Tag Archives: food porn

Mar 14 2012
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Drink, Eat - Cooking, Life

Chef’s Night Off at Kitchen in the Market

I would (almost) always much rather give a gift than receive one. I think it’s a glorious challenge to pick out the exact perfect present for someone and experience their joy as they unveil the big surprise. That is why it was my absolute pleasure to give K, for his birthday, a night in the kitchen to cook with Mike DeCamp, chef de cuisine at the venerable La Belle Vie in Minneapolis.

Chef’s Night Off is a hands-on, small group class hosted at Kitchen in the Market (KITM) in the Midtown Global Market. Take a class a KITM. It’s the most fun you’ll have in a kitchen … probably ever. You’ll eat fantastically and learn a lot too. As if all of this wasn’t enough, the evening also benefited Renewing the Countryside, a local non-profit organization that champions rural communities through farming, business and other creative initiatives.

Alright, enough with the gushing over how brilliant and hospitable KITM owners Molly Hermann and Tracy Morgan are, here’s the food porn!

The menu:

The hot frozen gin fizz was like a steamy, boozy frozen lemonade slushy. If @YoungChef2 (Mike DeCamp on Twitter) wants to send me the secret recipe for that drink, I’d be eternally grateful (hint, hint). Thanks to lovely celebrity assistant Joy Summers for opening our eyes to this magical cocktail.

Silky, slightly sweet egg custard with chewy, savory bacon jam — Bacon and Egg Custard.

       Tart, sweet and salty Apple, Olive and Feta Salad on crostini.

After taking a few moments to have a cocktail, pour some wine and grab some small bites, it was time to get to work. We broke into four teams and got busy prepping our assigned courses.

Fish “noodles” in action.

Important things first … does everyone have a wine glass? Good. Now let’s saute those brussels sprouts.

Chef DeCamp (and his epic beard) giving instructions before the beef tenderloin gets a quick sous vide.

A siphon, Dixie cups and a microwave oven equal a mean dessert prep.

And after toiling over hot stoves (that’s a vast overstatement), we all sat down to enjoy the delicious fruits of our labor.

Smoked char with dill, potato, mustard seeds and fish “noodle.” Paired with a lovely rosé. If you see her, ask Stephanie Meyer (aka Fresh Tart Steph) what happened to all those crispy little potato chips.

We were on Team Foie with K heading up foie duty (the assignment of his dreams). I was given the task of picking through a pile of organic arugula to find the “coolest looking” pieces for garnish and gently sautéing the rest. You don’t know pressure until you’ve been asked by an amazingly talented, high-caliber chef to find “cool” pieces of arugula.

Seared foie gras with kumquat jam and arugula. Paired with a very sweet moscato.

Sous vide beef tenderloin, beef cheek terrine and Northern Lights blue cheese with sautéed leeks and brussels sprouts. Paired with a red wine neither of us can remember at this point (not because it wasn’t memorable, but because I forgot to record the wine pairings).

Spongy chocolate microwave “mug” cake (made in Dixie cups), strawberry, crushed pistachios and puffed wild rice. Paired with a very strong bourbon that I sipped once then donated to the bourbon-loving Stephanie March (a celebrity assistant).

Chef’s Night Off — heck, ANY experience at Kitchen in the Market is well worth it. This occasion was a special splurge for K’s birthday and we both had an amazing time, got to hang out with some foodie friends, meet some wonderful new people, cook and eat a unique and delectable meal and we’ll likely be talking about it for many birthdays to come. Cheers!

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Jan 11 2012
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Eat - Cooking, Life

Welcome 2012 — Blogover and a Celebratory Giveaway

Happy 2012! I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions, but with the new year comes a wonderful opportunity to turn over a new leaf (or leaves, as the case may be). One of those changes involved me getting a new camera as a Christmas gift from K. This means new and improved food porn on the blog (see above Korean braised “short ribs” with edamame scallion puree and mushrooms from a recent Top Chef Night). Those “short ribs” are only in quotes because the co-op didn’t have actual short ribs so we made grass-fed beef chuck roast instead — nothing nefarious to see here, people.

But with the addition of enhanced food photography, I just couldn’t leave the old, stale blog format. So, as you can see, Eat.Drink.Life.Love. got a blogover (a blog makeover). Simple, clean and sizzlin’ hot. And with upgraded photos and a revamped site, we also decided to add new food adventures. So this year K and I will be playing with a little molecular gastronomy, some new techniques (using, for example, K’s new sous vide machine — yes, I caved on that because he so wanted it and I’m an awesome wife and gift giver) and even developing and testing our own recipes!

Top Chef Night will continue, of course, so we’ll keep making a dish featured on the show each week and we’ll fill you in on how to make it home cook friendly.

This will also be the first full year in awhile that I’m completely back to working for my own company from my home office. And I love it. No more corporate contracts for this girl — learning the inner workings of a processed food empire was an eye-opening and disturbing experience. So (shameless plug alert) if you or anyone you know needs social media or PR assistance, SEO copywriting, marketing and sales copy, communications, research or grant writing help, I’m here to assist. I’m at Social Visibility Consulting.

In honor of the blogover, blog-o-lutions and making happy career strides, we’re hosting our first ever giveaway.
The prize: A $25 gift certificate to Smashburger redeemable at any of their many locations across the U.S.
Note: Smashburger is not a sponsor of this giveaway. In fact, I’ve never even been to a Smashburger so you’ll have to let me know what you think!

Here’s how to enter: We’re looking for inspiration as we start creating recipes — for one entry, leave a comment next to this post with an ingredient idea (apples, pig’s feet, tripe, quinoa … the sky’s the limit).
For an additional entry, follow Eat.Drink.Life.Love on Twitter (@EatDrinkLifeLuv) and leave a second comment next to this post letting us know you’re one of our “Tweeps.” If you already follow, leave a comment and let us know.
For yet another entry, become a fan of Eat.Drink.Life.Love on Facebook . Leave another comment next to this post telling us you like us, you really, really like us (on Facebook).

The contest begins Wednesday, January 11 and ends at 11:00 pm CST on Thursday, January 19. The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted through the information provided in the entry.

Thank you to everyone who visited in 2011 — the sheer number of people reading my musings on food is overwhelming. K and I look forward to sharing many more food adventures with you during this bright, shiny new year. Good luck and we look forward to your ingredient inspiration!!!

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May 03 2011
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Drink, Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Our Final Day

The final day of our honeymoon was, appropriately, a Monday. We solemnly packed our bags and left them with the front desk staff at our hotel after we checked out. Then we tried to forget about it being our last day by heading to Discovery Times Square to take in the Pompeii exhibit.

All that history made us hungry so we hoofed it to the legendary Carnegie Deli just 10 minutes before there was a very long line outside. The walls were plastered with framed, signed photos of celebrities who’d enjoyed their gut-busting meals. The tables are lined up in long, communal lines and you become quick friends with whomever is sitting next to you. Seeing the GIANT portions in front of our neighbors, we opted to share two of the dishes the Deli is most famous for — matzoh ball soup and a pastrami sandwich.

Matzoh Ball Soup

Yes, that really is the color of the matzoh ball soup and there is not a speck of green in sight. It’s very basic, but also very good. Rich chicken flavor with light-as-air matzoh balls. How they accomplished this with matzoh balls bigger than a softball (I’m not joking), is beyond me. I guess that’s why they’re famous.

Pastrami Sandwich

Above is half of the pastrami sandwich and it takes up much of the plate. I didn’t even bother with the bread and just went for the warm, tender, peppery pastrami. It was my kind of sandwich — just good, simple filling and nothing like mustard or mayo mucking it up. Of course I couldn’t finish my sandwich half and our server seemed really disappointed in me. She helpfully suggested my already full stomach might have room for a glacier-sized piece of cheesecake and I had to politely decline. She was disappointed in that too. Kind of like when my grandma used to shake her head sadly and tell the grandchildren, “Well, I guess you’re not a member of the clean plate club.”

We rolled ourselves out of the Carnegie Deli and did some more exploring of the city. We stopped in at Eataly again for a little gelato snack and sat in the cold outside of the Flatiron Building watching the city go by. We meandered into Tom Collichio’s nearly empty Craftbar (it was 3:30 in the afternoon) where the friendly bartender made K a creative, flowery cocktail tempered with fresh sprigs of rosemary and  generously accommodated my requirement for an N/A ginger “martini” (which was super yummy).

Then we wound our way back to our hotel and caught our final taxi (then promptly got caught in traffic on the way to the airport in rush hour).

Now we love New York City. We want to visit again and explore all the neighborhoods we haven’t seen yet, to eat at all the restaurants we didn’t get the chance to taste.  Next time we’ll find the neighborhood gems, the hidden jewel boxes only insiders know about. We’ll hoof it around Harlem and Queens.

The Twin Cities can definitely hold its own, food-wise. We most certainly have restaurants and cocktail “alchemists” that are “New York caliber.” We don’t have to travel to the East Coast to find amazing, diverse and delicious food. But we’ll be back. For lots of reasons. And hopefully again sometime soon.

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Apr 30 2011
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Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Seven

Crisp and sunny, the sun sparkled and the wind whipped as we walked towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Our plan was to get a slice at the legendary Lombardi’s Pizza (the first pizza place in New York City, founded in 1905) then walk over the bridge for a comparison slice at Grimaldi’s (which Zagat recently called the Best Pizza in New York). Others must have had this plan before we did because both pizza joints only sell whole pizzas — no pizza by the slice. Knowing we couldn’t polish off two entire pizzas, we scratched the pizza-off and went in for lunch at Lombardi’s Pizza.

A small, winding restaurant with basic, stereotypical Italian restaurant decor, Lombardi’s uses a coal-fired oven and simple ingredients to build their New York pizza. We went with the basic margarita pizza as a base — fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, romano and fresh basil — and we added house-roasted red peppers and crisp pancetta.

Goo-oood pizza! The crust was Goldilocks perfect, not too much bread, not too flat and crackery. It had a nice smoky char and was crispy, not mushy at all. The cheese was fresh and melty, the pancetta was salty with just enough crunch and the peppers were tangy.

Lombardi's Pizza

We spent the rest of our sunny afternoon wandering about Brooklyn, walking back over the bridge and shopping in SoHo (something I wouldn’t recommend on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, it was crazy packed with people). We walked miles and miles. Our feet ached and we had worn through our blister protection bandages. So we found dinner respite in Chelsea (the Meatpacking District). The calm siren song of Jonathan Waxman’s Barbuto beckoned us into what is clearly a neighborhood hang out.

We had nearly front row seats to the bustling open kitchen and were fascinated by the precision of the chefs in their respective jobs. In no time our salumi plate came out with thinly shaved prosciutto de Parma, sweet and fatty mortadella, salty coppa (cured pork collar) and a savory rosemary foccacia.

Plates are set up to be family style and we shared a little bit, but mostly devoured the dishes we’d each chosen. We watched the “meat chef” baste K’s roasted chicken in the open fire oven. The skin was shatteringly crisp, the chicken substantial and tender and the salsa verde was an herby green garden of goodness.

Roasted Chicken and Salsa Verde

We did equally share the crispy potatoes with parmesan and rosemary, which were simple and magnificent. If they were baked, it’s nearly unbelievable because they were so crunchy. If they were fried, they were greaseless.

Crispy Potatoes with Parmesan and Rosemary

I had some of the best, most pillowy, achingly supple gnocchi I’ve ever enjoyed. The spinach was earthy and the peas were a perfect green snap. The entire dish was presented in a simple butter sauce.

Gnocchi with Spinach and Sugar Snap Peas

I have no idea how we made room for dessert, but we just couldn’t say no. We shared the chocolate  Budino (thick pudding) with whipped cream and blood orange sorbet. The Budino was so dense that if we’d tipped the dish over not a drop would have fallen out. It was creamy and packed with really good chocolate flavor. It would have been too sweet, but the fresh whipped cream mellowed it out in a dreamy way. The sorbet must have been made from blood oranges that were picked, squeezed and frozen that same day it was so incredibly fresh.

A pleasant, rollicking atmosphere, great and cordial service, a neighborhood location and simple, but amazing food was enough to make us forget our sadness that we were leaving New York the next day.

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Apr 29 2011
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Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Six

Saturday was a grey, rainy mess of a day in New York City. The subways were clogged with damp people and drippy umbrellas. We spent the morning winding our way down the spiral of the Guggenheim Museum. It’s a pretty small museum, which surprised us both, and it only took about an hour to take everything in. But an hour was all it took for us to be hungry for lunch. And for that we stuck close.

The museum has a fine dining restaurant called The Wright which has, incidentally, recently won a big design award. It was small, but comfortable and definitely high style. To start we shared pan seared blue fin tuna with a phyllo dough “garden,” sesame aioli and toasted pine nuts … mostly because we wanted to know what a “phyllo garden” was. The tuna was perfectly (read: barely) cooked. The toasty, sesame-coated veggies were a cool and fresh crisp inside the warmer crisp of phyllo dough. Pretty and delicious.

Pan Seared Tuna and Phyllo "Garden"

K was tempted by the pan seared trout with fennel orange marmalade on a saffron “cloud.” There was the perfect hint of saffron over the lovely fresh fish.

Pan Seared Trout and Saffron Cloud

I had something I’m rarely tempted to eat — a lunch salad. But this was totally my kind of salad — a bit of fresh greenery and huge pieces of cool lobster tossed with a tart/sweet blood orange vinaigrette. Little pieces of cold fingerling potatoes were tucked amidst the lettuce. This was a salad that begged to be eaten slowly to truly enjoy each mouthful of decadent lobster.

Maine Lobster Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

After such a light, but indulgent lunch, we felt ready to skip to our next destination, but cold winds and spitting skies put a damper on our exploratory spirit. We made our way to Chelsea Market to do a bit of shopping. While there I got a serious doughnut craving. Despite having about six bakeries in the building, none of them had doughnuts and my craving went unfulfilled (for that day and the rest of the trip since all we could find were Dunkin Doughnuts. I can get those sub par doughnuts at home).

We went back to the hotel to change out of our soaking clothes and warm up then it was off to Tribeca for dinner at Restaurant Marc Forgione, brain child of the newest Iron Chef. From the photos on the website, it looks like a rustic, intimate, candlelit place. In person, it is very large, loud and not at all intimate, but is, indeed, candlelit. The place was definitely bustling and not particularly relaxing (but I think that had more to do with the loud tables of people sitting right next to us, they were hard to ignore). One whole wall has personal photos, memorabilia and information on Marc Forgione. It was interesting, but bordered on an annoying temple of self-congratulatory celebration. Fine line.

We got started with two bites — peas ‘n carrots and artichoke soup. The peas and carrots were kind of bland and pureed like baby food, but the artichoke soup was full of flavor and played over different parts of the mouth. I’d eat a whole bowl of that.

Peas 'n Carrots and Artichoke Soup Starters

We shared some crispy pork belly and it was melt-in-your-mouth tender and had a good crunchy crust.

Crispy Pork Belly

K scored BIG TIME with the special of the night — the Chef’s burger. It was 28-day aged ground rib eye with smoked bacon, homemade pickles and ginger ketchup and crispy potatoes. I was not feeling well this night and wasn’t able to enjoy a great deal of food, but I’d give just about anything to go back in time, feel better and eat this burger. The one bite I had easily made it the best burger I’ve ever tried. K agreed. The meat was so juicy and beefy and the taste just kept getting better and deeper and smokier with each bite. And those tiny toasty potatoes, delish.

Rib eye Burger -- Chef's Special

I went a small, safe route with seared scallops and white asparagus. The scallops were so fresh I could still taste the ocean in them, but other than that it was a pretty unspectacular dish. Really good, just no big deal. I have more to say about that one bite of burger than my entire dish.

Seared Scallops and White Asparagus

For dessert we got fresh from the oven, hot, melty, sweet chocolate chip cookies with a shooter of icy whole milk. It is to my eternal regret that I could only eat one bite of burger, half a cookie and take two sips of milk. I want to go back to Restaurant Marc Forgione (maybe on a weeknight when it’s not quite so busy and crowded) and eat every last bite of an all American meal of that Chef’s burger and some chocolate chip cookies.

After dinner, we sprinted through the rain across the street to a really friendly neighborhood pub where we watched the New York Red Bulls soccer game. It was the of night that, if we’d been home, might have kept us indoors on the sofa. But what a cozy way to end a soggy day.

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Apr 27 2011
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Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Five

We only had one Friday during our New York visit so we figured we should kick-start the weekend. But the day was grey and cold and windy and we felt twitchy and unsettled after our visit to the site of the World Trade Center. We ate lunch at a local panini place across the street and, despite the bustle of construction and office workers going about their daily business, the whole area felt like it had a dark cloud over it — not hope, good spirit and redemption as I wished it would have felt.

We shook it off and took the ferry to Ellis Island, cruising past Lady Liberty on our way. Ellis Island was fascinating and it boggled my mind that my great grandfather saw the same sights as he came into this country as we saw that day. If you participate in no other “tourist” activity in New York City, we would both highly recommend Ellis Island. After a walk around Wall Street (blah), we bundled up against the weather and headed for a fabulous Friday night dinner.

Morimoto — in Chelsea/the Meatpacking District — is definitely reflective of its namesake Iron Chef. It is as large as the chef is intimidating. The staff is precise, but very friendly and accommodating. The architecture and decor are beautiful and exacting. The food was beautiful and classic, but with amazing playful twists.

K and I shared two starters: Smoked salmon “ravioli” with dill foam and salmon roe and lobster fritters with citrus aioli. The salmon ravioli arrived buried under foam, we weren’t even sure it was in there! But the foam was diaphanous and had just the slightest hint of dill (thankfully, since it is not my favorite herb). The salmon was smoked and plush and the entire dish was light as air.

Smoked Salmon Ravioli

The lobster fritters were hot, perfectly fried (no grease) and accomplished an amazing feat — an impeccable, sweet chunk of lobster was encased in the batter, but the two didn’t seem to be touching one another. Delicious! And the citrus aioli added just the right amount of creamy zest.

Lobster Fritters with Citrus Aioli

As for our entrees, K had the big score of the night with his sea bass and avocado tempura. The fish was like butter and appeared lacquered with the accompanying broth. I’d eat avocado tempura all day, every day — it’s like crisp fried whipped cream! UPDATE: After looking at the menu on the website, it turns out what we thought was avocado tempura was actually Japanese eggplant tempura. Anyone who can make eggplant taste like that kind of heaven is some sort of magician. For the record though, I’d still eat avocado tempura all day, every day.

Sea Bass with Avocado Tempura

My entrée was also great, but paled in comparison to K’s home run. I had the yellow tail tuna buri bop. It’s a hot stone bowl with rice, veggies, an egg and raw tuna. The server put the slices of fish along the side of the bowl while mixing the ingredients in the middle into fried rice. The fish was cooked well, but had a very strong fish taste. The rice had a good crust to it, but it was a pretty tame dish. Tasty, but nothing super exciting.

Ishi Yaki Buri Bop

Dessert was another exercise in tempting the taste buds. The pastry chef had created a basil lime sorbet for the evening and it was presented on a block of ice. The sorbet was strongly flavored — bold lime crashed into anise basil, all to great effect. The flavors were so aggressive we could have gone with just one or two scoops instead of three.

Basil Lime Sorbet

But my favorite dessert, in the top two of our entire trip, was the soy milk souffle, tofu cheesecake and maple ice cream with maple sauce. The soy milk souffle was hot and puffy and had such a creamy, mild nuttiness to it we wanted to drink it! The tofu cheesecake (which, it turns out, contains no tofu, but more soy milk) does have the texture of clouds of whipped tofu, but with a gentle sweetness. The maple sauce and ice cream were sweeter than the desserts themselves and were charming accompaniments.

Soy Milk Souffle, Tofu Cheesecake and Maple Ice Cream

Eating at Morimoto was like a fun adventure meal, the world’s classiest “happy meal,” I guess. The food gave a peek behind the chilly exterior of Morimoto into the place where he’s giggling quietly because he threw you a culinary curve ball and you loved it.

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Apr 26 2011
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Drink, Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Five

K’s birthday was in March and part of his gift was a private tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art while we were in New York City. That day had arrived and we met our guide, Victoria from Art Smart, who brought us through their modern art collection and filled the trip with fascinating history and stories. She also gave us an impromptu run through the rest of the museum so we’d know our way around for the rest of our day. Then she recommended we have lunch at Petrie Court Cafe and Wine Bar.

I enjoyed a spring vegetable angel hair pasta frittata and K loved his foraged mushroom and creme fraiche flatbread. Our relaxing lunch took place next to the sunny European sculpture court. It was like having lunch in Paris.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a HUGE museum and we couldn’t cover it all in one day, but we got a good sampling of what we really wanted to experience. We were exhausted from all the walking and everything we took in (centuries of art and history), but we rallied for the big evening we had ahead.

Our clever friends DLB and Baxter (who officiated our wedding) kindly gifted us a certificate to Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50 on the Lower East Side. The restaurant is modern, but comfortable and the dress code is casual, but we were dressed to the hilt because of our after-dinner plans.

Well known for playing with his food and being something of an alchemist, Dufresne’s menu definitely didn’t disappoint. A lover of liver, K started with the aerated foie gras with pickled beet, mashed plum and brioche. The plate looks like a bunch of artfully placed sponges, but the foie was rich and vaporous — the best kind of rich (and foie) in my opinion.

Aerated Foie, Pickled Beet, Brioche and Mashed Plum

I started with the peekytoe crab roll with house made mini salt ‘n vinegar potato chips and celery mayonnaise. This was such a strange and interesting play on temperature. The crab roll looked like it would be hot and crispy, but it wasn’t. It didn’t seem to be fried. Tepid is such a gross word, but that’s the only word I can find to describe the outer layers, but the dense and sweet crab mixture inside was cool, but not cold. The celery mayo was a great “cool flavor” to accompany the roll.

Peekytoe Crab Roll, Salt 'n Vinegar Chips and Celery Mayo

WD-50 must have hit the jackpot on a load of celery when we were there because K also very, very much enjoyed his celery gin and tonic drink. It had a distinct, but not obnoxious, celery flavor. K has since tried to replicate this at home and it was a bit too celery and gin forward. I think the secret ingredient might be egg whites. If you’ve got any insight, it would be welcome!

Celery Gin and Tonic

The light cocktail was a good pairing with the full-bodied entrée K chose: Iberico pork neck with smoked paprika spaetzle, peach and Marcona almond. This was the richest, most flavorful and “porky” pork I’ve ever tasted and the paprika spaetzle was genius — spirited with a dancing spice.

Iberico Pork Neck with Smoked Paprika Spaetzle

Straying from my apparent obsession with skate, I went with the crispy Mediterranean bass with black forbidden rice, artichokes and a white chocolate-green olive sauce. The sauce originally creeped me out a little, but the salty olive-ness was nicely (and not too obviously) balanced by the sweet white chocolate. My only complaint was that there was *A LOT* of fish — one less filet would have been perfect. I absolutely loved the black sticky rice molded into rice balls — sticky crisp on the outside and sticky tender on the inside with a nutty flavor reminiscent of wild rice.

Mediterranean Bass with Forbidden Rice and White Chocolate Green Olive Sauce

We had to skip dessert because we were short on time and going to a food-centric event, but Wylie (who we could see cooking for us in the kitchen) and staff couldn’t send us away empty-handed. Our mini desserts were frozen marshmallow cream coated in crushed Rice Krispies. Yup, frozen rice krispy treats. I never want to eat another traditional rice krispy treat again. Just … yum.

Frozen Rice Crispy Treats

After our creative dinner at WD-50 we grabbed a cab to a nearby benefit for UNICEF I caught wind of via Twitter the week before we left. The event — dubbed Eat. Pray. Heal. Japan. — was a fundraiser for children in Japan affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami. Top Chef contestants Mike Isabella, Angelo Sosa, Harold Dieterle, Hung Huynh, Kevin Sbraga and Seth Caro (from the dessert show) made small bites and appearances. Ariane Duarte, Amanda Freitag, Richard Blais and more were mingling as well. An opportunity we simply couldn’t pass up.

After meeting Ariane Duarte, an absolute sweetheart who gave us the skinny on how to pounce on the food coming out of the kitchen (you’ve gotta be an aggressive New Yorker, not a polite Minnesotan, apparently) we greeted Angelo Sosa. He is very kind (and very tall, as you can see) and has an amazing attitude about life and his success.

K+ L + Angelo Sosa of Top Chef

Before we headed out, we had to grab a minute with Richard Blais to congratulate him on his well-deserved Top Chef All-Stars win. He was also very kind, but also seemed uncomfortable with the attention and out of his element. We got the feeling he’d have been more comfortable back in the kitchen instead of in the middle of an adoring crowd.

K + L + Top Chef All-Stars Winner Richard Blais

That night was truly an NYC movie night. For one glorious evening we were leading the lives of glamorous TV/movie New Yorkers getting dressed up, having an incredible dinner, being whisked off in a cab to a fabulous celebrity benefit …
Not the *real* life anyone lives, but for one night it was a very sparkly feeling!

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Apr 25 2011
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Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Four

After a thrilling, celebrity-stocked evening on Broadway, we were ready for some solid museum time the next day. We slept in to shake off walking through the downpours of the night before and our first stop was at Danny Meyer’s The Modern, the restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art. We were hungry and the food was so beautiful and delicious that it completely escaped our minds to write down or photograph what we ate.

I had a cream of artichoke soup to warm me up and it was fantastic! Interesting and velvety with pearl barley and nutty grated grana padano for texture. I’d had good luck with the skate the night before so I ordered it again, this time with grits. It was light enough for lunch, but hearty enough for a cool day and the creamy grits were in the same comfort family as my yummy soup. K started with a foie gras terrine and then tried squab for the first time. It was sublime — rich and gamey, tasted more like duck than chicken, but it was a lovely cross of all types of poultry. He loved it so much that he spent the rest of our time in New York telling every pigeon we came across they were delicious — even the birds eating trash and drinking from the gutter.

We wound our way through MOMA and it felt like a day filled with play, so fun! But then it was back to the hotel to get ready for our big dinner of the trip. Someone was kind enough to give us a gift certificate to Le Bernardin as a wedding gift and we were determined to take full advantage of that gift! Jackets are required so K put on his fancy pants suit and I went with a little green cocktail dress and yellow “snake-skin” peep toe shoes. We were off to celebrate my birthday, our fifth month-a-weddingversary, our one year proposal-versary and our 25 month-a-meeting-versary. Big night.

We’ve seen Eric Ripert on “Top Chef”, goofing around with Anthony Bourdain on “No Reservations” and on his own PBS show “Avec Eric.” He seems like a lovely, down to Earth, mellow guy. Le Bernardin was the opposite of what I imagine Eric Ripert to be. It was clubby and wood-paneled, with an “old boys club” vibe to it. It was extremely formal with heavy, classic “of the sea” art cluttering the walls. The place was full, but there seemed to be more staff members than diners. K was uncomfortable and felt like people were judging him, I just wanted anyone who worked there to crack a smile. Service was very efficient, but felt rushed and clipped. The food, however, was sublime.

We began with a shrimp amuse bouche in which a single shrimp floated in a butternut puree and sambal (a chili-based sauce) foam. It was perfectly cooked and had a great balance of sweet (from the butternut) and heat (from the sambal).

Shrimp Amuse Bouche

The menu is prix fixe so you choose an “almost raw” course, a “barely touched” course and a “lightly cooked” course as well as dessert. We had seen an episode of “Avec Eric” in which Ripert prepared the restaurant’s signature yellowfin tuna crudo so K ordered that for his “almost raw” course. The layers of paper-thin tuna were on top of a toasted baguette and drizzled lightly in olive oil and sprinkled with chives. This was tuna perfection. It was like eating raw silk.

Yellowfin Tuna Crudo

I went “almost raw” with glassine slivers of scallop and “puffs” of mandarin orange in a scorched lemon and rosemary vinaigrette. The scallops were sweet and amazingly fresh and the mandarin puffs were like orange candy. Instead of overpowering the dish, as I thought it may, the rosemary provided a very slight, cool and evergreen background note. There were tiny little pops of chili that danced on my tongue. It was a dish you just melt into.

Scallop Slivers and Mandarin Puffs

For his “barely touched” course, K chose seared langoustine (kind of like a cross between a small lobster and a big shrimp) with a wild mushroom and mache salad. It was lovely and fresh and green and nectarous and meaty all at the same time.

Seared Langoustine with Wild Mushroom Salad

My “barely touched” course was a spiral of fresh Carolina shrimp with baby leeks in a Kaffir lime broth. The shrimp were crackling fresh with a lovely light lime tang to the broth.

Carolina Shrimp, Baby Leeks and Kaffir Lime Broth

The main dish was “lightly cooked” and K chose crispy black bass with a Lup Cheong (Chinese sweet sausage) and bean sprout “risotto” and mini pork buns. The bass was perfectly crusted and fresh and the pork buns were smoky and springy little pods of juiciness.

Crispy Black Bass, Beansprout "Risotto" and Mini Pork Buns

I was on the fence for my “lightly cooked” course and was trying to decide between skate and another dish. When I asked the gentleman taking that particular order (our servers seemed to rotate), he thought for a second and said, “I think skate.” Then walked away. In the seconds he deliberated, I was actually leaning toward the other dish, but I guess it was decided. To be fair, the skate *was* delicious — its layers fell away like petals into the umami mushroom and brown butter dashi.

Skate and Langoustine, Shiitake Mushrooms and Brown Butter Dashi

We each chose a dessert — K went with the dark and slightly smoky black sesame panna cotta with gelled spheres of sour cherry juice that burst in your mouth and a cool, fresh and citrusy mandarin sorbet. It was dusky and bright at the same time.

Black Sesame Panna Cotta with Sour Cherry Spheres and Mandarin Sorbet

My dessert was a lime parfait with avocado puree and a grapefruit tequila sorbet. It was sprightly and the cool, crisp textures were a light end to a multi-course, but light meal.

Lime Parfait, Avocado Puree, Grapefruit-Tequila Sorbet and Meringue

Our post-dessert were little bites: A house made chocolate truffle, a tiny custard in sweet puff pastry and salted caramel in a white chocolate cup. What a treat!

Chocolate Truffle, Custard and White Chocolate with Caramel

The dishes were many, but the dinner was over fairly quickly and it wasn’t the type of place in which you linger comfortably. So, now we’ve been to Le Bernardin. I don’t think we need to go back and it certainly isn’t on my top 10 list of must-eat places in New York City. Food is a serious business, I get that, but sometimes when you take yourself too seriously you lose your audience. Loved the food, but we both really wish they would have taken down the formality a notch … or eight.

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Apr 22 2011
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Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Three

The warm sunshine and tranquil meal at Annisa lulled us into a false sense of New York spring security. On our next day, it rained. Cold, drenching cloud bursts. The wind blew our cheap drugstore umbrellas inside out and rendered them virtually useless. When I tried to keep mine intact and over my head I couldn’t see out from under it and kept running into people, things and the street while taxis barreled towards me.

We took refuge in the warm basement of Rockefeller Center at Tom Collichio’s ‘wichcraft sandwich franchise.  We were hungry and a little grumpy after our rain walk so we forgot to take pictures, but K very much enjoyed his piquant slow-roasted Berkshire pork sandwich with red cabbage, jalapenos and mustard on ciabatta bread.

I was a bit less enamored of my sandwich — roasted turkey with avocado, bacon,  onion relish and aioli on ciabatta. The turkey was really good, freshly sliced (not deli meat) and the bacon was a flavorful, salty companion as was the creamy and mild avocado. They could have stopped there. I *hate* mayo on sandwiches unless it’s minimal and specially flavored with herbs or fruit or something. This was just plain superfluous greasy mayo. The onion relish was really, really sweet and just distracted from an otherwise solid turkey sandwich, so I scraped as much off as I could.

We did very much enjoy our creamwiches — zingy lemon poppy seed with lemon filling and chewy oatmeal with sweet vanilla filling.

With the help of the NY subway app for K’s iPhone, we navigated the subway to the Natural History Museum where we had a lot of fun nerding out to the animal dioramas and dinosaur bones. Sadly, we did not have time to tour the Rose Center for Earth and Space or the Hayden Planetarium where I’d hoped to spot my favorite astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. We did not have time because we had early dinner reservations and a Broadway show to get to.

There are not many great dining options in the immediate Times Square/Broadway area so we chose Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain which was within walking distance to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Our expectations weren’t super high, but we were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is HUGE and sort of looks like it should be attached to a hotel. Since we were there pretty early, it was also pretty empty and the server was very attentive.

We started with a lobster avocado cocktail which was simple, fresh, cool and delectable. Big chunks of lobster, lush avocado and some herbs were all straightforward and clean.

Lobster and Avocado "Cocktail"

K went with the smoked chicken with green chile spoon bread and black pepper vinegar sauce. The chicken had a great and prominent smoke flavor to it and the spoon bread was flavorful, but not particularly spicy.

Smoked Chicken With Green Chili Spoon Bread

I had the winning plate of the night with skate with smoked chili butter, tarragon, capers and a crispy hominy cake. The skate was moist and flaky, the sauce was rich and tasted more like lemon and roasted red pepper than chili and tarragon. The hominy cake was crispy and interesting and was perfect to soak up all the extra sauce.

Skate With Smoked Chili Butter and Crispy Hominy

Despite being on a timeline, we still made time for dessert. To take the chill off the weather, we ordered a blackberry souffle and then to ready ourselves for going back outdoors we shared some green apple sorbet. The sorbet was tart and mellow with none of the super sweet green apple flavor you get in candy. The souffle was divine. It was steaming hot and was like the best, fluffiest, airy blueberry pancake you’ve ever had.

Filled with good food, we were off to see “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway. It was hilarious, offensive, human, touching, thought-provoking, uplifting and amazing. Dana Ivey and Patti LuPone seemed to enjoy it as well. We were sitting right behind them and they were sitting next to each other, but didn’t realize it until intermission. Also on their feet with us giving the show a well-deserved standing ovation — Isaac Mizrahi, Demi Moore and Cameron Diaz (Moore and Diaz were there together).

Despite the crusty weather, it was an exhilarating New York day and evening.

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Apr 21 2011
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Eat - Restaurants, Life

New York Bites — Day Two

On Monday morning, we woke up ready for adventure. Cold air was on its way out and warm air was on its way in, so it was foggy, but we walked to the Empire State Building and took in the view anyway. Because of the weather there were no lines and the view literally opened up for us as the sun broke through and the fog burned away.

We walked a few blocks away to Mario Batali’s Eataly market. It was a bustling maze of food shops, meat and cheese counters, a pizza and pasta restaurant, bookstore, gelateria and more. Overwhelmed by the selection, we chose the slightly more formal sit-down Manzo and had lunch at the thick, white marble bar.

To start K ordered (and I pilfered from) a special of fried softshell crabs with shisito peppers and remoulade. The crabs were briny and salty, hot and crisp — with an oddly satisfying papery crunch. The creamy remoulade was the perfect foil for the brackish crabs.

Softshell Crab with Shisito Peppers and Remoulade

For his main dish, K chose the crispy sweetbreads with truffled mushrooms (funghi trifolati). The sweetbreads were super crisp with that trademark slight grittiness and the truffled mushrooms (and sauce) offered a creamy, earthy partner.

Crispy Sweetbreads
For my entrée, I chose the day’s special of house made pappardelle pasta with ramps (wild leeks) and fresh morel mushrooms. My goodness this was fantastic. The pasta was delicate and almost fluffy. The ramps added a very mild hint of onion and the fresh morels were like biting into the world’s best beef — but better.

Pappardelle with Ramps and Fresh Morels

And then Eric Ripert walked in. Just breezed in around the corner and waved to the person he was meeting for lunch. You know you’ve chosen a great place for lunch when Eric Ripert walks in and eats there too. Still in awe, we walked through the market and shared a scoop of incredibly fresh raspberry sorbet and I bought some tiny pots of honey (one of my favorite things on planet Earth).

The weather was a sunny 72 degrees so we walked past Rockefeller Center (where people were still skating on ice under about an inch of water) and explored Central Park. We walked miles and miles that day. Our feet hurt and we were exhausted. But we made it back to Murray Hill and cleaned ourselves up for dinner at chef Anita Lo’s Annisa in the West Village.

Annisa is a lovely restaurant. It has only about 12 tables, but still manages to seem open, spacious and airy. The lights were dim and the walls danced with candlelight. Our server was delightful and felt like an instant friend.

K is a great lover of pork belly so to start, we ordered its more exotic cousin — braised wild boar belly with unagi, apple and daikon. The meat was crisp on the outside and positively buttery tender on the inside. On the accompanying spoon was the braising liquid, perfectly encased in one little bubble. K generously let me have the bubble of liquid perfection and it was meaty and rich and a burst of roasted wonderful.

Wild Boar Belly, Unagi, Apple and Daikon
For my main course I couldn’t turn down the miso-marinated sable fish with crispy silken tofu in a bonito broth. The fish was at once dainty, but substantial. The tofu was crunchy, but with lustrous layers and the bonito broth was the absolute definition of umami.
Miso-Marinated Sable with Crispy Tofu in Bonito Broth

K ordered the Long Island duck three ways — roasted, as a rillette and as a kind of pate — with herbs, papaya and cashews. While I didn’t have a taste of his dish, he said the duck was earthy, robust and refined.

Duck Three Ways
For dessert we shared a trio of sorbets – mango, passionfruit and raspberry — with an almond tuille. The passionfruit sorbet was our hands down favorite.
Mango, Passionfruit and Raspberry Sorbets

But our most surprising dessert was in the form of a cold soup. Chilled pink grapefruit, elderflower and fennel soup with almond milk jelly. The soup was ethereal with a light, tart citrus flavor mixed with wild flowers. The almond milk jelly was cool, nutty and creamy. We couldn’t stop raving over (or eating) this soup.

Pink Grapefruit, Elderflower and Fennel Soup with Almond Milk Custard
Our post-dessert surprise treats were two tiny sweet guava popsicles, two pieces of spicy candied ginger and two rich house made chocolate mint truffles.
Guava Popsicles, Candied Ginger and Chocolate Mint Truffles
Upon reflection of our trip, Annisa was my favorite restaurant. It was soft, lovely, warm and welcoming and had something of a breezy feminine pink aura to it. The food was fantastic, fresh and clever — seemingly simple but with many complexities. A very happy ending to our first warm and windy day exploring New York City.
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