Tag Archives: 4.5 Chubbys
abc kitchen: bring all your special ladies
Dear Food Diary:
The other day my old women’s group met up after years for a girls night out. Naturally I was the one to pick a place and Jean George’s abc kitchen has been on my mind. I thought the girls would appreciate their local and organic affair.
While waiting near the bar, the afternoon sunlight lit up the room and the botanicals all around spread color and life. A Rhubarb Sparkling Cocktail, pink and purty in my hands set the tone for a girly get together. Sparkling wine mixed with elderflower syrup and fresh rhubarb juice, a little tart and sweet on the tongue while bubble fizzled pleasantly.
Taiwanese Gourmet Corp: Yummy Stinky Tofu, Duck’s Tongue, Intestine and more
Dear Food Diary:
I didn’t grow up in Asia and my parents weren’t adventurous eaters or cooks, so I’m not quite sure where my love for all things “unique” came about. My first taste of stinky tofu (fermented) was at 18 while in Shanghai and duck tongue was only something I saw on TV until moving here. I’ve only been able to find these items in Taiwanese restaurants, mostly Queens.
Taiwanese Gourmet, Corp. in Elmhurst is second after my favorite Taiwanese joint, and it offers really yummy renditions of these dishes at very reasonable prices. This place has a good variety of Taiwanese specialty dishes, a lot of which you would find in a night market or street food stall while eating around Taiwan. If you’ve never been, this would be the place to start and a good choice for an upcoming “adventurous” Chinese New Year meal, or any awesome gathering. It’s best to order a lot of dishes and share family style.
Motorino: Out with the old, in with the “delizioso” new!
Dear Food Diary:
When the dude from Una Pizza Napolitana left for the West Coast, pizza lovers all over were weeping over the thin crusted goodness. But fast forward a couple month, in comes Motorino and all our tears are wiped by an even better baked round dough+cheese+meat. Same oven, but better pizza if you ask me.
momokufu ko: No pictures? No problem…… I got a sharpie and pad. Take that!!! (MOVED)
Dear Food Diary:
I have these love/hate feelings about David Chang and his Momofukus. There’s been so much hype surrounding all things momofuku (smart marketing on DC’s part), I want to avoid it, but I can’t, because underneath it all, there are some pretty kick ass dishes.
Though very curious, I’ve been putting off Ko because I hate that whole online reservation process, there was no way I would log-on day after day and hope I would be “lucky enough” to have the pleasure of spending $175 of my hard earned dollars for lunch, BUT since fellow blogger R&R had already made reservations, I was happy to show up.
NO PHOTO POLICY!? #$#$%$ BS I say! I came armed with my sharpie and pad, take that DC! take that! (so the “sketches” were done very loosely, mind you I also needed time to enjoy every course. There’s sure to be spelling errors, bare with me, this was the best I could do in that time frame ok? Plus I had to put up with some looks from the ppl behind the kitchen, so give me some credit!)
Aldea: new portuguese gem
Dear Food Diary:
A girlfriend from college who was MIA for the past year and change had dropped me a line the other day, so we met at Aldea (Named village in Portuguese. A small neighborhood gem that opened a few month back). We didn’t think reservations were necessary on a tuesday night, to our surprise, the place was packed. They did offer us a table on the ground level dining room, but it seemed tight and crowded, so we opted to dine at the bar with the company of the attentive and friendly bartender Ted (for you ladies who are wondering, yes, he’s pretty cute). The restaurant has a very chic, modern and elegant interior. I suggest making reservations at the chef’s table (only 6 seats) overlooking the busy kitchen. And I highly recommend it for a date, it’s nice but not stuffy, and the food will help you score points for sure (high five me later).