A chewy yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with blueberries, strawberry gummies, and red bean millet jelly.
Pizzaria G’s.
Green papaya salad-style roasted cabbage salad. Roasted cabbage, green onion, tomato, crispy baked shredded super-firm tofu, beef jerky, peanuts, and crispy garlic and onion dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and serrano pepper.
I found lemon herb butter Cape Cod kettle chips so obviously I planned a meal around them (crab roll nachos). My crab mixture was claw meat with lemon juice, Kewpie, melted butter, white pepper, smoked paprika, green onion, and celery. Baked with sharp cheddar.
Lemon pepper baked tuna cakes. Canned tuna with lemon juice and zest, pepper, white pepper, leftover chips, Kewpie, and egg. Plus roasted shredded brussels sprouts with salt, pepper, gochugaru, and lemon juice.
Obviously, I had a cache of Fourth of July themed foods…
Here was some of what I ate this week…
Adam bought me this wild cherry Barebells bar because when he saw it was a new/limited flavor he knew I would want it (correct). It was not as good as most of the milk chocolate flavors but better then the other white chocolate flavors and surprisingly much better than the s’mores one.
Sour cream and onion chicken salad. Shredded chicken with caramelized sweet onion and shallots, fresh green onion, sour cream, Duke’s mayo, fish sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and white pepper. Served with star-shaped pretzel crackers and roasted cauliflower.
A savory, summery, vegetarian dinner. Roasted zucchini / a take on esquites – fresh corn sauteed with green onion, poblano pepper, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pickled jalapeños, gochugaru, garlic powder, onion powder, and cotija cheese, plus lime juice, sour cream, and Duke’s after I took the pan off of the heat / glazed tofu – super firm tofu that I boiled (<– worth the time, the texture was great) then tossed in a hot skillet with butter, evoo, gochujang, chili crisp, honey, soy sauce, and minced garlic.
Warm bean salad. Sauteed sliced snap peas, celery, green onion, cotija cheese, pinto beans, lime, and chipotle Cholula. Plus crab dip and pretzels on the side.
Smoothies! Strawberry malted – frozen strawberries blended with water, malted milk powder, and chocolate protein powder.
Blueberry cheesecake – frozen blueberries blended with water, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, and cottage cheese.
A breakfast-y, dessert-y, waffle yogurt bowl situation. Fage with blueberry topped with blueberries, Evergreen peanut butter banana bread waffles, and maple syrup.
Bagels with cream cheese and lox, chopped. We did a mix of cream cheese, Kewpie, smoked salmon, Trader Joe’s pickled onions, chili crisp, and honey. Plus roasted broccoli.
Egg tacos, chopped. Our filling was a mix of chopped together scrambled egg with extra-sharp cheddar, fried plantains, sauteed poblano pepper and green onion, avocado, and Cholula chipotle cremosa sauce. Plus roasted zucchini.
Savory oatmeal bowls. Our favorite oatmeal (Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds) topped with sauteed kale, crispy baked shredded tofu, a fried egg, and chili crisp.
Blueberry cottage cheese pancakes. I used this recipe but added vanilla bean powder, lemon zest, lemon juice, and some blueberries. Plus sauteed kale and homemade turkey sausage (ground turkey with sharp cheddar, maple syrup, fish sauce, smoked paprika, urfa, gochugaru, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper). I coved the whole plate in maple syrup and Cholula chili garlic hot sauce!
It was a perfect New York summer weekend! Including great food (several of my top favorites and lots of sweet treats!), a couple of long walks, brunch on the water in Roslyn, a trip to Rockaway Beach, and a visit to the mall! The best things I ate were…
Rockaway Beach Bakery. Guava cheese danish. We also had a yummy slice of croissant bread. Their new location is great.
From Lucie. They make my favorite cake in the city. This was a (super duper moist) vanilla cake with Earl Gray frosting and blackberry jam.
Culture Espresso makes our 2nd favorite chocolate chip cookie in the city. This was the corn cookie and we also enjoyed a frozen maple coffee.
Pavlo Mochi. My favorite was the banana milk jam with a dulce de leche center.
Connolly’s Bar pina colada is my current favorite frozen cocktail.
I didn’t actually love my brunch burger at Naks but their wonderful vinegar fries were fantastic dipped in egg and gravy.
My cocktail was also a win; I got the Zesto – a milk punch with coconut, soursop, and rum (and that’s a pandan coconut rum jello shot!).
Roberta’s house-made bread + stracciatella + sugar snap peas with pea shoots and green garlic.
Best meal of the weekend = lunch at Rippers. Cheeseburgers and seasoned fries. This is Adam’s favorite burger.
Their cocktails were magical too! Lychee soju martini and a frozen sangria (we ate spoons of sangria with soft-serve and swooned).
P.S. No photos but I had a kale salad with salmon at Daily Provisions that knocked my socks off.
The best new find – Woodstock blueberry banana water. This was yummy! And no added sugar.
The best snack – Brownie batter Barebell’s protien bar. One of their best flavors; it was almost oddly filling.
The best dinner – crab rangoon baked quesadillas. The filling was crab meat, green onion, cream cheese, melted butter, sweet chili sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and sharp cheddar. Plus bok choy sauteed with green onion and mushroom. Plus a homemade Sriracha mayo dip.
The best dinner leftovers – Buffalo chicken baked pasta. With whole-wheat bowtie pasta, baked chicken, green onion, garlic powder, onion powder, buffalo sauce, cream cheese, and sharp cheddar. Plus baby carrots.
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.
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.
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)!
Doughnut Plant is hit or miss for me but this rosewater glazed doughnut was perfection.
Brunch at Vato. We shared a cinnamon bun and a burnt end, egg, and cheese burrito. The meat wasn’t my favorite but the housemade tortilla was great and their salsas were solid. I need to go back for a concha!
We were impressed with Jax Pizza; Adam liked the Rosso with six-hour tomato sauce and my favorite was the vodka slice.
Handroll dinner at Matsunori. We shared seaweed salad.
And steamed eggs.
My handrolls – spicy salmon (shown) / miso butter cod / toro with caviar / A5 Waygu. I also had a yuzu drop!
Dinner at Chuko was the best meal of the weekend. We shared some fun beverages like this ume soda.
And a Calpico.
Split a shrimp bun.
Fantastic okonomiyaki-style tots.
And kale salad (the best in the city!) with yellow raisins, miso dressing, and crispy sweet potato. They throw some fried kale into the mix and the texture mix here is just wonderful.
They offer all of their broth bases in vegetarian and are also my favorite ramen spot. I went with Kimchi (which comes with cabbage and curly yellow noodles) with pickled mustard greens, a soy egg, and chili crisp.
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.
Eating Chalk 