Patisserie des Ambassades

In March, one of my friends invited me to use Yelp for the first time.  I didn't then, but since moving back to New York City, I've decided to get back on the review bandwagon and start using it.  I'll be posting those reviews over here, too.  Who knows? Maybe soon I'll be reviewing Yelp! 

Patisserie des Ambassades - 2200 8th Avenue

http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/2010/03/eat-marcus-samuelsson-at-les-ambassades.html

We stopped in here for a quick dessert after hearing rave reviews about their bread and crème brûlée.  We ordered the crème brûlée and an eclair au café.  I'd thought the eclair would have only cream filling, but it seemed to have lemon curds, so a personal bias against citrus kept me from really loving that.  However, the crème brûlée was absolutely out of this world - some of the best I've ever had.  We had it for take-away, and at $3.50, I would get more again in a heartbeat.

While we didn't sit down, the seating seemed fine, especially the outdoor seating, and the counter service was fast and friendly.  Since it has Senegalese dishes also, I'm looking forward to going again and trying some of their more substantial food.

Bad Horse Pizza

In March, one of my friends invited me to use Yelp for the first time.  I didn't then, but since moving back to New York City, I've decided to get back on the review bandwagon and start using it.  I'll be posting those reviews over here, too.  Who knows? Maybe soon I'll be reviewing Yelp! 

Bad Horse Pizza - 2224 8th Avenue

http://dofoodstuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/bad-horse-pizza.html

I really loved the pizza we ordered, the Pig & Goat, which had goat cheese, prosciutto, and roasted red peppers.  The combination was delicious, and the crust here was delightfully thin and crispy.  It is, however, a bit expensive for pizza (for two beers and this pizza, the bill came to $42 with tip, though we did have two slices leftover for lunch the next day).

The service was very attentive, and they left a nice, if bizarre note on the back of the receipt thanking us, which I always like.  The decor is simple, but nice for a pizza-place, and I really loved the big wooden shutters around the back windows.

I'd be back, but I think it would be for the happy hour special - plain large pie and two beers for $20.

Make My Cake

In March, one of my friends invited me to use Yelp for the first time.  I didn't then, but since moving back to New York City, I've decided to get back on the review bandwagon and start using it.  I'll be posting those reviews over here, too.  Who knows? Maybe soon I'll be reviewing Yelp! 

Make My Cake - 121 St. Nicholas Avenue: 

I split the double-chocolate cupcake; it was delicious and the perfect size for two.  Very moist cake, and the frosting was absolutely amazing (and this from someone who doesn't like frosting very much).  The frosting had a familiar taste, a little bit like the out-of-the-box kind we had when I was growing up, but so much fresher and clearly homemade, so it was perfect.  The price was a little steep at $4 for one, but as I said, the size was big.  I also really loved the pink decor everywhere, and the woman behind the counter was excellent - told us about her favorite cakes, and was so friendly.  I'll definitely be back to try a slice of cake!

FLUFFY: Keste Pizza

Guys, Leah pointed out to me today that, despite only being updated once a month or so for the past year and a half, Small Reviews gets more hits everyday than the blog I painstakingly update everyday.  And also that our most popular entry, Behr Paint Color 710c-3: Gobi Desert, gets as many hits in a week as my most popular entry ever has gotten in three months.  Clearly, folks, you have been ignored too long, and we're sorry.  Today, the pause ends.  Maybe.

This afternoon, my boss took us to a very nice lunch at Keste Pizzeria (warning: that website plays music) in the West Village.  It was amazing.  I went in with no expectations (this was part of the key, I think, to why I didn't love Grimaldi's so much), and I was just delighted with the pizza.  I ordered a prosciutto e arugola, which is my signature favorite pizza of all time.  It's hard to mess up, so they had that going for them already, but Keste took it to a whole new level of delicious.  The crust was perfect: light and fluffy, with a crisp black exterior layer from the giant wood-burning oven in the back.  The mozzarella was fresh, the prosciutto perfectly salted, and the arugula just bitter enough to settle the whole into a perfect melding of wonderful pizza.  The other pizzas in our group (one with sausage and one very similar to mine, but with shaved pecorino and tomato sauce) looked equally good.

Our waiter was very nice and even seemed passionate about the specials, but wasn't overbearing the way waiters can sometimes be.  The restaurant is small, and I've heard it can get quite crowded and noisy, but we went early, so that wasn't a problem for us at all.  We were seated right away, and it was more than quiet enough for us to chat.  The prices were a little high (between $9-$18 for a pizza, but most are $15-18), so it certainly couldn't be my first go-to pizzeria, but for a business lunch or special evening, I would say the food is more than worth it.  Everything felt extremely high-quality, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone searching for some filling, delicious pizza on Bleeker.

Kelvin Slush

(Image via: http://penelopetoop.blogspot.com/)

I recently started a class at the New School, and on my walk down there from midtown, I've discovered several delightful food trucks which I'd like to share with you. The first one I stopped at was the Kelvin Natural Slush Co.

Basically, you take any ideas you have about slushies from your childhood 7-11 and throw them out the window. Then, you choose a slush base from three flavors (ginger, citrus, or tea) and add a mix-in. These vary seasonally, but always look pretty fabulous and include things like blood oranges, lychee, and pink guava. You also have the option of adding a scoop of ice cream, or additional mix-ins. I think the ice cream would be really wonderful, but I didn't try it when I went.

I did try a ginger base with basil, and it was amazing. If you don't already know that you like ginger drinks, I might not start with it, since it's a strong flavor, but if you do, it's wonderful, particularly on a hot August day. I can't seem to find the price online, but I remember thinking it wasn't abnormally high for NYC, and that the slush was completely worth it. If you'd like to check it out, and I certainly recommend that you do, you can find their current location on their twitter.

Air Conditioning in and around 10011

Leah and I experienced a range of A/C temps today. The Sunoco gas station near the BQE entrance by the Gowanus Canal reported a temp of 90; Batty (my car) logged 97-107.

550 7th st., brooklyn, 4th floor: Bearable. In Julia's room, cold.

g train, church ave bound: Fine.

batty: No A/C. We nearly died while looking for parking (futile). Thighs seared upon contact with leather interior.

gristides grocery store: TUNDRIC. We actively bought less because we couldn't stand it. Cut our shopping short!

360 w. 22nd st. laundry room: not memorable.

360 w. 22nd st. 5th floor: Cold. One can comfortably wear Carhartt's and long sleeves.

General outside: Too hot for long sleeves, but while wearing long sleeves in preparation for entrance to frigid grocery store, had to remove one sleeve of the garment.

Outlet Shopping

Since starting a new, higher-paying job a few months ago, I have (hesitantly, perhaps even unwillingly) started shopping again. The most immediate and pressing thing that I noticed is that prices are higher now than they were when I more or less stopped shopping five years ago. The next thing that I noticed is that it is pretty addictive. I'm vowing to slow down after the holidays and a trip to Iceland in late January. This may well coincide with the end of my higher-paying job, so it's probably good that I plan ahead.

Regardless, I've recently been shopping primarily at outlets and online, and have yet to make one stop at a proper indoor mall. Outlets, for the most part, are different than they were when I was younger, and from what I think they were intended to be. I remember going to Woodbury Commons (our closest outlet mall, and the primary one for New York City dwellers) and finding lots of clothes missing buttons or with the wrong tags or slight damage. It was a place for cast-off items at pretty low prices. You could sew on a new button or try to remove a stain or what have you, and you were making sure that well-made clothes didn't go to waste.

It seems to be a little different now, and while we did find some stores that had last year's styles (The North Face, Kate Spade, Williams-Sonoma) or slightly damaged goods (Fossil, Crate & Barrel [and LL Bean, apparently]), many simply had cheaper versions of the clothes currently in stores (Gap, J. Crew were both big on that, although I did see some of last year's clothes at Gap). Although I'm always a fan of affordable things, the point of most high-end retail stores is to have well-made clothes that will last a long time, and a cheaper version of those clothes isn't any better than the clothes that start out cheaper. Additionally, outlets are usually outdoor malls, which can get cold, or, if you were at Woodbury Commons on Sunday, icy. Very, very icy and actually a little dangerous. Although most of the stores were very calm, there were long lines outside Coach and Ugg.

One benefit to shopping at an outlet mall is that they are really meant to be for smart shoppers, so there are plenty of coupons online, as well as a large book of them that can be found at the information booth (with a coupon online). Also, being outside allowed for more movement space, and also meant that they weren't blasting Christmas carols, so it never felt overwhelming, the way being inside a normal mall or on Fifth Avenue or in SoHo can. Overall, I would say that the experience was more enjoyable than it would have been at an indoor mall, and I'd like to check out an LL Bean and an Under Armour outlet sometime in the future, after the holidays but before going to Iceland.

Pursuit of Dreams: The Historic Public Schools of Charles B. J. Snyder

Last night, I went to a lecture on Charles B.J. Snyder at the MidManhattan Library. The lecture itself was interesting, and the speaker, Jean Arrington, was well-versed in his architecture and seemed like a genuinely nice person (at one point, she put up a picture of her high school, the design of which was inspired by one of Snyder's buildings). Snyder was the Superintendent of School Buildings in New York City from 1891 to 1923, and he built more than 400 public schools in this time.

His designs were the first to focus on the comfort of children and work around new pedagogies, and they let in more light and air than typical schools of the time, as well as giving outside spaces like courtyards and rooftop playgrounds. His buildings were also the first schools to be completely fireproofed. There were some lovely pictures of the buildings, including one particularly charming 8-room schoolhouse on Statan Island that has been demolished. Of his buildings still extant, a large number are still being used as schools, and the buildings brought in a new era of school design.

One thing I would have liked Arrington to have focused on a little more in depth was the effect of the buildings on pedagogy, and vice versa. I don't often think of space as it relates to theory, but really, what has more of an effect on us than our environment? The lecture did inspire me to check out Jacob Riis's books, which I read an awful lot about in high school, but have never truly inspected. I'll be heading back to the MidManhattan Library after work to do so.

A brief note on that: It's not my favorite library, because the building looks like it's stuck in the 1970s and the lectures there are always filled with crazies who use the Q&A time to discuss their own "political agendas" or do annoying things like smack their lips over and over through the hour-long presentation (seriously, I almost killed that guy last night) and the lines are enormous. I much prefer the main library, because the architecture is gorgeous and reading room is quiet and they have interesting exhibits that somehow don't attract the same crazies that frequent the MidManhattan. However, they do have circulating books that cover the topics I enjoy, and much more frequent evening lectures, so I seem to end up there time and time again.

Graziella's

I had a great meal from Graziella's last weekend. We had it delivered, so I can't say much about the restaurant, except that I pass it many mornings, and it has an open roof, which is always great. I can, however, say a bit about the food, which was fantastic, and definitely some of the best food I've had in a while.

We ordered potato gnocchi with gorgonzola, and an arugula and parmesan pizza. The gnocchi was very similar to a normal gnocchi alfredo, but with the extra tang of gorgonzola cheese, and was really a nice twist on a typical dish. The pizza followed this same pattern, and I absolutely loved these toppings I'd never tried before. The Italian style pizza is a great base for the spicy leaf and the fresh parmesan, and while I don't think it would work well on a New York style pizza, it would be really easy for someone to get or make a pizza and throw on some really fresh arugula and parmesan. I think the freshness was what mattered most here, and the meal could definitely be replicated pretty easily. I'm definitely going to try to make it at some point.

The combination on both dishes was just amazing, and it was nice to have some surprising takes on classic dishes. Also, their sodas (coke in a glass bottle and pellegrino limonada) are a cute little touch. I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a nice, different pizza in Clinton Hill, or anywhere, if you're making it yourself.

Meredith's Bread

Meredith's Bread is a New York farmer's market staple, and I took it for granted as our bread supplier. They've been around since 1987, and use only New York State ingredients whenever possible. Overall, their products are great, and they've just recently started allowing orders online, so if you can't get to one of their booths (they're all over the city and the counties between NYC and Albany), you can still have fresh bread shipped.

I usually get their andama, which is a cornmeal-based bread, because it tastes so fantastic as toast. Unfortunately, it can be a little crumbly, so while it's amazing on sandwiches that you eat right after you make them, it doesn't take well to being packed in a lunch. For that, we've used their whole wheat, spelt, and multi-grain, all with good results.

However, today, while searching for that andama, I popped a sample of chocolate biscotti into my mouth absentmindedly. It set off about a million happiness receptors in my brain, and I had to buy a pack. I'm not a huge cookie fan, but these have a perfect, light and spongy texture, and a flavoring that is sweet without being overpowering. I had one this afternoon with some Ronnybrook milk and it was the perfect snack.

Shopsins

About a month ago, Leah and I went to Shopsin's, a delicious tiny restaurant in the Essex Street Market. Although there are only about 10 seats in the whole place, the menu is enormous, and everything on it looks fantastic.

When you walk in, you are welcomed by the dirty (and sometimes unwelcoming) mouth of Kenny Shopsin (restaurant owner and author of Eat Me). While we were there, he used several sexual slurs, a ton of curses, and explained that he recently cut seating in Shopsin's in half so that he didn't "have to go home and snort a half of coke every night." He also seemed to know most of the patrons by name, and had no problem telling some others there was no room for them. Though he was definitely entertaining, he was really rude and Leah and I basically couldn't hold a conversation because he was so loud and we just had to keep listening (he sat directly behind Leah). The atmosphere, then, was an experience in and of itself.

But then there was the food. I paid $14 for my sandwich, and it was worth every penny. I had a Luke's Lunch I (pulled pork and chili-cheese fries on a ciabatta), and it was huge and greasy and those fries made me feel like I was going to heaven. If I went back, I would probably order just the chili-cheese fries on their own ($12). Leah had the Indian Girl (fried potato, cabbage, onion curry, and lentil slaw on naan, $14), and that was also really good. Although the prices are steep, I'd say that the food was worth it, and the staff was entertaining in a certain kind of way, so I'd recommend at least trying it, if you like sandwiches. Just be warned: it can be really hard to get a table. We went on a Friday at 2pm, and it seemed to be pretty calm, but Leah had gone once for brunch (before they got rid of half the seating), and it was still very crowded.

Typical Tuesday

At Roger and Kristin’s suggestion, I’ve decided to review a typical Tuesday at my office except today really isn’t a Typical Tuesday, any ol’ run-of-the-mill Tuesday. You might be wondering how this Tuesday differs from all the Tuesdays that came before it—from the coffee, the gchat, the bbm, the furtive online-article reading. I will tell you.

This morning started out a little different from most. I felt a cognizance at breakfast this morning—which fair, fair! was brought on by Kristin and Roger—of that fact that it’s my last Tuesday EVER here, at my very first job, at this office I’ve been coming to for five days a week since October first. (I understand that for some of you full-timers this probably doesn’t mean much but for me, it does.) Then there was lunch which was uncommonly good—a vegetable quesadilla and a cup of exquisite fresh-squeezed watermelonade from Butterfield Market (Lex. Between E. 77th and 78th.) And, perhaps, the most extraordinary thing to happen today was the secret email my boss sent to my coworkers, encouraging them to buy me some going-away gifts, which I will receive at my very own going-away party, this Thursday, July 14. As if all this wasn’t out-of-the-ordinary enough, at this precise moment, a meeting of our Board of Directors is beginning, which means a lot of Italian men (+ one woman) in suits are coming to the office. This also means that they are drinking Pellegrino and staring at some fresh-cut flowers.

So now I think you must be wondering how I feel on this not-so-typical Tuesday. Maybe you are expecting me to tell you that I feel a sense of excitement and possibility as I am almost three days away from never coming back to this box-with-not-enough-natural light, this box which I have felt entrapped by for 10 months. But, today, on this not-so-typical Tuesday I can’t say I feel those things. I am mostly just serene.

Abistro

From the outside, Abistro doesn't look like much. But inside the inauspicious 154 Carlton Avenue entrance is a tiny, hip restaurant. We went on Saturday, and at a friend's suggestion, ordered Senegalese Fried Chicken.

This little dish had about a million flavors, and was perfectly cooked and spiced. The chicken comes layered on top of a pineapple-jasmine rice and kale, and is topped with "Senegalese salsa," which is, I think, a deconstruction of yassa, because it's a cold, limey onion sauce. The chicken isn't exactly what you'd expect fried chicken to be, but it is lightly breaded and fried, and while it was a tiny bit dry, the sauce (a creamy dijon) and "side dishes" more than made up for that. The salsa was a little spicey, which played perfectly off the very sweet rice and the perfectly cooked, perfectly flavored, perfectly perfect kale.

It is pricey ($23 for the fried chicken), but it is BYOB, so you can save some money there. I've heard that the (nonalcoholic) mixed drinks are fantastic, but we were trying to save a little money, so we didn't get any. The service was very good and everyone was very friendly, and the decor was stark. They played good, if loud, music and the whole thing made for a nice date.

The complexity of flavors was amazing, and I might list this as one of my Top Ten Meals, if I didn't have such a hard time with that sort of thing. I honestly believe that when I die, I will be greeted with a bowl of that kale in heaven.

A little nota bene: this isn't traditional Senegalese food in the least, and if you're searching for that, your best bets are Joloff or Africa Kine, both of which are fantastic if you like Senegalese cooking. Le Grand Dakar is also good, but slightly more fusion-y than Joloff or Africa Kine.

DELICIOUS: Bubble Tea

I really enjoy bubble tea, which apparently has its origins in 1980s Taiwan. It tastes pretty much like cold, sweet, milky tea (at least the milk teas do), and has delicious balls of tapioca (called pearls) at the bottom. The consistency of the pearls is a little chewy, but not as chewy as gummies are. Overall, it's a lovely little drink.

Right now, for lunch, I'm having a big glass of it from Koryod@ng, a bakery in Koreatown that sells it for $4.25 (a nice little side for it is the red-bean bun, which goes for $1.35). However, you can get a slightly smaller glass of it at Vanessa's Dumpling House (probably one of my top ten restaurants in NYC) for only $3.00, and I'm sure that there are places in Chinatown where it is even cheaper.

If you'd like to try to make this yourself, I quickly googled "bubble tea recipe" and came across this. Apparently Epicurious doesn't have a recipe for it.

1. Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro is an intoxicating cinematic confection that will most certainly be on my "Top 3 movies of 2009 List" (9.5 out of 10).


2. I have been looking forward to the release of the DVDs of the first season of Eastbound and Down for quite a while because I so enjoyed Danny McBride's performance in Pineapple Express. I watched it, it was funny and I will rent the second season once it's available but I don't plan on watching the first season again (6.8 out of 10).


3. I'm a sucker for anything that has the flavor "fruits of the forest" because aside from being tasty it makes me feel Romantic and lady-like in a Bronte kind of way. I recently purchased 365 Brand Fruits of the Forest Fruit Spread from Whole Foods and found it to be too reminiscent of Welch's grape jelly, lunch ladies and crustless white bread. (4.1 out of 10).


4. Charles Ray's Ink Line at Matthew Marks Gallery (523 W. 24th St., closes July 10th) is spectacular, moving, thoughtful, and funny (9.3 out of 10).


5. Williamsburger (342 Wythe at S. 2nd) has nice waitresses, passable hamburgers, and embarrassingly flaccid french fries (3.1 out of 10).

Yoga Studios: A Comparative Study

I have been to two yoga studios since I moved to New York: Laughing Lotus (59 W. 19th) and Om Yoga (826 Broadway nr. Union Square). Laughing Lotus was the first studio I went to but once I found Om, I never went back to LL.

Om really is a jewel. It’s very accessible, conveniently located [for me] two blocks from Union Sq., right off the 4,5, 6, N, R, W and L trains and quite near Whole Foods, which is ideal for an after-yoga treat. It’s also really spacious for a New York City yoga studio—there are five classrooms, a sizable, very clean changing room, and numerous nooks to sit in while you wait for class to start—and the aesthetic is pleasing (lots of subdued, calming hues and no fluorescent lighting to be found!). Another really great thing about Om is the teachers. I haven't had one I really didn't like. I am particularly fond of Edward, Maja, and Sarah. A lot of people seem to like Brian and I understand why—he's friendly and he makes a concerted effort to learn each student's name but I sometimes feel like he really wants to be teaching aerobics and not yoga. And, I can’t forget to mention the class schedule, which is most ideal! There are a wide variety of classes, for all different levels/desires and at some really perfect times. The only negative thing about Om is the elevator—it’s really creepy and it feels like a miracle every time I make it to the sixth floor.

Laughing Lotus simply doesn’t measure up—it’s less accessible, very cramped with the teeniest dressing room, and there are only two classrooms which means less classes and a lesser chance you’ll find one to fit your schedule. They do leave out cookies though, so that’s nice and I did run into a friend from Sarah Lawrence there once, which was also nice. The aesthetic is okay—it’s a little too vibrant for my taste.

FLAVORLESS: Red Curry NYC

We had a business luncheon at Red Curry yesterday. We all had the lunch special, at a very reasonable $7.95. I had the pad see ew, spring rolls and a Thai iced tea. The pad see ew was fine, but nothing spectacular, and ditto the spring rolls. The iced tea was bright orange and not particularly tasty. From my colleagues, I heard that the fried rice was flavorless (it was also bright pink), the pad thai was extremely sweet, and the curry was flavorless. I don't think I'd go back, and I wouldn't recommend it to you either, unless you were very hungry and happened to be standing in front of 339 Lexington Ave with a craving for a Thai lunch special in your heart.

good for something: cafe miro

Update on Cafe Miro. I would never go there again, but I had to pee really bad while walking up broadway today so I took a chance. Luckily, Cafe Miro is the perfect environment to use the restroom without feeling like you have to buy something. There was not even a line, it was pretty clean, and there was a hook for your stuff, which is more than I can say about Starbucks.

OVERPRICED: Back Forty

I've been looking forward to having a hamburger at Back Forty (190 Avenue B at 12th Street) for some time now, and I was a bit disappointed.

I try to eat ethically, and so being able to have a hamburger and not feel guilty about factory farming was definitely a huge plus, and I wouldn't feel bad at all about paying $11 (plus $2 for cheese, plus $2 for french fries) for being able to make a political statement with my food. However, it was too salty and there wasn't enough cheese. The fries were incredible, seasoned with rosemary and sea salt, but the burger itself was just okay.

The rest of the food was too expensive for what you got ($18 for roasted vegetables and eggplant puree? Seriously?), but it is nice to know that everything is sustainable, and like I said, the french fries were incredible. Also really good were the pork jowl nuggets, which tasted like delicious fried pig. The beers were pretty good (and their happy hour is half priced at the bar, which is nice), so I think maybe chilling at the bar and having some nuggets and fries is the best plan, rather than a full dinner.

Crisp

I went to Crisp today for lunch at the urging of a coworker. I love falafel, so I was really looking forward to it, and I wasn't entirely disappointed as I expected to be. The restaurant was ultra yuppie-like, and reminded me a lot of Zen Burger but in a bad way(Zen Burger's looking like that is okay because it's like a yuppie version of McDonald's), and dear lord is it ever overpriced.

But, the falafel itself was very soft and not at all greasy, which was nice, and the pita was pretty good. I had just a plain Israeli-style sandwich, but they have lots of interesting ones, including one with "North African ground peanut sauce" and sweet potatoes, which could possibly be good and would certainly be interesting. I also appreciated the effort with biodegradable packaging (although don't get me started on making plastic from corn, because I recognize the huge issues with that, as well).

Overall, I probably won't go back, just because I love eating falafel from carts (where it tastes better than this) or from a chain that also sells French fries, and because I really can't afford to blow $9.75 on a falafel sandwich and lemonade all that often, but I wouldn't tell anyone else not to go. If you want to stop by, there's one at 684 Third Avenue and another at 110 West 40th Street.