The Kitchen Table in NYC

Gotta love Amazon

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:34:11 -0400

The dream came true, so many times I’d look on Amazon at all those cheap books and wish I lived in the US. Now I do and now I can get those books delivered straight to my door.

Today we received a little bundle of books which included the new Momofuku book, a complete recipe book of Robuchon and The French Laundry. All for less than $80 all together!

So many places to eat in one city

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:11:31 -0400

I could write an entry for almost all the places we have eaten here but that may bore you (and me) stupid. So I thought I could just mention some of the best and most unusual meals from our first three weeks in the city.

I’ve already mentioned my obsession with Mexican, and we did have had some amazing tacos at La Esquino in Soho. We were a little confused why so many dressed-up people were walking into a corner diner, but we were soon told that that was also the entrance to an underground restaurant was is notoriously hard to get into. We happily stayed above ground and gorged ourselves on delicious cheap tacos. Another mexican favourite is Zaragoza just up the road on Avenue A. We ventured into this little grocery store after a few (too many) beers with friends at a bar in Upper West Side. We sat amongst bar hoppers and taxi drivers eating some amazing al pastor tacos (those pork and pineapple ones I love) and a piece of slow cooked pork in mole. Good.... Great in fact, especially at 2am.

Another cuisine that we don’t have much of in Australia in Venezuelan. There is a place on East 7th Street which has arepas called Caracas Bar. Arepas? I’d never heard of them either but they are like a thick tortilla that is split and filled with meat, sauces and vegetables.

I had La de Pernil, roasted pork with mango sauce and Mat had Renia Pepiada, chucky chicken and avocado salad. I won the ordering game today....

We had a delicous French breakfast at a super-close cafe called Flea Market Cafe. Everyone on the table wanted the same thing, Croque Monsieur. Maybe because it looked great but probably because we were all a little worse for wear after the night before (see tacos at 2am above...)

Next we must chat Thai. For those who know me well know that I am obsessed with Thai food, even to a point of working for a place in Melbourne. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get my Thai fix met here but I have been quite impressed so far. The two best have been Chelsea Thai in the Chelsea Markets. I ordered my litmus test of Beef pad grapow (beef with chilli and basil) and it was good. They used the jalapeno chillis instead of birds eye chillis but that was ok.

A few days later we were recommended to try Sipraphai Thai in Queens.

Ok, I’ve found it now. Sipraphai was fantastic, just like staff meals at the Melbourne restaurant I’ve been trying to find. Hot, sweet, salty and sour. We tried my pad grapow and it was perfect, we also sampled the thom yum, a marinated and fried pork dish, papaya salad and green chicken curry. It may have taken a while to get out there but it was definitely worth it.

While we’re talking Asian I have to tell you about our Japanese meals we’ve had here. After reading much about Ippudo we went there for a late lunch. Incredibly at 3pm there was still an half hour wait to get in. Once were inside we could see why.
The ramen was in a delicious rich pork broth with a spicy sauce and lots of crunchy vegetables. The actual restaurant was very graphic, there was a huge cane display in the middle of the room. The best thing was how the waiting and cooking staff welcomed you into room, loud and attention getting it was fun. Oh and you have to try the pork buns - I’d never had this particular type in Australia but they are in a lot of places here:

We’ve also had Bento boxes at Yoshi in the East Village, it is not as good at the Yoshi in Sydney (what is?) but it was great for $9. Our last Japanese noodle soup was at a store on 3rd Avenue, I was very happy to find this little Japanese grocery store and even happier to find that it makes its own sushi and noodles. Good, but not worth a picture.

Lastly and probably most importantly we have been eating American food. And loving the burgers, but not the fries. The best one that I have had so far is at a place called Everready Diner in a town called Hyde Park (where the Culinary Institute of America lives and where FDR is buried). The meat was tasty and the vegies were fresh. I resisted all but a few chips, and the ones that got by were great too.

And of course we have been to Katz diner, home of the Ruben and where Sally (from when Harry met Sally) faked her famous orgasm. We had a Ruben (in the picture up the top) like all good tourists should and loved. Half was enough for me, but Mat needed more, so he had a burger....

Coney Island and Nathan’s hot dogs

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:28:04 -0400

254 days, 17 hours, 33 minutes and 316 seconds before the next Nathan’s Hot Dog eating Contest- Really?!?!

Check out the 2009 competition where Joey Chestnut ate 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. My record is 1....

We wandered down the boardwalk at Coney Island and imagined what it would have been like many years ago when it was the place to visit in summer. It is a different place now but still very interesting and full of character. We at a chilli dog, and it was good although I could never imagine eating 68.

Just off the plane and straight to Mercadito

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 23:54:45 -0400

After a very long flight with horrible airline food I finally arrived in New York. My beloved man was at the airport with flowers and a welcoming hug. He’d spent the last few week here setting up a little apartment in the East Village for us.

It was very exciting just to be back in New York, last year we had visited the city and had the most amazing meals, most notably at Momofuku Ssam and Matsuri.

Now we were back to live! And we had a place right in the middle of the East Village, where so many interesting restaurant seem to be located.

It had been 18 months since we had last had decent Mexican food so I had requested that tacos were to be my first meal. I can still remember the tacos we had at a restaurant in the mission in San Francisco called La Taqueria.

Just at the end of our street on Avenue B we found a bustling place called Mercadito. The owner pulled us in off the street and found us a table at the back surrounded by large loud groups. The food was great, we had a guacamole tasting plate (traditional, jimcana and with pineapple), ensalata verde (why do all american salads have cheese on it?), carne asada tacos and my all-time favourite tacos al pastor - an amazing mix of slow cooked pork and pineapple. It was good, and the free tequila shot made it even better.

Just as we finished the meal jet lag hit me hard, so we walked the few short metres to our place and crashed.

Hmmm, what will we have tomorrow?!?!?