Thursday, August 16, 2012

Jane restaurant in Greenwich Village, NYC, New York

It has been a while that we wanted to try Jane in Soho. Each time we passed by on the weekend, it was packed with a long wait outside, so I was figuring that there was probably a reason, hopefully food related!

We went on a Saturday evening, not too late to make sure we would be able to eat there! I thought that it was a small restaurant: it is in fact of a good size with another room downstairs! Modern, but cozy. At first, the restaurant was empty, but when we left, dinners started to come!

We decided to go for a light dinner as the day was filled with food! We started off with handmade burrata served with roasted tomatoes and ciabatta bread.

Burrata is an Italian cheese made of mozzarella and cream: the outer shell is "hard" and the inside is cream.
It was succulent: the burrata was to die for especially eaten with olive oil and the roasted cherry tomatoes! It tasted very fresh and was a perfect appetizer to start our meal!

We then ordered a Mediterranean salad.

It was a pretty straight forward salad: feta, olives, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions and lettuce. It was good and not too overdressed!

Then came what I was looking for: Jane's burger!

That was a huge plate! The burger is made with cheddar, double smoked bacon, caramelized onions, lettuce, pickled tomatoes and a secret sauce! I am not sure what type of bread it was: white, soft and it was toasted.

I loved it! Perfectly cooked (medium) and juicy! I loved the different flavors I could get at each bite, between the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the acidity of the pickled tomato. It was fantastic! Better and cheaper than the burger at the Spotted Pig I tried few weeks ago!!!

The burger was served with some delicious rosemary French fries.

I had a great dinner at Jane and I am looking forward to try their brunch: they have French toast with creme brulee batter! I am sure I will enjoy!

Enjoy (I did)!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Free Cone Day at Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC, New York

I do not know if you know the show Face Off on Syfy, but it is a great show where make up artists compete against each other. To celebrate the return of Face Off on August 21st, they are hosting a free cone day event at Dylan's Candy Bar.

Information:

Saturday August 18th 2012

Dylan's Candy Bar

1011 3rd avenue

New York, New York, 10021

from 12am to 4pm

Enjoy !

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Fleur D'oranger, Miniature Patisserie - online business

One of my colleagues brought to work some patisseries from Fleur D'oranger, an online business that a French Pastry Chef recently started. These pastries are miniature size so it was perfect for a little tasting...

First of all, there were madeleines.

Madeleines are specialty cookies from the North-East of France. They can be found in many bakeries or supermarket in New York City (not all of good quality though!) and are recognizable by their shell like shape. The batter is made of genoise batter and has a delicious buttery taste. The ones presented to me were of different kind: plain, nutella and lemon cream. My first was the nutella one: I could not resist to try as I love nutella! The madeleine seemed to have been stuffed with that scrumptious chocolate hazelnut cream after been cooked. The buttery taste of the madeleine paired extremely well with the sweetness of the nutella. It was definitely a hit!

Then, I tried the one with lemon cream filling: very good! You could really taste the fact that it was freshly made!

Next were the Financiers. It is an almond pastry typically made with almond flour, brown butter, egg whites and sugar.

There were two types: almond and blueberry. I tasted the almond one: loved it! It was very buttery, soft and tender.

The last pastry I tried was a Saint Tropez: a vanilla cream in between a brioche topped with sugar.

This was awesome! The vanilla cream was very light and the brioche tasted great too! I loved the bit of crunchiness that the sugar gave to the pastry. I could have eaten more!

So I really liked Fleur d'Oranger: serving miniature pastries is very smart as it is not only easy to eat, but also allows people to try different ones. The taste was amazing, similar to a pastry shop in France, with a delicious buttery taste (yes, use butter in your pastries people!). The freshness of the pastries was definitely perceptible.

At the present time, Fleur d'Oranger can only be found on the internet. Hopefully, they will expand and open stores!!! Good luck!

www.fleurdoranger.com

Enjoy (I did)!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wichcraft, sandwiches by Tom Collcchio in NYC, New York

Jodi and I wanted to go to the Joshua Gallery on 11th and 28th to see the exhibit of Shawn Baber - Memoirs: the tattooed portraits series. So I went on the internet to see what was around for lunch and found Wichcraft, the casual sandwich restaurant that Tom Colicchio opened in 2003 with partners Sisha Ortuzar and Jeffrey Zurofsky. There are several locations in New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas. The one in New York, closed to the gallery, was called "The Tunnel". I understood why when we found it!

At first, we were not sure if the place was already opened or still opened as that part on 11th does not have that many restaurants. The address pointed out to a large building, an ancient warehouse.

When we entered the building, we understood why it was called "The Tunnel"!

It was like a large tunnel with large metal beams. Like the building, the walls were made of bricks. There were very few stores and gallery opened and wichcraft was close to the very end of it.

The place is small, but there are tables outside to sit. The service was courteous and very quick. The menu offers sandwiches, salads and soups, as well as cookies for dessert.

We decided to start with the Aged Gruyere sandwich.

It was like a grilled cheese sandwich. I did not really like it because you could barely taste the aged gruyere (I think they should have put more of it): it was overpowered by the roasted onions that were like caramelized onions; there was too much of it and it was therefore way too sweet.

The second sandwich we tried was the heritage smoked ham.

This sandwich was fantastic! The bread, a cranberry pecan bread, was delicious. The sandwich contained poached pears, aged gruyere and dijon mustard besides the ham.

Contrary to the aged gruyere sandwich, they put a lot of ham. What was great was the addition of the poached pears that added some sweetness to counterbalance the saltiness of the ham. This was a great sandwich!

With the sandwiches, we got potato chips (not homemade unfortunately) and a delicious lemonade.

Although I did not like one of the sandwiches, I really enjoyed the experience at Wichcraft and recommends it! If you go, get the Heritage Smoked Ham sandwich: it is amazing!

Enjoy (I did)!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

International Food Truck and Beer Festival on Sunday August 12 in NYC, New York

Following the Food Truck festival last Saturday, here is The International Food Truck and Beer Festival, tomorrow at South Street Seaport from 12pm to 9pm!

Participants seem to be the same as last week: Chinese Mirch, Schnitzle & Things, Mexico Blvd...But on top of that, there is beer...

So if you missed last week, do not miss tomorrow! I might be there....

Check out my post on the Food Truck Festival to see what I tried by clicking here!

Friday, August 10, 2012

The Palm in Philadelphia, PA

How many times do you have to try a restaurant before having a definite opinion about the food they serve? This is a good question for which I do not have the answer after my experience with The Palm. Imagine this: I first tried The Palm located Midtown New York for lunch, during restaurant week. It was not good at all: the quality of the meat was poor and they bathed the steak with a wine sauce that was not that great...The second time was in Vegas. We ordered the filet mignon: disappointing again!

So, why did we end up at The Palm in Philadelphia? Simply because it was raining!!!

The restaurant had a warm atmosphere with its booths and leather seats. The service was efficient and very courteous.

Now, let's talk about food! Jodi ordered the filet mignon.

It was a delicious 9 ounces piece of meat, that was at the perfect temperature. The meat was tender and juicy.

I ordered the boneless ribeye.

This was a big piece of steak: 18 ounces! The meat was incredibly good with a nice charr on each sides. It was tender and juicy too! No need to tell you that I finished it! We ordered a bearnaise sauce to eat with the steaks: it was fantastic.

As sides, we picked the goat cheese whipped mashed potatoes and the roasted brussels sprouts.

The mashed potatoes were awesome! This is the first time I try a goat cheese one. It was delicious and light. They could have put some more cheese though!

They were roasted with lemon brown butter. It was just ok for me. I prefer the brussels sprouts more cooked.

Although I did not really enjoy the brussels sprouts, I had a phenomenal dinner! But had no room for dessert unfortunately!!! I will have to go back...

Enjoy (I did)!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Salumeria, Amazing hoagie, in Philadelphia, PA

This year again, we went to the Reading Terminal Market and ended up at Salumeria, an Italian deli that serves cheeses and delicious sandwiches.

But we went back for the hoagies (or sub / Italian sandwich). We ordered the Italian Hoagie.

On the photo above, you see only half of this foot long sandwich, made with salad, provolone, ham, mortadella, capricola and salami.

That was a fantastic sandwich: delicious bread and divine meats! What else to ask? If you are in the Reading Terminal Market, stop there: you will not regret it!

Enjoy (I did)!

Monday, August 6, 2012

The Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, PA

You cannot go to Philadelphia without visiting the Reading Terminal Market! This place has some incredible food! Not all the food is good, but they have some little gems there!

I love going to this kind of places where there are so many different merchants that you do not know where to go and what to eat! They serve: meat, fish, vegetables, ice cream, pastries... And then, you can eat French (crepes!), Thai, Italian, Middle Eastern...

Each time we went to Philly, we stopped there!

The variety of food is so amazing that just walking around will make you discover some incredible vendors such as Wan's seafood!

Their stand look amazing and fresh!

I saw these huge Wild Shrimp! Trust me, these, simply grilled on a BBQ must be fantastic!

There is also an Amish owned traditional deli, called The Riehl Deli.

Not only do they have a wide variety of cheeses, they have tons of meats!

But what caught my eyes was clearly on the sweet side...

First were the Termini Brothers with their Italian cookies!

And decadent cakes!

Then, the custom made Chocolate by Mueller:

They seem to have some amazing creation like the chocolate brain....

Pretty funny!

There is also the phenomenal Flying Monkey!

Look at that! If I did not have to go to the Franklin Fountain later on, I would have had some of their cakes!

They looked incredible!

So definitely, the Reading Terminal Market is the place to go for some surprising and decadent food! I will stop there next time again for sure! By the way, it is there that we found Salumeria, an authentic Italian hoagies joint!

If you go, before leaving, do not forget to make a donation to Philbert, the pig in the center of the market! It goes to charity for children of the community!

Enjoy (I did)!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Delicious food at The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport - NYC, New York

image of The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport - NYC, New York

Yesterday, Jodi and I went to The Food Truck Festival in South Street Seaport. This festival takes place couple of times a year, always at the same place, and features close to 30 food trucks from all over the city!

We decided to go in the morning, at around 11:30am as last year we went later and it was packed! This year, we picked the correct time! Not that many people, so limited wait! Our plan was to go to different trucks and try one of their dish on the menu.

We started with Chinese Mirch.

Mirch means chili in Hindi. This truck is a fusion between chinese food and indian food. We decided to try the Tibetan Momos, that are hand-rolled pan fried dumplings. We picked the vegetarian ones, made with cabbage, potatoes, carrots and some "secret" spices.

The dumplings are served with a hot or sweet sauce. We chose the sweet as it was hot outside. The dumplings were pretty good: the shell was light and well cooked (I was surprised to see it steamed as they advertised pan fried!). The stuffing was delicious and flavorful. The only negative was that there was not enough sauce. Besides that, I really enjoyed it! The 5 dumplings costed $4.

The second truck was The Kimchi Taco Truck.

I love Korean food and was eager to try a fusion taco! What was great is that they proposed a tasting of 3 tacos for $7. Our pick was (top to bottom on the photo):

Tofu edamame falafel: tofu, edamame and chickpea blended with Asian spices with kimchi infused refried beans, cucumber kimchi, pickled daikon and pico de gallo.
BBQ beef short ribs served with their signature marinade, topped with red cabbage, apple, pear kimchi slaw.
Fried chicken, battered in sweet rice flour tossed in organic blue agave nectar and ginger, garlic Korean pepper sauce and served with pickled diakon, queso blanco and sesame seeds.

They put the tacos next to each other and the shells were too small for the quantity of stuffing, so it was a bit messy to eat! The tofu edamame falafel was a bit mushy: I did not like it. The BBQ short rib was pretty good: it was tender and not dry thanks to the marinade. The last one I tried was the chicken one: I would have never thought it was fried chicken! Last, the taco shell was a bit hard on some parts of the tacos.

I was a bit disappointed: I think they put too many things on the taco and you lose the main flavors.

The next truck was Nuchas truck that serves empanadas.

They offer different types of empanadas: meat, veggie or sweet. We ordered the Argentine empanada ($3): ground beef, onions, pepper, scallions, potatoes and olives.

When the empanada came, it looked like the cocas that my family cooks with sheshoukah! It really liked it although it was a bit greasy. It had nice flavors and was just a bit spicy, but not too much.

Then was the long awaited Valducci's pizza truck!

We were looking forward to get a slice from that truck since we tried it last year! It was so good! So we reordered the same slice: thin crust, pizza sauce, just a bit of cheese and olive oil.

This pizza is the proof that less is more! The crust was incredibly crispy and the sauce amazing! I think it is one of my favorite pizza in New York! I would not have liked to try other trucks, I would have gone for another slice! The slice costed $5.

Next to Valducci's was the Gorilla Cheese truck, specialized in grilled cheese.

They have standard grilled cheese as well as more elaborated ones. I decided to try a standard one and picked the Cheddar grilled cheese with white bread.

For sure there was a lot of cheese.

But, for $6, you can expect a better cheese and a better bread! I can make a better grilled cheese home for cheaper! Disappointing!

Then, we were on our way to leave when we saw the Red Hook Lobster Pound! Last year, I ate a fantastic lobster roll there! With all the food we ate, I was not sure I could have one. But Jodi knew how to find the good words to convince me: "If you do not get one, you will regret and keep talking about it!". I did not need more to order the $16 Connecticut lobster roll:

It is pricey, but there is a lot of lobster in it (I got 2 claws for sure as you can see on the photo), making it a bit challenging to eat! I love the Connecticut one: it is poached in butter! Better than with tons of mayo that could overpower the lobster taste!
The bread was deliciously buttered and toasted. If you do not like butter, it is not for you! I love this place!

After that, I was full and could not even try any of the desserts trucks. This is a great festival and I am looking forward for the next one!
On a side note, it was funny to see people eating at the terrace of the restaurants next to the festival: why would you pay overpriced food when you have an incredible event like this next to you?

If you went to the Food Truck Festival, let me know what you think!

Enjoy (I did)!