1.4 - 1.8

Hello!  It has been almost a week in NY and I have eaten many tasty things along the way.  The transition has been smoother than I expected, with only the occasional subway mishap and inappropriately unstifled smile.  The neighborhood I'm staying in with my best friend Steph has a large Mexican population, and thus I have tried the best corn tortillas of my life.  Thus far at home we've eaten refried bean tacos, chicken sausage tacos with yogurt lime dressing, brie on rice crackers, pan-fried tofu with oyster sauce, silken tofu with ginger syrup (so spicy!!), and endless pots of herbal tea.  Outside of the house, here are some of the tasties I have been trying!

Souen - Gluten Free Ramen in Miso Broth.

Steph speaks frequently of dinners at a "macrobiotic" restaurant in the East Village.  Though I'm not quite sure what the word means, I was intrigued by her descriptions of flavorful, clean-feeling foods.  Souen is a little spot with an extensively marked food allergy menu.  A year ago I would've judged those soy eating hipsters for speckling their menu with those details, but now I'm so appreciative of not having to endlessly ask about hidden soy sauce or added flour.  We started with an edamame guacamole, and they graciously swapped out half the seitan chips for daikon radish slices.  Steph's cold noodle salad in tahini dressing was deliciously seasoned, and though I felt my miso broth was a bit too sediment-y, I really enjoyed the consistency of their rice noodles.  

Congee Village - Pork and Preserved Duck Egg Congee

Cleveland really just has one food blog, so I had to search around a bit for a NY blog I liked.  Seriouseats.com ended up being spot on with this recommendation.  Though many NYU-ers have been to this staple Chinese restaurant, some may have overlooked their congee selection on the final page of the menu.  I never knew there was a name for this dish, as I had only had it sparingly as a child at my mother's friends' parties and once or twice at dim sum.  I'm glad that Juewon and I revisited it earlier last fall when I suddenly had a memory of porridgy rice and bits of preserved duck egg.  The preserved duck egg is SUCH a weird, distinctive taste, but somewhat like cottage cheese, it is a taste that leaves you wanting to explore it more hours after you've had it.  The congee at this restaurant was SO perfect on a crisp Saturday, and at $3.50 a bowl I was very pleased with my choice.

NY Photo Festival Food Photography Show

The day before I left for NY, my favorite food blogger posted that her work would be appearing in a Food Photography Show opening the Friday I would be in town.  Excited, I dragged Steph to see it after our congee adventure.  Unfortunately, the subways were all out of whack, so we were pretty frustrated when we arrived in DUMBO.  Instead of the open gallery space I was expecting, the photos were displayed on the wall of a publishing store.  Determined to make a good afternoon of it, Steph and I perused the interesting pieces on the wall and looked through the fun selections of books at the store.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick!  Made by Ali Diecke

Lazy Sunday!  I was glad to have a Sunday morning to mosy around, and made many cups of tea, a hot chocolate melted from a stick, and read various books.  Apparently, after the movie Sideways, the sales of Pinot Noir skyrocketed and wineries sold other varieties under the Pinot Noir label.  When lawsuits arose, the defense was that not a single American complained or likely knew of the difference.  Though I'm partial to the ceremony surrounding wine, I love reading about the blips that reveal we have absolutely no idea what taste is. 

 

Weekend Reading

Flor de Mayo

After watching Mission Impossible uptown, we headed to a popular Columbia spot I never got around to in undergrad.  Flor de Mayo is a Peruvian/Chinese fusion that is extremely homey.  Our group of 8 split several dishes and passed around pollo a la brasa, squid ink fried rice, and unidentified beef on french fry dish, pork chops, and plantains.  The chicken was fantastic, and Steph rated it as more flavorful than Pio Pio though not as tender.  The pork chops were way better than I expected, but the squid ink fried rice was more of a standard dish.  The sangria was cold and refreshing.  Tasty!

Squid Ink Fried Rice

 

After our delightful meaty meal, Steph humored me to stop by Whole Foods for my newest healthfood obsession, Kefir.  I read through a lot of scripts at work, and Kefir was featured for reducing anxiety and helping with sleep due to high tryptophan levels and helping digestion with probiotics.  All controversial and unsubstantiated claims, but I like feeling excited about the possible benefits from trying something odd.  I am now armed with two bottles of the soury stuff, and will report about its wonders and further adventures next week!

<3

Jane