I'm Full... and Tired!

It's been over three months since I last shared a story of food with you, so for that I do apologize. My life has been a little crazy lately, in the best way possible, and I just haven't been able to find the time. In the past three months, a LOT has happened. I attended South by Southwest in Austin where I had an incredible time and was lucky enough to eat at both the famous Franklin BBQ and at Top Chef Paul Qui's Uchiko.

[Franklin BBQ is the REAL DEAL!]



I know my dining companions from Uchiko would like for me to recount our meal, so I will share what I remember of it. The company was great, the wine was crisp, the service was impeccable (shout-out to Bobby Bookout!) and the food was absolutely outstanding. We had eight diners and the table was split into four and four, so each group of us ordered a different tasting menu.

The stand-out dishes were the Brussels sprouts, the Yokai Berry Atlantic Salmon, the Loup Crudo and the several different varities of sushi we ordered.

Bobby even taught us that when eating nigiri (sliced raw fish over a pat of rice), you're meant to flip the fish over with your fingers as you place it into your mouth so the fish hits your tongue first and the rice second. I assumed he knew what he was talking about and tried it out, and I couldn't believe the difference it made! I highly recommend you try it.

We also ate at the always-amazing Second Bar + Kitchen where my friend Ethan is the Chef de Cuisine. That man knows how to make some food! Another one of the highlights of the trip was the Bravo party where I got to hang with my main man Tom Colicchio.

In the past three months I also visited Florida for Food Blog Forum Orlando where I spoke on a panel about PR, brands and bloggers and I caught up with some of my favorite bloggers.

[Nikki of Pennies on a Platter, Krissy of Krissy's Creations, Julie of Table for Two Blog (and my soulmate), Jenny of Picky Palate, Angie of Bakerella and me]

[I love the turkey legs in Disney World!]

[Jaden Hare & Scott Hare of Steamy Kitchen, Julie Deily of The Little Kitchen, me, Diane Cu & Todd Porter of The White on Rice Couple]

I have been traveling frequently to Chicago and Michigan for team meetings (always good to see everyone) and went to Seattle earlier this month for BlogHer Food. It was a great time, a great city and again many of my favorite bloggers were there!

[Alex Thomopoulos of Against the Grain, me and Todd Porter of The White on Rice Couple]

[Here I am with the KitchenAid girls, Katie Lee & Tandy!]

[Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean, Joy Wilson of Joy the Baker, Alex Thomopoulos of Against the Grain, me and Catherine McCord of Weelicious]

[Here I am with Jaden of  Steamy Kitchen]

Most recently, I attended the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. As a foodie, the Classic is the ultimate event. It is something I have wanted to attend for as long as I've known of its existence. What it looked like, to me, was the most epic food experience possible. The chefs I love making the food I love to eat in a setting that looked like a dream.

When I took my job last summer, I had no idea it meant I might have a chance to go to this event. I could have only hoped. When my attendance was finally confirmed, it felt like I was dreaming. I counted down the days and this past Thursday, my boss and I boarded a plane for Colorado. The adventure began.

Over the past five days, I have had one of the best times of my life.

While I was there to work, and work I did, I couldn't help but indulge in some fun. As part of my job, I attended cooking demonstrations, snapped photos of celebrity chefs, posted content to Facebook, met and mingled with influencers, found "tweetable" moments and generally just took it all in so I could properly share it with my brand's social media community. You will never really hear me complain about my job, I absolutely love it.

When I wasn't working, it was time to play, and play I did. During the Publisher's Party on top of the mountain (which we arrived to via gondola), I was introduced to some industry people my age (some of whom also live and work in NYC), and they became my partners in partying for the weekend. We danced our faces off at Gail Simmons' Dessert Party, rode a moose (see below), sipped Belvedere cocktails at the 30th Anniversary Party while listening to the sweet sounds of Elvis Costello, again danced our faces off at the Spazmatics concert, after-partied until the sun came up, gorged on delicious porky goodness at the Grand Cohocon Party, hopped aboard a bicycle built for 10 to ride around the streets of Aspen and, most significantly for me, successfully met New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker. All in the midst of some of the most gorgeous views of nature I have ever seen in my entire life. Yes, I am a lucky girl.

I know this is a food blog so I also need to tell you about the food which was absolutely epic. At the Grand Tasting, the short rib dish from Food & Wine Best New Chef Bryant Ng was flavorful, spicy and unique with tongue, jasmine coconut rice and peanuts while the Chocolate Chunk cookies from Jacques Torres were a welcome familiar flavor. The Grand Cochon brought several exciting dishes, like the sweet & sour pork bones from Jamie Bissonnette that were fall-off-the-bone tender and the pork tortellini in pork broth from Chef Marc Forgione that was other-worldly. Even with all the options at the event, and even considering how full I was from all the porky goodness I had consumed, I went back for seconds on both dishes. Forgione also offered a very limited supply of ribs with ramps and black truffles, and I was lucky enough to get one! (see below)

Other major highlights for me were, without a doubt, the Simmons/Colicchio "Sweet & Savory" demonstration, the annual cook-off between Michael Symon/Bobby Flay and Jacques Pepin/Jean Claude Szurdak (Pepin and Szurdak were victors), the views from the top of the mountain during the Publisher's Party, getting called out by Johnny Iuzzini for being "trouble" after our mutual antics at the Dessert Party and the realization that while I was having one of the best weekends of my entire life, I was technically "working."

Some photos of the Aspen Classic are below for your enjoyment.

[Jacques Pepin is so adorable!]

[Wes Welker is a whole different kind of adorable... GO PATRIOTS!]

[Good times with Johnny Iuzzini]

[New friends]

[Obviously my favorite demo! Love Tom & Gail]

[INCREDIBLE Pork Rib with Black Truffles and Pickled Ramps from Chef Marc Forgione]

More photos from the Classic:

My Photos

Photos I took for KitchenAid

I also promise, promise, promise, my next post will come sooner than three months from now. Until then...

Let's Eat!

-The Fabulous Foodie

Delicious Food, Quirky Service at Craftbar

Let’s be completely honest here for a second: Sundays stink. Not only are they the end of the weekend and the gateway to the most awful day of the week, but usually I’m tired from going out Saturday night (my own fault, I realize) and bummed out that I have another 5 days of work until my next weekend. Due to these facts, Patrick and I decided that we would no longer dread Sundays, but instead we would start a tradition of Sunday Night Dinners where we’d have an awesome dinner to look forward to on Sunday nights.

Last weekend we decided to kick off this new tradition with a dinner at Tom Colicchio’s CraftBar. (PHOTO CREDIT: Blonde in the Kitchen)

It’s no secret that I’m a big time Colicchio fan, and I’ve been wanting to try this more casual version of Craft, the restaurant that Patrick took me to for my 26th birthday dinner. We made a reservation and walked downtown in the warm Sunday summer air.

When we walked into the restaurant, it was almost completely empty. This sometimes turns me off, but on a random Sunday night at 6pm in the summer I expect many restaurants to be empty. We were shown to our table and our waiter came over almost immediately. This is where things got really interesting. Our waiter was nothing short of hilarious. With an incredibly dry sense of humor and a strong opinion on what we should eat and drink, he provided constant entertainment throughout the entire meal. For diners as open-minded as us, he hit the jackpot. I could imagine anyone with less of a sense of humor or pickier eating habits being completely turned off by his personality, but not us. We were delighted.

When I told him I wanted a white similar to Sauvignon Blanc but something new, he recommended the Pinot Blanc instead. It was dry, crisp, cold and mild—exactly how I prefer my white wine. It was also several dollars cheaper per glass than the Sauv Blanc, so I gave him silent points for not recommending something pricier. When we told him we were ready to order, he let us know that he’d be right back to tell us about what else they were offering, exclaiming that he was certain we’d need to hear these menu additions. And again, he was right.

The entrée special for the evening was Berkshire pork for two. Our favorite! He described that the pork was prepared three ways, and while I again can’t recall everything he said, all I really remember are the use of phrases like “succulent,” “fall off the bone” and “you won’t be sorry.” We ordered this dish immediately for dinner. Our hilarious waiter assured me that I would be so happy with the pork dish that I’d have to resist the urge to hug him, but that he’d settle for an enthusiastic high-five.

Patrick and I decided to start the meal off by sharing the Fried Pacific Oysters with Pickled Cucumber and Old Bay Aïoli. Ever since the fried oysters we had at Beauty & Essex, I’ve been craving them. This version definitely didn’t disappoint.Enormous, flavorful oysters were lightly dusted with a crispy coating that had a really great spice to it. There were four oysters in the order, and even half the order was plenty for me given the size of the mollusks.

The next thing we shared was the Duck Rillette Bruschetta with Fried Duck Egg, Mizuna and Orange Aïoli.This dish consisted of some very tender duck meat (Rillettes is a preparation of meat similar to pate. The meat is cubed or chopped, salted heavily and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, and then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. Thanks Wikipedia!) While the meat on this dish was a bit salty, I didn’t find it to be too overwhelming and I actually quite enjoyed it. The fried duck egg introduced a nice texture to the dish but I found the aioli to be rather unremarkable. Overall, though, I definitely enjoyed the it.

As the courses came out of the kitchen and our waiter made frequent visits to our table, he continued to strike up witty banter with us. While the restaurant was empty when we got there and he admitted he was excited we were there so he’d have someone to talk to, people did begin to pour into the restaurant and soon it was quite busy. Regardless of the other patrons, our waiter supplied superb service all night. I noticed that he saw our water glasses were near empty from afar, and I saw him subtly nod to a support person who immediately ran to our table with a pitcher of water. We truly enjoyed his style.

Finally, the pork dish came out. It was a gigantic skillet that was filled to the brim with green vegetables and pork galore.There were pork cheeks braised in red wine and a hearty helping of pork trotters (pig’s feet) that were lightly fried. I can’t recall the third preparation but I remember the meat being tender and very yummy. To top the whole thing off, there were several pork rinds in there because, well, why not?! We really enjoyed the pork for two, even with the $70+ price tag, but since the dish was plenty of food for the two of us the price wasn’t too crazy. In the end, I did high-five the waiter.

We ordered coffees but skipped dessert, as per usual, and left Craftbar with a very positive feeling about the experience. Our waiter, although very unusual, was knowledgeable, friendly and quite funny. I hope he uses good judgment when laying his charm on patrons and holds back his over-the-top sense of humor if he can tell it won’t be well-received. Patrick and I were very entertained.

What are your thoughts on quirky service? Would you prefer a waitperson remain strictly professional at all times? Or are you okay with a little comedy show to accompany your meal? Let me know, I’d love to hear what you think

Let’s Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Eating My Way Through Austin: Days 3 & 4

[Note: The first part of this post was written Friday evening, 6/3. I had to stop writing because I was SO full that writing about food was making me feel ill. Piece was finished on 6/6.]

The ironic thing about this post right now is that I'm literally writing it while in the middle of the most ridiculous food comas I have ever been though in my entire life. I'm literally propped up in bed feeling so full that I can't even imagine ever eating again. But I have to tell you about the eating adventures I've had over the past 2 days in Austin!

First of all, sleeping in late on Thursday didn't allow me to have a breakfast even close to as awesome as at Juan in a Million the day before. It was a lot worse, in fact. It was a bagel from Starbucks (blech!) I scooped out the middle and toasted it well, then spread cream cheese all over it, but even that amount of description is too much. It was nothing special at all.

My morning session was with Shauna James Ahern better known as Gluten Free Girl and I have to tell you, it really was fabulous. She has been blogging for years about Gluten-Free living and I found her to be funny, approachable and incredibly sweet. This was one of the sessions I enjoyed most, and I met many other food bloggers during this session that was called "Blog to Book." I was also delighted to see Marge Perry in this session, who was my Food Writing teacher at the Institute of Culinary Education and the one who told me to join IACP in the first place.

When that session was over, I had just about 15 minutes to grab the free lunch before meeting with Lynn Woll, Sr. Director of International Marketing of allrecipes.com. As part of IACP we could choose to meet with a "mentor" for 1/2 hour, and I chose Lynn because she had marketing in her title and allrecipes.com is HUGE. Lynn was incredibly nice and we chatted about my career path, her career path and a few other things for the 1/2 hour. I chowed down on my lunch, some hummus and some chicken breast, but again, nothing special. These were really just rushed meals eaten quickly so I could speed off to the IACP events, including a demo with Jacques Pepin and Amanda Hesser of food52.com, both of whom I admire and was excited to see.Jacques was adorable, Amanda was a great moderator/interviewer and we got to taste some of Jacques' food! Delish.The real treat came for dinner that night. The IACP had planned one fancy night with a reception planned at the famed Driskill Hotel followed by an awards ceremony at the Paramont Theatre. I had been planning to go to both, but Rev (Burger Conquest) asked around and some people told him that the reception was great but recommended to skip the awards ceremony. Since Rev's friends Julie and Ethan live in Austin, we made plans to meet them for dinner after the reception.

The Driskill Hotel was beautiful, everything I had been hoping it would be. The event was elegant and all the cocktails were made with vodka so I was a happy girl. We didn't want to eat too much at this event, so we only had tiny tastes of the offerings: duck (my favorite!), squab and venison. Yum! All three pieces of meat were very good, but the venison was definitely the best of the three.After a few cocktails and some lively chatter with fellow IACP members, Rev and I took a walk to a restaurant called Haddington's in downtown Austin.

(photo courtesy of Haddington's)

Julie and Ethan were there when we arrived, so we sat at a table for 4 in one of the small side rooms in the restaurant. Since Ethan is a chef (Second Bar + Kitchen), we let him order us some appetizers. He got us the Duck & Foie Gras Meatballs, the Sweetbreads and the Tomato & Burrata Salad. Unfortunately, he found a tiny piece of metal in the salad so we had to send it back, but the Meatballs and Sweetbreads were both addictively good.

As if Foie Gras in my meatballs wasn't enough, the waitress then brought out four small shot glasses filled with a mysterious yellowish substance.She explained it was Foie Gras Egg Nog, and I was instantly turned off by the thought. But, being me, I took a sip anyway just so I could tell you all about it, and my initial reservations were confirmed. It was truly disgusting. I've never liked any drinks that are creamy or rich before, so adding something as heavy as Foie Gras to the flavor was a major turn-off for me. Rev and Ethan both liked it, Julie and I did not.

We had a great time at the restaurant. This was my first time meeting the two of them, Rev & Julie have been friends for years, and I found them both to be incredibly fun, delightful people who were great dining companions. Throughout the meal I sipped on a crisp, light Sav Blanc and decided that an entree of Sea Scallops would pair with the wine quite well. I was right. The Scallops were huge, light and very flavorful.I tried Rev's steak (he ordered the Steak Frites) and thought the steak was also very good. Cooked just how I like it (which as you know by now, is bloody) I thought the seasoning was perfect and the meat was tender.

Ethan ordered a few desserts, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Cocoa Panne Cotta, neither of which I had any interest in, but those who did eat them said they were good. I got myself my usual Espresso and was truly satisfied by the meal. Julie was incredibly generous and paid for the meal (thanks Julie!) and off we went. I decided not to go out that night since I had a full IACP day on Friday, so I went to bed that night with a full tummy and a happy feeling that often comes after a good meal spent with great people.

Now on to Friday, the day of the food coma I mentioned earlier. Again without time to grab a decent breakfast, I went to my morning IACP sessions and dreamed of lunchtime when Rev and Julie were planning to take me to Smitty's, a BBQ joint about 30 minutes outside of Austin. As soon as my sessions were over I met the two of them a few blocks away from my hotel and we piled into the car to head out on our BBQ adventure. Rev is somewhat of an authority on both Austin and food, so I was going to trust whatever he told me. And while I had only just met Julie, something told me she also really knew her stuff.

After a 40-minute drive out of Austin, we arrived to a cute, old-fashioned town called Lockhart. It looked like the towns in old western movies and I was instantly charmed. We pulled up to Smitty's and I could hardly contain my excitement. What kind of BBQ heaven awaited me inside? I truly couldn't wait to find out.

I'm a big fan of Texas, don't get me wrong, but dang, it's HOT! It was up around 100 degrees almost every day I was down there, and for me, that's really just too hot. When we walked in the front door of Smitty's, I was expecting a blast of AC, which is what happens anywhere else you walk into in Texas. But not Smitty's. It went from hot outside to an absolute inferno inside. It was so hot in there I almost couldn't breathe! I then realized the cause of the intense heat: the smoker. All the workers stand around the smoker to sell the meat and I'm telling you, I just about passed out. We ordered pork shoulder, brisket, pork ribs and a hot ring (sausage) with about 6 slices of white bread. I was in hog heaven! Pun intended.We took our food into the dining area which was thankfully a chilly 68 degrees and ordered iced tea and pickles (for Julie & me) and beer and cheese (for Rev.) We took our meat over to a big picnic table, took the usual photos of our food and went to town on the huge pile of pig. It was nothing short of incredible. The ribs were absolutely phenomenal. The smoky flavor permeated every inch of the meat and I couldn't get enough. Trust me, the brisket and pork shoulder were great, but these ribs! Out of control good.Once we finished all the meat, I made the ill-advised decision to go back out into the smoker and order two more ribs. The kind people of Smitty's gave me two very generously-sized ribs and as I carried them back into the air conditioning, I knew I was making a poor decision eating more but how often am I in Lockhart, TX at a BBQ joint like this? I carried on.Speaking of ill-advised... now I'm not usually an ice cream person, but at a mere $1 per cone, I couldn't resist. Julie and I, who are both lactose intolerant, each had an ice cream cone, knowing full well what it would do to us. Oops.We finished our ice cream, got back in the car and drove back to Austin for the rest of the IACP panels. I can't deny it, I was FULL. I sat in the back of the room wanting to be upstairs in my bed. I had eaten way too much. And to add to it, I had dinner plans with Patrick's cousin Brian and his fiancé Tanya later that night. As I said before, oops!

A full 4 hours later, as Brian and Tanya were picking me up for dinner, I was still incredibly full from lunch. I had been hoping I'd get hungry again, but no such luck. We drove 20 minutes from the hotel to a place called County Line BBQ.

(photo courtesy of County Line)

While it is a chain restaurant, I'd heard good things and they apparently had the "best bread ever" according to several reputable sources.

I ordered the Lite Plate with BBQ Chicken and a Beef BBQ Rib, Cole Slaw and a Salad.We also ordered a loaf of the famous bread, which was as good as everyone told me it would be. The loaf had to weigh at least a few pounds, and it was warm and delicious.I stuffed myself to the point of no return, which put me into the food coma I was in when I began writing this post. When they dropped my back off after dinner, I tried to meet some people out at a bar and I literally couldn't do anything but moan and clutch my stomach. I had clearly eaten too much, and it was time to go to bed. I went back to the hotel and called it a night. It was a true food coma, but it was absolutely positively worth it.

Have you ever eaten too much of one kind of food? What kind was it? Did you regret it, or was it worth it? Leave me your comments, I'd love to know I'm not the only one.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Asellina in the Gansevoort Park Hotel

My latest piece on The Strong Buzz is about a dinner I recently had at Asellina, the restaurant in the semi-new Gansevoort Park Hotel. I'm still dreaming about the stuffed olives... Check it out:

"Asellina"

The Meatpacking District has its draws: The Highline, Jeffrey, DVF, and the Standard Grill come to mind -the neighborhood does tend to exude a certain aura of pretension. It's definitely not where you want to go out if you're looking to save some cash. Stop in at the Gansevoort, located near the corner of 9th Avenue and Little West 12th Street and you may find it hard to justify elbowing your way through the snooty model-types just to pay $20 for a cocktail.

So when the Gansevoort Hotel Group opened a second NYC location in Gramercy, the last thing I was expecting was an approachable neighborhood restaurant with cocktails under $15 a pop. But that's precisely what they did with Asellina, a 10,000-square foot Italian restaurant located in the new Gansevoort Park Hotel.

The restaurant, which I visited on a cold rainy night, was designed by iCrave, the design firm behind such hotspots as STK, Tenjune and Crobar. It's lit by a fireplace, and despite its football field size, it somehow feels warm and cozy; it's a place you'll want to stay a while. A beautiful bar made of dark wood runs the entire length of the front room and is surrounded by several matching tables. Off to the side of the bar is an intimate lounge that is the perfect spot to relax over cocktails ($14, a $6 savings over the MePa).

The atmosphere at Asellina is truly delightful, loud enough to feel the room's bustling energy, but quiet enough to carry on a conversation without shouting. Our waiter was a charmer with a thick Italian accent who never let our water glasses go empty and kept up a perfect pace for the entire meal. When a friend showed up to join us for dinner, he kindly moved us to a great low table in the corner of the restaurant that was surrounded by comfortable couches. This allowed us to sit back, relax and enjoy our evening as the food was promptly delivered to the table.

The kitchen is under the care of chef Marco Porceddu, who hails from Sardinia. He most recently worked in Las Vegas at Bella Luna, a place he opened after a stint with Steve Wynn. He's clearly one who wants to please every appetite. His dinner menu begins with Antipasti and Flatbreads, moves on to Pastas (Primi) and Entrées (Secondi); it offers enough variety for a meal of a little bite with a glass of wine or a multi-course feast. We went for the feast options, starting off with the Burrata cheese and stuffed cerignola olives, followed up with the sausage and goat cheese flatbread, and the pasta with pistachios and lobster, and the sea bass special.

The Burrata was as luscious as you'd imagine: a kind of love child of cheese, butter and sour cream. It's served with both red and yellow tomatoes, and drizzled with a beautifully nutty olive oil. We finished every last bite. The olives were olives in name only. Just small enough to eat whole, they arrived stuffed with roasted veal and Parmesan, then very lightly fried to a crispy finish. Salty and rich, but not at all greasy, they vanished quite rapidly.

The sausage flatbread was quite good, an easy dish to share with a beer at the bar, but the dish that stole the show was the pasta with pistachio nuts and fresh lobster meat. The nuttiness of the pistachios somehow made the lobster meat even sweeter. It was something I'd never tasted before, and a dish I hope to have again and again.

The sea bass arrived was perfectly cooked, and flaked apart under my fork and melted in my mouth just as the Burrata had a few courses back. But perhaps we could have skipped a course or two, because we were officially full.

I enjoyed a strong Espresso for dessert and sat enjoying conversation with my dining companions for hours. Our waiter never rushed us, never made us feel us feel unwelcome and urged us to stay as long as we wanted. As stepped back out into the rain, I didn't even mind the nasty weather because of the wonderful experience I had just had at Asellina. I got all the perks of dining at a Gansevoort-quality restaurant, but none of the pompous attitude.

Asellina is located at 420 Park Ave S E 29th St, (212) 317-2908.

Let's Eat!

-The Fabulous Foodie

The Lambs Club: Beyond Dinner

As you may already know from reading my post about my trip to Atlantic City, I got to spend some time with some amazing members of the food community-namely Geoffrey and Margaret Zakarian and their posse. I had the pleasure of stopping by The Lambs Club for drinks a few weeks ago to meet their Social Media guru Brian Simpson, and just a few days ago I attended a breakfast they held to showcase some new menu items including some new vegetable juices.

I ate breakfast with my food blogger partner in crime, Megan Murphy of This Girl Can Eat and had the pleasure of seeing both Brian and Margaret while I was there. I ordered the Egg White Frittata with a side of Mixed Berriesand Megan got the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes also with a side of Mixed Berries. The food and atmosphere were both delightful, as was my company (as always.) The Lambs Club offers a solid breakfast menu and is the perfect spot for anything from a morning business meeting to a great place to bring your folks for breakfast when they're in town.

The Lambs Club will also be offering a Mother's Day special including a rose wine selection that will be featured thus Sunday (5/8) during Brunch and Dinner.
 
Chef Geoffrey Zakarian will create special dishes for Mother's Day that pair beautifully with Rose, such as Egg White Frittata with Leeks and Green Asparagus for Brunch (I can vouch for that dish!) as well as the Grilled Striped Bass with Lemon Marmalade and Roasted Tomato and Spice Roasted Duck with Mango and Baby Onions for dinner. As an added bonus, 5% of the proceeds will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.   
 
If you're looking for somewhere to take Mom on Sunday, you can book reservations by calling The Lambs Club directly at 212.997.5262.

Here are a few of the Rosé being offered for Mother's Day at The Lambs Club.
·         Comanderie de Peyrassol, Côtes de Provence 2010
·         Chateau de Pampelonne Cotes de Provence, Provence 2010
·         Hermann J. Wiemer, "Rose' Cuvee," Finger Lakes, NY 2010
·         Domaine Ott, Château de Selle, Côtes de Provence 2009
·         Ameztoi, Txakolina Getariako, "Rubentis," Basque, Spain  2010
·         Raventos I Blanc, Cava Brut Rosé, “L’Hereu de Nit” 2006

Whatever you do for Mother's Day, make sure you make Mom feel extra special!

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Lunch at Kin Shop

One of mine and Patrick's favorite TV shows is Top Chef, so whenever a "Cheftestant" has a restaurant in NYC we try to make it a point to go. Harold Dieterle, winner of Season 1 of Top Chef, opened Kin Shop in the West Village with Alicia Nosenzo (famous for her Front of House prowess) and we couldn't wait to try it.We went for lunch a few weeks ago and although I had heard mixed reviews, I was pleasantly surprised by our meal.

The decor of the restaurant is bright and refreshing, although quite minimalist. White walls are dotted with beautiful artwork in blues and greens that give just the right splash of color to the space.I was happy to note that there was a prix-fixe lunch offering for $20, so I decided to go with that. To start I ordered a salad, although I unfortunately can't recall precisely what was in it (nor can I find a description of it anywhere on the internet.) The lettuce was fresh, the nuts were crunchy, the fruit was sweet and overall it was as flavorful as it was beautiful to look at.Patrick ordered the Fried Pork & Crispy Oyster Salad and although I didn't try it, he all but licked his plate.For our main courses I chose the Stir Fried Wide Wonton Noodles with Chicken Sausage, Thai Broccoli Rabe & Oyster Sauce while Patrick chose the Massaman Braised Goat with Fried Shallots, Purple Yams, Mustard Greens & Toasted Coconut. It's no secret that I don't like spicy food, and Pad Se Ew is one of my favorite Thai dishes so the dish I ordered was right up my alley for its likeness to the classic dish. The noodles were rich and tender, unlike any noodles I'd ever had before and the chicken sausage was tender and perfectly seasoned. I inhaled my dish and enjoyed every second of it.Patrick often orders Massaman Curry and while I do enjoy the flavor of it, I could never imagine eating an entire dish covered in the sweet sauce. The goat in his dish was one of the most delicate and savory meats I had ever tasted. The sweetness of the Massaman was strong but not overpowering and everything blended perfectly. It was delicious!I let Patrick pick my dessert course figuring I'd just have a bite or two and he ordered the Thai Coffee-Chocolate Ice Cream. It arrived to the table as a perfect sphere in a white bowl. The dessert was a rich chestnut color and the texture was luscious and creamy. We all know I don't love ice cream, but this was some darn good ice cream. The strong coffee flavor overpowered the sugar and I definitely had more than one or two bites of the dessert.While I do feel that the menu is slightly overpriced for Thai food, I really enjoyed my meal at Kin Shop.

Next step on the Top Chef Restaurant Tour: Angelo Sosa's Social Eatz (with a Z!) Will be sure to report back. Have you been to any Top Cheftestant's restaurants? Which ones? What did you think?

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Photo credits: Photo of Harold Dieterle from the New York Times, photo of restaurant interior from Eater NY