Archive | December, 2010

Coffee and Tea Festival 2010 (A very, very long overdue post)

13 Dec

In February of 2009, on a very random day in New York City, Mike and I accidentally stumbled upon The Coffee and Tea Festival in the last 20 minutes that it was open. The friendly people at the door allowed us in for free since it was the tail end. It was such a great stumble upon! Most booths were winding down, but we got to sample a few who were still active. One of the last booths we found also wound up being my favorite: Best Friends Cocoa . I wound up not only buying bags for myself, but also giving them as (much appreciated) gifts. Of course, I made the fatal flaw of throwing out my last bag without going to the website to re-order first. For this reason, I was really hoping they would be in attendance again this year! Luckily they were, but more on that later.

Note: this post was started in March of 2010, just after attending, however, due to various circumstances, it is being posted very late.  However, it’s just in time to get tickets for this year!  It will be on February 19th and 20th, 2011.

When we first walked in, we were greeted with samples and a very nice display from Tavalon Tea.  I usually love their teas, however, the ones that they had to sample just didn’t thrill me this time.

One exhibit was showing how to muddle. How interactive!

Serendipitea had a nice, ecological themed set up.

And Cabot, one my faves, was sampling cheese.

One vendor I definitely bought from was selling homemade jams.  The brand was Deborah’s and it was all-natural with low sugar.  I especially loved the fig ginger flavor.  I got a few in a sample pack.  Mmmm Mmmm good.

One of my favorite exhibits had incredible tea flowers in beautiful jars.

I couldn’t take enough pictures.

Just beautiful!  Though they weren’t tasting… hmmm.

Then… in the back corner… I spotted them.  YAAAY!

I wound up talking with the owners, and they were actually looking for some “blogger” press and agreed to do an interview with me.  (That will be a post coming very soon.)  I already featured these guys in the gift guide, and I look forward to sharing all the fun things I learned about the cocoa business with you soon.

I really love this festival, though I wish it were clearer what you can and can’t try (and I think it’s weird that people go to a coffee and tea festival and don’t let people sample their teas… what’s the point?)  The food vendors that are there get a lot of exposure since they are in the minority.  And it’s fun to find new coffees, teas, and cocoas!

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Cookshop

10 Dec

As mentioned in my previous post, after the Dewar’s tasting, we needed food, desperately.  So we went across the street  to Colicchio and Sons.

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They told us to grab seats at the bar and people should be getting up any minute.  We hovered for about 5 minutes before feeling like we were just being plain rude… so I pulled out the iPhone and did some OpenTable-ing for the neighborhood.

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When I saw Cookshop (on 10th Ave and 20th Street) had a reservation open for 4 just 20 minutes later, we were out of there.  (Though we all vowed to return)

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We took the 5 minute walk and were seated immediately.

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This place just felt good inside.  Like someone put in a enough effort to make it feel special without making it feel overdone or uninviting.  Unfortunately, it was horribly dark.  Forget taking pictures… we could hardly read the menus!   (Apologies in advance for the overly dark pictures).

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Even though we had just sipped our way through the scotch tasting, we ordered some more drinks to keep the buzz going. We all had a good laugh when we realized that the locations that we had just learned about at the tasting were listed right on our menu.

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We went for mixers, however…

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We started with pizza.  Description sounded good…

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Upskirt was decent…. but it was just okay.

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The highlight was the gnocchi.   It was a special that night and included veal meatballs and brussels sprouts.    It was so perfectly pillowy.  We all mentioned how much we enjoyed this dish.

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Lori ordered what sounded a like a humble dish of eggplant parm.  But when it came out, not only was the portion HUGE, but it was delicious.

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Kevin ordered the “Lamb Three Ways.”  It was good… but not fantastic.

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Mike chose the porchetta, and he was nice enough to share some crispy cracklin’s with the table.  And we were all thankful for that!  It was delicious.

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I got the duck with lentils and squash.  I enjoyed the squash very much, and the duck was pretty good (though I wish the skin was a little crispier).

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We were absolutely game for dessert.

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Lori chose the Chocolate-Raspberry Sundae.  I am not a big sundae person at a restaurant, simply because I always prefer baked goods unless I’m going to an ice cream store specifically.  Lori seemed to agree and said this was just okay.  Nothing special.

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Mike and I both chose the Saigon Cinnamon-Pistachio pudding with a chocolate cookie, salted whipped cream & candied sicilian pistachios.  It sounded PERFECT.  But I found it lacking in flavor… I could hardly taste the pistachio.  Lori LOVED it, however, which is pretty funny since she did NOT like the Milk Bar ice cream with a similar flavor profile and I LOVED it.

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Overall, I thought Cookshop was delicious.   I think this is the kind of place I would prefer for brunch, however, dinner was very good.  I highly recommend the gnocchi!

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

For Lori’s full review, check it out here!

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So what does this foodie want for Festivas?

9 Dec

Now that I have posted not one, not two, but all three parts of the First NYC Nom Nom Official Gift Guide for the Festive Foodie, I know you are all wondering what I want…

While I have pretty much every kitchen accessory that can possibly fit in my NYC kitchen, there is one thing for which I yearn… a GOOD candy thermometer.  I have officially overheated, steamed out, melted, and/or broke at least 4 different thermometers this past year.

Why have I kept the corpses?  I HAVE NO IDEA!  The dial one is steamed over and blurry, but it still works.  The mercury one I just keep praying will start working again… (because come on… it’s mercury!) but it doesn’t seem to register over 270 accurately (and my toffee needs to get to 295!).  The melted electric one still mostly works, however, I have to be very careful not to let any steam get into the melted part or the whole thing goes haywire and the screen goes black.  I’m especially upset about the last one since it was a pricey item from William Sonoma.  (And who puts plastic, that melts, on the bottom of a very short thermometer?!)

I just bought this thermometer from Amazon (it was tough to find one with decent reviews!) and I’m praying it works AND doesn’t break within a week.  But if ANYONE has a thermometer they love. I’m all ears…

HELP ME BLOGOSPHERE!

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