During the world’s most exciting trip to 7-11 I scored both the Oreo flavored Coke Zero and the Coke flavored Oreos! Super fun. I thought both were very successful and would definitely buy the soda again.
Casa Enrique. Their brunch is just as good as their Michelin-rated dinner service. Jicama and beet salad with queso fresco, mint, candied pumpkin seeds, and lemon vinaigrette.
Chicken mole enchiladas. Their mole is a work of art.
My mezcal tamarind margarita was the best drink of the weekend.
Katana Kitten. We thought the drinks could have been more alcoholic but loved the food. My amaretto sour was a standout – Wild Turkey rye, amaretto, salted plum, honey, lemon, egg white, and yukari.
We had deviled eggs with white miso, Japanese mustard, and salmon roe.
And an astonishingly good Sukiyaki Sando – soy-braised ribeye, caramelized onion, pickled ginger, jalopeno, and mayo on a baguette with au jus.
Foul Witch. The lighting was unflattering, the food was magical. We shared a great dinner. Their house bread was a 20/10.
Fairytale eggplant with heirloom tomato and fresh cheese.
Maine lobster bucatini.
Lamb shoulder with squash blossom and chimichurri. The very best bite of the night was a dessert that was too dark to photograph but blew our minds – carrot cake with meringue and husk cherry.
An easy but great homemade dinner. Mandu bulgogi chicken frozen dumplings / roasted zucchini / cold silken tofu / spicy peanut sauce (peanut butter with sugar, chili crisp, sesame oil, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, and water) / furikake.
It is normal to have a weekly food theme, yes? This week had two – the 1st week of Apple Month and breakfasts for dinners! On-theme highlights included…
{Apples} Duh.
Over Easy apple cinnamon granola bar (7.5/10).
Health-Ade pink lady apple kombucha (8/10).
Trader Joe’s apple chips (9/10) with a caramel apple iced matcha – matcha with caramel, apple cider, and Spindrift lime and mint seltzer.
Jelly Belly cinnamon and apple mix jelly beans (8/10).
Caramel apple cocktail – apple whiskey with apple cider, lime mint seltzer, and caramel.
{Breakfasts/Brinners} Trader Joe’s coconut cold brew. I actually really don’t like this and need to stop forgetting and rebuying it every two years or so but one morning I had a cup with young coconut water and sweetened condensed milk and that was great.
A complete breakfast coffee shake – iced coffee with half and half, cold brew powder, brown sugar, vanilla protein powder, edible glitter, frozen banana, and Lucky Charms!
Matzoh brie. We used egg and onion matzoh and it was fantastic. I top mine with salt and sugar. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.
Blueberry cottage cheese pancakes. This recipe but I used all-purpose flour, skipped the maple in the batter, and added a bit of lemon juice. These were great. I ditched my plate for a larger one so I could smoother them in maple syrup though.
Paired with the best green smoothie I’ve ever made – frozen spinach, mango, and banana, with hibiscus powder, vanilla protein powder, and water.
Egg burrito from Roast. Scrambled eggs, avocado, crispy potatoes, peppers, onions and hot sauce aioli. Plus their sweet potato tots and (homemade) green beans sauteed with honey and mustards.
Paired with a fantastic mimosa sour IPA from Abomination Brewing.
Ming Bings plant-based sausage, egg, and cheese bing. With yellow squash and fairytale eggplant that I roasted and then sauteed with gochujang, tahini, sesame oil, brown sugar, and water. After the matzoh these veggies were my favorite bite of the week!
It is Apple Month! I started my Sunday, September 1st with a trip to New York Beanery for their caramel apple latte special.
And I, of course, have an Apple Month stash. P.S. Those fall Whole Foods hand soaps smell amazing.
Baklava flavored protein bar.
Burrata ice cream (only ok) topped with blueberry jam, honey, and aged balsamic (delicious).
Leftover creamy mushroom turkey pasta. I went back and topped with bowl with Sriracha and furikake. Goodles noodles are wonderful leftover.
Homemade cole slaw topped with baked chicken breast that I chopped and then tossed in a skillet with butter, honey, and several types of mustard.
Dinner at Bluebird Kitchen. We shared housemade chips with french onion dip and deviled eggs with gochujang mayo and furikake.
I had a Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner with Tito’s, lychee, grapefruit, and rose petals. The petals were in a rose-shaped ice ball!
And the best frozen pina colada we’ve ever tasted.
Lobster mac and cheese for dinner.
And we got the sundae for dessert – housemade vanilla soft serve, bruleed banana, chocolate magic shell, sugar cookie crumble, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry.
We had an amazing weekend including lots of snacks, coffees, walking, and great sights!
Saturday we took the LIRR into Manhattan, walked down to the Seaport, took the Ikea ferry to Brooklyn, walked through Red Hook back to Fort Greene, then took the LIRR back home. <– a perfect day!
Some highlights…
Kismet Coffee Company‘s Rocket Fuel cold brew with coconut milk, amaretto syrup, and pina colada mix.
Honey mustard protein pretzels. These were filling and nicely spiced; I would buy them again.
Mentos fruity jelly drink, basically a nonalcoholic version of the jelly sake I am obsessed with.
Bon Bon’s Red Hook location is as lovely and uncrowded as their Williamsburg one!
The Bakery at Greywind convinced us we need to come back for dinner at the restaurant ASAP. We had a fudgy brownie with sesame and citrusy brown butter cake.
Clover Club for cocktails. Cannonball Cola – spiced rum, overproof rum, cherry cola cordial, pineapple, and lime / Dear Judy – brioche-infused gin, blueberry alpine amaro, lemon, maple, egg white, and blueberry essence / Rouge Wave – Guyanese and Jamaican white rums, blue curaçao, coconut, condensed milk, pineapple, lemon, and orgeat.
Brunch at the Dogwood Cafe pop-up at Figure Eight was my favorite thing we did all weekend. Black sesame cloud cold brew topped with the best meringue I’ve ever eaten.
Steamed egg breakfast sandwich with cheddar and chili aioli on a sweet bolobao.
Duck yogurt croissant and a yuzu lavender Kouign Amann.
Red Hook Tavern exceeded my (high!) expectations. Provence Julep – gin, mint, Provencal Cavaillon melon, sloe gin, Lillet Blanc, and lime / Isle Old Fashioned – Toki whiskey, Giffard Pineapple, allspice dram, and jerk bitters.
We shared the kale salad with toasted almonds, gouda, and champagne dijon vinaigrette.
The burger with American cheese and white onions.
And the cavatelli with oxtail ragu.
Fan Chinese. I had perfect spicy dry-fried Sichuan chicken.
Kings Coast Coffee. I got a great iced latte with toasted coconut syrup.
Chocolate mint protein bars – NuGo and Barebell, both 9.5/10.
We give these Cheddies crackers two thumbs up; they are nicely cheesy and crunchy.
Fried brussel sprouts (leftover from a fantastic Friday night sushi dinner at Kissaki) with togarashi, sharp cheddar, and a fried egg.
Crunchy tacos from Burrito Blvd. With chicken, zucchini, corn salsa, tomato salsa, mild salsa, and cheddar.
Lido Kosher Deli is one of our favorite Long Island spots. It doesn’t hurt that we usually go after an ocean-front run on the Long Beach boardwalk! Pastrami stuffed into a knish can’t miss. They have great cole slaw and house-made pickles.
Summer salad plate – plum, plucot, Midnight roma tomatoes, fried halloumi, baked tofu (marinated in honey, vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, and harissa), honey, and za’atar chili crisp.
This was easily one of our best weekends! I say that every weekend I get to spend with Adam, but still! We got to eat a thousand tasty things and admire a thousand beautiful things in Long Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. And our fridge is full of the most exciting leftovers! Highlights…
Amano Cafe Rocket Fuel, cold brew with maple and oat milk.
Strawberry smoothie. Frozen strawberries and cherries with water and vanilla protein powder. You can’t tell that those gummies were strawberry cake-shaped but I had a whole theme going.
Something & Nothing seltzer’s new flavor – pineapple and pink grapefruit – was a hit
This Hubba Bubba/Skittles min gum is an 11/10 and I recommend purchasing it. And it’s sugar-free!
Postcard Bakery 100% lived up to the hype. We had raspberry mochi donuts (best donut of my life), a lemon roll, and a sesame chocolate chip cookie.
Sea Cliff shave ice. We got cola and butter pecan with vanilla ice cream (they have the best, chewy ice cream) and mochi.
Thick ice cream. They were out of the chocolate cola flavor (so they will be seeing me again) but we did get to try buttered cherry pie.
We visited the Deep Roots farmers’ market (which is lovely and right on the water in Garvey’s Point) and had several treats. Jerk chicken empanadas.
S’mores cookie.
Homemade garlic bread chicken sandwiches. These were insane. Ciabatta baked with a mixture of butter, garlic, sugar, smoked paprika, gochugaru, and mozzarella cheese / baked chicken marinated in yogurt, lemon, and tons of garlic. Plus roasted broccoli.
And split a bowl with jerk chicken, sweet plantains, macaroni salad, grilled zucchini, spicy corn, coleslaw, cilantro aioli, and white rice.
Noreetuh. The lighting at this cute/cozy Hawaiian spot was abysmal but I am going to share my unattractive photos because the food was so great. They were doing a pre-fix menu for Restaurant Week so I got to try a ton of stuff. Bigeye tuna poke with macadamia nuts. Plus an amaretto Colada with dark rum, pineapple, and coconut. I also had an unphotographed Mai Tai – best I’ve ever tasted – with dark rum, pineapple, apricot brandy, and orgeat syrup.
Garlic butter shrimp bowl with pineapple, chili, macaroni salad, and steamed rice.
Sundae with chocolate haupia, graham crackers, almonds, Hawaiian black salt, and coconut ice cream.
Super Bueno. These were some of the very best cocktails we’ve ever tasted (and we tried most of the menu!). Salted Plum and Tamarind Milk Punch – charanda, ayuuk, salted plum & tamarind, lojana tea, and milk + Roasted Corn Sour – corn whiskey, reposado tequila, roasted corn, guajillo, lemon, and egg white.
Vodka Y Soda – vodka, guava, pasilla, and soda. This is hands-down my favorite drink I’ve ever tasted.
We got nachos as an afterthought and they ended up being the best nachos I’ve ever bought. With mushroom carnitas, poblano, pickled jalapeño, red onion, crema, Mexican cheese blend, cilantro, and mole negro. Now we need to go back again for a full meal!
Win Son. This was my favorite meal of the year (Adam chooses Noreetuh). Plant Daddy cocktail – cilantro-mint tequila, matcha, lemon, simple syrup, and egg white. I also had an unphotographed Breakfast of Champions with almond milk, roasted black sesame, El Dorado 5 year rum, rum cream, and toasted coconut.
Pea shoots with yun hai bean paste, sesame, and fried garlic.
Fried eggplant with black vinegar, labne, and spiced cashews.
Beef roll with garlic-ginger cucumbers and tons of herbs.
Sesame noodles with roasted oyster mushrooms, snow pea leaves, and peanuts.
Wavy noodles with lamb and fermented bean sauce.
Sundae with fried sweet dough, golden sesame ice cream, and red rice condensed milk plus we added butter fried peanuts and cilantro and made it a 15/10.
Our 1st trip to Utopia Bagel in Manhattan. Everything with scallion cream cheese. <– worth the hype but still not as good as La Bagel Delight
Blended iced coffee. With vanilla protein powder, half and half, and black sesame paste.
The Freshly Durian iced latte from Not as Bitter stole my heart. Fresh durian with coconut milk and espresso. This was my first time trying actual durian and I loved it as much as much as I expected.
Brunch at Potluck Club. I got a green tea with citron honey, soda, and lime.
We shared too much food and had a wonderful time. French toast stuffed with salted egg yolk and topped with with condensed milk and salted butter.
Radish cakes with arugula and sunny side up eggs.
Chow Mein with hanger steak and chili oil.
Gotham Burger Social Club. We split a double smash burger, fried pickles, and perfectly crispy tater tots.
Cava takeout. My bowl was giant so I don’t remember it all but I got honey harissa chicken, roasted veggies, crazy feta, date vinaigrette, and more.
Pride Month special multi-layered cake from Red Gate Bakery. Per their Instagram – “naturally dyed vanilla bean layers with fillings that include strawberry, raspberry, clementine, mango, passionfruit, matcha, pistachio, blueberry, and cherry just to name a few.” We loved it.
Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with blueberries, passionfruit, and chocolate cookie granola.
Cookie dough protein yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, and chocolate chips. Blueberries on the side, of course.
Hojicha tea with yuzu curd and passionfruit syrup.
Bougie candies. Candy Kitten raspberry + guava (7/10) and Jom cola (10/10).
I really enjoyed this Buldak cheese spicy chicken ramen. This flavor wasn’t too spicy and the noodles were so bouncy! I added an egg and a slice of cheese to my bowl and it was great.
A take on callaloo. Frozen spinach cooked down with light coconut milk, yellow onion, habanero pepper, ginger, urfa pepper, salt, pepper, turkey bacon, and crab.
I topped my bowl with soursop hot sauce and paired it with hot mustard Doritos.
Sushi roll bowls. Brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower with furikake, white sugar, and rice vinegar / imitation crab with green onion, Greek yogurt, mayo, soy sauce, and Sriracha / cucumbers tossed with white pepper, Sichuan pepper, and rice vinegar / avocado / pickled ginger / seaweed snacks on the side.
Crab fried rice. Leftover cauliflower/rice stir-fried with soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, green onion, crab meat, and eggs. Plus fairytale eggplants that I roasted and then sauteed with gojuchang, tahini, and sesame oil. We want to remake this eggplant immediately.
Eating Chalk 