NYC Tastes

As I look back on the past year I'm shocked by how much delicious food was involved.  I didn't come even close to hitting all the restaurants on my 2013 Wish List.  I made it to only two out of fourteen...yet I still consider this year an incredible success of food and drink moments for both old favorites and brand new places.  To the list! Best Wings-  Pork Slope/Talde This is a complete tie between Dale Talde's two Brooklyn restaurants.  Both are fried in rice flour for an ultra crisp exterior; the first coated in garlic, butter, Sriracha, Franks Red Hot and honey while the second combines crunchy peanuts, sweet chili and hot sauce.  I can't choose between the two and with both restaurants being just blocks apart there really isn't a need to:) Best Foie Gras-  Marc Forgione There aren't enough words to adequately describe how silky and luxurious the Foie Gras is at Marc Forgione.  This may have been the best thing I've eaten all ye...

I went out to Park Slope last week and met up with my sister-in-law for dinner.  Talde has been on my "to do" list ever since I had a quick bite at the bar about a year ago.  This time we sat in the main dining room and got to experience the full menu. I was so enamored with the wings at Pork Slope I had to check out the Talde's Kung Pao wings. Wow- these did not disappoint.  They were spicy in a good way, the heat just burning my tongue a bit with some crunchy peanuts and a sweet chili sauce. These were totally different than Pork Slope, much more of an Asian style wing but just as delicious. The two of us demolished these before moving on to the main event Crispy Oyster and Bacon Pad Thai. Neither of us love fried oysters and here was no different.  The breading was just a bit to mushy...but the noodles were amazing! They had so much flavor from the chunks of bacon and a slight briny twist that I didn't miss the fried oyster at all....

The week Talde opened I stopped working in Brooklyn.  I had been so excited to go opening day when suddenly my commute kept me in Manhattan and my days and nights were chock full of visitors.  I really tried to get out there. One day I missed the end of brunch by 5 minutes, another day a sign on the door said "Closed for Routine Maintenance".  Finally last Friday I made the trip out again and dashed inside 5 minutes after opening to plenty of open tables and bar seats.  Success! We took some seats at the bar and ordered up some drinks. I'll admit my Watermelon Margarita was a bit over the top, but the bright pink drink kind of made my day.  The beer list wasn't too shabby either. We started out with the Perilla Leaf- toasted shrimp, coconut, bacon-tamarind caramel and peanuts. I didn't love the furry texture of the leaf but the contents inside really packed a ton of delicious flavor. It was strange something so small co...