sin city foodie (and poopie) awards

we went las vegas for a long weekend, particularly for the pacquiao vs. hatton fight. i haven't been to sin city in probably 10 years, so going in my late 20s means something different this time around. actually, i really had no big expectations because i don't gamble, and in general all that glitz and glam isn't really my thing. and because of the over-commercialization of vegas (at least in my mind) i didn't expect too much out of the culinary options that we would have.

and after all that hatin, i bet you wouldn't expect me to say that this trip ended up being one of the best mini vacas i have been on. besides the awesomeness of the fight (and everyone who's anyone knows the outcome of it) and cirque de solei- beatles' love (random), a big contribution to the kick a$$ time was the eats!!

okay okay. so i took out las vegas travel books from the library, specifically to scope out the eating scene. so a lied a little bit, i knew we had some good culinary options after reading the books. my favorite quote was "because who doesn't love that uniquely american obsession- unlimited gorging for one set price?" como se dice gluttony? yeah, i don't want to say that 6 of the 8 meals we ate in vegas was at a buffet- but it was. let it be known that we never did more than 2 meals a day. and we walked a lot. yeah, i was on vacation, but i didn't want the airlines to charge me for an extra seat on the way home.

besides the buffets- vegas was also big in the TV celebrity chef gigs. we definitely bought into that dog and pony show. but it was all worth it....

i decided to do "sin city foodie awards" instead of rambling like i normally do (or actually, that i just did) to outline the culinary highlights of the trip.

• best breakfast bacon - MGM Grand Buffet (the crispier the better, and it was the crispiest)


• honorable mention for attempting cultural culinary masterpieces- Mandalay Bay Beach (for serving lumpia (filipino egg rolls), sho pao (steamed buns), and san miguel beer for the pacquiao after party)


• the golden "begining to end" award- the spring tasting menu at craftsteak (from the bread, 3 course meal, and the sommelier wine pairings, a fantastic way to kick off the pacquiao fight night)


• good no matter what coast you are on award- China Grill (we've eaten there in nyc also, and just as good)


• lived up to the hype award- champagne brunch at Paris las vegas at none other but the buffet (what else)


• worth all of it's fancy-ness- ethel m's chocolate (any factory that gives out free samples, or makes a piece of chocolate that has pb&j is a winner in my book)

now if you do the math, that's only really 4 restuarants mentioned (mandalay bay beach doesn't count as a meal), out of the 8 meals i said we had. and now the "sin city poopie awards"

• me, james, and mrs. f- for eating at the MGM Grand Buffet for 3 breakfasts. we had our reasons. and our reasons were poopie.


• disappointing, even though it was named as a "buffet best bet"- Belllagio buffet


• the over abundance of margaritas and other frozen drinks in yards or some other life sized container (all that ish is food coloring, sugar, water for a premium price)


• not enough good, cheap, quick bite places (i.e. because we were eating at all those damn buffets, it would've been nice to have one of those places for the 2nd meal)

this wasn't my first visit, it won't be last. eat, drink, and be merry.

i'm baaaaaack

i bet a lot of people will ask me what was the first thing you ate now that lent is over.

in past years, i have been breaking the fast on easter sunday. but i was in MA yesterday for a birthday party and there was little non-meat choices for me to choose from. james' mom, who i consider to be the be all tell all of the catholic rules, and conveniently also gave up meat for lent, told me that i could eat meat on holy saturday because at that point, jesus already rose from the dead (think the story of the marys finding the stone of his tomb moved). without getting into the technicalities of catholicism, i broke down and ate meat yesterday. i had mental angst about it so next year i will go back to breaking the fast on easter sunday.

even though i DID eat meat yesterday (insignificant and not even worth mentioning), the true hurrah was today at easter sunday dinner. following suit, my parents also gave up meat, so this was a big thing for them as well. if you want to talk about meat sweats, our easter dinner was a true carnivore style meal. we had buffalo wings (at my request, no matter how random my mom still made them), spiral glazed ham, aaaaaand fillet mignon. pretty much covered all bases, except for veal, but you know how i feel about veal. maybe you don't, but that's not something i go out of my way to eat.

needless to say- it was bad a$$ people!!!!! kudos to mama Z on that one.

i'll leave it at that. and hopefully my triglyceride count will go down since it's been a carb fest for 40 days.

burn, then return- part I

most people run to stay fit and lose weight. i run so i can justify the eating to keep my food blog up and running. pun intended.

actually, that's a lie. i am an inconsistent runner, and am definitely

in taking more than i am burning (aka "burn then return" for those sharpies who couldn't figure that out). however, when i DO run, the post-race meal is so much more worthwhile, and i definitely chose it wisely.

almost all races start between the hours of 7AM-10AM (and if you do half marathons or marathons specifically, they start at some ungodly hour like 5AM). and when you finish, you are (luckily for me) just in time for breakfast or brunch.

i ALWAYS go to a restaurant post race (or get take out). it's just not the same if you eat a piece of toast, or wait for someone to cook you something fantastic. como se dice instant gratification?

since this post race eating thing has been a norm for me, i decided to solicit some other runner friends from college (who like me, like eating more than running) to start an "eating club" if you will, specifically to go to a bunch of breakfast/brunch joints around the city for me to blog about, after some races we will all be participating in central park.

the first one took place just last weekend and we went to ej's luncheonette. since this was the first post race eating club outing, i wanted to chose a place i had been to before to ensure that there would be no let downs. i went to ej's a year ago after a half marathon. when i was searching for the address, i was pleasantly surprised to find out that there was an ej's on the upper east side (the one i went to last year was on the west side). this was perfect for us since we were already on the upper east, and there was no need to cross town.

i guess i am not the only runner who frequents ej's, because 90% of the people were from the race. same thing happened last year when we went to ej's after the half marathon. so you don't have to just take my word for it, there are other numbers that can vouch.

STILL non meat-eating, its always hard to eat at breakfast joints because i love breakfast meats. but luckily this place offers a plethora of things that can more than make up for not eating meat. i went with crunchy french toast as a "starter" and a mushroom and cheddar egg white omelet. the potatoes and challah bread that come with were great. portions are big, and i didn't get to finish the come with carbs.

james went for the classic american breakfast (don't know if it's actually called that, but if it did have a name, it would be called that): eggs, potatoes, bacon, and toast. my runner foodie friend robby had the classic southern comfort meal (again, i am making up that name) with eggs, grits, biscuit, gravy, and maybe potatoes? the grits and biscuit stood out in my memory, the other stuff was just ancillary foods. both seemed pleased, as the both had clean plates.

if you are looking for a great breakfast, it's a sure thing, post race or not, no mater what side of the park you are on...

fishy fishy fishy

hmmm. i just realized something. i've been barking about being a fake vegetarian for lent, and i have been eating an ish load of fish. hmmm.

well if we go by phoebe from friends' thoughts on being a vegetarian: "nothing with a face", then i am pretty sure i am breaking the rules, as fishes (i know that is improper use of the plural form of fish but i don't care) do indeed have faces. i am sure that other legit vegetarians will agree that i am breaking the rules.

why didn't anyone call me out on this????

so on fridays, catholics are supposed to give up meat (but "they" say that fish is okay). i guess that's why in my head, i was thinking vegetarian because i was going by the "catholic" rules of giving up meat. that's why all of a sudden, you see all the fast food people plugging their fish sandwich options and even adding it to their .99 or dollar, whatever, menus..."for a limited time only" aka until april 11th when lent ends.

but really, this whole me calling myself a vegetarian was my bad. all i should've said was "i gave up meat" and not "i am a short term vegetarian" due to my increased intake of seafood.

while we are on the topic, i went to negril in the west village this past weekend for dinner. everyone else was chowing down on mango bbq baby back ribs ("smothered in tropical fruit sauce, served with homemade corn bread"), brown stew chicken, and bacon wrapped jerk pork ("medium spiced, pan-seared tenderloin wrapped in bacon strips served with maple whipped sweet potatoes"), i enjoyed the left over corn bread from the ribs, and the ackee & saltfish ("jamaica’s national dish served with boiled banana, yam, dumpling and sweet plantains"). i have to say that i normally don't go out of my way to eat seafood, but this lenten season has forced me to broaden my horizons. i would've definitely not have ordered the ackee & saltfish on a normal day (being that something like mango ribs and bacon wrapped pork is on the menu), but it was actually very tasty and i didn't feel so bad after all for missing out on the other stuff.

but i think i will be making a trip back to negril after lent, because who could really pass up mango ribs and bacon wrapped pork? a person who gave up meat (NOT a short term "vegetarian") for lent.

what did i expect???

i had dinner with my fellow foodie (and friend) allie last thursday. besides wanting to catch up and listen to her college stories to vicariously live through her, i particularly like going out to dinner with her because she is always up for eating any type of food. initially we planned on going for indian, which is very vegetarian friendly. but at the last minute, i changed my mind and decided that i wanted to go to a vegetarian specific restaurant.

not knowing many vegetarians to suggest a restaurant, i consulted the time out new york 2009 eating and drinking guide that james got me. broken down by neighborhood and food genre, i came across blossom in the vegetarian/organic restaurant section. besides the fact that it won the best vegetarian restaurant award last year at the eat out awards, i guess what really sold me was time out new york saying, "the mock meats actually taste pretty good". it's no big secret that i am dying not eating meat during lent, so i thought this was a good place to take the edge off.

we ordered these crostini bread things as an appetizer, which came with 3 different types of toppings: hummus, tomatoes and onions (a bruchetta basically), and some green thing that could have been either really fine spinach, or pesto. whatever the case may be, it was very good, so no complaints on the unknown.

allie ordered the sweet potato gnocchi, that came with a very light creamy sauce (again, no idea what the sauce was but it didn't matter because it was good), and broccoli rabe.

i got the soy bacon cheeseburger. i guess because i had such high hopes for the faux-meat tasting like real meat, i was a little disappointed. but helloooo? what did i expect? it's not real meat!

the funny thing is, after i looked back at the time out new york review, the last sentence of the review said, "carnivores may feel compelled to eat the real thing elsewhere, but vegetarians have indeed found a great new date place".

i couldn't agree more. i guess because i am not a die hard vegetarian (or maybe i should say a real one), i wasn't so convinced on the faux-meat ordeal. however, everything else was really great (including the restaurant space and the super nice waitstaff) so yes, i could see how this place was voted best vegetarian restaurant last year. but for now, i'll just wait out the 27 more days to eat the real thing, instead of trying to take the edge off with the fake stuff.

meat eating vegetarian

i foresee that the next couple of posts will be about my short term adventures in vegetarianism. yes, its day 14 of my non-meat eating quest as part of my fasting sacrifice for lent.

so people count the traditional 40 days of lent in different ways, but for catholics such as myself, lent starts on ash wednesday, ends on holy saturday (the day before easter sunday), and you don't count the sundays in between. those sundays could be the potential loop hole, the break from the fast if you will, but hey, this ish is supposed to be hard, and so what good would using the loop hole be?

this is my 5th year doing the vegetarian thing for lent, and this year it seems particularly hard. i guess the rude awakening came this past weekend during my 2nd trip to florida for vaca in less than two months (como se dice florida junkie?). we went to port st. lucie first, to catch a mets spring training game. i am sure everyone is aware of the baseball game eating pastime, and here are just some of the foods i missed out on due to this fast:

• hot dogs (obv!)
• premio italian sausages (a mets signature item)
• chicken fingers (could've ate the french fries that comes with, but it just wouldn't be the same)
• because they were playing team italy, there was a vendor selling a plethora of italian meat sandwiches. (i wouldn't have gotten it anyway, because that's weird to eat italian sandwiches from florida, but it's just the principle of not being able to)
• pulled pork sandwich (that's a first that i've seen at a baseball stadium)
• beef taco in a mets helmet (i don't want to say i shed a tear about that one, but i did)

on to disney...the thing about disney is that i was just there in january, eating the same food (and actually the same restaurants because we loved it so much), so i actually DID know what i was missing. the veggie eating experience was two fold. when we were at the parks for lunch, it was all fast food type stuff, so my selection was limited. but we did eat at "real" restaurants for dinner, so there was actually vegetarian friendly, and quite delicious (highlights include life changing smokey portabella soup, potato chive pot stickers, and a nice cod dish).

i think the biggest hit that i took while in disney was when we went to the character breakfast at the polynesian. the restaurant was called ohana.."ohana means family". it was an "all you care to eat" (as opposed to the all you can eat, which i think was a plug to mitigate gluttony), where the food (scrambled eggs, biscuits, breakfast potatoes, sausage, bacon, and mickey waffles) was brought out to you on a huge skillet. james and i had went there on our january visit, so i knew what to expect. aka i knew to expect that i would not be having bacon or sausage, but rather an abundance of scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, and mickey waffles. in hindsight it doesn't seem that bad, but everyone knows breakfast is not complete without the meat! i think i just accidentally started an engineering a connoisseur slogan...

the obession with overseas yogurt

did anyone notice that all of a sudden everyone became obsessed with yogurt from other countries?

it really started with a greek yogurt specific obsession. i first heard about it from my sister, who i think is a pretty good role model for healthy eating. she's not an over the top fanatic, maintains a healthy body weight and exercises regularly, and eats organic when possible. to me, she is a pretty reliable source for me personally. except the time when she and i were trying to get in shape and lose weight for her wedding, and i found myself eating myoplex protein bars around the clock. gross, i could never eat one of those ever again and can still taste the chocolate peanut butter bars in my mouth.

there is a huge joke with my sister eating greek yogurt, specifically fage (pronounced fah yee, even though i still continue to fah gee) . during her pregnancy, she didn't want to eat ice cream with pickles, white castle hamburgers (like my own mom did during her pregnancy with me, which might explain something about my eating habits), or really any outlandish cravings. all she wanted was this greek yogurt fage.

pregnant sister + fage =

8 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long baby (and the obsession of my life, my niece isabel)

okay, okay. this wasn't just a plug do say how freaking AWESOME my niece is (who is now 6 months old)- but to just prove a point of what eating an excessive amount of greek yogurt can do.

back to the point of this blog....

so fage can be somewhat considered the pioneer of the greek yogurt phase, but then all of these other alleged greek yogurts came out of the woodwork, like oikos, chobani, and greek gods. they all claim to be "the original greek yogurt"- but who is to decide that, really?

now it doesn't end there. so i started to notice that all these other random countries started jumping on the international yogurt bandwagon: neilson (somewhere in great britain), wallaby (australia), yeo valley (russia), and i've seen swiss, german, and sweedish.

i remember when yogurt selection was simple. then they went sugar free. then they went low carb. then they went organic. then they added "helps regulate your system". then they added probiotics. then they added foreign countries.

i don't know who is this alleged "they" i speak of, but whoever it is, it sure made this pretty simple food pretty complicated.