I Heart New York!!! Part Two

The amazing spread of food continued to pour in for the duration of the trip and I welcomed it with open arms! While on the plane ride, I had roughly mapped out all the stereotypical New York foods I needed to have and then I set out to try as much as I could during my stay. My mental list grew and grew, until I realized that I only had so many meals to cover the entire thing! I decided that I needed to prioritize and try only the finest and most authentic foods NY had to offer.

On the west coast, the closest thing we have to a New York bagel is Noah's Bagels, with its pseudo-subway station decor and sarcastic placement of Jewish words on its menu. I prefer Noah's over any other bagelry within my neighborhood, but I was eager to see what New York had to offer. As we exited the subway station, I was ecstatic to see what stood across the street:





H&H Bagel showcased what they knew how to do best: Bagels. Upon entering the shop, a warm humid gust of air rushed to my face and delivered a scent of bagel heaven. A giant, rotating oven was in view to all customers as they waited to purchase their goods. The list items was simple; bagels, bagels and more bagels. Varieties included just the basics such as plain, garlic, sourdough, blueberry and cinnamon raisin. Being a San Francisco native, I opted to try the sourdough bagel. Topped off with some smoked whitefish salad from Zabar's, the bagel was absolutely everything I could have hoped for in a bagel. The crunchy exterior was countered with a chewy and airy interior with a slight hint of tartness. The coarse crumb of the bagel complimented the salty, smoky whitefish perfectly. I responded to perfection by devouring the bagel within seconds (OK, maybe it took me a minute to chew)!

Following my stop at the bagelry, was a visit to the Museum of Natural History located just across from Central Park. Scaling four floors of artifacts and dioramas built up quite the afternoon appetite and since I wanted try an authentic NY deli-style sandwich, we headed back to Zabar's to fulfill my craving.



Zabar's is a specialty market that is a gastronomer's dream come true. As I walked in the doors, the smell of aging cheese and salted olive brine rushed to my nose and I knew that I had arrived at one of New York's favorite local markets. For me, the highlights of this market were definitely centered around the full service lox bar and of course the delicatessen. I had never seen a full service counter quite like this one before. About 25 varieties of smoked fish lined a refrigerated case that was manned by two clerks. Each clerk wielded a filet knife which he used to slice paper thin sheets of the desired fish for each customer. The counter definitely opened my eyes to all the possibilities of smoked seafood, but I guess it was only natural, seeing as how New Yorkers a good accompaniment to a good bagel.

Just ahead of the lox counter stood the delicatessen counter that included a full hot case of entrees, lunchmeats, cheeses, and of course a strudel and knish counter. There were 5 clerks running around frantically from case to slicer and all up and down the aisle serving customer after customer after customer. After a brief glance at the menu, it was clear that there was only one choice for me: the #1 Combination Sandwich, an inventive mix of corned beef, pastrami and sliced tongue served with sauerkraut, russian dressing and swiss cheese. I've always been a fan of reuben sandwiches, so this was an easy choice. The suspense built as the clerk carefully layered each meat on top of the other until the sandwich grew to two and a half inches thick! As he handed me the sandwich, I informed him that I came all the way from California for a good New York deli sandwich and assured me that I had come to the right guy. He was right! The chewy rye bread matched the tang from the dressing and saltiness from the meats in perfect harmony. The sauerkraut and onions on the sandwich topped it all off and made for one heck of a sandwich. I sat on a bench in the middle of the street and watched the world whizz by as I wolfed down the amazing work of art. On that day, I was reminded of two things: I heart New York and I heart sandwiches!

I Heart New York!!! Part One

I am lover of food and travel alike, so when the opportunity arose to visit Mark in New York, I knew I had to jump on it! I had always heard great stories about the amazing food of the Big Apple and I couldn't wait to engorge myself with everything it had to offer! Motivated by numerous Seinfeld food references and pure hunger, I roamed the streets excitedly awaiting culinary adventures on every corner.

My first stop in New York was probably the most classy, but it didn't stop me from walking into the establishment in flip flops and a t-shirt. For my very first meal in New York, we chose to dine at Les Halles, owned by Mr. Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain. The dining room was adorned with dimly lit chandeliers, a dark mahogany bar and crystal wine glasses atop white linen tables. The sophisticated dining room was matched with a traditional French menu that featured all the classics. Of these classics, we chose French Onion Soup, Mussels simmered in White Wine and Garlic, and the amazingly decadent Fois Gras.


The star of the show was definitely the engorged goose liver aka Fois Gras which was sauteed and served with an apple brandy (Calavados) reduction and sauteed apples. I had fois gras for the first time at Nobu inside of the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and boy was it amazing. My conscience told me to avoid such a rich dish for my first meal which happened to be lunch, but the devil on my shoulder nudged me on to order it, and so I did. Fois gras itself is amazing on its own and has the flavor profile of the fat of prime rib with the texture of smooth liver. The sauteeing process added a slight caramelized crunchiness to the skin and the apple brandy complimented it with sweetness and a slight bitterness. When eaten with the sauteed apples, the fois gras was slice of heaven on earth. As one takes a bite of fois gras, all they can do is simply close their eyes and smile, and we did just that! As we left Les Halles, my stomach and mind were both extremely satisfied. The first stop on my adventure was a success and I eagerly awaited what was to come.

The day's excursion continued with a visit to Bleecker Street located in Greenwich Village. With a slide of the MetroPass and a few blocks of walking, we found ourselves amidst culinary masterpieces of every sort. The jungle-like humid heat signaled us to solicit the nearest source of AC for an extended period of time. Following our noses, we found a small ice cream parlor called Cones and parked there until further notice. The everchanging menu had a variety of flavors, many with South American influence (derived from the origins of the two owners). After sampling a few of the flavors (including Brazilian Corn), I decided to go with a fat free Andean Blackberry sorbet. Although my palette wasn't sensitive enough to detect the difference between the American blackberry and the Andean blackberry, I sucked down the delicious sorbet instantly. It was a perfect trio of sweetness, tartness, and most importantly at the time, coldness.

Refreshed by the sorbet, we continued to scout out the 200-400 blocks of Bleecker Street. Along the way, I just so happened to fall in love with diversity of gourmet foods surrounding me! For the cheese fans, there was the sample-friendly Murray's Cheese Shop that wielded every possible variety of cheese, domestic and international. Next door, there was an Italian deli that made their own coppa, prosciutto and mozzarella in house. Dessert was just across the street at Rocco's, an Italian bakery that featured an very tasty handmade cannoli that was filled to order. Within just two blocks in this neighborhood, there was a fanciful array of gourmet goodness proving to me that the first day of my gastronomic adventure was definitely just the tip of the iceberg. Many more exciting stops were to come...

Island Style Sushi

Ever since the tender age of 3, I've been wolfing down sushi like nobody's business. My expensive, yet expansive palette has brought me to sushi bars of all shapes, sizes, and quality. I find that I am an equal opportunity eater of sushi. I give equal respect to both large rolls slathered in sauce and ocean fresh sashimi and nigiri sushi. Whenever there's a debate about where my next meal is going to be at, it is safe to say that my default choice will always be a good sushi joint.

During my venture out to the Kokua Festival in Waikiki, Oahu, my friend, Mark and I found ourselves searching for a simple, yet fulfilling dinner on our last night. Upon browsing some local websites, I uncovered a seemingly decent joint called Akasaka Sushi. According to local reviews, the place was everything you'd expect from your local sushi bar: typical, traditional Americanized menu, 10 tables, in a small strip mall. With a couple clicks and an address, we were on our way to the restaurant in our classy rental car (a beatup green Geo Tracker for $25 a day).

Just as we were driving down the main street, rain drops fell onto our barren car top and I crossed my fingers that we would find the place soon. Sure enough, we turned the corner and I saw the signage for the sushi bar with a couple of other notable business surrounding it. To the left of the sushi bar was a billiards hall complete with a bar, dark lighting and a kind of sleazy slum feeling to it. To the left of the billiard hall, was none other than a strip club! Most excellent! Could you ask for a better setting for an amazing sushi joint? I think not!



Remaining optimistic, Mark and I entered the restaurant and sat down at the sushi bar. A host resembling a used car salesman served us our drinks and immediately went back to his cubby hole where he seemed to be conducting business unrelated to the restaurant. Despite the shadiness of it, we proceeded to order our sushi from the man behind the bar. In a matter of minutes, Toro (fatty tuna belly), Amaebi (sweet raw shrimp), and Saba (marinated mackerel) appeared before us. I took a sip of my favorite sake and then proceeded to dive in and devour each piece of fish like nobody's business. Each piece of fish was excellent and was prepared just as I knew it back in the states. Unbeknownst to me, the saba took me by surprise and whisked me away to heaven on Earth. The fish was amazingly tender and velvety with an amazing flavor that I will never forget. The fish literally took my breath away to the point where I ordered 6 pieces for just myself! I had to know what made the fish so amazing and luckily my shotty Japanese (3 years in High School, thank you very much) and the sushi chef's muffled English was enough to get me my answer. He informed me that they marinated the mackerel onsite instead of purchasing it pre-marinated. The process of flavoring the fish was very simple, involving only fresh seaweed and salt which enhanced the fish's natural fatty goodness. I'm a self-proclaimed saba afficionado and hands down, this was the best saba I'd ever had in my life.



The rest of our meal was rounded out with more sushi and a decadent salmon belly shioyaki (grilled with salt). The richness of this meal definitely hit the spot for the night and both Mark and I went home happy! I was thorougly impressed with this local joint nestled in between a bit of sleaziness! It was a great gastronomical experience that really epitomized the cliche, "don't judge a book by its cover."