The Amazing "Engagement" Race

This has been a tough week for us healthwise.  First B got sick and then passed it onto me.  I was running a high fever on Friday night and he was desperately trying to get me better and now I know why!

On Sunday morning he asked if I felt well enough to go get some pho in Chinatown.  I was on the mend and pho always cures what ails you, so of course I agreed.  I thought it was kind of curious that he wanted to bring his backpack with us but he said it was just in case we bought groceries which, in my sick state, seemed perfectly reasonable. 

It was rainy out so we took the subway to Nha Trang, one of our favorite pho places.  After we ordered he said he had a gift for me.  Hmmm, curious.  I have a couple of Momiji message dolls and he had gotten me a new one -- Silly Billy -- but told me there was a catch and I would have to play along.  He said it was like the Amazing Race and I would get $60 for this leg.  I had to give him a 10 minute head start and then I could read the message that was tucked inside the Momiji doll for my next clue.  FUN!  He made his way out and I settled the bill and opened my first clue: 

"You need to run, run and get to one of your favorite locations in HK.  I'll be waiting for you with chips made just right, so hurry, hurry!!"

I figured it could be one of two places in Hell's Kitchen:  Arriba Arriba or Empanada Mama.  Arriba makes my favorite nachos in NYC - simple, no frills, so I figured I would go there first.  I did a quick map on my phone and headed for the subway.  Excited that the Q train came so quickly I hopped on only to discover that I was going the wrong way!  Doh!!  Rookie mistake to get on the train headed for Brooklyn but at least I got to cross the Brooklyn bridge.  :)  It took me a while to figure out how to get back to Hell's Kitchen so I sent B a quick text that I was a little lost.  I finally got there and the food had just arrived with yet another Momiji doll and another clue.  This time Giggles had 2 clues:

A picture of a blue box
AND
"Jump on the train or catch a cab to one of our favorite weeknight locations for "big" tasty rolls.  I'll be waiting for you next to iron Godzilla with a "big" drink. 

This had to be Monster Sushi which is close to our place and they have a collection of godzilla figurines.  I gave him a 10 minute head start and made my way to the 1 train.  I timed it just right because I made it just as the train was approaching the platform.  Imagine my surprise when 2 stops later B gets in the same car.  Hmmm, I wasn't sure if this was part of the scavenger hunt or if he screwed up?  Hah!  He got on the wrong train and now I had caught up with him.  Oopsy.  At Monster we still sat by the iron godzilla and while I was in the restroom he got the next clue ready.  Coco's clue said:

A picture of an iron
AND
"The theme of the day is probably becoming quite clear, so a quick jaunt back north will complete this favorite fix: be it pepperoni, mushroom, or even a broccoli rabbe.  Can't beat the beat deal in NYC, at least for Brooklyn lager."

There's a really good pizza place a block away from our apartment that does $10 pitchers of Brooklyn lager - we always say it's the best deal in town.  So I walked up there and sure enough he was waiting and had put in a pizza order.  Holy cow, I was already so full -- pho, nachos, a sushi roll, and now pizza!  We each had a slice and then I ran the rest of the pizza up to the apartment before heading off to the next place.  This time Happy's clue said:

A picture of Zoe from Sesame Street the day we saw them in Madison Square Park
AND
"I would be remiss if we didn't stop by your home state staple.  Although the brisket may not compare to Snow's, it does have some pretty pictures to remind us what BBQ should be and does supply a decent slice of bread."

This was easy.  Hill Country BBQ right across the street from our place.  I dropped off the pizza and said hello to the kitties before I headed over.  B was waiting at the bar with some brisket and sausage from Kreuz's.  YUM.  I was full, but still managed to eat some of it.  Fun fun!!!  My next clue came from Soul:

A picture of an Antony Gormley statue - one of many that have started appearing all over Madison Square Park
AND
"Now that you have all the clues, come find me in a place which we love and used to sit and talk about our future in the big city.  Oh, you won't have to wait in line, I promise."

When we were apartment hunting, Madison Square Park was what sold me on our current apartment.  It's a cute community park and Shake Shack is right in the middle of it.  The line is always long, but it's worth the wait for the hamburgers, so I dropped off our BBQ leftovers at the apartment and headed over to the park.  I was pretty sure this was the last clue since the pictures were:  a square, a flatiron, Sesame Street, and the Gormley statue.  As I was walking toward Shake Shack I could see B waiting for me next to a fountain and he gave me a big hug and said he had a question to ask me. 

Teehee, that was it.  He got down on one knee in the rain and asked me to marry him.  I of course said yes!  What a fun day - the whole day it felt like we were the only two people in the city.  We picked up some champagne on the way home, called our families and enjoyed the little adventure we had.

Le Bernardin

Yesterday was my birthday and B was generous enough to treat me to a meal by famed chef, Eric Ripert. A dear friend had given me Ripert's Return to Cooking years ago as a gift. After trying several of the recipes, we were excited to see what it was "really" supposed to taste like. We had reservations at Le Bernardin for 7:45 and it was all I could think about at work that day! Below are my impressions of the meal.

To Start

AMUSE BUCHE  
Oyster with foam and black truffle oil 
I wish I could remember exactly what was in this. Neither of us could understand the waiter at first, perhaps from the excitement of finally being there and the anticipation of dining at a 3-Michelin-star restaurant. All we could make out was that it was an oyster (location was mentioned, but again, couldn’t understand), some kind of foam (it was brown), sauteed vegetables of some sort, and the truffle oil. Whatever was in it, this was the most delicious little bite and a great way to start out our meal.


BREADS 
Selection of various breads: sourdough, wheat, olive, and 2 others I don’t recall.
Breads were offered next and we tried the sourdough and olive bread. Both good especially with yummy French butter. Why is French butter so much better than what you get here?

Chef’s Tasting Menu

TUNA  
Smoked yellowfin tuna “prosciutto”; Japanese pickled vegetables (daikon) and crispy kombu
A nice, light start to the tasting menu. The portion was actually larger than we expected. The fish was so fresh tasting (like sashimi, but more firm) and the daikon and crispy seaweed added so much texture to each bite.

EGG – CAVIAR  
Poached pastured egg; Osetra caviar; mariniere brother and English muffin
This was amazingly delicious and simple. Even the English muffin was perfectly toasted. I guess this is an Eric Ripert specialty and should be on every menu. Perfectly poached egg – nice and runny, just the way I like it. Topped with caviar and then finished at the table with the broth. Once you break the egg open in the broth, it’s like a rich soup which is perfect to dip the strips of muffin to sop up all the goodness.

LANGOUSTINE
Seared langoustine, mache, wild mushroom salad; shaved foie gras; white balsamic vinaigrette
This too was delicious. The vinaigrette was delicate and added just the right amount of acid to balance the richness of the mushrooms and foie gras. I was surprised that it wasn’t too bright as vinaigrettes tend to be. B felt like the foie gras was too overpowering for the sweetness of the langoustine. The earthiness was like eating country pate. But I love country pate.   :)

MONKFISH
Pan roasted monkfish; hon shimeji mushrooms; turnip-ginger emulsion; sake broth
Mmmm, this dish definitely had Asian notes with the ginger. The mushrooms especially, took on the gingery flavor. It may be possible that these cute little mushrooms stole the show as far as this dish goes. Again, the dish was finished at the table with the sake broth and it all worked nicely. Balanced, but still delicately flavored.

BLACK BASS
Crispy black bass; braised celery and parsnip custard; Iberico ham-green peppercorn sauce
This was my least favorite dish of the evening. The entire dish was incredibly meaty to me after having such delicate and well-balanced courses before. The ham flavor definitely came through in the sauce, not so much the peppercorns. The fish itself was delicious, but again, very meaty. There was a generous portion so I had to donate the rest of the fish to B to finish for me. As for the parsnip custard, it was actually really interesting. Normally I don’t like parsnip, but the bottom of the custard was coated with a layer of flan, so mixing it up gave a nice mix of salty and sweet. Much better than I was expecting.

LOBSTER  
Baked lobster on a bed of truffled foie gras stuffing; brandy red wine sauce
This dish was SO rich, but delicious. Even with foie gras and a very strong wine sauce, the sweetness of the lobster still came through and all of the other flavors didn’t overpower the delicate meat. The portion again, was huge – one Maine lobster tail and one claw (the tail was better and probably would have been enough). B still prefers crab over lobster and found the texture to be a little tougher than he expected. I thought it was delicious, but again I had to share with B because I was so stuffed. J

CHEVRE  
Creamy goat cheese spheres, concord grape, candied walnut, black pepper
OMG, what a surprise the cheese course was. I cannot describe it in any way to do this dish justice. The spheres had the most interesting texture – soft and moist little orbs of goat cheese. The grapes were perfect with it. Such a lovely surprise – maybe one of my favorite courses of the evening. So simple with clean flavors that married well together.

CORN-PRALINE  
Caramelized corn custard, hazelnut praline, brown butter ice cream, popcorn tuile
This was different and not what I expected. The custard was okay. I was so full at this point, I just ate the praline and ice cream which were delicious. The popcorn flavor did not come through on the tuile. It actually just seemed like a thin, crispy sugar wafer.

Extras

EXTRA SPECIAL BIRTHDAY DESSERT
White chocolate passion fruit cheesecake with passion fruit sorbet
The plating was beautiful with a skinny tapered candle and Happy Birthday scrawled in chocolate on the plate. The cheesecake and sorbet were incredible with fresh, bright flavors. I actually didn’t notice the white chocolate too much, but the waiter made it sound like there was just a thin white chocolate “wash” over the top of the cheesecake. Delicious!

EVEN MORE SWEETS  
Petits fours – miniature bites of pistachio tarts with cherry and cream puffs 
Ugh, we definitely didn’t need any more food at this point, but we tried them all. After all, they were teeny tiny little bites of goodness. I thought the cream puffs tasted very much like cereal milk. In fact, I went so far as to say it tasted like Lucky Charms marshmallows. This is not a bad thing, just unexpected. The pistachio tarts were good, but I was so done eating.

WINES
Muscadet ‘Close des Briords’, Pepiere, Loire 2008 
Riesling Feinherb, Karthauserhof, Mosel, Germany 2008 
We had the first two whites with the first four courses in the tasting menu. Well chosen and within our budget too. The Riesling had nice floral notes without being too fruity or too cloyingly sweet.

Rioja, Reserve ‘Vina Ardanza’, La Rioja Alta, Spain 2000
Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy, France 2006
The two reds paired with the last four courses of the tasting menu. The burgundy was great with the food, but the rioja had nice body and could definitely stand on its own, even with a meaty steak.

Chateau La Rame, Reserve, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, France 1998
This dessert wine came with the birthday dessert and petit fours. I mentioned that I liked sauternes and she came up with a glass of this stuff. Delicious with strong notes of black tea.

SERVICE
A quick note on service. It was efficient and friendly. I love service that is unobtrusive and you don’t even notice when they give you new silverware or refill your water. The sommelier was so helpful and not at all snooty. She knew we were on a budget and worked within those limits to deliver some nice wines for us.  The waiter described in detail each and every course. And they took care not to serve any cocoa because of B’s allergy. We were excited to see Eric Ripert himself come out to the floor, but alas, he didn't stop at our table.

AMBIENCE
The setting is pretty, but very corporate feeling. I would say most people dining there looked like they came straight from a business meeting. There were a handful of “special occasion looking” couples.  Not my favorite decor, but it didn't detract from the entire experience.  Noise levels were reasonable – not too quiet, not too noisy. Tables are arranged in such a way that is intimate and private.  Our dinner lasted about 2 1/2 hours but the time flew by and we really enjoyed ourselves.  I had been to a few similar tasting menu dinners but this was B's first and I think it's safe to say, it will not be his last!

I left not impressed by the decadence of it all, but by just how good simple and delicate flavors can be.  Ripert seems to have a great respect for the main ingredient and lets the seafood shine.  What a great birthday!

Mesa Grill

We went to Mesa Grill on Saturday evening and I’ll just cut to the chase: While nothing was terribly bad (save one side dish), I have satisfied my curiosity and will not be rushing back anytime soon.

We have been curious about this place for a long time, seeing Flay on the Food Channel in Iron Chef and his Throwdown show. I had really high hopes to find a good southwestern style restaurant near home, but I just don't think this is it. Why can't NYC get this right?? And don't get me started on Mexican, Cal-Mex, or Tex-Mex!

To drink:

Pear cactus margarita. Nothing special, just a margarita that was pink. When we sat down we were only given a wine menu and had to ask about cocktails. I would think a place like that would have given you both.

To eat:

We shared a bunch of dishes and that worked pretty well.

Bread basket. Everyone raves about this bread basket in reviews. I thought the cornbread muffins had good flavor, but they were dry and crumbly. The rosemary bread was good but seemed out of place. In the end, not 100% sure what was so great about the bread basket.

Blue corn pancake with barbecued duck + habanero chile-star anise sauce ($14). Supposedly one of Flay’s signature dishes. It was very heavy on the star anise/five spice powder flavoring, lacking in the habanero department, and seemed more appropriate for a nice Chinese restaurant than a Southwestern place. This was not my favorite and with one little taco at $14, seemed out of place and overly-priced hype.

Shrimp + roasted garlic corn tamale with fresh corn + cilantro sauce ($15). This was recommended as another of Flay’s signature dishes and was more successful than the prior. I especially liked the tamale with strong sweet corn flavors although still a tad disappointed that the shrimp was over cooked and tough.

New Mexican spice rubbed pork tenderloin with bourbon-ancho chile sauce + sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter ($29). I think this was the most successful dish of the evening. I know meat is Flay’s sweet spot and the pork was perfectly cooked. I even liked the chile sauce which was very close to being a too sweet, too thick barbecue sauce, but had just the right mix of flavors to compliment the pork. Funny, I didn’t realize the tamale was supposed to have sweet potatoes and pecan butter until re-reading the menu description. It tasted very similar to the first tamale we had. Haha. It was good, but nothing like the description.

Brussels sprouts with toasted pecans + pomegranate seeds ($7). This was horribly, horribly disappointing. You could not taste anything but the overly sour pomegranate juice that they used to braise the vegetables. Brussels sprouts are normally one of my favorite side dishes and I only had one bite of it. Even B couldn’t finish it off. Disappointing doesn't even come close to describing this dish.

We decided to skip dessert given the average meal we already had. Besides, nothing looked all that appealing, even on paper.

On a positive note, service was decent. Our server wasn’t the most attentive, but other servers in her area picked up her slack. The restaurant is huge by NYC standards and the ambiance is festive. He still packs ‘em in so he is either doing something right, or America’s taste buds have lowered their standards. I'm sure there's a fair number of patrons who were also enthralled by Flay's celebrity and were as curious as we were. We walked home happy to have tried it but wondered how on earth Flay wins so many Iron Chef battles!

Keens Steakhouse

For B's birthday, I did what any good girlfriend would do and took him to a steakhouse for dinner.  Mind you, I'm not really a steak kind of girl - I was a vegetarian for years and although I do eat meat now, I still don't really ever eat steak.  So this was a real experience for me.

The decor at Keens Steakhouse is exactly what you would imagine an old-school steakhouse to look like, even in the middle of Manhattan's Herald Square which is now just a bunch of cheap chain stores and of course, the home to Macy's flagship.  Dark wood, dim lighting and a huge collection of old pipes lining the low ceiling made for an intimate dinner.  Keens feels old timey, but in a good way.

I knew the steak would be more food than I could handle, so I skipped the appetizer and went straight for the "Legendary Mutton Chop".  B got his favorite...Aged Prime New York Sirloin.  On the side, we ordered the fine string beans and french fries.  Normally I would have gotten the baked potato but the couple next to us had the fries and they looked awesome!

A 2005 Frank Bruni review of Keens in the New York Times describes the mutton chop as "a 26-ounce saddle of lamb, skirted with fat and nearly two inches tall, can wear whatever label it pleases, because it provides about as much pleasure as a carnivore could want." and I have to agree.  This hunk of lamb (not sheep) was HUGE and DELICIOUS, perfectly cooked in the middle and slightly charred on the outside.  It didn't taste gamey at all, but there was distinct lamb flavor and the meat was juicy and tender.  For this big-hunk-of-red-meat-once-a-year girl, I made good work of it! 

B is definitely the steak expert in our house and he still talks about the steak he had at Peter Luger's more than 10 years ago, so I was curious to see how Keens stacked up.  He said the New York Sirloin was a tasty and memorable steak, but not the best he's ever had.  Now we need to go back to Lugers to compare. 

For birthday dessert we got the New York cheesecake and it was REAL cheesecake with REAL cheese.  Mmmm mmmm good. 

The wine list had varied options of mostly "big reds", but nice to see a steakhouse offer a wide price range to accommodate most budgets.  The service was efficient, gracious and friendly - not at all stuffy.  The crowd was surprisingly diverse.  I always picture these places to be full of older white men drinking scotch, but on this particular evening there was a mix of couples, families, and groups of friends - young and old - tourists and locals alike.

A jaunt across the pond...the flight from hell and beyond

A close friend got married in Oxford over the Thanksgiving weekend and gave us a good excuse to fly across the pond and escape the grind for a few days. We left on Wednesday evening on the worst flight ever. Not bad because the weather or the airplane or anything, bad because we had the most obnoxious tour group traveling with us. They couldn't sit still for a minute and repeatedly disregarded warnings from the flight crew. Frustrating to say the least, but we arrived London safe and sound early Thursday morning to a beautifully sunny day and the flight was soon forgotten.

Rather than pay for the Heathrow Express, we decided to take the tube -- cheaper and it would give Sue some time to wake up. Our reasoning forgot one important thing: rush hour in London. Ugh, the crush of people with all of our bags was a nightmare, but we managed to get to Sue's in due time. The crazy thing about flying to London from NYC is that it's only about 6 hours, so even if you get a nap in, it won't be enough to get you through the following day. We were exhausted and still had to meet the wedding crew for Thanksgiving dinner, so we (smartly) decided to wander around Greenwich and stay close. Besides, B had never been to Greenwich and it was the perfect day for the Home of Time.

Greenwich Park from the Royal Observatory:
The Royal Observatory sitting atop a hill in the park:
GMT!


After Greenwich we made our way to the other side of the hill and over to Blackheath. It had gotten cold at that point and we were both so tired, we just had lunch and headed back to Sue's for a nap. No photos of our Thanksgiving dinner that night. We met at the Founders Arms Pub on the south bank and got a chance to meet some other wedding guests. We had a nice time, but by 8:30 we were both pooped and headed back to Sue's.

The next morning we slept in and wasted half the day, but still managed to get to one of my favorite spots for lunch. Despite being FREEZING out, Borough Market was still hopping:
If only I had more money...


Huge paella pans:
We just missed the pheasant:
Looking across the Thames toward St Peter's:
Look how clean St Peter's is!!


A much-needed (pub) break from the cold:
Holiday shopping at Oxford Circus:
That evening we met up with Sue for a night out in Greenwich -- drinks at Bar du Musee and dinner at Mogul. We didn't get too crazy because we had an early wake up call for Oxford. I'll post more on the wedding later, but here are some shots of the next day wandering around Oxford. The weather was awful - cold and wet and windy. I wasn't feeling too hot either, so overall it was the most miserable day. I felt bad for B having to lug me around, but I was glad to see Oxford for the first time.

Amnesty bridge:
The Thames:


Ponies!

The garden in front of Christ Church:
High Street Oxford:
After a cold and damp day in Oxford, we took the train back to London for our final night. We stayed at a hotel near Victoria and ran into RWhy's sis, brother in law, and aunt on the train. Small world! The weather was still miserable in London so we just had a nice Indian meal, some pints at the local pub, and then early to bed. Paradise Indian Restaurant was a nice surprise -- yummy and reasonably priced, plus very close to the hotel.

Monday we woke up decently early and ventured out into the cold. We didn't have much time before meeting up with Jamie & Ellie for lunch, so we just saw the sites along the way.

Carnaby Street in Soho. Some peace, love, and Christmas theme going on:
Chinatown London, pretty weak compared to the likes of SF, Vancouver, NYC, but Chinatown nonetheless:
Some festivities we came across in Chinatown:

Met Jamie & Ellie in Trafalgar Square and witnessed this madness going on. Putting up a ginormous Christmas tree in front of the National Gallery:
After lunch we got our luggage and made our way to the airport. Before we knew it, the trip was over and we were back to reality. But it was fun while it lasted!

Goin' to the chapel

RWhy and A's wedding was located on a sustainable farm just outside of Oxford. It was tricky to find, but luckily RWhy had given us all the post code which our driver handily plugged into the GPS and off we went. It was chilly out, but the little barn was cozy and warm. I won't say more, but the wedding really represented the happy couple very well and we had a great time. So glad we could share that special day with them. Some photos from the big day:

Planes...no, just trains and automobiles

Early Saturday morning we set off for a much-needed Columbus Day weekend getaway to the Hudson River Valley. The trip started off with a train from Grand Central Station:

The unfortunate coffee spill on the train:
View from the train which follows the Hudson River. It was dark and gloomy that morning, but shaped up to be a beautiful day.
There were no hotels to be found, so we stopped for a gut buster lunch in Cornwall-on-Hudson. I guess Prima Pizza delivers anywhere in the US:

After lunch, we headed over to the Storm King Art Center. Besides the autumn foliage, this was a must-see for me and it did not disappoint. Typical Hudson Valley lanes:

This is a view of the South Fields with a series of Mark di Suvero sculptures. The clouds were amazing:
Menashe Kadishman's Suspended from afar:
Just a small part of Kenneth Snelson's Free Ride Home set against the bluest sky:
I loved the contrast between the blue skies and the autumn leaves. In the foreground here is a sculpture by Louise Nevelson:
The half dollar chair! Just next to it was a chair made only of nickels:
Not sure who the artist was, but again, beautiful blue skies and green, green grass make for the most amazing backdrops:
Picture perfect:
This was a special exhibit of Maya Lin's Bodies of Water. They closed off the sculpture due to grass erosion so we could only view it from a distance:
Yay, I love Andy Goldsworthy. Me at part of the Storm King Wall which snakes along for 2,278 feet:


Worm's eye view of di Suvero:

The Bug got us around all weekend:
No photos of our first dinner in Rhinebeck. Starr Place Restaurant was nice but not *too* nice and the food was fantastic. I had a really nice pan-seared trout with pumpkin risotto. The risotto was sooooo good. B had pork saltimbocca with prosciutto and sage. For dessert we dug into apple cider beignets with butter rum sauce. YUM.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Four Corners up near Albany. I know, a long way from the valley, but it was the only place with hotel vacancies on Saturday night, so we were up a creek...so to speak:
Sunday was wine tasting day. After a big breakfast, we made our way toward the Shawangunk Wine Trail. First stop, Adair Vineyards:
Next up, Whitecliff Vineyard with amazing views of...what else? White cliffs!
And last but not least, Brimstone Hill Vineyard, a charming and rustic little winery set in the least fancy of all settings:
After wine tasting, we checked into our B&B and then headed back out for dinner with a quick stop at the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park. Along with the beautiful grounds and amazing views over the Hudson, these cute little goats were grazing along a hillside:


Dinner on Sunday evening was again in Rhinebeck, this time at Gigi Trattoria. We had salumi and olives to start and then Tagliatelle Berta and it was all delicious. Sunday night was a mellow one back at the B&B where we played Trivial Pursuit and made friends with the housecat, Roquette.

Monday morning we got up early for the huge b&b breakfast: melons with crystallized ginger, homemade muffins and scones, waffles with locally made apple cider syrup, homemade jam and whipped cream, and homemade turkey sausage. YUM.

Bellies full, we packed up the Bug and headed for the Walkway Over the Hudson. It was chilly, but we still managed to walk across and back before the Bug was due back:



The Poughkeepsie train station: