Friday, October 28, 2011

Gravy

Gravy
Location: 32 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010
(212) 600-2105
Hours: Sun, Sat 5pm–12am; Mon-Fri 4pm–12am
Southern cooking by Chef Vignola, who you may remember from the show Chopped.





















Well, I bought a Groupon special invited some guests and went to the restaurant on a Sunday evening for dinner.

The picture on the left is the fried green tomatoes with goat cheese. This was delicious, green tomatoes usually have a more acidic flavor that can be described as tangy, different than red sweet tomatoes and in combination with the goat cheese which is creamy and tart, I thought this went nicely. I would have this again! The right is their table share Charcuterie, which really hit the spot on so many levels. There were so many combinations of meats and pickled items that I enjoyed and my guests did too. For dinner we shared the grits three ways, mac and cheese and the corn flake crusted chicken. Now, first thing I thought of when I saw the corn flake chicken was that recipe that used to be on the back of the Kellogg's corn flake box and I remember begging my mother to make it...and I never begged her again because it was terrible. So, I approached this choice with some trepidation and surprisingly it was nothing like the corn flake box recipe. The chicken was juicy and the flakes were crunchy and not too sweet.

Well, the meal overall was very good. I would go again except next time I am hoping to try some of the seafood recipes.

The staff was also very attentive and helpful with suggestions.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Banh mi from Foodie

Banh mi Pork Meat Balls
I live for banh mi. There is just something about toasted bread filled with meat and veggies. Today we ordered from Foodie and we all got something different. However, I decided to go for the banh mi (which just translate to bread in vietnamese) pork meat balls. The #6 banh mi is filled with julienned pickled carrots and daikon, seasoned cooked pork meat (they're more like a soft pate than meat balls), cilantro and drizzled with a hot sauce (sriracha hot sauce). 
The carrots and daikon radish is julienned and then left to pickle in fish sauce, sugar and water. They become really tasty and even I, who does not like veggies too much, eat this mix happily. But in a sandwich, it makes the sammich way way better!!! The pork meat balls are made of pork and seasoning - however, these are so soft, that they are mushed in the sammich! Add just a bit of cilantro, cucumber, and hot sauce and there you have it. The best tasting pork 'meat ball' sammich ever!
So good - up close look.
You have to just try it. It is absolutely delicious! Unless of course, you are allergic to pork or any of the ingredients in the sammich!

Foodie is part of the Boi empire but it is the East Side counterpart. They deliver with a $10 minimum and any first orders online come with a 15% off the total. They also have a frequent eater program where 6 points (1 point per delivery) means $5 off your next order.

Foodie
246 East 44th Street
bet. 2nd & 3rd Avenues
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212.681.6541

And that was my lunch for today!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sweet corn chowder of my dreams...

I didn't feel like much so David and I head to the Bagel Cafe which is across from the main campus. They have some of the best soups but my favorite is the sweet corn chowder, which on a chilly day like today, makes me feel all warm and toasty.
This version is not tomato based like at Hale and Hearty even though it is a Hale and Hearty soup - at least according to the cafe.
It is slightly creamy with potato, bacon bits, herbs, and of course, corn! It has the sweetness of the corn and is stomach filling of the potato with the salty bit of bacon. It is truly one of the best soups for a chilly day!

NY Bagels & Cafe
429 587 1st Ave (bet. 33rd & 34th )
New York, NY 10016
212.725.3777

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Grub Street aka Hester street

Today was one of those perfect autumn days where the sunshine made up for the slight chill in the air.
KA was meeting me at the fair but she was running late so I went around Ctown a bit.
I found out that Elizabeth Street Math is frigging dangerous if you have cash. And if you knit as there is a tiny shop selling yarn. I picked up four skeins of a turquoise-ish green yarn made of baby alpaca wool from Peru. Someone is getting a scarf next year.
Anyway I decide to head out quick and end up at the fair waiting for KA. Did I mention how dangerous it is? I hopped in for a quick look and ended up with 3 soaps from Filthy Farmgirl which I thought was cool until later when KA found out the vendor doesn't even know where they supposedly made the soap. FYI there are more islands than just the big one!
So to save my wallet, I decided to leave and wait for KA outside of Hester Street...and good thing I did. When she arrived, we walked through the 'Bier Garden' part which was no food but a space to vend and sit for food and beer of course! We passed by the vintage shops, the jewelry until we see WinkandFlip where KA buys a pretty stretchy bracelet in clear stones. She also bought me my Christmas gift - a lovely green stoned necklace! It is really pretty!!
Then we stopped by a scarf spot, more jewelry, vintage stuff, and we left 'Bier Garden' for Grub Street! Aptly shown by the little sign stuck on the fence...Oh and excuse the pics but I took it with my iPhone 4s so it might be blurry from my shakiness in trying to get the shot before the people passed them..
KA and I went into the Grub Street Fair, which was really just in the running track of the Hester Street Co-op.

We could not decide where to go so we started at the loop and went north. We saw Lush Candy but decided not to get it as it was just too much open air on the candy. Then we saw Mrs. Kimchi and though we wanted it - we love spicy; we decided to skip it so our taste buds can accurately pick up the tastes in the other food. :) We bypassed also, the pizza place which was COOL, I mean it was baked on the premises!!, Daisy BBQ, a lemonade stand (which later on, had this HUGE line...and I mean it was just a long-ass line...I hope it was worth the wait!) Instead we ended up at La Sonrisa, which had five types of empanadas - Curry Coconut Chicken, Classic Beef, Pulled Pork, Roasted Chicken and Vegetarian... KA bought the Curry at $3.50 and I bought the Pulled Pork - also $3.50. It was a tiny empanada for the price..but it was good. KA mentioned her empanada was a sweet curry. Sweet curry is not our usual curry - usually spice is the rule. Mine was a lovely crispy pulled pork and it was not the best seasoned pulled pork but it was still okay.
Pulled Pork Empanada
Curry Coconut Empanada

Pulled Pork Empanada Upclose and Personal
So after we got our super hot empanadas, KA mentioned Teriyaki balls. Of course, you know this was a must to try!!So we got on line and looked ahead.
One of the Girls making the Taiyaki-like Teriyaki balls.

You know of course, we had the same humor as juveniles...;) Balls, etc. But juvie jokes aside, we pondered on the serious matter of what to get. For sure, you see, they had Shrimp, Sausage, and Potato. 6 for $6 or the special which was $8 for the 6 balls and a soup thingy. Yeah, sorry, I didn't pay *that* much attention, ok? We decided if they let us, to have 2 of each. Now, remember, these are *not* large balls. Each doughy concoction had 1 shrimp or some pieces of sausage or potato.
KA's Blurry Balls with Sriracha Sauce
Less Blurry but Not Spicy Balls

So, we couldn't tell what was what at first. The shrimp was in the middle as I plowed my way through - so the first ball I ate was not very tasty even with the teriyaki sauce on it. Fail! The next ball was the shrimp and it was pretty good. I don't think they seasoned the filling enough. The last were potato. which I could tell were potato as I bit into it because it was cube of potato. Now...I've had taiyaki. Those are lovely tasty bits of octopi in cooked dough. However, these teriyaki balls were just not that great. The shrimp balls were hands down our favorite and that doesn't say a whole lot for the balls. They were for the most part, bland. Sausage is one of the tastiest meats concoctions on earth and they managed to make it really bland. I was a bit disappointed but I can tell you one thing. These suckers expanded in your stomach, making it almost impossible to eat anything else. So, if you should see these balls at another food fair, save it for last or skip it - because the starch is explosive! It's like if you were on a diet, you would want to eat these because they make you not hungry for many hours!! Trust me, even the aroma of bbq did not make me salivate. And that's saying alot...although - we stopped by Macaron Parlour, who sells to Lily O'Brien's across from Bryant Park @ 43 Street:
Macaron Parlour - Wedding Tip Jar included
Earl Grey and Matcha Macarons
I actually saved the matcha but KA got a coffee one and it was okay, I suppose. I quite liked my Earl Grey one but I did wonder why it was blue...I mean...Earl Grey...is not blue. It tasted and smelled like Earl Grey tea so I was pretty pleased with it. I could go with less sugar though. I wasn't as pleased with the matcha, which I had when I was home. It was not really tasting like matcha, and I love matcha! (Green tea powder) Macaron Parlour had many unique to them flavors like Canadian Bacon and Maple Syrup, S'mores, etc. I didn't try all because they were bit too pricey at $2.50 each. But that's okay, because then we hit...Stuffed Artisan Cannolis!!!
Stuffed Artisan is not @ Stanton anymore!
 Sorry for the wrinkled bag but I bought them, but full from the empanada, balls, and macaron, I saved them for later...much...later. Are you ready for the flavors?!
Pistachio, Loco Coco, and Original
Okay, so I'll let you know how they tasted when I finally had them late late at 8:30 p.m. Lol. The original was just original. I think I like Veniero's better. However...the loco coco was delicious!! I mean, super yum! It had flakes of coconut over a coconut driven base of filling. Divine. As was the pistachio, which was super super yum. I tasted the pistachio.All three were not as sweet as I thought they would be but..truth be told, my taste buds were sugared out from the whole day. Both were total score!!

We also passed by the Purple Yam booth. Interesting but we could not handle a plate of the goodies they had. See below:
Purple Yam Got the goods but we got no room!
But timeline wise, after we hit the cannoli booth, we walked past the other places and there was an intriguing stand of artisan ice cream sandwiches - red velvet etc. But we resisted and went to ....tada! Big Gay Ice Cream Truck!!! They have a store front now.

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck
Salty Pimp
So, we're on the long-ass line (which got longer after so I'm so glad we went when we did) and we're chatting...you know...and then we get closer to the truck. The young lady who *was* working for the BGICT just got the red-eye from Cali and went straight to work without sleep - dropped at her apt, changed (hopefully) and came out. Lol. We paid her for our Salty Pimps. Now, forgive me, Big Gay Ice Cream people but I always mixed it up with the dog. Lol. So I said Salty dog, then I did a double take and said Pimp. Dude thought I said cock and was laughing and we were laughing but I said had it been the line for a salty cock, I was sure that it would be triple the line for their ice cream. Lol. I think he got annoyed but he was no Soup Nazi so I still got my ice cream! KA could not eat it fast enough as it was dripping all over. But mine was pretty neat - it didn't spill on my new coat so that's like awesome. :) It was well worth the wait. The waffle cone was coated with dulce de leche then filled with ice cream, dripped with more dulce, then sea salt and then dipped into chocolate! I love sea salt chocolate bars so this was way yummy. Way way yummy. Despite the fact that the dude made fun, I enjoyed it lots! Great going, Big Gay Ice Cream people! I was tempted to buy soap that was named Dirty Penis and give it to them but I resisted. Resisted, I say!
So we walked out of the fair and ended up walking to Stuy town. We passed by a thrift shop but there was nothing in there that were not Halloweenish. :) 

Once we got up to Stuy town, KA asked if I wanted a real drink and we debated between Vamos or La Petite Abeille. We went to Petite Abeille and she got white wine and I had to debate among the beers. Of course you know, I chose the Framboise which is of course, raspberry filled and delicious and just a tad too easy going down.We're talking the time away and got a second drink which I decided for this Abbey thing right off. Then I show KA how to foursquare. They have specials and where to get them so it is not so bad to foursquare!

Forgot to take pic!!! Framboise Beer stain!
Omm-something Abbey. Yum.
Then it got later and I was like hey, do you want to eat something? And so KA goes on about the mussels and so we told our waiter that we wanted mussels - entree size since we were sharing. We wait a bit and the people behind us had an appetizer sized mussels which were so delicious smelling that we were totally salivating. KA went on about the pommes frites and so we asked the waiter and he says they came with it... Great. :)

So it arrives, hot  as you can see below in a pot. Only they forgot the utensils...so I said to KA...how about...ummm...utensils and she was like laughing like do we just eat with our fingers? One of the staff passed and he smiled and said would you like utensils with that and we were like...yes please lol.

Pot de mussels in vino blanco sauce. Ha! It was good!
Yes, people, stare with envy at the above pot of mussels. The sauce was at the bottom so we had to mix it up a bit more but it was so delicious, we didn't mind we had to ask for plates either...Really, PA staff...we might look like we're not civilized people but we do like plates, utensils and napkins!!

pommes frites - superb crunchy outside, soft inside, super hot.
The pommes frites came a while after and it was just absolutely divine. Crispy outside, soft inside; so delicious!!! I love it. KA, you were right! It was fantastic!
Demolished Pot of Mussels
Remnants of the bread we had to ask for to go with our left over sauce. Yum!
The sauce when you got it, was light and tasty with, I believe, white wine, parsley, celery (?) and whatever else they used to make it a good compliment for the clean delicious moules. Moules are some of my favorite foods so... It isn't that hard to make me happy with this.

So with that we ended our long day of nibbling. Nothing beats a beer, moules au vin and pommes frites after a day of walking in crisp autumn wind on a sunny day.

La Sonrisa

Food Truck:
Harbor Side Btw 2nd St. and Christopher Columbus St., Jersey City, NJ

Hester Street Fair:
Hester St. and Essex St.,
New York, NY

Catering and special events:
www.LaSonrisa.me info@lasonrisa.com


Macaron Parlour
Hester Street Fair
Every Saturday from 10 am-6 pm: Hester Street and Essex Street

Lily O'Brien's
36 West 40th Street, between 5th & 6th Aves.
Across from Bryant Park

Stuffed Artisan Cannolis
Stanton Street is closed but follow on Twitter and Facebook to find their pop-up locations and also their new store opening.

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck
125 E 7th St
New York NY 10009
212-533-9333

Follow them on Twitter for locations of their truck.

Petite Abeille
401 East 20th Street, Stuy Town
212.727.1505

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Not a foodie place

So yesterday I totally forget to post food pics of Foodie, where we went for lunch.
This place is Nic and Rania's favorite lunch spot, which we found out about through the baby lady, Victoria. They have the most awesome banh mi which are sandwiches, Vietnamese style.
However, this post is about our noodle pilgrimage. We got the shrimp noodles, which came in a paper bowl, so large that I left half. The noodles are rice vermicelli which are super thin noodles, topped off with bok choy, cilantro, garlic, hot sauce, and really well cleaned shrimp. Not small baby shrimp but large shrimp. And the broth is clear like my mother makes with a clean and perfectly seasoned taste. It is not oily and the spiciness clears out your sinuses. I also was warm for the entire chilly walk back to work.

Foodie is between 2nd and 3rd Aves, on 44th Street.

The picture is of David slurping his own noodles.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Quickie lunch

I had no idea what to eat so I ended up getting the Virgin chicken from Best Wingers on 2nd Ave and 38th St. I took a picture after I quartered it and ate a portion but at least you see the chicken. It is fried battered and flattened chicken breast with their own sauce, ketchup, lettuce on a roll. I removed the tomato. It is nicely seasoned and tasty but not for everyday.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Lack thereof...

Sorry for lack of posts but we should be blogging soon...and even Bubbles may blog. O_O