New Years Eve Dinner 2016 at Duexave

FINALLY I’m GONNA POST THIS!!!!!!!!!

So I’ve been backlogged… I have half written blogs up all in this shizz and it doesn’t seem to be coming out (ha! – Sorry dirty mind!) I keep having ideas and then writer’s block… my current obsession with watching Frozen and Tangled and seeing their soundtrack 24/7 isn’t helping either… haha “hashtag dork”… and I also started obsessing (yeah a few seasons… like 6, late) with 2 Broke Girl$ (hastag ILOVEMAXSHEISMYHERO) so yeah.  Work, Disney, iTunes is ruining me…. in a wonderful way.

So let’s catch up on 2017… Let’s start off with my last night of it…. NYE 2016 :) which sadly I had a stomach bug so I threw up all night with my date.  Which was funny cuz my date and I went to watch college football first, and me being over-underdressed  puked a few times at the bar.  My stomach finally calmed down on the way to Deuxave (owned and cooked by one of favorite chefs Chef Christopher Coombs) And while I was being careful with my tender tummy… I am NOT about to throw up any good food… I didn’t eat my usual overstuffed way, but all the food was amazing!!!! I haven’t been in forever!!!

We started off with delicious warm sourdough (great crust and fluffy middle) with a ribboned creamy butter.

Funny story [sidenote] about sourdough bread.  This total bully that lived across the street from me when I was a kid in New Mexico, LOVED sourdough bread. I played with her because 1. She lived across the street from me. 2. She was a bully. 3. She had no friends. 4. I am overly nice even though she did horrible things to me…. etc. etc. ANYWAYS, she loved it, I hated it and she even held it against me. She also forced me to watch Child’s Play which I ran home crying after. I was like 7. Bitch. Her, not me. She also grabbed my arm and bit it once because I said I didn’t want to play with her anymore… #whyineedtherapy [/sidenote]

Then came the complimentary amuse bouches…. All topped with microgreens!!!…

Crap, I forgot what these balls were.. they were fried balls of yumminess though… I think it was crab… When in doubt just shove it all in your mouth (ha!) when in a spoon… especially if shaped in little balls (double ha!)

Some Creamy Lobster Bisque. (HA! The lady next to us even asked for spoons… LOL duh you sip it, it’s a tiny little cup… and if anything just freaking eat your balls and use that spoon… LOLOL.. she complained a lot all night LOLOL!) Anyways.. tasty, thick and rich.

And some duck liver terrine with pomegranate seeds on cute little crostini…. I could never turn down anything duck liver… or things on a crostini.  I admit it. I love the trend… it shall never grow old… anything on toasted bread (preferably buttery… even more buttery and garlicky) will forever be delicious!!!!!

For appetizers (thankfully my date was happy to go with my (get two of everything we would eat so we can try more foods) we got the Wagyu Beef Tartare with Forbidden Rice Chips, Green Papaya Salad, Avocado Puree and Crispy Shallots!

And the Hamachi Crudo with Fennel Dill, Pickled Shallots, Rye Crisps and Smoked Aioli… which is fresh and delicious…. simple and perfect! And gorgeously plated…. and oh oh oh how I love the roe :] Roe roe roe!!!

And then came the seafood plates!  With Seared Nantucket Bay Scallops with Maitake & Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Brodo, Fines Herbs and a Chili Oil….. hehe I always love when they table side pour for you… I had to whip out the camera in time to catch it in action.

Look at those beautiful cute things.  Now, date doesn’t do seafood, but he did for me :] And liked it!!!! —- Although he did pass on the hamachi crudo… still need to ease him into sushi…. (bad experience, supposedly)

And obviously anything with pork belly.. am I right?  Crispy Spanish Octopus(sy) & Pork Belly with Chorizo, Choucroute, Potato, Parsley and Aiji Amarillo.  Octopus on point with crispy ends… and a melt in your mouth pork belly :] NOM!

And then comes our main courses!!!!! Which contained the highlight of the night… Prime Beef Tenderloin & Perigord Black Truffles with Egg Yolk Raviolo, Celery Root and Bordelaise.

This Raviolo was the dish I was waiting the whole night for, especially since Chef Chris posted the instagram online.  Yeah, you should follow his instagram.  I stalk it religiously for amazing food porn and cute baby pics :]

Spiced Long Island Duck Breast & Housemade Sausage with Romanesco, Baby Shitake Mushrooms, Foie Gras & Cipollini Vintrigrette and Persimmon.

Perfectly cooked and I adored the small chunks of all the foie and sausage.  It didn’t overwhelm and the duck was amazing.  You know I’m a duck girl, if there is duck on the menu, I am sure to get it.

We were nearing close to midnight……..

We got complimentary bites nibbles whilst waiting for our desserts…. nervously so, since it was nearing midnight.  They weren’t a hit…. Not to be a party pooper but the other customers around us didn’t seem to enjoy them either…..

And the desserts came…..

“Cafe Chocolate” with Coffee Biscuit, Cardamom Cremux, Caramelized Vanilla Glace…. Super yummy!!!!!!!!…. I loveeeee cardamom in sweet desserts…!!!!

And I, being a lover of Chestnuts, I picked “Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire” with Chestnut Cream, Vanilla Meringue, Kalamansi and Banana Glace.  The Ice cream was delicious but unfortunately the citrus inside the ball was just way overpowering so I ended up getting no chestnut flavor. :[

We sipped on glasses of a delicious Rose bubbly the whole night and had such delightful conversations… (I think I might be a bit loud and embarrassing to him) —-and even got to chat with my buddy, Chef Chris for a bit [yes! Hang soon! And I’ll be in for the waffles & foie ASAP]… unfortunately we were rushing to our venue at the W Hotel to countdown to the New Years so I couldn’t squeeze in a pic with him :[ WAA WAA… It’s okay… it’s not like I’m far from this place.  Adore this place!!!!!

 

Vegetarian No Meat Burgers!!!… and other yummies from the past few days!

Today I tried something new… while I had a beef burger…. oh so yummy, I tried out a special recipe for my mom and her vegetarian friend…. no-meat burgers for them using Beyond Meat product! I prefer Yves non-meats but couldn’t find any at Whole Foods today :[ Bummer.

For 2 Burger Patties:
1 bag of Beyond Beef Beefy Crumbles

1/4-1/2 onion
A few cloves of garlic
Paprika
Salt
Black Pepper
Dried Basil (fresh is probably better and if so, minced)
2 eggs
flour

I first sautéed the minced onion and garlic til caramelized and starting to be transparent and browned slightly. I mixed it with the beefy crumbles. Added S&P, paprika, dried basil and perhaps a few more secret ingredients. I added two eggs and a few pinches of flour to help it bind better – I probably should have added more flour since it was a little too wet. And I grilled them.

For toppings I sautéed onions and mushrooms. Topped the patties with cheese as they were about to be done cooking and put a lid on the pan to melt the cheese. I added a few slices of rings of red onion, sliced tomatoes and some avocado. Some other options (which I put on my beef burger) were jalapeños and cilantro.

And to make the dinner even better.. some kale chips… just kale… drizzled in evoo, s&p I added cayenne pepper… or whatever flavorings you want :]

BTW, this was my BEEF burger haha

Sorry, being “healthy”… even tho the burger was rare *MAD COW DISEASE* haha but I ate my in lettuce wrap….”sort of” ok some of it with fork and knife….

More stuff I made this weekend..

Vegetarian Soup… there’s kale, corn, leeks, mushrooms, onion etc etc… topped with some cheese and cilantro and a “garlic bread” croissant

There were more veggies but I don’t remember

And our pre-Masquerade Harvard Ball dinner

Duck Confit with Leek/Mushroom Risotto and Spicy Broccoli

Just used a tiny bit of white truffle butter, topped with parm and scallions in the risotto, had fresh white truffles.. but forgot to top it… duck confit cooked in lots of duck fat for awhile so super crispy… and then just steamed broccoli with hot pepper flakes :]

Happy Mothers Day 2014 at Cottage Wellesley

I’m behind on my Mother’s Day Post….. I took my mama to The Cottage in Wellesley for the special day…

We got there in time for the reservation but still had to wait awhile for our table… which was kind of disappointing – and annoying.

Me and my beautiful mommy…

I got her flowers delivered to the restaurant… which she loved because she loves purple roses and we both took a million pictures… this is one of my favorites… she will always be the most beautiful woman I know in my life.

We got a half bottle of champagne to celebrate the day.

Cheers to you mommy for being the most amazing woman in my life.

We said no to bread but they gave it to us anyway and it was SO GOOD.  Warm creamy butter and hot delicious fluffy bread. YAY – so bad for us since we’re both carb-o-holics.  It was kind of foccacia-y….

For appetizers we got  a grilled vegetable salad and fried eggplant fries.

DUDE.

FRIED. EGGPLANT. FRIES.

They came with a sauce that kind of tasted like a tartar sauce mixed with a thousand island dressing…. but just on it’s own it was…. light, fluffy, crisp outside and soooo soft and yummy inside – NOT OILY AT ALL.

They actually split our salad for us.  It came with avocado… like a split whole avocado between the two of us… grilled red peppers… asparagus… corn… squash… different kinds of greens… it was just beautiful… you didn’t even need the dressing to make it delicious.

This was my duck duo – which was duck leg confit and duck breast. BEAUTIFUL.  Pickled Cabbage and mandarin slices.

Mama got the sweet potato crusted cod with Potatoes and corn…. also completely amazing.

 

When we got home I made us Watermelon Margaritas with just Fresh Watermelon and Patron in my vitamix. YAYYYYYY

 I love you Mommy

Craigie on Main – 8 Course Tasting Menu

The one and only Woo Bear, my favorite NYPD PoPo/Detective/Bodyguard/Bestie came to visit me in Boston and being so busy with work lately we FINALLY got a chance to meet up, rant, chat, laugh and just have a jolly awesome time.  I picked him up from his hotel and even though we got there early they had a table for us already set for us.

Woo Bear & Peep Peep unite!!!!!

AKA

He’s the Gru to my Agnes

I told him we had to go to Craigie on Main.. it’s farm to table and seasonal and just one of my favorite places MUST GO TO EAT AT places in Boston… well it’s in Cambridge but same difference. I adore their open kitchen. And everyone there is SO friendly and awesome. PLUS every time you get the tasting menu you get different and new things it’s NEVER the same.

After careful, not so careful thinking we decided to order the everything 8 course tasting menu.  We started off with a champagne for me and a “manly” scotch drink for him. I think the waitress said it was a scotch rimmed with absinthe?!… I thought it was delicious!!!!

We also ordered a bomb ass bottle of French Burgundy Pinot Noir – mad $$ but soooo worth it

I asked for them to write out the menu for us so I could have it when I went home… obviously so I could blog!!!

And then it began….. as we sipped our yummy drinks, the food started flowing….

Trio of Amuse Bouche

Citrus Cured Striped Bass, Avocado, Red Onion, Pickled Pine Nuts

This was Woo Bear’s favorite… mainly cuz of the avocado he said.  It was good and reminded me of tuna tartare, I think mainly cuz of the color, would’ve never thought it was striped bass – but I guess it was cuz of the citrus cure.  You couldn’t really taste the citrus but it was a good bite.

Razor Clams, Uni Vinaigrette

Texturally wise, this was my favorite of the three. It was obviously clams… and I LOOOOOVE razor clams.. I’ve never had it sliced before and it was amazing.  Need to start taking my razor clams not whole on a shell… hehe…

Smoked Bluefish Rillettes, Hackleback Roe

Taste-wise this was y favorite. It was a beautifully soaked fish… and with the caviar and everything it was pretty divine.

The waitress loved that I had a champagne glass tattooed on me haha..

Sea Trout Pastrami
Winter Chicories, Blood Orange, Pistachio Vinaigrette

I actually expected a smokier tasting salmon, from the looks of it, but the taste was impeccable.  The texture of the salmon was of smoked salmon but it definitely had that “pastrami” kick to it.  With the added crunch of the chicory and pistachio it was heaven in each bite.  It actually would’ve been an amazing salad with more chicory and pistachios but deeeeeelish!!!!!!!

Roasted Sturgeon à la Poêle
Camargue Red Rice, Red Onion Soubise, Beurre Rouge

When the last dish came out we finally finished our first drinks and got to get into the the wine, which paired PERFECTLY, as waitress said it would, with the food… It was salty was soooooo gooooood.  Not sure what the greens were but the rice was just barely el dente and chewy and amazing, I almost thought it was wheat berries…the surgeon [this was the first time Woo Bear ever had it, but I have] was soooo buttery and beautifully cooked.  Like I said, it was salty but it still tasted awesome….

Delicious wine with an amazing friend!!!

Spice-Crusted Striped Bass Kama

Wait. What? KAMA? UM, I LOVE YOU CRAIGIE.   I love Fish Collar Bone [aka Kama]

Even the waitress told me to make sure to take a pic – I think she saw me taking pictures before… and probably assumed since I was asian HAHA

It’s all about this:
the Tuscan Olive Oil, Citrus Vinaigrette

And cuz we were “her friends” she poured it on for us. AWWWWW I felt so loved….!!!! She even said “Of course Tiff, you’re my friend” hahahaha… maybe she remembers me from my past eatings there…. LOLOLOL… I always eat SO much here

This was my piece… Woo Bear and me both picked our pieces CLEAN!!!!!… We ASIAN YO.  We waste NOTHING!!!

House-Made Red Beet Conchiglie Pasta
Boudin Noir Ragoût, Fava Leaves

This was beautiful. Fucking beautiful. BEET PASTA? It’s like taking a veggie I love with a pasta I love and combining the two.  When I first looked at it, I was like UHHH.. meat? blah? WHAT? But it was delicious.   The sauce didn’t overwhelm the beet taste in the pasta and the lava leaves added a nice green freshness to it.   Will definitely try to make a beet pasta in the future… altho I’ll probably make pappardelle or gnocchi.

Slow-Roasted Veal Sweetbreads
Wild Mushrooms, Farm-Fresh Egg, Chorizo Sauce

This may have been my favorite dish of the night, minus the bone marrow later, but I can never not LOVEEEEEEEEEE and orgasm with bone marrow.  But the poached egg was SOOOO beautiful.  The sauce, the mushrooms and of course SWEETBREADS.  I really need to find a place that sells sweetbreads so I can start cooking them.  They’re one of my favorite delicacies.. even more than bone marrow and foie gras cuz I can never find them to cook them myself… and because of that, I ALWAYS ALWAYS have to order sweetbreads when it’s on the menu.. well I guess the same with the other two but still….

And then when we thought it was all over….

Axis Venison Two Ways: Spice-Crusted Leg, Crepinette
Mustard Spaetzle, Hakurei Turnips, Red Cabbage Purée

And obviously we got it with the BONE MARROW!!!!

Can you believe they asked us if we would rather have duck fat roasted carrots OR bone marrow? UMMM… we didn’t even look at each other and Woo Bear and I both screamed BONE MARROW!!!

It was all so freaking delicious….  the crepinette was SOOOOOOOO delicious. It was a yummy venison meatball!!!… and the venison leg, sliced and cooked rare was just SOOO tender and delicious.  I ended up eating the marrow on toast and then the rest of the marrow all over my veal dish and licking it up. The spaetzle was crunchy and divine and while it was from “mustard” it had almost a delicate “cheese” taste to it.  Definitely some of the yummiest spaetzle I’ve had.  The turnips were great.. I thought it was daikon – which I guess is basically a turnip/carrot – and just all of the items combined was ORGASMIC. We had SOOOOOO much bone marrow it could feed a family of 10.

Palate Cleanser
House-made Lime Frozen Yogurt
Basil Seeds

Delicious. Refreshing. YUM.

We got this amazing Bourbon:
Michter’s 20yr Cask Strength Single Barrel 114.2°

At 67$ a glass it better be fucking amazing and it was… smelled like caramel and was soooooo tasty. Yeah disgustingly expensive but also disgustingly delicious.

Dessssert time.. so it was definitely more than just 8 courses….

Moroccan ‘Upside Down’ Carrot Cake
Goat Cheese Sorbet, Dates, Caramelized Almonds

I told them no goat cheese but they gave me some anyways.  I ate it anyways.  But the cake was super dry, even though I loved the look/concept of the cake.  Next time I make carrot cake I’ll have a beautiful slice of carrot on top.  It didn’t go with the goat cheese even tho I tried it together to make it “wetter” and neither did the sauce.  It was kinda sad to see such a fantastic meal end so badly.

Chocolate-Fernet Branca Crémeux
Roasted Lemon Puree, Tarragon Ice Cream

I don’t really think that was what we got… it tasted like mint ice cream on chocolate mousse and crunchy sticks hahahaha…. it was good but didn’t feel like a FULL dessert, like a side to a dessert…

BUT AT LEAST THIS SAVED THE NIGHT

We had a special complimentary Hot Cocoa to warm us up… there was definitely some chilies and cardamum in it <3

Everything was talked about, we definitely spent a good few hours there… and in the end we realized:

Love you Woo Bear. Can’t wait to play again soon!!!!! Miss you dearly already!!!!

Best Vegas Trip Ever… the Day of Britney!!! [Day 2 – Part Day]

WTF we woke up at like 8am!!!!!  Probably the one and only time we did the entire trip. Probably because we slept so much the day before…….. I guess normal for me since it’s 11 on my East Coast.. but Kelly?! I guess for work?!  We got pretty  and decided to go out for some FOOD.

Yeah I’m dressed as a 12 year old in a ballet skirt and sneakers… and BRITNEY tank!!! YAYYYYYYYYY

UM….. Lobsicle sounds gross… I bet it’s delicious… like a lobster corn dog… but the name sounds disgusting…. deep fried happiness. I love lobster.

We decided on La Salsa Cantina… cuz margaritas for breakfast is BOMB.

It was early so we didn’t want breakfast so we had to wait like 20 minutes before they served NON-breakfast menu… I seriously thought it was already noon but it was still 10am so we ordered the margaritas and had to wait til 11 so we could order lunch.  We got our margaritas and I made friends with Zoltar the fortune teller…. who told me to stop talking so much hahahaha…

I got a watermelon, Kelly got a strawberry, both super sweet amd super non-boozey..so I got us more tequila shots. OBVIOUSLY.

Margaritas for breakfast?! It’s how we do!

We wait we wait we wait….. amd them FINALLY WE GOT TO ORDER. STARRRRRRRVED!!!!

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

Nachos with extra cheese.. why didn’t get get nix the sour cream? We both don’t like sour cream….

Kelly’s Enchiladas – which she finished later in the night after Britney & Light while I was passed out hahaha…

My “Spicy” Shrimp Taco Salad which was TOTALLY NOT spicy at all.  I even asked the waitress what their spiciest food on the menu was and they said THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY! WTF?!?!?!… But it was fresh and yummy…

And then I realized we were right next to the Club Tattoo SO OBVIOUSLY… I had to go….

ME: “Do you think they do walk-ins?”
KELLY: “It’s Vegas.. they bank on bad decisions”

Thanks but the butt shot Kelly…

I finally got my champagne heart bubbles tatt I wanted… and it came out EXACTLY the way I wanted it to look YAY.

And was photobombed by the cute tatt artist I wanted to tatt me…… but couldn’t cuz they go by order… but I got the cute asian chick :] YAY And he chatted with me the whole time.

TWICE!!!! He was adorable and told me that this was a horrible tatt to get for when I go to Rehab. THANKS DUDE. Hahaha… Photoooooobombbbbb

And then after…. I found this… HUMP HUMP

And more HUMP… so we got 42oz dildo drinks with extra shots… [ DUH ]

Walking back I saw a guy dressed as Britney Spears… at the Britney Spears place… YEP. A GUY.

NAP TIME

Ok done with Nap. Time to get pretty……. while we order dinner…. burgers and fries for both of us….

I already picked out my Britney and Light Night Club dress…spiked ballerina dress :]

Almost ready….

Time for more bubbles.. not even sure how many bottles I ended up buying this trip…. just bubbles for FOREVER… We went thru at least TWO a day…. at LEAST

Me and my Asian Doll Twinsie

And then after room service… I think we got Burgers… we went to Brit Brit.. ended up pretty much in the front….

Continue to read about Britney Spears: Piece of Me Vegas Show

Miami Day 3… Pool, Cigars, Bubble Bath and Blade Sushi at Fountainbleau

After a super crazy fun night… we just wanted to relax… and cover up from all our sunburns.. of course J took caution and I didn’t…

Ready to beach….

After our free breakfast!!!

That’s a pulled beef  benedict…. OMG….

We also got some cigars for later…

Adult Pool

Beach

Yep I got tanner and burn-ier….

And then it was cigar time.. the “cheaper” one so we can compare

GANGSTA YO

And then I left J to the balcony and a good book and I decided to bubble bath…. not enough bubbles….

CAW CAW CAW CAW

Ok too many bubbles…

Drowning…

UHHH…

I am now dubbed the bubble/foam Queen <3

This is After I let the water out and got out of the tub…

And awesome BF cleaning up my mess hahaha

SO MUCH BUBBLES

This is for you Steve. Stellar Revival shoutout YO. Wait what… yo… way to be so famous and have a FAN OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE….

OK cleaned up and time for my last night in Miami… Mokai here I come….

So first we had dinner at Blade Sushi Bar/Lounge at Fountainbleau… yes yes remember I came here last year? Well we were supposed to go to Hakkasan… but decided that partying after dimsum and Cantonese food/dimsum [omg I’m so craving dim sum tho] would suck [food coma] more than sushi at Blade.

BLINDING menus. Unnecessary

Magical hot towels that grow…

Edamame

I love piping hot edamame… freshly steamed and large sexy sea salt flakes… :]

We couldn’t choose which sake to to buy so our waiter suggested we try a flight first and then choose what we liked most.

Sake Flight

The Sake we ended up choosing… delish! Oh and J called it… we liked #1..  the others were way too sweet…

Octopus Carpaccio
Sweet pepper, Tomato, Red Onion, Cucumber and Spicy Vinegar Dressing

AMAZING. I remember I loved it when I got it the first time and was asked if I was in the food industry/food critic – cuz I guess, people don’t REALLY get the things I do?!

Yellowtail with Yuzu Miso Glaze
Asian pear, Avocado, Micro greens, Yuzu Miso vinaigrette

Amazing… delish yellowtail… yuzu tang… and the sweetness of the asian pear and creaminess of the avocado… this literally MELTED in my mouth. SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO GOOD.

Salmon Sushi and Uni Sushi

You can never fuck up OG sushi. AMAZE.

Geisha Maki
Yellowtail, Ooba leaf, Orange, Asparagus wrapped in Soy paper,  Wasabi, Tobiko, Yuzu Miso Glaze

This was my roll choice. I loved it… jalapeno… light, refreshing.. definitely super fusian…. so Miami.. reminded me of Samba Sushi.

Bleau Maki
Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon, Avocado, Scallion, Masago wrapped with Daikon, Soy Onion dressing

J’s choice. Also good. It was tasty but WAYYYYY over-doused in that dressing…. ugh.. drowning in it….

And dessert…

A gorgeous Key Lime Tart with pineapple and blackberries

The tart was creamy and also grainy from the sugar. Not sure how much of a fan I was… but it was quite delicious, super sweet…. hey we had a HUGE ASS bottle of sake to finish, we needed to keep on eating until it was gone… and while, yes, if you havent noticed we rarely do dessert, we did it and loved it.

Afterwards…. we decided we were old. We hit up the Lobby Bar… got some scotch, whiskey and champagne… brought it up to our balcony and had our other cigar and drank the night away in the beautiful weather and view. Life is perfect.

I’ve been cooking a lot more lately….

My trips to NYC has been inspiring me to cook more lately.  I’ve been able to experiment more and more with different foods.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned some of these from previous trips:

The dangerous habanero chicken pizza… which was delicious but deadly.

My famous meatballs…

My Short Ribs over Mushrooms and Chard

But here are some more recent things I’ve made in NYC

OK this isn’t really “made” but J and I decided to have a simple wine, cheese and meats night…. with steamed artichokes and baked Yam fries..

Iberico, Chorizo, Duck Salumi and Coppa

So many cheeses…

Half of these are chili/cinnamon rubbed, the other half are truffle butter rubbed..

And then the next night I made a warm grilled brussel sprouts salad with different peppers and veggies… topped with habanero vindaloo chicken…

And some Kale Chips and Fresh Avocado

STOP BEING USELESS
AND START BEING A CHEESEBURGER

So these were the peppers…

That cause me to split my finger open…

and go to the ER :[ WAAA

And then the day before Miami.. uh… night before, we had a a dinner party

I forgot to take pics of the panko pan fried quail I made [marinated in Honey , Orange, Habanero] which each person got a whole quail, cut in half on top of mixed greens as an App]

and I made Duck Breast “Confit style”

Jonathan brought Capri Sun BEER!!!!!!! <3

Oh back to the duck… slow cooked for like 2-3 hours… and then popped into oven with some balsamic vinegar, red wine, pear, raspberries, shallots and fig jam,

See… demolished the salad already… I served with truffled broccolini and mushrooms and baked chili/cinnamon yam fries.

And then the night after we got back from Miami I made bunny curry. YES. Rabbit Curry. And it was actually NOT overpowering on the bunny as some people said it would be.  You could taste the bunny cuz I left them in big chunks…the legs were kept whole, etc…..  just celery, carrots, potatoes, yams, onions, a whole rabbit [I butchered a rabbit for the first time] 

Some steamed okra on the side…

And then I put it all on a bed of mixed greens, freshly made sushi rice, topped off with rabbit meat and curry sauce. DELISH!

OK, now that we’re caught up on that I feel a bit better and will continue onto more NYC eats and Miami posts.

Strip Club, but wait, first Mexicanoooo in Brooklyn…. Random Dumbo Bar and Strip Club

The night started off……. innocent

We headed to Gran Electrica in Brooklyn to meet up with Jonathan for some yummy mexican… and tequila of course.. and instantly started off with drinks and Guacamole and Chips, SO GOOD.

I also had these leggings on… [not a pic of my legs obviously] But these tights were the talk of the night…

I got some Crab Tostada

Jonathan got plantains.. which came out as an appetizer

My Fish Tacos

J got some Carne Asada which he shared… annnnnnnnd… don’t remember what Jonathan got for a main meal.. tacos?!..

After we headed off to some random Brooklyn bar [in Dumbo] and ended up in one which we were the youngest ones there..  and I was SOOOO over-underdressed….. the one we WANTED to go to was having a private party so WOMP….

A few drinks later… and “faux” 5 hour energy drinks that tasted like grape candy — THEY ARE EVIL, DON’T DO IT, they’re 15 hour energy CRACK – which I shall talk about in my next post. Only me and Jonathan had it, J was smart enough not to. WE WERE UP ALL FUCKING NIGHT… okay back to the story

we ended up at the strip club, FlashDancers….

I feel in love with TWO strippers tonight.. apparently they liked me too… we were inappropriate.. and they asked for me when I left with J ;] To the two blonde, real bobbed girlies that danced with me, if you ever read this. FIND ME. You guys are so hot.  I got free dances, massages and ….. a little more ;] I’m hooked.

Fishtail, Top Chef Ed Cotton. Fellow Masshole. Perfection.

I have been anticipating eating Chef Cotton’s food again sooooo bad… SO happy to be in NYC again.. one of these days we’ll both be in Boston at the same time to chill

Me and J have been avoiding seafood since I was SUPER SUPER looking forward to eating at Ed’s new gig. SOOOO…. after work I got all did up and obviously over underdressed for the occasion.

All black.. with red shoes. <3

AHHHH… FINALLY <3 FISHTAIL

Bread. and Butter. SOOO GOOD we got more… no really, we did… you’ll see soon.

We got a Brut Cava, YUM…. and was ready to eat.

I went to pee [TMI] and saw Ed along the way so he waited for me to bring us back the Amuse Bouche.

FUCKING AMAZING.

And then came our oysters. Half East Coast, Half West Coast.  I got the third East and J got the third West. AHHH we fit together so perfect.  Nothing but a little lemon. SO HAPPY.

Cheers Babe <3

Moooooooore… yummy dishes from Ed.

Avocado. Yes. Yumminess. Yes. Happy. Yes.

I think this was when I tweeted about how orgasmic his food was so far.

And then came this:

Baked stuffed clams with house made sweet Chinese duck sausage and baby cilantro

LIFE. FUCKING. CHANGING.

Haha yep, Chef instagrammed it and it went into our bellies. SO. FUCKING. GOOD. PUT IT ON THE MENU NOW. I think we said that to Ed after dinner too.

More cornbread!!! told ya we got more… FUCKING LOVE THE CRUST

We shared a Roasted Monkfish Tail… which was a good idea since we both didn’t realize how big it would be.

They split it up for us and gave us a foursome of sauces:

Ok I don’t remember EXACTLY what they were per-say I know there was a Curry and a Wasabi…. buttttt….. anyways they were delicious HAHHAHA – I’m guessing

WASABI-YUZU VINAIGRETTE

TANGY TOMATO GINGER

BROWN BUTTER HOLLANDAISE

RED CURRY-COCONUT

AND Chef sent out some sides for us…

we got sides of Mushrooms

And Spinach

Yep we licked the plates clean..

AND THEN…. came dessert.. we were super full but we couldn’t resist trying the Warm Apple Tart
vanilla bean ice cream / salted caramel sauce / apple chip and they surprised us with some cheesecake pops.. a David Burke speciality.

Warm Apple Tart. soooo GOOD.

Cheesecake Pops with Bubblegum Whipped Cream

We are happy and full.

Thanks Chef. Do the FOB SIGN WiTH ME DAMMIT!!!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY Chef Fobbed with me :] Love you and see you soon Ed. Thanks for another ammmmmmmmaaaaazing meal. So memorable and fantastic. J and I went home and promptly passed out from food coma [for once not from booze] and it was all we could talk about the next day [the food]

Pre Dinner & Cocktails at Oyamel Cocina Mexicana & Jaleo

Got to hang out with my buddy B and his girlie friends…. K and A, the other day..  W and I headed over to Oyamel after I was done with work and they were already finishing up a pitcher of margaritas – I gladly joined in and quickly catched up.

SOOO much tequila <3

We decided to order one of everything off of the 4$ each bar menu. YUM.  PS their chips were SOO much better than the flimsy ones from Los Cuates

Ceviche verde “El Bajio”
Wild Pacific ono with a creamy avocado, tomatillo, green olives, and jalapeno chiles sauce

W loved it, I thought it needed a bit more crunch or spice to it.  Avocados made me happy though.  Eating it with chips helped.  <3

Taco de barbacoa de res
Beef stewed in a Oaxacan-style guajillo chile sauce with pickled catcus paddle

Beefy, a bit dry but tasty.

Albondigas enchipotladas con queso doble creama
Meatballs in chipotle sauce with crumbled ‘double cream’ cheese and cilantro

Soft small balls of meatballs. I’m a meatball snob but these were good.

Shredded Pork Tacos

Pulled Pork and cabbage. My favorite ones of the night. DELISH!

Taco de cochinita pibil con cebolla en escabeche
Yucatan-style pit-barbecued pork with pickled red onion and Mexican sour orange in a house-made corn tortilla

I thought these were a bit dry too :T Meh.

Bathroom

And then we headed to Jaleo for some tapas and the… DESSERT!!!

I remember ordering a regular bubbly but ended up getting served a rose sparkling wine that cost 4$ more but it WAS tasty. Our waiter was kinda pushy with what we wanted to order. Awkward… but B’s rice pudding was FAB!

My flan <3

BATHROOM!!! Freaky…

But no toilet paper so I left them this HAHA