Archive | February, 2011

Atlanta Nomming: Majestic Diner

28 Feb

In what can only be described as an evening of epicness, I wound up at The Majestic Diner at 3am.  I was told it was an Atlanta staple for late night “if I go home now I’ll be too hungover in the morning” grub.  I think this place defines greasy spoon.

The menu was simple with things like fried eggs, fried potatoes, and toast…

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Scrambled eggs and sausage…

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A cheesy version of the potatoes…

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And my unfortunate order, the fried potatoes (bland and under cooked), poached eggs (bland and under cooked), and corned beef hash (tasted gritty… and bland… though thankfully not under cooked).

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I get why this place exists in a city that isn’t in New Jersey (where diners are a staple of everyday life), but honestly, it was AWFUL.  I think I would have preferred the hangover.

Total Nom Points: 3 out of 10


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Atlanta Nomming: Serpas

25 Feb

After completing some client meetings (and a great client lunch at JCT Kitchen & Bar, which unfortunately I didn’t photograph to avoid the uncomfortable situation of whipping out the camera in front of clients I am meeting for the first time), I met up with my college roommate, Vicki, for dinner.  She was excited to bring me to Serpas, as it was one of the best meals she had in Atlanta.  Their tag line is “True Food” and it focuses on approachable, fresh food that is made with care and attention.

The space was a cotton storage facility originally and they did a great job customizing the space so it was big, well designed, and yet not overly noisy.

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Their menu changes daily:

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I wanted to order almost this entire menu!

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We started with the tuna tartare.

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The eggplant hushpuppies.

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And I narrowed down my app choice to crispy pork rillette.  Delish!

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Orders included the stuffed chicken breast…

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The jumbo sea scallops…

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The veal porterhouse…

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And I chose the braised beef short rib.  It was supposed to come with chile creamed spinach and whipped potatoes, but I got the sweet potato puree instead.  This fell apart and had amazing flavor.  The sweet potatoes went SO well with the meat that I’m surprised this wasn’t the normal combo.

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Unfortunately, there wasn’t much food sharing… but it was scarfed down so fast that I know people enjoyed it.  I wish I had room for dessert to test it out, but I can say that my short ribs were good enough to want to go back in a heartbeat.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

 

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Museum of Sex “Awaken Your Senses” Event

23 Feb

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the “Awaken Your Senses” event at the Museum of Sex.  It was touted as being a night filled with food and fireman.  Sold!  I invited That Lori of Stuff I Ate to join me.

WARNING: If you are too young or too easily insulted to be reading a post made about an event in a sex museum, please come back tomorrow when I promise more innocent posts will come up (though I can’t promise no cursing).  This also applies to anyone who may get nervous at the site of sculptures of private parts… Oh yeah… you can Where’s Waldo some interesting things in the pictures that follow.

I had been to the museum before (it’s a fun trip) but was excited to see an event they put on.  I was a bit late, so most of the fire fighters were already off of their calendar signing posts.

When we walked in, there was no sign, no greeting… just a table of food and people milling about. I would have loved some direction or a welcome, but we made do.

Funny thing… I wound up focusing so much on the food that I pretty much forgot about the firemen and only got one picture of them in the room!  (You can see the official pictures of the event at this link)

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The first food stop were truffles made by Mimi Truffles.

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This first bite (a spiced chai truffle) was the best thing I ate all night!

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The red velvet ones were pretty damn good too!  (Though they were both more like cake balls than truffles)

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(And made for some fun photography)

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The next set of desserts was brought to us by Michael Allen.  They had quite the spread of truffles, macarons, and other delectables.  I wasn’t overly impressed with this side of the table.

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I LOVE macarons, but these were a bit underwhelming (and the texture just didn’t have the snap that I have come to love for the cooking with the marshmallowy inside and filling)

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The left side of the display (all the way in the top left of the pic below), however, included mini canelés that were awesome.  Simply awesome.

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Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery had a display of wasabi cupcakes (that I avoided like the plague… NOT a wasabi fan) as well as the chocolate explosion bomb thing which was cake and mousse and something.  I was totally underwhelmed.  And obviously I didn’t care enough to photograph it.  So I had to end on a good note and get another chai truffle.

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Lori and I made our way downstairs to go to the bathroom and I had to giggle when I entered. I took EXTRA long and exploded in a fit of giggles as I exited and Lori looked at my quizzically.  How can you not giggle when a sex museum has a chalk board for people to write on in the bathroom?

I even left her a message:

And then she left the world a message:


(It’s true… we do)

Just outside the bathroom is a bar that JUST opened called “Oralfix”

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I liked the lamps…

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It was very modern looking.

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With a menu focused on aphrodisiac flavors.

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I also liked the tip jar…

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We opted for wine (people were milling with drinks that looked specific to the event, but we couldn’t find them… so we bought ourselves each a glass of Sexy Wine Bomb… not awful)

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I can only imagine what these are…

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As we were leaving, we perused the gift shop which included some notable books.

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And some fascinating stuffed animals…  (please… please read the tag and notice how they spell “Rabbit”)

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I wasn’t quite sure what a smoking labbit had to do with sex… then I turned it around…

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And that… my friends, is where I end this post.

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Atlanta Nomming: Flip Burger Boutique

23 Feb

I went to Atlanta for work and managed to plan my trip for the week of the most epic snow storm that ever hit Atlanta.  I don’t think I truly understood how bad ice can be in a place that doesn’t usually get it, however, I got out of the train station and was literally trapped.  I couldn’t get down the stairs because it was a ramp of ice.  I wound up climbing through a snow bank.  The entire city shut down amidst warnings on the news to not leave home.  Many of my meetings were cancelled at the last minute, which was a bummer.

It did give me a chance to get to know our Atlanta Sales Rep a bit better, however, and she was kind enough to take me to Richard Blais’ Flip Burger.  (And my Top Chef Sluttiness continues!)

Richard Blais is known on Top Chef for creating edible feats of science.  He uses the techniques of Molecular Gastronomy and is known for being the master of the liquid hydrogen tank on Top Chef.  I think a lot of his artistry gets lost on the show, however, opening up a refined concept centered around burgers and milkshakes worked very well for him.

The menu changes, so this was the offering we had:

 

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Notice the liquid nitrogen milkshakes?  How could I NOT try one of those.


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As for the space, I LOVED it.  It’s long cafeteria style tables with a nifty mural painted on the back and TVs that were framed by old fashioned wooden frames.  Too cool.

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Then the shakes came… Kristen got the Rice Krispy shake, which tasted like liquid rice krispy treats and even had a few on top.

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I went with the nutella and burnt marshmallow shake.  This was sensational.

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The marshmallows tasted just like the best part of camping.

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We split some parmesan zucchini fries.  These were good, but missing some zucchini oomph.

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We also split the pork belly macaroni and cheese.  The pork belly was very good, and I LOVES me some pork belly, however, I think I would have preferred a crispier pork product on this one.  I also thought the little round macaroni was a weird choice.  It just didn’t come together for me.

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Kristen ordered the Korean BBQ burger, which sounded great except it had kimchi on it.  She really enjoyed it.

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My burger was other-wordly.  Usually I would say that most burgers are burgers… and how good could a burger be?  Turns out I like my burgers amped up with special toppings.  It was the Black Diamond Burger with black diamond prime brisket rib eye and short rib x2, roasted mushrooms, onion, brie, and horseradish mayo.  (I went with the smoked mayo instead).  WOW!  A $17 burger CAN be worth it.

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Overall, I was really impressed with this place.  I recommend you stick to the burgers and shakes and skip the sides, however, I’m glad I tried it all.  It was one of the best burgers I have ever had.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10


 

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Alchemy (Brooklyn)

21 Feb

We were wandering around Brooklyn on a rainy evening after seeing a fantastic exhibit at Brooklyn Art Museum (Norman Rockwell… it’s thru April 10, 2011), looking fora  place to grab a bite.  We walked by a number of places and used Urban Spoon to find a recommended place.  Before we knew it, we had wandered to 5th Ave in Park Slope to find Alchemy (56 Fifth Avenue at Bergen Street).

Inside, there were a few small tables and then a few communal tables.

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We started with Herbed Goat Cheese in Philo Dough with watercress, pears and lime vinaigrette.  The Philo was perfectly crispy and the salad underneath was very good.  I also loved how the goat cheese paired with the pear.

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We got brussels sprouts and shells and cheese with bacon and peas as sides.  The sprouts were DELISH!  The shells and cheese needed more depth.

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Mike got the burger.  It was well cooked and the fries were well crisped.

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I chose the Grilled Hanger Steak (all natural angus beef) with herbed butter, mashed potatoes and kale.  The potatoes were DELICIOUS and the steak had a good char.  And what could be wrong with butter on steak? Nom nom nom.

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I’m always skeptical of kale that isn’t crispy, but this was perfectly cooked so the ultra bitter taste was gone and it was just delicious, greeny, garlicky goodness.

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The dessert menu had some great options…

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But I had to choose the Sticky Guinness Pudding with toffee sauce and candied hazelnuts.  How could I not?  And MMMMMM was it good!  I wanted to lick the plate.  The pudding itself was a bit overcooked, but the flavors were so good that it didn’t even matter.

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I don’t know why I am constantly surprised by how good food can be in Brooklyn.  We have been pretty lucky with our BK Stumble Upons.  Overall, Alchemy was better than good.  The price points are close to NY, and the food is NY quality.  I would go back here in a heartbeat.  I would love to try Alchemy for brunch.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Xie Xie- Before the End

17 Feb

We ate at Xie Xie long before Angelo Sosa made a splash on Top Chef.  I even blogged about it before and confessed my love for their 1000 year-old ice cream sandwiches (which got them a Runner Up title for best Noms of 2009).  Even after Angelo made it through his first season, we were impressed that when we were eating there, he was casually sitting around and greeting customers.  He seemed a very likable guys in person.

(WARNING: Top Chef Spoiler for last night’s episode, February 16th, 2011, is at the end)

We took a big group of friends there and got to try a huge variety of the sandwiches. 

This was the Fish Cha Ca La Vong with onion jam and sriracha mayo dill.  DSCF1607

 This was the Shredded Braised Chicken Sandwich. 

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And then… there was this… I have no idea what this was :)

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The Sweet Glazed Pork Sandwich on a Chinese Bun was perfectly offset with the cilantro.  I don’t think you can make a pork steamed bun that I won’t love.  One of my most favoritist foods.

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But my absolute favorite was the Vietnamese BBQ Beef Sandwich. 

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It is supposed to come with basil mayo and carrot kimchi…

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But I got mine sans kimchi

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Unfortunately, Xie Xie has since closed.  This is awful news because I LOVED that ice cream sandwich… And it’s GREAT news because I lurrrrrrved that ice cream sandwich too much.  Angelo Sosa has gone on to another venture that just recently opened called Social Eatz.  I can’t wait to try it!  I just hope the ice cream sandwich comes back some day…

TOP CHEF SPOILER:

Angelo Sosa surprisingly got kicked off tonight.  I know a lot of people found him annoying, but I liked him and always drooled when looking at his food.  I can’t wait to see what this guy does next… but I’m surprised he didn’t win Top Chef.

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Cici’s Pizza

16 Feb

Mike and I have a funny goal to eat at the fast food restaurants we hear about on TV but that don’t exist in the neighborhood.  We recently crossed Sonic of the list, and we still have to eat at Joe’s Crab Shack, however, I was excited when my cousins said they would take us to a Cici’s.  (There is just 1 near NYC, in East Rutherford, NJ near Giants Stadium, however, there is also one in Cherry Hill, NJ).

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We found out that Cici’s advertises their pizza buffet at $4.99, however, due to the lovely price of real estate around NYC, this East Rutherford location needs to charge $5.99.  All you can eat for $5.99 sounds like a steal to me though!

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They also have pasta and breadsticks and something that might have been soup?  Hmm… I tried the breadsticks (not worth it) and the pasta (good if you like Chef Boyardee… which I have to say I do in a nostalgic kinda way)

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Then they have about a million varieties of pizza, and will make any variety you can dream up from their ingredients.

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They even have dessert, which was cinnamon buns and brownies (why not dessert pizza East Rutherford?)

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They also had some “thin crust” varieties (which is odd since their regular ones are pretty thin).

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For the “health conscientious” (HA) they have salad… and breadsticks.

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And they have white pies and extra cheese.

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99% of the pizza slices were just okay.  Cardboardy, as it has a reputation for, but at least the crust was a bit crisped, which helped.  But see that top slice in the picture below? Oh yes! That is macaroni and cheese pizza.  The cheese reminded me of velveeta, and in ALL the right ways. I could not get enough of this.  What could possibly be bad about velveeta style cheese on macaroni on top of crispy bread.  Yes please!  (This alone made the entire trip TOTALLY worth it).

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The brownies didn’t really look worthwhile, so I tried the mini cinnamon bun.  Ehhh… Cici’s needs to take a lesson from Cinnabon… MORE CINNAMON!  And the frosting shouldn’t just be white and stick… it should be made with powdered sugar and be nice and sweet!  Oh well.

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Most of Cici’s I would rate a completely average 5 Nom Points.   It’s a lovely value for the price, and Icould see it being a nice alternative for family’s who want to bring their family out for a fun night at a low price.  That Mac & Cheese pizza was a true 7.  Comfort food at its finest and cheapest!

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Peking Duck House

14 Feb

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I figured it was appropriate to blog about a place I LOVED when I ate there recently.

I don’t think of Chinatown as destination eating.  Sure, you can get some great dim sum and the markets are fun, but I usually just end up there. I don’t make it a point to go there, but when my coworker told me about this place, I knew we had to try it.  So Mike and I met my 2 coworkers and their girlfriends at Peking Duck House (at 28 Mott Street) one Saturday for lunch.  There is another location on 53rd Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves), but we went all the way to Chinatown to do it right.

We started with some cold peanutty noodles that came with cucumbers.  It was good, but nothing overly special.

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A few people got soup, which was quite tasty.

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We also had to try some dim sum, so we went with pork.  These were just okay.

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Nothing was outstanding to this point, but when they started to set the table for the duck, I got excited.  The put some hoison-type sauce on the table.

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Along with tortillas (tortillas? I thought this was Chinese?), cucumbers, and scallions.

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Then the ducks came out!  (WARNING… if you are overly disturbed by food with a head on it… Debbie… this may be a good time to skip to the end of this blog).

The smell was heavenly!  And you could see right away how crispy that skin was.

Their website describes the process as follows: “One of The most sophisticated arts of Chinese Cooking. We prepare well in advance. First, air is first pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin, and then boiled water is repeatedly spread over the bird, which is then carefully dried. The dried skin is rubbed all over with maltose and the duck is then roasted in a hot oven for a period of time until the meat is tender and the skin crispy.”

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And BOY was it crispy!

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A chef came out and expertly carved up that duck with incredible speed and perfectly even slices.

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Just look at that!  My mouth is watering just thinking about this place!

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I made a number of my own wraps, even learning how to expertly wrap them from the native Californians who knew just how to wrap a perfect duck burrito. 

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Overall, I can’t believe food can taste this good in Chinatown. I’ve had Peking Duck before, but it never tasted like this.  The presentation, carving, and tortillas make it fun, but the duck itself stands all on its own.  The two ducks were plenty to serve 6 of us, even if we didn’t get the apps.  They are a wee bit pricey at $43 a pop, but when they feed 3 people, it’s a fantastic deal.  I cannot wait to go back!

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

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Rachel’s Restaurant

11 Feb

There is NO shortage of Italian restaurants in NYC, especially in Hell’s Kitchen.  But I have become a fan of Rachel’s (on 9th Ave between 43rd and 44th Streets).   They bill themselves as comfort and “American Bistro” food, however, it is definitely based in Italian roots. 

On the order was the Trenette Scampi, which was black pasta with sauteed shrimp, asparagus, & tomatoes in a garlic & oil sauce.  It was a great garlicky sauce.

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Next up was the burger, which came with with caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato & swiss cheese.

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Someone got the Seared Tuna with asparagus, avocado salad with roasted pepper coulis.  I was told it was tasty.

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I got the special, which was ravioli in an orange cream sauce.  It tasted like a creamsicle!  I really enjoyed this dish and wanted to lap up the sauce.

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Overall, Rachel’s is hearty, classic food done well.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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What’s better than sex?

9 Feb

Sex + Firefighters + Dessert Samples of course!

Want to come?  Join NYC Nom Nom tomorrow night!

The Museum of Sex invited me to attend their AWAKEN YOUR SENSES Valentine’s Event which will feature dessert samples and mingling with firefighters while they sign their coveted calendar.  And now I’m inviting you!

Here is the info they provided:
A tasting will be hosted with select NYC vendors offering samples of their most sultry treats. Event is free and open to the public. A surprise guest critic will attend.

AWAKEN YOUR SENSES.

INDULGE IN THE NAUGHTY.

EXPERIENCE PURE UNADULTERATED PLEASURE.

Sample decadent desserts and cozy up to some sexy uniformed firemen at the Museum of Sex on Thursday, February 10, 2011. Savor the delicious and luxurious chocolates offered free by top NYC venues and feast your eyes on the muscular NYC firefighters from the pin-up City of the Brave 2011 calendar. Guests may purchase a calendar, receive autographs, mingle, and have their photos taken with these heartthrobs.

The event, to be hosted in the Museum of Sex’s gift shop on Fifth Avenue and 27th Street, is FREE and open to the public. The Museum, featuring four galleries highlighting sex and film, sex and comics, the sex lives of animals, as well as a gallery highlighting artifacts from the museum’s permanent collection, will be open during the event.

Explore the world of aphrodisiacs in the new OralFix Café and find that perfect gift in the Museum Store to set the mood for a tantalizing Valentine’s Day.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011
6:00PM – 7:30PM
Museum of Sex Gift Shop
233 Fifth Avenue @ 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
212-689-6337 ext. 115
CALENDAR SIGNING IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

For tomorrow night only, you can get $3 off admission to the museum itself, just mention “Firefighters” at the admissions counter.

See you there!  And hopefully Mr. February as well…

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