We spent the weekend doing all of my favorite things in celebration of my birthday! That included long Brooklyn walks, a trip to Caffe Panna, a trip to Evil Twin, and a run on the boardwalk!
Elder Greene‘s Cherry Bomb – tequila, muddled luxardo cherries, amaretto, agave, and lime juice. Sadly we do not love their burger anymore.
Chuko Ramen‘s kale salad. With raisins, miso, and fried kale! And their ramen is this the best in the city.
Rolo’s cheeseburger. The best in the city! But honestly the wood-fired polenta bread and stracciatella cheese gave it a run for its money. This whole meal was fantastic; my favorite of the year!
Homemade matcha lemonade. Iced matcha in ginger yuzu seltzer with some homemade Meyer lemon curd.
Mentos makes (new?) liquid-center sugar-free fruity gum and it is delicious.
I 100% dipped this cheesy crab dip pretzel into smoked salmon dip.
Trader Joe’s frozen okonomiyaki was surprisingly good. It was so creamy. It comes with bonito flakes and sauce and I added Kewpie and Sriracha.
Leftover noodles with Sriracha and chili oil. This was delicious but I did have to swig some milk.
Mac and three cheese muffins made with gouda instead of cheddar / buffalo chicken meatballs – ground chicken with panade, Frank’s buffalo sauce, ranch seasoning, white pepper, eggs, and shredded gouda / and roasted broccoli.
Roast sent me a coupon for my birthday month and I made good use of it. Fries with house sauce, a roast beef sandwich (with mozzarella, horseradish sauce, garlic butter, crispy onions, and an everything ciabatta), and a crispy chicken a la vodka sandwich (with sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, basil and a garlic semolina hero), and carrots from home.
The sandwich we made ourselves the next night was even better! Fancy BLT – whole-wheat toast / sauce (Duke’s mayo with smoked paprika, gochugaru, garlic powder, and honey) / sweet and spicy turkey bacon (baked with maple syrup, brown sugar, smoked paprika, and Sriracha) / heirloom tomatoes / we hate lettuce on sandwiches. Plus delicious snap peas sauteed with smoked almonds, gouda, gochugaru, and salt and pepper.
We had a wonderful NY weekend, complete with trips to Red Hook, Brooklyn and Astoria, Queens!
Some highlights…
Blueberry muffin frozen coffee. Coffee blended with frozen blueberries, frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, and butter extract.
Humble Cafe iced matcha latte with guava syrup. This was fantastic. Plus a matcha mochi cookie.
Homemade chocolate banana iced matcha. Water and milk blended with frozen banana, chocolate protein powder, Dutch-processed cocoa powder, and brown sugar, topped with a shot of matcha.
I have been coveting From Kora since 2020 and they finally have a storefront so we tried a little of everything. Ube Babka Swirl with and ube butter filling / a special – laminated pastry with short rib, mushrooms, and bearnaise / Chocolate Chunk Cookie / Leche Flan Ni Lola, a brioche doughnut topped with caramel and some of the best flan I’ve ever had / Coffee Cruller / Calamansi Rosemary Cornbread Sable. Our standout favorite was the babka followed by the sable. It all traveled/kept well.
Between the Bagel Seoul Meets Bagel – a toasted everything with American cheese, spicy mayo, bulgogi, and kimchi. This was amazing; it was Adam’s favorite thing of the weekend a close second to the babka for me. The owner also handed out delicious bulgogi arancini and Nutella banana pudding. P.S. my photo does not do justice to how huge this was!
Red Hook Tavern. We, of course, got the burger but were actually a bit disappointed; our patty was overdone and we didn’t love the volume of raw onion.
On the other hand, their cavatelli with oxtail ragu and garlic breadcrumbs is one of our favorite pastas in the city.
Completely unintentionally, the bulk of what I have to share from this weekend is coconut iced coffees. I’m not mad about it. The highlights…
New York Beanery‘s seasonal special – Moonbeam Iced Latte – coconut-infused espresso with coconut sweet cream and marshmallows.
See also – Cholita‘s Cocada – espresso with oat milk, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut.
Finally, we had brunch at Hellbender and I had a coconut shakerato. And a spicy Bloody Maria!
Hellbender is one of our favorite restaurants in the city and this was our first time trying their new brunch menu so we shared a bunch of things. Crispy lamb taco with avocado salsa, onion, and cilantro. 10/10.
Soft scrambled egg tostada with black beans, cheddar cheese, salsa macha, and sesame. This was my favorite dish of the meal. Plus chorizo-spiced crispy potatoes.
We didn’t love our heirloom masa pancakes because they tasted a bit burnt but if the edges weren’t overdone I could see this being fantastic.
Jell-o flavor of the day for dessert – coconut lime. Definitely the best jell-o I’ve ever eaten.
I find Chip City hit or miss but I was a fan of the oatmeal cream thinwich.
Chicken and waffle fries! Waffle fries with sharp cheddar, maple syrup, crispy chicken, and a crispy Whole Food’s Belgium waffle.
Plus a jumbo salad for balance – romaine with Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, baby tomatoes, cucumber salad (thinly sliced cucumbers with sugar, salt, and togarashi), raisins, and smoked almonds.
We did Caribbean-ish dinners this week so of course I pulled out some fun on-theme drinks. Sparking pina colada energy drink (I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this favor), passion fruit soda (made into a fun coffee with espresso and sweetened condensed milk), coconut soda (not as tasty as it was aesthetic), and soursop juice (blended into a great smoothie with frozen banana, peaches, and cherries, and vanilla protein powder)
And you can assume every meal this week got topped with my favorite hot sauce from back home – Blind Betty’s.
Chopped chicken salad with homemade dumb bread. I shaped my bread too thin to slice so we ate these deconstructed which was actually perfect. Baked chicken chopped with extra-sharp cheddar, mayo, and garlic sauteed collard greens.
A loose take on callaloo. Spinach, yellow onion, habanero pepper, crab meat, beef bacon, coconut milk, and spices. Served with dumb bread with butter and cheese.
Baked salmon cakes (Trader Joe’s canned pink salmon, sockeye salmon, and lightly smoked salmon with panko, yellow bell pepper, mayo, Dijon, eggs, salt, white pepper, and curry powder) with rice and beans (brown rice with coconut milk, yellow onion, habanero pepper, and dark kidney beans), and roasted zucchini.
We did breakfasts for dinners this week. Here was everything I ate on theme…
Coffee, obviously. Sweetie Pies on Main makes some of our favorite lattes in Long Island. These specials were crazy – tres leches and tiramisu!
Cereal [milk latte]. Espresso plus skim milk I infused overnight with Cocoa Pebbles.
Orange juice. I wanted to be on-theme but I hate juice so we made cocktails. OJ with vodka and amaretto plus a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some Target rainbow sherbet seltzer.
Smoothie. Blueberry pancake smoothie. Frozen blueberries blended with cottage cheese, butter extract, maple syrup, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, and water.
Blueberry muffins. I think these protein mini muffins are disgusting in a delightful way.
Yogurt bowl, obviously. This was plain Greek with blueberries, blackberries, and cookie dough granola.
Egg and cheese biscuit. Hometown Bakeshop‘s build-your-own breakfast sandwich. We got a cheddar biscuit with two over-medium eggs, cheddar-jack cheese, caramelized onions, and smoked aioli.
Avocado toast. Whole-wheat bread toasted with butter topped with smashed avocado (with lemon, salt, and gochugaru) and cold-smoked sockeye salmon. Plus sauteed purple asparagus.
Cottage cheese bowls. Topped with cucumber salad (sesame seeds, gochugaru, rice vinegar, and sugar) and baked chicken meatballs (panade, hoisin, gochujang, oyster sauce, and white pepper). I ate several meatballs before they could make it to my bowl!
Oatmeal. Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds – 10/10, it is perfect out of the microwave – topped with a fried egg, chopped baby broccoli sauteed with lemon and garlic, spicy caramelized peanuts (sugar, salt, white pepper, evoo, gochugaru, and togarashi), and chili crisp.
Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel salad. This was my best idea of the week. Arugula dressed with garlic Dijon dressing and horseradish Sriracha aioli / sharp cheddar / beef bacon / homemade bagel croutons (Bagel Joint sesame gochujang bagel tossed with evoo, salt, white pepper, and gochugaru and baked) / six-minute eggs.
This week’s dinner theme has to be my most unhinged — foods in an edible package. I am mentally categorizing “edible packages” as packets, by the way (i.e. no turducken!).
Mochi-wrapped ice cream. This milk tea flavor from Bubbies was fantastic and these are possibly the best ice cream mochi I’ve ever eaten.
Gummy mangos in an edible candy peel. The peelable gummies from Walgreens are top tier. It was a yummy week!
Rice noodle rolls with shrimp. From Trader Joe’s.
Soup dumplings. We went to Nan Xiang to try their chicken soup dumplings and thought they were great.
We also had their mustard greens with tofu skin and edamame which were good.
And their stir-fried rice cakes with shredded beef which were only ok.
And ube bao stuffed with red bean paste (more packets!).
Potstickers. Trader Joe’s chicken and vegetables. Paired with roasted broccoli and a dumpling salsa inspired by Leah Cohen (crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, gochugaru, sugar, Fly by Jing Sichuan chili oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger, and green onions).
Tortellini. Whole Foods kale and cheese. We tossed them with orange baby tomatoes, roasted zucchini, baked chicken, sharp cheddar cubes, and a green sauce (fresh baby spinach food-processed with evoo, chili oil, sesame oil, salt, garlic, and walnuts).
Samosas. Trader Joe’s mini vegetable ones. Paired with curry cauliflower (roasted cauliflower sauteed with evoo, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and Jamaican curry powder) with pickled red onions and fried eggs.
P.S. We’re going to Queens for empanadas tonight. Other than the other thousand varieties of things stuffed into pastas, did I miss any??
Dayglow Coffee. Warhol – espresso, cream, citrus, cinnamon, and vanilla. Morning Show – distilled coffee, orange, condensed coconut, and passionfruit. We were delighted with these.
Humble Cafe is our favorite local Long Island coffee spot. Ice latte with pandan syrup and a taro mochi cookie.
And a duck egg everything bagel with ramp cream cheese and tuna bacon.
DSK Brooklyn. Adam had German beers and I had a shockingly good chicken bratwurst (on a pretzel bun with mustard!).
Pasta Night date night. My Daddy Issues cocktail had bourbon, coconut washed Campari, lime, and ginger beer.
We split the salted cod fritters special.
Roasted brussels sprouts in chili crisp.
Pesto pasta – radiatori in basil pesto with pecorino and poached tomatoes.
And the Big Ragu – rigatoni with golden tomato sauce, slow braised beef ragu, and Parmesan cream.
We of course also had to go to their origin restaurant – Ciao Gloria – earlier in the afternoon. Granita (slushie espresso with sweetener and oat milk) and a espresso chocolate chip cookie and a blondie with tahini and jam. Excellent.
Rita’s Pizza. This was my favorite meal of the food-filled weekend! La Rita – orange marmalade reduction, fontina, caramelized onions, thyme, duck prosciutto, Truffleist duck mousse.
Obviously we got The Sundae – maple and vanilla soft serve twist with hot fudge, torched marshmallow fluff, Luxardo cherry, chocolate pearls, and a waffle cup.
Eating Chalk 