Post Date: 06/05/08

As I had known, posting about NYC consistently while having fun there was going to be difficult. What would I say to my friends after a good meal and a few drinks? "Excuse me, I must rush home to blog." Yeah, didn't think that would fly so hot.

But anyway here I am and it's still not too late to share the coolest things to see and do on an almost-summer-yet- still-spring day in New York.



Brooklyn's Bedford Ave is the epitome of cool. It's the epicenter of all things hip, where everyone does the same things (artist, gallery owner, writer, musician), dresses the same and is generally the same age. I don't know how that makes things cool, but the place is a bit too cool for school.

The best part about that fact, however, is that it means there are good, specialized, hip places to eat at. Fabianes is one of them. The place serves the best baked eggs I have ever had, in particular with salmon and scallions as pictured above. Served with crusty bread and priced at $7.95 is isn't bad for the quality, uniqueness, and absolute deliciousness factor of the food.

My eating companion ordered a duck panini. But as I stole a bite, I announced, " I think this tastes like ham... oh my gosh it.." And indeed it was. Delicious still? yes.



Remember Fabaianes Cafe & Pastry Shop. It has outdoor seatings and best times to go are when it's not crowded, like an early Sunday evening, and make sure the waitress gets your order right.

Fabianes Cafe and Pastry Shop
42 N 5TH St
Brooklyn, NY 11211-3267
Phone: (718) 218-9632

Labels: Food, ShoutsOfAdoration

Post date: MAY 15, 2008

The truth is, I love New York City. I love its so-called
grime. I love its character. I love that I can walk down the street and see both a businessman walking toward me, and a cross-dressing man with his partner walking behind me. I love the variety of clothes, cafes, people, and food the city offers.

What's my point? Well, lucky me, I get to spend two weeks in the city. Doing what? Having fun. So here it is, a travel journal of sorts, neatly packaged here on the BBQ.

Day 1: Highlights

SHOPPING: Lower East Side Boutiques

The best thing about shopping around LES is that you're bound to come across one of a kind items. There are streets lined with cute boutiques, like the one I visited today.

On 9th St. between 1st and A is my new favorite called LoveSong 422. I love it because unlike some stores where the girls look bored/tired and annoyed, I actually had a full-out conversation with the owner, who did not look bored/tired annoyed, and was actually a lot of fun. This made the shopping experience a whole heck of a lot more personal and enjoyable.

There I found this awesome necklace. In case you can't tell it's a water faucet and get this: most of the proceeds go to the YEW Foundation to support organizations with clean water initiatives. Meaning, this necklace and the purchase of, is a cool concept - the money goes to help bringing clean water to places that lack it. It's a hip public health act.

In addition to cool necklaces as such, this place sells lipbalm with artistic decorative lids, Paddywax candles that smell like rhubarb (SO good), lavender, chamomile and limoncello. At 4 bucks a pop for candles and 6 bucks for the balm, you can afford these.

I even heard that some hipster guys in the area drop in from time to time to stock up. Interesting. If you're in the area, come by and say hi to Rechelle, the owner!

LoveSong 422
441 East 9th St. btw 1st Ave & A
New York, 10009

For more info on Campaign for the Right to Water, go here.

To help it out by purchasing some cool gear, go here.


EAT: Momofuku

Ramen is a big thing here on the Lower East Side, and apparently Momofuku does it best. One of our writers (a native New Yorker) came here and wrote about this place, but I had to see it for myself, and I believe. For starters the menu is pretty simple -great for indecisive individuals. The ambiance is great though the long tables with benches, a throwback to my old childhood lunch days, did not provide a pleasant memory.

It's no matter because the ramen is, simply put, delicious. Who knew such a simple dish could be executed so well? I chose the chicken ramen. The meat was cooked to perfection with a slightly crispy touch to the outside but tender and moist on the inside. Served with scallions and a deep flavorful broth, the ramen noodles were springy and chewy, with just the right thickness. Ahhh. How I could have a bowl right now.


Drinks are a little pricey too, however, my friend and I tried this tamarind celery cider -his idea (it was a throwback to his Jewish culture), and I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, really surprised because I don't like celery. It pretty much tasted like a light, less sweet version of apple cider. A definite must if you like to try new things, but expect to pay three dollars for a teeny tiny little jug of it.

Lastly, for dessert, which I did not try, is soft serve ice cream. Momofuku has soft serve icecream in random flavors like tiramisu and cracker jack (yes, cracker jack). I don't know why, but a couple of these Japanese restaurants on the Lower East Side have random desserts, like cotton candy (there's one particular restaurant that has a cotton candy machine outside of it). Today's meal: excellent, Price: okay, $12 for a bowl of chicken ramen. But worth it.

Momofuku
171 1st Ave, between 10th and 11th St.
NYC 10009



*NY skyline pic courtesy of www.photos.somd.com

Labels: Food, ShoutsOfAdoration

Contributed by TheVillageIdiot

Welcome back, Bourdain. We've missed you.

Last week, Anthony Bourdain returned for the fifth season of his show, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and let me tell you. It was about damn time. I thought I'd be in rerun hell for the duration of the writers' strike.

Bourdain's sometimes puzzling, never boring and always irreverent food/travel show is a welcome treat in today's nuclear wasteland of TV programming. As a subset of food TV (Not The Food Network), Bourdain's show is even more striking when compared to other so-called "food/travel shows." Let's face it, food TV has gone down the drain: "Giada’s Weekend Getaway?" – I can’t stop looking at her forehead; "Have Fork. Will Travel?" – give me a forking break.

Part of what makes No Reservations so fun is that for an hour a week, we can all be armchair tourists. It's not a substitute for actually traveling. There is no substitute for that, but if anything Bourdain makes me want to travel more than ever. Every week, it's a poignant reminder of why I put up with all this finance crap.

In light of the new year and all that resolutions setting, I think we can take a few lessons from Bourdain's examples.

1. Go Off the Beaten Path - In some remote village in Peru – high (buzzing mildly) on coca leaves for altitude sickness – I've seen Bourdain drink fermented corn liquor that gets its start in the fermentation process by being chewed and then spit out into a giant vat of other chewed up stuff. Even if the stuff sucks, it will still be a great story.

2. Eat Anything and Lots of It - In one night, Bourdain will visit at least four or five restaurants or food stands and eat anything they shove under his nose. Any cut of meat, any kind of entrail, it's all fair game and he loves it all. Sure, different strokes for different folks, but there is a reason why we eat the stuff we do and it usually has to do with how good it tastes. If you never try it, you'll never know.

3. Don't be Afraid of Cursing - Bourdain’s always bursting to use an expletive. "Take that you vegetarian f*ckwads!" Obscenities makes any language exciting.

P.S. Did I mention he hates vegetarians?

4. Drink Anything Alcoholic and Lots of it - He spends every episode being drunk or on his way to being drunk. After most nights of taping on the show, the last shot is usually of him noticeably staggering off to this hotel room. On more than a few occasions, the footage of him the next morning waking up hungover are hilarious as well. If he is wearing the sunglasses and his voice is ten octaves deeper and scratchier, you know he's feeling like crap, but for the sake of the viewers, he is going to fake feeling okay for work. Who hasn't spent the day in the office a little hungover/drunk?

5. Smoke - Everyone knows smoking makes you look cool and no one makes it looks better than Bourdain and the flagrant disregard for his health. He makes smoking two packs a day look cool. My excuse for not smoking two packs a day? I'm not cool.

6. The Party Don't Stop For Anyone - Bombs what? Show me the next party! That's exactly what Bourdain did in Beirut while the Israelis were bombing the city. His subsequent week long sequestering at a hotel due to the bombs and subsequent rescue by U.S. Marines were a small price to pay. After all, what is life other than a series of parties until you get to that big one in the sky?

7. Laugh at yourself and others, often - Bourdain will be the first one to laugh at Bourdain. A valuable lesson really. My feeling is, if I can't laugh at myself, then I shouldn't be allowed to laugh at anyone else. Now that would be a tragedy.

8. If its Unhealthy, Eat it and Ask for Seconds - Bourdain takes almost maniac glee in rubbing his fat-oozing, grease-dripping, oil-splattered street food in front of the camera, almost as if to say, "vegetarians and health freaks, you poor, sad, little fools." I’m not saying go out and lick the first chicken cart you see, but all this guilt over unhealthy eating is stupid. Stop dieting and start exercising.

Now you know why I watch this show and so should you.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Mondays, 10PM
The Travel Channel

The Man Himself: http://www.anthonybourdain.com/copy.asp?g=1&id=7

Bourdain's TV Blog: http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/

Bourdain in Beirut: http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bourdain/journals/beirut/beirut.html

Labels: Food, ShoutsOfAdoration, Shows

You might notice these totally rad green infested stores called "Fresh & Easy" which I thought, at first glance, was some type of Bath & Body Works + Bed, Bath & Beyond ...or something like that...anyone else? Turns out it's a super neat grocery store that's heavily design + space conscious. They focus on fresher, healthier foods, smarter meal portions, comfortable-on-the-eyes packaging of their products, and an overall clean, relaxed shopping environment with low prices. My first impressions was that this place was going to be expensive in order to pay for the cutie-ness of the environment. I was wrongasaurus.

I guess UK based retailed Tesco is going to try to take the U.S. grocery chain market by storm...slow storm if Walmart has anything to say about it. While they are an underdog, I am rooting for them! They've propped their headquarters in El Segundo and they've got a huge distro in Inland Empire that boasts California's largest solar panel roofing system. The format was supposed to be small, but the store we went to today on La Palma and Valley View wasn't that small. It was rather spacious. I was really into all the packaging and display. It was just different and less cluttered. They have their own brand of tofu, soy milk, meats, you name it. I also dig what the company what the company does or is trying to do with opening and settting up shop near lower income areas. I am not sure if they have succeeded this goal quite yet but hopefully they will.

If you're into the "green" life...or just tired of cramped space at Trader Joe's, you oughta come down...it's a great alternative. And if you're going there anytime soon, take me. Here are the locations. Have Fun!

This is the one we went to today.
VALLEY VIEW & LA PALMA
7880 E. Valley View St.
Buena Park, CA 90620
(714) 522-2672

Hours: Everyday 8am-10pm

Labels: Food, ShoutsOfAdoration, store

I'd come prepared to dislike the Momofuku Noodle Bar (First Avenue, and 11th Street, New York City). With skepticism, I walked into Momofuku on Wednesday night to try their ramen. For the uninitiated, ramen is the traditional Japanese dish of noodles served in a meat-based broth (sans Styrofoam cup). While the description may sound very generic, the taste of a great bowl of ramen is anything but. Ramen - yellow noodles served in a hot, rich broth accompanied by various other goodies -is the quintessential Japanese comfort food and more recently the subject of the latest East Village food scuffle.

Over the years I've seen some pretty fierce battles. I recall the dumplings wars of 2005, when the already established Dumpling Man on St. Marks Street faced competition in the upstart Plump Dumpling. The competition was violent with charges of copyright infringement -Plump dumpling's logo suspiciously resembled a female version of Dumpling Man's logo. Insults were hurled, lawsuits were threatened and now both have settled down in an uneasy detente - perhaps united in their dislike of the newest dumpling competitor, Vanessa's Dumplings.

Now the food battle has shifted to ramen. In the span of a few short years, ramen competition has come fast and fierce. Aside from the numerous Japanese restaurants, all serving their versions of ramen, Japanese ramen chains have begun transplanting themselves to the streets of the East Village, spurred on by the already significant Japanese food presence and public's appetite for something more than just another spicy tuna roll.
I digress. Like, I said, I had come prepared to dislike Momofuku. It always seemed too trendy, too overpriced and way too overhyped. Besides, my heart belonged to Setagaya, one of the aforementioned Japanese ramen transplants. After having their Shio (salt) ramen, I was convinced that it was the be-all and end-all of ramen and loudly proclaimed it to all. Rightly or wrongly, in my head, there was no way Momofuku could ever be as good, but to cover my bases, I had to try it out before I started talking smack to the Momofuku fans out there.

Walking in with a friend on a Wednesday night, we were seated directly at the bar facing the kitchen. Even though I've spent most of my life in a kitchen, watching food being cooked never gets old. There is something about the smells, the sizzling sounds and the clatter of plates that sets me right at home. Enough context, let's talk about ramen. Quickly, two large bowls of Momofuku's signature ramen (named, appropriately enough, "Momofuku Ramen") are set down in front of us. Quashing my immediate visual comparison to Setagaya, I proceeded to dig in.

To anybody I've ever bad-mouthed Momofuku to, I'm sorry. I was wrong and I will gladly eat my crow- just as long as it's shredded in a bowl of Momofuku ramen. It's good. And by good, I mean very good.

Let's first start with the visuals. The first thing I noticed was the criss-crossed (makes you wanna jump?) sheets of nori (dried roasted seaweed) that stick out the backside of the bowl as if providing an artistic backdrop for the rest of the ingredients. Arranged around the bowl, small groups of fixins' await your mixing pleasure- large mound of scallions, shredded Berkshire pork neck and sliced pork belly, seaweed, bamboo shoots, Japanese fish cake- and in the center a single poached egg sits (It's actually a bit hard to see the noddles upon first glance). The noodles, coming out of a carefully regulated hot water bath, are flavorful and al dente. The broth is one of the best I've tasted. Flavorful and rich, it filled every spoonful with hot, porky goodness. In 15 short minutes it was over. That bowl of ramen never stood a chance.

Verdict: Expensive ($14) but you'd be hard pressed to find a more satisfying meal on a Fall day.

For more on the dumpling wars: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/11972/

Ramen in the East Village: http://events.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/nyregion/thecity/22rest.html

Labels: Food, good eats, ShoutsOfAdoration

Labels: Food, restaurants, ShoutsOfAdoration

Labels: Food, good eats, ShoutsOfAdoration, the letter B

If your faith in tasty sandwiches needs a little revival, check out the eats at this store. It’s food to believe in.

-------------
Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits and Cheese
223 North Larchmont Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90004-3706
Casual, order-and-grab style, outside seating available. Call-in orders: 323 856 8699 Note: Larchmont Village (a small segment of Larchmont) has tons of little restaurant, cafés, and small stores, great to stroll around in.

*image from paxfood.net, sorry I didn't get pics of the food here, too busy eating!

Labels: Food, good eats, ShoutsOfAdoration

As summer slowly leaves us and fall approaches, the best thing to do during this interim period is to spend a day at the local farmer’s market. Hoping to enjoy today’s sun (although here in California it is perpetually sunny, yes, even during Christmas) I meandered about the small, unpretentious farmer’s market located across the street from UCI.

The first thing that greeted me was the beloved hummus stand. With a dozen or so different flavored hummus dips (my favorite is the roasted garlic), the Babba foods stand actually lets you try each hummus dip with pita bread samples. You can literally stand there and eat your way through the row of roasted tomato, pesto, and eggplant (plus more) hummus dips. Yum.

The other great thing about farmer’s markets is the appearance of local bakeries. There is nothing I love more than a bakery, and with items such as chocolate poundcake with a ganache center, chocolate almond brioche, and passionfruit marshmallows, I can barely restrain myself from 1) salivating all over the place, thereby ruining the goods and 2) buying enough pastries to feed a small brood of children. This is why the buddy system comes in handy when going to these places: your friend, boy/girl friend or whatever, can kindly and ever-so-gently smack some sense back into your head.

And lastly nothing beats homegrown fruits and vegetables. Pliots- (what you get when a plum and apricot mate) are a dream, possibly my favorite "fake" fruit, not to mention the non-wax cucumbers (I didn’t even know those existed) and bright red tomatoes. The added bonus is that you don’t have to be afraid of what you’re eating.

So go outside with your pasty self and enjoy the sun, fruits, veggies and the local community before the weekend ends. I’ll guarantee you’ll be glad you did.

- - - -- - - - - -- - -
The best way to look farmers' market events in your area is through the local newspaper or word of mouth. The one near UCI is located along Campus in the In-N-Out plaza, held every Saturday, 8 am to noon.

Labels: Food, ShoutsOfAdoration, weekend

Unless it is drugs of course. Boo drugs. My roommate Paul is from Irvine and 25 years later he has his first sushi, in Irvine. MakiMaki to be exact, in the Irvine Spectrum. We were with new people we met. And we had a fun time talking about TV, sake and wasabe. Among the rolls we had, I remember some spicy tuna, hawaiian chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, Avocado BBQ eel. Paul tried all of them and overall he liked it. Our waitress said the printer messed some thing up so we got a bunch of free sushi! When does that ever happen? I think we got like 3-4 roles free. The pic below is the shrimp crunch roll which they say is the best seller at the restaurant. On a side note, more than half the people who work there look Korean. I forgot that a lot of sushi places are owned by Koreans, historically that is a very interesting thing. Think about it.
Random News: Britney Spears shaved her head. Check this video.

GM might buy Chrysler and take back U.S. control from the Germans, and hopefully no more dumb commercials. Link

ConAgra, maker of Peter Pan brand Peanut Butter has a plant currently shut-down and under investigation cause of traces of salmonella in the peanutbutter!! NO!!!!! Imagine a world without peanut butter. Well My old roommate Lasse from Danmark thought it was "whatever" in taste and enstranged by the precious commodity it holds for America's tast buds. Perhaps we should all just be healthier and not eat peanut butter... haha no way that's stupid. what am I thinking.

2 Moles were removed from Prez Bush's forehead, and later found non Cancerous.

A man living in New York is going straight to jail probably because they found out that he funded 152,000$ to a training camp in Afghanistan. Come on guy, you are living New york and funding terrorism? Stoooopid. Link

And finally, Because of Dell's crappingness and falling to no.2 behind HEWLETT-PACKARD?!!! (CRAZY), The board over at Dell have called back on Michael Dell to bring the company back to reality. Go Apple!

Labels: Food, News