techie foodie

well, first off, must address the pink elephant in the room. for the second time (aka back from the black hole blog post) it's been close to two years since i have posted on this blog. what happened? well life happened, my crazy, crazy life happened. and some sleep in between of course. however, i WILL say that this blog made no promises on frequency of posts and such. so i do still have some street cred since i did put a disclaimer from the get-go (i.e. on the basics of the blog section on the right-> ). and i quote "the sequence of my blog will have no rhyme or reason. i might write about "real time" stuff, but then i might write about something that happened months or even years ago."

good thing i wrote "even years ago", or else i would've been SOL. let's be serious, who is really stalking my blog daily anyway.

so in my almost 2 year hiatus, i finally caved and joined the cool kids by getting an iPhone. apparently one of the best things to happen to a foodie because it made me grow deeper into foodiedom. you know you got issues when half of your apps are related to food. here's the rundown on all my food related apps:

restaurant search essentials (in no particular order):
yelp- yes. so that girl who heavily relies on a yelp review.
groupon - my student budget mind still exists. best thing to ever happen to james. $6 for $10 worth of food at barebuger...sign me up!
time out ny- quite possibly my favorite app. searches your location and gives you their top picks for arts, music/nightlife, eat, drink, and free/cheap. only works in the boroughs, so that's when yelp comes in handy.
open table-when you decide 6 beers deep (remember i'm 30 now, don't judge on the low beer count) that you want to eat a fancy wall street steakhouse (AF that was for you...)
tweat.it- searches your location and gives you the closest food truck. whatever food trucks are so ecoli status but i still love them and i don't care

when other foodies stalk what others are doing:
foodlily- recipes shared by users that links you to the original recipe's site
foodspotting- instagram that is food focused
untappd- you think it's annoying when people check into places on fb (i'm one of them, who checks in that is), wait until you see them "check into" every beer they drink

what are your faves??? what will you get me hooked on??? besides phonics...

The Tour of Little Plates

I decided to post about tapas restaurants because over the past couple of months, it appears as if I’ve been going on an impromptu tour of tapas restaurants in NYC.

The main reason why I like going to these restaurants is because you get to try a number of different things on the menu. Anyone who knows me knows that is my general mantra when I go out to dinner, especially when I go out to dinner with James. (See foodie catch phrase on the side bar “we ½ and ½ ed it”). I realize that not everyone shares my interest in tapas restaurants, one being my friend Laura. She says that she “loathes” going to those restaurants because she always feels hungry after she leaves. Well my answer to that is just order more! The other related thing about tapas is that one would think that you spend less at these restaurants because they are “little plates” so they must be less monies right? Well, because generally I overcompensate for that little portion fact, and order a lot of them, so it ends up being more money than a general single entrée. James and I usually order 4-5 plates, and at a minimum $12 a pop, that’s like $30 per person, which is usually more than what you would spend on a single entrée in a decently priced restaurant.

So what’s all the hype about? Let’s chat shall we??? (In alphabetical order as to not show preference)

Alta: West Village
I got introduced to this restaurant by another food loving friend. She suggested it when we and two other friends had been planning a girls dinner…and we always switched who chose the venue. This time it was her turn and I was HOOKED. I’ll just put it out there, this place is definitely a repeat restaurant (again, see this foodie catch phrase). In fact, I am already planning to go back there next week for a friend’s birthday. So there. Great sangria, nice space, good service. Good locale too. It’s in the West Village, but in a less “crowded” part, where I don’t feel pressured to get a tattoo or a nose ring while I am there.
Top dish(es) pick: Hmm. Menu has changed. Guess that goes to show that I am supposed to post real time. However, do remember having this LIFE CHANGING Brussels sprouts dish. Now if someone can manage to make Brussels sprouts taste life changing, I think they are doing something right, don’t you think?

Amsterdam Restaurant and Tapas Lounge : Upper West Side
Nestled not too far away from Columbia, this restaurant is a place that I would expect Columbia students to be when they want a break from pizza and Ramen noodles and get a little “fancy”. James and I went there a while back, but have no recollection of how we found the place. I do remember thinking that the food was American bar food scaled down to a smaller size and slapped the word “tapas” on it. Maybe because tapas is all the rage and they were just trying to fit in? They do serve some “ethic” type food, which again, in the same fashion, slapped on different ethincities before the actual food names to make it sound more global (INDIAN chicken skewers, Spicy THAI garlic shrimp, etc). It wasn’t the most horrible food, but definitely nothing to write home about, or to trek back uptown for.
Top dish(es) pick: Beef Empanadas

Bocqueria : SoHo
James and I had been putzing around the city. We went to a bbq earlier in the day, and were just looking for “a little something”, so we were searching for tapas restaurants in the SoHo area, and Bocqueria came up with the most positive reviews, so off we went. One of my golden rules is to only go to restaurants where I get a recommendation from someone (or something) that I trust. This was just a google search. Well , we were both pleasantly surprised. We sat at the bar cause that’s how we roll when we don’t want to wait 47 minutes to be seated. We still got full waiter service, who was fabulous by the way. Wasn’t too impressed with the house sangria (that we got a pitcher of….lessoned learned), but the food and the service more than made up for it. I would normally tag this place as “obnoxious”, kinda the clientele that think they are the be all and tell all of Manhattan. However, we were there early enough where we were leaving as the majority of those folks were entering. I would definitely go back again, if we were in the nabe, but wouldn’t go cross or down town for it.
Top dish(es) pick: Croquetas Cremosas (Creamy croquettes; three each of mushroom and chard)

Pipa : Grammercy
The day started with me and James running into Jerry Seinfeld at Good Enough to Eat, and the day ended with tapas at Pipa. No apparent correlation, but I am just putting that out there. I got the recommendation from a friend from my old job, and if I was still working at the time, then it was while ago. The first attempt to Pipa was a wash, as it was an hour and a half wait on a Tuesday night. That was almost a deal breaker for me right there. Enough time had passed where I was over it, and me and James gave it a shot. I still can’t figure out the connection, but it has some association with ABC Furniture, and there are all these elaborate chandeliers on the ceiling, all of which have price tags. At first glance, it seems like some really sheesh place. There is some truth to that but I didn’t feel so vanilla when James and I were there. Again, we sat at the bar cause that’s how we roll, and got waiter service. The seating was like a German beer garden, so we were sitting with all strangers, but it was all good. Food was good, no complaints, but nothing that I would jump hoops to wait an hour and a half for.
Top dish(es) pick: Baby Chorizo & Tortilla Española (traditional spanish potato, onion & piquillo pepper omelet)

Sojourn: Upper East Side
Are we somewhere downtown?? Well I’ll be damned because this spot feels like it’s in a misplaced neighborhood. The spot has this rustic-chic feel to it (the restaurant says its “warm and sexy”…close enough), something that I would expect in SoHo or the Meatpacking. It’s actually in the family neighborhoody part of the UES. Nevertheless, we were happy to have experienced this gem and were even happier that it was tucked away up there without the big to do crowds. I am pretty sure they have some sort of connection with the downtown Stanton Social , which I happen to be a big fan of. James and I went there before we went to see Chelsea Handler at Radio City for a little pre show meal. We found the place through Open Table, which again, was a kind of out of character thing for me to do. We just did a search on East Side restaurants relatively close to Radio City, and voila, Sojourn it is. I basically got sold on their website “about” link, where they said things like “ethnically responsible food and wine” and “melting pot of cultural influences”. I believe they tried to tag their food as “global”…and that it was. We got many different types of flavors and enjoyed them all.
Top dish(es) pick: Manchego Croquettes & Ricotta and Swiss Chard Ravioli

Son Cubano: Meatpacking
Okay, I have been to this restaurant at least 5 times. That’s huge for me considering a have built a blog around trying new restaurants as often as possible. This restaurant is both a “sure thing” and “life changing” …a rarity in my world. I was first introduced to this place by my sister, solely for the mojitos. They always have excellent music playing, friendly staff, and that true Cuban feel. Not that I know what Cuba feels like, nor is it physically possible for me to fly to Cuba unless I go through Canada. But you get the picture. I have been there for drinks, dancing with the gals, and dinner with James, all of which the restaurant is a great forum for. I guess that’s what makes it so versatile because it has a lot of components for a good time. Highly suggest to go there at least once, and I plan to go at least 5 more times, if not more….
Top dish(es) pick: Empanadillas de Espinaca y Queso (Homemade turnovers filled with spinach and Spanish Manchego cheese), Chorizo Espanol, Chicharrón de Pollo (Chicken drumettes with a spicy guava glaze)

the (akward) tail of the hot toddy...and other winter favorites

now that the holidays are over, and the winter season still in tow, i thought it was appropriate to reflect on the some of the favorite drinks, both spiked and not, of the season.

my real motivation is that james and i went back to The Equinox Resort and Spa in manchester, vt (see blog post i can't believe it’s maple butter ) to celebrate the new year. it reminded me of what i like to call one of my akward foodie moments, during our last trip to manchester.

after a long snowshoe hike in the historic hildene, which for all you history buffs is the "historic home built in 1905 by President Abrahamand Mary Todd Lincoln's son, Robert Todd as a summer residence"- james and i decided to head to the bar in equinox for some warm holiday drinks. the following dialogue takes place:

me: "i'll have a hot toddy please"

bartender: "ok"

(akward stare and silence)

bartender: "do you know what that is?"

me: "uh, yes"

bartender: "are you sure?"

me: "well, i thought i did. isn't it just hot apple cider with some sort of alcohol. rum i think?"

bartneder: "yeah, no. it's hot water, whiskey, and some spices"

me: "oh"

bartender: "you still want it"

me: "um no. not really. i'll just have hot apple cider with some rum"

okay. guess for the XX amount of years that i have been a legal alcohol consumer i've had the wrong idea of what a hot toddy was. well, i didn't feel that bad because the bartender explained that a lot of people had that misconception. i am sure he was lying to break the akwardness of the situation.

in any case, hot toddies usually come around during the winter season. i don't foresee any bars changing their maragarita or corona specials in the summertime with this drink.

the official ingredients of the hot toddy vary from bar(tender) to bar(tender). here are the recipes i have found from my google search:

epicurious: bourbon, honey, lemon, hot water

drinksmixer.com: brandy, honey, lemon, hot tea

suite101.com: scotch, sugar, lemon, hot water

i'll leave the portions for you people to figure out. i think we see the trend here...but wait! where is the alleged "some spices" the bartender from the equinox spoke of? i think that only restaurants/bars have the resources for these types of ingredients, so i am assuming that home recipes are "dumbed down". luckily i remembered that a restaurant i ate at last week, freeman's in the lower east side, served hot toddies. looked up their cocktail menu and the freeman's hot toddy consisted of applejack, honey, lemon, ginger, cloves. (ps- stay tuned for a post about freeman's)

well that makes sense. cloves (besides being a cigarette that early teens would smoke because of the spicy flavor it used to leave on your lips. not like i know from experience) is such a generic name for "spices" that i am sure the contents of cloves vary for each drink maker.

okay, i think i beat that to a dead horse.

what are some other wintry faves? stating the obvious, most wintry drinks faves are warm- hot chocolate, hot apple cider, coffee. and for whatever reason- egg nog is a holiday drink. i don't know why it specifically sold only during the holiday season- especially if we are using the warm drink rule, that ish is served cold.

i guess another winter drink norm is that whatever your fave is, just add your favorite alcohol to it. that's what i did to hot apple cider and rum (aka my version of the hot toddy).

happy winter everyone! and happy winter drinking, whatever your favorite drink may be....

back from the black hole...and on being a student....

i'm baaaaack. from what i call the black hole.

i saw a friend a few weeks ago at a holiday party, and he said to me "dude, the last post on your blog was about cape cod." yikes!! that was when the weather was warm and i was still getting a salary...



i'm having mental angst about giving a novel on why i have been outta commission, because this is not a blog about my life. but i guess i owe some sort of explanation for my long absence. the short of it is that i left my job (as an engineer, i guess i need to come up with a new blog name. but once an engineer, always an engineer??? we'll go with that for now...) and became a full time student. my program didn't start until september, but the summer was all the prepping for this big change. basically i went into this black hole and just came out of it...and now a have a month off, where i can start my rants again. i wonder if i will fall off the face of the earth again once january 19th comes around???

so what food blogging inspirations could i possibly have from being a student?? a few...

i guess the misconception of being student indicates a diet of eating greasy foods, a lot of caffeine, and ramen noodles (oh and a little something i like to call beer....)

quite the contrary. actually, i don't know what the deal is, but everyone eats pretty "healthy" (term used loosely of course. the next thing you know, the healthy eating police - whoever that may be- is going to be commenting on this post "hey, that's full of sugar" and blah blah blah....). i don't know, maybe it's because it's a master's program and people are more mature about eating (doubtful...). maybe because everyone is OBSESSED with eating healthy? and there is a potentially new eating disorder that are for people who are obsessed with eating healthy? whatever the case may be, i am seeing a new trend in student eating that i definitely didn't see in my undergraduate days.

(nerd alert) okay. so i made a spreadsheet that compares the commonly seen foods during my undergraduate studies, with the foods i am seeing in my program now. and since i spent time actually putting one together, of course i can't freaking figure out how to paste a spreadsheet without it coming out distorted, i have to manually place it in. fml.

then= chicken fingers
now= falafel pita sandwiches
i didn’t even know what falafel was in college

then= ice cream
now= greek yogurt
please refer to my blog post obsession with overseas yogurt

then= chips
now= nature's valley granola bars
it's weird. it’s the nature's valley specific bars. everyone eats them. its like a cult. and it's ALWAYS the oats and honey kind. you know them- they have a green and yellow package, and they come with two. i guess it’s the best bang for your buck since you get two.

then= don't even know what the equivalent would be
now= polly-o string cheese (or whatever brand name people are buying these days. perhaps store brand due to the recession? whatever it's all the same)
everyone loves these things! including me. i get the costco size. and its weird, everyone eats them REALLY slow….





then=soda
now=water....in cute little environmental friendly watter bottles
and if you're not drinking them in an environmental friendly bottle, people look at you like you just committed a mortal sin.
on another note. this girl in undergrad used to drink a 1 liter coke like it was a 16 oz. bottle during our 8am class. we all need our fix, but that is just creepy.


then= fruit snacks
now= real fruit
can you imagine? real fruit? bananas are the best sellers. especially since they are 3 for a dollar at the fruit cart.

then=coffee
now=coffee
who are am i kidding? it's an essential for students. i will say that people are drinking them in less quanities. i used drink coffee 4+ times a day. i'm down to 1. starbucks and dunkin donuts are still the frontfunners...


i don't know what it is, but i am also really frugal about spending, including food. i remember just throwing money around at restaurants and bars like i had it (como se dice large debt?), but now, i think twice about even buying a coffee ("that's worth a half an hour of babysitting!!!") it's probably because i once had a salary, and yes, i will be cliche, learned the value of a dollar.

here are a few tips i've learned over the course of my first semester:

tip #1: bring (not buy) food everyday
well being that i am usually on campus anywhere from 8-12 hours during the day, that pretty much spans the three meals. i wish i could pretend that i cook all the stuff that i bring, but really it's mama dukes. so really this tip should read "move back home and bring your mom's leftovers for the next days meals"

tip #2: when you have to buy, go to the 9,000 carts that are lined up on the streets
ok ok. sometimes you just have to buy right? well the best bang for you buck is those street carts. well, pretending you don't know of any health related repercussions associated with eating at the carts and you are golden! the fruit stand is the best- 3 bananas for a dollar (and some other quick deals). getting fruit at the stand is perfect because you just buy what you need and you don't need to worry about it going bad. breakfast sandwiches are key too. under $3.00 and delicious. don't buy the bagels though...they are TERRIBLE. might as well splurge the extra $2.00 and get the legit stuff. oh, and of course the falafel cart.

tip #3: get old = lose your tolerance = don't need 18 beers to get your drunk
ha! that's the biggest money saver for me these days! unless i go to a fancy pants bar that charges you $18 for a cocktail. not going back to that place again.

tip #4: hang out with your friends that you used to buy dinner for when they were a struggling student and they will return the favor
my dear friend is on the same campus as i am but working as a doctor. while she was in medical school we would always say "XXXX you're a student! you're not paying!" give and you shall receive my friends, and my very generous doctor friend has and i am very thankful for it!

now after you just heard that my penny pinching days are here to stay...you might all think that this is the end of my restaurant blogging. not to worry! i still have plenty of saved up topics from past visits. plus, don't forget my partner in crime (james) is not in school, so he shouldn't have to suffer (well, maybe his wallet might. let's just say the days of going dutch are temporarily suspended).


stay tuned

cape cod

people who know me know that i am a big fan of the new england area. i went to college in boston (holla at the terriers) and pretty much my obsession stemmed from there. i spend a decent amount of time there, since james is originally from massachusetts, and we typically try to spend long weekends in different parts of new england (most recently this past new year's in manchester vermont- see blog post i can't believe it's maple butter )

we spent memorial day weekend with some friends in cape cod, staying a little cottage in south yarmouth. while most of our meals were spent doing the great american past time of barbecuing, we did venture out to sample some of the local fare. i decided to blog about one particular place, as it definitely made a mark on our visit- in more ways than one.

as with any place that we go visit, the first thing james and i do is scope out some places to eat for breakfast. while doing his search, james found a place right down the block from where we were staying called the the pancake man. the name itself sold me.

it was the first restaurant we ate at when we arrived and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. its one of those places where you have foodie ADD- the menu was so extensive that you had no idea what to order. we were a group of four, and what did we do? we ordered everything, like we were a group of ten. james and i particularly like traveling with other people for the mere fact that we can order all the things that we want to sample.

what was on our menu?

peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes & blueberry pancakes

breakfast nachos (believe me, this picture doesn't do its justice. it should've been called breakfast nachos mountain)

breakfast quesadilla

and this is even missing two of our dishes (mexican omelette and sausage, bacon and eggs).

i almost contemplating calling this blog "holy breakfast nachos" because literally the monstrosity of this dish was unbelievable. and because of its enormity, it was the joke of the whole weekend, about how we would go back and make our friend go eat the breakfast nachos.

besides the level of gluttony this place made us undergo, the food WAS actually really great. the thing that really got me was the peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes. un-buh-leave-uh-bull. i even went out on the limb to say it was the best pancakes i ever had (dare i say even better than IHOP, and that place is my boy!).

i almost wanted to go back there just for those pancakes. but sometimes, over portioning can be a negative thing, as we didn't want to see any sort of breakfast joint till the end of our trip.

simply put, portions were NOT a problem at this place. and we wonder why there is an ongoing obesity problem in the united states...

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.