pup

this is george gershwin.

{he's my dog}

sometimes it's hard to tell his head from his butt.

it's always good to make sure though before you go in for a kiss.

just thought you should know...

furthermore

i had a most glorious day, consisting of these things:

-a middle eastern drum lesson

-this week's restaurant  (oooh you guys are in for it)

-an a hundred block walk home from this week's restaurant

-discovering an amazing display on 42nd and 5th, advertising mtv's
the buried life

asking everyone,

"what do you want to do before you die?"

and displaying peoples' answers from around the country

{a sad majority had involved physical interactions with the jonas brothers}

-randomly running into one of my COOLEST friends from high school on the street

sigh.

i love new york

xoxo

yeh

week 2: macaron cafe

"did you go to macaron cafe yet??"

reads the almost daily text from mum.

"...no, mum, i have work to do."

"what about now?"

"...i just ate"

"ok, well you must go tomorrow because tomorrow is tuesday and you know that that's croque monsieur day."

"i told you, I HAVE WORK TO DO!"

typical, typical banter. 

and there was no stopping it.

i mean, i knew what i needed to do to stop it.

i could either lie,

tell her i went and that it was fine but her sandwiches were better {which would end any and all interrogation}

or i could just go to the damn macaron cafe.

i really didn't have any reason not to... except that it's in midtown.

spitting distance from penn station. 

oh the horror.

uh oh, i'm getting a text from mum...

"did you hear?? midtown lunch just said that macaron cafe puts bouchon to SHAME! 

OHHHH SNAP!"

relentless, that woman.

anyways,

things got brutally out of hand last tuesday.

it started with a phone call.

not a text, but a phone call.

"soooo.... whatcha doin today?"

"probably gonna go to costco, and then to yoga... maybe practice"

"oh. and macaron cafe?"

"nope, no time for that."

"isn't today--"

"CROQUE MONSIEUR DAY. I KNOW. I REEEEALLLY KNOW. AND I REEEEALLLY TOOK THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN I WAS PLANNING OUT MY DAY. BUT I'M SORRY, IT'S JUST NOT IN THE CARDS."

two hours later, on a walk, circa 88th and amsterdam

phone rings, guess who.

"how was costco?"

"ummm, brian couldn't go, he needed to practice. so i didn't go either."

"PERFECT! YOU CAN GO GET A CROQUE MONSIEUR!"

&p;!@*^&p;%$#@)(*^%$#@

FINE.

*click*

she was right. it was time.

i googled the number, i called, and made a reservation.

not for a table though, 

but for a croque monsieur. 

tell me that's not cute.

it was all because when i called, monsieur croque monsieur told me that, oui, today is croque monsieur day, but they only have "un, deux, trois.... FOUR CROQUE MONSIEURS LEFT!"

so i should probably get there soon.

meaning, i couldn't walk there, i'd have to subway it. 

meaning, i had no choice but to brave penn station.

i survived. 

monsieur croque monsieur greeted me and asked if my croque monsieur would be for here or to go.

i looked around the hot pink closet sized cafe at the two teensy tables,

"but, monsieur, there's no place to sit"

he motioned to an itsy bitsy stool squeezed between an already full coffee table and a wall, as if to say,

"duh, look at ze perfectly good square foot we have rezerved for you!"

i cracked up a bit, and took a seat. 

a few feet to my right was the oven used to heat my c.m.

within minutes, i was served up this piping hot beauty:

and ohhh it was decadent.

the way the béchamel sauce OOZED out from between the freshly cut ham

and the freshly baked {crusty, yes, very crusty} bread

ohh and the melted cheese on top, 

how it crackled with every bite! 

ah! if i wasn't so closely smooshed up against total strangers,

i would have licked every last drop of béchamel off of the plate!

i had an orangina to wash it down.

and for dessert, 

i took home a variety of french macaroons...

which i must restrain myself from raving about just yet because when midtown lunch compared them to bouchon's, my initial reaction was

"oh no you DIDN'T"

and then i promptly decided that i'd be comparing them for myself innnn (drum roll, s'il vous plait)

the macaroon smackdown

bouchon bakery vs. macaron cafe: who will take ze cake?

coming soon to a blog near you

i digress.

i want another macaron croque monsieur. RIGHT NOW. but, mes amies, i've got 50 more restaurants to go...

xoxo

yeh

macaron cafe is located on 36th street, just east of 7th ave 

p.s. did you know that today was no pants day in new york?

week 1: kesté

walking into kesté was like getting a good b12 shot.

the energy from the 80s music,

the brightly painted yellow walls,

and the italian hosts who might as well have been my best friends,

was enough to make me want to break out in song and dance.

{i can assure you though, there wasn't nearly enough room for that}

friend z and i got there at the right time,

because the wait was only 20 minutes

giving us just enough time to browse

the tiny bookstore across the street,

and be back in time for the host to hand out samples of a

fig & gorgonzola pizza

{i've never had figs! i've never had gorgonzola! new friends, you are so tasty!}

a few moments later, and

"bally, table for two"

was ready.

z, "that's us!"

me, "what are you talking about?"

z, "yeah. he thinks your name is bally."

me, "WHAT? my accent is NOT that strong. f this place. we're leaving."

{worry not, we didn't leave}

we sat.

and we were greeted by our new migliore amico,

signore waiter.

who proceeded to tell us the special...

burrata + a WHOLE LAYER OF basil + cherry tomatoes + more burrata =

the life changer

k. one of those please.

and can you suggest one with meat?

the kesté

= tomatoes + buffalo mozzarella + prosciutto + arugula + gran cru + e.v.o.o.

solid.

ten minutes later, and...

YAYYYYY!!

...and then ten minutes after that...

pizza, where did you go?!

the taste was almost obvious. like. "duh, pizza should taste like this. why doesn't it always?"

the crust was just so doughy and buttery and fulfilling,

and the way it cuddled with its groupies, the cheese and the tomatoes, just made the whole thing one perfect little package.

{yes, i folded my pizza in half when i ate it

no, i do not think this pizza warranted a fork & knife

unlike some people

...but then again, i do come from the last of deep dish, so i won't judge}

also, there was never any diva of the pie.

all of the ingredients were pretty perfectly well balanced.

like for example, when the burrata seemed like it was getting to be too much, mr. basil kicked in to keep things in check.

it was just a very happy pizza.

in a very happy place,

with very happy people.

i'd like to go back. but, people, i have 51 more restaurants to go!

xoxo

yeh

p.s.

dessert was around the corner, at milk and cookies

which was perfect for a freezing evening.

it was so cute the way they had a little shaker of green jimmies with the condiments...

{that's why my milk is green}

and their s'mores cookies were delicious!

thanks for the suggestion, friend marshy

kesté pizza and vino and milk and cookies bakery are both in the west village.

bits and things

1. on my walk to school today, i made a mental note that,

"no, it is not warm today in new york city."

and one block later i saw a sign for a soon to be opened

rita's italian ice.

my excitement made me forget how absurd it is for an italian ice shop to open in december.

rita's italian ice is the best sterile institution in america.

i could eat that stuff every day.

especially when they have pistachio.

2. i played the john adams chamber symphony last night in alice tully hall.

i loves me some john adams.

especially when he writes for the drumset

(errr, drumset - cymbals + rototoms x a whole roll of duck tape for dampening purposes)

i was a bit afraid of playing loudly though because in alice tully hall

if you scratch your forehead the wrong way,

the brotha in the back row of the audience will hear it.

...and i like playing loud?

{read the review here}

3. vosges mo's bacon chocolate chip pancake mix?

yes, plz.

4. a mediumly boiled egg from ramen setagaya is number 7 in time out new york's best food of 2009.

ummm k.

5. i've eaten nothing but hot pockets for the past week.

6. i think wasabi would make for a good ice cream flavor.

(or maybe my taste buds are skewed from said daily hot pockets?)

7. my holiday playlist:

sufjan stevens' christmas album

owl city's ocean eyes

8. happy first night of hanukkah

xoxo

yeh