David Chang

Given that David Chang's Momofuku empire has been around for at least 2 years, I don't understand why I never tried any of his restaurants sooner. I've been to 2 out of his 3 restaurants and each experience has been positive.

My first encounter happened about a month ago on a Friday night. Sometimes, or maybe I should say most of the times I go drinking I have this urge to eat afterwards. I had just left a bar based on a recommendation from someone I met in Philly called Death and Company. If I ever open a bar, this is what it would be like, and if I ever throw a party, this is where I would have it. They make incredible drinks and they probably have the nicest doorman you'll ever meet in NYC period. If any of the 3 people that actually read this blog decide to go, not only should you call me, but you should go for the punch and any of their drinks that have egg whites.

Anyway after leaving this place I knew Momofuku Noodle was close. I knew I wanted to order their ramen since I had been on a ramen mode after going to Ippudo. I always used to think this was strictly a ramen shop, but there is a good share of non-noodle dishes. I think I tried the Momofuku Ramen and it tasted nothing like I expected. Nothing about it seemed Japanese, but I loved it. It was salty, but in a good way and the braised pork and broth it came with was so savory that I pretty much finished everything. Sill not full I ordered the peanut butter ice cream and after that I was satisfied. So much that on my way home I actually missed my subway stop by one station. I've fallen asleep on trains, but not to the point where I miss my stop. I think the combination of the awesome drinks and an 11PM meal put me to sleep.

My second encounter took place the other day at his other restaurant Momofuku Ssam. Now I would have loved to say that my second taste of David Chang's food was at Ko, but given the circumstances surrounding the extremely flawed online reservations system, it's literally impossible to eat here. In my 10+ unsuccessful attempts, I've resorted to tricks of pasting post-it notes on my monitor pointing to where the drop down menu is indicating your party size to opening multiple logged in windows on my double screen at work. The day I finally get to eat at Ko will probably be equivalent to winning the lottery. The odds are really against me.

I went to ssam after going to a riesling tasting around union sqaure. I don't know what it is, but I seem to always be drinking shortly before I go to a Momofuku restaurant. Wait for two was about a half hour, better than I expected. Although a table would have been nice, the seat at the bar was great as my roommate and I got to watch the staff dry wine glasses coming out of the dishwasher that was behind the bar. It's amazing how shiny the glasses got and how quickly they were being used. I didn't realize how much wine people drank, but I feel most of it went to the loud table in the back.

This meal definitely was more gluttonous than my ramen meal. As appetizing as bread with butter sounded for like 8 bucks, it was agreed upon that steamed pork buns would be ordered. I've heard people rave about these things and biting into one was the highlight of my day, if not my week so far. Well it will be considering I'll be in class in less than 8 hours and most likely studying the rest of the weekend. They were so yummy that a second order was placed after finishing the first. The blend of the juicy pork belly, hoisin, crisp cucumber and a little bit of sriracha chili was unbelievable. I would compare eating this pork bun to trying the grilled corn at Cafe Habana for the first time. It has that delicious, addicting quality. For my main dish I ordered the pork shoulder steak with buttermilk and zucchini, which was huge, and my roommate got the the skate with fingerling potatoes. Both were very good and we topped our meal with the rhubarb shortcake. I loved the cream fraiche that came with the dessert that I think I want to use it when I make potato gratin again.

My only regret that night was not ordering the Japanese Hitachino White Ale beer. I didn't notice it until I saw someone across the bar drinking one as we were about to leave the restaurant. I first tried this beer at where else but Death and Company, but had I gotten one I probably would have fallen asleep on the train again and miss my stop.

Order two burgers

Although May is approaching shortly, the weather this past weekend seemed oddly suggestive of a my nights in San Francisco. During this time of year, I expect to be wearing shorts and a tee, but earlier I dressed warmly in jeans and sweater.

Considering the weather, I thought this past afternoon would be the perfect time to finally try the burgers at Shake Shack for the first time, hoping to avoid an extremely long line. However, after exiting the R train and crossing the street to get to Madison Square Park I noticed a considerable amount of people in line even before I entered the park. There were probably about 40 people in front of me once I got in line. I contemplated just leaving and going to City Bakery - mmmmmm pretzel croissants - but I stuck it out and waited about 20-25 minutes. Standing in line wasn't so bad. I overheard a couple stories about how this girl standing behind me parties with this 70 year old man and very quickly, I saw a co-worker, whose name I could not remember, from a job I had 2 years ago walk past me.

I also watched the people that already had their food to see what they were eating since I was undecided about what to exactly order. Although, many people were eating cheese fries along with their burgers, I ultimately decided on one shack burger, one shroom burger, one order of french fries, and a regular size arnold palmer (half ice tea/half lemonade). Before I explain the food, I just want to illustrate how small of a world we live in. One of guys I saw eating cheese fries around 3PM would later be grocery shopping, list in one hand and cart being pushed by the other, at the Dean and Deluca in Soho around 7PM. I wanted to stop and tell me him I saw him at Shake Shack, but I was actually more interested in asking him why he grocery shops at Dean and Deluca since it's rather expensive. I'm a sucker for Teany's Ice tea with lemon and bought the remaining 4 bottles at 2.25 each. This isn't the first time encounters like this have happened to me in New York, but the next time it does I will stop the person.

I purposely ordered all this food since I couldn't decide on one burger and I didn't want to have to go back and wait in line again to try the other burger. I also asked for my order to go since I didn't expect to eat all my food in one sitting, but I ended up eating all of it with the exception of half my fries. My uncertainty worked out since I don' think I would have been full if I just got one burger. In fact, a guy who sat in front of me told me how he wished he got a second burger.

I first took a bite out of the shack burger which is a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and some special sauce. It only took me one bite to realize that this is the most well seasoned and tastiest burger I've had in a long time. The meat was also juicy and perfectly cooked. Even the tomatoes on my burger were good. They were room temperature which is how tomatoes should be served. I finished my burger so quick that I'm glad I had the shroom burger to try. My first bite of this burger tasted amazing, but my last wasn't so much. The shroom burger was a deep fried portobello stuffed with munster and I believe american cheese. In my first bite I saw melted cheese ooze out and tasted a great meaty burger. I probably could feed it to my nephew who hates veggies and he would like it. However, a little over halfway of eating this burger, it got cold and it didn't taste as great. Maybe it's because I ate this second, but it's definitely worth trying. Fries were nothing too special, but still good and my drink was unsweetened which is how I normally drink my tea now.

Overall, Shake Shack was worth the wait. I've read reviews of people that waited an hour and my roommate - yo Jules - told me the line once circled somewhere outside the park. I will without any question visit again when I'm craving burgers; though, I might pick a day when the weather is colder or rainy. Maybe the line will be shorter or maybe it will be longer.

Bacon and Chocolate

This post is long overdue. In case you don't know work has taken over my life, so while I wait for files to print to pdf on my laptop I figured I'd sneak in a quick short post.

Given my long hours at work, including weekends, I like to have snacks around to keep me awake. My stash includes cereal, granola, see's almond royal's, miso soup, and my new favorite chocolate, Mo's Bacon Bar from the Vosges chocolate shop in soho. It's on Spring next to the longchamp store with the crazy stairs. If you've never been, this shop likes to create chocolates with exotic ingredients and combine unlikely ingredients.

Just like the name mentions, this chocolate has bacon in it. It combines milk chocolate with applewood smoked bacon and smoked salt. BLT's are one of my favorite foods for multiple reasons, so when I saw this bar, it only made sense I try it. I love how this bar combines salty and sweet flavors, in addtion to different textures. When you take a bite, the chocolate begins to melt, but chewy small bits of bacon remain, which I think is the best part.

After one bite, the taste becomes addicting. It's almost like eating pistachios or peanuts. I really think its the salt and since there's chocolate to balance it out there's no need for a drink.

it's 4:30AM - I need some La Colombe

Why I chose to start a food blog this late officially makes me crazy. For my first post I'm keeping it simple and talking about the best coffee you will ever find in Manhattan and in my hometown of Philly. On the corner of Church and Lispenard, and on 19th street in Philly by Rittenhouse, is La Colombe.

Since I'm getting sleepy, you just need to trust me that this is the best coffee you'll ever taste. I used to be one of those cream and sugar coffee persons, but once I tried what real coffee should taste like I stopped adding that junk.

Lattes, which happen to be my favorite drink, are always made perfectly here. If the milk is properly steamed, it should give your latte a semi-thick, foamy consistency and a nice leaf or heart design on top. It may sound stupid, but the true test of a decent latte is if the barista can make designs with the milk. If you don't know what I'm taking about, you probably order your coffee at Starbucks.

According to the woman at the counter, the La Colombe in NY has only been around since last summer and prior to that location opening, the only places that served this coffee that I knew of were some of the top restaurants in NY like Le Berardin. I've been to this place and if there is one word I would use to describe that restaurant it would be disappointing - thats for another post.

Compared to the Philly location, which I have been going to for years and I think is the original, the NY one is smaller. However, it feels less claustrophobic and the design of the space is more sophisticated and modern. While it is still new and not as crowded go here to read a book, eat an almond brioche, and sip a latte. That's exactly what I did this past afternoon.