Brooklyn and Chelsea, NYC

Some places that I checked out in New York ...

Cafe Grumpy, Chelsea - Love this place! Good quality coffee without the attitude.


Pequena, Fort Greene - Great cheap Mexican restaurant with strong margarita. Porgy thinks it has the best margarita.


Clover Club, Carroll Gardens - 1920's inspired bar with great drinks.


Egg, Williamsburg - Somewhat decent but the wait was way too long so it's just 'ehh' for me.


Roebling Tea Room, Williamsburg - Good food, decent (not too expensive) price.


Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck - Artisan, local and organic ice cream truck.

Rickhouse

On the way back from lunch today, I walked past Rickhouse, the new bar from Bourbon & Branch folks. While peaking through the windows, the manager (Brian, the guy on the right with the blue shirt and blazer on the 2nd picture) was nice enough to invite us in to check out the place. It was bigger, super nice and definitely has a different feel than Ginger's (i.e. not hole-in-the-wall at all). He said that it will open today (Wednesday, July 1st) at 5pm as mentioned on Eater SF article yesterday. I am contemplating whether I should skip gym today and go to Rickhouse instead. Oh yeah... the drink menu booklet is pretty darn nice too. It's leather bound and nicely design!

The main bar at the front


In the back...


View from the back to the front of the bar


Note: Again iPhone pictures... not the best quality but good enough.

7/1/09 Review: Went there after work ... The bar and the staff were nice and the drink menu was extensive (maybe a bit too ambitious?). It took us awhile to get our drinks but it's understandable because it was their first day after all. I enjoyed the Capricorn drink (made with Javanese Arak liquor) but Porgy didn't enjoy his Mint Julep since there's only a couple of sips in the glass and it's 90% crushed ice. I will definitely go back there again in a month or so to give them time to work out the kinks before making my final take on Rickhouse. The concept reminds me Clover Club in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn — hopefully, in time, it will be as good. We all still miss Ginger's though.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Las Vegas

The highlight of my Las Vegas food adventure was having dinner at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in MGM Grand Hotel. We had the Menu Decouverte (a 9-course Discovery Tasting Menu) and four bottles of fantastic wine to accompany the food. I got way too excited about the dinner that I forgot to bring my digital camera so I had to use my iPhone camera to take the pictures and, later on, I also lost the menu and a list containing the names of the wines that we had on the way back to our hotel.


L'Amuse-Bouche - Foie gras parfait with port wine and parmesan foam


Le Saumon Fume - Smoked salmon in an herb gelee with a light wasabi cream


Les Huitres - Poached baby Kussi oysters with French Echire butter


Le Homard - Maine lobster in a tomato sauce and green asparagus


Le Foie Gras - Foie gras ravioli in a warm chicken broth with herbs


La Maquereau - Mackerel with warm leek salad and crispy potato


La Caille - Free-range quail stuffed with foie gras and served with truffled-mashed potatoes


1st Dessert - Peach sorbet and mouse (? - forgot the description)


2nd Dessert - Almond crunch, mouse and acai flavored cotton candy (? - forgot the description)

Le Cafe - Coffee and chocolate

Fleur de Lys, Las Vegas

I also checked out Fleur de Lys, another Hubert Keller restaurant in Las Vegas where I had Chef Keller's Elegance Menu — a four-course tasting menu.


It started with amuse bouche of Tempura Halibut with Potatoes and Chayenne Coulis.


Ahi Tuna Tartare with Fennel Slaw, Ginger Ponzu, Fennel Seed Tuile


Slow Butter Poached Maine Lobster with Herb Spaetzle, Wild Mushrooms, Alsatian Choucroute, Paprika


Pan Seared Duck Breast with Duck Confit, Chestnut Puree, Cippolini Onion, Ginger Gastrique


Valrhona Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Shake, Bailey's Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce


Petit four

Burger Bar, Las Vegas

Apologies for not blogging in the past couple weeks... I had been on vacation in Las Vegas and New York. I ate lots of good food in both cities and I will try to post them in the next few days as much as I can.

First, I went to the Burger Bar — Hubert Keller's restaurant in the Mandalay Hotel in Vegas and had the American Kobe Beef Burger and skinny fries. They're good but I think the Black Angus Beef Burger (which I had twice later on in the next couple of days) had the most bang for the buck.


Note: The picture quality here is not as good as I wanted it to be because I used my iPhone camera and the low lighting in the restaurant.

Also, look at this interesting brunch dish at Bayside Buffet in Mandalay Bay Hotel. Crab legs for brunch? I think it's very excessively Vegas! Love it.

Spiced Turkey Chili

I had my first chili ever a couple weeks ago at Ryan & Stephen's place during another BlackJack evening. I love the taste and the homey feeling of a bowl of chili so today I decided to make my own chili. After asking Mo-Fo and Stephen how they make their chili, here is my version incorporating some of their recipes.


Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 lb butter bean - soaked, blanched & skinned
1/4 lb black eye peas - cooked for 30 minutes, drained, saved the broth
1 onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded & finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 bayleaf
2 tablespoons siracha hot sauce (or any hot sauce)

Directions:

• Stir fry the chopped onions with 4 tablespoon of oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat until they caramelize (10 minutes)
• Add in the chopped garlic, red bell pepper and jalapeno pepper and cook for another 3 minutes
• Add the ground turkey and seasonings (coriander, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, chili powder, nutmeg & bayleaf), cook for 5 minutes
• Add in the tomatoes and the beans, cook for a couple minutes
• Add enough bean broth until it almost covers the chili mixture
• Stir and mix well, cook until it boils
• Lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 1.5 hour (stir every 15 minutes or so)
• Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper
• Add in the sriracha sauce, mix well and serve

Sushi, Sashimi and Macaron

Today I went to see the new Disney Pixar movie, Up. It was really beautiful and it reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki's movies and Pixar's Ratatouille . After the movie, I felt that I should honor them by getting some sushi and sashimi from Nijiya Market and French macarons from Patisserie Delanghe.

Japanese sushi & sashimi (Inari, tuna, salmon, uni, hiyashi wakame seaweed salad, hijiki nimono seaweed)


French macarons (chocolate, vanilla, mocha, lemon, pistachio, strawberry)

King of Noodles

Last Thursday, I went to the the California Academy of Science's NightLife to celebrate the World Oceans Day Celebration and one of the main events was a moderated discussion on sustainable seafood. After the party, Shun, Danny and I went to King of Noodles for dinner. It was a nice small Chinese restaurant that made their own noodles. We enjoyed it very much.

Pork and Shrimp Dumplings with Green Chives


Green Chives Pancake


Beef Stew Noodle Soup

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Sweet succulent blueberries are here. I bought some last weekend from the Farmers' Market and made Ina Garten's Blueberry Crumb Cake. It's super easy to make and the result is so satisfying - moist, crunchy (thanks to the Streusel) and delicious cake!



Ingredients:

For the Streusel:
nocoupons1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the Cake:
nocoupons6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (I used the zest of 1 lemon)
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (toss and coat with 1 tablespoon of flour)
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
  
• Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan

For the Streusel:

• Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl
  
• Stir in the melted butter and then the flour
  
• Mix well and set aside

For the Cake:

• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light
  
• Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream
  
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
  
• With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined
  
• Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed

• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife
• With your fingers,crumble the topping evenly over the batter
  
• Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean
  
• Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar

Bacon, Chard and Onion Quiche

In preparation for my upcoming trip to Las Vegas, I hosted the boys (Jeremy, Ryan and Stephen) for an afternoon Black Jack lesson (I was the student). I decided to serve Bacon, Chard and Onion Quiche and a simple salad for some nibbles and the boys brought Champagne + OJ and wine. I used Food Stories' Rainbow Chard and Parmesan Tart and Paula Deen's Spinach and Bacon Quiche recipes as ideas.


Ingredients:
1 frozen pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate
6 strips of bacon, cut into pieces and fried until crispy
1 red onion, sliced
4 green onion (red/white part only), sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch of rainbow chard, de-stemmed and cut into slices
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/2 cup shredder Parmesan cheese
200 mL half and half
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of thyme
1 teaspoon of marjoram
salt, pepper, nutmeg, chayenne pepper

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 F
• Bake the tart for 8-10 minutes
• Lower the oven to 350F
  
• Use some of the bacon fat to fry the onions for 10 minutes until the onions starts to caramelize
• Add in the garlic and fry for another minute
• Add in the chard and remove from the heat when chard is wilted
• Add in the bacon to the mixture and pour onto the pre-baked tart crust
  
• Spread the cheese on top of the mixture
• Mix the eggs, cream, thyme, marjoram, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper and pour on top
• Bake for approximately 60 minutes until the egg mixture is set