September 2012 | I just want 2 eat

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Annual Food and Wine Tasting Benefit, Plate by Plate, at The New York Public Library - October 5th 2012

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Plate by Plate is organized by Project by Project, a non profit organization of social entrepreneurs that serve Asian American non-profits in need by raising public awareness, volunteerism, and money, that is celebrating its 15 years of existence. Each year, they organize the Plate by Plate Annual Food and Wine fundraising in different cities, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

Concerning the food, here are some participants: 


If you follow cooking shows, you will also recognize some special guests: Chef Kerry Hefferman (Top Chef Masters runner up) or Chef Justin Antiorio (Hell's Kitchen runner up).

So if you want to enjoy for a good cause:

Date:       Friday, October 5th, 2012
Time:      8:00pm – 11:00pm
Venue:    Astor Hall @ The New York Public Library
Address: Fifth Avenue @ 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018

Tickets on sale on their website: www.platebyplate.org/ny
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Hoboken Arts & Music Festival - September 29th 2012

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Jodi and I went to the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival today. Jodi for the art, me for...the food (let say "the art of the table")...
This festival takes place several times a year in Hoboken and is a big thing there. It had, according to the organizers, close to 350 stands, for art (photography, painting, handcraft...), but also associations such as the Monroe Center for the Arts, or companies like Verizon or The New York Times....

Food wise,  there were few choices: the usual stands that you would find in any street fair (zeppoles, fried oreos, mozzarepas, Italian sausages...) as well as local restaurants such as India On The Hudson (my favorite Indian restaurant in Hoboken) or The Old German Bakery.

Even pets could find some good stuff there! Me & My dog offered some pretty interesting treats!
They had Chicken & Cheese rollovers, Bacon & Cheese Taco or Lamb & Brown rice bone. I wish I was a dog at that point...

First thing we tried were some "Authentic" Wisconsin Cheese Curds.

Cheese curds are pieces of cheese that are deep fried. As they mentioned that they are "Authentic" Wisconsin cheese curds, I suspect the cheese to be purely cheddar, hopefully not processed! 
It was freshly made, but unfortunately very, very greasy...I had them all though...But not worth the $7 I paid.

Then, we tried the crab cake sandwich from Sherri's crab cakes.
While waiting online, I could smell the delicious odor of crab. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that was close to crab! The crab cake was full of fillers and did not taste that much of crab and they were mushy! Adding to that the bread, I was hopeful to have some tartare sauce so I had the impression to eat... bread with tartare sauce...Sad for $7.

Across the street was the Texas Smoke BBQ. They are there each time and even cook their meat in their pit located next to their stand.
I ordered the beef brisket and added tons of BBQ sauce (mild). Eating the sandwich was messy and I finished the meat with my fork, leaving the bread. It was pretty good for (again?) $7.

Then, we decided to stop by the Taco Truck.
We got a portion of their fantastic guacamole with chips, as well as a grapefruit juice from Jarritos (I prefer the pineapple one).

The last part was dessert. At first, I wanted zeppoles. But, when we realized that they were serving zeppoles that were not freshly made, we proceeded to the mini donut stand.
These donuts were made on the spot in the machine showed above. We got a dozen for $5. We were excited as the last time we had mini donuts freshly made at Sil's in Milwaukee, it was delicious!
They were sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The smell of the freshly made donuts was awesome. Unfortunately, the donuts were very doughy. We did not finish them...

So it was a bit disappointing, not that I had high expectations, but considering the fantastic food you now get in food trucks, I was expecting better! Fortunately, there was art and music, a bit spoiled by the rain, but this is a different story...

Enjoy (I did)!

Texas Smoke Barbecue on Urbanspoon
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Thursday, September 27, 2012

All cheese dinner at Artisanal Bistro and Fromagerie in New York, NY

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Image of Cheese fondue at Artisanal Bistro and Fromagerie restaurant in NYC, New York
If you recall, my last post about Artisanal concerned brunch. Jodi and I wanted to go back for dinner as the brunch experience was remarkable. We were ready for an all cheese dinner in this temple of cheeses! 
When making our reservation, we even asked to be seated in the Cave a Fromages (cheese room) where they setup a table for four. Unfortunately, they told us that we could not have the table on a Saturday night for the two of us...They were gracious about it, apologized and proposed to sit us next to the cheese bar. I was in fact impressed by the selection of cheeses they do have from all over the world: France, Italy, USA, Spain...
We started off with a cheese fondue, small size (petite). The cheeses used were gruyere, emmental and I believe comte. This divine mix is called the artisanal blend that they also sell. The fondue came with some pieces of bread that you dip in the melted cheese as shown in the video below.

The fondue was very good and the taste of the cheese was perfect, smooth and so not too strong. However, the bread was not the best choice: a more neutral bread such as a baguette would have been preferable so it does not overpower the taste of the cheese. Anyway, I enjoyed it. They should add to the experience the "religieuse" that is the thin layer of burnt cheese that forms in the bottom of the pan and that people would fight for!

Then, we decided to go with a selection of four cheeses, all French.
Image of Cheese plate at Artisanal Bistro and Fromagerie restaurant in NYC, New York
From bottom left, clockwise:
  • Roquefort (sheep milk): a creamy, balanced with some spicy nuance blue cheese. Very popular in France, it is a bit expensive in the USA because of the taxes imposed to it few years ago following a ban on hormone beef imported from the USA by the European Union.
  • Crottin de Chavignol (goat milk): a firm, delicate and sweet goat cheese.
  • Epoisses (cow milk): a classic and soft cheese washed in Marc. It had a strong taste that is particular to cheese several days after being opened...
  • Pont L'Eveque (cow milk): with a savory apple flavor, very creamy.
The best for me was the Pont L'Eveque! It reminded me my Grand Father on my mother side who liked stinky cheeses and used to buy Pont L'Eveque as well as Munster "Les petits amis" (different from the soft Munster cheese you find in the US). I think at that time I thought they were stinky cheeses, although now I think that it was my Grand Father who liked them this way and let them sit few days so they got that smell and taste. A lot of people do that in fact and love this pungent taste that is so particular. I can tell you: the Pont L'Eveque at Artisanal was not stinky at all and was amazing!

Then came dessert!
Image of Tarte Tatin at Artisanal Bistro and Fromagerie restaurant in NYC, New York
We picked the tarte tatin (upside-down tart made with caramelized apples), not only because I love it but also because it was a Cheddar cheese crust!!! I loved that one! The cheese crust was amazing: it was buttery and you could definitely taste the cheddar. The apples were perfectly caramelized and I really appreciated the fact that it was not too sweet. Definitely a hit!

This was a fantastic dinner and I will certainly go back, but next time I will wear stretch pants...

Enjoy (I did)!

Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro on Urbanspoon


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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Goat milk ice cream at Victory Garden in NYC, New York

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Image of Victory Garden ice cream in West Village NYC, New York

We discovered Victory Garden over the week end! It is a tiny place located on Carmine in the West Village. The logo looks like a goat's head: no wonder as they use goat milk for their ice cream! Why goat milk? Because of the Middle Eastern influence of the owners and the advantages of goat milk that are displayed at the entrance of the store:
  • Goat milk is lower in fat than cow’s milk, but with all the nutrition!
  • Goat milk is rich in healthy antimicrobial fatty acids, which are burned by the body, rather than stored as is cow’s milk.
  • Goat milk is a great source of iron, calcium, protein and potassium.
  • Goat milk is lactose friendly, making it easy for people with lactose-intolerance to digest.
  • Goat milk is the most similar animal milk to that of humans and is more readily processed than cow’s milk.
Image of Victory Garden ice cream in West Village NYC, New York
I very rarely had goat milk in my life, but why not? So we decided to try their ice cream. We picked their most popular: the salted caramel. As a topping, we chose chocolate crunch. 
Image of Salted caramel ice cream at Victory Garden ice cream in West Village NYC, New York
They propose 3 sizes and we picked the mini one. It was still generous and I was happy I did not decide to have a bigger size.
For toppings, they have plenty: brownies, sprinkles, honey, walnut, honeycomb (!), etc.

The salted caramel was very good: very tasty and creamy.
Image of Chocolate rosemary ice cream at Victory Garden ice cream in West Village NYC, New York

The other flavor was chocolate rosemary and we added halva as a topping. It was very rich and very creamy, even more than the salted caramel. The dark chocolate was definitely coming through and you could taste that there were some spices mixed in it, but I did not really taste the rosemary. Having Halva as a topping was pretty surprising and it paired very well with the strong chocolate flavor. 

From the two flavors, the salted caramel was definitely my favorite.

Know that Victory Garden is also selling salads and sandwiches as well as yogurt. They also sell produces made with goat milk such as soap and lip balm. This is definitely a place to try if you like rich and creamy ice cream. They would not tell you it is made with goat milk, you would not even know!

Enjoy (I did)!

Victory Garden on Urbanspoon


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Sunday, September 23, 2012

Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ

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Image of Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ

I discovered a new Frozen Yogurt place in Westfield, New Jersey. I love frozen yogurt because people think that it is a healthy choice, but they forget that the calories are mainly coming from the toppings that they pack their yogurt with!!!

Anyway, the place was interesting: very bright with its white furniture, partly white walls; with fun drawings on the wall that reminded me of Japanese Manga.
Image of Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ


The ceiling was fantastic with multicolored bulbs that gave to the place a very playful atmosphere.
Image of Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ
Yapple is self serve.
When we went, they had flavors like: watermelon, cookies & Cream, Birthday cake, Cinnabun, blood orange, taro, banana, salted caramel pretzel, original tart. As you can see, some interesting and original flavors!

Like most if not all frozen yogurt places, the cost is per weight (very smart as people have a tendency to put more than what a standard serving would be, hence pay more). So, you first pick your yogurt(s), then go to the topping bar.
Image of Toppings at Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ
They had the basics there: from fruits to chocolate, peanut butter cup, etc...You can as well add some whipped cream, chocolate sauce or caramel.

I decided to have Cookies & Cream and banana yogurt.
Image of  Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ
The cookies & cream yogurt was just ok. It tasted like a chocolate yogurt that lacks chocolate taste....However, the banana was fantastic! The flavor of the fruit was very pronounced and tasted natural!

As usual, I put some M&M's and their color all mixed up with the yogurt like a rainbow.
Image of  Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ
Jodi picked the cookies & Cream and the Birthday cake.
Image of  Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ
The Birthday cake flavor was just ok for me, but Jodi found that it was good!

In conclusion: I would go back just for the banana yogurt! What I liked is the fact that it tasted natural and not made with processed ingredients.

Enjoy (I did)!

Yapple Yogurt on Urbanspoon


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Friday, September 21, 2012

CoolHaus Ice Cream Sandwich in NYC, New York

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Image of CoolHaus Ice Cream food truck in NYC, New York

I heard about the Coolhaus truck for a while and always wanted to try it! I noticed that the truck was often at Union Square, where many food trucks are now lining up to feed a crowd eager to try some delicious food at a reasonable price. So, that day was the time to try it! The concept is simple: an ice cream sandwich made of a scoop of ice cream in between two cookies! Ideal for the sugar lovers!

The concept is simple: first choose your cookie, then pick your ice cream!
Image of CoolHaus Ice Cream food truck in NYC, New York
We decided to go with two chocolate chip cookies and the chocovivo salted chocolate that is as per the description: a rich dark chocolate base swirled with fudge and sprinkled with chunks of dark chocolate from chocovivo.
Image of CoolHaus Ice Cream Sandwich in NYC, New York
When they gave it to us, it was huge! And when it is warm outside, you'd better hurry to eat it before the ice cream starts to melt!!! It is a bit messy to eat, but fortunately, you hold it with and edible wrapper.
The cookie was very good: not too sweet and soft with a bit of crunch from the chocolate chips and the chunks from the ice cream. The ice cream was divine with intense chocolate flavors! Definitely a very good combination, picked by Jodi!

What is great is that you can swap cookies and ice cream in many, many combinations, making your experience new each time! They have plenty of flavors that I guess they alternate from time to time and some are original, such as candied bacon, chocolate chipotle or nutella almond (I love nutella and will definitely try this one!). If you love sugar, cookies and ice cream, try Coolhaus and let me know what you think!

Enjoy (I sure did)!

Coolhaus on Urbanspoon
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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Madison Square Eats, Fall 2012 Edition! September 21st to October 19th 2012!

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The Madison Square Park conservancy is hosting again this year the Madison Square Park Eats from 11am to 9pm from September 21st to October 19th. It will be a festival of food with several vendors like:
  • Arancini Bros. 
  • Asiadog
  • Baby Got Back Ribs
  • Bar Suzette
  • Broken English
  • Calexico
  • Charlito’s Cocina
  • Flourish Baking Company
  • Graffiti│Mehtaphor
  • Hong Kong Street Cart
  • ilili
  • Kitty Lee Thomas Sweets
  • Kulinary Kraft
  • La Sonrisa Empanadas
  • Macaron Parlour
  • Mayhem & Stout
  • Melt Bakery
  • Mexicue 
  • Mighty Balls
  • Mimi & Coco NY
  • Momofuku Milk Bar
  • Nunu Chocolates
  • Red Hook Lobster Pound
  • Roberta’s
  • Sigmund’s
  • Stuffed Artisan Cannolis
  • The Cannibal
  • Wafels & Dinges
  • Wooly’s Ice


They will serve food daily in the Worth Square area just west of Madison Square Park (24th and 5th Avenue).

Enjoy (I will)!
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Recipe: Anise Infused Bread

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Image of Anise Infused Bread recipe
Here is a very recipe to make a wonderful bread that has a subtle anise taste.

For 8 small breads:



  • 17.5 ounce (500g) of white flour
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 3/4 tablespoon of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of anise seeds
  • 1/2 ounce of dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 0.8 cup of lukewarm water

  • The first thing to do is to grind the anise seeds.
    To grind seeds, I use a coffee grinder.

    Mix all the ingredients and knead until firm. I have a bread machine and use the setting to only knead and rise as I will cook the bread in the oven.
    Let the dough rise for 1h30.

    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same time, make 8 even portions of the dough and lay them on a cooking sheet or aluminum foil, making sure you either grease it or put some flour to prevent the bread to stick.
    Image of Anise Infused Bread recipe
    In a small ball, make an egg wash by cracking an egg at room temperature and whisking it until the yolk is incorporated in the white. 
    With a knife, make a X on top of each bread so they open while cooking.
    Then brush each bread with the egg wash.
    Rest for 25 more minutes; the bread will rise again.
    Put the bread in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden.

    Et voila!
    Image of Anise Infused Bread recipe
     Bon appetit!
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    Monday, September 17, 2012

    My brother's culinary visit...

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    Last week, my brother stopped by to see us on his way back to France. On top of the fact that it was great to spend time with him, it was a great occasion to make him try some cuisine or food that are not that common in France or that he cannot find in the city where he is living. There is so much diversity in New York that I had to pick just couple of choices that I proposed to him. I'll pass on the first night when we went to Benny Tudino's in Hoboken so he could have a good taste of pizza. We also ordered chicken wings as it is something that he never tried (it is only served in few restaurants, mainly in Paris, such as the Indiana Cafe where I used to go with my cousin Sandrine when I was living there). 

    The pizza was good as usual, but the chicken wings were like fried chicken...Disappointing...In fact, I never ordered anything else other than pizza over there and several people told me that the rest of the food is not very good!
    Image of Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    The next day, I proposed to go for Venezuelan as where he lives, there no such restaurants and he never tried before. We ended up at Caracas Arepa Bar that is one of my favorites! Caracas Arepa Bar is a small place in the East Village that has these amazing arepas, which are some sort of buns that are grilled and baked, filled with different ingredients, from chicken to beef, to beans and cheese. They offer a nice selection of vegetarian dishes.
    Image of Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    The decor has an authentic feel with its wooden tables and chairs that are a bit run down and plenty of religious figurines on the wall.
    Image of Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
     as well as satiric figurines of politicians...
    Image of Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    I admit that the only one I recognized was Hugo Chavez...

    The service in the restaurant was efficient and extremely courteous. The menu is simple and features items that cost less than $8, at the exception of course of the tasting platters that they propose.

    We started by ordering some banana milkshakes.
    Image of Banana shakes at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    They had a little bit of cinnamon on top. It was more liquid than a traditional milkshake, that is good considering that it was more a drink to go with the meal rather than being a dessert. Unfortunately and contrary to the last time we went there, it did not have as much banana taste.

    For appetizers, we first ordered the guasacaca & chips.
    Image of guasacaca and chips at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York

    It is in fact guacamole with chips made with plantains and taro roots. The guacamole was very good and fresh, while the chips were deliciously crispy and not at all greasy.

    The second appetizer was the tajadas.
    Image of Tajadas at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    It is fried sweet plantains with cheese. The cheese was salty, making it a perfect ingredient to counterbalance the sweetness of the plantains. This was a fantastic appetizer and I could not stop eating it!
    Then came the arepas. My brother picked the one called "De Pabellon".
    Image of Arepa De Pabellon at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    It was made of shredded beef, black beans, white salted cheese and sweet plantains. I did not try it, but my brother loved it and told us that it was his favorite food from the whole trip!

    Jodi chose the one called "La Del Gado".
    Image of Arepa La Del Gado at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    It is an arepa composed of plantains, avocado and white cheese. These are simple ingredients, but I have to say that it was the best! It has some nice flavors and the avocado added some freshness to the dish. The salted cheese and sweet plantains complemented each other well. This was a hit!

    On my side, I picked the "La Mulata".
    Image of Arepa La Mulata at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village NYC, New York
    An arepa filled with sweet plantains, black beans, jalapenos and sauteed red peppers. This was very good, but when you eat the jalapenos, your mouth starts quickly to get on fire! It is a bit attenuated by the cheese and plantains, but still, it is a bit hot!

    We skipped dessert as we were full! When you see the arepas coming, you may think it will not be enough, but trust me: it is!
    Caracas Arepa Bar on Urbanspoon


    For dinner, we went to have a steak at Dino & Harry in Hoboken (review of Dino & Harry here). Each time I have visitors from France, I tell them that they should try the meat in a steakhouse; there is no doubt in my mind: the meat in the US is way better than the meat in France.
    Dino & Harry is a great steakhouse, but, as most of the restaurants of that kind, it is pretty dark inside, so the photos are not great...I therefore decided not to publish them!

    Jodi and my brother ordered the petite filet mignon that was very tender and juicy, served with mushrooms. I decided to order the ribeye that was magnificent: perfectly cooked medium rare, juicy, extremely tender with a nice char. For sides, we went for the French fries (mediocre) and the onion rings (delicious and not too greasy). Oh, I forgot to mention the sauces: the bearnaise sauce is always perfect, but I did not really like the roasted garlic aioli.

    As we had a bit of space left after this fantastic dinner, we went for the chocolate mousse: it was very dense, not too sweet with a very pronounced chocolate flavor.

    I have never been disappointed in that place!
    Dino & Harry's Steak House on Urbanspoon

    On Friday, we decided to go to Little Italy and see if for San Gennaro, we would find some succulent food!
    Image of San Gennaro in Little Italy NYC, New York
    I was a bit disappointed because, besides the stands for iconic places such as La Bella Ferrara pastry shop, it was the usual sausage and meatball stands you would see in a street fair. So we decided to eat in one of the restaurants over there. We first went to Da Nico, but nobody bothered taking care of us. So we left and ended up at Benito One. 
    Image of Benito one Italian restaurant in Little Italy NYC, New York
    We picked this restaurant simply because we saw people already eating there and we were in kind of a rush (I tried to check on the internet which restaurant was the best, but unfortunately had no service...).

    Jodi ordered a tomato and mozzarella salad.
    Image of tomato and mozzarella salad at Benito one Italian restaurant in Little Italy NYC, New York

    It was served with roasted peppers and basil leaves. I think it is the worst tomato & mozzarella salad I ever had, that is pretty incredible considering how easy it is to make! It was under seasonned, had barely any olive oil and the mozzarella was horrible! The roasted peppers were the only things I enjoyed.

    My brother ordered the homemade cheese ravioli.

    They were served with a tomato and basil sauce. It was a good dish: the ravioli were not too doughy and the sauce was good although simple.

    On my side, I ordered the homemade gnocchi.
    Image of homemade gnocchi at Benito one Italian restaurant in Little Italy NYC, New York

    They came in a tomato, shallots and cream sauce. The gnocchi were ok, but overall, the dish was bland.

    Benito One was clearly not a good choice for lunch! I will definitely have to try to find the best Italian restaurant in Little Italy: this will be my next quest! Anyway, if you know any, please send me an email at jp@ijustwanttoeat.com

    Benito One on Urbanspoon

    So, of course, we skipped dessert at Benito One and walk few feet away to the Stuffed Artisan Cannolis! We saw them on a TV show and were dying to try them!
    Image of Stuffed Artisan Cannolis in NYC, New York
    They started 5 years ago and their idea is to put a twist to the traditional cannoli. So, for instance, they have coconut, French toast or nutella.
    Image of Stuffed Artisan Cannolis in NYC, New York
    We decided to try (from left to right): nutella (of course!), French toast, Birthday cake, regular, regular and chocolate. Of course, these cannolis are not full size! They are half the size of regular ones.
    Image of Stuffed Artisan Cannolis in NYC, New York
    The shell of the cannolis was good and crispy, but the filling was not: the nutella one barely tasted nutella; the regular had an off taste; the birthday cake was just ok. The French toast was good with a nice maple syrup flavor, but it was not something I would crave. 
    Stuffed Artisan Cannolis on Urbanspoon

    For dinner that Friday, we decided to go to Southern Hospitality (review of Southern Hospitality here). BBQ is an amazing thing to discover as we do not have that in France. We have grilling, but not the slow cooking so particular to BBQ! And Southern Hospitality is the perfect place for some tasting!

    We decided to order several dishes: for appetizer, we went for the fried green tomatoes.
    Image of Fried Green Tomatoes at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    These are amazing! Not greasy, very tasty, the tomato had a nice crunch. It was served with a BBQ ranch dipping sauce that is so good that I would just drink it!

    We also shared some corn bread and Mac & Cheese.
    Image of Corn bread and mac and cheese at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    The corn bread was wonderful and came warm with a delicious honey butter. The Mac & Cheese was perfect! Creamy and full of cheese!

    Then came the meat! What I like about Southern Hospitality is that they propose some tasting portions so you can try different meats. We started off with the fried chicken.
    Image of Fried chicken at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    It was good, but not the best I ever had: the breading was falling off as we started cutting the bird...Southern Hospitality also proposes fried chicken and waffles that I love!
    By the way, as an anecdote, the first time I tried fried chicken when I was leaving in Paris was at...KFC...

    Then we got the brisket.
    Image of Brisket at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    That was a fantastic piece of meat!!! I did not even need a knife to cut it! It was amazingly good, tender and moist, that is what is sometimes a miss with brisket. I would have eaten more...

    Last was the dry rub Memphis style spare-ribs.
    Image of Spare ribs at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    Delicious as usual: the meat was falling off the bone and was incredibly tasty with some nice fat in some areas (yes, fat can be good!).

    We could not leave that place without having a dessert...My brother went for the key lime pie.
    Image of Key Lime pie at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    It was very good: creamy and not too sweet with a nice whipped cream on top to counterbalance the acidity of the lime.

    But my favorite was the banana pudding.
    Image of Banana pudding at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    The banana pudding at Southern Hospitality is the best I ever had! It has vanilla wafers and caramelized bananas on top. It is pure heaven: very creamy and rich, each bite makes you want more. Then you reach the bottom and you get some crumbled cookies, wishing that there was more! It is definitely something to try!

    That dinner at Southern Hospitality was definitely a hit and a perfect way to showcase some specialties from the South.
    Southern Hospitality Hell's Kitchen on Urbanspoon

    Saturday was the last day...We decided to go to brunch. The brunch concept is not as popular in France as it is here. Many years ago, when I was living in Paris, I used to go with my friends for a Sunday brunch, but it was a novelty (we used to go to Le Loup Blanc that still serves a brunch for 22 EUR with all you can eat croissants and chocolate croissants!).  

    I checked on opentable.com and found this place few blocks from Times Square as it was one of the places we were supposed to see. We ended up at 44 1/2 on 44th street and 10th Avenue.
    Image of 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    This place is pretty cool, very modern and very bright.
    Image of 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    It has a nice patio in the back...
    Image of Corn bread at 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York

    ...that you can see behind the corn bread!

    They serve traditional brunch dishes such as eggs, French toast...

    Jodi went for the California Omelet.
    Image of California omelet at 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    It was made with egg whites, tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella and avocado on top. It was pretty good. The eggs were perfectly cooked and it was a great healthy dish. On the top left side, you can see some fruits cut into cubes: all the dishes had some. Great idea to clean your palate at the end!

    My brother ordered the andouille sausage frittata.
    Image of Andouille sausage frittata at 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    It was made with green onions, white cheddar and truffle oil. Very good dish too, although I missed the taste of the truffle oil...

    On my side, I ordered the crab cakes benedict.
    Image of Crab cakes benedict at 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    It was served with a homemade Hollandaise sauce that was delicious. The crab cakes were not the best I ever had, but I enjoyed it! It had a bit of sweetness that reminded me my first attempt at crab cakes!

    This was a great brunch, but we were so stuffed at the end that we decided to pass on dessert and walk on the high line...

    44 1/2 on Urbanspoon

    Of course, after that walk, we needed a snack and we thought that it would be a great idea to go, before my brother took his flight, to the Doughnut Plant (review of the Doughnut Plant here).

    Jodi got her coconut donut, my brother the peanut butter and banana one and for me, I simply ordered the tres leches that is one of their best selling and always a hit!
    Image of Tres leches doughnut at 44 and a half in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York
    We had a great time with my brother and wish we had more time together. I would have had for sure found so many other places to try: deli (Junior's), bagels,...It will be for another time!
    Doughnut Plant on Urbanspoon

    We enjoyed (we did)!

    And remember: I just want to EAT!

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