The Blog-Shy of 2010, Part i
Grub Street Food Festival
Marcus and I went to the Grub Street Food Festival back in October, and it was this packed around noon. As you can probably guess, we didn't get around to many of the tents as we wanted to.
Since Marcus is a waffle fanatic, we started at one of the first tents, Wafels + Dinges, of Belgian waffle food cart fame. We've had this a few times before, and the brussels waffle (light and crispy) is our favorite. Unfortunately, they were only serving the liège waffle (soft and chewy), but this was the first time we had the Spekuloos spread as our complimentary dinges (i.e., topping). It looks a lot like peanut butter but tastes like traditional Belgian gingerbread-cinnamon cookies! I highly recommend trying it if you ever visit the Wafels + Dinges cart!
Since the other tent lines were incredibly long and tedious, Marcus and I walked around for a bit, when we ran into my friend Alice and a couple of her friends. They had just arrived like we had, and the only line to not have crazy lines was Macaron Parlour, run by an on-the-go macaron-making duo. I decided to have an earl grey, nutella, and candied bacon with maple cream cheese. I chose the bacon one mainly because I had never had a savory-flavored macaron before.
Here is the candied bacon macaron. I absolutely loved the concept, but the maple cream cheese filling was a little too sweet for me. Otherwise, the nutella and earl grey were just delightful!
Just as we were leaving, we ran into the Kelvin Natural Slush Co. truck!
From the three assortment of base flavors that day (ginger, citrus, or tea), Marcus choose citrus (seen above) and I choose tea.
Price point: $5 for a liège waffle (including 1 dinges); $2-3 per macaron; $3.50 for a small /$4.50 for a large slush.
Wafels + Dinges
http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/index.html
open Su-W from 8am-10pm, Th-Sa from 8am-1am
check Twitter for daily location
Macaron Palour
http://www.macaronparlour.com
check blog and Twitter for updates
Kelvin Natural Slush Co.
http://www.kelvinslush.com
open from April through October during the year
check website and Twitter for updates / daily location
--October 16, 2010
Luke's Lobster
Since the line at the Grub Street Food Festival was ridiculously long, Marcus and I decided to go to the actual Luke's Lobster shop in the East Village for lunch. I thought this sign was cute--"from ME (me) to you"--haha!
Low and behold--the famous lobster roll from Luke's. It is something I get the craving for all the time. The bun is buttered and perfectly toasted, dabbed with some mayo, and stuffed with fresh lobster meat chunks flown in from Maine, seasoned with some melted lemon butter and secret spices--ahhh, I'm salivating as I am writing this!
Marcus ordered the Taste of Maine, which includes a sampler of the three types of rolls offered at Luke's: half crab roll, half lobster roll, and half shrimp roll. Along with the sampler, it comes with a pair of Empress crab claws, a bag of chips, and a drink. Marcus didn't care for the Empress crab claws (they were too fishy), but he loved the lobster and shrimp rolls because they were "meatier" in quantity.
Marcus also tried lemon-lime soda by Maine Root, an all natural, hand-crafted soda company. A nice, bold citrus flavor--I order this every time I'm back at Luke's. I like how the ingredients (including the soda and chips offered) are from Maine!
Price point: $16 for a lobster roll; $20 for the Taste of Maine sampler.
Luke's Lobster
93 East 7th Street
New York, NY 10009
http://www.lukeslobster.com
--October 16, 2010
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
I took my mom to Dan Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York on Halloween. It's beautiful during the autumn season, with the foliage.
Turkeys!
Shot inside the Stone Barns' greenhouse.
I was disappointed with the overall meal we had there (we went for the five-course Farmer's Feast). Most of the courses we oversalted and not what I had expected from the glowing reviews friends had given me before I made the long drive up. I think I should give it another try in the spring/summer, so that the ingredients/produce available are greater in number. But here are a few of my favorite dishes (presentation and/or taste-wise) of the night.
These are vegetables from the Farm, presented on pins sticking up on a wooden block. I love the color contrast. The vegetables were fresh, flavorful, and crisp, as if they were picked that morning (they probably were)!
This is veal marrow with pancetta prepared from the Farm, served directly in a calf bone. Can't get any more closer to the farm than this. It was a bit salty, but the flavor was great!
This was the farm egg with spinach, sungold tomato, potatoes, and chicken heart. I really loved the freshness of the egg (freshly laid that day) and the organic ingredients that compose the dish. It's like breakfast for dinner!
One of my favorite things of the night--shiitake mushroom salt on the left, and fennel salt on the right. It's not only salt, but a hint of another flavor!
Our server actually brought us back to the Blue Hill kitchen, and guess who was there?! Chef Dan Barber himself! He introduced himself to my mom and me and sadly informed us that I wouldn't be allowed to take photographs of the kitchen. Not all was lost though. He asked us which course we enjoyed the most and then asked us what Blue Hill could improve on. I didn't want to tell him many of the courses we had were overly salted (such a simple thing to tell a celebrity chef), but luckily my mom jumped in saying that we felt the lamb was really gamey. He said that the restaurant gets that a lot, and they're working on it. We bid farewell to the chef and thanked him for taking the time to talk to us.
Me in front of the entrance of Blue Hill at Stone Barns. I'd love to try his Blue Hill in Manhattan as well. I feel like I should give it another chance, so Blue Hill, here I come in a warmer season!
Price point: $105 per person for five-course Farmer's Feast.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico Hills, NY 10591
http://www.bluehillfarm.com/food/blue-hill-stone-barns
--October 31, 2010
More to come--stay tuned! Last third will be posted next!
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