Weekend theme flavors: rose, tahini, coffee, and duck.

I am super lucky that my husband feels the same way that I do about trying new foods and sharing foods; splitting things means we get to have tons of tastes!  I feel lucky to have him in general too! (<– see also: the gorgeous flowers below that he surprised me with after work on Friday)

For Saturday breakfast we shared a soursop smoothie. It couldn’t compare to the fresh stuff I had at home but was still yummy.  Frozen soursop puree, caramel almond milk, and cinnamon and nutmeg.

I also had an iced Americano while we did a big grocery restock trip.  Pro tip – ask for “light water” so you can add some milk without losing espresso.

Lunch was a smorgasbord at Smorgasburg.  Duck bun, smothered in sweet chili sauce.  The crunch from the fried shallots makes this our favorite bao in the city.  {A+}

I cooled my mouth down with an earl grey egg cream. {A}

We tried a savory crepe with egg, chili sauce, and a crunchy cracker.  {B}  The texture ended up not really being our speed, we both wished we had gone for the extra egg in it.

Palm sugar with tamarind caramel ice cream for dessert. {A+}  This had such a unique flavor.

I tasted a bite of cinnamon rose and it was pretty amazing as well.  We grabbed an unphotographed coffee at some point in there too.

Our evening plans included a tasting/tour of Owney’s Rum at The Noble Experiment so we wandered around Bushwick a bit.  We were parked about a mile from the distillery so we got to see a few cool spots.  And the tour was great; we really love factory/brewery/etc visits.

I also had a vodka soda with cherries.  <– desperately needed lime

For dinner we fell head over heals in love with Faro.  Gorgeous tableware, locally and humanely sourced foods, and delicious dishes.

We started with ricotta gnocchi with ramps, morel mushrooms, fava beans, and cured egg.

Plus a little gem lettuce salad with miso anchovy vinaigrette, pistachio, soft-boiled egg, and mint.  It was amazing, truly the very best salad we’ve ever had!  Adam and I both thought it was the best dish of the day.  The mint made it absolutely perfect.

Drinks were a meh rosé and a sour porter which we loved.

We shared our entrées (more tastes!).  Squid ink corzetti with peekytoe crab, uni, shiro dashi, and sorrel.  I really dislike long pasta – I should have looked up corzetti before I ordered – but Adam was swooning.

And I lost my mind over our dry aged duck breast.  It was served on a fantastic turnip puree.

Key lime tart with fresh strawberry sorbet for dessert.

We will be back!

Sunday baking project – tahini granola.  Best granola I’ve ever made; I ended up eating a big bowl with milk for dessert at the end of the day.

For breakfast I ate it on top of plain Greek yogurt, with fresh berries, and a single Luxardo cherry.

Plus a rose latte in an amazing cup.

We spent our afternoon wandering around Chelsea Market to get out of the unseasonable cold.

Lunch was a sharp cheddar grilled cheese with a chocolate milk stout.

Seed + Mill served the highlight of the day – goats milk yogurt with the best tahini I’ve ever had.  We couldn’t believe how delicious this was!  I can’t wait to take my parents there this summer.

My home-cooked dinner was delicious as well, thanks, crockpot!

Chicken, potatoes, and baby carrots were cooking away with 40 cloves of garlic while we spent the day out of the house.

Served with roasted green beans with a sprinkle of almonds and cheese.

Yum.  And I am basically stuffed again reading through this post!