Taking a Bite out of the Big Apple

8 11 2009

On our most recent trip to New York City Nathan and I decided to be real tourists.  We felt like it was time to take that Grey Line tourbus, sit on the upper deck and listen to the rehearsed stories of the tourbus operator, take photos of all of the New York sights, bond with other tourists and talk about how much trash there is in the city! 

This was the plan, that is until we realized that it would cost us $90 a person to see many of the same sights that we had already seen and listen to the tour operator tell us stories of the city that may or may not be true (we know that Jay Z doesn’t really live in that building….)

So, instead we decided to take an “EATING TOUR OF NYC”.  And if you think about it, is there any better tour to be taking?? 

We unofficially started our tour at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse (www.wolfgangssteakhouse.com) in Tribeca having dinner with friends.  The best appetizer that I’ve ever had is their specialty of thick-sliced Canadian Bacon.  It’s like a bacon steak!  After this savoury appetizer we also indulged in a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad (Caprese Salad), Rib Eye steaks to share with German Potatoes and Creamed Spinach as sides.  And, to make this an authentic New York local dinner, in the city that never sleeps, this ‘dinner’ took place at about 9:00 at night and was accompanied with glass after glass of complimentary red wine.

The next day we decided to get really serious about our eating tour.  After listening to a live version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, we knew we had found our first stop – Patsy’s Pizzeria (www.patsyspizzeriany.com).  Frank Sinatra mentioned this pizzeria in his song, and after some research we found out that this place was the founder of the New York Style thin crust pizza.  After walking from the Port Authority to 60th St & 3rd Ave, our stomachs were growling and we were not disappointed when we walked into the rustic, family-style pizzeria with the coal-burning oven.  One large original Margherita pizza coming up!  When it arrived, the crust was thin and crispy, but chewy at the same time; the sauce was hot and the fresh mozzarella was melting off of the pie.  The flavours were infused with a few basil leaves.  Possibly THE best pizza I’ve ever had. 

After taking a walk through Central Park to walk off the pizza and prepare for our next eating destination, we went back to 60th street to try out the famous Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity (www.serendipity3.com), a restaurant that was featured in the movie Serendipity with Kate Beckinsale and John Kusack, and a beverage that has been featured on Oprah Winfrey’s Favourite Things list.   As New York City’s first coffee house boutique, with Tiffany lamps,  pink walls, old fashioned chandeliers, cake top decorations, etc, the interior of this place is the definition of “kitsch”.  The infamous Frozen Hot Chocolate is created with a mixture of 7 different chocolates and blended with ice, cream and topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. 

frozen hot chocolate

As we made our way back through the city streets, we took a detour to Crumbs (www.crumbs.com), a bakery specializing in designer cupcakes.  Of course we had to pick up a couple of cupcakes to go.  You just can’t leave red velvet cupcakes behind!

Our final stop for the day was our local sushi restaurant in Times Square, Aoki (www.aokinyc.com) that, despite the constant traffic of tourists and locals, knows us when we stop by. 

sushi dinner

The next few days of our visit we were in Brooklyn, but this didn’t stop us from continuing on our eating tour.  Lenny’s Clam Bar (www.lennysclambar.com).  A small, family-owned restaurant, specializing in all things shellfish and pasta, among other things.  We loved it so much that we went there 2 days in a row and enjoyed the house specialty of Baked Littleneck Clams, Seafood Salad, which was chock-full of scungilli (conch), calamari, and shrimp and traditional pastas.  

We also had the opportunity to explore downtown Brooklyn with an old friend and went to a quaint French Bistro called Le Petit March (www.bkbistro.com) where we met the owner and enjoyed fresh mussles and crunchy oysters.   And for dessert, we were taken to Cake Man Raven (www.cakemanraven.com), a place famous for its Red Velvet Cake. 

For our last day in the city we had an opportunity to meet up with a friend for brunch and a broadway musical, In the Heights.  For brunch we continued our eating tour and enjoyed pumpkin bread and lobster eggs benedict at Blue Fin (www.brguestrestaurants.com), a restaurant located at the W Hotel in Times Square.  After brunch and the musical, we decided to bookend our eating tour by returning to Patsy’s Pizzeria and Crumbs Bakery to repeat our initial visits.

Finally, after 6 days and 9 restaurants, our eating tour is DONE!

 

 

 


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More Asian than I thought

11 10 2009

After all of these years, my asian roots are finally showing their colours.   Who knew that all of my childhood treats were so foreign to everyone, to the extent that the US/Canada border patrol would question if  ‘shrimp crackers’ were banned in the US.  It possibly  may have been because a travel companion, that shall remain unnamed, decided it was a good idea to put my shrimp cracker and chocolate purchase in the Stow ‘n Go compartment, after saying, ‘No, we didn’t purchase anything today’.  I think I may be blacklisted at the border for trying to smuggle in shrimp flavoured chips. 

Ever since my visit to Vancouver in August I have not been able to get my favourite childhood meal of sticky rice out of my head.  Over and over I’ve been thinking about the recipe and what I need: chinese sausage, sweet rice, dried shrimp and scallops, dried mushrooms.  Normal ingredients for me, perhaps not for everyone.  This weekend we crossed the border to peruse the asian food selection in the great metropolis of Windsor, Ontario.  I know that when you think of Windsor, ON, you too think of crazy multicultural foods.  Great Metropolis it is not!  The China Town in Windsor is more of a China Street.  But, after a delicious dim sum experience, it was off to the Chinese market where I became the proud new owner of White Rabbit candies, lychee jelly shots, and cranberry cakes.  Just the thought of these childhood treats brought back memories of going to the old chinese food store with my mom and wandering around dark, jam-packed aisles of dried bean curd, salted fish, candied ginger,  and little cranberry cakes that look like pennies.    And I repeat, what seemed so normal growing up, caused the US/Canada border patrol guards to analyze everything in this bag of goodies and say ‘this is all new to me.  What does ‘haw’  mean?  Cranberry?”  And, if you know how ‘un-asian’ I really am, you know that all I could say was, ‘I have no idea what ‘haw’ means, all I know is that I call them cranberry cakes, and they look like pennies’.

So we made it across the border with our bounty, and much to my dismay, I had to leave all of the sticky rice ingredients behind.  Because, although I’ve managed to find them now, I still need to find somewhere to cook this meal, since a hotel room is not exactly the best setting to make sticky rice. 

Perhaps the funniest part of this whole weekend was when Nathan came back from the grocery store when we were back in Detroit, with a proud look on his face and acting like he had found me the best present in the whole world.  Earlier this week I complained that because all of our traveling this summer I had missed out on the lychee fruit season, and I love lychee.   While in Windsor we met up with friends who also raved about lychee fruit, and I showed Nathan a picture of one from a can. 

So, we get back to Detroit, Nathan goes to  the grocery store, and when he comes back he has a little plastic produce bag filled with something that looks suspiciously like lychee.  Oh my god.  I jumped up and grabbed them from him and ripped open the bag.  Those of you who know lychee can imagine my excitement. So I open up the bag, and this is what I find….rambutan ftuit

What is that? I have no idea what that is. 

 Lychee looks like this:lychee

It turns out, they are called “Rambutan Fruit” and although they are not lychee, they are from the same family.  So, even though I hadn’t eaten this fruit before, Nathan tossed me the car keys, and I used these keys to puncture this weird hairy shell and split open the fruit to find an oddly similar looking treat.  It’s not bad this rambutan, not quite as flavourful as lychee, but not bad. 

So all in all I’m realizing that my tastebuds are more asian than I thought they were.  And lucky Nathan is being introduced to a whole new world of penny-looking cranberry cakes, rice-paper covered White Rabbit candies and jelly lychee shots, that he’s  never even heard of before.


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Westcoast Whirlwind

17 09 2009

Oh, Canada, it’s good to be home!

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The westcoast at its finest is a mixture of mountains, waterfront views, seafood and good friends.   And that is exactly what was in store for us during our 96 hour stay in Vancouver. 

From the minute our plane touched the ground we had every minute of our trip accounted for, not that I’m complaining since our plans consisted of  ‘all-u-can-eat sushi’, ferry rides, drinking on patios overlooking sea planes, dim sum, wedding festivities, and all in all good times. 

During our side trip to Vancouver Island we took the ferry over and saw the gorgeous views and I got to revisit my old stomping grounds and just had  to visit the beach where I used to go clam digging.  Just our luck – we even saw some seals out in the water!

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On the island we spent the afternoon with old friends, catching up on a patio overlooking the seaplanes and finished off our evening at The Dinghy Dock Pub, which you can only get to by boat.  All in all a great way to spend a day on Vancouver Island (even if we didn’t get to see any killer whales). 

Friday brought on a lot of family time and fancy dressing for my cousin’s wedding, which took place at a golf course with panoramic views of the city.  As expected, the evening was filled with LOTS of family photos, jokes about the infamous chicken dance and a race to the cupcake table for dessert (FYI – I won, however, I may have been the only one racing…)

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 After filling ourselves up with way too much good dim sum with my family Saturday morning, we spent our afternoon and evening hanging out by the water with friends.   It was very interesting coming back to a place that I called home for so long and introducing it to someone else.  Like in a lot of cases, what seems normal to you is weird and unexpected to another.  This trip made me realize that maybe the comings and goings of Vancouverites are a little weirder than I thought. 

While we were walking along the downtown waterfront Nathan commented that he felt like there were no rules in Vancouver, no presence of authority and people could do whatever they wanted.  Just as I was firmly objecting to this observation, we passed by a garden of lounge pillows in the middle of a grassy area.  How considerate that there are pillowy napping areas on the grass, just in case you get tired………..weird.  Ten minutes later we hear music and then a parade of bicycles ride past us.  This wouldn’t be so strange on the bike path of the seawall, except that in this parade was a women singing and playing the guitar as she was being pushed in a carriage.  It was like a parade of roving musicians.   I didn’t have anything left to say after that.

After walking along the seawall, checking out the starfish in the water below, we ended our day hopping from waterfront patio to waterfront patio.   

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And to cap off our busy day, we took in the final rays of a beautiful Vancouver sunset.

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One Year Older

15 09 2009

One year older and many adventures wiser.  True to form as nomad travelers, Nathan and I spent our birthdays with two very different adventures during our coast to coast travels.

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AUGUST 21ST: DALLAS, TX

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you……” and with an extra ‘cha cha cha’, my birthday festivities began.  A leisurely morning spent with family and chick-fil-a specials, and an afternoon of pampering was topped off with an evening in downtown Dallas.   To mark the occasion we traveled 560 ft into the sky to experience Dallas at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant, five-sixty, Dallas’ only rotating restaurant.  We took up prime real estate at the bar, right where all of the action was near the entrance, and much to our surprise, when we looked back we were no longer by the entrance, but looking into the kitchen.   Very cool way to experience Dallas, with the skyline constantly changing.

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After a walk on the observation deck, the museum of the Dallas skyline’s history and watching a spraypaint artist create an intergallactic masterpiece, it was off to bed, another year older.

SEPTEMBER 5TH: MOAB, UT

During our travels we often come across hidden gourmet treasures, and this time would be no exception.  Walking along the streets of Moab, Utah passing jeep after jeep ready for a day of off-roading, kayaks and white water rafting equipment, and lots of European tourists ready to battle with nature, we were very suprised to come across a little restaurant in an old ranch house called The Desert Bistro. Even more surprising, we were able to eat on a candlelit patio (with the resident cat I tried to befriend) and enjoy a meal of seared ahi tuna, braised antelope, poached duck and a blackberry napolean.  With the views of the towering canyons and a full moon, it was a great night.

The next morning, on Nathan’s actual birthday, we woke up bright and early and experienced what Moab is really all about with a 5 hour Jet Boat tour of the Colorado River, looking at ancient petroglyphs and pictographs etched into the cliffs, petrified trees, and using our imagination to turn the oddly shaped stones into plump french chefs named Gaston.

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A great birthday adventure before hitting the road to drive through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and finally end our day admist the cornfields of Iowa…


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New York Natives

20 08 2009

Who would have thought that a year ago, I had never been to “The Big Apple”, the ‘city that never sleeps’, New York City.  Who would have thought that I would be able to walk into a store and see a picture on the wall and know exactly where in NYC that picture was taken.  Who would have thought that I could watch an episode of Sex in the City and remember strolling by that very restaurant.

The time has come that I truly feel like a New York Native.

And, like true New York Natives, we avoid Times Square at all costs, and while walking down the streets find ourselves saying ‘keep walking, ugh get these tourists out of here!’

In the cumulative 3+ months that we’ve spent in the city, we’ve been store keepers in Brooklyn, wandered around churches in the Bronx, sipped martinis and eaten at the Spice Market in Manhatten, and rubbed shoulders with Mayor Bloomberg in Harlem.  There is only one more boro left to conquer – QUEENS.

Our latest adventure:  Vacationing at the Jersey Shores on Long Beach Island (or LBI as the locals call it)

We spent a 24 hour period at our good friends’ beach house in Beach Haven, New Jersey.  It was a jam packed day of beach combing, wave jumping, celebrity sighting (only a Real NJ Housewife), crabbing, and drinking with good friends.

the beach - before

the beach - after

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boogie boarding

And, I’m not sure if you’ve ever crabbed before, but let me tell you that the ghetto way of crabbing works just as well as the real way.  The ‘real way’ being with fish as bait.  The ‘ghetto way’ being with a raw chicken leg and a can of tuna with holes poked in it.

Overall, a wonderful way to spend a Saturday in August…

Seashells


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The Parade of the Easter Bonnets

14 04 2009

After a very rainy and dreary Saturday, Easter Sunday morning came through bright and sunny.  Nathan and I decided to head into the city and see if we could crash some easter egg hunts in Central Park.  But alas, all those eager, chocolate-hungry kids beat us to the hunt, so we settled for a nice lunch at The Empire State Building.

After lunch we wandered down 5th avenue, battling the crowds that were soaking up the sun on the sunny side of the street (I think I may have seen tumbleweeds on the other sidewalk that was shaded by the buildings).  It was really sunny, but the wind was kicking and it was freezing!  We spent some time soaking up the sun on the steps of the NYC Public Library.  As we sat there it started getting a lot busier, then there were whispers of an Easter Parade.  Well, after sitting for a while and realizing that the streets were definitely not closed, we took off…to be greeted by closed off streets.  Pedestrianized Streets! My favourite kind – I love walking in the middle of streets.   Now, I’m not sure if we just missed out on the Easter Parade, or if there is at all, but we happened upon the Parade of the Easter Bonnets.

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Pretty much anyone who wanted to could get dressed up and put on a big hat and people would want to take photos of you.  One woman had dressed her child up in an Easter Bunny costume and was yelling “Help the Easter Bunny go to college – $1 donation!“

Needless to say, it was a little crazy.  We finally did make it to Central Park, where we watched little kids slide down these rock cliffs on their bums – entertainment has definitely changed since I was young.

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For Easter dinner we ended up at The Palm Steakhouse (www.thepalm.com), which has original cartoons drawn on the restaurant walls.  The story is, the original restaurant was right near the New York Times, and the cartoonists from The Funnies would go eat there, and although they couldn’t afford the meal, their payment would be a cartoon on the wall.

Fantastic Meal!  We both had charbroiled New York Strip steaks! Buzzing off steak, red wine and too much of a good thing, we headed back Jersey.


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livin’ like locals

11 04 2009

Now, if you read my previous post you may be asking yourself  “WHY, were you not there for Beyonce?” 

I know, I know – I’m kicking myself too.  But rather than stay at the truck all day when it was definitely not necessary, Nathan and I decided to enjoy the local flavour.  We took ourselves on a walk and enjoyed the day like many other Manhattan locals. 

Probably 5 minutes into our walk we (well, Nathan) got distracted by all of the fancy cars that were showing themselves off in the Meat Packing District.  Bentleys, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc.   Let’s just say, everyone was out showing their Sunday Best.   la-botegga

10 minutes into our walk, we got distracted by the allure of a rooftop patio with something called a “Bloody Maritime” and the wildest wild mushroom thincrust pizza we’ve had.  There was a twig/branch in the pizza – definitely not expected, but it didn’t dampen the enjoyment of the afternoon. 

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 After our lunch we headed to the water. We enjoyed a nice sunny spring afternoon by walking along the Chelsea Pier amide the rollar bladers, bicyclists, runners, walkers, dogs, etc.  We saw this one lady who seemed to be a kind of attraction, however I don’t think she knew that she was.  She was a small asian woman walking 2 little fluffy dogs, but she had on this HUGE feathered hat that was blowing in the wind.  At first I thought, well, it takes all types, but then when people randomly came up to take pictures of her and/or her dogs, I thought, should we know this person?  Is the strange hat like the crazy swan dress that Bjork wore to one of the award shows? 

 

By now, it was getting to be about 5pm so we stopped for a snack at a coffee shop and, tired from our very busy day of car watching, eating, and pier strolling, we decided that it was nap time.   Off came the shoes and on came the sunglasses.  There’s nothing better than taking a nap on the grass and basking in the light of the fading sun. 

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 After a nice nap and some picture taking, we brushed ourselves off and headed back to the truck.  When we got back, THAT is when we found out that we had missed out on the excitement of the afternoon.  We had to console ourselves with mini cheeseburgers and milkshakes at Pop Burger (www.popburger.com), a self pro-claimed ‘glamorous burger joint’. 

 

 


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The City of Crawdads, Jazz and Katrina

26 03 2009

It seemed liked everyone had “Go to New Orleans” on their ‘Must Do” List and then Hurrican Katrina hit and no one knew if they wanted new-orleans-025to go to see the destruction that was left behind, or if there was an urgency to see it before another storm hit and washed it away. 

Well let me tell you, I didn’t think that I would be able to check “Visit New Orleans” off my list so soon in life, but I did, and did I ever make sure that that check mark was worth its while.  Rolling into town, seeing the broken down houses and capsized boats from the storm and 8 Hours in downtown New Orleans, taking in the French Quarter, the Riverwalk, and of course, Bourbon Street!

New Orleans has this draw, this internal pulse that just makes you want to slow down your stride, turn off your phone and find the hidden secrets of the city, which are so conveniently hidden amidst fountains in courtyards and surrounded by live music. 

Let me take you on a walk through the French Quarter, and when I say a walk, I really mean a full-course meal.  Drinking a Rainstorm (in a rainstorm) and munching on aligator bites and Crawdad Etoufee at Pat O’Brians.  Wandering down the street we found ourselves at The Famous Door where we tackled a few mid-Wednesday afternoon cocktails.  After all, it was happy hour.  After listening to a live band sing everything from CCR, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and watching middle-aged businessmen hit on young spring breakers – we were on our way in search of our next meal.  Must counteract the effects of the 2 – for – 1 happy hour deal. 

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Wandering down the street – it’s getting busier.  We found ourselves swayed, not by food, but by a deal too good to pass up – 3 – for – 1 Happy Hour Special!  There was singing, there was dancing, there were shooter girls with all different coloured test tubes in their hands, and an innocent young spring breaker who was corrupted by the bartender and shooter girls with their low cut shirts and cleavage.  It’s only 6pm now.

Now, really in need of food, we go off foraging, asking locals along the way and come across Arnaud’s.  This just so happens to be the most upscale restaurant on Bourbon Street, there is dim lighting and all of the servers are wearing tuxedos.  Obviously, we were underdressed, but, not to turn away our business, we got shuffled into the back in the “Jazz Room”, code for “you don’t look good enough to sit in the front room where everyone can see you”. 

This “Jazz Room” is where we met Adam – our server, the upsell of all salesmen.  He talked us into Souffle Potatoes, which were really just puffed up french fries, a $7 upsell to crab cakes from my original order of some sort of crab pastry, and 7 spears of asparagus, 2 baby tomatoes, 4 slices of carrot, and 10 green beans for $15!  Oh Adam, we called him on this as well, and after all of the drinks that had imbibed, congratulated him on his upsell skills.  The one thing that was our very own decision – oysters on the half-shell – and they were wonderful!

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It’s 9pm now, and Bourbon Street is coming alive with music, drinking in the streets (I seem to have lost my CA instincts – cause finally, I didn’t care!), short short skirts, and kareoke at The Cat’s Meow.   Before we leave the buzz of the city and go back to work, we must make one more stop – the infamous Cafe du Monde, where I heard that you had to drink coffee and eat beignets, which are these sinful homemade triangle doughnuts covered in a mountain of powerded sugar. 

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 Not a bad way to end a regular Wednesday afternoon. 


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Why things are the way they are:

27 01 2009

Through my travels throughout the US of A I’m definitely starting to understand why things are the way they are. 

Let me tell you a story about my lunch at a restaurant in Pennsylvania.

My sandwich:  “The Pittsburgh Special”

Description:  Sirloin or fried fish topped with tomato, cole slaw, fries and melted mozzarella cheese between 2  pieces of Texas Toast.  Meal comes with fries. 

There were FRIES inside the sandwich!  Which made it almost impossible to eat. 

And for dessert: “The Angry Mob”

Description: 12 scoops of ice cream, 12 ‘frownies’ (brownies that have a frown drawn on them with icing’ topped with hot fudge and whipped cream. 

I did not indulge in the Angry Mob, but it was their featured dessert. 

It’s all becoming clear to me…


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Where in the World?

6 10 2008

It has been a dizzy last 24 hours, but definitely a sneak peak as to the new path that my life has taken. 48 hours ago I thought that I would be heading off to Orlando Florida right now, thinking about how many autographs I would be getting from the characters at Disney World.  Instead, I have experienced 3 different states since then.  One call from the boss, and plans change drastically.

Sunday afternoon I enjoyed brunch at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel and took a stroll down the streets of Springfield, walking the steps of the old President Lincoln (who is celebrating his bicentennial next year), and touching famous landmarks, while sporting my new Oakley shades.

What does one do after brunch with Lincoln?  One goes to St. Louis, Missouri to take photos by the Arch and have dinner on a rooftop patio.  (I couldn’t wait, I took a bite of the creme brulee before I could get the camera out)

And what does one do after a candlelit dinner overlooking the “Gateway to the West”? You almost get on a flight to Chicago, when you’re supposed to be hopping on a flight to Detroit, Michigan to head back to the office to have conversations about a Pop Up Store for Jay Z’s clothing line and strategize on how to promote museum exhibits.

So now, I sit in a hotel room, watching Gossip Girl, thinking that I’ve only been in this new life for 3 weeks as of today, but already I have been called “the spice of Springfield”!


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