Tag Archives: booze

Chicory, Miso, Tiramisu

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The relentless rain couldn’t drown out our weekend fun! Thankfully I had already planned indoor activities — lots of snacks, fun shopping for a home improvement project, vintage window-shopping in Greenpoint, and a trip to the Museum of Art and Design for the (excellent!) Haas Brothers Uncanny Valley exhibit.

Edible highlights…

Fun coffee mediums. The egg cream didn’t work in iced coffee (not enough body) but iced Calpico with espresso was a 9/10.

Small Batch tiramisu iced latte. 8/10.

Blue Bottle iced Nola with vanilla and chicory cold foam. 9/10.

Falu House miso brown sugar iced latte with maple cold foam and birch-smoked sea salt. Best coffee of the weekend, 100/10. We loved our bun with cheese too and they also had incredible Swedish candy.

Daily Provisions yuzu crueler.

Bibble and Sip guava mochi croissant. We loved the mochi and the croissant but wanted the dish overall to have more flavor/balance. We thought their salt bread was a 9.5/10.

Bite Bao. I had tomato with scrambled eggs and Sichuan spicy diced chicken. Best Chinese food we’ve had in Long Island in awhile.

Kelang. This space was gorgeous. I had a Durian Milk Punch, obviously; durian, clarified coconut cream, spice mix, green tea, pineapple, aged rum, arrack, and velvet falernum.

I also had a kalamansi limeade with Tito’s.

We shared some really great dishes. Charred cabbage with butter, pineapple, chili, peanut, and cashew cream.

Paratha with red lentil dhal, Stracciatella, herbs, and sambal oil.

Crispy taro gnocchi with smoked shiitake, chili, and Shaoxing wine.

Hainanese Chicken. This was the only dish I didn’t love, though the bone broth and chicken rice were both lovely.

P.S. We had a no-photo lunch at Nobu and the miso black cod did live up to the hype (we also had great white fish tiradito)!

Tofu And Fries

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We had a wonderful NYC weekend; including walks around Manhattan (Fidi and East Village) and Brooklyn (Fort Greene and Prospect Heights)! And so much good food! Highlights…

I am a sucker for limited edition fun drinks (see below!). I thought the coffee was too milky but I would buy the creamy coconut Dr. Pepper again!

Cafe Patoro brigiadeiro iced latte. Always delicious, their latte is nice and roasty.

Fasan Coffee red bean iced latte. We had also had a fantastic yuzu cold brew.

Honey’s Bistro coconut cold brew.

Chim Chim matcha banoffee pie.

Treats at Saint Street. This spot is exceptional. We had a cup of chocolate cake.

And a meringue.

DSK chicken brat on a pretzel roll with crispy onions, pickle relish, German mustard, and ketchup. Plus great fries.

Lunch at 886. This was some of the very best food we’ve eaten in 2026. My drink (sour plum highball). was only ok though.

Shaky fries with Taiwan Dust.

Crispy silken tofu with chili oil vinaigrette (1000/10).

Dry beef noodles with spicy beef fat butter, shredded beef shank, and a sunny side up egg.

Wildly good tomato with egg.

Dinner at Authentic Thai. We decided this is the best Thai we’ve had in Long Island. I had roti with peanut sauce.

And drunken noodles. I asked for them to be made spicy and they delivered – I drank all of Adam’s Thai iced tea and was in heaven.

P.S. I’ve since eaten both restaurant meals as leftovers and they remained excellent!

Bao Haus Is Back!

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Adam and I had the whole weekend together and it was just the best! We had two days of Manhattan fun (East Village and the Upper East Side) including great food, a long walk, time loving the trees in Central Park, and a trip the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. The highlights…

Fancy Kook‘s carrot cake iced latte with cream cheese foam, cinnamon, and pecans.

I was disappointed in this egg coffee from Le Phin but we also had the best pandan iced latte I’ve ever had.

Cola and lemonade slush from Slik. Perfect consistency and not too-too sweet.

We quite enjoyed this bowl from Yogurt Club. Super thick strained Greek yogurt with blueberries, Biscoff kataifi sauce, and mochi.

Speaking of mochi and kataifi – Bear Donut‘s new chewy cookies are amazing. We got white chocolate hazelnut.

Before they closed, Bao Haus served my favorite food in New York and their new iteration is even better! We had lamb bao and unphotographed duck bao.

The Birdhaus bao was as fantastic as I remembered.

The new location does large plates like these outstanding noodles with chilis, pickled greens, and burnt ends. The wonderful schmaltzy pea shoots are hiding in the back.

I also had a guava gose with a delightful rim (li hing mui, maybe?).

Cambodian food at Bayon. We shared shrimp, crabmeat, and corn chowder.

Tamarind duck. Perfectly crispy skin!

Sauteed eggplant with beef, fresh basil, garlic, chili peppers, and oyster sauce. The beef was even better than the duck.

And the Spicy Siem Reap Noodles – sauteed wide rice noodles, basil, scallions, eggs, onion, chili, fish sauce, and
soybean, with beef, extra spicy.

I tamed the spice with a creamy iced tea.

P.S. The leftover noodles were great reheated in a skillet with kale and an extra egg.

Nachos. Stew Leonard’s salsa verde protein tortilla chips (delicious!) with sharp cheddar, ground turkey, and onion, poblano, and bell pepper sauteed with taco seasoning.

Green With Glitter

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Highlights from the week…

One of our local Mexican spots did a green margarita special for St. Patrick’s day. A green kiwi margarita with edible glitter. Obviously I was there!

Another green drink – the pandan coconut sparkler is our favorite beverage from Lucky Ox.

This marshmallow syrup from Surrup tasted specifically like Lucky Charms. It was good in iced coffee but better in a diet coke.

I don’t usually care for lower alcohol beers but this Irish coffee cream ale from Southern Tier was delicious.

I paired the beer with brinner! An omelet with sauteed shiitake mushrooms and sharp cheddar. Plus roasted yellow cauliflower and leftover pizza from Third Time’s the Charm (we loved it there, by the way, everything was excellent).

The best meal of the week was this chicken and veggie bowl. Roasted red, orange, and white sweet potato / shredded cheese / baked chicken thighs that I marinated in pineapple juice, hot sauce, vinegar, and garlic / sauteed pineapple, bell pepper, and poblano pepper with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. The leftovers were great too!

Glowy Day

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The three best things from the weekend…

A nice IPA at Formosa Dumpling.

Brunch at Roberta’s. I had a solid Bloody Mary.

We loved the marinated cucumber with garlic, chili, chrysanthemum greens, and spicy seeds.

Buttermilk pancake with butter and syrup.

The burger (made from a house-blend of meat) didn’t make my top five but was good. Plus it came with crispy potatoes.

The best coffees of 2026 so far at Dayglow. A Warhol (orange and cream with espresso) and a coquito latte. We also had a fantastic cocktail.

Triple Chocolate, White Chocolate Peppermint

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Highlights from a festive week…

Holiday Jenni’s flavors are some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Boozy eggnog and white chocolate peppermint are both divine!

Ground Up salted eggnog cashew butter is delicious in yogurt or just on a spoon.

Adam’s birthday request was zucchini bread. We adored this recipe (with Ghirardelli’s unbelievably good milk chocolate chips).

Somedays Bakery new Manhattan location is knocking it out of the park. Black sesame tahini croissant and a triple chocolate pastry.

Brunch at Dante’s West Village. I had the steak and scrambled egg burrito and a boozy affogato.

Monday’s dinner was some of our (many) leftovers from wonderful dinners with my parents. We had a fantastic time while they were here! Broccoli rabe, woodfired honeynut squash, and stracciatella cheese from Rolo’s / woodfired pita bread and roast chicken from Sunday in Brooklyn / Pizza, chicken parm, broccoli rabe, and salmon from Il Gufo / also unphotographed tater tots from Sonder.

Umami baked turkey meatballs with roasted cauliflower. Ground turkey, salt, tons of pepper, urfa chili, panko bread crumbs, and mushrooms (sauteed with green onions and butter then food-processed).

Cold egg tofu and roasted broccoli with a spicy sauce (soy sauce, sesame oil, chili onion crunch, sugar, garlic, and rice vinegar).

December 1st!

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It was a wonderful long holiday weekend! We spent time with family, took a very cold long walk in Manhattan, and had a million weird drinks and delicious desserts…

Pull Tab Coffee. We quite liked our banana aerofoam.

Homemade frozen coffee. Coffee, ice, chocolate milk, vanilla protein powder, vanilla bean powder, cinnamon, and frozen banana.

Barebells wild strawberry protein soda. This was yummy, it tasted like a creamy strawberry soda.

No sugar mojito Pepsi. It had no mint flavor but was tasty.

Comfortland‘s Kerrygold butter doughnut.

Birdee‘s brigadeiro cake and excellent guava cheese tart.

Milk Bar‘s marshmallow brownie is their second all-time best item (after the anniversary cake).

Fantastic brunch at Win Son. Their Bloody Mary had so much umami. I also really enjoyed their green tea shot.

We came for the boba pancakes and were not disappointed.

Three pepper lamb with cabbage, rice, and egg.

Soft-scrambled eggs.

The pea shoots were my favorite dish of the weekend; with bean paste, sesame, and fried garlic.

Mommy Pai was a hit for us. This concord grape salty coconut frozen drink blew our minds.

We did fried fingers with Muy Thai sauce. I, of course, got extra dipping sauces. Sweet soy mustard was my favorite. The fries were great! And I loved the taro tapioca doughnuts with pandan custard.

Leftover stuffing fried rice with cranberry sauce and pimento cheese.

P.S. It’s December 1st tomorrow!

Bob Burger

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It was a wonderful weekend! I say that often, but any weekend I get time with Adam is wonderful! We tried some new-to-us restaurants, had several fun coffees, admired flowers at Little Island, bought some buttons at M&J Trimmings (it is closing soon!)… Some highlights…

Creme bru-latte from Foreigner. This was as good as it looks!

Humble Cafe. Pandan iced latte and a black sesame mochi cookie.

Bubble tea from a stall at Pier 57. A yuzu lemonade Arnold Palmer with lychee popping boba, rainbow jelly, and edible glitter.

These peanut butter bites have an amazing texture.

Nuar. Iced Kopi with a pandan cold foam.

Kaya toast with Thai tea jam, pandan ice cream, red bean, and toasted marshmallows.

Guava and mascarpone pie at Peete’s. (Pie Month!)

Brunch at Lord’s. The hype is deserved! We loved almost everything we shared. Pineapple amaro sour – aged rum, pineapple amaro, lime, and egg white / Orchard Spritz – Neversink apple apertif, ginger beer, and candied ginger.

Turkish eggs with garlic yogurt, chili butter, and sourdough toast (11/10) // curried lamb scotch egg – I’m not a huge curry fan but Adam loved this.

Welsh rarebit cheeseburger on a pretzel bun with fantastic chips. This doesn’t make my top five list (we didn’t like the inclusion of raw onion slices) but it was a very solid burger.

Banoffee French toast. This was fine, not super exciting and the “French toast” was definitely just a slice of toasted bread.

Dinner at Foster. We loved this Sea Cliff spot and want to come back soon! The lighting was not photo-friendly however. I had a very solid dry-aged burger with aioli, arugula, caramelized onions, and gruyere.

Our leftovers were still delicious too. Wood-fired Margherita pizza with house-made mozzarella, tomato sauce, and seasonal pesto / okonomiyaki-style brussels sprouts. We also had a charred broccolini Caesar that was 11/10 delicious and pumpkin bread pudding with excellent pecan pie ice cream.

Dinner at Lula Mae was even better and the lighting was even more hostile. We shared and loved crispy tofu with a soy Chianking vinegar dressing, pickled veggies, scallions, and roasted walnuts / braised duck with pickled pearl onions, fried shallots, broccoli puree, and duck fat potatoes // fried chicken two ways – soy tamarind glazed wings and dry-rubbed boneless with lime pepper dressing and house-made pickles.