NYC Birthday Blowout: Part One

by Xani

And the celebrating keeps right on happening! The morning of my birthday, EP and I jumped on a train and headed to NYC for a weekend of fun, friends, family, and of course, FOOD. The train ride was uneventful (except when EP told the conductor it was my birthday, and he announced it over the intercom to the ENTIRE TRAIN! "Alexandra, Alexandra... happy birthday Alexandra"), and when we arrived in the city, we headed straight to our hotel where I found this wonderful surprise!

Pink champagne and cupcakes, care of my fabulous sister.

The cupcakes were from Billy's, and while we didn't eat them right away (didn't want to spoil our lunch... see below), we ate them later and they were fantastic. The champagne went down easy as we got ready for dinner that night (see further below!)

So yeah, lunch. We met up with cousin Ann and headed down to Prune, of bone marrow and bloody mary fame. After a short wait, we were seated in the totally cute, tiny, old-time-y space. Mosaic-tiled floors, antique mirrors, and an open kitchen make this place feel so homey and special at the same time. They brought out a little dish with celery sticks (ew) and ripe olives for us to nibble as we looked over the menu. And I ordered what is now my new favorite cocktail, a "Ghost of Mary." (They don't do their famous bloody marys except during weekend brunch.) This "essence" of a bloody mary is everything you love about the breakfast drink, without all the pesky tomato pulp weighing you down. I am totally making these come tomato season!

Onto the food. Unfortunately the bone marrow is not available at lunch (foiled again!) but the menu had lots of other intriguing options. We ended up ordering:

• Cold spicy eggplant, fried salt cod, hard boiled egg
  

• James Beard's onion sandwich with fried chicken livers

• Pasta kerchief, poached egg, french ham, pine nuts

• Potatoes, one way or another

Readers, its going to be tough to describe these dishes. They were all so unusual, it's like there's nothing to compare them to! All the flavors were familiar, but combined in ways I'd never tasted before. The presentations were beautiful, but not too pretty to eat. And everything was damn yummy.

The eggplant was like a crazy interpretation of baba ghanoush, but with totally wild flavors (hot sesame oil, we think?), and a perfectly cooked, almost hard-boiled egg.

The onion sandwich was, as predicted, raw onion (very sweet ones) and lots of butter (of course, it's James Beard's sandwich, after all) on lovely white bread. The fried chicken livers were excellent, and put the ones we sometimes get at Lexington market to shame!

The potatoes, which we ordered "another" way, as a cold szechaun potato salad, instead of "one way" (fries), were... interesting. The weakest dish of all, the cold shreds of potato seemed a little undercooked to us.

But the pasta... oh, the pasta. This dish was incredible. Two extra thin sheets (kerchiefs) of pasta, with a perfectly poached egg in between, in a pool of rich buttery broth, with ham and pine nuts and big shards of Parmesan cheese, as a bonus. HEAVEN.

While Prune was cozy and delicious enough to keep us happy all afternoon (and possibly all weekend) we had more eating to do! We were just blocks from Butter Lane cupcakes, and even though we had cupcakes waiting for us back at the hotel, we just couldn't resist stopping in...

Butter Lane is highly praised on Cupcakes Take the Cake blog, and one of their features is a icing tasting bar where you can sample all their freshly made icings, then order the cupcakes you want and they are iced to order! We got a small sampling:

Excellent cupcakes. We particularly liked the french vanilla icing (made with egg whites and sugar) and the raspberry (very fresh tasting). The banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting was waaay to sweet for me!

After a couple hours of rest back at the hotel, it was time to drink the champagne, get glam, and head out to dinner at Five Points. I have to give a big shout out to fellow (former) Baltimore blogger Roopa, of Raspberry Eggplant , who came to my rescue when I was scrambling to find a birthday dinner restaurant, and gave me several recommendations, all of which sounded fabulous. I settled on Five Points and it turned out to be PERFECT. Gorgeous setting (with pretty trees and a babbling brook through the center of the restaurant), really fabulous food, and... competent service (our waitress was fine but boring-- also someone had sent two bottles of Prosecco to the table and it took the waitress half an hour to hunt down who they were from! Finally the mystery was solved-- thanks to my wonderful friend Hayley for sending them!!). Everything we ate and drank at Five Points was delicious, but the real joy of the evening was the company. Ann, Steven, Lauren, Brian, and EP were such wonderful dining companions! We all ate, drank, talked, laughed and generally had a fantastic time. Here's the food porn:

Amazing gnocchi appetizer

Risotto cakes

Wood-oven pizzetta with potatoes and truffle oil!

my favorite bivalve...

Gotta have burgers

Brined double cut Berkshire pork chop

Ricotta Cavatelli

No ordinary chicken

Birthday smiles...

and wishes!

After our lovely meal, it was time to hit the town! Before the night got too blurry, we headed to 230 5th, solely because of their winterized rooftop deck which includes warm drinks, space heaters, and.... wait for it... ROBES! Hundreds and hundreds of robes for guests to snuggle up in! We loved the robes!

Really, really loved them....

We really didn't love the plastic-ware they served the drinks in, the weird seating policy in the lounge, the snooty waitresses, or the horrible music. So we bailed and went to make merry in nameless Irish bars near our hotel. We capped off the night with a couple of Billy's cupcakes back at the hotel (How were they? Don't remember. But I'm gonna go with AMAZING, as I'm sure they were at the time).

And that was my birthday! And it was so fun and memorable. Thank you so much to everyone who made it special-- love you!

Coming up, more fun and food in NYC!

X

Vegas Eats: A Few Nibbles...

by Erin

While our meal at Michael Mina was a definite culinary highlight of our trip to Las Vegas, we had a few tasty bites throughout the weekend that we couldn't go without sharing with you, Dear Reader.

'Wichcraft

The first to share was our first meal of the whole trip, at 'Wichcraft, Chef Tom Colicchio's sandwich place. Xani and I arrived in Vegas starving and ready to go to Chef Keller's Bouchon, but alas, they were not open for lunch! So, we started wandering through our hotel (the MGM Grand) and came across 'Wichcraft - a miracle! We've each been to a different restaurant of Chef Colicchio (I went to CraftBar in NYC; Xani went to Craft in LA), and we had wanted to try out his more casual place.

We got two sandwiches to share (obvi): The Slow-Roasted Pork sandwich, with red cabbage, jalapenos, and mustard, on ciabatta, and the Grilled Gruyere sandwich, with caramelized onions on rye bread.

Would you like some pork wth your jalapenos?

Aw yeah...now that's a grilled cheese

Both sandwiches were good, though we were starving so I think that made them taste a bit better! The pork had good flavor, but the mustard was a pretty powerful flavor as well. Also unique about that sandwich: the GIGANTIC slices of raw jalapeno! Um, what?! Are you trying to kill us, Tom??

The grilled cheese was very nice as well - delicate flavors from the cheese and the onions, and the nice and unusual addition of the rye bread.

Xani ponders which one is her favorite

Along with our sandwiches, we got some awesome chips! They had a lot of interesting flavors, and we chose Salt & Pepper, and Spicy Thai. Both were great - I love a good chip. The Thai ones were SUPER spicy but we gobbled them right up.

Clearly I loved the chips

Raffles - Home of the Dessert Burger

Later on our first day, we met up with many cousins and the Birthday Boy, Uncle Sheldon, at a restaurant called Raffles in Mandalay Bay. They were having lunch but we of course had already eaten. We had not had, however, any sweets, and we spotted a very interesting dessert on the way in: a dessert burger!

We were so curious we couldn't resist ordering it. We discovered that the bun was poundcake with sesame seeds, the "burger patty" was a chocolate ganache with a hazelnut crunch on the inside, the "cheese" was an apricot gel of some sort. The "ketchup" was a seedless raspberry jam, and the "fries" were little bits of puff pastry covered in sugar! So cute. It was a fun treat and the kids and adults were equally amused by our choice.

Chicken and Waffles

One morning we met BCD Mom and Dad for breakfast at the MGM, and the menu had Chicken and Waffles as an option. (Sidebar: don't you think it would be fun to have two dogs and name them Chicken and Waffles??) I have always wanted to try this unusual Southern combo, and once I saw the guy on Man v. Food (my new favorite food show) get some, I had been craving it. So, we got it! It was a malted waffle, covered with a fried chicken breast, covered with white gravy, and oh yeah, a fried egg - oy! Luckily we chose to split this gigantic breakfast, and we still couldn't finish it! It was pretty good, and now that I have a taste for it, I want the real thing from some sort of southern establishment. Maybe when I am in Atlanta in June...

In addition to these eating adventures, we had a lovely meal in Henderson, NV with the family for Sheldon's birthday bash! It was great to see everyone since we are located literally all around the world, and therefore do not get together very often at all. We're so glad we were able to celebrate Sheldon's birthday all together. Happy birthday, Shelley! We love you!

One candle for every 10 years!

Happy birthday, Uncle Shelley!

Love,

Erin & Xani

Birthday Celebrations... keep 'em comin'!

by Xani

My birthday is tomorrow.  "The Big 3-0," as everyone keeps calling it... and they use this weird, somber tone when they say it.  They're just trying to freak me out, right??  I expect that tomorrow morning will be just like every other morning, except for WAY better because it's my birthday and I love birthdays!  This probably stems from my childhood-- as a kid GENIUS I started kindergarten a year early, at four years old.  This meant that growing up I was always a year younger than all my classmates, and so all through school I was the last to reach various "landmark" ages: 16, 18, 21.  When I would whine about this my Dad would tell me "but you'll be the last one to turn 40," a thought which I still relish.  But I don't want to think about 40, yet.  The point is that, since I was always last, it was always important to make a big deal about my birthday-- parties, presents, and of course, fabulous birthday dinners.

And 30 is no exception.  As you might recall, I already took one trip to Vegas last year to celebrate 30 with some of my closest girlfriends, where we dined at the fabulous L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.  But another trip was in the works, to celebrate not just my birthday, but also BCD Mom's (January 25) and BCD Great Uncle Sheldon's (January 21).  So we packed our bags, made our reservations and headed out to Vegas, Baby!

While many, many meals were eaten on this trip, the immediate BCD family wanted to do one meal, just the four of us, to celebrate.  Much research was done, and we finally decided to dine at Michael Mina, in the Bellagio.  Mina has several restaurants in Vegas, with his namesake restaurant being the most upscale and formal, and has a reputation for doing amazing things with seafood.  So our first night in Vegas, we headed over to the Bellagio to see what it was all about...

We were seated in the lovely, understated dining room.  It didn't have much of a "theme," other than simple and classy.  A signature cocktail or two later, and the meal began!  Michael Mina offers a selection of different five-course tasting menus, and we decided to ordered two each of two different kinds (The Cookbook Tasting Menu and The Seasonal Tasting Menu), rotating dishes half-way, so that we could each try 10 total dishes.  This behavior is not unusual for us, and the Michael Mina staff seemed happy to accommodate us.  We also went with the wine pairings for each course-- so get ready to get loopy!

The meal began with a delightful amuse bouche of lobster bisque and a selection of yummy breads.  And then...

First course:
Cookbook Tasting Menu

TARTARE OF AHI TUNA

SESAME OIL, TOASTED PINE NUTS, GARLIC, CHIFFONADE OF MINT

Seasonal Tasting Menu

NANTUCKET BAY SCALLOP CEVICHE

COCONUT, KEY LIME, MINT

 

What a way to start the meal!  Both of these dishes were great first courses-- bright, flavorful, good texture contrasts, and not too heavy.  The tartare had a small "performance" element where the servers, in unison, mixed all the elements together on the plate during service (this was a theme at Michael Mina).  It was also one of the best tuna tartares I have ever had.  I rarely order this over-exposed dish, because it's usually so predictable and boring.  Not so this time-- great flavors, textures, a little heat and ridiculously fresh, high-grade tuna. 

The ceviche was also a hit-- acidic, spicy, and bracing, it really got the palate going.  If I have to eat scallops, this is how I want to eat them (or just straight up RAW).

Second Course:

Cookbook Tasting Menu

MAINE LOBSTER POT PIE

BABY CARROTS, FINGERLING POTATOES, BLACK TRUFFLES

Seasonal Tasting Menu

POACHED MAINE LOBSTER 

SWEET POTATO CRÊPE, THAI COCONUT CREAM

So lobster pot pie is Mina's "signature" dish (and the full-size version, a la carte, will run you 78 bucks!!  I'll explain why in a moment), and we couldn't miss it.  Luckily it showed up on the cookbook tasting menu, and so when the second course came around, two mini-versions were set down in front of us, and two servers, in unison, cut the pastry tops off the souffle dishes they were served in, gave us a quick peek inside, and then replaced the rounds of pastry on top.  Then we DUG IN.  What's not to like about lobster pot pie?  Big chunks of lobster meat, rich broth, potatoes, truffles, and pastry.  Yum!  (We saw several other tables get the full-sized pot pie-- it was served in a much larger dish and contained an entire lobster and had a much more elaborate presentation where the servers deconstructed the pot pie and then REconstructed the lobster on the serving plate-- in unison!)  As good as this dish was, I'm gonna say it right here, I think I could do better!  The lobster could have been more tender, the sauce thicker (this was more like of a soup-like consistency), the pastry flakier.  I think I see a new challenge for Kitchen Stadium...!

Another thing that hurt the pot pie experience was the butter-poached lobster served as the second course of the seasonal tasting menu.  This was SO GOOD.  The texture of the lobster was just unbelievable-- then again you could probably pach my shoe in butter and I would gobble it up.  The crepe and the thai coconut creme/foam were subtle and just perfect with that sinfully rich lobster.  Our only complaint was that there were one or two bites of this dish that had something very vinegar-y/acidic, almost like a pickle.  It was a total shock and did not fit with the rest of the gentle flavors on the plate.  But every bite except for those-- heaven.

Third Course: 

Cookbook Tasting Menu

MISO-GLAZED BLACK COD 

SHIITAKE CONSOMMÉ, SHRIMP AND SCALLOP RAVIOLI

Seasonal Tasting Menu

POTATO CRUSTED JOHY DORY 

‘CHIPS ON FISH’, TARTAR SAUCE, VIDALIA ONION PUREE

 

These dishes must have been my least favorite because I remember the least about them.  I recall that the miso-glazed cod was better than I expected, as I have had some sickly-sweet versions of that dish, and this one was nice and light.  The John Dory-- total blank.  Maybe I'm just not a fish person-- unless that fish has a shell and/or is served raw?

Fourth Course:

Cookbook Tasting Menu

AMERICAN ‘KOBE’ RIBEYE

ROSSINI, SEARED FOIE GRAS, SPINACH, PINOT NOIR SAUCE

Seasonal Tasting Menu

BLACK OLIVE POACHED LAMB 

RICOTTA CAVATELLI, CERIGNOLA OLIVE JUS

Alright folks, prepare to be shocked.  Here we are at a nationally renowned fish restaurant, and we get to the meat course... and the meat. is. Un-freaking-believable. So good.  SososososoSOOO good.  We were absolutely swooning.  The beef was like the best steak you can ever imagine, and topped with the rich, soft, indecribably foie gras... it was off the charts!  And as good as that was, the lamb was... better??  I don't know, it was pretty close.  SO tender, not gamey at all, just melt in your mouth flavor.  Micahel Mina may be a fish guy, but I'm tell you, the man knows his meat.  Next time I'm in Vegas, I'm going to Stripsteak!

Fifth Course:

Cookbook Tasting Menu

TASTING OF MICHAEL MINA DESSERTS

MINI ROOT BEER FLOAT, BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE, CHOCOLATE POT DE CRÉME

Seasonal Tasting Menu

CARAMELIZED FIG BREAD PUDDING 

ORANGE, FIVE SPICE, WHITE PEPPER, AMANTILLADO SHERRY 

and

TOMME CRAYEUSE (cheese)

PARSNIP, FENNEL, CHERVIL 

Dessert-- I don't know if I was just completely sated at this point, or if these desserts just didn't do it for me.  Probably both.  I'm super-picky about desserts and none of these are the kind I really drool over, so they were all just ok (although the mini-root beer float was pretty fun... so tiny!).  The cheese was yummy.  I think I was just DONE with food at this point.  But overall it was a really, really great meal.  A little different than what I would normally pick (see my comment re: Stripsteak) but fun, fancy, and delicious nonetheless.  It's always a treat to celebrate with my wonderful family.  Happy Birthday Mom and Happy Birthday to ME!!!

 

Even MORE Birthday celebrations coming SOON!!

X

BCD in NYC Holiday Special: A little dessert...

by Erin

There was one little treat we had in NYC over the holidays that could not go unmentioned: PIE! Lauren's boyfriend John is from Jersey (I know, I know...he's actually pretty cool though) and while we were in NYC, he brought some amazing pie across state lines so we could try it! The pies were from a place called Mr. Tod's Pie Factory and John brought us a lovely assortment of flavors and sizes. Mr. Tod makes regular, 10" pies and then 4" mini-pies! You know Xani went ga-ga for the minis...


Flavors included: apple (the most popular flavor by far - John told us he witnessed a fist fight over the last ones during Thanksgiving [insert Jersey comment here]), pecan, chocolate pecan, pumpkin, lemon chess, and buttermilk coconut.

Apple - it's worth getting punched in the face for

Minis!

John brought us the pies on our last night in the City, so we brought all of them home (we were too full after our awesome meal at Otto). Xani brought the apple to a work holiday party the day we arrived, and it was a hit! I stole minis of the pecan and sweet potato to enjoy myself, and they were amazing!! I'm going to go ahead and say that the pecan was the best pecan pie of my life. Sweet (but not cloyingly so), nutty, and rich, with a contrast in textures from the custard, the nuts, and the crust. YUM!

We enjoyed the rest of the minis when the BCD parents came to Baltimore for Christmas Eve Eve dinner, and if I recall correctly, the coconut was the big winner.

Just wanted to give you all a wee bit more of our NYC holiday adventures. We are actually going BACK to the Big Apple this weekend to celebrate Xani's birthday! Lots of eating planned (as usual) and hopefully we'll be better about posting more quickly, so we can actually remember stuff about what we ate ;)

Also, stay tuned for our Vegas Eats from last weekend!


E & X

Bayou Eats 2009

by Erin

As some of you might know, right after the New Year I went down to New Orleans and Thibodaux (pronounced: tih-boh-doh), Louisiana to participate in the Maryland Law Katrina Project, just like last year. We worked with the Bayou Habitat for Humanity to build a few houses for individuals who were displaced by Katrina.

A couple friends and I went down to NOLA a day early to do some eating and drinking before heading to the middle of nowhere for a week. After checking into our hotels, we hit up my favorite place in the Big Easy: Café du Monde! We enjoyed some beignets and amazing café au laits, and I taught my friends how to eat the donuts without inhaling all of the powdered sugar – a skill required if you’re going to enjoy many a beignet.

Next we wandered over to another famous spot in NOLA: Pat O’Brien’s, home of the Hurricane, a cocktail that tastes like fruit punch and got me drunk after about two sips. We were enjoying our cocktails on the outdoor patio and admiring this AMAZING fountain which had both fire AND water (“but they’re mortal enemies!”), when the skies opened up and we were caught in a downpour.

Amazing fountain at Pat O's

This downpour continued for the remainder of the evening and we had the “drowned rat” look going for us all night long. BUT, we had many more stops to make in the French Quarter, so we moved on to: the Acme Oyster House!

The gang after a run through the rain

Last time I went to this NOLA seafood staple (and, admittedly, probably a tourist trap like Phillips…), Xani and I had to wait in line for quite a while, but this time, we waited about 10 minutes (thankfully under an awning out of the rain) and were seated.

One of Acme’s specialties is oysters (duh) so we got some raw oysters and some fried oysters to share. Of the four of us in our party, I happened to be the only one who had ever had oysters, so it took some coaxing to get my buddies to try them. We started with the fried oysters: they had a great crunch from the not-too-thick coating, and a bit of that oyster flavor came through. They were served with a spicy remoulade sauce which was a great compliment.

Next up were the raw boys. I was excited to dig in, especially after my very positive oyster experience at the Oyster Riot. However, some of the others required some encouragement. I was so proud that everyone tried them, although some liked them a lot more than others. Aaron was very excited to try the oysters and even called his dad to tell him the news! Sounds like something I’d do…

Kevin vs. his first oyster

Aaron enjoying his first raw oyster! At the time this picture was taken, I was on the phone with his Dad giving him a play by play

For our mains we got some classics: fried crawfish po’ boys, etouffee, red beans and rice, etc. etc. Everything was great and the atmosphere was fun and lively.

Fried crawfish po' boy

Etouffee and red beans and rice

We left Acme and wandered through the French Quarter (well, ran through the rain and got completely soaked) going from bar to bar, listening to great jazz and halfway-decent cover bands.

The next day the others flew in from Baltimore and we spent a few hours in NOLA before heading out to Thibodaux, about an hour outside of NOLA. We spent the week working on houses, hauling dirt, building a sub-floor, and painting, measuring, and installing floor molding. The H4H folks were wonderful to work with, and we got to meet and work with the people for whom we were building the houses.

On our last night in Thibodaux, we went to a local joint called Bubba’s II for some serious bayou cuisine. I was so excited to try the local fare since we stayed in our Habitat homes for dinner on all the other nights.

A few friends and I ordered a few things to share (you know I love sharing!) and we ordered a fried seafood platter with catfish and oysters, a platter with shrimp etouffee, fried shrimp, and potato salad, and a crazy “hamburger steak” filled with jalapenos, onions, and cheese, with more onions and gravy on top, all on top of fries. Ouch – my heart!

Catfish and oysters

Fried shrimp, shrimp etouffee, and kickass potato salad

Hamburger steak with onions, jalapenos, gravy, etc. etc.

The best thing of the night was definitely, without fail, the etouffee – it was creamy and rich and shrimpy and absolutely delicious. The potato salad was some of the best of my life, and we had had similarly outstanding potato salad several other times during the week – it must be a thing down in the bayou. Potato salad is the new fries, I guess?

The burger was very flavorful and spicy, and the caramelized onions and gravy were a great and different addition. It was a pretty sinful dish, but I had hauled dirt all day, so I didn’t feel so bad.

The food and the company at Bubba's II was great, as we got to chat and reflect on our week together. After dinner we headed into the bar area where most of the gentlemen were watching some football game, and I joined several ladies for a rousing game of DOMINOES! We played all week and it was so fun! I can't wait to get a set for us to play with at Blackacre...

Team Dominoes!

It was a great trip down south to do some mitzvot (good deeds), make great friends, and have a few good meals. Thanks to Habitat and everyone for making it such a successful and fun-filled trip, and special thanks to friends Jenny and Veronica for being our fearless leaders!

The whole building crew!

Happy building,

EP