Cava Country

Codorniu
Sant Sadurni, Penedes

9 miles of caves! The golf cart ride! Delicious buttery flaky Ritz crackers! The noisy Germans!

Pla des Angels
El Raval, Barcelona

Gnocchi with Parmesan and Peaches
Salad with Hazelnuts and
Spaghetti with Hot Mussels, although I am convinced that I had some kind of red pepper sauce
and poor Kai's busted ankle.

Barcelona Day 3

Cafe de L'Academia

The portions are enormous. But how could they have overcooked the gorgeous lamb shanks? Do they just not care? Does everyone in this country overcook the shanks and eat tough gamy charry meat?

Boadas
The bastard tried to rip us off. The oldest game in the book - the tourists can't count change so short change him game.

There is something to be said about the old school jackets and the smoky bar with everyone (with dreadlocks, for whatever reason) holding these small martini glasses. I was waiting to see champagne coupes.

CDLC
I know. What were we thinking? But there is something to be said about the cheesy European nightclub.

Breakfast at Bocqueria

Bocqueria Market
Ramblas, Barcelona.

I think I have died and gone to heaven. New York markets are so abundant and so expertly piled. The market in Paris was pretty good, but somewhat daunting. The market in Bali was amazing culturally, but really unsanitary. The market in Peru was all potatoes. But this is another thing all together.

We sat down at El Quim, and ordered a tortilla and bocadillos. The poor server had to put up with our first attempt at dealing with a no English menu. Do they expect us to point? Do they put up with this terrible half-English, half-Spanish, useless Catalan all the time? Why do they obscure part of the menu?

Why do I keep seeing people order things that I just do not see on the menu? Where did that gorgeous bowl of mussels come from? Does that mean they have razor clams too? If they sell it at the market, does that mean they have access to some, and will they cook it for me?

Cerveceria Catalunya
Barcelona

The hotel porter tipped us to this place. And I hadn't read about it in any of the guidebooks, so I decided that it was either going to be really good or really bad, nothing in between. First things first - it was not at all touristy, and filled with people who seemed to be on a lunch break. This because many of the men were in suits, and women were not wearing the sensible shoes that tourists wear.

The food was excellent. But I really should have pointed to the more exciting looking dishes, instead of adhering to the "if you don't know what it is, just order the thing a la plancha."

Stupid me.

Bar Moodern, Hotel Omm
L'Eixample, Barcelona
Noone should ever have to cross the velvet rope to get back into their hotel. Alas, it happened to us, and rather than just trudge wearily to our rooms, we should exercise our coolness and have a drink at the bar.

A glass of cava was EUR 5, but a proper cocktail mixed by one of these wingnuts in all black was EUR 11. Are you kidding me? It seemed outrageous, but I guess they (we) were all paying for a seat.


Dry Martini
L'Eixample, Barcelona

I am always obsessed with old-school bars, aged wood, comfy club chairs, serious cocktails. But this place didnt get hoppin' until 1:30 AM, on a Tuesday!

Cheese and Butter Sandwiches

Lufthansa Flight from Munich to Barcelona

I don't know why I find this so amusing. In France (or even at Ceci-Cela in New York), when they offer me ham & brie sandwiches on a buttered baguette, I don't even flinch, I just eat it. But when the German lady offers me a cheese or a salami sandwich, I choose salami, and am apalled to find that the bread is buttered for the salami sandwich. Kai chooses cheese. There's a part of me that wants to take the cheese from his (buttered bread, too) sandwich and tuck some into mine, but there is nothing that I can do to make these shrink wrapped sandwiches taste better. Modifications, in fact, may make them taste even worse.

El Quatre Gats
Gothic Quarter, Barcelona

I had to get it out of my system. He ordered lomo and I ordered pulpo. Gross. I think I ate more dirt than octopus. Kai did a very honorable thing and ate all the potatoes off my plate. The wine was inky and yucky. We had to move on.

Taller de Tapas
El Born, Barcelona

Had read about the tapas at Taller de Tapas. Bacalao for me, and lomo for Kai. The first thing I drink, is cava. We tried to go to Cal Pep, and to Commerc 24, but both are closed. We go to Vinyor Parellada, for more cava.

Dinner with Kartoffel

Kat & Pat's
Munich

Trockenbeerenauslese
Grilled Liver
Pink Pate
a decanted Chianti
Bavarian soup with perfect chewy meat
Chocolate mousse with a truffle and a sliver of orange
and she asked if we wanted a cheese course.

The Goose Dinner

Grafelfing

The traditional German Christmas dinner is served on Christmas eve. I don't know if what we ate was what they would have eaten if I wasn't there, or if they cooked the most traditional of dishes just because I was there. Who cares? It was delicious.

Detlev is one hell of a cook, he used to cook in Michelin-starred kitchens. The goose was gamy and served with a bearnaise like sauce. The green beans snappy and sauteed with a thick cut bacon or so, the spaetzle were buttery and pillowy, and the red cabbage kraut tart and sweet. It was a heavy meal, washed down with some Tuscan red.

It was the finest meal that I have ever tasted prepared by a man with no sense of taste or smell. Detlev had a bicycle accident some months ago, crashed into a tree and damaged some nerves. Needless to say, he is an intuitive cook. He told me that he eats by texture. Wine, because of its tannins, is off-putting, while beer is still drinkable, for its fizz.

He told me that the smell he misses most is his wife.

10-Hour Pig Roast Dinner

Dominic
Greenwich Street

Going to dinner and then not paying for dinner is a surreal experience.

An East-Coast Luz

Luz
Vanderbuilt Avenue btwn Myrtle & Willoughby (Fort Greene)

For $5, you can get 1/2 a chicken. A rotisserie chicken with powerful herbs and spices. Food that doesn't rely on garlic. For $4 more, you can have aromatic, filling, and clean rice and beans.

Veloce Double

Bar Carrera
2nd Avenue & 11th Street

This bar has the smallest bathroom I have ever seen.

Posto

Posto
18th Street & 2nd Avenue

Pizza is not sweet. The sauce was too sweet.

Chino's

Best Bang for Your Buck
3rd Avenue & 16th Street

This is what eating out used to be like. You don't feel like cooking, but you're craving strong flavors, and you don't want a dining experience, just some interesting food.

Yes, Love It Too

Burger Joint
Parker Meridien Hotel

August at Last

August
Bleecker Street

It was that really really rainy night, where mass transit failed us, and everyone went out and bought a pair of Wellies.

Aubette is Getting Viggy With It

Vig 27

A Well-Designed Lunch @MOMA

MOMA
2nd floor cafe

202

202
The Most Delicious Brunch on 16th Street

Half Bottle Haven

Park Blue
158 W 58th Street, 6th and 7th, Manhattan.

Sauvignon Blanc
Cote du Rhone

3 delicious tender slightly rare duck, cubed and on skewers with a berry sauce
cheese plate
marinated golden beets and a rather runny goat cheese salad
veal meatballs

tuna tartare with a scallion snap
spinach salad
mega scallops with a pureed thing

and for the love of god, i cannot remember the last thing.

Don't Mix Sweet with Savory

Pegu Club
77 W Houston Street

bar nosh. all i wanted was a deviled egg, to quiet my stomach.

Holy Honga's

Huevos at 9000 Ft.

Every morning for 5 days, I ate huevos rancheros for breakfast.

The Daisy Mae Cart

soggy brisket sandwich.

Quit My Cutlet

Sorry Sorrel

Wienerschnitzel of a Woman

Thomas Beisl
Fort Greene

The food was delicious. And it would have tasted even better if the woman sitting next to us was not freaking out about everything. She was silly enough to have ordered a hamburger at an Austrian restaurant, and ridiculous enough to have sent it back 3x because the kitchen couldnt get it right. The woman complain about her too overcooked or too undercooked burger and managed to force her silent and patient husband in the middle of dinner into going across the street to the BAM Rose Theatre to buy tickets for the movie they were going to see after the dinner. And amidst all of THAT she was able to multitask her anxiety riddled brain to ask me no less than 4xfor the time, so that they would not be late.

My wienerschitzel was delicious, really. It had crunchy breading and had a nice salt spike. The goulash was a bit salty. But my kraut was pleased to see that the spaetzle was handmade. I started with moules, which were steamed in a spicy garlicky broth. Overcooked and puny, but tasty. Beet salad was also pleasant.

Trying to be Manhattan in Brooklyn

Stonehome Wine Bar
Fort Greene

why do it? why try to bring that slickness and 212 to a place that is so distinctly 718? the flights were nice. the cheese was dispensed in parsimonious amounts. the bread was too much. and there was no A/C. nice but not twice.

Fish Taco

La Esquina
Kenmare & Cleveland

yum.

Smelly Old Money

21 Club
21 W 52nd Street

I think that's what Ana said.

Big Food, Little Flavor

Bogota Bistro
5th Avenue, Park Slope

bbq chicken
empanada
calamari
plantain chips

A Little Chinese

Little Bistro
Court Street

Blue cheese on the mac & cheese, and duck sauce on the short ribs. What?
Cumin dusted calamari, where is the cumin?

The design of this restaurant is like an undergrad Parson's student masturbation.

June.

June
Fort Greene

can i have a glass of gruner veltliner?
sorry we're out.

can i have the vegetable terrine?
sorry we're out.

everything else they did have was delicious. skirt steak deeply marinated in a mild chimichurri. whipped potatoes infused with herbs.

Wienerschnitzel #2

Loreley
Rivington Street

After the schnitzel at Cafe Steinhof, I was determined to test comparable schnitzels. Crazy, I know. Loreley's version was flattened like crazy. The french fries were good. I understand why German children go nuts over schnitzel.

Fire Island

huevos rancheros
lobster
rack of lamb
sandwiches

The Best and Worst in Hotel Buffets

pool at Halekulani

Mandarin Oriental

Moana Surfrider

The House Befitting Heaven

http://www.forbes.com/travel/2005/08/18/Halekulani-luxurytravel-lifestyle-cx_hl_0819dow_ls.html

"i-need-a" miracle grill

miracle grill 2xx 7th avenue park slope

how can something that looks so good taste so iffy?

i want a taco, not therapy

mercadito b &11th

wasnt crazy about mercadito. tasty yummy flavorful food but small portions. i hate menus that need to be explained. i hate when waiters want some kind of dialogue with you, as they "guide" you through a meal. it's a menu for pete's sake; i want a taco, not guidance. that and there were too many suits traversing to LES for the first time. i think the little back room could be great for a party with lots of margaritas, and even though kai and i had a cozy corner table, it was still uncomfortable.

no. 28

no. 28 28 carmine

18-inches of a supportive crispy crust, fresh yummy sauce, and melty welty cheese topped with prosciutto san danielle and rucola. our sexy marisa tomei-like waitress was a bit overwhelmed on this al fresco diner friendly sunny day, but the pizza came out of the oven faster then you can say san pellegrino.

the amanda.

tempo 221 fifth ave park slope

yummy farro salad
organic pan roasted chicken
goat cheese salad.
the bucatini.
dense creamy sorbet.
yum.

the hostess should never be having a drink at 9PM

xing

ici part 2

what happens to a restaurant after its golden hour?

schiller's

decibel's older sister uptown

sakagura

jerked meatloaf?

ici

hasaki is still hasaki

tapas is not asian fusion.

soh-my

vegetarian greasefest

counter 7th street & 1st ave

just because they call it vegetarian, it certainly dont mean its healthy. and just because there's white tablecloth, it dont mean its a fine dining establishment.

ok, at least the bread was good, it had a sourdoughy tang. the pureed sweet potatoes were good, but its really hard to fuck up a sweet potato. you wrap it in foil, stick it in the oven, and wait until the caramelized sugar starts to ooze out of the foil.

but the bowtie pasta with cabbage, hazeluts, and some kind of pesto was just pure oil. oil and nuts and some sulfurous greens, melded together by a glutinous, overcooked pasta. if you remove all the descriptors, you'd think that we're talking about something healthful. but it had no flavor, it tasted like nothing, and had the texture of oil.

i had 4 sides. the roasted vegetables were not special. a bite of parsnip, was kind of special, since it was a pleasant departure from the ordinary. the sauteed greens were murky, oily, and too garlicky. the marinated roasted tofu was strange, it could not really be described as chinese, nor vegetarian, nor healthy. but it falls under 2 of those umbrellas.

but what is the story with the french fries? the fries were handcut, with skin on, probably dusted with kosher or sea salt, but soggy and disappointing. what is the deal with the balsamic reduction? it clashed with the ketchup. if you're gonna give me a balsamic reduction, then it to me on the side, dont artfully jackson pollack it all over my fries.

it kept me from eating them, so my waistline thanks counter.

surburbia in carroll gardens

alma degraw & _____ carroll gardens

had i been transported to the suburbs? the tables and banquettes were spaced so far apart, that this couldnt possibly be new york.

sadly, the food tasted like suburban food. guacamole was not that special, ive had better from the supermarket. orange braised pork was cold, sitting on a dry slice of orange, guarded by a smash of guacamole, on a tart thing. it was garnished by sliced radishes, which was quite charming....and suburban. a side of sugar snap peas were dusted with cotija cheese, and sat on a bed of some kind of tomato sauce. the braised lamb shoulder was questionable. i hate it when food tastes better on the menu than in my mouth

an eastern european slider?

schnack union street carroll gardens

i dont know how to place the umlaut in the schnack. i did know how to put away a tiny single burger with special sauce, and 2 dogs piled high with sauerkraut: one vegan dog, one chicken dog. the burger? not so special, and the special sauce was not so special. neither were the dogs. i might add that after id consumed both of them, i had to ask myself: which was chicken, which was vegan?

had a bite of shorty's chili, it was all sour cream and onions. i think i saw one floating chickpea.

the fries looked quite sexy because it was parslied and because the menu said "handcut", but they were indeed soggy.

expectations reduce joy.

franny's 295 flatbush, park slope

i hate anything and anyone who tries too hard. this joint tries to be something that its not, and therefore fails to be what it really is: a pizzeria. a pizzeria can be a wonderful place to dine, with wonderful food and wonderful people who make and serve the food, but a pizzeria is not a white tablecloth establishment. the waitstaff does not need to fold my napkin when i walk away from the table.

shorty and i were starved, so we order lots of food. the brussel sprouts salad was a grand disappointment. brussel sprouts shine when its roasty and the sweetness has been brough forth with slow roasting, and some sweetness with maple syrup or balsamic. this tasted crude, coarse, raw. the word "uncooked' or "undercooked" came to mind. it also should not have been $10 at a pizzeria.

the blood orange salad was a nice idea, in the abstract. blood oranges happen to be in season. they are intense, juicy, and wonderful, and to serve them with blanched red onions is a great idea. but why serve it in a pool of olive oil? why the red pepper flakes? i kept choking. the heat did the salad no good.

the pizza was a terrible terrible disappointment. the crust was charred, the pizza was small, and it was not special. its a crime to charge $14 for a 10" pizza. ive had better frozen pizzas, and all of a sudden $4.69 a great frozen pizza doesnt seem so expensive after all.

did i change? or did the restaurant change?

tartine W4th & W 11th

on most weekends in 1996, i used to wait at the traffic light with john for a 2-top at tartine, bottle of wine in tow, staring down the lucky diners who'd beaten me to the queue, who were enjoying themselves seated at an outdoor table. tartine was always a modestly priced, charming, tiny bistro for new yorkers who didnt mind waiting an hour for an amazing meal of value.

on friday shorty and i went to tartine, and i was so so sad. what happened to the charm? more importantly, what happened to the fries?

the salmon gravlox was tasty - tangy, delicate in texture, non-fishy. but what's with the spicy chicken? i rarely taste food and say to myself: too many shallots. food should be never too much anything.

tartine always had crisp perfect pomme frites. the frites at tartine were an optimal cross between les halles and mcdonalds, but with more fat, more depth, more crunch. but today they were soggy. limp. flacid, even. sad.

shorty had a poached pear that was tasty. then he had a rib-eye that was gray. served of course with the sorry fries.

so the answer to my question, i presume, is that both i and the restaurant changed. my palate, in 10 years of eating anything and everything anywhere and everywhere, has evolved to ...maturation, i hope, whereas the restaurant has evolved to become something different.

chair malfunction

little giant orchard & broome

little giant is one of those restaurants that everyone's talking about, or maybe its just that i keep talking about, but havent had an opportunity to actually try it. i'd sent aviva there, for instance, assuring her that its the place to be.

aviva tells me that she had a food coma that night. i had to check it out for myself.

jenny and i shared the cockles, followed by the homemade sausage sampler, then shared the bass. the apps were tasty, well prepared, not particularly memorable. the broth in which the cockles came in was superb. food writers often talk about "sopping up the broth with crusty loaf' yadda-yadda, but often the broth is too gray, too garlicky, too parsley-y, or just plain has too much sand, that you dare not dip anything.

this is also one of the few instances that the entrees were actually adventurous and more flavorful than the palate teasing apps. apps are usually more adventurous - smaller portions, and the eater is hungry - anything will taste good. here, the bass was smoky, complex, rich, earthy. the fish was a counter point texture to the round things, the smoky things, the pebble-y things, rich things, the slimy things, the gooey things, the soft things. the bass filet retained its bassness and stood up to the very strong flavors and textures. this bass has class.

the food was delicious. but most of the time, i walk away remembering something else about a restaurant, like the scent of the soap in the dispenser, the hexagonal tiles in the bathroom, the comfort factor of the chairs, the lighting, an annoying waitperson. to my right was a table of 4 fabulous gay men in the fashion business, recapping fashion week, talking about all the other "it" new york restaurants, in their english accents. to my left was a couple; the guy was trying to convince the girl to go home with him. the girl was so put off by this, that she was trying to pay 1/2 her dinner bill, possibly to make it less date-like. and across the way, a man shifted his weight on a wobbly chair, and fell flat on his ass.

the service in the resto was not the same after that.

the best pizza in the world

una pizza napoletana 12th &1st

i believe the title suffices, and there are millions of other pizza people raving about the tattooed guy whipping up the most delicious pizzas for $16.95 per 12" pie.

you must try it. i am not an advertisement.

slice in the city

demarco's macdougal & houston

it was quite delicious, but $2.75 for a slice and literature about the ingredients makes it non-fast food. the sit-down joint was too noisy with a party of loud italians, so we had to go next door, to the take out joint. we watched the pie come out of the oven, and contemplated the textures and flavors while standing, and chased it down with pepsi out of a can.

to see if it was indeed good pizza or not, we headed to

joe's bleecker & 6th

and it was not so good. this pie had been sitting on the counter for a while, and the cheese was flacorless and waxy. and of course, watching the cook torture a drowning mouse at the curb made the experience even less appetizing.

russian mafia princesses

petrossian 57th & 7th

it was the best date and the worst food ever.

shorty planned the ultimate vday ever: inside deep throat at loews, followed by dinner at petrossian. russian mafia princesses, body builders, japanese tourists, old wasps with mistresses, all in one room on valentines day in new york city. botox and fake boob city. the cheesiest tongue in cheek date for the cheesiest hallmark holiday.

the room is truly truly hideous, like an upscale ramada inn with nice lighting. sure, we get the bernardaud limoges table setting and the christofle silverware, but it's not so special when the waiters haphazardly place it on the table, so coarsely that it's either strewn diagonally on the tablecloth or tipping off the table and falling into your lap .

i had such high expectations for the meal. i started with a glass of laurent perrier nv champagne and waited for the magic to begin. crusty yeasty roll with frozen butter. tsar royale american caviar with buttered toast points. smoked salmon sampler, with some juicy roe nested on creme fraiche. wild sturgeon with beurre blanc and caviar sauce. glass of moet rose in a fluted glass, followed by dessert.

the dessert was truly inedible. shorty's chocolate bombe was a frozen in the center half sphere sitting on some creme anglais. my strawberry gelee was a pureed jello thing with half a strawberry, served in a martini glass. shorty gave the waiter a fussy german "i am not happy, this is inedible" thing, and the waiter offered us a new dessert which we declined. they brought us some petit fours, but they were heavy and buttery and coarse. the tea was quite good. it was twinings.

2 tables away, a dandy professor with a 3 piece suit and bowtie was dining with his lady, a craggy dyed haired near anorexic woman with full botox lips. while shorty was complaining about his chocolate bombe, the professor began to repeat "where's my caviar crust?" no less than 30 times.

the legendary difara's

difara's avenue j

yvonne and i met on a sunny sunday afternoon for a slice.

im told its the best in the city. it was tasty, crispy, gooey, sweet and salty, not necessarily in that order. here are the key takeaways;

1. i had such high expectations for a slice.
2. it doesn't taste like the pizza i know.
3. the flavor evolves.
4. all elements contribute. there is nothing that can be added or subtracted.

at last.

bistro du vent 411 W42nd street 9th

19 bottles under $25

salade tiede. all i know is that i love a warm salad; i think it was escarole, and i remember a roasted artichoke.

berkshire pork sausages with lentils, served with 2 diff kinds of mustards, pickled veg, cornichons.

roast chicken was perfect. the skin was crispy and lemony. the steak was perfectly charred and cooked, the steak frites were perfect.

noisy but delicious.

fishy pizza

pepperoncino 72 fifth ave park slope

every time someone heralds amazing new pizza joint, i get all excited and begin to believe that some kind of miracle will happen in the synthesis of the perfect pizza. in theory, it seems so simple: crust, sauce, cheese.

the margherita: the pizza at pepperoncino was so pure and so fresh, that it had no flavor. sure it looked and tasted like "good pizza" but it needed salt or flavor or something. the crust was puffy, the cheese was light and greaseless, and the sauce was unassertive. it was good pizza, but it wasnt great.

the salsiccia: white pizzas can be troublemakers.

amazing meal from a resto with no kitchen

Frankie's 457 457 court street, carroll gardens.

watercress salad with some kind of fig puree. portion ought to have been bigger.

roasted vegetable salad: creminis, jerusalem artichokes, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts. there had to be balsamic vinegar on the sprouts.

the meatballs were dense, the italian woman at the next table did indeed point out the meatball's inherent meatiness and the balanced ratio of breadcrumbs.

cavatelli - yum.

poached prunes with mascarpone was one of the most toothsome desserts i have ever had.

nice cheese selection served with almonds drizzled with a bit of olive oil.

one thing i noticed about frankie's is that the waitstaff takes pride in the food and in the restaurant. it's nice.

kung hei fat choi!

i ate a lot, but im not really sure what i ate. i hope to read this back someday and understand why and exactly what i ate. i have only been to shanghai once, and am ashamed to admit that i dont know my chinese cuisines.

here are my clinical descriptions of what i ate last night with friends (mostly couples) and dogs (all very cute).

steamed and fried dumplings, presumably pork and some vegetables, bland. 2 kinds of braised, possibly stir fried bok choy, with ginger and garlic, tasty. cubed tofu with a ground meat sauce, virtually tasteless. cornstarchy sauce with lobster and bok choy and misc vegetables, fantastic. whole shrimps with broccoli, needed salt, shrimp overcooked. garlicky pan fried short ribs with chilies, chilies rocked my world. some kind of whole poached chicken, im guessing ginger, bland and tasteless. pan fried pork chops with some kind of red sauce, undercooked. pork ribs with a honey glaze + bottled seasoning, sweet and finger-lickin' good. . dessert was a mango sorbet mixed with a sticky, starchy coconut rice, interesting texture.

where were the noodles?
where was the fish?
is it true about the no meat policy?

liverwurst at MOMA

bar room at the modern 53rd street & 5th

i think this small plate thing needs to be killed. even the waiters got stressed out explaining that the entrees were "half-portion." so its moderately priced food at extremely small portions.

the room of course is beautiful, as were most of the people inside it. the tableware and flatware were beautiful. all the floral and vegetal arrangements were beautiful.

the bathroom was unbelievably confusing; in fact, i walked into the unisex bathroom and walked out when i saw 2 men washing their hands. a gentleman walked out and smiled and let me know that it's unisex.

but i always, always wondered about what was going on in the main room, behind the curtains.

tentative food

bouilliabaise 126 union & , carroll gardens.

crappy baguette, nice oil with chives. poached pear in red wine something with gorgonzola, romaine lettuce with bleu and beets. watery dressing, not enough acidity. amazing bouilliabaise with a light saffron broth, meaty lobster tails, well cooked scallops, cod, mussels, no clams. duck legs with red cabbage slaw, nice lumpy mashed potatoes, reduced blueberries. what is the story with the zuchinni, the mundane vegetables hotelized the meal. the dessert was so so. tarte tatin was too thick, crust so so. the chocolate cake was sort of fruity and only the ice cream made it better.

meatloaf/lamb shank/cupcake

baked van brunt @ dikeman

ive been meaning write about cupcakes, but that is a time consuming affaire. did try 4 different cupcakes from baked and i can state the following with confidence:

1. they are very small.
2. they are slighly overpriced @ $1.50
   
3. some of the cakes are more dense than others. vanilla cake is very spongy and the chocolate density varies, depending on what time of day the cupcake is purchased/consumed.
   
4. the red velvet cake is among the densest and finest ive had in new york city.
   
5. the buttercream is slightly cloying.

ive now made meatloaf on sunday for a month now. it is way too much work for a normal person with a real job. nevertheless, americana is fun:

vella dry jack, cabot cheddar, coach farm goat, cheese, guacamole, medium salsa, blue tortilla.

meatloaf (veal/pork/turkey), garlicky mashed potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, blanched grape tomatoes.

baby spinach salad with blood orange, blanched red onion, pecans, shaved manchego, balsamic vinaigrette. cupcakes.

Chicken & Waffles

Amy Ruth's 116th & Lenox

i need to do some research as to what story is with chicken & waffles. the smothered chicken looked better than the fried chicken. fried chicken was crispy breaded armor. the waffle was well textured, yeasty, and fluffy, but not particularly dense and buttery, not like a belgian waffle. in the abstract, fried chicken with maple syrup is not so appetizing, but all the icky gooey sweetness works on one plate.

collard greens were sweet, mac and cheese baked and crumbly, grits with grated cheddar on top tasty.

i didnt drink the kool-aid. and any place that has red velvet cake is my kind of place.

Giant Jelly Donuts

Cupcake Cafe outpost @ Books of Wonder 18th & 5th

bigger is obviously not better. i just ate a gigantic donut from the cupcake cafe outpost at books of wonder. i am certain was at least 800 calories, the kind of colossal, torso sized mound of fat sugar and goo, that when you read the nutrition information, it lists the information for like 1/3 of the donut.

the real problem is that it tasted like something between challah and brioche, and that the jelly itself was really runny. melty. was so disappointed that i had to chase it down with a couple of snackwells.