The Wandering Eater

As of yesterday morning, when I check my morning Twitter feed, I read Midtown Lunch’s tweet, that Momofuku Midtown (or Má Pêche) was serving lunch! I e-mailed Zach of ML if he’ll welcome company to eat with him since I have every intention to try at half of the Midtown Specials. And thankfully, being the cool guy that he is, he accepted my invitation. Awesome…

Menus; Midtown Specials on left, Mezzanine Menu on right

I went there fairly early before Zach and his adorable kid Harry, made it. I checked out the menu and was fairly surprised it’s empty, at least in my experience with Momofuku restaurants. By the time they arrived, he told me he wanted to try everything on the menu. So, here we go…

Mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel around 11 AM

Continue reading "Má Pêche (aka Momofuku Midtown)" »

The past weekend I baked my birthday cake early. I don’t mean a few days early, I meant a week early. Why? you ask. Well, this weekend I’m pretty busy with going to the Cook.Eat.Live food event, meeting up with a bunch of friends for dinner, and trying to fit in some studying time for the GREs in between (I’m planning to go back to grad school.) I thought I might as well bake it early and eat my way through with the help of my parents and Helen.

Broken up chocolate & baked cake

Once again, the good people of Scharffen Berger came to my aid, providing me the milk chocolate for this cake recipe. The recipe, white velvet cake with milk chocolate ganache is also from Scharffen Berger’s The Essence of Chocolate. Frankly, after trying multiple recipes from their book this is a great book for baking anything chocolate-related. Six recipes attempted and all were successes. I highly recommend.

To explain what’s in the white velvet cake, it’s basically a pale yellow/white cake with a very fine texture due to the use of cake flour. It’s a very simple cake that my mom wondered why I want to do such a thing on my 24th birthday? Frankly, I don’t want to deal with a fussy recipe and don’t want to put in too much time with my birthday cake. I’m aiming for simplicity this year.

Cake slice

Anyway, the cake was good as it sounded. A delicate crumb cake, that has a hint of butter, barely sweet, sandwiched and coated with milk chocolate ganache. What’s so great about Scharffen Berger’s milk chocolate is the caramelized milk flavor that’s very swoonworthy. (Heck, when I was decorating the cake. I was scraping a third of my ganache into a pastry bag, my mom walked over to the counter where I placed the nearly empty bowl, picked up the spatula, and licked it. She told me the ganache was delicious and wanted more! Alas, I can’t spare any.)
Continue reading "My Birthday Cake – White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache" »

I read about a week ago from Grub Street about Payard re-opening and ogled at their dessert menu. I am a sucker for desserts and Payard’s is no exception. I was shocked when they did have to close their Lexington Avenue restaurant/café the past June or so and it’s about time for us Payard fans to rejoice and have his desserts and chocolates.

On the day of opening (yesterday, November 4th), I went there with Helen after work. I was curious and dying to have a good cup of hot chocolate since it was cold and I craved for a chocolate-y indulgence. When we entered Maboussin jewelry store on Madison Avenue, we were greeted both by the doorman and a woman who stayed in the back, I requested to go upstairs to the Chocolate Bar and she guided us to the posh and plush elevator that was lined in three sides, a beige quilted wall (maybe leather? I’m too scared to mar the surface) and on the side was a dark wooden table filled with a tray of delicate perfumes, the jewelry store’s hardcover book and a mirror that’s right above it.

Once we exited the elevator, we’re greeted by a woman who works for the Chocolate Bar and I’ve asked about their verrines and she took us over to the display case.

After I’m done with my photo-taking, I’ve asked if we could have a verrine. They would like to but they can’t. The reason why is because they’re still waiting for the permit to sell their goods. So, as a way to make up for our time they comped us with a (generous) sampling of white hot chocolate with red berries and hibiscus flowers. Though I’m not a big fan of white chocolate (I personally just use it for cake or pastry decorations rather than ingesting it), this isn’t bad. As one might expect, white chocolate is sweet but the tart, luscious red berries and hibiscus flower tones down the sweetness a bit. This is something Helen enjoyed more than I have since it’s sweeter than I’d personally like.

Continue reading "François Chocolate Bar – Still In Preview Phase, Pretty Much" »

Taken place on October 5, 2009.

Exterior & Interior

Back when Motorino (the East Village location) started to serve lunch, I asked Giulia if we can meet up and try the pizza that everyone was talking about. I missed out on the opening week when dinner was served. But then again, I’d rather stick with the serene atmosphere that isn’t crushed by a ton of people who eat there after work and give the pizzeria some time to work out their kinks – service or the expensive brick oven that’s left behind from the former Una Pizza Napoletana.

Mixed salad

We decided on sharing the $12 lunch prix fixe and added an extra pizza, getting some healthy greens, the mixed salad to balance out the carbs from the pizza we’re about to consume. A large pile of fresh, tender leafy greens lightly dressed in vinaigrette was quite welcoming for us.
Continue reading "Glorious Pizza Lunch at Motorino, East Village" »

Originally taken place on September 26, 2009.

Inside Le Fooding

About a month or so prior to the Le Fooding event at P.S. 1, almost every major website (like NY Times’ Dining Journal and Serious Eats) wrote about them, pretty much bringing a lot of hype, arguably speaking, to this particular weekend. I was psyched to get some tickets for two main reasons: it was inexpensive ($30 for general admission) and you get to taste some food that’s not from the NYC area.

Things is, when we (as in Helen, Seungmi, Michael and I) got there in person with our tickets in tow, we had to stand on line, outside in the chilly evening. Even we all got emails from Le Fooding that women shouldn’t wear heels (there’s grass and gravel on the courtyard and it’ll ruin your precious heels) but there were some wearing them anyway and some weren’t dressed accordingly to the weather that they’re shivering at every gust of wind. Very smart.

Anyway, once we got through the gates, we discovered a Pandora’s box of chaos. Lines were snaked everywhere that we just grabbed the cheese plates first (they were the only table without a line), started to nosh on them and joined any line that seemed to be serving food that isn’t soup.

Moroccan Couscous

We (more like Michael) met Chef Daniel Boulud near his restaurant’s stand for DB Bistro Moderne. Their chicken and merguez sausage couscous dish was amazing and arguably the one who portioned out the most food. The chicken was cooked in sous vide hence its sublime texture.

The small burgers dispensed from Minetta Tavern were good. Not the best I’ve had (I still heart Shake Shack) but something that’s been cooked for a huge crowd, it ain’t bad. It did have that aged funk taste from the burger. Quite juicy and cooked medium-rare when you do see the innards shot from the slideshow at the bottom of this post. The caramelized onions were a nice touch.

The most interesting restaurant stand was from Paris’s Le Chateaubriand. First off, the line coiled inside out; you start from the center and you’ll walk your way outward. Secondly, it took a long time for the line to get moving. We found out that there’s a lot of components to this dish that it took five chefs to keep a batch of plates churning out to the awaiting crowd. It’s worth the wait though. I loved how tender and rare the steak was and the smoked eggplant and smear of goat cheese just balanced all the flavors out.

The most insane line was the ice cream line represented by Greene Ice Cream. This was the longest wait out of all the food stands in this event. Probably we stood in line for a good 45 to 50 minutes. The reason behind it was the fact it’s really one young lady scooping over three to five hundred attendees. Damn… By the time we reached at the head of the line, it started to rain. We ran over to Seungmi’s father’s car to seek shelter and head home.

Overall, the event was chaotic but the food was pretty good, given to the fact that these restaurants are serving a huge crowd of people. I learned over the Interwebs the day after the event was over that the VIP tickets ($60 with unlimited Champagne and you go there an hour earlier before the public) fared better. No one but those limited number of ticketholders to get your food. Next time, perhaps, that’s of course, if Le Fooding does come back to NYC.

Slideshow after the jump or if you can’t see the slideshow (since you’re on an iPhone and it can’t handle Flash), here’s the Flickr set of this event.
Continue reading "French Invasion at P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center in L.I.C. – The good and the bad" »

Taken place on September 25, 2009.

I do admit I’m being terribly lazy but explaining every minute detail of my experience at Jean Georges might be a bit boring to you readers (since I wrote about them thrice already, not counting this post). I’ll let my photos to do the talking.

Most of the food was very good. The memorable dishes were crab and squash blossom beignet; not the beignet itself, I found the filling poorly made (use of finely shredded crab meat and waay too much mayo) but the salad component of the dish. I never loved cherry tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette that much before, and the roasted sweetbreads and fragrant pickled peach because sweetbreads are delicious and it’s cooked perfectly. I also liked the acid component from the peaches. As for desserts, they were very good. I liked the strawberry tasting because of the delicate yet decadent cheesecake.

The petit fours pretty much stayed the same except for the macarons. Pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini supersized the wee little macarons that were the size of peas to the average macaron, about two to three inches in diameter. I still can’t love his macarons. I found the cookie tough and chewy but the mocha filling was ok. The chocolates are still sublime.

Service, as usual, was professional. The decor still remains the same; minimalist and modern with that large chandelier in the middle of the room.
Continue reading "Lunch at Jean Georges" »

Taken place on September 18, 2009.

(I’m giving you the slideshow treatment for this blog post just because I can’t catch up if I do my routine post. When you reach the slideshow, you may click on the photo to read the captions or go to that particular Flickr photo page.)

Probably all of you who do follow the food critics, notably Sam Sifton of the NY Times, read his Marea review that’s published this week. I do agree with him that this is an expensive, casual restaurant.

The ricci, the one to two biter uni toasts with lardo draped on top was excellent (and not available for lunch when I went there the first time in June 2009).

You can never go wrong with the pasta dishes. All are robust and intensely flavorful. My favorites were the one I had this particular evening with a friend – Agnolotti and the Fusilli. The former was my personal favorite. The ravioli filling was creamy and earthy from the veal which played along the earthy mushroom sauce. I dreamed about that pasta dish for the entire weekend. The fusilli was great in its own way. The house made pasta tasted like dried (Chef White stopped by our table and commented it’s made of semolina and durum flour and water. No eggs here.) The little quip that my friend and I had was the order the pasta dishes were served. We recommend the fusilli to start (it’s a bit lighter and acidic) then proceed to the agnolotti (heavier and much richer).

We forgo dessert that evening. I know it’s a rarity but I stuffed myself with a semi-decent mini cupcake and an Earl Grey ice cream cone earlier that day that I fulfilled my sugar intake quota. Probably as I’m getting older, my sugar tolerance level is dropping. Oh noes…
Continue reading "Dinner at Marea & Clo Wine Bar" »

Taken place on September 15, 2009.

Interior

I felt compelled for a few years to try The Modern’s tasting menu, after seeing Ulterior Epicure’s gorgeous photos of his experience and hearing it from a friend who did enjoy his dinner thoroughly for week before I went, I thought it’s about time to give it a whirl and go there.

Tasting menu

And as you read from the title, I had the tasting menu (the mid-summer seasonal tasting menu). The captain gave me a copy to follow along this meal.
Continue reading "The Modern Dining Room – Tasting Menu" »

Courtesy of Cook.Eat.Drink.Live; event photo

For the die hard foodies who reside in the NYC area, Cook.Eat.Drink.Live Food Festival returns for its third year. It’s an interactive holiday themed event that showcases new food products, celebrity chefs, wineries, cocktails, cookbook authors, mixologists, and popular restaurants (list of them here). In addition to the tastings (see the list), guests can do some early holiday shopping with several purveyors and wineries and will have the opportunity to purchase gift certificates to some of New York City’s most popular restaurants.

The dates for this event is from Friday, November 6th to Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at Chelsea’s The Tunnel/La Venue (Address: 608 W 28th St, at 11th Ave.). Tickets are $65 per day but since you are loyal readers to my blog, there’s a discount of $10 for any day; the code is REST. (Tickets can be purchased online or calling 888-695-0888.)

See you there!

Taken place on September 4, 2009.

Around the second week when Ruskie is in town, we arranged to have lunch at Casa Mono. Both of us went there before but we’d agree that it would be nice to visit there again since it’s been a while and we did like their food (in our disparate ways).

Baguette & Olives in Olive Oil

The baguette and olives were still the same as I remembered – not too crusty with fluffy crumb and the olives were still briny while the olive oil gave it additional richness.
Continue reading "Lunch at Casa Mono – Take 2" »