A Lovely Day in Brooklyn

Saturday was such a sunny and (fairly) warm day so we decided to spend it in Brooklyn! We started our afternoon at Smorgasburg, a weekend outdoor food flea market in Williamsburg with almost 100 different vendors selling all sorts of delectable food and beverages. Since we hadn't eaten anything beforehand, we were super hungry and ready to eat! We started with fries at Home Frite that had been mixed with truffle oil, parmesan and parsley, with a lemon aioli for dipping. The fries were thick cut, perfectly seasoned with a fresh citrus flavor from the aioli. Next up was a small slider size brisket sandwich and pulled pork sandwich from Mighty Quinn's, a BBQ restaurant in the East Village. The pulled pork was really good, but the brisket was awesome. The meat just melted in your mouth, with the right amount of fat and flavor. We can't wait to actually go the restaurant now! Last stop was at Oaxaca, where I picked up two tacos, one with pork carnitas and the other with ceviche. Both were really fresh, with a nice kick of spice and acid from the lime. We made some good choices, ending with a refreshing beer in the beer garden at the center of the space.

As we were heading to our next destination, we had a lucky discovery that OddFellows Ice Cream was on our way! I have been wanting to try their ice cream as they are known for having for creative and wacky flavor combinations. We had a double scoop of burnt marshmallow and the big winner, miso cherry. The miso was very prominent, but not too overpowering, and the macerated cherries added the right amount of sweet and tart. I could eat that flavor of ice cream every day - trust me, I'm not joking.

Our next destination was Radegast Beer Hall, where we had several German beers - hey, we're just doing research for our trip to Europe in the fall! Some friends met us there and we hung around for awhile longer and enjoyed a pretzel because it was National Pretzel Day after all!

Our last stop, and the one I had been waiting for all day, was at a fairly new restaurant called Emily in Clinton Hill. I was drawn to it, of course, by the name, and was even more excited when I heard really great reviews! They are predominantly a pizza place, but also have some pasta dishes and sides/appetizers as well. We ordered the Emily and the Matt pizzas, of which we both agreed the Emily was the clear favorite. Loaded with mozzarella, truffles, pistachios and honey, it was the perfect balance of sweet, savory, salty and earthy. I would go back solely for that pizza. We also had the opportunity to meet one of the owners, Emily, which was a really nice treat!

I can't wait for another fun Brooklyn day, especially as the weather continues to warm up. Where are your favorite places in Brooklyn? Let me know so I can check them out this summer!

Choice Eats

Last week, Matt and I went to the Village Voice's annual event, Choice Eats, where we were able to try dishes from 70+ restaurants, imbibe ourselves with lots of beer, and enjoy some sweet treats too. It was so much fun and we stuffed ourselves silly!

By far, the best dish we tried that night was the beef brisket at Mable's Smokehouse in Williamsburg. The meat was so juicy, tender and full of flavor. I absolutely want to go there now that I know how great they are at smoking meat. 

Some of my other favorite dishes were:

• Black pork curry at Banana Leaf - great flavor from the spices and a nice kick of heat
• Mackerel crudo at Littleneck - refreshing bite of fish, complemented with the herb oil and sesame seeds
• S'mores ice cream at OddFellows Ice Cream Co. - chunks of chocolate and graham cracker mixed throughout, bringing me back to my Girl Scout days by the campfire

I found a great beer, Five Hop ESB, by MOA Brewing Company based in New Zealand. The beer was so smooth, bordering on a bit creamy, and had a subtle honey flavor. I must have gone back at least half a dozen times to get a refill. Luckily, I can find the beer at Whole Foods so I'll be heading there soon!

After having experienced this all-you-can-eat glutton fest, I can't wait for their next event, Choice Streets. Choice Streets is a gathering of food trucks on the Intrepid - how does it get any better than that?! I really hope I'll be able to make it as I have a work trip right around the same time. I highly recommend that you all go and enjoy yourselves because it's bound to be a really fun time!

NYC Wine and Food Festival!

I had an amazing weekend volunteering at the New York City Wine and Food Festival with my friend Aleiya! Despite being completely exhausted today after volunteering at four events in three days, I had a great time seeing so many of my favorite celebrity chefs in person and tasting so much delicious food!

We started the weekend volunteering at Morimoto's Rockin' Dumplings and Rollin' Sushi event. I was so starstruck with the number of celebrity chefs I saw - Robert Irvine, Guy Fieri, Andrew Zimmern, Jacques Torres, and, of course, Masaharu Morimoto! There were also several chefs from Food Network Star - Damaris Phillips, Justin Warner, and the Sandwich King himself, Jeff Mauro! I tried my best to contain my smile and excitement every time I saw one only a few feet away. One of the best moments (other than Justin Warner singing 99 Problems during karaoke) was getting a picture with Morimoto, a foodie's dream come true! We were able to sample all of the dishes as well and the food was fantastic. I was so stuffed as we only had a limited time before going back to volunteering so we made the most of our time.

Masaharu Morimoto, Andrew Zimmern, Jacques Torres and Ming Tsai (pardon the phone photo quality)!

Aleiya and I with Morimoto - amazing!

On Saturday, we volunteered at the Four and Twenty Blackbirds pie making class. This was a quick two hours of our time, registering and guiding attendees to the event itself within the International Culinary Center. Later that night, we volunteered at Bobby Flay's Tacos and Tequila. This event was fantastic, with so many delicious dishes and tequila cocktails. I ate so much that I physically could not fit any more food in my stomach. If only I had more self control!

The Sandwich King! Such a nice guy :)

My final event, which I did on my own, was Dale Talde's Dim Sum Party at Buddakan. There were two floors of dim sum style dishes to try, and although I was only able to try a smaller selection of dishes since it was closer to the end, they were still delicious. My favorite dish was a kabocha squash dumpling with lobster bubble tea - I had three!

It was an amazing and very tiring weekend, but I definitely can't wait to volunteer again next year! I know I'll be sleeping well tonight!

Shacktoberfest!

In celebration of Oktoberfest, Shake Shack has a special menu of delicious German foods, like bratwursts, Polish sausage, and a new burger that has a bratwurst on it...yum! Matt and I couldn't miss the opportunity to chow down on some tasty food and wash it down with an ice cold beer!

I tried the currywurst, which is a Bavarian brat with curry ketchup and crunchy fried shallots. The ketchup was perfectly seasoned with a good kick of curry, but not too much to overwhelm the brat. The shallots added a great crunch and tasted delicious on their own too.

             Currywurst and Shackmeister Ale                   Chedder brat burger and an ice cold Oktoberfest hiding in the background

Matt tried the cheddar brat burger, which is a beef patty topped with a griddled cheddar bratwurst, crispy shallots and ShackSauce. The burger was full of flavor from the perfectly cooked beef patty and juicy cheddar bratwurst, a needed crunch from the fried shallots, and rounded out with the creamy ShackSauce. Mmm, what more could you want on a burger?

                             Ready to dig into that burger                                       Burger love!

I would definitely recommend trying some of their German goodies before they're all gone - you only have until October 13! Guten Appetit!

Date Night: Dish West NYC

It happened. I actually hit my food and beverage limit where I could not consume anything else without feeling like my stomach was going to explode. And it was so worth it. On Friday, Matt and I went to Dish West NYC, a food festival with local restaurants, bakeries, breweries, etc. offering tastings of their food and drink. We tried every single dish and drink (hey, it's all you can eat, after all!) and there were a lot of winning dishes and few flops.

One of the first tastings we really liked was from Lobel's Kitchen, a family-owned company offering gourmet pre-packaged foods and catering. The prime steak sandwich (which was Matt's favorite of the two bites) had a crispy, buttery brioche bun with a really tender piece of prime steak. My personal favorite was the pork cheeks with onion jam, which was so flavorful.

Prime steak sandwich (left) and pork cheeks with onion jam (right)

On to one of the most attractive dishes, which was unfortunately disappointing in flavor and texture. Santa Fe, an upscale Mexican restaurant on the Upper West Side, offered a black bean cake with a mole sauce cooked in and presented on a corn husk. As soon as we saw it, we need we had to try to it. However, the mole sauce was really one note and the black bean cake was too dense and lacked flavor. At least we had a margarita shot to try and kick the dish up a notch!

Oh, and now I can tell you about my favorite restaurant, Say Cheese, and my two favorite dishes of the entire night. Say Cheese offered elevated comfort food that was just delectable and a little outside of the box. First, the mac and cheese with pork belly. It was so creamy with perfectly cooked noodles, and the pork belly just melted in my mouth. I could eat tubs of this mac and cheese - it was just the perfect bite. The most creative dessert at the festival was the deconstructed s'more. The marshmallow was roasted, rolled around in graham cracker crumbs, and stuck onto a pipette filled with milk chocolate. When I took that bite and squeezed the chocolate into my mouth as directed, it was just an explosion of all the flavors you'd expect in a s'more without the mess. I even went back for a second one because it was so delicious. I will definitely be going to this restaurant to try out some of their other comfort foods.

A quick mention of my least favorite dish was the vegetarian hot wing from Atomic Wings. I can't imagine this is just me, but chicken wings are meant to be made with actual chicken. There should not be a wooden stick in a hot wing to imitate a chicken bone. As soon as I took that first bite, I realized what a mistake I had made. It did not have any resemblance in flavor or texture of chicken, just spongy, soggy soy product. Stay away!

Rounding out the evening was dessert. Chellaoui Chocolatier provided Peruvian chocolate ganache that was so creamy and decadent that I had multiple pieces. I couldn't help myself! The other bakery that provided multiple delicious desserts was Westville. The pumpkin whoopie pie was moist, a good ratio of cookie to icing, and had a great spicy, pumpkin flavor that really lingered in my mouth. My favorite tasting from this restaurant/bakery was their blueberry pie. The crust was so flaky and the blueberry filling was juicy, sweet and just the right level of tartness.

We had so much good food and drinks (thanks Chelsea Brewing Company!) that I wish we could have been carried home because we were so unbelievably stuffed. It was so worth it and I can't wait to go to some of these establishments and try more of their dishes.