More NY Eats

So I have done a LOT of eating in the last few weeks. I knocked off quite a few hot spots from my self-made restaurant list. There are still so many more places I have yet to eat in New York City, but, oh, I'll be back. Oh, and I've done a smidge of cooking/baking too...Spicy Chili, Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies...

Ippudo is currently at the top of my list for dinner in New York City. Ramen. Pork buns--gorgeous pillows filled with perfectly cooked and seasoned pork. Cute furniture made for those dining in two's. This place is busy its loud its soooooo good. They will tell you that you have to wait 2 hours on a Wednesday night, but just go around the corner for a beer and come back in 30 min. Stick it out, it won't take a whole 2 hours. I got in after 40 minutes. And it is sooo worth the wait. Just don't make the mistake of attempting to come here with 6 people. Stick to 2 people. Or come for lunch. But yes, Ippudo is my new favorite New York City dinner spot.


Let's talk coffee. Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Inside the Ace Hotel. Very trendy, extremely good coffee. There is a lobby inside the hotel where a slew of trendy New Yorkers sip their coffee (or at night their cocktails) and type away at their laptops, stick their nose into a good book, or chat with an old friend. Stumptown is originally from Portland, Oregon. Who's up for a road-trip to Portland?


Shake Shack. I have no photo because I gobbled this thing up. Yes I ate a burger, a fast-food burger, outside in the snow after a yoga class. Fast food and yoga. Oh yes, I did it. And there was hardly a line, which is a rare occurrence at any Shake Shack location. This burger was good but nothing to rave about. The bun was indeed soft and buttery (compared to the toasty crisper In-N-Out bun). They have yummy shakes, too. My friend ordered a cold shake in the cold weather. And then this friend ordered a hot chocolate from Stumptown right after he finished his chocolate shake. This boy knows how to live right.

Speaking of burgers, have you been to 5 Napkin Burger yet? 10 oz of burger. 10 freaking ounces! Caramelized onions. Gruyere cheese. Absolutely no lettuce, no tomato, no pickle. This is a good place to go after seeing a matinee showing of Memphis.


'Wich Craft. Nice little spot for a sandwich. Grilled cheddar with smoked ham, pear, & mustard on cranberry-pecan bread.


Rue 57. I'm not crazy about Midtown/Times Square. It is too touristy, too crowded, and too corporate. But let's say you have a brother who works as a lawyer in Midtown. You meet him for dinner. Rue 57 is a fine place to dine. It is kind of funny in that it has Parisian cuisine, American classics, and sushi, but somehow it works. Below you will see a few of the many menu options at Rue 57.

Beet Salad: frisee, baby greens, sliced bosc pear, baked goat cheese, orange vinaigrette

Special: Baked clams with sun-dried tomatoes (I enjoyed the clams however my brother thought they were too rubbery; he's had better, he says)

Miso Glazed Chilean Sea Bass with Baby Spinach

E.A.T. Oh, the Upper East Side. You really are something. E.A.T. is a gourmet deli/restaurant and if you are itching to see a NYC celeb, I recommend going here for some good eats and good sees.

The Chocolate Room, Brooklyn

(Above you see brother and mom, post-chocolate indulgence) Nestled next to a quaint movie theater in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, The Chocolate Room knows how to hit the spot on a cold, snowy day.


Immediately when you walk in a case of gorgeous chocolates will tempt you.


You can sit at the bar or go to the back and sit at a table (If you sit at a table there is a beautiful tall window with which to watch the snow flakes fall). The waitstaff hands you a menu and a little sample: almond cake drizzled with chocolate.


It is pretty much a given that you must order hot chocolate when the snow is falling and you are at a place called "The Chocolate Room." Oh, and please do order a homemade marshmallow to swim in your hot chocolate. The Chocolate Room also has a hot chocolate with a shot of espresso in it. It is called a Cafe Torino. My eyes just got a little brighter thinking about it.


So five of us "dined" at the Chocolate Room. We each got a drink and then shared two chocolate desserts. A flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and whipped cream=dense and dreamy, and I loved the raspberry-chocolate combo.


Chocolate pudding cake with whipped mascarpone and brandied cherries. Rich and oozing chocolatey goodness. Definitely my favorite chocolate delight from The Chocolate Room.

Both of the desserts--the flourless chocolate cake and the chocolate pudding cake--were on the specials menu.

I feel like I have taken a chocolate and burger tour of New York. My stomach has never hurt so good.

The Chocolate Room
86 5th Avenue
New York, NY 11217
(718) 783-2900

Lunch at Eataly

Eataly is jam-packed with people and Italian food-goods.

There is everything from wine and cheese pairings to il pesce (fish) and la verdure (emphasis on produce). There is a beer garden, a panini stop, a pastry counter, and a coffee shop. You can purchase pastas, meat, bread, fish, cheese, liquor, produce, snacks, and desserts.

After tasting some wine and cheese (we were a quartet of mother-daughter duos), we headed over to dine on Eataly's homemade Neapolitan-style pizza and homemade lasagna.

On the website, Eataly's pizza is described as having a charred and elastic crust. I think that is a fitting description. The pizza we ordered was extremely simple; it had San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and a about 2 basil leaves on top. Is it possible that the simple was almost too simple? Ok ok, the pizza was good. But I have definitely had better. And it sure took a long time to bring out this "simple" pizza.

We also shared a lasagna ("pasta al forno con zucca") with homemade noodles. It had pumpkin, butternut squash, and Pecorino cheese. This was quite good. It did sort of fall apart when you took a bite, but I liked the flavor and the creamy texture.

I will have to go back and try some of the other restaurant vendors at Eataly, or at least buy some groceries there. It will have to be after the crazy holiday season, though. I don't know how well I do with large crowds and a lot of noise while I am lunching...oh, everything is an experience in New York...

Eataly NY
200 5th AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 10010
Entrances on 5th Avenue and 23rd Street

Abraco Espresso

Of course I am halfway across the country and I find myself indulging in the familiar...

Abraco Espresso.

I will first let you read the little sum up of this tiny East Village espresso bar by the New York Times:

There are three things you need to know about the...cafe Abraço Espresso: it’s tiny, it brews excellent coffee, and the little food that it serves is way beyond coffee-shop caliber.

(Also, it’s named for the Gilberto Gil song “Aquele Abraço,” which means “that hug.” That helps to explain why it has a record player and a sheaf of ’70s jazz and Tropicalia on vinyl.)

The coffee duties are split between two of the partners: Jamie McCormick, who moved back to New York after a decade-plus trip to the San Francisco area spent mostly at the restaurant Oliveto and partly at Blue Bottle Coffee, and Amy Linton, a barista formerly at Ninth Street Espresso.

Both fashion espresso drinks that rank the shop among the city’s finest. More distinctive still is the drip coffee, ground and prepared in a Melitta filter to order ($2.50). The extra few minutes the process takes produce a full-bodied cup with a distinctly fruity character and refreshing acidity.

Oliveto restaurant? Blue Bottle Coffee? These Bay Area spots are all too familiar with my leisure and work lives back home. I have to go to this New York espresso bar to check it out.

I went. I ordered an Americano and it was indeed "full-bodied...distinctly fruity...and [had] refreshing acidity." I stood at the tiny counter, sipping away whilst people-watching: Two young 20-something women, the artsy type, chatting away about books and bars all the while flirting with the barista. A man with his young daughter stop in for a mid-morning snack--pain perdu, a French-toast dolloped with pastry cream and chocolate spread, wrapped in paper to eat on-the-go. Couples, parents, friends, and soloists like myself all trickled in to Abraco for a little perk to their day.

Abraco Espresso

86 East 7th Street (right around the corner from Yoga to the People at St. Mark's Pl)

Closed Mondays

Post-caffeine, I headed around the corner to take a class at Yoga to the People. YTTP is a go-to yoga spot for me in the Bay Area. The original studio is right in the heart of New York City's Lower East Side. I shan't pass up the opportunity to attend a class and compare. Well folks, the New York class is exactly the same as the ones in the Bay Area, with a lot more people. Crowded. Get there early.

The City Bakery

The City Bakery.
I want.
I crave.
I think I found my new favorite bakery.
I think I need to move to New York City.
I think I need to live above The City Bakery.


Exhibit A: The Pretzel Croissant
Salty
Buttery
Tender
Flaky
Sprinkled with sesame seeds
Dipped into my hot chocolate drink


Exhibit B: Dark Hot Chocolate with a Homemade Marshmallow
Chocolate in the morning.
Makes me a happy lady.


Look at those muffins. Ooo tummy.


Bran muffin. A mountain of a muffin.

David Lebovitz turned me on to this bakery. They have a salad bar at the bakery. Salad and pastries. No but really, the salad bar is supposed to be raging during lunch hour. But really no, just go get a pretzel croissant and dip it into your liquid chocolate drink.

The City Bakery
3 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 366-1414

Cafe Habana, NYC

Grilled Corn, Mexican Style. Served with chili powder lime and cheese.
This corn was featured on the Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate a la Tyler Florence. This corn is worth the crowd, is worth the tight spaces, is worth the narrow tables. It's worth it. Go.


Sincronizada. Small black bean and sun-dried tomato tortillas with mozzarella cheese and avocado. Basically it's a quesadilla with a fancy name.


Meet Carolyn. She's the fine lady who brought me to Cafe Habana. She also has been living in a darling flat with burgundy floors. This was her last New York meal before moving back to L.A. Carolyn tells me that the brunch at Cafe Habana is great. Chilaquiles here I come...

Cafe Habana
17 Prince Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 625-2002

Chocolate Truffles: 5th Avenue Chocolatiere New York

Love.

5th Avenue Chocolatiere
693 Third Avenue at 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 935-5454

Magnolia Bakery's Peanut Butter Cookies, Veganized

As a devout fan of Sex and the City, when I went to New York a few years ago, I signed myself up to go on the official Sex and the City tour of New York City. Yes, it was amazing, pretty much everything I could ask for.

A huge bus filled with crazy fans like myself. There were young women, grandmothers, sisters, best friends, even mom and kids, boyfriend and girlfriend, people visiting from all over the world.

We stopped at the Pleasure Chest where Charlotte bought her "rabbit," we drank cosmopolitans at a speak easy, we stopped by Miranda's gym, Samantha's place in the meat-packing district, the church where Miranda and Steve get married, the restaurant where Carrie went to meet Aidan's parents...

Two of my favorite stops were at 1. Carrie's stoop...


and 2. Magnolia Bakery.



Oh, the famous Magnolia Bakery. This is where the cupcake craze all began (at least in my book). Man oh man oh man. I want to go back there soooo bad! Let's go to NYC right now ok?

I must go back to this cute Greenwich Village bakery and try something other than their cupcakes! The quaint little store is just filled with glorious cakes and cookies and confections!

I made their peanut butter cookies for my house mates. I made them vegan. You do not need to make them vegan (just use real butter and a real egg). These peanut butter cookies are so good, and I ate so much batter it's ridiculous.

Chewy and peanut buttery with little surprises of cranberries and chocolate= LOVE!


I actually put whole peanuts in these cookies as well...next time I think I may omit them...they kind of just fell out and were not what I was looking for...

Another NYC hot spot that I have been dreaming about is Serendipity. Let's go get some $9 frozen hot chocolate, shall we?

Magnolia Bakery's Peanut Butter Cookies, veganized
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup earth balance butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Ener-G egg replacer equivalent of an egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the earth balance butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the "egg" and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips.

3. Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets (I lined my sheets with parchment paper), leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern.

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.