pipa

19th (park/bway)

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located in the basement of ABC carpet & home (there's also an entrance on 19th), pipa uses the store's merchandise as its decor with price tags hanging from the chandeliers. it kind of feels like you're dining in an antiques store, which is a little weird. service is also a little slow. but the food makes up for it.

pipa serves spanish tapas, but XYZ and i were there for brunch. we both ordered the salmon eggs benedict - two poached organic eggs, smoked salmon, potato pancakes, mascarpone cheese and traditional or poblano hollandaise sauce. i recommend the traditional hollandaise sauce, which i asked for on the side. but i suggest dumping that sauce over everything - it's buttery and has a hint of truffle flavor - it's really the highlight of the dish. it was an expensive-tasting brunch for a reasonable price.

pastis

9th ave (little w. 12th)

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there was a heat advisory in nyc this past weekend. but derek and i finally had a weekend day off of work, so nothing was going to stop us from participating in our favorite pastime - exploring the streets of manhattan by foot. it was surprisingly quiet and peaceful in the city - the streets were pretty empty, restaurants were completely empty. walking through the meatpacking district, derek and i decided to go into pastis for brunch.

turns out everyone was at pastis. the placed was packed! noisy and crowded with fashionable people (this is another one of those "see and be seen" places in manhattan). derek and i settled into a cozy corner table and reviewed the menu. typical french bistro fare with higher-than-typical prices. derek ordered an omelette with herbs and a side of fries. i ordered the smoked salmon with scrambled eggs. good fries, good food, but nothing spectacular. it's a good option if you're in the meatpacking and you want to have people check out what you're wearing (why the fascination with derek's sperry topsiders?) - but there are better places for brunch in the city.

big gay ice cream truck

check twitter

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i have been trying to find this truck for several weeks now. the problem is that it looks like a normal mister softee truck. so whenever derek and i walked by a mister softee, i would check to see if it had a picture of a large rainbow-colored ice cream cone on the side. there are a LOT of mister softee trucks in the city, so its been a laborious process. but turns out the truck is on twitter, which is very helpful. i finally managed to catch the truck on 17th and broadway on friday afternoon.

the menu had several excellent options, including an ice cream sandwich made with nutella. but, of course, i had to order the "salty pimp" - a cone with traditional soft-serve vanilla ice cream, covered with dulce de leche, sea salt, and then dipped with chocolate. as you can see from the photo, i attempted to start eating it while walking back to my apartment. it was extremely unwieldy - the chocolate coating and ice cream were too soft and melting quickly in the 90+ degree weather. i walked very quickly back to my apartment and stuck the cone in my freezer. a couple of hours later, derek and i enjoyed an excellent frosty treat. the ice cream had turned to a frozened mousse-like texture and the chocolate turned into a crunchy shell. the sea salt provided a lovely contrast to the caramel and chocolate. if you're a salty caramel fan, this is the cone for you.

chinese mirch

28th/lex

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neal is a new new yorker, but he's already got excellent restaurant recs. we met up for dinner at chinese mirch, which serves indian chinese food. neal being indian, me being chinese - we were very intrigued by the combination. the restaurant doesn't have a whole lot of tables, but it has a nice waiting area and decent soju cocktails to keep you occupied while you wait. the restaurant is also dimly lit, so apologies for the fuzzy photo.

the photo, however, is of the best cauliflower dish i have ever had in my life. amazing. its only served as an appetizer at chinese mirch - it's called "gobi manchurian." the cauliflower is lightly fried so that it's crispy and then tossed with a slightly spicy mix of garlic, onion, ginger, and cilantro. spicy, garlickly, delicious. in general, i'm still a little confused by the indian chinese food concept, but the gobi manchurian appears to be a mix between indian spiced cauliflower dishes and chinese traditional "salt & pepper" preparation of fried foods. delicious! next time, i'll probably order 3 plates of the gobi manchurian instead of entrees.

the standard grill

washington/ 13th

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the standard grill opened up pretty recently under the southernmost tip of the high line park. it's super trendy right now - the kind of place to see and be seen, and you may occasionally spot a celebrity. the decor is cool - the first part of the restaurant appears to be a sunroom, maybe something similar to what you would see in a beachfront restaurant. the second part of the restaurant looks like a standard old-school new york city grill, but with a few hints of whimsy - like the pennies glued to the floor and the salt & pepper shakers shaped like kissing dogs.

ryan made reservations for everyone for brunch at 11 am. a great time to visit the restaurant, which is usually packed. we were seated in the quiet dining room in the book at a cozy booth. and the food? i highly recommend the carbs and the bacon. the carbs: ryan enjoyed his brioche french toast with buttered rum, walnuts and bananas. i loved the cinnamon sugar doughnuts which were delivered to our table hot and fresh (baby m was also a huge fan of the doughnuts). cindy loved the muffins. everyone loved the sweet bread that is served complimetary. mom, ryan, and derek each raved about the bacon in their dishes (turkey club, french toast, and a burger). stick with the carbs and bacon and you'll be good.

blue ribbon sushi bar & grill

58th (8/9)

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y&a know where to eat. they know what to order. follow their lead and you'll never go wrong. derek and i headed up to midtown for an amazing meal at blue ribbon sushi bar and grill. y&a brought the baby, who was doted on by the staff (thus the stroller-friendly tag). service, overall, was super friendly and helpful - standard for a high-end japanese restaurant in the city. we started with melt-in-your-mouth miso marinated black cod, then duck meatball noodle soup. the fried chicken with wasabi honey was also excellent.

my favorite, however, was the bone marrow with teriyaki sauce. so good. while enjoying the deliciousness, we started wondering about who in history first decided to split open bones and roast the marrow. then we started lamenting the thought that there were bones in the world that were going unsplit and unroasted... anyway, derek and i weren't very good at portioning out the marrow for the bread. we had leftover marrow and no more bread. the good news though, is that our next dish was the oxtail fried rice, so we added our leftover to the rice. delicious. decadent. i can't wait to go back!

red mill burgers

seattle, wa

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one of the best burgers in seattle. it's the epitome of a local burger joint - there's all kinds of seattle sports memorabilia hanging on the walls, there's all sorts of rules (no cell phones, don't ask about your order, just wait to hear your name, and despite the fast service there's always a line going out the door).

these are huge burgers (especially compared to burgers that you get in new york like the shack burger). all of the ingredients are the basic hamburger ingredients - sesame seed bun, tomatoes, onions, pickles, lettuce, and a juicy patty. (although there's an anaheim pepper burger that i might have to try next time...) delicious! they also have onion rings and fries that are perfect with their homemade tarter sauce. it's worth the wait.

top pot doughnuts

seattle, wa

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i make my sister cindy take me here each time i visit seattle (the nephews don't mind going at all). these are some of the best doughnuts in seattle. in fact, starbucks now ships them all across the country -- usually the apple fritter and cake doughnuts. of course, you should go to the source to get them fresh.

my favorite, though, is the maple bar (pictured). perfect with a glass of cold milk. they have so many different types of doughnuts - i would love to try them all - but since i only come once or twice a year i always stick to my favorite.

rocky mountain chocolate factory

tulalip, wa

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not entirely sure this is worth a write-up, as it is a chain store that is located throughout the united states, usually in outlet malls and other shopping centers. but this is one of my favorite treats and the seattle premium outlets in tulalip, washington had a table outside of the shop offering freshly dipped bananas and ice cream bars.

the banana is pre-dipped and pre-frozened. when you order one at the rocky mountain chocolate factory, they take the pre-dipped bananas, dip them again in melted chocolate, and coat them in chopped nuts. delicious. derek prefers the ice cream sandwich, as you can see.

oasis tea zone

seattle, wa

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my favorite spot for bubble tea in seattle - oasis - has two locations (international district and u-district). derek and i used to stop by here all the time when we went to uw. this time around, we brought both sets of parents to have a nice break. it's kind of a hangout for younger folks (with board games you can borrow and pool tables in the back), so my parents thought it was a little too loud for their tastes.

although they have great bubble tea (including an excellent thai iced tea version), i wanted to snack so my dad and i shared a taiwanese style shaved ice (also called bao bing). it's pretty simple - shaved ice, doused with condensed milk and topped with your favorite toppings. i chose red beans, green beans, lychees and lychee jellies. cool, sweet, refreshing - perfect for a sweltering 80 degree day in seattle.

legal test kitchen @ BOS

logan airport, boston, ma

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on business trips, i usually don't get to see much of a city other than from inside the cab and from the windows of the conference room. i love to try regional specialities whenever i'm in a new city, but often that means trying whatever they offer in the airport.

legal seafood is famous in boston for its clam chowder. i was very happy to see a branch at the delta shuttle terminal at logan airport. legal's chowder is much lighter and fresher than what i'm used to - the clams are tender and the potatoes still have some bite to them. excellent chowder and perfect after a long day.