Homemade turkey meatloaf. I did a mix of ground turkey, panko bread crumbs, grated sweet onion, shredded sharp cheddar, oyster sauce, hoisin, and gochujang. Plus dinosaur kale sauteed with salt, pepper, gochugaru, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, and butter.
A surprisingly good dinner at the Comet Club. We enjoyed the crab toast and also had the hamachi tostada which came with great house-made guacamole.
We tried several drinks. We both enjoyed this layered negroni but my favorite was actually the French Onion Gibson (vodka with onion consommé, sherry, dry vermouth, and onion brine!).
I had a Waygu French Dip off of the specials menu and it was perfect. My leftovers were still great too.
Plus we got the cheesecake which was solid but probably not something I’d order again.
P.S. Of course my pre-dinner snacks were on theme!
Seed and Mill‘s sesame sundae is Adam’s favorite dessert in the city. We also got a square of pb&j halvah that was amazing.
Hawaiian food from Aloha Alley. We shared their Loco Moco plate (beef patties with beef bone broth mushroom gravy, eggs, rice, and macaroni salad) and the ahi poke (tuna with scallions, seaweed salad, sweet onion, soy garlic shoyu, and crushed macadamia. Plus furikake rice).
Hots Pizza was adorable and had the nicest workers. We swooned over this pickle slice and want to go back to try their other stuff ASAP.
Big Tings in Chelsea Market served us an great jerk chicken sandwich and iced tea with sorrel.
We were totally smitten with the sandwiches from 20 Blocks, every ingredient is clearly chosen with so much care. We shared a Turkey Town (house turkey, fried green tomato, baby romaine, and Cajun mayo on honey whole-wheat) and a Corn Star (charred corn, cowboy candy, and havarti on toasted milk bread).
Dinner at the always excellent Her Name is Han. We got a Mint Garden (green tea infused soju with fresh mint, basil, and perilla leaves) and a Hallabong Spritz (basically an aperol spritz with Jeju citrus).
We shared a bunch of things and are already excited for our appetizers. Korean fried chicken (which comes with a great sauce and wonderful radish kimchi).
Rice cakes with kabocha squash, shishito peppers, and a yuzu gochujang sauce / kimchi cheese pancake topped with a poached egg.
Gochujang grilled chicken thighs (the onion slaw on the side was my favorite bite of the evening). We also had minced beef bulgogi that I forgot to photograph.
P.S. Our actual favorite item of the weekend was a 100/10 cafecito from Titi’s Empanadas on the Lower East Side.
Little Cupcake Bakeshop. Princess cake and a caramel peanut butter bar. They are probably my 3rd favorite cake shop in all of NY.
Gertie’s new bagel shop concept knocked our socks off. We shared a bagel with scallion cream cheese, whitefish salad, and pickled peppers and latkes with apple butter and sour cream.
Tuck Shop‘s tuna melt is my new favorite. I was also head over heels for their honey mustard mayo (2nd sauce of all time; nearly tied with the salsa I had in Taos, NM).
Authentic Thai takeout. Pad see ew with mock duck and tom kha gai fried rice.
Curry beans. Great Northerm beans and roasted garlic sauteed with green onion, ginger, coconut milk, lime juice, red curry, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Served on a mix of brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower.
A very loose take on joomukbap. Leftover rice made into balls with sauteed kimchi, sesame seeds, shredded cheddar, canned tuna, roasted garlic, skyr, and Kewpie and coated in roasted seaweed and furikake. Plus roasted eggplant (a local baby eggplant variety!) sauteed with tahini, gochujang, sesame oil, and honey.
A loose take on callaloo. Frozen spinach cooked with yellow hot pepper, white onion, garlic, urfa chili, curry powder, coconut milk, and crab meat. I ate my bowl with a side of Vigil’s butter and mesquite beef jerky.
Brothy beans. Sauteed leak, green onion, and baby bok choy with ginger, gochugaru, butter, rice vinegar, chicken broth, and pinto beans. Served with buttered toasted sourdough bread (from Cafe d’Avignon, delicious).
My favorite Long Island coffee spot hopped on the fridge cigarette trend. Their version is diet coke with espresso, vanilla almond syrup, and a sweet cream cold foam. <– delicious
We also loved the tiramisu ice latte from MOTW. The espresso here had fantastic body.
We did not like this ube iced coffee with pandan cold foam (that’s on us, I really just don’t care for iced coffee with milk; I am mentioning it so maybe I stop trying it).
Meanwhile we adored our assortment of sweets from Fern and Aurora. Ube coffee cake swirl muffin / blueberry pop tart / pandan coconut butter mochi (the best butter mochi I’ve ever eaten, including in HI!) / ube krispie treat. We needed excellent snacks because we went to see Super Troopers at the movie theatre (I liked it! Not as good as the original but I preferred it to the 2nd one).
I also made a super duper homemade snack mix. Wheat Chex cereal and honey mustard protein pretzels baked with butter, ranch seasoning, and gochugaru plus peanuts, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds candied in a skillet with brown sugar.
Haribo bananas are a 9.9/10 for me.
Tori T’s is my favorite Long Island pizza. The texture on the square slices is unbeatable.
Red curry salmon cakes with a complementary dipping sauce. The cakes were a baked mix of canned salmon, red curry paste, lime zest, panko and egg. The sauce was Duke’s, red curry paste, Sriracha, honey, lime juice, and sesame oil. Plus roasted cauliflower.
Frozen dumplings (Bibigo chicken and vegetable mandu) plus frozen spinach, kale, and cauliflower rice sauteed with garlic, sesame seeds, gochugaru, rice seasoning, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Served in one bowl so I could easily top everything with chili crisp.
It was another great weekend! We stayed local this time, but enjoyed longish walks in Manhattan and Brooklyn. And shared so many sweet treats and sweet treat drinks! I considered including slushes in the title! Like I said, a great weekend! Highlights…
Moon Coffee Lab salted caramel iced latte with banana milk. Banana is the best coffee milk.
Levain cookie milk iced latte. The cold foam was delicious but my favorite part was the espresso; I had never tried coffee from here before but I definitely will get it again!
The very best coffee of the weekend came from Smiley Coffee – espresso with coconut slushie.
We happened across a street fair that had red sorrel. The spot was serving it with mint which was lovely.
Speaking of things that tasted like home, this soursop infused coconut water was nice and not too sweet.
Tender Crush frozen Diet Coke with vanilla soft serve!
But my Halo Halo was excellent. Not exactly what I am usually used to but so creamy and I loved the caramelized plantain.
We were blown away by our meal at La Fleur Rouge. Really thoughtful, beautiful dishes in a great environment. Guava Plum – tequilla Empirical Ayuuk, pink guava, plum, and salt.
Peking duck bao.
Morel duck soup.
Crispy Chinese eggplant with pineapple, bell pepper, and sweet and sour. These were a can’t miss.
The cheeseburger, which came with pickled cucumbers and seasoned fries. This sounds mean but it is in fact the highest compliment — this tasted exactly like the breakfast sausages you used to get on planes! Doesn’t break my top five but I did love it.
Tai Chi Fried Rice with confit duck, shrimp, and squid ink. This tasted even better than it looked and kept wonderfully leftover.
Finally molten chocolate cake with rum raisin ice cream and Golden Graham crumble.
And egg yolk beignets with apricot marmalade.
The best thing we ate all weekend was the fried rice I made with our James‘ leftovers. White rice and eggs from home plus short rib ragu and charred broccolini with Waygu beef bacon.
Posting a day early because it’s my birthday tomorrow and we have fun dinner reservations tonight (Rolos – I am hoping to snag a burger!). Things from this week included…
A bunch of weird birthday cake flavored things. My mom also gave me cake-scented hand soap, body wash, hand sanitizer, and a candle!
Creamy mango smoothie. Frozen mango and banana with water, milk, vanilla protein powder, and malted milk powder.
Two new favors of Wilde chicken chips. Both were good but maple waffle remains my favorite.
More Roast; I obviously had to try their crab rangoon crunchwrap (with crab rangoon spread, jasmine rice, sweet chili cucumber slaw, crispy wontons, and pepper jack cheese — my version was better!). We also shared a buffalo chicken sub and had baby carrots from home.
The best meal of the week was this chicken jalapeño popper dip – cream cheese, skyr, Duke’s, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pickled jalapeños (plus brine!), baked chicken breast, and sharp cheddar. Scooped with roasted broccoli and Trader Joe’s new sweet chili black eyed pea tempeh crisps (which are fantastic).
Bean salad. I sauteed onion, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, baby tomatoes, and black beans with lime juice and more brine; added diced avocado and sharp cheddar once it cooled; and added Love Corn corn nuts just before serving. We made this in advance and ate it cold and it was delightful.
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.
