treats-no-tricks

This is how I celebrate Halloween weekend... no costumes or crazy parties, but definitely filled with lots of goodies.

 {Bouchon Bakery Macarons}

 {homemade sushi}

 {Better Than Crack Brownies - recipe by How Sweet It Is}

 {Goat Cheese & Summer Black Truffle Pizza - Cecceoni's West Hollywood}

Soto's Sushi Bar

Soto
357 6th Ave (& Washington Pl)
West Village

For the boyfriend's birthday, I took him to dinner at Soto. While this is already my favorite Japanese restaurant (but not necessarily my favorite sushi restaurant... that would be Sasabune), I had not ordered exclusively from their sushi selection before. I planned to order omakase style (chef's choice), but they only accommodate for 3 restrictions, so I did not qualify & had to order off the menu. It is not the service or the carefully calculated pairing of dishes that you receive at Sasabune, but the meal was delicious nonetheless & the sake was excellent.

Junmai Daiginjyo - Ugo no Tsuki (Moon After the Rain)

Citrus Scottish Salmon

From the top left, clockwise: Madai Yakishimo (seared sea bream), Sake Yakishimo (seared scottish salmon), Kampachi (amberjack), Sake (scottish salmon)

From the top left, clockwise: Kampachi (amberjack), Yari Ika (long fin squid), Shima Aji (stripe jack fish), Sake (scottish salmon)

Zuke (soy marinated big eye tuna), Maguro (big eye tuna), Cyutoro (mid-fatty big eye tuna)

From the top, clockwise: Isaki (grunt), Hirame (fluke), Mirugai (giant clam), Hotate (sea scallop)

Cyutoro (mid-fatty big eye tuna), Madai Yakishimo (seared sea bream)

Unagi (fresh water eel), Uni (sea urchin)

Tar Tare Tuna Roll (spicy tuna w/ asian pear, cucumber, avacado, sesame, pine nuts, scallion wrapped in white kelp)

Summer 2011 Bucket List revisited: #4, #6, #12

6. Eat my favorite summer treats: gelato, watermelon salad, blueberry pie

{gelato - I had pistachio, as always}

{watermelon & chevre in olive oil w/ salt & pepper}

{The majority vote for best blueberry pie in NY is from Briermere Farms, about 80 miles outside the city. Finding exceptional blueberry pie in NYC has been difficult, so I continue returning to the place that first sparked my blueberry pie search; Pearl Oyster Bar (Cornelia St & W 4th St) for their blueberry crumble a-la-mode.}

4. Try a new Jean Georges restaurant

I'm on a mission to try all of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurants in NYC. On my last trip to Hawaii, it was a pleasant surprise to find a Jean-Georges restaurant on Kauai called Kauai Grill, & it happened to be the restaurant to watch the sunset over Hanalei Bay.

We had the hamachi appetizer, grilled onaga, nut & seed crusted moi (pictured below), & coconut panna cotta with fruit salad & lime sherbet for dessert.

12. Watch the sunset on my birthday at the St. Regis Princeville Resort on Kauai

{the sunset from Kauai Grill at the St. Regis}

It's been quite a good summer.

findyourcraving

Aloha Hour

 {mango mojito & 1988 cocktails}

There is a lot to love about happy hour: fun cocktails, appetizers and great prices, but it is so difficult to leave work early enough to make it on time!  Roy's Aloha Hour, however, is miraculously available daily and therefore has been on my weekend to-do list for quite some time now.  Most amazingly, everything on the menu is a mere $5 (including specialty cocktails), so we did the only logical thing, order one of each!  The souffle is not on the Aloha Hour menu, but its warm-oozing-chocolatey-goodness was too delicious to pass up.

 {tempura crusted spicy ahi roll & lobster california roll}

 {crunchy golden lobster potstickers}

 {Wagyu beef sliders with sweet potato fries - my favorite + best deal}

 {salt & pepper crisped calamari}

 {szechuan grilled beef tenderloin skewers}

{melting hot chocolate souffle}

Shige's Saimin Stand

{Saimin, and BBQ burger in the background}

Saimin is arguably my absolute favorite food, ever.  As a child, I loved it so much, I was told I would grow up and turn into a noodle.  Shige's is one of my favorite places to eat it, not only because the noodles are delicious and the dish itself is time-tested, home-made-to-perfection goodness, but the fact that it's located in the tiny town of Wahiawa where so many of my favorite Hawaii memories originate, makes eating here an all-encompassing reminiscent experience.  Not to mention, the entire menu at Shige's is as fantastic as it is simple, and the "large" fruit punch is a quart-sized monstrosity, and probably the first fruit punch I couldn't finish.

{awesome looking menu, awesome looking prices!}

{Loco Moco}

{Shige's Saimin Stand, Wahiawa, Hawaii}

Nougatine at Jean Georges

I'm a little obsessed with Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Nougatine
1 Central Park West (at the south west corner of Central Park)

Terrace at Jean Georges

Amuse Bouche

Tuna Tartare

Watermelon Salad

Sauteed Red Snapper

Slow Cooked Salmon

the viscount's table
shabbott's habits

Sushi Imari

 Sushi Imari is one of my favorite casual sushi bars.  The location is a bit odd, in a strip mall filled with auto-repair shops, but the fish is fresh, prices are good, staff is friendly and best of all they give tons of freebies!

{assorted tempura}

{complimentary onion tempura!}

{hamachi sashimi - with an extra 6th piece free!}

{anita bath roll - spicy tuna, cream cheese, asparagus, topped with ono, avocado, scallions and ponzu}

{maguro & scottish salmon sushi}

{japanese snapper with shiso & masago sushi}

{baked mussels - on the house!}

{mini scoop of green tea ice cream for everyone!}

Summer 2011 Bucket List

1. Take the East River Ferry to Brooklyn
2. Williamsburg Flea Market
3. Wine tasting
4. Try a new Jean Georges restaurant
5. Get a pistachio martini at Cafe Mogador
6. Eat all my favorite summer treats: gelato, watermelon salad, blueberry pie
7. Serious Eats' Doughnut Tour
8. Go to the Chelsea Wholesale Flower Market
9. Visit the Bronx Zoo
10. Take the Hop-On Hop-Off Double Decker Tour Bus of NYC
11. See The Book of Mormon on Broadway
12. Watch the sunset on my birthday at St. Regis Princeville Resort on Kauai
13. Convince the girls to join me in NYC next summer so I can do it all over again with my best friends!

stardust&sequins

Freemans: Brunch in the Red Room

Freemans
191 Chrystie St.
(at the end of Freeman Alley off Rivington btw Chrystie & the Bowery)

"A perfect cozy space at the end of an unused alley off the Bowery.
A rugged clandestine colonial American tavern.
An early American cuisine: simple, rustic, & inspired by old world traditions."

{The Red Room - through the doors}

{The Drawing Room}

{Freemans Brunch}

{Mimosa}

{Bloody Maria}

{House-made Granola, Greek yogurt, seasonal fruit, honey}

{Poached eggs with roasted tomato, cheddar cheese grits, buttered toast}

{Baked egg white skillet, asparagus, spring herbs, Westfield goat cheese, grilled baguette}