beecher's handmade cheese

seattle, wa

website

even though it's usually packed with tourists, i love going down to pike place market whenever i'm in seattle. good food, cool crafts, and i still enjoy watching them throw the fish. my sister cindy, brother chris, and i were looking for a quick lunch so that we could get back to shopping. beecher's cheese shop was perfect because we could munch on their sandwiches while walking.

at beecher's, you can either walk through the store for tastings and pick up some cheese curds or you can wait in the line outside to pick up lunch. we went for the latter. a little tip - while you're in line, ask for a sample of their famous mac & cheese. they'll give you a small cup of it, but it's so rich that the small cup is more than enough. we all went with their decidedly unboring grilled cheese sandwiches made with their flagship cheese. simple, yet delicious.

elite cafe

san francisco, ca

website

to continue the theme of comfort food, derek and i had brunch at one of tina's favorite places, the elite cafe. there's a little bit of a wait on sunday afternoons, but service is speedy once you get a seat. atmosphere is cozy, very appropriate for brunch. tina recommended the beef hash, which derek ordered and enjoyed.

but i had to go with the alabama scramble - scrambled eggs and minced bacon with baked mashed potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. definitely delicious and comforting, but could have used more gravy on the biscuits. we ordered the cinnamon sugar doughnut holes (i have a hard time passing up doughnuts on a menu), but they were unremarkable. next time, we'll just get more biscuits - they're amazing - buttery and flaky.

wayfare tavern

san francisco, ca

website

one of my new favorite restaurants! derek discovered this place while working in his firm's san francisco office. it's actually tyler florence's restaurant - the menu is very similar to the dishes he cooks on his show (which always look delicious). the atmosphere is upscale gastropub - the prices are a little high, but the ingredients and preparation are worth it. we walked in on a saturday afternoon and the place was packed - but thankfully we were able to get a seat at the bar, where we could watch chefs put the final touches on each plate.

wayfare tavern is known for their fried chicken, which derek thinks is amazing. if you're not in the mood for fried chicken, the dish to get is the tomales bay mussels - perfectly plump little mussels served with herbsaint cream, crispy chunks of pork belly, sweet potato, celery salt, and grilled toast. it's a little on the rich side, but trust me, you won't have any problem finishing it.

maverick

mission, sf

website

my friends are scattered across the country, across the globe and usually my only interactions with them are through gmail or g-chat, so it's great when a bunch of us can actually get together in person and share a meal. tony and kate were in town for a wedding, eric happened to be on a business trip for work, luckily i managed to escape my work long enough to caltrain up to SF for dinner with the gang. lisa recommended this great spot in the mission (but unfortunately couldn't join us). maverick hits all of the right SF highlights - focus on fresh and local ingredients, sustainable and ethical practices, comfort food, but with a twist.

the menu is always changing to keep up with the seasons. good news for the diner, bad news for the blogger who went to the restaurant months ago and can't remember exactly what she ordered. i do recall that the guys ordered the fried chicken, which maverick is famous for and which was fabulous. i also remember that the girls ordered the asparagus dish with the runny egg that turned into an amazing sauce for the veggies. kate, of course, picked out the perfect glass of red wine and i always follow kate's lead when it comes to wine. great food, great company, had a lovely time.

mayfield bakery & cafe

palo alto, ca

website

i'm sure you're starting to see a pattern in my south bay posts. lowering my dining expectations. hampered by geographical limitations. being surprised when food is actually good. having wine with every possible meal. well, here's another one. derek and i had been to calafia way too many times at this point, so we decided to try its neighbor - mayfield bakery & cafe.

the waitress really knew her wines and recommended an excellent white to go with my roast chicken. i was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the chicken - juicy meat, crispy skin, and a tasty risotto on the side. as we were leaving, the manager thanked us for coming, then called us over to the corner of the restaurant. there, he invited us to choose a loaf of bread from their basket. maybe they had leftover bread? maybe we looked like we needed more sustenance? i chose a large round loaf of olive bread. since we didn't have a toaster yet, i heated up slices in a pan and drizzled a little olive oil over them. a delicious snack that lasted us all week.

stephanie's on newbury

boston, ma

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in boston for business, i managed to escape work long enough to have dinner with danielle on newbury street (aka my favorite street in boston). cool shops and excellent eats - all in the span of a couple of blocks. awesome. stephanie's on newbury serves comfort food but with unique gourmet touches.

danielle ordered a ginormous cuban sandwich - toasted and ooey gooey - enough for two meals. i ordered the fish and chips. i'm not sure the photo captures the sheer size of the serving. a giant basket of perfectly crispy fries topped with 3 huge pieces of perfectly crispy fish. delicious. the highlight, however, was the amazing radicchio aioli. danielle and i were both dipping our fries into the garlicky hot pink aioli. phenomenal.

five points

great jones (bowery/ lafayette)

website

it's been a while since my last post. i have a massive backlog of food photos that need to be posted. once again, i've been too busy to blog, but obviously not too busy to eat. okay, onto five points, where derek and i had brunch nearly a month ago. it's famous for its brunch, which generally means long lines, which generally means we're not going because i'm too hungry/impatient to wait. derek and i were shopping the bowery and decided to drop by to see how long the wait was. thankfully, it was only about 15-20 mins. not bad. we waited outside (a month ago, it was still warm out) and watched all the hipsters walk by.

once seated, it took another 5-10 minutes to figure out what to order. the menu was packed with fancified comfort food - baked eggs, pork-fennel sausage, free-range chicken, polenta ... i finally settled on the "roasted tomato and eggs" - the simply named dish ended up being a complex mix of flavors - smoky roasted tomato, sprinklings of ricotta cheese, buttery polenta, and chunks of sharp parmesan were perfect with the runny baked eggs. delicious. i honestly can't remember what derek ordered (hey, it's been a month) but i do recall that he had an excellent bloody mary from their surprisingly varied menu of brunch drinks. this place definitely lives up to the hype.

szechuan chef

bellevue, wa

website

hot pot is chinese comfort food. a propane-fueled portable stove is placed at the center of the table. a large pot filled either with chicken broth or spicy szechuan broth (or in our case, both separated by a stainless steel divider) is brought to a boil. huge plates overflowing with raw meat sliced paper thin (pork, chicken, and beef) and other hot pot ingredients (fish balls, cabbage, tofu, and glass noodles). szechuan chef is all you can eat, but keep in mind that you're charged for uneaten raw ingredients.

it's all about soup management. keep an eye on the pot to make sure the broth is boiling at a sufficient temperature to cook the ingredients, but not over-boiling so that your soup evaporates. some of the ingredients need to cook longer (chicken, cabbage) while you need to keep a close eye on others (beef) to make sure they don't overcook. it's fun, interactive, and most importantly - tasty. my favorite part about szechuan chef's hot pot is the delicious dipping sauce - i can't quite pinpoint the origins, but i definitely detect hints of peanuts and garlic. also - if you have the stomach for it - order the spicy pig stomach. the spicy sauce will add even more flavor to the mix.

houston's

new york, ny

website

this restaurant is a nationwide chain with two branches in new york. very solid food and a pretty good wine list. one branch is in the same building as my office and another branch is just a few blocks from my apartment. both spaces are very spacious and have comfortable booth seating. and if you're in a hurry, there's usually a few seats at the bar and you can order from the regular menu.

my favorites include the french dip (pictured) - buttery roll with roast beef, excellent au jus and delicious french fries, the california burger (though not as good as BLT burger), and the ribs - fall-off-the bone tender with good bbq sauce. yum. houston's (or hillstone or whatever it's called now) is a very dependable restaurant if you want some good american food and don't feel like squeezing into a tiny east village hole-in-the-wall.

fried chicken dinner @ momofuku noodle bar

new york, ny

website

large-format meals, where a restaurant prepares a preset meal for a large group of people, are a growing trend in nyc. some examples include resto's pick-an-animal meal and the ssam bar's bo ssam feast. derek, however, loves fried chicken and has had his heart set on the noodle bar's fried chicken dinner since it debuted last fall. momofuku uses an egalitarian online system, so whether you're able to snag a reservation depends entirely on luck and persistence. after months of trying, derek managed to get reservations for 4 of us at 11:45 pm on a friday night. not the best time slot, but with less than 40 reservations available each week, you take what you can get.

the long-awaited night finally arrived, but derek didn't leave the office until 11:15 pm. michelle, jenny, and i also had long weeks at work. so it was four bleary-eyed young professionals who sat down at momofuku just before midnight. a few glasses of wine later, however, we were ready for our giant mountain of fried chicken served two ways - southern and korean. the seasoning on the southern style was a little too salty, but the meat inside was amazingly moist and flavorful. honestly, i've never had juicier fried chicken breast. the korean style was extremely crunchy with an appropriately sticky sweet spicy sauce. an hour and a half later, we had managed to finish about 2/3 of the mountain without falling asleep. quite an accomplishment. it was a delicious and fun food adventure - there's something special about sharing a giant plate of chicken with friends - but next time we'll do a fully conscious trip to bon chon instead.

oh! taisho

new york, ny

website

while vacationing in japan, derek and i generally avoided the yakitori spots - they were always small, cramped, and filled with cigarette smoke. but in new york city, yakitori places are just small and cramped. oh! taisho is one of jinny and kurt's favorite restaurants, so derek and i joined them there a few nights ago. in an effort to make it out of the office in time for our 8:30 pm dinner, i decided to work through lunch. so i was very hungry and tempted to order everything off the huge menu at oh! taisho - there are all different kinds of meat on skewers, bowls of ramen, tempura, other deep-fried items, and various other japanese pub specialities - like okonomiyaki.

thankfully, jinny and kurt took charge and ordered their favorites. two platters of a variety of grilled skewers (including chicken, meatballs, scallions, chicken skin, pork, and chicken gizzards), chicken teriyaki, french fries with spicy cod roe mayonnaise, noodles topped with the same spicy cod roe and sliced nori, and a pitcher of kirin. i loved the spicy cod roe mayo, both with the french fries and the noodles. the chicken teriyaki was surprisingly good - almost as good as seattle's teriyaki - but it was missing the essential thick sweet sauce that seattle teriyaki has. the dining room is small, but it makes for a lively atmosphere - if you can manage to squeeze yourself into the restaurant, oh! taisho is a good spot for food and fun.

arirang

new york, ny

link to yelp

korean comfort food! who knew? well, jinny. she brought me to arirang in k-town. it's a little hard to find, so i'm going to include the address in this post: 32 W 32nd St. we ordered the seafood pajeon and chicken soup with homemade noodles (kal-jaebi). as you can see from the photo, the portions are huge. and very filling. be careful, the noodles will expand after you've eaten them...

the pajeon had fresh tasty bits of seafood, lots of green onions, and wasn't too greasy. i usually prefer my pajeon flatter and crispier, but it was still good. the noodles are like thick jiaozi wrappers - chewy and doughy. the soup was very rich and hearty - like a poultry version of tonkotsu broth. tastes just like the chicken broth my mom makes at home. this noodle soup is perfect if you're ever feeling under the weather or otherwise in need of doughy noodles.

kitchenette

new york, ny

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one of my favorite spots near my old apartment in morningside heights. great comfort food - amazing brunches - delicious baked goods. now that derek and i live further downtown, we try to go to the tribeca location whenever we can, which is not that often. derek, however, has the luck to work way downtown, so kitchenette delivers to his office through seamlessweb. to celebrate me running 6.2 miles this weekend without dying, he ordered a slice of my favorite cake and brought it home for us to share!

rich, almost dark, chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. seriously amazing. i also love their fake hostess cupcakes - same great chocolate cake, but filled with a light whipped cream. chocolate trifle to die for. their restaurant menu is great too - very comforting comfort food. sandwiches are made with challah bread, the best grits in the city, yummy omelettes, good fried chicken, etc. it's really hard to go wrong there, except when you forget to save room for dessert.

bar americain

new york, ny

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one of bobby flay's many manhattan restaurants. not a huge fan of his foodtv shows - i'm more of a paula deen and alton brown kind of girl. derek and i enjoy watching throwdown on foodtv, but we usually root for the other team. that said, the food at bar americain is pretty good. i had a hard time labelling it because even though the style is southwestern comfort food, the prices are not very comforting. this is a fanchy white-tablecloth place, which is probably why it was barely half-full when we walked in at 7 pm on sunday without rezzies.

although our steaks were very good, the highlights for me are the sides. BEST fries ever (thanks to y&a for the rec). super crispy, not too potato-ey, and served with a smoked red pepper mayonnaise. amazing. also BEST cornbread ever. buttery, crispy, and with a unique seasoning i couldn't identify. it's served in the bread basket with dinner rolls that remind me of grade school cafeteria rolls (but in a good way). basically - if you want some cheap comfort food, come in here, order fries, ask for the bread basket, and hope they don't kick you out. customer service here tends to be on the snooty side.

donburiya

new york, ny

link to yelp

cindy c chose this japanese comfort food restaurant in midtown east for lunch today. what is japanese comfort food? lots of bowls. bowls filled with various combinations of rice, egg, fish, meat, sauce, and pickles. all served with a salad and ridiculously good and mayonnaise-y potato salad. and very good tea.

yup, that's about it. solid spot. will definitely go again when i'm in the mood for some katsu. and potato salad.

the redhead

new york, ny

website

tonight jenny, r.g. and i managed to escape from our respective offices for a night of good fun, great food, and strong drinks. the redhead is famous for receiving a rave review from frank bruni, his last as a ny times food critic. so we were worried about the wait when we showed up to the tiny restaurant at 8 pm on a thursday night (thursday being the new friday). the hostess said it was a 30-45 minute wait, but it didn't seem that long. it was just enough time for me to finish a redhead fizz (absolut mandarin, elderflower cordial, fresh lemon juice) and start on a revival (beefeater gin, white lillet, triple sec, fresh lemon juice). by the way, i recommend the fizz if you want something light & refreshing and the revival if you want a real drink.

properly liquored up, the girls and i sat down at the corner table (nice) for our meal. which was amazing. even the little dinner roll and soft butter they serve were delicious. i highly recommend starting with the mushroom flatbread and definitely add the sausage if you're a meateater. the consensus at the table was that the best entree was the shrimp with andouille sausage and grits. everyone in the restaurant was ordering the fried chicken, so we tried that too. good, but lacked flavor. the trout was good for a "lighter" entree. no need for dessert - they give complimentary chocolate espresso cookies at the end of the meal. this place definitely deserves the praise that it has received and i look forward to returning.

5/13/2010: updated with better photo of the mushroom flatbread.

congee village

new york, ny

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i love congee. it's comfort food. my mom used to make it for me when i got sick and i even make it for derek when he gets sick. of course, i prefer to have someone else cook it, but it's hard to find. why aren't there more chinese restaurants serving this stuff? several years ago, cindy c dragged me out of morningside heights and downtown to get congee at congee village. it's still my favorite congee place in the city and fortunately now i live much closer.

derek and i come here frequently with friends for good cheap chinese food. a bowl of pork and preserved egg congee for $2.95 is enough to feed two people. you tiao (deep fried dough) to dip into the congee is only $1.00. zha man tou (fried bread) to dip into a plate of sweetened condensed milk (yum) for just $1.50. you can also order sauteed vegetables and noodles, but make sure you get the essentials.