new york nibbles - week 2

after running myself ragged during week 1 of this new york vacation, i decided to drop everything (well, almost everything) and give myself a break during week 2. i mean, i pretty much rolled off the plane and started volunteering at the TFF the very next morning! even though i was assigned to a prime location, i wasn't doing all that much. after a while, i'm sure that wore down on kate (who felt bad that she didn't have anything for me to do but sit and answer the occasional question about where the bathrooms were) and on me (who felt bad about reading or stepping away from the desk, just in case there wasn't anyone answering the occasional question about where the bathrooms were). and after trekking down to second avenue in both sun and rain, i decided i didn't very much enjoy being assigned to that schlep either. plus i really didn't want to spend the rest of my vacation getting worn out and possibly sick, so i requested to be dismissed from my 3 remaining volunteer shifts. and was let go, thanks to a really nice supervisor and a really slow desk (at least in the morning when i was assigned). whew! all in all, it was a really great experience, that i definitely didn't mind coming back for.

in addition to volunteering too much, i've also been working out too much (at NYHRC's all over the city), eating out too much (at some tres yummy places), socializing too much (w/friends i don't get to see for months/years at a time), and ultimately not resting enough. even now, i'm up uber late trying to get caught up on this blog. and all i can think about for tomorrow is how i need to get back to work on editing my proposal and studying for my NSCA exam. plus i need to start researching my research topic for the costa rica trip. and i need to find out what happened to the budget report i have to review before friday's meeting. geezus christ. i'm a train wreck waiting to happen. can you see the headlines now? grad student CRUSHED by responsibilities.

to be honest, i feel like one of the mathematicians trapped in 'fermat's room' -- an AMAZING movie lily and i watched tonight as part of the TFF. not only was the acting superb, but the plotline was just convoluted enough to keep your neurons firing w/o going on overload. (i also watched boy A last week, which was impressive in terms of the acting, but totally unoriginal in terms of the plotline.) i'm hoping to get a few more films in before i head back, including 'let the right one in' (a coming-of-age vampire story -- which i'm watching in honor of eri and her buffy obsession) and 'the caller' (for which i waited in the rush ticket line for over an hour, only to not be able to get in (!!) -- let's hope for better luck the second time around). i'm thinking it might've been nice to just sit around and watch movies the whole 2 weeks, but then again, i might've ended up totally bored out of my mind from sitting for so many hours at a time! i guess the grass is always greener on the other side. *sigh*

monday:

before i forget, i must say that i had absolutely the most delicious dish -- unagi fried rice -- at (of all places) go sushi. granted, if the food's good, the food's good, but i would've never thought i'd find one of the yummiest dishes ever at a fast food sushi joint. needless to say, i was SHOCKED. i mean, unagi is already one of my favorite foods EVER. but to have the unagi and the sauce mixed in with brown rice, egg, and lettuce was AMAZING. i don't even have the words to express my enjoyment and satisfaction. this dish made the rest of my meal (a seaweed salad and a roll of shrimp, mango, and cucumber) pale in comparison. if you find this dish, you must order it ASAP.

go sushi
1649 second avenue
new york, ny 10028
212.570.1222

http://www.gosushi.net/

with the rain coming down like cats and dogs, i was quite depressed for most of monday (especially the morning). thankfully, i got to spend some time back at soon's apt before heading back downtown. after spending hours out in the rain, the apt was oh so relaxing -- and WARM. i must admit that it took a lot to get my butt of the apt, but i'm glad i did b/c it was really great catching up w/lily (who i hadn't seen in what seemed like FOREVER). we both really enjoyed fermat's room (yay for volunteer vouchers!) and we were both psyched for dinner. so it was really too bad that we had to deal w/an annoying cab driver who barked at us for not letting him know that we were planning to pay by credit card. (FYI that lily's promised to report his ass for being a jerk-off -- you suck, TF13!)

thankfully, the rest of the evening was filled with delicious eats and fun convo. i picked out merkato 55 (after much press on daily candy and thrilllist) and we were NOT disappointed. lily had read the restaurant review in the new york times and recalled some of the highlights. we decided on the african breads (w/3 kinds of bread), the cucumber sabal (a bit pickled), the soft-shelled crab (which, as i've mentioned, is my current favorite food) w/tapioca, and the frisee salad w/eggplant (for some veggies). the breads were delicious, particularly the sesame naan-of-sorts and the mildly spiced cornbread. the cucumber sabal had a nice tang. the crab was, by far, my favorite dish of the night. totally crispy and delicious. it would've been nice to have more of the sauce available for dipping though, especially since the crispy layer made the dish slightly dry. i'm not sure how much the tapioca added to the dish, but the pearls in and of themselves were yummy. the salad was OK but needed a LOT more eggplant to be satisfying.

even though we were both just full enough, i needed to end on a sweet tooth (as always), so i picked out the sorbets for a light dessert. now, most chefs say that they put ice creams and sorbets on the menu to satisfy the non-adventurous dessert eaters out there. as w/my argument for non-steak dishes in steakhouses, i believe that if you're going to put anything on a menu, it better be worthy of being put on that menu. as such, i must say that we were NOT disappointed by our dessert option. the waiter brought us a plate of 2 sorbets and 1 ice cream (whether inadvertently or deliberately, we weren't sure): pineapple sorbet, avocado-kalamansi sorbet, and rosehip ice cream. the pineapple was a bit sweet for me, but lily thought it was quite delicious. the avocado-kalamansi (which i just wikipedia'ed and found out is a lime-like fruit) was provocative and intriguing, balancing ever so precariously b/w mellow and tangy. the rosehip was the favorite for us both, with its mild sweetness and floral scent.

sitting in such an amazing space and dining on such a delicious menu, we both avidly agreed that we'd be coming back AND bringing friends. samuelsson has certainly done an amazing job. this is yet another eatery to add to the growing list of meatpacking favorites (which include florent and pastis)!

merkato 55
55 gansevoort street
new york, ny 10014
212.255.8555

http://merkato55.com/

tuesday:

FYI that i used to love love love cosi for its smores platter. OMG. to be able to toast little marshmallows on metal skewers over a little fire at the table w/o the nuisance of nature, dirt, and bugs. what a godsend! later on, i discovered their frappuccino-like arctics -- DELISH. but b/c i've never been a big sandwich eater, i've never tried their flatbread sandwiches. well, at least not until today. as a quick sidebar, the first and best thing i noticed about the menu was that it listed ALL of the calories for each item (by size even, when applicable). considering how people tend to underestimate or overestimate their caloric intake, these numbers are really helpful. and it shows that the company's thinking! i know some folks might think it's TMI, but i totally disagree. i think it's better that people know than guess. and given that, i decided to order the lightest thing on the sandwich menu -- a veggie sandwich w/hummus. i was delighted to get it home and find out how thin (and just crispy enough) the flatbread was (which was perfect since i'm generally bothered by bread). seeing as how i suck at portioning, the sandwich was pretty much the perfect size and just filling enough to satisfy me until dinner.

cosi
2186 broadway
new york, ny 10024
212.595.5616

http://www.getcosi.com/

while i was really sad that nicole was stuck at work tonight, i couldn't make dinner later so i decided to check out bar q on my own. considering that i'd been waiting forever to try it, i was SO NOT DISAPPOINTED. first of all, my waiter brian sat me at this lovely corner table, which as a single diner, i absolutely love. you have the space all to yourself, and you don't have to worry about bumping elbows in both directions. next, the menu was absolutely divine. i'd passed by this amazing oyster bar on my way in, and i decided that i'd set aside my food poisoning fears (at least for the night) and start off w/oysters. i asked for one at first, just to have one for the sake of having one. brian brought it over w/a little bit of lemon and asked whether i wanted to try any of the dipping sauces. i asked him to pick the one he liked best and he brought over a mildly spicy red sauce. the combination of the tres fresh oyster and the sauce was DIVINE. and the oyster (except for 2 tiny bits of sand) went down super smoothly. so i asked for a second oyster, and of course, it was divine as well. i really do hope that my tummy stays OK these next few days b/c my oyster experience was pretty near perfect this time around.

next, i moved onto the unagi and scallion fritters. (i swear i must have a theme going on this trip b/c i've had both soft shell crab and unagi a billion times already!) these came perfectly golden and tasted absolutely delicious. upon chewing slowly and cutting though the fritters, it was apparent that they were only lightly battered and contained mostly unagi. mmm.... scrumptious.... i'd asked brian about the stuffed spare rib and he'd pretty much gasped in ecstasy, so i decided to go w/that. as derek's mentioned in his blog, it's rarely a bad idea to take recommendations from the waitstaff. and again, i was thrilled at what was set before me. even though i've been eating out for DAYS now, i must say that this dish was BY FAR the BEST dish i've had on this ENTIRE trip. brian had described the dish as a de-boned spare rib set on top of chunky peanut butter. and he was SPOT ON. the meat was cooked and stuffed perfectly -- oh so tender. even though the sauce was a bit salty, it wasn't unlike any other BBQ sauce. well, except that it was BETTER. plus, mixed w/the chunky peanut sauce, let's just say, i was pretty much in heaven. i'm just glad i'd paced myself so that i could get it all into my tummy!

to top off the night, i decided on the lightest dessert on the menu (next to the sorbets that i'd just had the night before), which was the coconut soup w/fresh fruit. again, brian gave me the two thumbs up. and again, i wasn't the faintest bit displeased. the coconut soup was totally light and refreshing, nothing like the heavy and thick coconut milk that you find in most coconut dishes. and with the tiny cubes of jicama, kumquat, and mango, there was a lovely contrast of textures in the bowl. needless to say, i had the BEST meal. and kudos to brian for some great recs!

bar q
308 bleecker street
new york, ny 10014
212.206.7817

wednesday:

after getting some work done over yet another delicious cosi sandwich (i seriously am a creature of habit -- at least in weekly bursts), i decided to venture outside for some lovely new york sunshine. while the temperature had dropped steeply from last week, i still prefer cold SUNNY new york days to cold RAINY new york days. as i was trekking downtown on the upper west, i passed by one of the cutest tea places in the city -- alice's tea cup. when i saw that pumpkin scones were on the menu, i really couldn't resist going inside. based on alice's adventures in wonderland, this place is simply adorable. w/the yummiest looking AND tasting treats imaginable. (i also passed by magnolia bakery afterwards and their desserts looked equally delectable.)

seeing that i'm the biggest pumpkin fan, i decided to grab a pumpkin scone (theoretically to save for breakfast the next day). and seeing that i wouldn't let myself nibble on the scone, i decided to grab an iced tea as well, to accompany me on my walk through the park. the peach iced tea that the cashier recommended was delicious. unfortunately, it was drank/drunk (which is it?!) way too quickly by a person w/a tiny bladder, so i'm really glad i made it all the way down to the ladies room at grand central w/o too much angst. (FYI that i made sure to pass through the grand central market twice, just to soak up all the gourmet goodness. *sigh*)

way before reaching grand central, however, i entered a lululemon store near lincoln center, only to find out that all of the sales staff loved alice's tea cup. when i mentioned my pumpkin scone, their eyes grew wide and they went on about how DELICIOUS it was. (apparently the same holds true for the banana chocolate chip cake as well.) needless to say, i couldn't help but try a small bite of my scone -- AND THEN PROCEED TO EAT THE WHOLE THING. forget breakfast. i didn't even last an hour. isn't that pathetic?! nevertheless, i'm not ashamed. especially when that was THE best scone i'd EVER eaten. b/c you know how scones are normally dry and crumbly? well, this was nothing like that. my scone was perfectly moist w/o tasting like a muffin or a cake. it was more worthy of the scone title than any other scone i've had in my short lifetime. and with a bit of glaze on top, it was absolutely the most perfect scone specimen. need i say more?

alice's tea cup
102 west 73rd street
new york, ny 10023
212.799.3006

http://www.alicesteacup.com/

additional references:

magnolia bakery - http://www.magnoliabakery.com/
grand central market - http://www.grandcentralsquare.com/
lululemon - http://www.lululemon.com/

to close out a lovely day of yummy eats, i met up w/ivana, ben, rob, mike, and jacob (thanks for showing up, jacob!) at rosa mexicano down near union square. it'd been forever since i'd caught up w/any of these folks (except for ben who'd partaken/partook in the strip house festivities), so i was excited for the DCS reunion. too bad that every single person (other than me) was LATE. i mean, is it a new york thing? is it an urban thing? it is a cell phone thing? is it a CRACKBERRY thing? i haven't the faintest, but let's just say i was a bit dismayed when i was sitting/standing for close to 10 minutes before rob showed up as the first of the group. it's not that i was crazy mad or anything. i just never understand lateness/ which is probably why i'm always left waiting 20 minutes since i show up 10 minutes early and everyone else shows up 10 minutes late. *sigh* at any rate, the rest of the group showed up in short order (including jacob who'd just gotten the call from mike -- thank goodness for cabs).

as soon as our entire party had arrived, the hostess seated us at a lovely booth for 6. our waiter was fabulous the whole night -- even dealing w/our more-often-than-not crazy antics. (that man SERIOUSLY deserved the good tip we left him.) as we were perusing the menu, we decided to kickstart the night w/drinks, chips, and made-to-order guac tableside. except for ivana and i, the entire table ordered the pomegranate margarita, which was apparently DELISH. i was kind of leaning towards a virgin one, but really, what's the point? as for the guac, we ordered it spicy, but we must've looked weak (or the guy must've heard wrong) b/c there was absolutely no kick to the guac at all. not that it didn't taste yummy, it just wasn't what we ordered. sadness.

for our main entrees, we decided to order for ourselves and then share w/those who wanted to taste. a strategy that works well in that it allows everyone to get something they want and also try other dishes at the table. i decided to keep it light w/the salad and i managed to divvy up most of the seared tuna that i didn't want anyways. (FYI that this tuna looked almost like sashimi -- i barely saw the sear! not that it matters though, since i really don't like tuna.) i pretty much ordered the salad for the greens and the mango, which totally lived up to expectations. jacob ordered the ceviche to start (which was AMAZING) and the short rib to follow (which was LUSCIOUS). ivana chose the the red snapper, which came with a tableside preparation of a garlic sauce. it was also quite good, though i really wasn't feeling fish that night. rob ordered the short rib as well, but ben & mike both went w/multiple appetizers. the zarape w/pulled duck was my favorite of the three, though the empanadas w/lump crab and the enchiladas w/pulled chicken weren't too shabby either (though a little bit more carb-ey than meat-ey in my opinion).

needless to say, most of the crew was way full after the inhalation of chips, warm tortillas (that came w/the guac), and guac at the start of the meal. thankfully, ivana & i had both saved room for dessert! and we decided on the flan, which was INCREDIBLE. the mole ice cream certainly looked interesting, but when you're in a mexican restaurant, flan should be the dessert of choice. it was just sweet enough and not too heavy. and it was placed on top of a thin layer of burnt sugar at the bottom of the plate, which made for a visually appealing presentation and provided a nice textural contrast to the smooth and creamy flan.

all in all, we had a GREAT time. while the hostess was a bit blah, our waiter was really very sweet. (i mean, anyone who can put up w/us really deserves a medal.) but FYI to all those who want to eat here, make sure you make a reservation WAY ahead of time. otherwise, you're left w/at least an hour wait. this place is hopping at dinner time, so don't wait to the last-minute.

rosa mexicano
9 east 18th street
new york, ny, 10003
212.533.3350

http://www.rosamexicano.info/

thursday:

a quick note to say that i ended up at alice's tea cup again after 4 loops around the reservoir (5.2 miles, baby!). this time, i had to order the ham & cheddar scone (savory), the chocolate chip scone (sweet), and the vegetarian zucchini soup (liquid). even though i had homemade chicken soup from mom waiting for me and thoughts of another cosi flatbread sandwich floating in my head, i really couldn't resist more super moist scones. and i wasn't disappointed! yet again, they were the perfect consistency. i decided to hold back on eating the whole savory scone, but i couldn't help myself from ingesting the entire sweet one. at least i waited an hour in between halves. (that's something, right? small steps, people, small steps.) when dipped in clotted cream and strawberry jam (which the cafe provides in little to-go containers), the sweet scone was that much more delicious (i'm not sure how well they'd go w/the savory one). the soup was good, though i'm not sure it was really worth $6, especially for such a small container. stick w/the pastries if you come here. oh, and the iced tea too. mmm....

http://www.alicesteacup.com/

after much back and forth over email and text, evette and i decided to meet up at sip, a coffeebar halfway between ruby's apt on the upper west (where i was staying) and her digs in harlem. considering that scheduling's always been a bit of a nightmare for me (wherever i am), i'm just glad we were able to find a time that worked. and thank god for citysearch, which could find me a place to eat/drink/snack just about anywhere. (as for whether it's good or not, well, that's kind of a toss-up. i mean, you never know w/customer reviews, right?) after a quick search, i picked out sip. my attitude is: if you have a website, you must be halfway decent. and thankfully, i wasn't mistaken. (and yes, i love the double negatives.) even though (or maybe b/c) it was raining, the place was quite packed at 9:30 at night, so we decided to grab the high table closest to the door.

even though i'd already eaten a yummy homecooked korean meal at jenny & jimmy's new townhouse up in westchester, i couldn't resist ordering the delicious-looking poached pear. (i mean, it's fruit, so it's healthy, right?) i also decided on some lavender mint tea, which was so a propros considering that it was rainy & nippy outside. evette chose a nice salad and a chamomille tea, and we both ooh'ed when the waiter (who looked a little like that dude w/the long hair from almost famous & saved) brought us our own tea pots and dwarf-sized tea mugs. as for my pear, it was pretty much, a pear. it wasn't marinated in anything. it wasn't doused in heavy sauce. and considering that i was fairly full, it was nice to dip a few pieces of fresh pear into just a little bit of ice cream. on the other hand, the caramel brittle it came with was, well, disgusting. i'm not sure what they put in it (raisins? figs? nuts?), but the little pieces that came off tasted, well, gross. really bitter and just yucky. i'm sure the caramel part had to have been better, but i wasn't in the right frame of mind (or tummy) to try it. in terms of space, the place was really small and quite loud, so be prepared when you walk in the door. also, the bathroom was tiny and there was no coathook, which is a bit tacky, even if the place is a bit of a dive.

sip
998 amsterdam avenue
new york, ny 10025
212.316.2747

http://www.sipbar.com/

friday:

after waking up at 6:30 in the morning and deciding that i didn't REALLY want to trek downtown for pilates, i decided to get some emailing in before heading uptown to see harold & kumar escape from guatanamo bay. i know i know. totally random, but honestly, i really liked the first one! and knowing that kal penn was mel's RA really makes me feel that much more connected to the film. =S at any rate, i'd passed by the theater on my way back from sip the night before, and i'd noticed the $6 matinee price (which i never thought existed in new york), so i knew i had to come back. i mean, paying $6 for a movie in manhattan is just, well, unbelievable. and who doesn't love being one of FOUR people in a movie theater? at any rate, the movie was quite hilarious. a bit much w/the nudity, if you ask me, but otherwise pretty hilarious. this film is definitely a no-brainer in that absolutely NO brain cells are required. unless you've been in a hole since before 2001, the cultural and political references are pretty blatant. on the one hand, it's sad that the world still suffers from these notions. on the other hand, the characters use them quite well comedically. ultimately, this movie serves as a much less annoying version of borat (who i hate), but still makes a good point regarding the continued existence of annoying stereotypes. the escape plot and the cheesy subplot keep the fim moving forward; the characters and the subcharacters offer some hilarious caricatures; and the pot is (from my perspective) surprisingly successful as a theme.

http://www.haroldandkumar.com/