Yum Mum (again)

So yesterday I stopped by Yum Mum on St. Marks after work again, thinking maybe I'd try something other than their coveted pork belly. When I walked in the two women working the counter recognized me as "the very enthusiastic pork belly girl" and asked me if I was there to order the "emperor" again. Not knowing what this mysterious "emperor" was, I came to discover that this is their very appropriate nickname for the pork belly over rice dish. I ended up getting the street style noodles with minced pork belly which was a nice switch up and great with the chili sauce. Can't rave enough about this place.

NYC does ITALY

It's been almost two weeks since I landed in Dusseldorf, Germany for a layover and here I am today sitting in my bed - in my hotel room that smells like fish - typing away at my little blog that I have neglected so absentmindedly over the past few months, just as I would if I were in New York. Has nothing changed? No! Everything has changed! My feet have touched ancient soil, and, frankly, I will never be the same. I spent my afternoon wandering Roman Ruins barefoot. Everyone else had shoes on and everyone else was looking at me and my bare feet enviously ( or skeptically, who's to say really?). Of course when I thought Italy, what initially crossed my mind was not these haphazardly maintained decadent towers and arches, or the aching cobblestone streets, or the rain that I thought I had left behind in  New York; it was the food and the food only that I fantasized about in the weeks proceeding my adventure ( that, and maybe a man or two).

Unfortunately my journey began in a food lover's nightmare. Venice may promise gondola rides and the relaxation of reverberating sea tides, but it does not promise food. Most restaurants my grandma and I ate at served undercooked pasta, fish, and risotto to us, with one exception; we called it the Flying Fish, so its actual name evades me, but it was a restaurant a couple blocks from our hotel. More chic than the surrounding tourists traps, we were served a sumptuous bowl of scallop mushroom risotto; risotto cooked to perfection - each pearly little grain of rice finding a home in the crevices of my mouth. Unfortunately it was followed by a liver dish, which I don't have much of a taste for yet - working on it though! Though it was pricey, what isn't in Venice? I'll research that restaurant some more to provide actual details.

Human nature took us south down towards Florence, golden and buried in the Tuscan region it is - as I have grown up my whole life hearing - the "birthplace of the renaissance". Which makes it all the worse that we didn't get around to seeing Michelangelo's David. But as I have firm intentions on returning there, this doesn't worry me. SPOILER ALERT: Florence was by far my favorite Italian city. Not just because of several Lizzie McGuire-esque adventures I happened to have, but because of the general splendor of the city and its fabulous food. Not wanting a repeat of Venice, I did a little research on Florentine restaurants. We found most of our good eats around the Santa Croce Piazza. Our first expenditure was a little place called Ristorante Boccadama ( http://boccadama.com/ ), and not only was it our first eat in Florence it was our first truly good eat in all of Italy. Just so you know, a clue to which Italian restaurants will serve true Italian food is the bread; if you get stale bread or crackers, RUN. Anything less than moist, crunchy bread, promises pasta you could have made better. At Boccadama we ate under a canopy in the warmth of dusk watching and shooing as pigeons landed near our table on the piazza. I was sipping my white house wine (another tip: when in Italy order the house wine- not only is it generally cheaper it's also usually pretty good) when the waiter came by with one of my favorite meals of the trip.Roasted chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce. It was so good we had to go back for a second serving.

After Florence we headed to Rome. Rome reminded me so much of New York, I'd almost given up on it when lo and behold the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the ruins took me by surprise. I'd almost completely forgotten they existed which made this trip all the more exciting. It was in Rome as well where I was reminded that Italy is the home of truly great gelatto... well maybe not all of Italy but certainly the Old Bridge Gelateria ( http://gelateriaoldbridge.com/en/). I'd been spoiled by Amorino, and was disappointed with most of the gelatto I had while in Italy, but this stuff blew even Amorino out of the water. Sure they don't turn your gelatto into a flower but why bother when everyone is stuffing it down their throats too quickly to notice anyways. It was so smooth and creamy I might as well have been eating butter, but much sweeter and much much colder. The only downside to this place, is there's a line out the door - but if you're sociable you'll make friends through your shared anticipation of glomming on such a perfect creamy and cold treat for any hot Italian day.

p.s. not in Italy anymore! France blog to come!

Doing Boston

I'm passing through Rhode Island by train looking up stuff to do, but its really hard to read while running on two to three hours of decent sleep. I, ignorantly, thought, "oh I'll just sleep on the train," forgetting how difficult it always was to sleep on the train the last two years of high school. So I'm gonna do boston like a jackass; hopefully find my way to the Liberty Trail and successfully navigate their flawed subway system. My aunt always says-at least once every time I see her- New York was built by mathematicians and Boston was built by drunks. We'll see if my exhausted conditions coincide with the confusing structure of the city, or if they prove to be hopelessly combative. This should be interesting - more later.

Porchetta and the Greatest Thing Your Eyes Will Ever Eat

A couple weeks ago, my roommate and I went out and had an odd number of experiences jumbled into one eccentric friday evening. We nearly successfully recreated this evening several nights ago. We started our night drinking in the comfort of our dorm while simultaneously karoaking very loudly - I'm sure to our floor mates dismay- the Beatles, Queen, and probably a little Selena Gomez (can't really remember). We left in time to just barely catch happy hour, and then we stumbled around the east village until this "little piggy" caught our eyes(cue drum roll for my perfect pun) 

Porchetta (http://www.porchettanyc.com/). Small, sweet, and hidden in the most obvious place - New York City. Duh. Though we were reluctant to spend ten dollars on a sandwich from a place we'd never heard of, especially while kind of intoxicated, we took a leap of faith - to be trite - and bought what turned out to to be a moist, soft, and delicious representation of pork. I, for one, am not particularly good at preparing pork -it usually turns out tough- or finding good pork recipes so I tend to try to avoid the fiend entirely. This, however, was most definitely an exception. Stuffed between two crunchy and well toasted slices of bread, the decadent roast pork was seasoned with what I detected as fennel - another thing I'm not so fond of - but not overwhelmingly so. Enough that although we weren't entirely surprised by the taste, we were intrigued and given an incentive to continue eating. I will undoubtedly be finding myself back there sometime soon.

The next restaurant was certainly different. We came across it during our original adventure so I won't pretend like it was some magical portal we discovered for the first time the other night; but it certainly is a magical portal. Quoting the restaurant Panna II(http://www.panna2.com/) it is where "chili pepper lights meets christmas lights." This quote is an understatement. Walking into that restaurant is like operating on a piñata. As you sit at your table you almost forget that you're eating. You become mesmerized by what looks like fireworks at very close proximity. The lights are not meant to deflect from their food. Their food could stand alone - its good Indian food, not amazing and not revolutionary - but their food is not why a line of people stand in thirty degree weather waiting for a seat for an undetermined amount of time and its not why it can't help but fill up to capacity every weekend. The picture can only convey so much and honestly I think its only a matter of time before New York City recognizes this spectacle as a national monument. If you don't plan on going to any restaurant besides Applebees - if you can even find one - during your stay in New York, at least make it down to to this hot spot in the frigid east village.

Well I think I've done enough rambling for tonight. Tomorrow I'll be picnicking in central park. More to come.

To Eat Ice Cream, or to Not Eat Ice Cream, Can That Count as a Question?

Internal struggle. Should I head over to Sundaes and Cones in the pouring rain or walk up to a dining hall and eat a salad. The choice is obvious, or is it?

I'm already feeling kind of guilty, for a number of reasons:

1.It's been a long time since I've posted anything and I'm sure everyone is dying to/dreading to hear from me again.

2.I never eat vegetables anymore(but can you blame me? dining hall vegetables usually consist of seventy percent oil, thirty percent vegetables)

3. I ate a pound of pad thai... again.

It was Valentine's Day, and I am happy to say that I have the greatest Valentine a girl could wish for. MYSELF. I'm kidding of course, so to douse any lonely regrettable feelings I had, I indulged and ate a pound of pad thai from suzy's in what felt like ten seconds, but I'm sure was much shorter. So now I'm feeling guilty. I haven't worked out in two weeks and my fat and I are throwing ourselves a lovely little pity parade, I only wish you could be there for it.

Valentines Day actually wasn't that bad. I ran by CVS first thing in the morning and bought two boxes of Spongebob Valentines, most inscribed with the following, "Will you be my matey?" I then proceeded to give them to the kids at the elementary school I tutor at, who in return gave me a piece of brownie that tasted like playdoh. I ate it nonetheless. When I got back to campus I snuck soup into one of my classes and afterwards took portraits of my friend for another class. She looked quite stunning really, I would post a picture but she wasn't dressed as food... Anyways when I finally got home I opened the V-Day Care Package my mom sent me only to find, that it was filled with CANDY AND WINE. Best mom ever? I think yes. I'm sorry I don't have any particularly exquisite cuisines to talk about, but as soon as my budget increases I promise there will be more posts. I'm back baby and fatter than ever.

p.s. I got a new camera!

Hiatus

Good morning new york, or should I say... you know I honestly don’t know what to say. Maybe its because I’m bleeding onto my second consecutive day with absolutely no sleep - yep I did it, I pulled an all nighter ( my first by the way) - and I’m feeling nauseous and disoriented because I’ve lost my glasses. I feel like a little blind mouse, or  even all three of the blind mice. My personality has been raging from absolute lunacy to more subdued and anxious to just plain stupid. Most of the time I think I’m just plain stupid and I blame this on the fact that that I haven't gotten more than three hours of sleep collectively since I got back from Canada three to four weeks ago, or whatever. 

Most of the time I wish I was still in Canada, especially as I was illegally sipping cheapo wine from a thermus that smelled like coffee before a David Sedaris reading back in NYC. David, I love ya and absolutely nothing against you, but It had certainly been a long week; one of many. With wine I’ve been eating cheese, in the comfort of my dorm. Eating out has become less of an option since I dropped the bomb in Canada. While there I climbed a mountain and then treated myself to a poutine - a delicious conglomeration of well seasoned frites (fries - I’m practicing for my french final can you tell?) covered in gravy cheese curds and whatever topping you desire. We ate fries, asian food, and crepes throughout the entirety of our trip dousing it with legally purchased biere rousse ( red beer ). There is something so entirely perfect about being able to drink legally, especially when its good cheap beer. Drinking red beer felt like, to quote my roommate, sipping amber.

Anyways, back to the point, which is that I can’t afford anything because of how much I spent in Canada. SO, I’ve been cooking. AHA, she cooks, I know thats what you are all thinking - all four of you - and yes its true. I do cook when I have the time. My uncle works at Trader Joe’s so periodically I’ll get a gift card in the mail from him ,which is always a nice surprise, and then i’ll go and purchase some tender, salty proscuitto and lace it over a finely picked cantaloupe like ribbon on a blonde baby’s head, or make a pesto pasta and top it with strip steak cooked rare. 


I guess thats why I’m excited to go home, I’ll be leaving today and as much as it saddens me that I’ll be away from the delicacies of New York for five whole weeks, I’m also incredibly happy that I don’t have to eat cafeteria food for that duration and I’ll be able to cook more often. I suppose I’m entering a hiatus, but maybe you’ll get lucky and see some of my own creations soon. Anyways, bye for now New York. You’re one hell of a heartbreaker, but I can’t help but love you anyways. 

Amore

Love is in the air. Or something, but not really. It isn't spring time its fall time, as the constantly shedding trees of Washington Square have made very clear to me. I'm dying to go out there and make a leaf pile but the lawns are currently closed due to seeding. I don't really understand why they've decided to seed the lawns now given that its only a matter of time before the grass quickly recedes back into the ground under the icy grip of impending snow.

Anyways, back to the love, or the lack thereof. How the holidays procure so much joy from us during such an unforgiving season baffles me, I'm beginning to think its a hoax. The temperature doesn't stop me from eating ice cream though. In California, when I was younger, we'd go to a yogurt place called Golden Spoon (http://www.goldenspoon.com), but only when it was forty degrees or below and raining sheets. Why? Why lower our internal temperature as the weather proceeded to do the same? No lines, no wait... same prices...but whatever. Im finding that I've begun to continue that tradition here.

This last week for a class I've been working on a group project. After our first meeting we stopped by sundaes and cones a sweet and delicious and not that expensive treat. After six hours of auditioning and recording it was gelato we indulged in, a little expensive and entirely worth it: Amorino (http://www.amorino.com/en/). Hell, we deserved it. I've been once before and while it was good I wasn't about to spend six bucks on the tablespoon of gelatto I'd originally gotten again any time soon. But as the flavor of the month shot up I found it harder and harder for myself to resist, and I'm actually sticking to my measly budget now! In case your wondering, thats why my posts have dwindled to once a week if I'm lucky. Their flavor of the month is, I'm not going to pretend like I know what the italian name for it is, but it was some sort of mascarpone (a sweet italian cream cheese kind of spread; good for desserts) and fig cocktail of perfection. So good; all of their flavors are.  They've arranged it so that when they style your ice cream into a flower on a cone, every petal can be a different flavor, which sounds great in theory but all the flavors melt together and though they still taste good the impact of each individual ice cream is lost. My suggestion: get one to two flavors max, and definitely get the mascarpone (before its too late!)
p.s. thanks to spencer for being such a fab model