claudia

Claudia has been my daily cooking inspiration as of late. Slowly, her
masterpiece, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food is becoming my bible.
I just love those simple peasant recipes that are a nice break to create during
a day of work at home. Major shout out to Amy G for kindly giving me the book.

missing a year of this could break my heart

May I just ask, where has the New York Times been? Did they really
just discover Motorino? This article will result in me only frequenting
the Brooklyn location.

food dates, in clean well-lighted places

Two of my lovely pals treated me to a couple of fantastic food outings.
I have been to Chika-Licious a couple of times and this time, again
being a lovely experience. I adore all of the staff and their utter
excitement when telling you about the earl gray tea pudding and meyer
lemon sorbet and their love for it is totally contagious. My favourite thing
about this place is watching Chika prepare desserts and her silent little
smile as she does things like torch a creme brulee or perfectly round out
an ice cream scoop.


Hai totally surprised me with the suggestion of going to Minetta Tavern
to sample the infamous burger and the cote de boeuf. It was indulgent
and I loved every minute of it. Here is my day after reactions:

it was fantastic.
we had cocktails- excellent- hai had one with rosemary, delicious-
we shared the black label burger-
perfectly cooked- onion relish on top amazing-
brioche bun was a bit lacking- tasty and wonderful surely- but lost its form and edge
when soaked with the meats juice-just became a mechanism to hold the burger
was good- but wish it held its shape
very tasty- worth 26 bones
not sure but you gotta try it once

and then we had the cote de boeuf
superb
this is the best meat i have ever eaten-
sublime almost and there was tons of it-
and the bone marrow, completely indulgent
soaking it up with the bread- fat becomes fantasy-

when we were making our order, the waitress was like 'i recommend a vegetable,
that is a lot of meat' hai looked at me and i was like hai, we are not here to eat vegetables

i love you david and hai. thank you for eating with me.

el corazón roto y sangriento

Reading the news that Ferran is closing El Bulli totally broke my heart.
I should have gone when I was on the Costa Brava in July. I'm seriously
kicking myself, even though it would have resulted in some major credit
damage. But, it probably would have been worth it.
There is still time.
Maybe?

mark

One of my favourite Saturday morning activities is catching up on
Mark Bittman New York Times Minimalist videos. Mark always has
the ability to make me laugh and hungry. How perfect is that?

candybar is the new crack

I finally went to the momofuku milk bar a couple weeks ago and since
tasting the candy bar pie on my second visit, I have been crushing on it.
And it is major. i cannot stop thinking about it. Its salty, caramel perfection.
Texturally and tastefully ideal. I don't know how they did it, but now I am
completely obsessed and must find a way to replicate.

monofuku milk bar
207 second avenue at 13th street
nyc

the good luck fruit

on every occasion i have to visit my family on the west coast, they somehow
end up introducing me to a new fruit or vegetable. its become some strange
ritual that i now anticipate. last year, it was the romanesco broccoli. somehow
we all became a bit enamored with it and that yielded some photographs of
some people putting in on our heads like a hat. this year it was the pomelo.
the pomelo is from south east asia and is very similar to a grapefruit. the pith
is very thick and there is not much of the translucent gems inside, but the few
that you do get are sweet and subtly spicy. when you peel the pomelo it offers
a delicious aroma and i really liked the way the skin of it felt, i would go as far
as to describe it as soft. i'm experimenting with giving the skin an alternative
function. you have to touch it to believe it! now, i am on the constant watch for
other weird hybrid produce.

eating is the only real legitamate reason for travel

books about good eats. i mean, does it get better?
here is to another year of fantastic food.

sweet and stark

Kinski, a new czech/austrian cafe just opened on the lower east side.
yesterday, we tried the pumpkin cafe, the bread dumpling omelet and
the wonderful and strong austrian coffee by julius meinl.
the food was excellent and i'm hoping to get back soon and try more,
everything sounds delicious. the whole experience reminded me of this
memorable breakfast (second photo) in winter 2005 in prague.

kinski
128 rivington street near norfolk
while you are there check out maryam nassir zadeh
photo nymag.com and z.s.

sitting on a pillow, on the floor

who is in for saturday or sunday at monkeytown?
there is a five course indian meal with a performance by the
neel murgai ensemble
i'm gonna post the menu to entice you...

Seared diver scallops
Truffled sooji, tandoori-honey emulsion
Vindaloo lamb soup
Toasted naan, jalapeno chutney
Striped bass rogan josh
Basmati saffron risotto, coriander raita
Rajasthani style lamb loin
Masala mashed potatoes, dal makhani
Chai spiced poha pudding
Shaved almonds, mango sorbet

chelsea girl

it has taken me about two months to finally start to love my
chelsea neighbourhood. when i returned, i was really overwhelmed
with the idea of being back and not in a place as i remembered it.
a number of my favourite haunts prior to my trip had closed up shop
and i was dwelling on this idea of new york not being what i wanted.
and honestly contemplating the idea of getting right back on the jet plane.
but, alas, the gems have been found, or they found me...
+a knowledgeable photographer told me that jeff koons has his massive
studio a block away from me. b barr and i are planning to go dumpster
diving there soon.
+just found out there was a cafe grumpy on 20th street
+le bergamonte is the utmost amazing french cafe, so much so its dangerous
and i am attempting to avoid the place, but that didn't work today, i had to go
order a pecan pie for tomorrow and i could help but get a croissant, which are unreal.
+i'm really fascinated by this spot, bombay talkie and i'm hoping to try it shortly
grumpy cafe
224 west 20th street, between 7th/8th
le bergamonte
169 ninth ave at 20th street
bombay talkie
189 ninth ave

weekends can be perfect

...with a lobster roll from luke's lobster and tacos from la esquina

rematch

i was sore last october when i didn't receive any recognition of my

whiskey carmel apple pie at Enids annual apple pie bake off...

so, i am in to win this year and i conjured this up during yoga class tonight...

apples baked over a layer of apricot (tsran!) jam in a marzipan/almond crust

that draws formation inspiration (aka swirly bits) from this fall 2009

christopher kane dress.

its on.

be it, drink it

wonderful xocholata milk drink with chalky aftertaste, made on my street

in the nuns bathhouse

when i was half looking, i found caelum. its a wonderful, old school, victorian cafe 

set on site of an old jewish bathhouse. all the treats and sweets served are made 

by nuns and monks all over spain. 

i have to admit, the first time i went, hung out with jasmine tea and corozones coookies,

i seriously thought, 'maybe being a nun and making marzipan cookies and rose elixir in

the mountains of spain is a good gig'

planning to stock up on my return trip.

caelum

c/palla 8

barcelona

in the boca

boqueria market.

did my shopping saturday morning with all the abuelas.

sing into my mouth

i was introduced to this cookbook during my wwofing experience in Andalucia
and had the chance to make a couple of the recipes,
including paella and pea soup with jamon
there is a concentration on dishes from Andalucia and especially those
with a Moroccan influence - it already has a place on my kitchen shelf

eating some sea in cadiz

cadiz by the sea