Free from the grips from the GREs, I’ve made plans with my friends Helen and Seungmi to have lunch at Shake Shack. Needless to say, I craved a burger after putting myself into self-exile from my social world. I chose to meet at the Upper West Side location just so we don’t freeze our butts off and our food wouldn’t get cold within a few minutes.
Cheeseburger
I ordered the cheeseburger with everything on top since I needed to save some calories and stomach space for my group dinner at Szechuan Gourmet (I’ll talk about it in the next post) later on that evening. This simple burger was still amazing and I missed it terribly. I never felt happier.
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” »
(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).
Taken place on July 28, 2009. Note to all of the NYC diners who want to participate RW, most are ending today, July 31st.
Menu and bread and butter
I’m at Bar Boulud again. It’s been a year or so since I’ve been here and think I might as well have a RW lunch because it’s relatively accessible for me and my friends, Helen and Giulia, to come over.
Originally taken place on July 3, 2009. The first part is from Ssam Bar’s prix fixe lunch (it started with the beef tendon dish).
I didn’t have the intention of stuffing my face with a ton of Momofuku food that day…
Burnt honey + mustard croissant?!
But Seungmi was hungry and wanted something to eat. I was presuming Helen was coming downtown from work and Seungmi never went to any of the Momofuku places, I might as well introduce her to the “lighter” fare of Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery“>Milk Bar. When I looked up at the chalkboard, near the register, I noticed they might be selling a burnt honey and mustard croissant. Sounds tasty…
Seungmi’s first Volcano (or anything from Milk Bar)
Seungmi ordered the Volcano. Yes, that large pastry puck of potato puree and Benton’s cheese. I told her it would be tastier if she added some sriracha sauce to add some interesting dimension to this dense, sorta one-noted savory pastry. She agreed it tasted better. She’s happy and pretty stuffed that she saved the uneaten remnants for Helen. Continue reading “Epic Eating – Momofuku Milk Bar, Everyman Espresso, Bouchon Bakery, and Gus & Gabriel” »
Apologies for the almost non-existence of me blogging. It’s been hectic for the past month with my mom’s health went on limbo; going back and forth from home to the hospital. She’s fine for the time being and at home. As for me, I haven’t been eating out a whole lot because of my mom and been living off of lots of coffee but still tired despite being caffeinated. Buh. I can’t win. Anyhoo, here’s where I’ve been to whilst I have a few hours to myself during the month of March.
Discovery of Soup Dumplings in the Upper East Side
For a very long time, like during mid-winter, I’ve been craving for soup dumplings. Why? Well, because I never had one but seen a vast amount of soup dumpling food porn from Robyn‘s Flickr photostream are feeding the fire. I’ve read somewhere on Chowhound that there were restaurants that serve soup dumplings! So, I had to make arrangements to eat out with a few people so I’ve brought along my co-workers, Mary and Liz to join me for lunch at Shanghai Pavillion. (It’s not a typo, it’s how they spelled “pavilion” it.)
Interior and my friends
Stepping in from the chilly, windy streets of the Upper East Side, we settled in our seats to an upscale Chinese restaurant filled with mostly non-Asian diners. Not unusual but I was hoping there would be some besides myself and Mary. Continue reading “Summary of Meals During The Month of March” »
I was invited back on March 4th (yes, I know I’m really behind) to attend a dinner and food demonstration at Fairway Café with Mitchel London leading the show – well, co-starring since this class is called “Mitchel & Me.” The “me” is Dan Glickberg, the 4th generation owner of Fairway. (It’s a family-run business, in case you didn’t know.) I thought it was cool since I do like his most of his baked goods over at Mitchel London Foods.
Mitchel whistling
Walking through the mosh-pit like crowds and lines in Fairway Market, I finally made it upstairs where it’s relatively quieter and see Mr. London and others prepping for the show. As the attendees of this demo and dinner gathered up, I’ve noticed that Mitchel is pretty much calm as time ticks closer to starting time. As you see the photo above, he’s whistling and I heard Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. (It helps that I listen classical music often.)
He’s passing out the apps
When it’s about five minutes to the actual starting of the class, Mitchel passed out napkins and an appetizer – buttery, flaky puff pastries filled with a shrimp and herbed cream sauce. I don’t recall what was the name but that’s all I remembered eating and tasting. All I could think of while eating this thing was the word, “decadent.” Continue reading “Mitchel London, Fairway Café, and Huge Rib Eyes” »
[Note: I'm holding off writing posts that are non-Restaurant Week for the time being unless I do manage to squeeze in something between visits before this event is over. For those of you who are interested in RW, you have about another week to eat out.]
Dovetail was on my list of restaurants that I thought of eating one day. Not the MUST EAT list but something to try once. What sparked my interest was Frank Bruni’s review but reading a few different food forums, like Chowhound and e-Gullet over the past recent months, the foodie/gourmand community to appears to have a lukewarm or mixed response; also a friend of mine who went there a few months ago told me of a disappointing experience. I was ambivalent but I thought, “What the heck, it’s Restaurant Week. It’s not like I’m going to try their tasting menu and spend an absurd amount of money.” And took the available reservation the past Thursday afternoon.
Two Fridays ago, I’ve arranged a small dinner with Robyn, Jess, and her roommate, Jen to Picholine‘s bar/lounge. Why? It’s because I’m intrigued by their menu, it’s relatively affordable compared to their main dining room’s menu and we’re not dying of starvation. Continue reading “A Brief Dinner at Picholine” »
Cheeseburger
