A Note to the chocoholics: To those of you who have seen my “tasting” photos earlier the past weekend, I will not be posting that anytime soon since I recently finished three bars of chocolate (and my stomach’s hurting because of that), I want to pace myself eating these chocolates and I can do whatever I want since this is my blog! BWHAHAHAHA… Ahem. No, I’m not trying to be mean. I don’t want to have a chocolate backlash and I want to be thorough in what the heck I’m tasting from these chocolates (and I realized when I started that I’m tasting them the wrong way initially, until I read a few articles about how to taste chocolate, I’ll explain when I post about the tasting).
If you really want to know what I tasted so far, it’s the Amedei “La Tavoletta”, Marie Belle’s Dark 70% Hot Chocolate, Green & Black’s 70% Dark, and Michel Cluizel “Noir” 72% bar. Some fared better than others obviously, but I won’t tell you the results until I’m done with all of the “blends.” That might be around next week or so for me to publish that since I’m going to attend and write about Robyn’s party this weekend! Woohoo! Now onto what happened the past Saturday…
It’s been ages since I’ve seen my long lost best friend, Stacey. We’ve known each other since junior high school in eighth grade, went our own ways since high school but kept in contact each other by old fashioned snail mail to the the modern age of Facebook. Oh how times have changed…
We’ve finally made a lunch date the past Saturday at meet up at Lombardi’s. Yes, we’re craving for some PIZZA!
“Best Pizza in the World”
When we were requesting a table for two, the host sent us to the other side of the restaurant, which entails us to walk to the back, through the kitchen and out to the other room. Weird.
Once we got seated and perused the menu, we discussed what toppings we want on our pizza. After talking for five minutes, we finally agreed on having a small with garlic and sausage. After we relayed that to our waitress, we chatted and catch up what the heck has been going on for the past several years since we’ve seen each other in the flesh (i.e. dating life, future plans, etc.). But we got interrupted due to the presence of pizza…
PIZZA!
Another view
Close up
Doesn’t it look delicious? The fresh, creamy mozzarella cheese, topped with chiffonades of basil, chopped garlic, and sweet Italian sausage and a thin, blistered crust to boot…good god, my stomach was growling at the sight of it.
When I actually took a bite of this pizza, it was pretty good but not the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. The crust was fine; it’s thin enough to support the weight of the toppings. There’s a good ratio of sauce, cheese and toppings but it’s just something about the flavors and the saltiness of the pizza (where it lacked a bit) that didn’t make my eyes glaze into delirium and exclaim, “OMG…This is delicious!” It’s more like, “It’s good… At least it didn’t suck.”
My slice
Upskirt
Oh, here’s a photo of Steaky! You on the other hand, will have to call her Stacey. I have rights to call her that nickname since we’ve known each other for a long time and she actually dubbed each other food nicknames. In case you’re wondering what she lovingly calls me, well…maybe you have to email me for that.
Steaky!
After we’re done with our pizza, we walked around SoHo aimlessly and stumbled upon a really cute store, Pylones, where all animals are made into something functional for us, humans. Whether it maybe a fish lighter, tape dispenser, or even a kitchen timer. Or things besides animals that have messages of politically-off humor and whatnot. Yep, I would have a ball shopping for stuff here despite the fact that it doesn’t really go with any stuff I own.
Cute stuff
Went to Vosges Haut Chocolat since she did mention about her recent love affair with bacon. She wouldn’t mind having a huge pile of them for breakfast. Yet I still wonder how can she be the same tiny person after all these years… I ended up getting a Mo Bar and shared it with her. She was skeptical with this flavor combo but I promised her that it’s really good. She hesitantly takes a piece, munched on it and said, “I like it.” Mission accomplished.
Vosges
Bacon + Chocolate?!
As the hours breezed by, walking our way uptown through the crowded Union Square Greenmarket and other shops, we ended up on the long lines of Shake Shack just because I’m craving for ice cream or its sibling or cousin, since they serve frozen custard there. Even though we waited on Line B and it’s just five people waiting in front of us, somehow it took us at least twenty minutes to get to order.
Stacey and I ended up splitting a single hazelnut custard since I don’t really want to eat the normal flavors of chocolate or vanilla and neither of us want to eat a huge serving.
Custard
Creamy…
The hazelnut custard was buttery, nutty, and so creamy. I realized that it was a bit too sweet for me as I kept eating my share. Nevertheless, my frozen dairy craving was satiated. Then we both waddled (more like I did, while she strolled) our way to the subway station and go home. Fun times. I wish we could do this more often except with our hectic schedules, most likely we’ll be seeing each other around the major food holidays (e.g. Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Addresses:
Lombardi’s
32 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
Vosges Haut Chocolat
132 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
Shake Shack
Madison Ave & E 23rd St
New York, NY 10010
My god, everything looked so good!
oh this is crazy tina, we think waayy too much alike! I was at Lombardi’s last night, then I bought a pint of Vosges chili chocolate ice cream from whole foods! lol! :)
Cindy: Everything was tasty…just some things were tastier than others. But nevertheless, it’s all good.
Kathy: Good lord, sometimes I think we have a similar (food) brain but have different times of a certain craving to be satiated. I dunno what the heck I’m talking about. It’s weird yet cool that we think and eat alike! :)
It’s less than 12 hours ’til the PORK FEST!! Weeee…! :D
I can’t believe anyone could think of a bacon + chocolate combo. What’s that taste like?
and I really miss Shake Shack right now.
Fen: It’s sweet, since it’s milk chocolate with pockets of saltiness from the bits of bacon. It’s intriguing, delicious, albeit expensive (for $7 a bar).
Go to Shake Shack before winter really kick in! It’ll really suck eating outdoors if you’re sitting out in the cold.
Ohh, Lombardi’s! That brings back good memories from a voyage down to NYC from Montreal. Thanks for sharing.
My god, that’s expensive bar of bacon and chocolate. Maybe i’ll just make some bacon and at home and pour on the chocolate syrup :)