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Showing posts from October, 2010

Happy Halloween with Banana Cake Truffles!!

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I’m sure you all know by now that I am obsessed with the Birthday Cake truffles at Momofuku Milk Bar. So obsessed that it’s taken me months of going there to finally break away and try out the Banana Cake Truffle. Exactly the same in size and shape to the other cake truffles, this one is coated on the outside with some crumbly gianduja fudge. The crumbs kind of reminded me of the cake crispies on the outside of an ice cream cake (Fudgy the Whale hee hee!). The inside was a dense, nutty cake packed full with banana. At first I thought the cake was a little too dense and I missed the amount of hazelnut crunch that the original cake used to have. However when I finished the first, I found myself going back for a second. This time there was a better balance of hazelnut crunch. Still not as much as the cake has but much more than my first truffle. I was absolutely loving these! It took a lot of restraint but somehow I made it home with one left for Mr. T. Possibly my ne

Crocktoberfest!

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I was invited to help judge a Crockpot cook off last week by the American Pork Association. Who in their right mind would ever turn down an opportunity for free meat and drink? The event was held at the beautiful Hudson Terrace over on West 46th Street. The view from the building was spectacular and the crowd really had a nice relaxing vibe. Since the event was all about using the Crockpot most of the food was already cooked and ready to go when I arrived. I was about to dive right in when a waiter walked by and handed me a Bacon Vodka, Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup cocktail to start. Well this was certainly sticking with the theme of the event. I had actually been curious about the new bacon vodka and I have say it was pretty good. Unfortunately my drink tasted a bit too sweet from the maple syrup and I ended up only having a little before moving on. (Sorry the pictures aren't the best- the lighting was a little strange). As I was trying out my cocktail the waiter

Das Oktoberfest!

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This past weekend we had a ton of fun over on the west side with the Das Oktoberfest Celebration. The event was held in the La Venue space and they really did a great job of getting a lot of people inside without it feeling like a total madhouse. Those who opted for the VIP ticket had their own separate room off to the side with some special beers and an outdoor cigar smoking section. Each ticket included four hours of as much beer, wine and spirits you could sample and a plate of classic German fare. This was our platter loaded up with a wurst, frankfurt, brat, ham and bacon. The meats were pretty good. The wurst and frankfurt were my favorites but all of the options were quite tasty. Thank goodness because the sides were awful. The spatzle noodles were dry and hard with nothing resembling a creamy cheesy sauce. The side of schnitzel wasn’t very good either. My piece was just really bland but my friend’s piece was so undercooked that the center was raw! Yuk!! Luc

Panya Treat

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I just love going into Panya. It’s so much different than your average dessert shop. I finally purchased one of their signature items the other day a Green Tea Tiramisu. Well for a signature item I was kind of disappointed. I love green tea desserts, I’ve even had the green tea macaroons here and thought they were great. However this just fell flat. The cake didn’t have much green tea flavor at all and for a tiramisu style cake it should have had more moisture. The top of the dessert definitely had green tea taste but the texture was so weird it seriously put me off. Remember the show Double Dare? All I could think about was that green slime. It was pretty similar. So Panya let me down a little bit with this one but I guess that’s okay. I’ll just stick to my current fav the berry berry mousse instead.

Almond at the Madison Square market

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Just a reminder to go out this weekend and enjoy some of the beautiful fall weather we’ve been having. It’s the last weekend of the Madison Square market and I’ve been so busy I still haven’t eaten everything offered. I got one step closer however with this Moroccan Meatball sandwich from the Almond stand. I know it says Moroccan but man this was a lot spicier than I had anticipated. From the outside it looks like any meatball marinara. However one bite in and its’ obvious this is loaded with a ton of spices. Mr. T and I were both coughing a little bit after just from the shock. However it was a very tasty sandwich and they gave you quite a lot of lamb inside. So get on over to check out some of the stands before it’s too late. Whether its cookies and cider from the Apple Orchard or beer and wine from Resto- there’s something for everyone. The market shuts down Saturday so you only have a couple days left! Madison Square Market

A Quick Recap of Buffalo

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I was back home this past week visiting my family and friends in the Buffalo area. I only make it back about twice a year these days so each visit is jam packed with as much as possible. And by that I mean as much food and drink as possible! My first meal of the trip was Thursday night at where else but the Bar Bill. If you want to see pics go here but the wings and weck were perfect as always. Friday rolled around and after a gluttonous stop at Mighty Taco it was time for a weekend tradition- Fish Fry. Almost every single restaurant in the Western New York area have fish fry’s on Fridays and people line up out the door for the hefty platters. It was no different in East Aurora at newly food centric Riley Street Station. We showed up at 4:45 and almost couldn’t get a seat. Buffalo LOVES the early Bird dinners! I went for the Broiled Haddock which came with the classic accompaniments of coleslaw, macaroni salad, french fries and a plastic cup of tarter sauce. This was a really

Hibino

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Once again I was working in Brooklyn Heights and craving a spicy tuna roll for lunch. I’ve tried almost everything in the immediate area around Montague Street so I decided to head in further and stumbled across Hibino. Hibino’s a cute little sushi place on Henry Street that’s so tucked away you could easily pass it on a neighborhood stroll. I didn’t have time to sit down for lunch so I ordered my roll to go and took it back to the office. Obviously the first thing I noticed was the spicy mayo on top of the roll rather than inside. I haven’t had a spicy tuna roll like this in quite a while and I was actually excited for something different. Unfortunately my excitement would be dulled pretty quickly. I can’t put my finger on it but it was almost like the tuna had all of its buttery, rich texture and taste squeezed right out of it. I mean this tuna was so bland and boring it was unbelievable. The only spice or flavor I got from the roll at all was directly from the mayonnaise on

Eat My Chocolate

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I was wandering home from work the other day, thinking about how nice a piece of chocolate would be naturally, when I literally stumbled upon Eat My Chocolate. Unfortunately this store is tucked away under some construction scaffolding. I never would have seen it but they placed a big banner with the name on the metal rods to make it look more visible. I have to say the banner is a little cheesy but I completely understand why they did it. The store itself is tiny but they have some diverse options for such a small display. They had some fabulous looking macaroons in the front window but after having a delicious sample of peanut butter filled chocolate offered by the owner I knew I had to go chocolate all they way. This is a piece of their Gianduja chocolate with some chopped hazelnuts on top. This chocolate was wonderful. The outer milk chocolate shell was creamy while the inside had a slightly cherry alcohol flavor and was more like a ganache. Really quite wonderful. But here’s

NYC Food and Wine Festival- Grand Tasting

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Wohoo! I made it again this year! I was able to score a last minute ticket and made it into Saturday’s sold out Grand Tasting! I was so excited. It was a beautiful day on the waterfront and Mr. T had to work all day so what a better way for me to spend it alone! I seriously tried each and every item offered but there were way too many to talk about each one. Instead I’ll give a quick run down of just a few. Braised Short Rib of Beef from Molyvos. This was excellent. The braising of the rib made this meat incredibly tender and the warm semolina on the bottom was a welcome and pleasant surprise. Hand-Cut Steak Tartare with Romesco and Spanish Boquerones from 10 Downing. I was a little nervous about the anchovy flavor but it wasn’t strong at all. The steak was simply moist and perfect. The French would be impressed. Kaffir Lime Crab Salad with Truffle Ponzu and Ikura Cavier from Cityhouse. Definite points for presentation and for using Ponzu which I love. I thought the flavo

Hill Country Chicken

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Another new opening in my area! Jeesh I don’t know how I’m going to fit into my wedding dress with all of these awesome new food places. Hill Country is pretty famous for its big Texas sized BBQ but now they opened up an off shot that purely about one thing-chicken. Mr. T was feigning for fried chicken the other day so we took a walk over through Madison Square Park and got some to go. We wanted to try a little bit of everything so the Pick of the Chick option seemed like our best bet. For $27 you get two pieces of breast, thigh, drum and wing. Here are the Hill Country Classic chicken breasts. Well the menu had said these chickens were big but man I wasn’t expecting them to be so huge! One of these almost doubles what you would get at a fried chicken chain. Here’s a look at the drum. The menu had also said these chickens were humanely raised on an all vegetable diet and then chilled for “superior flavor and juiciness”. Well I got to tell you they were right. This chicken was i

Food, Wine and Beer This Week- I Got You Covered!

This month has had so much going on in the realm of food events. I missed out on NYC Craft Beer week this year which kind of stinks so I'm going to try to make up for that by hitting some awesome events this week. Of course the big guy in town is the New York Food & Wine Festival! I've attended the Meatpacking Uncorked and the Grand Tasting the first two years but this year I have no tickets yet! I'm kind of bummed but maybe last minute I'll bite the bullet and buy some. I can't skip a year can I? It's one of my favorites! NYC Food and Wine Festival Website The amount and variety of events is really unbelieveable so get out there and see some food and wine! For beer lovers Spring Lounge is hosting their own "I Love New York" beer week and you really can't beat the list. Sunday- Ommegang Tuesday- Captain Lawrence Thursday- Brooklyn Brewery Saturday- Southampton Brewery Seriously. These are some of my favorite breweries. Mo

Madison Square Market

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Last weekend the Madison Square Market opened up again with lots of unique shopping stalls and a bunch of food and drink vendors. There were a few guys from last year that returned- Cabrito, Wafels and Dinges and Suzette but honestly it mostly newcomers. Iilli, Almond and Resto made sense to me since they are right in the neighborhood. However I was shocked to see two Brooklyn guys- Roberta’s pizza and Pies N Thighs! I have always wanted to try out Roberta’s and don’t make it out to Bushwick that much so that was my first stop last week. They had some really thick Sicilian slices for $5 called the working man special but I wanted to try out one of their thin crust pies. Look at this pie! As you can see the crust was gorgeous with lots of charred bubbles and a super foldable middle. The tomato sauce was a little on the sweet side but the fresh mozzarella and basil really shined. See how it’s made? They brought their little oven outside. How cool is that! This was a very good p

The Hurricane Club

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I have to say my excitement level for the opening of the Hurricane Club was just about as high as for the opening of Eataly. Polynesian food, fruity tikki drinks and only steps away from my apartment- what’s not to love. I somehow missed opening day but the very next night I stopped in for a drink and to check out the space. First of all it’s absolutely gorgeous. Big wooden doors greet you at the entrance and it feels very dark and mysterious walking through. Once inside I was greeted by a large dining room covered with golden chandeliers and a big square bar as the centerpiece. The bar has a separate menu of little snacks each $12 a piece. I wasn’t exactly hungry and $12 seemed slightly too high for the offerings so I stuck to drinks. The cocktail menu is divided into multiple numbered categories ranging from frozen drinks and martini’s to large bowl drinks for big groups to share. It was a little bit overwhelming at first but luckily the friendly bartender gave me a break dow