The Archives

Flatiron, Raising the Bar
Solid Bar Bites at Bar Stuzzichini – NYC
11.20.09 | Permalink | 4 Comments

“Raising the Bar: Solid Bar Bites at Bar Stuzzichini,” went up on SE:NY this afternoon, or should I say, yesterday. (Late night for me as usual.) If you haven’t read it, take a gander. Five stuzzichini (appetizers or small plates) for $25. It’s a pretty sweet deal, especially when grilled head-on prawns, fried artichokes, arancini, and grilled octopus are among the choices. But if that’s not good enough for you, during Happy Hour, you get a free stuzzi with a drink at the bar. See, there are some advantages to being a wino. Embrace your inner drunk.
East Village, Raising the Bar
Banh Mi at Terroir? – NYC
10.29.09 | Permalink | 3 Comments

My latest post, “Raising the Bar: Banh Mi at Terroir?,” is up at Serious Eats: New York. Did you ever want to eat an Italian banh mi? Terroir has one with pork terrine, mortadella, and pickled vegetables. Is it a banh mi? Not a chance, but it’s still tasty.
Chinatown, Raising the Bar
Finding Venice in Chinatown at Bacaro – NYC
09.23.09 | Permalink | Comment?

I’m leaving Seoul for Beijing in a few hours, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go online safely to write a post, so until then, content yourself with “Raising the Bar: Finding Venice in Chinatown at Bacaro – NYC” on Serious Eats: NY. I get romantic with some cuttlefish in Chinatown.
Hell's Kitchen, Small Shops
Sullivan Street Bakery aka Carb Heaven – NYC
04.02.09 | Permalink | 9 Comments

The bad thing about ever denying yourself anything, is that you’ll crave it even more and overindulge when given the chance. Case in point, the end of last year, I decided to reduce my carbohydrate intake. Subsequently, two weeks ago, I finally gave in to my cravings and ate three Chinese pastries immediately after eating a bowl of pho. Yeah, not so good. So instead of delaying the inevitable, I decided to forgo the carb diet nonsense, and have been happily spending my lunches at Sullivan Street Bakery, aka Carb Heaven. MORE »
LES, Restaurants
Tasty Bites & Wine at ‘inoteca – NYC
12.18.08 | Permalink | 8 Comments

I live about two blocks away from ‘inoteca, so I used to go quite often two years ago. But then I got distracted by all the shiny new restaurants opening up in NY, and I forgot about it. A shame, really, because the food at ‘inoteca is just delicious and perfect with a nice glass of wine (or in my case, a bottle). Fortunately, though, in the last two weeks, I got reacquainted with my old friend, and I’m glad I did.

The first time back, I met Ellie for a few glasses of wine at ‘inoteca. We happened to be standing outside of ‘inoteca when we were deciding where to go, and since she wanted to drink wine rather than beer, we ended up at ‘inoteca. The wine list, which is actually a thick book that lists a total of six hundred different wines, is bit daunting; so I always do the safest thing and ask the waiter what he recommends. I usually like a medium body red wine with fruit undertones, and Ellie prefers a more drier wine, so we ended up ordering the 2004 Concarosso, Poderi Foglia ($45) which was a combination of both. It started off fruity and ended on a dry tannin note. We loved it, especially Ellie who took the cork home so she could remember the name of the wine. This especially came in handy when I texted her at one in the morning to ask her if she remembered the name of the wine. Um, yeah, I have a problem, but luckily my friends seem to understand or at least tolerate my crazy behavior. MORE »
Restaurants
A Few of My Favorite Restaurants – NYC
08.09.08 | Permalink | 4 Comments

Antipasti @ ‘inoteca

A friend of mine is coming into town and asked me to recommend a few Italian and East Asian restaurants. I was planning to send her a quick email, but somehow it got longer and longer and the short email ultimately became a long post. This is a very informal list, in no particular order, of some of my favorite restaurants in New York (Manhattan only). MORE »