new york

bánh mìzzle


molly had her first bánh mì sandwich today.

{it's about time!!}

i got it from some rando hole-in-the-wall, 
and i got the pork one.

aside from the easily identifiable pork
and carrots
and cilantro
and cucumbers 
there were a few unidentified ingredients

one of the artificially pink nature
and
another of the spreadable nature

but i was in the mood to go with the flow.

so i just went ahead without asking any questions
and ate it
and prayed for my tummy in the future hours.

and guess what?
tummy god heard my prayers! 
and it was delicious!

yay for bánh mì!!

next on my list?
it's in the back of a little jewelry store in chinatown.
how cute is that?!



xoxo


yeh

week 23: fornino


i tried.
i really tried
to stay in that hot williamsburg bar
packed like a sardine
{a sweaty sardine}
standing on my tippy toes
to get a glimpse of the u.s. vs england world cup game...

but in the end
it was that empty, air-conditioned, talked-about pizza bar
that won the rights to my saturday afternoon.

{also, do you know how frustrating it is to start cheering for the team that just scored because half of the bar is cheering--only to find out that you are indeed cheering for the wrong team?}

anyways,

it's fact that probably one of the best times to get into a restaurant that you've been wanting to try but that you haven't wanted to wait for is during some huge sports event.
which is reason why the italian gentlemen in the corner and the sad looking williamsburger waitresses were the only other people in the restaurant.
{as roars explode from the watering hole across bedford...}

i sat in comfort as i perused the menu.

too big and mushroom-filled.

so i got the margherita classica
{see blackberry picture above}

and,
ok,
not that it didn't suck,
but i mean,
the last three pizzas in new york that i ate were from
and kesté.

{snob snob, i am a snob}

don't pounce on me 
-the flavors were gorgeous-

fresh basil grown in their garden
strong badass tomato sauce
and mozzarella that,while it did have the tendency to slide off all in one bite,was pretty darn good.

my beef was with the crust.
that, too, had a beautiful taste
but the texture just could not compete for its life with the other neapolitan pies in this citayy.

i appreciated the burnt-ness on the bottom,
but the dryness? 
no no.

either way,
i'm glad i discovered a new trick for getting into otherwise crowded restaurants:

talking about,
momofuku during the world series,
locanda verde during the super bowl?

...29 to go, sillies!


fornino is on bedford and north 7th in williamsburg, brooklyn

week 22: nougatine at jean-georges

it was like playing a game of 
pretty pretty princess...

you know, the one where you move around the game board
and win plastic beads
until you've collected them all
and you earn a plastic crown 
fit for the most queenly of seven year olds?

sure the jewels are fake,
and sure even the most oblivious little girls know it,

and sure it was just the lunch prix fixe
and yeah i only spent the amount i earn in one hour of workstudy

but it was still jean-georges!
and it was delicious!!!!!!
known for it's wildly intense bougeyness
and outrageously (in a good way) priced three-course lunch,
friend maria and i chose jean-georges vongerichten's trump tower café 
for our post-jury, post-final celebratory gorge. 
{you must understand that with maria, you do not eat. you gorge.}
it began with asparagus for maria
and this soup for me.

however, every time i look at this picture of the soup
a little part of my soul dies
because 
underneath the soup there lies a beautiful little design of 
sauce and croutons and brie cheese
-something you'd find in a doll house-
and before i could whip out my trusty point and shoot,
bombs away!!!!!!
...came the flood of pea purée, courtesy of monsieur waiter!

devastation.

regardless,
eating my feelings about a missed opportunity never tasted this good!

now for the main course,
the burger on the menu tempted maria and me an embarrassing amount...
but since we are certainly more posh than that,
{HAH}
maria got the red snapper with green things and sauce things {above}
and i got the steak with a spinach and gruyère crêpe {below}


both fought for the show,
as they were both prepared pretty much to perfection,
but in the end
the gooey crepe won my heart.
the dessert kept the steak and fish in the spotlight,
yet they were still legitimately outrageous.
maria seemed to find more amusement with her puff pastry stick than the caramel-y flan it garnished
and i just got lost trying to keep track of the different kinds of chocolate in my molten cake.

almost more impressive than the food
was the quality of the service. 

i recently read bruce buschel's 100 things staffers should never do
{and just about died}
 i am fully convinced that this is on the required reading list for what is rumored to be a long and intricate training process for all jean-georges wait staff.

the service 
+ 
the food 
the high you get after you've officially completed a school year 
an extremely enjoyable dining experience.

one that i'd most like to repeat...

but i've got 30 more restaurants to go!!

xoxo


yeh



nougatine at jean-georges is located at 1 central park west, at columbus circle

week 21: roberta's



it's true what they say about 
brooklyn.
the men have wicked beards,
everyone rides bikes,
and the best places are easy to miss.
some don't even have a sign...
{pretentious? or awesome? pretawesome, methinks}

anyways, 
i do this thing where if someone offers me a gig 
in a part of new york that i've yet to explore,
even if it's the triangle part to bruckner 7 with the youth community volunteer orchestra of bedford-stuyvesant incorporated,
i'ma take it.
just so i can discover places like
in bushwick.

and when bushwick residences and friends
mika & frankie
lead me to this place, and almost walked right by,
i wasn't so sure...

until, upon entering,
i saw this beautiful thing!
the oven
not the dude bending over.
{you wouldn't believe how much sass i got for taking this picture though...}

also beautiful were the pizzas coming out of the oven.
so much so that when given the choice to wait an hour and a half
or to freeze our bums off in the garden seating,
the choice was obvious...

and utterly worth it.

vegan frank got the 
rosso
tomato, oregano & garlic

mika
margherita
that rolls off the tongue, don't it?

and i, with my newly formed love of pineapple pizza, 
devoured the
dakine
tomato, mozzarella, ricotta, cotto, jalapenos & pineapple

{whoever thought of that combination is genius, by the way... 
sweet, spicy, and cheese? yes, please}




with dough slightly crispier
than kesté's,
and local fresh toppings,
this may just be another reason to venture out to brooklyn again...

and p.s. is anybody else obsessed with this neapolitan pizza obsession?


31 more restaurants, people!


xoxo


yeh


roberta's is located at 261 moore st in brooklayyn

mon-fri 12pm-12am
sat-sun 11am-12am
billz & coins only