Oahu Part I, Fun Things We Ate

Adam and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary(!!!) with a trip to Hawaii and had an absolutely fantastic time.  We chose to spend our entire trip in Oahu – versus island hopping – and ended up being very happy with that decision.  We walked a ton, stuck our toes in the ocean, ate a million delicious things, and saw a billion beautiful things.  I did not even take as many photographs as I usually do but I still need to split my recap into multiple posts!

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I’ll share more about the amazing restaurants we visited in a later post, for now, here were some of the best Hawaiian bites…

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** Chicken katsu musubi – seasoned rice with seaweed and fried chicken.

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** Shrimp okonomiyaki – a savory Japanese pancake.

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** Garlic butter shrimp plates from the food trucks out on the North Shore.

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** The cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company are all 10/10 buttery and delicious.

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** Butter mochi – cake made with glutenous rice flour.

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** Dole Whip – blended frozen pineapple.

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** We ate shave ice practically every single day of the trip!  The standouts are in a later post but these were still pretty darn good!  Both of these were Japanese kakagori style versus the more traditional Hawaiian style.  From Ice Monster – coffee ice with brown sugar jelly, panna cotta, and cookies and cream gelato.

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From Snow Factory – cookie butter ice and butterscotch ice with mochi, coffee jelly, and condensed milk.

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Coffee Shops And Christmas Pop Ups

Adam and I had such a fun weekend!  We ate all of the things and saw a million twinkly lights.  Sooooooo many holiday pop up bars and holiday themed coffees!!

Holiday things – – –

Ample Hills‘ chocolate peppermint ice cream with white chocolate peppermint bark.  It was insane topped with marshmallow fluff!

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Maman‘s holiday cookie latte with eggnog ganache.

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Stumptown‘s rum raisin latte.  <– most exciting latte of the weekend

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Leyenda‘s Sleyenda pop up.  They have by far the most exciting and intentional pop up menu but unfortunately it was slammed while we were there and we only wanted to hang for one drink.  I had a delicious coquito with espolon reposado tequila, oloroso sherry, Braulio, coconut liqueur, coconut, cinnamon, and egg.

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Loreley Beer Garden‘s Winter Wonderland pop up.  Spiked eggnog with Captain Morgan, whipped cream, nutmeg, and caramel + boozy black and white hot chocolate with bourbon and toasted marshmallows.  <– best holiday cocktails of the weekend

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The Springs‘ Ho Ho Holiday Lounge pop up.  Nog Yourself Out – Mt Gay black barrel aged rum, eggnog, oregeat, and nutmeg + Hot Springs – Cruzan blackstrap rum, hot chocolate, malt, and mini marshmallows.

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The lights in Dyker Heights were so wonderful!

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But the decorations at Chelsea Market remain my favorite New York holiday thing!

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Things that aren’t festive but were still fun – – –

A trip to White Noise‘s Brooklyn location.  We had a scrambled egg sandwich on brioche with cheddar, sun-dried tomato, and plum mayo.

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Rose Wolf in Williamsburg is the cutest newish coffee shop.  And we had the best cake and coffee.  An extremely caffeinated and sugared cold brew with espresso, maple, caramel, cinnamon, and foamed milk + a chocolate funfetti cake.

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A cute and yummy sparkling lime hibiscus tea.

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Cookies and cream cookie with caramelized white chocolate from Mah Ze Dahr.

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Sour cream and brown sugar strawberry ice cream with lemon jam and black walnuts from Morganstern’s.

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Ramona is our favorite cocktail bar at the moment!  Vivian Darkbloom – charcoal mezcal, pineapple, mint, lime, Falernum, and lime bitters + Cloudbursting Daiquiri – Flor de Caña 4 year rum, passionfruit, lime, and grated cinnamon.

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New Yorkers, Chuko makes the best ramen in the city!  And their chili oil is amazing.

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The veggie dumplings at East Wind Snack Shop are next level delicious.  Crispy, chewy, plump, and topped with a ginger scallion sauce.

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I love NY – – – 

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Warm To Cold

St. Thomas was amazing, vacation was amazing.  My friends and I all had a really good time and want to go back immediately!

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I guess if I have to be back in the cold I’m glad it’s when New York is at its most glittery and beautiful!

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It was a short week with travel on Monday, but we have eaten some yummy stuff.

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Five highlights are –

{1} Mint Vietnamese coffee.  The pour over system was super easy and mint in coffee is delicious.

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{2} Lunch at Gramercy Tavern.  I met up with a girlfriend who suggested this spot and now I need to go back with Adam ASAP.  I had a Tower Bridge cocktail with gin, earl grey, almond grappa, and egg white.  And duck andouille sausage with grits and roasted pears.

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{3} After lunch I introduced her to Caffe Panna!  The affogato special sundae was peppermint mocha ice cream with junior mints, oreo crumble, nocciolata drizzle, mocha dusted whipped cream, and espresso.

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{4} Sushi!  I don’t crave/eat sushi all that often but we had it when we were in St. Thomas and ever since I’ve been obsessed.  It helps that Kaiyo is walking distance from our apartment and amazing.  I’ve gone there more than once this week!  This is spicy salmon // tuna and avocado topped with salmon, seaweed salad, and tobiko // spicy crab salad and avocado topped with tempura flakes, tuna, avocado, and special sauce.

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{5} Dinner at Atoboy, a shareable plates Korean restaurant in NoMad.  The style of the menu meant we got to try a ton.  Top highlights were charred cabbage with yuba (tofu skin) and smoked trout roe // chrysanthemum salad with leeks, plum, and cheddar // *sunchokes with oyster mushrooms, black truffle, and orange // sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch) granita with burrata soft serve and walnut.

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Nacho Zip Code

My stuff, my husband, my dog, and I all finally live in the same place (New York) again!  What a surreal week!  I worked Monday-Tuesday, moved Wednesday, and unpacked Thursday-Friday.  I am thrilled to be with my amazing family and excited to be back in New York but am deeply mourning leaving Charlottesville, and my fantastic Virginia family and friends, and my unbelievably great job.  <– it’s an extremely good problem to have 🙂

My last Cville weekend was low-key because I was a bit under the weather.  I mostly watched tv in bed, drank Gatorade, and spent $8 on precut fruit.

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Before I knew it it was Tuesday and I was drinking my very last hospital coffee!  Sidenote – the coffee stands in the hospital served my favorite iced lattes in Virginia and I am going to miss them greatly.

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Also that afternoon coworkers took me out for coffee and then after work we went to Hardywood for a final round of marshmallow gingerbread stouts and by the time I packed my car I was a drunk, overly caffeinated mess.

My last night my family took me out for nachos – multiple plates! – and margaritas and I got to tell them how unbelievably grateful I am for their hospitality.  I lived with my cousin and her fiance for the last 4 months and they could not have made my life easier or more fun.  A lot of people thought I was insane for choosing to live apart from Adam and Webster for so long but one of the biggest silver linings of situation was the time I got with my Virginia family.

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And they would be thrilled to know that the very first thing I ate in New York was nachos!

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Once we got the car unpacked Adam and I headed to I am Nacho Mama for bbq chicken nachos and fancy honey coffee.

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I also had tacos – griddled cheese and salmon.

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Last night we had a fancy dinner at our local mall, Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Small Batch.

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Little gem lettuce with pecorino cheese, radishes, fried soft-boiled egg, and ceasar dressing.

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Local duck breast with honeynut squash, figs, and black garlic.

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Chocolate souffle cake with milk chocolate sauce, cookie crumbs, and bourbon-brown sugar ice cream.

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Fluffy GBS

I don’t have a ton of photos to share from last week because I ate a bunch of celebratory meals sans camera.  By the time I leave for real next week it is going to feel fairly anticlimactic!

A work friend and I went out for drinks at Vitae {highlights include a maple cinnamon sour with smoked rum}.

A big group of co-workers took me out for lunch at Asado {highlights include a smoked chicken quesadilla}.

And my team took me out for dinner at Junction {highlights include a rum and coke with allspice syrup and charred baby carrots with goat cheese and carrot top chimichurri}.

Other highlights include…

Eggnog and coffee!

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A vanilla coffee can with a peanut butter chocolate chip Perfect Bar.

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The cortadito from Gaurijos is excellent.

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Vanilla bean yogurt with maple pecan granola and cranberry relish.

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S’mores pie and a cortado at Pie Chest.

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An orange creamsicle IPA my family brought me back from Maryland.

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Hardywood has released their Fluffy GBS – a toasted marshmallow gingerbread stout!

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My cousin took me out for excellent Thai food.  My drunken noodles were super spicy and loaded with veggies (including cauliflower!).

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Have a great week (and a happy Thanksgiving, all of my American readers)!

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Oreo Crunch And Apple Brandy

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This past weekend I took my last trip to New York — last because I am officially moving in 2.5 weeks!!!  This move is super bittersweet – I am over the moon to get to live with Adam and Webster and I love NYC but I am really going to miss Charlottesville, and my family here, and my amazing job.  I’ll have to really soak in the South the next two weeks!

Our New York weekend was fantastic as always.  We had babka and creme brulee doughnuts and walked all over the place.  Saturday we met friends in Williamsburg for a walk over the bridge and an afternoon in the city.

Highlights include…

Milk Bar‘s Thanksgiving Croissant.  It’s stuffed with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

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Drinks at Serra by Bierria.  We tried four things from the holiday cocktail list – a buttered rum, a walnut Manhattan, a gin and blood orange drink, and an apple brandy drink.

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Caffe Panna.  I had peanut butter oreo crunch with fudge sauce!  Also Adam got an affagato and I drank his last sip of espresso and it was genuinely the very best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.

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Cafe Con Leche, Cerveza Con Calabaza

Adam came to visit me last weekend, aka I had the best weekend ever!  He probably won’t be back in Virginia until my cousin’s wedding next year so we made the most of the visit.  We went to several old favorites and couple new favorites!

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Weekend highlights include…

Saturday was National Pumpkin Day and Tropical Smoothie Cafe sent me a free coupon to try their Pumpkin Pie Smoothie to celebrate.  Made with real pumpkin, Ghirardelli white chocolate, cinnamon, and non-fat yogurt.  It was very pumpkiny without being boring and just sweet enough.

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Drekker‘s Everybody Love Everybody is a rainbow sherbet sour and it’s PINK!

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Hardywood had a Halloween-themed black IPA on tap – the Heebie Jeebies!  Plus I had a None of This Makes Sense double IPA (my current favorite beer) and a soft prezel with cheese sauce.

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Gaujiros Miami Eatery is Charlottesville’s new Cuban spot and it is damn good!  I had eggs with beans and rice plus fried cheese.

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Plus a Cortadito that was so delicious I went back again the next day for another one!

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Quality Pie.  We split a Spanish Tortilla.

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And I had (super buttery, garlicy) foccacia with egg and cheese.

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Dinner at Comal with my cousin and her fiance.  I didn’t snap any photos but we had an absolutely amazing meal at this new Oaxacan spot in Belmont.

P.S. No more posts coming from me this week.  Tomorrow morning I’m on my way to Ohio to celebrate my grandma’s 90th birthday!

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A NY Weekend > A New York Minute

I spent Friday night – Tuesday afternoon in the city enjoying a New York long weekend with my boys!  So much fun!  We ate ice cream at least once a day, took long walks around Williamsburg, the Lower East Side, and Long Island City, and had a great night with friends at a delicious dinner (Baoburg – I don’t have photos but it was fantastic!) followed by a trip to Barcade!

Highlights include…

A malted cold brew.

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Is one of my favorite things about NYC the ability to find weird and amazing drinks absolutely everywhere?  100% yes.  And we took full advantage of that this weekend.  New canned coffees from Chameleon Cold Brew, churro and cinnamon dolce.

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Strawberry sparkling water and a soursop and sea moss drink.

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Cinnamon Coke with rum.  <– strongly recommend!

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Baohaus‘ spiceland bao is a thing of beauty!  24-hour brined fried chicken served with lemon-garlic aioli, an 8-ingredient Szechuan chili oil, pickled cabbage, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, and cilantro.  Their menu is limited because the things they do they do exceptionally well.

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Great ice cream at Four Winters.  They make each cup individually with liquid nitrogen.  This was brown sugar speculoos with fudge, biscoff cookies, and extra sprinkles.

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Even better ice cream at Caffe Panna, the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten, in fact!  I got a cone with housemade whipped cream – panna – on brown butter straciatella and chocolate berry crunch (<– this flavor was the best ice cream we’ve ever tasted).

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Plus we got an affagato special – ice cream and espresso with whiskey caramel and cacao nib hazelnut brittle.

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Adam and I had an incredible dinner at Case Enrique – a Michelin starred, traditional Mexican spot in Long Island City.  I went for the drinks and they did not disappoint.  I had a soursop caipirnha!

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Plus a tamarind margarita.

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We started with the rojas con crema – roasted poblanos with onion, corn, cheese, and cream.  Scooped up with tortillas that were out of this world.

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And I ordered the mole de piaxtla – mole sauce over chicken and rice.

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Dessert!  Tres leches, flan, and cafe con leche.

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Other fun things… I pulled out this St. Thomas bag my parents got me.  It makes me happy every time I reach into my purse.

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And Adam bought me this gorgeous bracelet at a shop in Brooklyn.

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🙂

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