorgonzola and tallegio. There was for sure lots of cheese and a perfect selection because creamy and not dry. The pizza was Neapolitan style with a bubbly crust that had a bit of a char. The crust was slightly floppy. Definitely a good crust, but missing a bit of char that could have been created from that beautiful oven.

Don't get me wrong: it was good, but not to the point where, like Luzzo's, it would be on the top of my list, or at least I would absolutely want to go back, knowing that there are many places in NYC that I did not try yet!

For the area, I still prefer Pulino's that has prices not that much higher than Mezzaluna. 

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dorado, Tacos and Quesadillas in NYC, New York

I just discovered another cheap restaurant near Union Square: it is called Dorado Tacos & Quesadillas. They make tacos and quesadillas, but you can also get soup, one being with cheese and quesadillas, the other one with tacos. Ok, let just say that they serve tacos and quesadillas in different ways!!!

It is a small place with a communal table in the center, two small tables and some stools. It is so small that If you sit at one of the tables like I did, don't be surprised to bang into the person behind you from time to time! 

The way it works is that you order at the counter, they assign you a number, and will call you once your food is ready. 

We started off with the chips, guacamole and salsa. 

The guacamole was already packaged but pretty good! The salsa, not spicy and refreshing, perfect with the tortilla chips that were thick, well salted and seemed homemade. 

Then, I decided to go with an all fish taco selection. I first picked the Baja taco: beer batter Atlantic whitefish served with cabbage, picked onions, crema and salsa fresca.

The second one was the grilled fish taco made with mahi mahi. 

Between the two, I preferred the Baja Taco: more flaky, crispy and tasty; but don't get me wrong, the mahi mahi one was good too! 

Then Jodi got the vegetarian black bean quesadilla.

It was a vegetarian black bean quesadilla that contained...black beans, salsa and some cheese. It was pretty good with a nice crispness.

It was definitely a delicious meal, at a very good price! So if you are in the area and want to eat cheap, this is a good place!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at Craftbar in NYC, New York

After a delicious brunch few weeks ago at Craftbar, one of the restaurants from Chef Colicchio, we decided to go back for dinner with our friends Annie and Leif. Of course, before going, we did our homework: check the menu. I admit that I was a bit disappointed because they do not serve their burger for dinner...Well, it will give me an excuse to go back...

We went on a Tuesday and the place was crowded! I liked the atmosphere there, rendered by the impressive decor and all the candle lights. 

The menu is seasonal and apparently, the vegetables are coming from the green market, located few steps from the restaurant. What I like is that they propose small plates and large plates, the small ones perfect for sharing, with the possibility to make them the size of an entree. 

While we waited for the food, they served us some cheese sticks that were a bit spicy. 

Then the food came and I was thrilled to try one small dish that Leif shared with me: duck hearts and dumplings!

I never tried duck hearts; veal, chicken, yes. But not duck. And it looked like...a heart! 

It was served with small onions, bacon and a fried egg. Before trying the dumpling, I tried the duck heart. It was interesting and not what I imagined. The heart was so juicy that when I bit on it, the juice got released in my mouth leaving a sensation characteristic of a horror movie...Ok, I exaggerate a bit, but it felt weird! Then, the taste was not as robust as duck meat can be. The outside was also chewy. I liked it, but not as much as chicken or veal heart.

The dumpling was a bit dry and heavy; it was better eaten with the egg yolk. In fact, I am not sure what all these components were doing on the same plate.

Jodi got the Green Market vegetable salad, served with sheep's milk ricotta and a truffle vinaigrette.

When the dish came, you could definitely smell the truffle in the vinaigrette and I truly appreciated that it was not overpowering, although being present enough to give another dimension to the dish.

On my side, I got the fried chicken!

The presentation was nice and appetizing and there was for sure lots of chicken. The coating was made with buttermilk: it was thick and crispy, not greasy, and the chicken was very good, perfectly cooked and moist. I definitely liked it! However, the sides it came with were not as good:

• The Anson Mills white grits were a bit bland. I wish they would have served it with cheese or butter.
• The BBQ Heirloom beans had a nice texture, not being fully cooked and being a bit crunchy, but the BBQ sauce was really too sweet.
• The braised escarole was a bit bitter.

We also shared some green beans with cocoa nib butter and mint:

Based on the description of the dish, I would have thought that it would taste different from regular green beans...It did not...

Last was desserts! Jodi went for the ice cream sandwich:

It was made of a delicious buttery blondie cookie and a tasty peach ice cream that had small bits of peach in it. A perfect Summer dessert!

On my side, I ordered the praline chocolate cake:

It was served with a vanilla ice cream and candied pecan for some crunch. The cake was light with a nice layering of the chocolate and the praline. I truly appreciated that it was not too sweet!

I have mixed feelings about the dinner at Craftbar: the menu is definitely original, but not as good as the brunch and a bit pricey. The service that night was not that good and it took a while to get our desserts, to the point that I thought they forgot to place our order. 

Enjoy (...)!

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Fried chicken at Sylvia's in Harlem, NYC, New York

It has been a while since I wanted to try Sylvia's, a restaurant that is an institution in Harlem, celebrating 51 years of existence. Why did I want to go? For their fried chicken and waffles. I heard so many times that they are the best in New York City, I had to taste it! We decided to go on a Saturday, as Sundays are apparently crowded. We went early and were lucky that the restaurant was not that packed. The place is interesting because it is as if time stopped at some point and you get the feel that it is more or less the way it was when it opened. The table and chairs reminded me of a banquet room. I truly appreciated the fact that tables were, for the most part, not too close to each other, giving a bit of privacy to the patrons. 

To confirm this restaurant is an institution, photos of celebrities are all over the walls and, if you are a fan, you can leave a message or your signature next to the photo of the founder, Sylvia Wood aka The Queen of Soul Food who past away last year. 

When it comes to food, Sylvia's offers authentic Southern dishes. While Jodi was focussing on dessert, I was excited to try the fried chicken and waffles. This is an interesting combination that I first discovered at The Pink Tea cup, two years ago, in one of their location downtown that closed since. Then, at Ken and Cook (pretty good, but white meat only) and Southern Hospitality (not their best, but still one of my favorite BBQ restaurants). 

While waiting for our dishes, they brought us some biscuits, fresh and warm, perfect with a bit of butter. 

The food took some time to come, a long time, and finally, they brought our order! Jodi had a salad:

Nothing special about it... And some Mac & Cheese.

The Mac & Cheese was just ok. Not as creamy as I like. By the way, I also got a little bowl of it, coming with my dish! 

So, it was time to try the chicken and waffles. 

The presentation is simple: waffle on one side, with some butter on top, chicken on the other side. After spreading some syrup on the chicken, I drizzled a generous amount of syrup that was, fortunately, not too sweet (I hate when they serve cheap syrup with great waffles or pancakes: it kills the dish!). The waffles were delicious: soft and chewy. My next bite was the chicken. At that moment, I understood why Sylvia's has such a reputation: the chicken was cooked all the way through and was very moist. The coating was thin, crispy and not greasy, very good with or without chicken.

It was then time for dessert...I was already full but still wanted to try a classic dessert. Jodi went for the coconut cake:

It was a large piece of cake that was good, but a bit disappointing because it was just a cake with  coconut flakes on top instead of a true coconut cake where the coconut is used in the batter or between the two layers.

I ordered the banana pudding.

It was appetizing but just ok for me, not as memorable as the banana pudding at Southern Hospitality. This one was a bit dry, maybe because the Nilla wafers were not soaked enough. It was good, but I would not pick that next time, because I am sure there will be a next time! 

Enjoy (I did enjoy the chicken, yes I did)!

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An Italian Culinary Experience with Casa Vinicola Zonin Wines and Aroma Kitchen and Wine Bar

Last Monday, I was invited by Casa Vinicola Zonin, Italy's largest privately owned wine producer, to the Italian Culinary Experience at Astor Center. It is an event that brings together food and wine, Italian of course! This month, they featured the Sicily region and their award winning wines from Feudo Principi di Butera Estate and the food was the creation from Chef Vito Posola, Chef and owner of Aroma Kitchen and Winebar, an Italian restaurant located in Noho. 

I was really excited to go because, usually, when I went for wine tasting, the food was either not present or just few crackers and little pieces of cheese! There, it was an opportunity to experience how these two components complement each other!

The setting was interesting: like an auditorium at the university. I could not not imagine what going to class would have been if they have been serving food and wine...

When we arrived, we were greeted by Ingrid, Jelena, Francesco and Paolo from Zonin, as well as Chef Vito Polosa.

Jelena, Paolo, Francesco, Chef Vito

They welcomed us with a glass of prosecco:

Some like to say that Prosecco is the main competitor of Champagne and for sure I would not call it sparkling wine! If you wonder what the differences are between these two: the grapes and the fermentation method. 

The prosecco was served with our first dish: crostino di cozze P.E.I. e lardo or crostino of P.E.I. mussels and lardo.

This was an aperitivo or amuse bouche (one bite, although this was a giant mussel!), pretty common way to start a dinner in Italy (in France, it would be the apéritif), to stimulate the appetite. Pairing the lardo (imported from Italy) and the mussel is not usual in Italian cuisine, but Chef Vito thought it would be a good idea...and he was right! The lardo brought some smokiness as well as texture and the bread some crunch that made this dish a nice way to start what would truly be an Italian culinary experience!

And let me add that it paired perfectly with the fruitiness of the prosecco.

The next dish was the tartare di capesante New Bedford, barbabietola, pompelmo, pane carasau or tartare of New Bedford sea scallops, beets and pane musica.

That dish was aesthetically spectacular with all the colors, especially the bright red from the beets and the green from the avocado.

It was a succession of layers: beets, sea scallops, zucchini and peppers (that added a nice crunch), avocado and the bread that was a perfect tool to push the food into the fork. Chef vito decided to add avocado because he wanted to add some fat to the dish and thought it would be better than pork. It was a successful dish presentation and taste wise with all the elements coming together and having flavors that complemented each other. 

This wonderful dish was served with a white wine: Insolia IGT Sicilia 2012, Feudo Principi di Butera, one of their top sellers.

It is a wine made 100% with Insolia grapes, grown and harvested in the South East of Sicily, from an area 5 miles from the sea. They describe it as:

"Bright and luminous golden straw yellow with light greenish reflections. Full, with scents of exotic fruit and flowering bloom. Rich and harmonious with delicate scents of sweet almonds."

I am not a huge fan of dry white wine, I prefer the sweeter ones like a good riesling or a Sancerre (perfect with foie gras!), but I enjoyed it with the tartare, the acidity of the wine counterbalancing the sweetness of the scallops!

The next dish was the pulpo brasato con finocchietto ed arancia rossa or braised octopus alla piastra, fennel and grapefruit.

As Chef Vito put it, the presentation was challenging because of the octopus. Personally, I thought it was fine! I love octopus so I was really excited! I was curious to see if it would be tough because if it is not cooked properly, it can be tough and chewy. This one was very tender and had a nice char taste (they cook it for 45 minutes in garlic, parsley, basil, and then finish it on the grill). Interestingly, Chef Vito explains that he receives it frozen from Portugal, but, contrary to fish, freezing octopus does not ruin it.

With it was fennel, grapefruit (nice addition of acidity), frisee salad, olives, olive oil and some sea salt. 

They served the Feudo Principi di Butera Chardonnay 2012 with it because octopus has a meatier taste perfect for a Chardonnay as it is creamy and more full bodied.

The way they describe it is: "Dry yet well-balanced, with an elegant touch of toasted almonds offsetting the fruity notes. Good zesty acidity and velvety fruit".

The next dish was one of my favorite of the night: Bucatini Del Verde con sardine, pinoli, uvetta e pangrattato or Bucatini Del Verde (Del Verde is a brand in case you wonder) with sardines, pine nuts, raisins and bread crumbs.

The dish, typical from Sicily, looked beautiful, with a nice swirl made with the pasta that were perfectly cooked al dente. The sardine was under (you can see a tiny bit on the left side of the photo): I loved it! It had a nice grilled taste. But what I loved the most was the pasta: the sauce was made with a branzino broth, bread crumbs (that added a fantastic crunch), oregano, and some sweetness coming from the golden raisins.

And guess what! It was served with a red wine: Feudo Principi di Butera Nero D'Avola 2011.

This wine is apparently selling well in NY and it was my favorite red. So you wonder why the Chef committed such a blasphemy? He thought that pairing a young wine, that hasn't settle, would be perfect with the flavorful sardines. And then started a passionate debate about red or white wine with food, some advocating for white wine with fish, others disagreeing. As Jelena said, there are guidelines, not rules! 

Here is the way this wine is described: "Dry, well-structured and extremely rounded, it offers very complex fruit flavors on the palate. These are reminiscent of cherries preserved in brandy, mingled with a very appealing spiciness that lingers on the finish." I have to say that I love these descriptions: reading them is surely easier than guessing them!

The last dish before dessert was Trancio di pesce spada alla griglia con tapenade di Castelvetrano e caponata or grilled swordfish, Castelvetrano tapenade and Sicilian caponata. 

Again a spectacular presentation, very appetizing! The fish was perfectly cooked, moist, with a nice grill mark and taste. Having it with the tapenade made with Castelvetrano olives (it is a variety from Sicily) was great as it gave the necessary salty element to the dish. The caponata, also Sicialian, reminded me of the French ratatouille in a way, that is not surprising considering that it consist of a vegetable (here eggplant) stew.

They also paired it with Feudo Principi di Butera Nero D'Avola, but an older grape from 2008. Again, the choice of red with fish seem to make sense: swordfish has a meaty taste and is often referred as steak. 

The last dish was dessert! It was Pistacchio di Bronte in tre maniere or Bronte pistachio three ways.

Again a phenomenal and appetizing presentation! It was pistachio gelato, pistachio madeleine and pistachio creme brulee. That was something! The inspiration was from Sicily where there are lots of pistachios. I started with the creme brulee that, despite not being as expected by the Chef was good; the best proof is that, Jodi, who does not like nuts ate it (in fact it was so good that she ate all three!). The madeleine was light and had a very subtle pistachio taste. Last was the gelato: creamy and tasty with tiny pieces of pistachio in it, laying on a very thin layer of brittle and a small (too small) amount of nutella. It was delicious and I truly appreciated that it was not too sweet.

This was served with a Castello Del Poggio Rosato NV:

This is a sweet wine perfect served as a dessert wine, made with moscato bianco and pinot noir grapes. It is described as "Fruity and floral, with delicate rose and exotic fruit scents. Fresh and pleasantly sweet with a taste that reveals its varietal characteristic". This was the exception of the night: coming from Piedmont, it is not from Sicily. It had a beautiful color, was refreshing and had a nice sweetness to it, that perfectly complemented the dessert that was not too sweet (sweet + sweet is not always good).

This was a great evening: the Zonin wine was good and the food fantastic. It was fun, but at the same time very educational thanks to the crew! They had such a knowledge and the surprising pairing of red with fish will definitely make me think twice the next time I order wine with my dish, especially if it is fish!

I also discovered Chef Vito Posola, his incredible knowledge of wine (his restaurant has more than 150 different labels) and his passion for food that transpired during the entire evening. His food was fantastic and, although it was not regular dishes from his restaurant (some key items like the octopus are on the menu but presented differently), it gave a nice insight on how the food at Aroma Kitchen and Wine Bar must taste! I will definitely have to check that out!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Grom ice cream in NYC, New York

On a very hot day, we were walking on Bleecker street and decided to stop by Grom Gelato. It is an interesting company: they started in 2003 in Torino, Italy, with an all natural philosophy: no coloring or artificial flavors, fresh seasonal fruits or organic eggs. They are also collaborating with the Italian Association of Celiac disease who gave them the gluten free label.

So here we are, queuing up, because of course, lots of people got the same idea! I immediately notice the hazelnut flavor: my favorite for gelato! It reminds me when we went to Italy couple of years ago: we had gelato every day and I, most of the time, had hazelnut gelato. I remember that it was a lot of gelato for just 2 Euros. So, anyway, I got the hazelnut gelato as well as the Crema Di Grom, a gelato made of egg cream, "meliga" biscuits and dark chocolate from Colombia.

It was fantastic! Creamy, it was very flavorful, but I have to admit that the hazelnut one was the best, overpowering a bit the crema di grom.

Jodi went for two other flavors: vanilla and coconut.

I loved the vanilla ice cream: it even had the black spots so particular to fresh vanilla beans. Jodi inhaled the coconut. There, it was creamy too and very tasty.

So definitely, with Eataly, Grom is a great gelato place! I will definitely have to go back to try their other flavors!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Another visit to Bambootori in NYC, New York

If you follow this blog, you certainly know that I love Bambootori, a small place located near Union Square that serves fantastic yakitori at an affordable price. My last post about this place was about the few times I went there as well as the video interview of the owners, Hendy, Jonnie and Christophe who are very nice guys, totally passionate about this restaurant adventure. I love Bambootori so much that I even made it the pick of the month for July and August. So it is no surprise that I went back for dinner. 

Ok, I admit that I was disappointed at first by the fact that they do not propose steamed buns as an option for the skewers anymore except if you order a platter of three with possible choices of beef, pork or chicken meatballs. I love these little buns and was ready to order my favorite: pork belly in a bun. So we decided to order the platter and got two pork meatballs and one beef meatballs skewers.

As usual, the presentation is nice, with the meatballs nicely decorated with the spicy mayo. What I really like is the combination of meat, sauce and bun, three layers that pair very well. As usual, the meatballs are soft and moist. 

Then, I ordered two pork belly skewers and one tri-tips.

Perfectly cooked, they were juicy and had this fantastic taste coming from the char created by the grill. 

Then, they offered us some desserts! That is true that I did not talk about desserts in my last post. Not that I did not try them. What happened is that I tried the rice pudding a night when they were short of caramel. It was good, but the photo looked a bit boring and I promised Hendy that I would come back for it another time. Well, I did!

This is my favorite dessert! 

First of all, it looks like a skewer with white meatballs! Then, I love the taste! It is a denser version of the rice pudding, but you still get the same texture for the rice with a delicious hint of coconut. The pairing with the caramel is perfect. 

Then, we got mochi ice cream. Hendy would not have told me it was ice cream, I would have thought they were cookies! 

It was interesting: you definitely can feel the two layers (mochi and ice cream) and need a knife and fork to eat it rather than a spoon, especially when they are in plastic. We got two flavors: black sesame (my favorite) and green tea. They also have chocolate and vanilla. 

The last dessert was the yuzu panacotta: a great take on an Italian dessert!

It was very creamy and refreshing!

The desserts were definitely a good surprise! What I appreciated was that it was not too sweet and the portion enough not to over indulge, but give you the impression the meal is complete. Who would have thought that this place had desserts? Well, trust me: they are as good as the rest, so for sure, the next time I go, I will order one!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at The Masala Wala in NYC, New York

I was recently invited to a Press dinner at The Masala Wala, an Indian restaurant located on the Lower East Side, few steps from Katz's Deli in fact. The place, opened in November 2011 by Satyen and Roni Mazumdar features traditional Indian dishes from different regions with a focus on street food. We met with Satyen and his son, Roni, and they contributed to make this experience very enjoyable, not only for our palates! 

Before I talk about the food, let's talk about the restaurant itself: it is a medium sized restaurant that can accommodate 28 people inside and 8 people on the sidewalk. 

We ate inside and I liked the atmosphere that had some warmth, thanks to the dark wood and exposed brick. The room was surrounded by beautiful paintings of street vendors highlighting the underlying theme of the restaurant! It also had high ceilings one of my favorite fixtures, apparent bulbs, that are, I guess, both old fashioned and trendy!

One of the walls had Indian artifacts, some of them being a reminder of the Indo-Chinese culture (especially the dragon sitting on one of the shelves).

Then there is the gold coin featured at the beginning of this post and below:

First of all, gold symbolizes wealth and prosperity in India. Then, the face is no celebrity (yet!): it is Satyen Mazumdar! On the right side is their motto: "taste above all".

Their menu, created by Chef Abdul Junel, features cuisine from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka...). You find of course the classic dishes most Indian restaurants serve: Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, biryani...Interestingly, they propose for the most classic ones, their vegetarian version: chicken tikka masala & paneer masala, tandoori chicken & vegetable tandoori are good examples.

Coincidently, the dinner occurred on India Independence Day! We were therefore greeted with their Independence drink: mango lassi.

The mango lassi was delicious and a nice way to prepare our palates. We were lucky to be able to try several dishes from their menu, some of them being soon new additions. It was split between two culinary experiences: street food bites and Indian signature dishes. I was very excited to try all these dishes, especially the street ones!

So we started with the street food bites:

We started off with Bhel Puri:

Bhel Puri is made of puffed rice, spiced tomatoes, chickpeas, curry leaves, mustard cheese, onions and chutney. It was pretty good and interesting because I never had puffed rice besides the famous cereal! It added a nice crunchiness to the dish that made it different from any other rice dishes I ever tried.

Then came one of the most interesting dishes and one of my favorites: Dahi Puri.


These are small semolina puffs filled with spiced potatoes, chickpeas, tamarind, mint and yogurt.
Roni explained to us that it is a one bite appetizer. So I ate it at once, opening my mouth as much as I could. Clearly, trying to eat it in several bites would have been catastrophic and I would have ended up with some on my pants!!!

So you put it in your mouth and then when you bite on it, it is like an explosion of flavors, where you taste each ingredient before they merge together, the yogurt and the mint adding some freshness. This is a fantastic dish that I strongly recommend!

The next dish was Mumbai samosa:

Samosa are crispy turnovers that can be either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. These were vegetarian, filled with spiced potatoes and peas. I was really happy to see samosa on the tasting menu as this is one of my favorite Indian appetizers. They were delicious: crispy, not greasy and very flavorful, the peas adding some texture to the filling.

Then we got a surprising dish: Kolkata Gobi Manchurian.

This is an Indo-Chinese dish made of cauliflower florets that are tossed in ginger, garlic and spices. This dish comes from Kolkata, aka Calcutta, that is the capital city of West Bengal. Looking at it, it reminded me of the sweet and sour sauce that we can find in Chinese cuisine. It was really good, not spicy, with some sweetness to it and a bit of texture provided by the sticky sauce that had a wonderful red color.

The next starter was chicken tikka. It was cubes of chicken marinated in a red tandoori mixture and grilled in a tandoor oven.

The chicken was very moist and the tandoori mixture very flavorful. A nice dish for sharing for sure.

The last starter was lamb Kakoti Kebab:

The ground lamb was grilled in a tandoor grill until soft. It was mixed with spices and there was like a citrus-y taste to it. I was a bit disappointed as I found that the bold flavor of lamb was a bit lost, overpowered by the spices.

Then, they served us their signature Indian dishes! They brought all the dishes at once so we could share, not thinking about the mayhem it would cause! Imagine six food bloggers trying to take photos of 10 dishes spread over the table! It was crazy and funny!

We tried the following dishes:

• Nawabi Chicken Biryani: basmati rice, saffron, spices and chicken. This dish had a nice spiciness to it that built up slowly in the back of my mouth!
• Baingan Bharta: roasted eggplant cooked with ginger and cumin. This is one of my favorites: I love the particular taste of eggplant, smooth but a bit spicy at the same time.
• Vegetable Jalfrezi: vegetables with paprika, tomatoes and coriander. It was an ok dish for me. Nothing great about it.
• Shahi Paneer: one of my favorite entrees! It is a pressed Indian cottage cheese cooked in a rich cashew-almond cream sauce.

That sauce was fantastic! Creamy, it was very tasty and perfect with some rice or naan! I could have eaten the entire bowl. The cheese had this great chewy texture and I surely did not mind loving a vegetarian dish!

There was also:

• Chicken Saagwala that is slow cooked chicken with creamed spinach. I am not the biggest fan of spinach (Popeye, you did not convince me!), so this dish was just ok for me.
• Lamb Pasanda: sauteed lamb cooked in yogurt, cream, tomatoes and cashew. I admit that I am not even sure I tasted that one! Dammit! I love lamb! Well, you know what? I just need to go back to  The Masala Wala to try it!
• Kerala Fish Curry: it was tilapia served in a sweet and tangy creamy sauce, with onions, tamarind and fenugreek. That was a nice dish that made me think that I should order more often fish in Indian restaurants!
• Shrimp Konkani Curry: South Indian curry with red cayenne pepper, coconut milk and coriander.

This dish was fantastic! Very creamy, the sauce was tasty and velvety, not spicy, with nice size shrimp. This was also one of my favorites.

The last dishes were dal.

There were two kinds: Dal Tadka, made with yellow lentils (photo above) and Dal Makhani, made with black lentils. Both were good, but my favorite was the Dal Makhani that had a more robust flavor.

These dishes were served with rice pulao and some naan bread, butter or garlic (the butter one was so good...):

It was so puffy with some nice char on the outside, a bit like a Neapolitan pizza! 

To cool our palates whenever the heat started to build up (most of the dishes were mild to slightly spicy). There was raita:

As well as sweet lassi, a drink I always order when eating in an Indian restaurant!

Then, it was time for dessert! At this point, we were all stuffed, but we could not pass on it, especially after seeing how appetizing they were!

The first two were kulfi, traditional Indian ice cream. There was pistachio kulfi:

The second one was mango kulfi:

Then there was my favorite Indian dessert: Gulab Jamun.

These are cheese balls that are fried and then dipped in a sweet syrup. The way they served it is dry, meaning that they did not serve any of the sweet syrup with it.
Before we started, Roni told us that we should start with the ice cream first, so this is what we all did. The kulfi was very good: creamy and not too sweet, my preference went for the pistachio one. The gulab jamun were delicious too and not too sweet with a perfect texture. Definitely, the desserts were a hit!

We finished the dinner with a chai tea that was very good:

It was definitely a great tasting and I was excited to show the photos and tell Jodi how it was. It gave me the opportunity to try some spectacular dishes, the vegetarian ones being as successful as the non-vegetarian one (maybe some vegetarian restaurants should check out Indian cuisine so they understand that vegetarian food does not need to be bland!). The Masala Wala is not just another Indian restaurant in New York City and is worth a visit!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose 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!

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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Insomnia cookies on the Upper West Side, NYC, New York

Insomnia Cookies: what an interesting name! It definitely makes you want to try these cookies, thinking that they are so good, you will not be able to sleep! So we went there after our friends Gary and Jen mentioned this place during a brunch couple of weeks ago.

It is a small store and when you enter, your nose cannot miss the fantastic smell of the cookies! They really have a bunch, each with a description that is mouth watering! So we decided to try few of them. 

Know that, after your order, they will take the cookies from under the counter, where they keep them warm.

So, first was the s'mores cookie:

It was very good and my favorite: chewy and gooey with the delicious chocolate oozing from the cookie!

Then we tried the double chocolate chunk:

And the chocolate chunk cookie:

The last two were just ok for me: although chewy and gooey, they were a bit too sweet. I think that the chocolate chip cookie at City Bakery or the cookies at Levain Bakery, although more expensive, are better. But if you really want to try Insomnia Bakery, try the S'mores!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Little Town NJ in Hoboken, NJ

For brunch, we decided to go to Little Town NJ, not the city in New Jersey, but the restaurant in Hoboken. Opened recently by the sons of the Manzo family who own the Brownstone, apparently an institution I did not get a chance to try. In fact, one of their dishes is the Brownstone Tenderloin.

The place is pretty big, with an impressive bar, solid wood tables and leather banquettes that give this place some warmth. 

In the back, they even have a game of skee ball!

But I admit that the noise of that game is not the most pleasurable to the ears, especially if you are looking for a nice and somewhat quiet brunch. 

We were there early and decided to order from the menu instead if waiting for their buffet to open. 

Jodi ordered the cranberry bog salad.

It was made of crumbled goat cheese, mixed greens and dried cranberries. Good salad, although more cheese would have been much appreciated. 

On my side, I ordered the crab Benny or Benedict if you did not guess. Surprisingly, the waitress asked me how I wanted my eggs. I responded "poached", surprised by the question, but realized that it is probably because they propose any style in case people do not like poached eggs. 

With it, I had a choice between fries and mixed greens. I went for the mixed greens, trying to convince myself I was having a healthy lunch...

The plate was impressive! Usually, they serve you a little salad, but at Little Town NJ, it is a good size. The eggs were perfectly poached, with a nice runny yolk and topped with a delicious thick Hollandaise sauce. The crab cakes, probably made with the meat of the claw were good but salty. Too bad! Last, in the bottom, was a piece of Taylor ham, all of this on an english muffin.

Despite the saltiness of the crab cakes, I really liked the dish and I am looking forward to going there for dinner!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Schnitzel and Things Food Truck in NYC, New York

Aren't food trucks wonderful and fun? I love food trucks, not only because they usually propose great food (for most of them) at a reasonable price considering the lower expenses they incur compared to a brick and mortar restaurant, but also because their owners have to be really creative to be different, having only a limited menu. 

My last discovery has been Schnitzel & Things. Schnitzel is normally some tenderized meat that is breaded and fried. At Schnitzel & Things, they propose either pork, chicken, cod or eggplant for the vegetarians. 

So I decided to try the chicken:

And the eggplant:

Quantity wise, it was of a good size. The chicken was fantastic: not greasy, it was perfectly cooked and tender. The eggplant was just ok for me: a bit tough, the breading was overcooked and it would have been maybe better if the eggplant have been cut just a little thicker. 

Know that when you order, it can be a sandwich or a platter. If you order a platter, you can pick two sides. That is what I did. I tried: 

- the Austrian potato salad that is Yukon gold potatoes, scallions and white wine shallot vinaigrette. 

- the chick peas in a balsamic pesto vinaigrette (lots of garlic!).

- the roasted beets and feta salad, served with a white wine shallot vinaigrette. It was in fact my favorite: very refreshing, the beets pair surprisingly well with the feta. 

I liked Schnitzel & Things and I am looking forward to trying some other platters!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Cupcakes at Butter Lane in the East Village, NYC, New York

After we went to Molly's cupcakes and did not like it, we decided to find a cupcake place in the East Village. Thanks to the internet, we found Butter Lane Cupcakes. The place is quaint and its configuration can change whether or not they give a class or not (the second time we went, they were giving an icing course.

There, similar to lots of places, they offer to build your own. I love that because that way, although the choice is limited, you eat what you like and do not feel too limited by the choices they propose.

The first time we went, we built our own. The ritual is always the same: you pick the cake, then the frosting.

I went for a banana cake with sea salt chocolate.

Jodi went for a vanilla cake with coconut icing.

Both cakes were very good, airy and moist. The icing was perfect: not too sweet, on the one I ordered, the combination of chocolate, caramel and sea salt was succulent. Not to mention that banana and chocolate are the perfect pairing too!

Then, the second time we went, Jodi got the chocolate cake with coconut icing and I got the vanilla cake with lemon icing.

There again, it was good, although the cake was dryer than the previous time and the icing a bit sweeter, but with a nice ratio cake/icing. However, they should put a bit more coconut on top.

I think Butter Lane Cupcakes is a great place for cupcakes, but overshadowed by the more trendy Big Gay Ice Cream Guy. We definitely have to go another time to try some other creations and why not attend a class!

Enjoy (I did)!

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