The Girl Who Ate Everything

UPDATE (8/5): Thank you all for the contributions! $400 in less than 4 days...you guys are amazing. My website shall live for another few years. :)

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There's a first time for everything. (Or maybe I'm getting desperate.)

Explanation is on the dropcash page, but I'll post it here too. If you're not with Paypal's merchant fees, they charge 2.9% + $0.30 for every transaction. Translation: if you only have 30 cents, you should keep it.

Update (8/4): Holy crap, you guys are fast! You contributed 50% of my goal in about 24 hours. I don't actually need to get new hosting until next year—I just started the campaign now since my birthday is coming up. And even that is a few weeks away.

I'm surprised by everyone's quick generosity, mostly from people who I've never heard from before! But I shouldn't be surprised, eh? My readers are naturally sweet people. Maybe because they're happily carb-stuffed. :] Thank you!

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I've been funding my website-making endeavors for the past 5 years without ever intending to make money from my websites through the use of ads or selling pieces of my soul. My websites don't get enough page views to make ads worth it (besides that they're ugly) and my soul...well, it's not worth much.

But then I thought that maybe, juuuust maybe, someone would want to give back. "Someone" as in one person. Or more than one, I'm not sure.

August 27th marks my 21st birthday, aka "the big one". ...No, wait, I think that's 50. Or 100. 21 is also significant though because now I can *legally* get drunk! Not that I want to. I'm just excited at the prospect of not being turned away from stupid 21+ venues.

What am I talking about? Uh. Oh yeah, birthday time! If anyone wants to wish me a happy birthday in more than just words by donating a smidge of moolah to my website fund, that would be awesome to the millionth power. I'm planning to use Media Temple as my new host and go with the 5 GB plan, which is about $15 a month. $400 is my goal because it's a nice round number and will cover at least two years of hosting plus some domain names costs (I own six domain names, yes'm).

Do I expect to make $400? Uh...no, not unless my readers are insanely generous. It's not like I'm raising money for any great cause, unfortunately. If I didn't raise any money, then I'd just pay for this stuff like I usually do: from the ol' bankeroo! Sweet sweet bankeroo. Blogging and building websites takes a buttload of time, but it's not as though it's a job I expect to be paid for.

IT IS FOR YOU THAT I SUFFER.

...I mean, I love the Internets! And you.

Thanks for reading this far and perhaps considering giving me something. I just hope it's not out of boredom.

chocolate inside!

He's bald. He makes chocolate. He's...MAX BRENNER, HOLY SHIZZ!

...Wait, wuh? I didn't know much about the Israeli chocolatier (besides that he's bald and makes chocolates) until he opened one of his combination store-and-cafe chocolate-filled wonderlands in NYC. Yesterday Jason and I checked it out. For dinner. It's okay to eat chocolate-based goods as a meal if you're on vacation. And perhaps if you fast for the following few days.

chocolatey feeling

Max Brenner is mainly a large restaurant space with a small shop in the front by the entrance. "Chocolate" pipes run overheard (much more appealing than, say, sewagey pipes...although labeling them as chocolate would be a good disguise, eh?) and behind my seat were stacks of ginormous regular and white chocolate blocks. You know, stuff you could build chocolate pyramids out of, although I don't think that's what they're for.

menus

You're given two menus: one with the sweets, one without. Gee, which one will you order from? I guess if people want something non-sweet like a sandwich to go with their chocolate cake, it's nice to have the option. Perhaps balance out that blood sugar level. But surely none of YOU would be so foolish. The dessert menu is gigantic-er and filled with food porn as opposed to the one-sheet words-only "regular stuff" menu for a reason; you're supposed to order dessert. (Jason simply states that ordering the savory food at a chocolate bar would be blasphemous.) Max Brenner must be one of the few places where the dessert menu overshadows the regular menu by a few gazillion calories.

fondooo

After mulling over the huge menu for way too long, we took the easy way out by ordering the variety dish for two (aka "the thing you order when you're indecisive"). We were first presented with the "chocolate fondue with marshmallows and fresh fruit" portion. Instead of a regular fondue pot, the set came with a miniature three-tier bain marie-eque thing, Max Brenner style. The fondue bowls were presented on what resembled a wooden sushi board.

part 2

The other part of our tasting was less straightforward. Fondue: impale things with thin metal skewers, bathe impaled thing in chocolate goo, maneuver chocolate coated foodstuff into mouth without getting liquified chocolate all over your face. Tasting plate: huh, what is this? If I had memorized the menu, I would've known to expect "crunchy chocolate cream snack, popping candies chocolate lick, warm banana split waffles, chocolate-covered ice cream." Or not. Here's my rundown of stuff:

• Chocolate cream snack (rectangular thing on the left side behind the whipped cream): two-layer praline hazelnut ganache thing. Maybe. Smooth, sweet, yummy.
• Popping candies (left-most shot glass): Pop rocks piled on top of chocolate sauce; why didn't I think of that? It's a yummy combination, although not something that I'd be dying to eat again. For one thing, it's troublesome to eat without spoons. WE GOT NO SPOONS. Could we have gotten them if we asked? Probably. But...whatever. We attacked it with our forks, which initially worked since there was more poppin' rock action than liquidy chocolate and forks are made to handle non-liquidy things. Later when there was more liquid than solid, we ended up with...forks dipped in chocolate. Oops. Maybe we were supposed to gulp it back in one go like a real shot, although this chocolate version is porentially more dangerous.
• Warm banana slip waffles: Jason and I agreed that this was the best thing on the plate, which was kind of ironic since it wasn't chocolate-based. A soft, fluffy waffle topped with toffee glazed banana slices, drizzled with the beaker of chocolate sauce. Once of the nicest waffles I've had.
• Chocolate covered ice-cream: Another awkward thing to eat. The hard chocolate shell was too thick to easily crack though, leading me to stab it with my fork. Repeatedly. I thought the ice cream was disappointing texture-wise; not creamy enough. Also. the scoop was just so tiny! It wasn't even a baby scoop, more like a preemie scoop.

We found eating off one big plate to be rather awkward. This was probably another instance where we could've gotten something (extra plates) if we asked for them, but shouldn't these things be automatic? Because there are two people? Especially if they don't want chocolate goo dripped on the table? Which is what I did? Oops?

The fondue was fine, but I don't know how to rate fondue as I'm not enthralled with the idea of dipping things into chocolate. If I had to choose between eating a plain strawberry or a chocolate covered strawberry, I'd rather have plain. To me, the combination of fresh fruit and chocolate (I treat dried fruit differently) ends up with a clash of flavors in which the chocolate is watered down and the fruit tastes slightly chocolatey in a weird way. But that's just me! Lala!

Overall, the desserts were good, but unimpressive for what I was expecting. Shock! Horror! I'm usually so easily pleased! If not for the cool environment and serving ware (chocolate beaker, cute S&P shakers, etc), it would be more disappointing. Chocolate lovers should obviously check it out, but if you want the sharing platter for two, demand spoons. And plates. If you're not a giant chocolate lover and just happen to have $12 to blow on a dessert, go to Blue Ribbon Bakery and bury your head into one of these babies.

Our server was very friendly and gave us adequate attention. It was all good...until he gave us the check and kinda hovered right next to our table as we talked about how we were splitting the check and pulled bills our of our wallets. Um. Awkward.

And now for your photo splodge! (Click on the photos for moooore action.)

chocolate...everywhere...oh my god get it off me!

If anyone knows what rare element the $6.50 cookies are laced with, let me know.

Tisserie

After checking out Max Brenner's store, we...er, ate some more. Just a little more! It's not my fault that Tisserie was nearby and I still hadn't sampled any of their goods.

brownie

Keeping with the chocolate theme, our eyes focused on the large walnut brownie. Oooooh. But alas, like Max Brenner we would be presented with seemingly overpriced, not quite good enough food in a nice enviroment. Doesn't the brownie look dense, chewy, and fudgy? How could be know that it was actually a facade for the lack of density, chewiness, and fudginess? It was strangely light and had a tender crumb, although not in a cake-like way. It kinda just...melted in your mouth. If the dessert were nameless and I had eaten it blindfolded, I would've thought it was fine. However, the unfulfilled expectation of brownie sensations is what made Jason and I cry foul.

Ah well, we still ate the whole thing.

This entry is oddly negative so far. If you think that I ate the "wrong" things, give me suggestions! :) Maybe I should've gotten what Julie ate. Doh.

movie time

After parting with Jason so he could return to the dephs of New Jersey, I watched I Like Killing Flies with Janet and Youngna (after they ate at Pio Maya, review at Gothamist). The documentary follows the Shopsins (primarily Kenny, the eccentric foul-mouthed head of the restaurant/family/chef/the world) in their original, tiny Greenwich Village location before moving to...another larger Greewich Village location. (What's up with them now? Selling their space? Noooo! Ooo! Eee! Ahhh! Horrors! There were so many things left on their menu that I had to eat!) I have no idea how Kenny pumped out a seemingly impossible of array of items from his tiny kitchen; it must be what he was born to do. For a great profile about Shopsin's, read Calvin Trillin's essay in the New Yorker.

Overall, I liked the documentary except for the camera shake that accompanies low budget productions such as this one. Shakey camera = nausea = shakey Robyn. One of my favorite parts of the film was Kenny's closing bit of wisdom: all people are shit. Or something to that effect. Hey, that's my philosophy!...with slightly more colorful language. He equated the belief in thinking one is totally awesome and good (not his exact words, but something like that) to having a new, pristine car. With age the car will inevitably get scratched and messed up. Just like you! The future is lookin' bright.

I'm quite happy about my impending doom.

your mouth shouldn't water

On a totally random note, I think I've eaten homemade basil and mozzerella sandwiches (plus a splosh of olive oil and balsami vinegar) once a day for four days in a row. Why? I like basil and mozzerella sandwiches. This is as close to "home cooked" I've gotten all week. The above photo was taken outside NYU's Kimmel Center (general student center with many couches that are most useful for napping) on the second floor terrace that looks towards Washington Square Park. A bunch of people must've been pissed when their view of the park became blocked by the student center, which was built just a few years ago. OH WELL.

cheap greenwich village eats

Mamoun's Falafel

Mamoun's Falafel is a well known cheap eat among NYU students and other people who may or may not be broke. The hole in the wall is most well known for its falafel, but more so because it's cheap, not because it screams awesomness.

falafel plate

Not that there's anything wrong with the falafels. I tried the falafel sandwich ($2) once during my first semester and thought it was okay, just not good enough for me to buy again. John ordered the falafel platter ($5), which came with six falafels surrounding a salady stuff (...do I really need to describe what's in the photo?) doused a thin, tangy, yogurt sauce and two pitas.

lamb shwarma

I went with a shwarma sandwich ($4), consisting of half chopped up roasted lamb and half all-purpose salady stuff. And it was half good, half okay. Or maybe 65% good and 35% okay. When the lamb bits were done right (not that I know what "right" is; I'm just assuming it's the opposite of "wrong", which I'll get to in a sec), they were damn tasty. Slightly crispy, tender, flavorful bits of lamb meat whose protein has been denatured by the means of slow roasting on a ginormous skewer for optimum tastiness. The "wrong" bits were small slabs of fat that would bring the formerly enjoyable lamb munching experience to a halt. Slab-o-not-so-flavorful-fat = road block to higher level of palatability. I did enjoy it overall though and it consituted a satisfying lunch.

HOT DOG

I slunk in the background of Gray's Papaya while taking photos as but John procured liquid refreshment (not so surprisingly, they have a papaya drink).

best hot dog everrrr?

hot dog army

Would the "p�lser"-loving Norwegians enjoy Gray's Papaya? :) I mean to try it someday (after having passed it innuerable times), but I'm never in the mood for hot dogs. Oh well.

Taiwanese style

On a related note, one of my blog readers Hong-Ming contributed these photos of hot dog-centric baked goods from Taiwan. Oh, crazy Chinese bakeries...I love you. So damn tasty.

Galanga gave me noods

Galanga

Thai restaurant Galanga is one of those places (one of many places) that I've passed a gazillion times yet have never tried. On Tuesday I finally tried it for lunch with co-workers Tony and Hoan.

soup or salad?

Each item on the lunch menu includes a soup or salad. And...there they are. Onto the real food.

drunken noodle

I went for the spiciest item on the menu, "drunken noodle". I'm not sure what makes it drunken, but the menu description, "Thai street style hot & spicy wide rice noodle with chili pepper, bell pepper, Chinese broccoli & fresh basil," informs us that it is "street style". Maybe the style of the street is to make noodles while drunk. Or maybe it means nothing at all and they just wanted a title catchier than "spiciest-thing-on-the-menu noodles". Thick, chewy, wide rice noodles (chow fun) are one of my most favorite foods in the universe. The drunken noodle version came with generous amounts of vegetables (since I chose the vegetable version; otherwise I guess it would have meat cunks), a lot of basil goodness, and enough spiciness to get the mucus (and some tears) a-flowing. It may not look like a lot in the photo, but the portion was very filling to the point that I couldn't eat it all even though I wanted to. I hate those dilemmas.

grilled pork

pad thai with vegetarian duck

Hoan's tender grilled pork came atop sweetened Jasmine rice. Mmmmm, tasty combo. I wasn't a big fan of the vegetarian duck in Tony's pad thai (my proposed name that no one would ever use: "brown-chunks-o-soy-protein-based-somethin'"), but the rest was good.

Galanga

If you've ever near Galanga, it's a satisfying and quick "under $10" lunch option. Rob prefers Klong, which I have yet to visit.

(On a random note, Hoan and Tony said that the waitresses were looking at me funnily while I was taking photos. I wouldn't be surprised if this usually happens and I just don't notice. As long as no one stops me, then I don't really care! Woohoo!)

google time

Max Brenner
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

Tisserie
857 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

Mamoun's Falafel
119 MacDougal St
New York, NY 10012

Gray's Papaya
402 6th Ave
New York, NY 10011

Galanga
149 W 4th St
New York, NY 10012

randomness

Once again, thank you to the gazillionth power for contributing to my website fund. It's hard for me to believe that people could be so generous, especially when I acknowledge that I don't desperately need the money (but maybe I will soon since I won't have a job in Paris). It's heartwarming to see that so many people are willing to sustain the well-being of my websites. :) To give some more information (because you deserve it), I don't intend to get my new hosting plan until next year when my current one runs out; I only set up this fund now since it's my birthday month. My history with webhosts has been sketchy (four hosts in five years with some blog data lost on the way...which might not be such a bad thing), so I'm set on finding my webhost knight in shining armor that I won't hate after a year even when things seemed so peachy and dreamy at first. Media Temple and Dreamhost are my top picks as found through reputable websites that I like. Still haven't decided what to go with.

Check out Nick's blog, 365 Days of Beer, for a explosion of JAPANESE CRAZINESS. If the title didn't already give it away, his blog is mainly about beer. BUT! He also talks about other things.

holy shizz

katsu heaven

I really want to go to Japan, but a part of me fears that in a land that paradoxically teems with the most delicious foods in the world eaten by some of the slimmest people in the world, I will become that whale-esque American that everyone will point and laugh at as a horror from the gluttonous West...not to my face, of course, because that's rude.

Japan! JAPAN! WHYYYYY? YOUUU! TASTY!? GRAMMAR NONEXISTENT.

Selection of vegan ice cream at the 2006 Pitchfork Music Festival (by Temptation) almost looks unreal. I have a feeling the chocolate isn't "local", but maybe the peaches and starwberries are grown in...someone's backyard. Organically. This makes me feel bad because I am a big fan of things with creamy, fat filled moo juice and am far, faaar away from being a vegan despite learning about all the horrors of meat and watching that nice video of a meat factory worker slicing down the belly of a cow and pulling out its entrails.

I GUESS I HATE ANIMALS WITH A BURNIN' PASSION. But I do love ice cream.

I rate this entry: "not enough humor."

[kadonk]

I just attempted to toss an empty box of Pocky (or rather, an empty box of air where Pocky had once existed) into the trash bin about 3 feet away from my seat. For the second it was airborne, its direction cruelly shifted from "straight into the trash bin" into "floor space slightly left of the trash bin". My failure in aiming was noted by the box making a sad "kadonk" sound. Note for future trash tossing: must account for the windshift that exists in that small space between my seat and the trash bin.

Okay, back to food.

I spent a large chunk of my Saturday gathering foodstuffs (no farms here, just bakeries and chocolate shops) for a food trade with Natalia. While I thought I'd go it alone, John decided to come along for lack of anything better to do. As long as you don't mind being dragged around and forced to eat half of everything I want to try, you're welcome to join me. :] I'll note transportation for anyone who feels like recreating the route we took, but be sure to check MTA service advisories since those things will screw you on the weekends.

First stop on our five-stop tour was Jacques Torres, a short walk from the Christopher Street PATH station (where I disembarked) or the Houston Street stop on the 1 line. As I approached the store, I noticed a stream of people coming out of large coach bus. "Hm, interesting place to stop on a tour." And then I watched them shuffle into the shop. Oooh. (I have no clue what the tour group was; all I noticed was that it was mainly or entirely comprised of women.)

ice cream sammich

There was just one thing on my mind: icecreamsammich. Particularly the "roasted banana" flavor. $5 is perfectly reasonable for two of JT's chocolate chip (actually more like chunk) cookies (actually more like slabs) surrounding a thick ice cream puck. We had trouble breaking the sandwich in two since it's very solid (yes, I believe this is what knives are for), but were ultimately victorious in sharing the calories. And what yummy calories they were. The cookie had that great buttery brown sugar flavor that most others lack (in my experience at least...[sniffle]) and the dense, creamy ice cream held its structure in between the chewy cookies. While I would've liked more banana flavor from the ice cream, it was still...you know, awesome, and I don't have previous banana ice cream eating experiences to compare it to. The deeply frozen nature of the sandwich prevented melted ice cream goo from coating our fingers (or maybe that's because we ate it really quickly), although you might get different results if you eat it outside under the burning radioactive sun.

Levain Bakery, oh baby

We hopped on a red train to 72nd Street to visit Levain Bakery, which is pretty much my only reason for going to the Upper West Side. Their cookies (chocolate chip walnut in particular) are some of my favorites and come in the form of ridiculous boulder-shaped chunks with a crusty exterior that gives way to a cookie dough-like texture. If you eat one fresh off the baking rack, you'll be rewarded with semi-liquified chocolate chips embedded in one of the most ultimate sinful cookie-eating experiences. Sadly, one "problem" with their cookies (for me, at least) is that they're so damn big that if you eat an entire one by yourself you'll feel like dying, but you can't bring yourself to save it for later because it's so damn good. Thankfully, I've had this experience so many times (the eating, not the dying; I've shared the cookie every since I made the first mistake of eating the whole thing over one day) that I didn't have to get a cookie for myself and just bought one for Natalia. :)

There are other places of interest you could walk to around Levain (Alice's Tea Cup in particular), but I had other plans. We walked to the 72nd Street B line stop and took it down to 23rd Street (with a switch to the E at 42nd Street because of those pesky advisories...thank god the Internet tells me these things beforehand).

Billy's Bakery

Although I had known about Billy's Bakery for a long time, I never visited it. And it's not like I haven't been in the area before. WHERE WAS MY BAKERY RADAR? It failed.

my risk for diabetes just went up a notch

Billy's is a homey American-style bakery akin to Magnolia, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, and Buttercup Bakshop. Cupcakes, layer cakes, cheesecakes, cream pies and bars are neatly displayed and stacked around the small bakery so that you feel trapped in a sugary paradise and are left to make the difficult decision of what to indulge in. Not for sale are the small tubs of frosting near the front window being used in the smothering of thick frosting onto fresh, naked-as-a-newborn-baby cupcakes. I probably let out a small shriek when I saw one of the employees skillfully maneuver a chocolate frosting-loaded knife while also wondering, "How do I get that job?"

key lime pie

John chose our dessert for this bakery stop since I wasn't in the mood for anything in particular. While I like key lime pie, it's not something I'd ever choose on my own. ...Not that there's anything wrong with key lime pie, it's just that I usually prefer something else and had yet to ingest a memorable key lime pie. It was a good choice on John's part since this did end up being a memorable pie-eating experience. The cool, impressively solid, smooth tangy lime pudding filling was perfect on a hot day where simply sitting was likely to make you as disgustingly sweaty as actually moving. The tender—but at the same time crunchy and solid—crust was just as tasty as the filling and left a significant high mark in my history of pie eating by containing a slight toffee flavor. TOFFEE! IN MY CRUST! I don't recall ever eating a crust that had so much sugary and buttery goodness that it tasted like toffee. Magic, that is. I'd just eat the crust. Or the pudding. Or...uh, in this case, both at the same time. That is one good pie.

La Bergamote

Farther down 9th Avenue was yet another bakery I had never been to: La Bergamote. How did it escape my radar? HOOOOOW? ANSWER ME!

mm, baked goods

You probably already guessed that La Bergamote is a French-style patisserie. Their display case is filled with individual-sized cakes, fruit tarts, cream-filled puff pastries, and other things made of chocolate, cream, egg, flour, sugar, milk, or all of the above. (There's also a large selection of sandwiches, if that's what you're in the mood for despite being bombarded by a gazillion cakes.)

croissant time

What I really wanted to try was one of their croissants as recommended on Chowhound (even though I'm not a big fan of croissants, I'll eat it if it's good). Although I like Patisserie Claude's better, La Bergamote's didn't disappoint. Slightly crispy on the outside and soft, buttery, and madly layered on the inside. I figure it would taste better in the morning, so it was fine for late afternoon.

This entry is almost done. Really.

various sweet things

Our last stop a few blocks down from La Bergamote was Chelsea Market. Click on the photos (from places that I didn't eat anything from) for more info. If I had to go back for any of those items, it'd have to be the poo-frosted cupcake. It's just too cute. ...My god, something's wrong with me. Is the idea of endearing poo just an Asian thing? Somewhere in my room lurks a a poo keychain. Yes, you may think less of me now.

mounds of gelato

The visit to L'Arte Del Gelato was completely unplanned, but ice cream shops always offer that thing that you're not guaranteed to find at other sweet shops: free tastings. I tried three flavors before deciding that I had shown enough of my piggish behavior and settled on a small cup ($3.75) of "panna cotta" and "cookies and cream" gelato.

After I leveled down the mound. With my mouth.

Mmm, this stuff is good. The flavors aren't Il Laboratorio del Gelato-intense, but the texture is creamier and spoon-malleable. Strangely enough, the cookies and cream flavor lacked cookie (they should just call it "cream"). I'd love to try this place again, but I'd advise skipping the C&C. John got a cup of mandarin orange sorbet, which was more refreshing in the hot, sticky weather than the gelato due to the strong, un-dairy-ed flavor and the sharp coolness of...lack of fat. The lack of fat didn't negatively affect the texture, which was about as creamy as the gelato. Mmm, that's good stuff. (For more NYC ice cream scooperies, check out Ed Levine's Top 10 list.)

And then I went home and went into a coma. ...Actually, I felt fine and failed to gain any weight. All I ate was fruit for lunch and dinner, so I guess all the sweet treats in between didn't affect me too much. Of course, I only do these fooding tours once in a blue moon since I might otherwise actually fall into a coma.

I have four more fooding excursions to report, but I think this entry is long enough. So..beware, because more is a-comin. (I'm scared.)

google is your friend

Jacques Torres
350 Hudson St

Levain Bakery
167 W 74th St

Billy's Bakery
184 9th Ave

La Bergamote
169 9th Ave

Chelsea Market
75 9th Ave

SWEET BABY JESUS, I AM IN A DITCH OF "STUFF I HAVE TO BLOG ABOUT, BUT HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO YET," AND...I...AM TRYING TO ESCAPE......

[breathe in, breathe out, just like they do in lamaze, or something]

This entry may not make the top ten/hundred, but here I go anyway.

Makeda

On Monday I met up with chocolate making extraordinaire Deb at Ethiopian restaurant Makeda for lunch with my mum in tow. I've never brought my mum to a "meet another food blogger" meal before, but she likes food. ...And I suck at driving to places I'm not familiar with (probably not that good at driving to places I am familiar with), which was the main reason I needed her to come along. Besides that I love her so very much!

The spacious, wood-accented restaurant only had a few customers, which is too bad because their $9 lunch special is yummy and filling. As for how good it is compared to other Ethiopian food, I have absolutely no idea how it rates. Ethiopian eateries aren't exactly ubiquitous around these parts of suburbia, nor in NYC. At the very least, I can confidently say that in the overly general scheme of "food", it's great stuff and unique if you haven't eaten it before.

meat and veg

I don't remember exactly what I ordered, but it may have been this:

• Minchetabesh - Finely shopped prime rib, pan fried with ginger, onion, cardamom and white pepper until golden, then sauteed in Ethiopian's famous Keywat. Hot.
• Atakilt Wat - Fresh green beans, carrots potatoes, green peppers, cabbage and onions, sauteed with garlic, ginger and tomatoes
• [insert name] - Damn, I forgot.

Overall impression? All...yummy. I know that's horribly undescriptive, but I'm not going to make something up. They ain't kidding when they say "finely chopped"; it's like meat stew. Which is fine with me. I liked the vegetable portion (right-most item on the plate), but I can't remember what it was, and the pureed quality of it doesn't make it recognizable. At the very least, I can make out the potato and vegetable medly. My ability to recognize flavors is pathetic, so I'll just say that I don't think anyone would find this food too bland or overwhelming. I'd hope that most people would find it interesting and tasty, unless they're insanely unadventurous.

While you could ask for silverware, you're supposed to pick up the food by using the included injera, a spongy, flat sourdough bread that soaks in all the saucy goodness. You don't mind getting your hands a little messy, right? I mean, you will wash them. Eventually. I hope. They give you napkins to wipe your hands with before and after the meal if you're concerned about that. Aside from a splodgey big of overly soaked injera in the middle of my plate, I chowed down everything. Unfortunately, it's the Robyn way.

veg

Deb and my mum ordered the same thing (or rather, my mum ordered the same thing as Deb). They also both used forks. LIKE TWINS, THEY ARE!

white chocolate mousse cake

Although the dessert menu is about as Ethiopian as I am, my mum and I topped off our already stuffed bellies with mousse cakes with surprisingly awesome results. My "Ultimate White Chocolate Mousse Cake" consisting of "pure white chocolate and whipped heavy cream over a buttery cookie crust, topped with swirls of ganache" was as good as it sounds (the assumption being that it sounds damn good). The texture was "medium"—not too heavy or light, kind of like a cheesecake, but instead of the slightly tangy cheesecake flavor that fails to capture my sweet-lovin' heart, it just filled my mouth with smooth, sweet, vanilla white chocolate-ness. Awesome, really. I'd want to eat it again.

chocolate mousse cake

The description of my mum's chocolate mousse cake, "a very light chocolate mousse with an oreo crust and topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings", also proved to be truthful. The texture was lighter than my cake and it had a smooth chocolate flavor that wasn't too sweet or bitter. My mum declared it the best chocolate mousse cake she's ever had! Check out Deb's blog for a photo of my smiling mum and her cake chunk. ;)

Great entrees, sinfully tasty desserts, friendly service, and a cool environment make me wish I lived closer than a 90-minute drive to Makeda. [sigh] Thanks to Deb for the suggestion and for giving my my mum and I a box of her adorable chocolates.

chocs!

You can buy Deb's Delectables for yourself. Hell, you can buy a box of 100 chocolates in a special box that comes with a freakin' handle so that you can lug your chocs to your secret "chocolate gorging" location in that secluded cave in the woods (as opposed to the non-secluded one)...yeah, I can see you.

Not creepy. Not creepy at all.

Mitsuwa steals my non-Japanese heart

On Sunday I met up with Steph at my most beloved NJ spot, Mitsuwa. It's a piece of Japan that longs to cross the Hudson into NY, but is instead stuck in NJ. Like most things in NJ.

katsu time

Who doesn't like katsu, the golden, delicious deep fried foodstuffs, the antithesis to sushi (or one of em), the surefire way to make your salivary glands do that "drooling" thing? I DON'T KNOW. I got some kind of yam chunk thing and Stephanie went with pork (or chicken...well, they look the same after they've been fried in cutlet form). I'd say skip the yam unless you like pseudo-slimy gelatinous chunks armored in a crunchy shell, but at least it had the crunchy shell to make me forget about the pseudo-slimy gelatinous chunks.

donut!!!

I ate a red bean donut from St. Honore Bakery for dessert while Steph went for the less guilt-inducing fruit danish. Unlike American filled donuts I've had in the past (all three of em), the Japanese donut had a more substantial, chewier dough. The red bean filling was also thicker than a standard donut filling, such as jelly or cream. Japanese donut wins over regular American donut in my case, but my love for red bean paste has a bit of influence in that preference. I know some people who don't like red bean paste and to them I say, "STAY AWAY FROM MAH DOOONUT." (The surge of craziness changes "my" to "mah". Don't ask. I have no answers anyway.)

And now for some random photos (of which many more lurk in my flickr account; click on the photos for more info):

Japanese things

chu-chu?

A childhood flashback spurned from the deep, oh-so-squishy depths (indeed, in deep spaces you will find depths) of my brain when I spotted these "chu-chu" bars. Who else ate these as a kid? You stick these artificially flavored/colored liquid-plastic tube-filled (methinks those words weren't combined correctly, but I'm no English professor so it doesn't matter!) in the freezer and take them out (after they've...ye know, solidified) when you want a cool treat. Break em in half and suck out the icy goop for MEGA FUNS.

amino value?

I just liked the name of that drink. For all those times I need 2000 mg of BCAA or whatever the hell is in this drink.

double the carbs, double the funs

Ever wanted to eat spaghetti with your hands? Man, who doesn't?...don't answer that. Whether or not you give a crap, the solution is here: carbs wrapped in carbs! I love Japan.

non-edibles

You need to click on those photos for a larger view. Trust me. They fill me with odd joy and laughter from my disturbed inner child.

Otto

romana

Last Friday I ate at Otto with Jennifer with the goal of eating tasty food and getting a little interview out of me. :] If you like tomato, mozzerella, anchovy, capers, and chiles, then OH BOY, this pizza is for you!

...Actually, it's for me. I ate it. Hopefully it passed through my digestive system by now.

Otto is one of my favorite pizza places for their ability to make the thinnest, crispiest crust I've ever chomped on. I know it's not the "best" pizza in NY, buy hey, I'm still making the pizzeria rounds. Besides that I love the crust and toppings, I consider the smallish size a plus as it means I can eat the whole pie without feeling like a beached whale.

chocolate budino

However, not everything is a satisfying size at Otto. Check out Jennifer's chocolate budino (chocolate hazelnut pudding with whipped cream) in its comically tiny cup. The size would make sense if the pudding had the chocolate density of an atomic bomb, but it was simply regular chocolate density pudding in a small cup. The pudding was good—smooth, texture like a thick mousse, don't remember much about the flavor besides that it was chocolate hazelnut—but the $4.50 price tag for what looked like a pudding shot made it underwhelming.

parfait

Upon my waiter's suggestion, I ordered the "coconut gelato, lime curd, strawberry granita, coconut tapioca and pineapple" parfait. For $9, it's twice as much as the pudding shot and definitely more worth the moolah, although still not as satisfying as a simple three-flavor $7 gelato cup. I'd suggest getting unadulturated gelato over anything else, as Otto's gelato is really awesome (for those of us who haven't been to Italy, at least), but the parfait is also worth trying. The granita was more like fresh strawberry jam than what I thought would be more sorbet-like and the smooth lime curd was just strong enough without being throat-cloggingly acidic.

...But I want olive oil gelato. Mm. Yes.

Thanks to Jennifer for joining me and going where no blogger has gone before...by interviewing me in real life. I'd expound upon the questions here, but I have to go to sleep and wake up in less than six hours. Damn. You can google the addresses yourself, right? Goodie.

UPDATE (8/14): It all works now, and I even inputted the lost comments and replied to them! BECAUSE I AM DEDICATED ...TO YOUR COMMENTS. And you.

UPDATE (8/11): Don't leave a comment! (Not that you can since I closed em...er, I'll explain why.) Something is wrong and preventing comments from showing up if you posted them after noon (four people I think?). I still have them in my inbox, but they're not stored on the site for some reason. Booo. I shake my fist at the Internet.

'sNice

'sNice is a very appropriate name for a place that specializes in sandwiches. As you know, sandwiches are nice. ...No, not just nice, awesome. Like, "It turns out that Fluffy didn't get run over by a car; that was someone else's cat!" awesome! (Awesome for Fluffy and his owner, not the other cat so much.) I doubt the name 'sAwesome was ever considered, which is fine since 'sNice sounds a gazillion times better. But it's not just nice...it's awesome. Think of Fluffy.

[In case you can't tell, I'm tired! Heehee!]

Outside 'sNice I met (a planned meeting, not a random blogger run-in) the adorable, "looks about a decade younger than she actually is" Rose, who despite not having updated her blog in a few months is alive and well. Her computer, on the other hand, is...not. Or was not. Hopefully she'll be back on the blogging scene soon.

how many laptops?

It's quite obvious that there's free wifi once numerous glowing screens populate your field of vision. For whatever reason the scene felt less yuppie-ish than Doma, although I'm sure the high Apple-to-PC ratio of the two cafes is similar. As much as I love Doma's food, the place is small and gets crowded easily. The mass of bodies and laptops may lead to the other problem of increased temperature hovering around that of the second level of hell. Thankfully, 'sNice is spacious and has plenty of seating.

counter

I just like how that photo turned out. Yee-up.

my sandwich is freakin' awesome

While 'sNice's menu has a wide range of vegetarian-friendly choices (as in tofu-filled and whatnot), the only sandwich that really jumped out at me and punched me in the head while screaming, "EAT ME YOU KNOW YOU WANNA" (sandwiches are violent) was the "Fontina Sundried Tomato Pesto with Caramelized Red Onions and Arugula Panini". How could I resist that? Especially with the head punch. For $7, this is a great sandwich. The toasted, compressed bread was sturdy enough to neatly hold in all the fillings, but soft so that it wasn't a chore to chew. The antithetical (a word that may or may not fit here) combination of soft innards protected by a crispy crust made me ever so happy. Gooey cheese smooshed over sweet onions also conjure elated feelings. Unless you're...evil. Don't be evil. You must love the combination of cheese and onion.

not my sandwich!

Rose's sandwich, "Tempeh Reuben with Kraut, Thousand Island Dressing and Swiss cheese on Whole Wheat", while also good, failed to bring about as many happy sandwich feelings as my panini. My stomach isn't ready to deal with tempeh or kraut, as evidenced by the sour kraut-flavor of my burps for the rest of the night. I was surprised by how good the sliced bread tasted; there are few sliced bread sandwiches that I like (they don't taste as good as those made with individual "roll" types of bread to me). You couldn't tell just by looking at it that it was toasted eeeeever so slightly as to make the outermost micron-thick layer of bread just a little crispy while giving the rest of the bread that nice "baked" taste and texture that comes about when you toast things. As long as you don't over toast them and end up with carbon.

If you couldn't already tell, I really like bread.

dessert

We topped off our relatively healthy dinner with a tray of cupcakes Rose picked up from Cakes 'N Shapes in Hell's Kitchen. She wouldn't have bought six identical cupcakes and lug them downtown if they didn't provide some sort of revelatory cupcake eating experience. The no-frills, vanilla frosted chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles may not look special, but don't be fooled! Don't you remember the story of the Ugly Duckling? Replace the ugly duck with a normal looking cupcake and...um...well, it doesn't fit exactly since the duck doesn't get eaten (except in the special version of the story indended to make children cry), but eat the cupcake and then BE AMAZED! Amazed by the supreme moistness and lightness of the cake, the perfect amount of sweetness, the lack of messy crumbs, the fluffy texture like a comfy pillow for your head...except that its in your mouth.

We each ate two. [cough] Rose gave me the remaining two to bring home. My mum, who generally doesn't like cupcakes, was also impressed. Cupcakes make the world a better place.

house of bings

Although there isn't a clear sign, NY Times informs me that the new bing place on the corner of West 3rd Street and 6th Ave is called "Roll and Dough". I'd rather just call it "Bing" (and I will), or better yet "Bing!" since I think the name resembles onomatopoeia more than the name of a food. In Chinese, bing is the term for flatbread, my favorite form being the fat-oozing pan-fried scallion pancake (hooyeah, you know you want it). However, the flat, sesame seed-encrusted, meat/veg/sweet filled type of bings is fast becoming one of my favorite foods.

rows of bings

[squeals, hopefully not in a pig-like way]

innards, yes

I tried a spicy beef bing on my first visit last Friday. Thin, chewy, slightly crispy dough held in moist, tender chunks of beef with a pleasantly spicy flavor, thankfully not to the level of being mucus river-inducing. The structure of the bings results in one of the least-messy and easiest sandwich-esque eating experiences you can have. No wayward crumbs or sauce goop to worry around. It's also uber-cheap for around $2 or less per bing.

sweet bings

On Monday I shared a few bings (among other items) with Tony and Hoan for lunch. The banana chunk-filled bing felt like it could use an extra flavor, but I think that's the non-Chinese part of me speaking. What would you think about bananas with cream, nutella, or honey all smooshed together in that little patty? Yums? Banana on its own is fine of course; I've just been conditioned by many years of eating banana-based desserts. I wouldn't add anything to the sweet, taro paste-filled bing. If you've never had a taro-based dessert before, you may want to start here. (If you want a savory taro snack, try Terra Taro Chips, my favorite type of chip. Totally pwnz the potato version in my opinion.)

makin' little dumps

The other draw besides bings are the handmade dumplings (or as I like to call them, "little dumps". By now you may have noticed that I like to make things sound less appealing than they actually are). Dumpling fillings include beef, pork, chicken, spicy versions of the meat fillings, and vegetarian. Unfortunately, since the restaurant is still new they probably won't have all the choices that are listed on their menu (same problem with the bings), but at least you can look foward to getting fresh versions of whatever they happen to have.

time to eat the dumps

Ten pieces for $5-$6 is a great deal and should be enough to satisfy one person. Although these would never be mistaken for soup dumplings, our spicy beef (or chicken, I don't remember) dumplings packed in a lot of potentially mouth-burning juice beneath the soft, not too thick or thin dumpling skin. Mmmm.

chicken buns

I didn't order, so don't ask me how we ended up with six chicken buns. The bread was awesome— golden crispy bottoms and soft...erm, everything else. (I would guess that they're cooked by a fry/steam method.) Innards are great too, but what I really like is the wheat-based part. :)

The main problem I see with Bing (the place, not the foodstuff) so far is that they don't seem to make food to meet the demand of Chinese food-hungry Greenwich Villagers as noted in this chowhound topic. I'm sure they'll make more food over time. The young employees are very friendly and may offer you free samples. We were each given a free chicken bun before we ordered anything (and then we got that plate of six...don't ask).

mappies

'sNice
45 8th Ave

Cakes 'N Shapes
466 W 51st St

Roll and Dough (or as I'd like to call it, BING!)
135 W 3rd St

it's random!

Ed Levine's Food Rorschach Test "will provide a window into your inner soul (food and otherwise)". A window into my soul! That sounds drafty. He doesn't know how to interpret the results though, so I'll just leave my answers up to your scrutiny:

1. Haggen Dasz or Ben & Jerry's? ...Damn that's hard. I'd have to say neither or both. (Ed states that you must decide on an overall preference. However, I don't have one in this case. From my experience, Haagen-Dazs tastes better, but it doesn't offer as many appealing funky flavors as B&J. I JUST DON'T KNOW.)
2. Skippy or Jif? This is an easy "neither" as I don't know how good either one tastes.
3. Bagel or Bialy? Bagel by default since I've eaten two biays in my life.
4. Whipped or Regular Cream Cheese? Regular.
5. Relish or Sauerkraut on your hot dogs? Crap...this might be another "neither" since I rarely eat hot dogs.
6. Milk or Dark Chocolate? Someone's gonna hate me for this, but definitely milk. My preference switched from dark to milk after I experienced too many nauseating chocolate comas (I had three in one school year).
7. Salted or Sweet Butter? Sweet.
8. Pastrami or Corned Beef on a Deli Sandwich? Judging only from the time I went to Katz's Deli and split a pastrami sandwich and a corned beef sandwich, I'm going with pastrami.
9. French Fries or Onion Rings? Fries.
10. Espresso, Regular Coffee or Latte? None of the above (I don't drink coffee.)
11. Crispy or Pliant Bacon? Oh god...I don't really like bacon. (Is it just me or am I failing this survey?) But I'll go with crispy.
12. White or Dark Meat (on either chicken or turkey)? You might hate me for this too: white. I have a feeling Chinese people in particular are "supposed" to like dark meat more from my experience growing up around...Chinese people. Eating dark meat. I've had more experiences eating poorly cooked white meat than dark, but when white meat is cooked well, it's really good. Rawr.

"Robyn, I want to have French toast."

I opened my eyes. They weren't open before because I was sleeping, up until that moment. My mum and brother hovered over my bed. How often does my mum wake me up with the desire for French toast? [counts on fingers]...roughly never.

"It's past 3 PM. Do you usually sleep in this late?" Gee, this question is coming from someone who has a history of sleeping through alarms, taking naps at odd times and then requiring the aid of sleeping pills to get back on track? My brother already knows the answer to that question, which is...no, I don't usually sleep in after 3 PM.

I think my body was trying to tell me something after a week of eating way too much coupled with about 5 hour of sleep per night due to the fun that is commuting between NJ and NYC. (To the people who do that every day: I think you're kind of insane, but maybe you make a gazillion dollars a year.) I woke up a few times during the night to empty the ol' bladder and stop my lungs from wheezing. I'm not surprised that my asthma has gotten worse lately—you've seen what I've been eating. And even if most doctors don't talk about preventing asthma through diet (more like, "Don't smoke or inhale dust or stick your nose in pollen"—yup, thanks for the advice), I think there's a connection. It's the general connection between diet and health, nothing fancy.

So...after a week of eating too much, I want to rest. Just eat fruit. Andmaybesomecake. To clarify the opening dialogue, my mum and brother wanted to go to the Country Pancake House and half-heartedly asked if I wanted to go. They already knew I didn't. Staying in bed until 3 doesn't show much desire to do...stuff, especially when the stuff involves going to a restaurant that gives you four times as much food as you should actually eat.

On that note, here's the tale of my insane Saturday night Indian food binge.

Fellow Jersey inhabitant and only friend who's knowledgable about Indian food JD proposed the idea of going out for Indian food. Our initial idea to eat in Manhattan was replaced with going to Jersey City when JD realized that food is cheaper here. However, this change of location caused our East Village-based friend Nancy to back out of our "let's hang out because we're friends!" night because she was opposed to the idea of schlepping across the Hudson. [sigh] It was probably a good sign that I was disappointed because that showed that I really wanted to see Nancy after not having seen her in months. But could I really blame her for not wanting to come to NJ? Nah. (However, it would take her less time to get to JC than me. Grr!)

Rasoi

After circling the restaurant and unsuccessfully trying to park on two side streets where it ended up being illegal to park (revealed after we got out of the car, read the sign and went, "CRAP!"), JD shoved his super compact blindingly yellow sports car somewhere on the Indian business-lined Newark Ave where Rasoi was.

chicken and stuff

JD recommended the chicken tikka masala and I wanted something notably spicy. Solution: get chicken tikka masala and chili chicken masala, which as you can see almost look the same. They taste similar too, except that the chili chicken masala is spicier. (nod)

You probably could've figured that out on your own.

So what is this chicken masala stuff? Besides something that tastes awesome? WIKIPEDIA TO THE RESCUE! (Yes, you know I'm lazy when I only refer to wikipedia. Sorry.) Chicken tikka is described as small pieces of baked chicken marinated in spices and yogurt and chicken tikka masala is chicken tikka in masala gravy. The chicken pieces looked like tomato chunks at first since they were red on the outside. As for what's in masala, I don't know exactly. Lots of stuff. This recipe for chaat masala kinda scares me.

Er.

...Erm.

If I seem distracted right now, it's because I am. Problems with 1and1 involving NOT BEING ABLE TO UPDATE MY WEBSITE (actually, that is the only problem) made me somewhat impulsively grab a dreamhost account (with the money you so kindly donated, thank you thank you thank you x 1 billion), so now I'm trying to sort all the crap out, back up my website, set up the new crap, and pray it all works. The 1and1 account I had was actually free, so it wasn't a stretch to spring for new hosting even though my plan hasn't run out yet. Googling 1and1 customer service led me to a gazillion people saying that 1and1 sucks, so...avoid them. If you're reading this post then everything went A-OK and I haven't gouged out my brainmeats from dead website frustration.

Well then. Back to food.

carbs

You don't need naan bread to go with the meal, but the waitress asked if we wanted it and HELL YES, I LOVE BREAD, especially the soft, fluffy kind. The rice comes with the entree and you can get free "refills", not that we needed any since we had the naan. JD said that he could tell the naan was baked in a real tandoori oven as opposed to something else that might yield less tasty results.

The final bill was around $15 for each of us. We were stuffed to the point of explosion and had leftovers. Naturally, we went out for dessert.

various sweets

"Indian sweets are reallly sweet," JD cautions me.

"...Yeah, so? I still want them." [insert giant Robyn smile]

"Haha...ha...um, okay." [JD looks at me as thought everything is fine, but I know he thinks that I'm insane]

sweet things

We chose four things from the cold case and chowed down. I don't know what the real names are, but I'll try to semi-describe them:

• orange thing: Made of carrot, but doesn't taste very carroty. Dense, wet and sweet. Has other flavors I can't identify.
• round yellow thing in middle: Also dense, wet and sweet, but wetter than the orange thing. No idea what it's made of. There's cream in the middle of the two yellow blobs, but I don't taste much of it because there's so much of the yellow part.
• yellow stuff on the right: Light, fried dough/noodly stuff coated in a sweet syrup. A little crunchy, in the way that something soaked in sweet syrup would be.
• white things on the bottom right: Dense, nutty, not as wet as the other things. Reminds me of marzipan or some other nut-based paste-ish thing else you may find enrobed in chocolate. JD told me there's a chocolate-covered Americanized version.

The shop showed signs of closing down for the night so we left in order to not be locked in a room full of sweets (although on retrospect, that would've been kind of awesome). CJ told us he would stop by so the three of us could hang out, but he ended up being too busy to make the 30 minute drive. God dammit. Don't my bastard friends know that I'm going to be away for four months and want to spend some time with people before I leave? ...Ah well, I still love em. Those bastards.

JD and I have eaten a few days worth of food by this point. Our bellies were full of chicken, rice, bread, dense sweet things made of mashed nuts, and god knows how many spices. Churning. In our bellies. Churn churn churn.

"God, I'm full," I moan while patting my belly, as though that'll somehow make the food digest more quickly.

"Yeah, me too. I have to stop eating with you!"

kwality!

[gasp] "OH MY GOD, ICE CREAM!" I exclaim while excitedly pointing at the glowing awning.

"Haha...oh no."

"Yup."

"Want to go in?"

"Yup."

prices

Two and a half gallons, oh yeah.

Although they have regular flavors, Kwality specializes in Indian flavors and touts that their ice cream is 100% vegetarian, contains no eggs, has no preservatives, and is made with all natural flavors. Some of their special flavors include:

• Kulfi Falooda
• Fresh Chikoo
• Kesar Pista with saffron
• Tropee Lychee
• Almond Dates
• Cashew Raisins
• Thandai
• Elaichi Pista
• Walnut and Figs
• Alphonso King Mango
• Green Guava
• Pistachio Nut
• Gulkland (Rose Petals)

I don't know what all those flavors actually are, but they probably taste good. I tasted the pistachio and saffron and settled on pistachio, partially based on JD's recommendation. JD went with saffron.

ice cream time

As far as I know, most ice cream (well...the kind I eat) is made with eggs. Is that supposed to make ice cream creamier? I wouldn't know that this ice cream wasn't made with eggs if they hadn't advertised it. It's not the creamiest ice cream I've had, but it's good stuff. I'm not sure how to describe the ice cream besides that...it tastes different from other ice cream I've had, as though they shove another flavor in there. Without knowing exactly what saffron tastes like, I'd guess that the saffron ice cream tasted like...saffron. There was another dimension to it; it tasted and smelled floral as opposed to just being a flavor that hits your tastebuds. You might know what mean if you ate it. Or I might be talking out of my ass.

"Comaaa," I moan as we sit in front of our empty ice cream cups.

"What?"

"Coooomaaaaa..."

"Yeah I don't feel too well."

"Me neither. Oh god. MY BELLY. WHAT HAPPENED?!"

We hobbled out back to JD's car, which he had to carefully parallel un-park with just a few inches of breathing room to spare. Miraculously, he didn't hit the other cars. And then the fun began.

"Wuh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh," undulated my voice as the car lacked whatever it is that makes driving feel smooth while racing over the otherwise not-very-bumpy road. (And I do mean "racing"; JD happened to bring his racing car that isn't outfitted for normal driving, but is perfect for making a lot of noise and amplifying every bump that blemishes the road. I asked him if anywhe else ever goes "wuh-uh-uh-uh" while in his car just to annoy the driver and point out the ridiculous bumpiness of the ride, to which he unsurprisingly said, "...No.") My stomach didn't make any noises, but if it did (and if it spoke English) it'd sound something like, "Blub blub OH MY GOD, HOW IT CHUUURNS."

The result of the food-filled Saturday night was a Sunday spent in a comatose state. It was fun, but I don't think I can eat a normal meal for a few days.

maps, glorious maps

Rasoi
810 Newark Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306

Bombay Cafe / Kwality Ice Cream
771 Newark Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306

it wuvs you!

If I didn't have your attention before (as in, before you visited my site...erm), I hope I have it now. Something inside me was itchin' to doodle (itchy!) and after looking at Marilyn's adorable doodles, I made it my goal to be at least a small percentage as good as she is.

Small percentage. Baby steps, right? This blobby character sprouted from my inability to draw much beyond blobs. Maybe next time I'll draw something food related. I'm thinking of having an entire series of scary, huge baby-eyed things going, "I WUVS YOU!" I'll use different typefaces and different gradients for the sky. It'll be so much fun!

I wuvs you.

So, back to...uh, something. Oh yeah, my host 1and1, while absolutely fine for hosting domain names (thus far) ended up being a total bitch to me by doing crap to my database and not telling me about it. The result was that I couldn't update my blog. Some comments were lost, but I inputted them into the mysql admin thinger (it's not complicated, but it's time consuming) AND replied to them, so that's fine and dandy. Not fine and dandy was when I tried to figure out what was wrong with my site, realized it wasn't my fault, and then found that 1and1 customer service is hated all over the Internets.

To be fair, I didn't have any problems with 1and1 for more than two years. Three years ago they had a special free 3-year plan, and even though I was already paying for webhosting, I thought, "Mm, another website, OKAY, I really need one of those." Thus roboppy.net was born. I didn't intend to stick with it after three years; I'd just hobble back to my current host, which has been fairly good to be until recently when they said they could take my site down without telling me if it made their servers explode, or something like that (ye know, they probably used technical jargon).

I hope no one things I took your donated money and ran off to some distant beach/mountain/Disneyworld (because $400 will do you a lot of good in a Disney theme park) and that I'm sitting here laughing at you, looking at the virtual money in my paypal account. Or...something sinister.

Obviously I'm not, as I'm sitting riiight here. In my room. Not on the beach.

If you do the math, my nearly three year old site is almost up for renewal after going on a three-year plan. Even though it was free for this period (and remember, I'm already paying $15/month to support my other websites...which you probably don't read, but STILL!), I wasn't planning to dip into the web hosting fund until next year (I raised money now because I could use my birthday as an excuse and I thought it would take much longer than a few days to actually reach my goal). Then again, I wasn't planning for my host to be a stinky turd. The good thing about it being free is that I have no qualms about leaving it a few months early.

So that's my explanation. Hopefully no one things I scammed them. I transferred $200 from my paypal to my bank account to cover the next two years of hosting. So you actually gave me enough for four years. Egad! I'll be on the Internet forever, possibly.

OH, who is my host? I went with Dreamhost instead of the other host I was considering, Media Temple. I figure both are good, but I know more people who use Dreamhost and Dreamhost is cheaper. So far I've found it very easy to use and you can customize a buttload of stuff, something that 1and1 wouldn't let you do (or else I wouldn't have had the problem with my database). Ehostpros also lets you customize to your heart's desire since they use cpanel, the easiest site administration tool I've used so far. Dreamhost's administration system is different, but also easy to use.

I upgraded MT to version 3.31 and it's pretty awesome. Much nicer than whatever I was using before, has better spam control, and...there are tags! Ooh. Upgrade if you don't have it already. My archives page isn't working, but I'll figure that out later.

I think that's it. Thank you for allowing me to not worry about website hosting. I WUVS YOU.

[LASTLY, there's a new entry below this one. It's not great, but hey, you're probably bored, so you may as well read it.]

UPDATE (later in the day): Oh my god, this is great! I can add to 1and1's trail of pooped on customers (. About 45 hours after I send them a SECOND request to look at my database crap (or about three days after my first one), I get this:

Due to security reasons, we only to access the database if the domain is hosted with 1&1, I checked on your domains and your domains seems to be hosted with another company, the onyl advise that I can give you is to point the domain to 1&1 name servers.

MRAAH, FUCKERS!...[inhale, exhale]

I wouldn't be surprised if other disgruntled customers went through the same thing. Yup, my site is hosted by another company now because your's kinda...sucked. I'm trying to figure out where the security problem lies, but...whatever. Anyone have any idea? My assumption is that if I switch back to 1and1's nameservers (which would take a while to work), it'll take even more time for them to update the permissions to my database and I'll be stuck in some kind of no-website purgatory. [rolls eyes]

By this point I don't need to access MT on my old server, but there is some stuff on there I wouldn't mind checking. I feel like I'm starting anew though, which is nice. Should I bother switching back to my old server just so they can update the database thing and then switch it back to dreamhost once they finished it? Erraararmuuhhwhere'sthelove?

Still. I am seething. [seethes]

the fingerrrr!

Last Friday I ate in Harlem with Stephanie. I had never been there before, but since she was living there for the summer it was a good opportunity to visit the area and not make Stephanie schlep downtown to see me. She showed me this mildly frightening flyer (not found in Harlem, but I thought it'd be a nice warm and fuzzy way to open up the entry) while we hung out in her room. I'm not sure if the dude is vaguely pointing at himself or attempting to point at the reader.

But forget smoking. Can he make me stop eating so much in just one hour? HMMM? HYPNOTHERAPY MAN? Show me what your magic finger does.

(...Actually, don't. Please.)

Amy Ruth's

Since I've read mainly good things about Amy Ruth's, that's where we went for dinner. Not that I forced Steph at gunpoint. She was my stomach bag of the day. That is what we humans are: bags of stomachs! I mean, we each have one stomach. Collective, we are many bags with many stomachs. I can do the math. Can you?

(...)

I didn't get enough sleep. You reap the benefits!

cornbread

A basket of cornbread was plopped in front of us. No questions; just eat it! Fluffy, light, tender and moist enough to not be classified as "dry" equates to yummy cornbread. We shared the first piece as to not stuff ourselves before getting the real food, but then we started eating the second piece too. Oops.

curry chicken

I know Amy Ruth's is known for their fried chicken and waffles, but when I saw that the daily special was "southern alabama's curried chicken", I thought, "Holy crap, I love curry! But this is different curry! I think!" My assumption that the dish consisted of fried chicken with curry (or fried chicken with curry flavor) was proven horribly wrong when my plate arrived with whole chicken pieces stewed in curry. There's nothing wrong with that, but as I've eaten stuff in curry sauce a gazillion times already, this isn't exactly what I was expecting.

"Oh god, this is the same thing I've eaten A GAZILLION TIMES."

..Okay, not the same, but it's not that different. This is one of the few times where the chicken came in whole pieces on the bone. Not bad, but a little dry for my tastes. (I guess that's what all the sauce is for.) Even though the plate didn't look like much at first (...seriously!), I discovered that chicken meat has the density of a white dwarf and by the end of the meal I was clutching my belly and going, "Uhh...chicken...deceptively small portion of."

My sides of mac and cheese and string beans were okay, but nothing special. Which is my overall impression of the whole dish; okay, nothing special. Maybe it'd be better than okay if it hadn't cost $15.

Steph's plate

Steph fared better with her honey-dripped fried chicken. I still found it a little dry like my chicken, but...ooh I'm suddenly distracted by sweet, crispy skin! That's what I want. Her also deceptively small looking piece of chicken had the same white dwarf-like density. Or maybe our fullness sensors are overly sensitive to chicken flesh.

The waitress mistakenly gave her mac and cheese instead of what she actually ordered, but Steph didn't care. Her fried okra was surprisingly good, if you don't mind that okra has a slimy, gelatinous, "hey this feels like mucus" texture. Each okra pod was snuggled in a light, crispy batter. There wasn't much flavor to speak of, but it's fried, so who cares? "Fried" saves all. Even baby kittens.

Overall we thought it was okay, nothing like "OMG, need an intravenous hookup to this chicken!" good. I thought it was a little expensive, not for the portion size, but for the lack of...awesomeness? Can I use "awesomness" as an imprecise food rating? (Isn't everything I saw pretty imprecise anyway?)

lambtastic

Cafe Mogador

A few people have recommended Cafe Mogador to me, and like many restaurants that people suggest, I don't get around to eating at them for ages. Cos...I don't know. It's like any place that doesn't sell sandwiches goes into a "you can check it out later" pile. However, my old high school friend Erica (about one of maybe five classmates I enjoyed hanging out with) that I hadn't seen since...well, high school, was going to be in NYC. Fooding time? Yes.

cucumber yogurt

Erica started with the cucumber yogurt and pita. We didn't finish it, not because it wasn't good (tastes like cucumber and yogurt, wow!), but because...I don't know. I wasn't in much of a cucumber yogurt mood and I wanted to save my stomach space for the main course.

lamb tagine

And I'm so glad I did. The lamb tagine with Casablanca (chickpeas and raisins) sauce was memorably awesome. That tender meat! How did it floof off the bone like that? You know, when the meat just falls off when you poke it with an eating implement. Throw out your knife; you won't need it. (But don't throw it in the direction of a person. Unless you hate them.) The meat fall-age doesn't make a noise, but I like sound effects so I'll just say if it did it might sound like floof.

As someone who is rarely able to clean all the meat off a bone, I ate every last lamby remain. No muscle fiber was safe. Although the sauce wasn't that memorable (if it were, I would describe it to you), I probably ate all that too. It wasn't overpowering, it was just...there. More sweet than savory I suppose, but not by much. I'd try a different sauce next time (and I hope there is a next time).

cous cous

Ahhh, now this is truly floofy. This light little mountain of cous cous didn't have a chance; I ate it all. Cous cous doesn't feel heavy at all (think of an uber-fluffy rice, if the rice were chopped into a bajillion smaller pieces) and I fear I could eat a bucket of it if given the chance.

chicken cous cous

I didn't try Erica's chicken cous cous, but I think she liked it. So there's your rating: "I think she liked it."

We browsed JAS Mart to oogle at Japanese snacks before heading back home and eating some snacks on the train. ;) Moroccan food and Japanese snacks? Ohhh yeeeeah.

all other falafels are doomed

this is where the magic happens

Last Wednesday I went to falafel joint Taim with Amy, a friend I made in my freshman Japanese class, and her friend Yvonne. Taim is larger than a hole-in-the-wall, but it's still pretty small and better suited for take-out than eating in. There are about six stools inside that line the front window plus a few benches outside. If you choose to stay in, they'll present your food on parchmen paper-lined woven trays using minimal white ceramic serving ware when appropriate. It's a clean, nicely styled environment (designed by Israeli chef/owner Einat Admony's French husband, Stefan Nafziger) with YES, AWESOME FOOD. Hell, I already went back there today again with Amy and some other people in tow. I'll talk about that later. Now...back to last Wednesday.

sandwich trio

Isn't the tray cute? (Yes.) They gave us pickles and hot sauce on the side. But you don't just want to look at sandwich butts, right?

other view

Yuuums. From front to back is the roasted red pepper falafel, green falafel ("traditional, mixed with parsley, cilantro and mint) and sabich ("slice of eggplant, fried, layered with a hard boiled egg").

indeed, it is green

How could I have not come here sooner? HOW? While this may not be saying much since my falafel eating history is sparse, this is the best falafel I've ever had to the point that I doubt I will find a better one in NYC. Every now and then in between chews one of us would go, "Holy crap, this is really good." It takes them a while to make your sandwich, but that's because they make it to order. Trust me, the wait is more than worth it. There is no pile of already-fried falafels; those babies come fresh from the fryer. FRIED GROUND CHICKPEA BABIES, COME TO MOMMIE!

....Um.

Back to the sandwich. Unlike other falafels I had, this one was just so noticably light, slightly crisp, and fresher tasting. The other ingredients in the sandwich also had the freshness thing going for them. And what about the pita? THE PITA! Not just a mere container for the other goodies, but an amazing ingredient on its own. The soft and pillowy pita tasted like it had come straight out of the oven (although I'm not sure if they actually make them there) and its thickness made it more substantial than other pitas I've had. I used way too much hot sauce in my sandwich, which resulted in burning stomach acids and mouth skin, but it was totally worth it. (On that note, don't use too much hot sauce.)

Amy eats

Next time I go, I need to try the sabich sandwich, quickly being devoured by Amy in the above photo.

Taim is a nice place to hang out (but not for too long; other people want to eat there too!), has friendly service, and if I didn't already mention it, makes ridiculously tasty food for the budget-minded consumer. For $5 you too can find happiness. Taim is right around the corner from my favorite sandwich shop, Doma, but unlike Doma is cheaper and not populated by Apple-toting yuppies. I'd still love to go to Doma again, but those falafels...mmm.

google maps to the rescue

Amy Ruth's
113 W 116th St
New York, NY 10026

Cafe Mogador
101 Saint Marks Place
New York, NY 10009

Taim
222 Waverly Place
New York, NY 10014

thank god for youtube

This is kind of food related. Here is one reason why Augenblick Studios is fantastic:

"Why not try some candy? I'm delicious! Hehehe!"

That is one creepy gum drop.

comments!

I have this range of time in which I like to reply to comments, but I already went over it since my website was still having problems. You can read about my pain soon. The exchange of emails I had with 1and1 support is just too good to not blog! Oh yeah!

So to answer some stuff in the last entry...

Ivan: I carry my Canon Rebel around with me most of the time. If I think I'm going to use it, I bring it. If I'm only going to the grocery store, it's unlikely I'll bring it with me. ;) I bring it almost every time I to go NYC.

Cat: Haha, not a weiner! I've never used typepad, but I assume it's like Movable Type? I can't tell from the website.

SD: HAHA, did they ask why I switched? Nooo...they weren't really aware of ANYTHING. Especially not anything I was asking for. [groans]

This isn't very food related, but for anyone who wants to get webhosting or has had problems with webhosts in the past, this entry might be the funs! And by "the funs" I mean...it hurts, oh god, why does it hurt?

Here's the exchange of emails I had with the 1and1 support team, who I think teacher into a bin of papers marked "THINGS TO TELL CUSTOMERS WHO KEEP BOTHERING YOU" and replied with whatever was written on the paper. ...And the papers came from another bin callled "THINGS THAT WILL DEFINITELY NOT WORK."

Some content has been edited down (although I left the spelling errors in for fun). You'll get the jist. I'm not the most competent webmaster, but I might be better on a webhost support team than these people. Which isn't saying much.

Message 1:

On Friday at around noon, I started having problems with my mysql database when I tried to update my Movable Type-powered blog. I got the error message:

"Error during upgrade: failed to execute statement alter table mt_comment add comment_junk_status smallint default 0: Access denied for user: 'dbo92785265@%' to database 'db92785265' at lib/MT/Upgrade.pm line 1190."

I figure something must have been done to the database without me knowing and now my username doesn't have all permissions to the database. Could someone update the user so it has all permissions?

Due to security reasons, we only to access the database if the domain is hosted with 1&1, I checked on your domains and your domains seems to be hosted with another company, the onyl advise that I can give you is to point the domain to 1&1 name servers.

[Exchanged a bunch of messages as my domain was switching from dreamhost to 1&1. I thought it had gone through, but it hadn't, blah blah. At some point it went through. Let the fun continue!]

Message 2:

Could you check the mysql database and grant the user all permissions? Please let me know if/when you can do this (as I've come > to the conclusion that the control panel doesn't let me do this).

Yo9u may clic phpMyAdmin in the MySQL Administration of your 1&1 Control Panel.

Message 3:

I don't see where in phpMyAdmin I can edit the user's permissions. Could you tell me how to do this in phpMyAdmin or some other way to do it?

You may find phpMyAdmin button in Administration tab -> MySQL Administration.

Message 4:

I wasn't asking where phpmyadmin is located, but where INSIDE phpmyadmin can I set user permissions? I don't see it. My assumption is that this is something 1and1 has to do. My permissions were changed by 1and1 (not me, at least) last Friday, preventing me from accessing my database

When you can launch phpMyAdmin then that means you can connect to the dataabse because phpMyAdmin is set to open the database.

Message 5:

Although I can access the database through phpMyAdmin, the user doesn't actually have all privileges. If it did, I wouldn't have had problems using movable type. On Friday afternoon, movable type stopped working for me, despite that I didn't do anything to the databases or alter anything in phpmyadmin. The error I got from movable type (which worked for years up until Friday) is that the database user doesn't have access to the database. I didn't change any information; it just stopped working. Other people have had the same problem because the user didn't have all privileges. I'm not asking how to access my database, but how to grant the user all privileges, which I don't see how to do through phpmyadmin.

The reason why you can't connect to the database anymore is that the maximum limit on the size of 100 Mb has been reached. You may check it in MySQL Administration on the Storage Space box.

Message 6:

I cleared up space in my database so that its way below 100 MB now. Movable Type still can't access the database. Do you know exactly how to grant all privileges to the user?

Movable Type will be accessible on Linux, if you cant access the Movable type, according to experience that there might be something wrong on the script or the database itself.

END HORROR

That was enough to endure, right? I'm not the one at fault, right? Okay. I don't think 1and1 knows how to train their support team. If they don't know how to help me, then 1and1 doesn't require them to know.

On top of all those lovely messages, I got this gem:

Thank you again for choosing 1&1 web services. We are writing to follow up on your recent contact with our technical support department. As 1&1 is constantly striving to improve service performance and provide greater value to our customers, we ask that you please take a moment to follow the link below and answer a few survey questions.

...
....
.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Please tell me you're kidding. Please? PLEEEEEEEAASE?

Moral of the story: don't use 1and1 as a host. I'll admit that I use them for domain names. Can they fuck that up?

You're probably bored right now. Um. Err...[looks around for a photo to entertain you with]...

cuppy cakes

Ahhh, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, you fill my heart with sugary love! My heart! My...aaack [clutches chest] gfflrttpt [spasms] eeughuhpop [twitches]

Nah, I'm okay.

On a random note, The Food Pornographer made an interesting post that delves into her singer-songwriter guitar-playing past. I have no interesting past to speak of, BUT SOMEDAY...maaaybe.

Another thing, more food related: The Food Section reviews the selection of chocolate chip cookies sold at the Union Square Greenmarket. Damn, I wanted to do that! It would've given me an excuse to eat all the chocolate chip cookies! Not that I really need an excuse.

I should have something more food related/review filled later, but if not I'll be out from Saturday to Sunday away from my laptop. Frightening? Perhaps. I can't last much longer than that.

stonking!

New favorite word: stonking. Spotted at British foodstore, Myers of Keswick.

I will have a real entry soon, but first I have a question that NY-ers may be able to answer. What day and time is Shake Shack least busy? I'm thinking of going there for dinner with friends, after 6 PM, not on a Sunday. Is there a day of the week that's less sucky than others?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

If I owe you an email, I will reply...eventually. I feel lazy now. Although not that lazy, as I have loads of photos to edit from the past day. I'll do that for about 20 minutes and then go out for ice cream with some friends who just invited me. SECOND TIME EATING ICE CREAM TODAY = NOT GOOD.

MUST PUUURGE. [wiggles]...crap, that did absolutely nothing.

Some bastard flies chewed up my right foot as I stood outside on the phone for less than 5 minutes. I hope it was...[scratch stratch]...mighty delicious...[scratch stratch scratch]...so that my dermal inflammation is totally worth it!

OKAY, back to work. But first, watch this fun Japanese commercial Eunice pointed out to me:

Kabaya's website has a load of commercials (or "cm") on their website. Bwahahaa, I love Japanese snack companies.

Update (later in the day): I just remembered another rather important question.

Do any of you live in Paris? My assumption is no, but then I thought, "Hey, shouldn't I ask first? Can I spare a few seconds of typing?" Actually, the question should be, "Do any of you live in Paris who wouldn't mind taking me to an awesome boulangerie/chocolatier/patisserie/etc?" Because if you do mind meeting "insane American carb-hungry girl", it's best for you to lay low.

"Robyn, I wanted to give you a first place award for 'Teeth of the Month', but I'm afraid I'll have to give you this instead."

I won!...wait, no I didn't

My dentist is a funny guy. But I haven't even gotten to the funny part yet.

I got a cavity. :'( Not just any cavity but the first cavity in my adult teeth, meaning this cavity-ed tooth is going to stay in my mouth until I die (well, I hope I don't need dentures) unlike those "practice" baby teeth that left my jaw along with the signs that I had eaten too many sweets (I had two cavities when I was little). Everything seemed to be alright as Dr. Kent poked around my teeth feeling for cavities (his way of saying you have good teeth is to lament, "Your teeth are dull and uninteresting"). Since it had been two years since my last x-rays, he took some more just to be safe. And that is where the doom was.

"Robyn...you have a cavity."

"A...I do?" But you just said my teeth were dull and uninteresting! DULL AND UNINTERESTING. Can we go back to that?

"Yup. I wouldn't have found it without the x-rays, but it's right here." He pointed to a spot on the side of my upper right molar in the photo that was just a smidge darker than the rest of the tooth. Teeth aren't supposed to do that. Crap.

I suppose if I had to have a cavity anywhere, the upper right molar would be the most likely place. As I said, it was on the side of the tooth, not the...um, the "chomping" side (hey, I'm not a dentist; I can say whatever I want). This seems like the kind of problem that flossing is supposed to prevent. Well, guess what kiddies—I floss! I've been flossing ever since I got my wisdom teeth out since the removal of four teeth unsurprisingly made my back teeth shift and increase the gap between my back molars and the other molars. While I haven't had a problem with the bottom gaps, the top gaps tend to trap a lot of gunk in there. You could dislodge full broccoli florets from there, I'm sure. I floss between every tooth, but I pay more attention to the back teeth. Which makes it even more funny that that's where I happened to get a cavity.

HAHAHA, LAUGH IT UP!

He cleaned my teeth as usual and then got out the fun needle and the drilling tools. I recall when I was little having the entire side of my face drugged into "you could stab a fork in my cheek and I wouldn't feel a thing" numbness, while today it was only the small area around the problem tooth that was numbed. I guess cavity filling procedures have changed in the past 10+ years. [phew] One thing I definitely don't remember from my childhood is the smell of burning tooth enamel being whizzed away by a drill. After today I can shove that pleasant sensation in the ol' memory bank.

Obviously, I'm not going to stop eating sweets because I had a cavity in the most at-risk location in my mouth. Should I eat less? Um. Well, despite whether or not you're worried about your teeth, eating craploads of sweets isn't beneficial to your health. I should eat less food overall, not just sweets.

On that note, let's go on a wonderful journey entitled, "THE MOUNTAINS OF FOOD I ATE THIS WEEKEND". (Other possible title: "OW, MY STOMACH")

My mum and I drove to High Falls in upstate NY (because anything that isn't around Mahattan is "upstate") to spend the weekend at the Arbor Bed & Breakfast. I was entited to a complimentary stay in exchange for redesigning Nancy's website, which I completed a year ago. Annnnd so a year later I finally took the opportunity to spend some time with my mum and relax in a non-Internet laden environment under Nancy's hospitality in her beautiful house.

mm, festive

On Saturday after leaving our things at the B&B, we walked to Chefs On Fire for lunch. The restaurant is in the basement of Depuy Canal House, which has another more formal restaurant on the top floor. Since COF has a large pizza menu, it was obvious what I had to order.

pizza

Why does my pizza look brown? Turns out that COF's pizza toppings included brown cheese. Yes, GEITOST! Who the hell puts geitost on pizza? I certainly didn't eat any geitost pizza in Norway. Geitost must be one of the least known cheeses in the US, at least when it comes to a pizza topping. Of course, I ordered it. The base mozzerella and basil pizza was topped with thin slices of geitost (I could've left out the mozzerella, but...er, nah, at least I was sure that I'd like the mozzerella in case the geitost was unpalatable). The result was interesting, certainly not bad, also certainly not something I'll ever crave for in my dreams. Mozzerella is smooth and stringy upon melt-age, while geitost sticks to your mouth and has no elasticity. It's quite obvious why I was drawn to the idea of geitost pizza (I LOVE DEM WEEGIES!); as for why anyone else would be, I don't know. If you're not aware that geitost tastes like savory caramel, you'll be in for a surprise.

upskirt

Nothing says Slice like an upskirt shot. I think the pizza was better than average, but my biggest problems were that the crust wasn't crispy enough and there was too much cheese. Later I'd find out that Corinne customizes her pizza to be made extra crispy and light on the cheese. Duh, why didn't I think of that? On the plus side, I found the crust to have a pleasant smokey flavor that I don't find in most pizzas.

kitty!

For no reason, here's Nancy's kitty. Awww, lookit them little white paws!

e-house

For Saturday night's dinner, my mum, Nancy and I went to Corinne's and Michael's house in Stone Ridge, tucked into the depths of a forest I would never be able to find on my own. In order for this dinner to not seem completely random, I should give some backstory. Corinne was my teacher during sophomore year for my "food and communications class" ("food journalism" would've been a better name) and after designing the class's project website, she asked me to redesign her website. That job led to me redesigning Michael's (her husband) website as well, and later Nancy's website since she's a good friend of their's. My summer of 2005 was largely dedicated to websites. We're all connected in a big web of digital goo.

Ever since I worked on Michael's site for e-House, I've wanted to visit it. I had to stare at photos of it and read its praises long enough, yeah?

bamboo stairs

Any house with its own website is obviously more than just a house. It's...THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE! Seriously, I took that off the homepage. And by "future" I don't mean The Jetsons, but the near future, something you could live in during your lifetime. He designed the house to utilize ecologically sound technologies and materials that may not be out of reach, but aren't used much either. For instance, the floors, some furniture, bookcases, and other parts of the house that could be made out of wood are made out of bamboo (like the staircase in the photo). It looks sleek and natural and feels like awesome. And...uh, it has other benefits. We don't exactly have bamboo forests in the northeast, but I don't think bamboo is used in this way even in places that it is grown.

So...that's just one thing. If you want to learn more about the house, check out the press page. Something that may not be in the press material (I haven't read it all...come on, there's a lot of it) is that they plan on turning the land around the house into a fruit orchard. Imagine waking up in the morning to a sea of fruit trees! Holy crap. I think they may grow something besides fruit, although not so much food that they'll be self-sustaining. They're not growing the food for themselves as much as letting another farm utilize the land to make some profit from the harvest. It's a cool idea, eh? No use in letting the land sit as a manicured lawn.

where's the food?

I mentioned dinner, right? Right. FOODING TIME!

mm, tart of deliciousness

Corinne started us off with this savory tart of soft goat cheese, a layer of caramelized onions, black olives and anchovies. Oh god. The yums. Despite not liking olives, this tart was still awesome (as I do love caramelized onions and anchovies). Corinne told me the recipe for the perfectly flavy crust as something like "a few cups of flour, a stick of butter, and some cold water". Stick of butter—I like the sound of that.

veggie sides

For vegetable side dishes we had whole asparagus spears and (roasted?) eggplant slices. I don't think they were seasoned with much else besides butter and salt. Not that you need anything else. I've rarely eaten eggplant in my life, but if it always comes in savory custard-smooth form, I'll have to change my eggplant eating habits.

chomp time

The main protein was baked chicken. Lots of it. All I could eat was this one leg. One juicy leg wrapped in crispy skin. ...Trust me, I wish I could've eaten more, but the ol' stomach whined, "Nooo uhu h u uhh huh ow" or something equally incomprehensible.

rustic tart

Actually, my stomach was just keeping an eye out for me so that I could eat the rustic blueberry tart that resembled a blueberry-filled pastry volcano. It oozed with plump blueberries and nectarine chunks bursting with their own flavor, not needing the help of too much extra sugar. The crust, like the savory tart, was flaky and buttery. Corinne used almost the same crust recipe except she replaced the water with egg. After finishing my first large slice, I ate another (smaller!) one depite my groaning stomach. The tart somehow tasted even better the second time around. Did my second piece contain more butter? Ooh yeah.

Don't worry, I didn't go back for thirds.

kitchen/living room

I don't know the last time I had a homecooked meal like that. Simple, perfect, 1000% satisfying without being starch-heavy. If I get the chance to visit them again in the winter, they'll make pizza in their coal oven thats attached to the fireplace. WHY MUST THEY TEMPT ME SO?!

The next morning after a night of little sleep due to freak mucus explosion (I couldn't breathe through my nose and woke up a few times with an uncomfortable "drier than bone dry" mouth) possibly brought on by being surrounded by so much nature, I was greeted in the kitchen by Corinne, who visits Nancy every Sunday morning to hang out over breakfast. My mum was too tired to come down (I had kept her awake with my nose blowing), which was a huge loss on her part because brunch ended up being another round of awesomely filling home cooking.

shirred eggs and toast

I watched Corinne plop two whole eggs into a dish of cream and butter, sprinkle the top with grated parmesan and herbs, then bake the dish in the oven for a few minutes to create shirred eggs. If I knew earlier that there was such a delicious, beautiful, and easy to make egg recipe out there, I would've tried it earlier. My history of egg cooking mainly consists of overcooked semi-scrambled concoctions (which I enjoy eating, no matter how rubbery they may turn out to be).

look, I bring you innards!

The egg whites were delicately soft, like clouds. Egg clouds. Jiggly, jello-y egg clouds protected by a nanometer of cheese-egg-herb crust. You could get a runny yolk just by baking it for less time, but I prefer my chicken embryo nutrients solid.

fruit based

Fruit came in the form of fresh canteloup and blueberries and some jam to go with my toast. As someone who didn't grow up eating toast (my house has never had a pop-up toaster, just toaster ovens), I'm not accustomed to eating browned slices of bread. But that's horrible! Toasting makes bread so much better, figuring the bread isn't freshly baked out of the oven and that you don't turn it into carbon. While jam taste good, I could never prefer them as an accompaniment to toast over soft butter. Buuuttterrrr. I love you so much. And jam is alright. I guess.

carbs!

Who wants ginger biscotti and banana walnut bread? ME! (Yes, I really nail you with these tough questions.) I ate almost all of this, save for one slice of banana bread that I gave to my mum when she eventually emerged from our room. That's what happens when you don't have anyone to share with. GLUTTONY.

kitchen and dining room

Corinne told us that the house had originally been darkly colored (please, let's not decorate our homes with wood paneling) with carpeting covering up the original wooden floor (this is also a big no-no; think of the wood!). While I didn't see what the house originally looked like, I'm sure Nancy transformed it from something blech into a warm, rustic home filled with colorful refurbished antique furniture.

If you get the chance, be sure to visit the Arbor Bed & Breakfast! When we left on Sunday morning a young couple and their daughter from NYC were checking in. Like almost anywhere outside of the city, it's a nice getaway from omnipresent pollution, air that manages to smell and feel like body fluids and mutant rats that are ten times larger than nature intended them to be. Corinne and Michael obviously figured that out or else they wouldn't have built a weekend house in the middle of "nowhere".

(Oh, of course I love NYC to death! Those rats are a real hoot. As long as they don't touch me.)

I'm lucky to know such great, hospitable people like Nancy, Corinne, and Michael. Oh, and my mum, of course, who I enjoyed spending time with. Also, I couldn't think of anyone else who'd be interested in going to a bed & breakfast with me and could bear listening to me blow my nose all night without wanting to silence me in a physically damaging way.

maps

Arbor Bed & Breakfast
44 Mohonk Rd
High Falls, NY 12440

Chefs On Fire
1315 Route 213
High Falls, NY 12440

random stuff!

Check out something awesome: Menutopia! It sounds like a great magical land of menus, but it's actually a website. (Not that you thought it was a physical piece of land. Noooo, who would think that?) The layout and functions work like a dream (for me at least); no eye-raping design here. It could use more menus and reviews, but those things take time to put up. If we all combine our food-loving powers, perhaps we can make it awesomer.

You should check out Z Kitchen, official site of Bryan Zupon's semi-legal food service business. This 20 year old Duke University student cooks up molecular gastronomy influenced dishes like something out of wd-50 and serves them in his student apartment. Z Kitchen is "'not a restaurant or catering service' but rather a 'place where he cooks for guests in exchange for cash donations'" says Jeff Yang in his article about Asian Americans and their part in the culinary world, or something like that. (Good thing I'm not a copy writer, eh?) If this guy is starting a pseudo-restaurant now, where will he be in a few years?

...man, I'm totally doomed.

Natalie Dee made the perfect shirt to accompany my flossing woes: did you floss today?

Also, I'm still in love with this toothpaste for dinner shirt (TFD PWNZ!), but I'm afraid tan will make me look kinda naked. I want to avoid that look.

Another problem with tan shirts: IT'S MOTHER-FUCKING BOOZE TIME. God, I love that shirt. It's so not Robyn. Robyn does not do "booze time". But that's what makes it awesome.

So tired.

Rest. Good. Thing. Yes.

Good....dreamy...sleepy...cuddle bunnies...

HI KIDDIES! I'm a-gonna write a blog post now, when the brain is so tired it's kinda like un-tired! You know the feeling! I keep using exclamation marks! That's how I keep up my pep! WITH PUNCTUATION AND CAPS AND BOLD FONTS!!! No caffeine! This is the real deal!

...

Last night I went out to eat with Diana. But I had such a great adventure before that! I'll tell you about my awesome adventure, okay? THERE IS NO ESCAPE, so don't look for one.

On Wednesday I bought new shoes in a quest for something kind of feminine that is somewhere in between casual and formal. Every since I've started college I haven't had any need for such a pair of shoes (hermits don't need nice shoes). My closet has sneakers. Sandals. Snow boots. Basics. Except for the basic "nice pair of shoes". I went into the Steve Madden store for the first time in my life, found one pair of shoes that looked nice, tried em on, thought they felt alright and then victoriously pumped my fists in the air for having found something that potentially reinforced my femininity instead of taking away from it.

But these shoes are just more than just foot covers. Ohhh yes—they possess time-released pain. Wow! I wasn't looking for that, but extras are always nice, I guess. Length-wise the shoe was fine (I'm a seven and a half...wait, why am I telling you this?), but width-wise it just couldn't contain the gross spread of my foot. So very wide. My feet. They are. And when too-wide feet are left to steep in shoes that are a smidge not wide enough for the too-wide feet, pain erupts at the large toe and pinky toe knuckles. Hot damn! It's almost as fun as dropping a heavy object on my foot repeatedly. (Don't believe me? I have "Drop Heaving Objects On Your Feet" parties. I'm hardcore like that.)

I went from "normal-postured Robyn" to "limpy Robyn" while walking from the WTC PATH station to 22 Pell Street for a haircut. If that didn't seem bad enough, after the haircut I went from "limpy Robyn" to "uh-oh my skin came off and my foot kinda stings Robyn". The stinging originated from a patch of rubbed-off skin above my right heel, courtesy of the back of my shoe. As I said before, the length wasn't even a problem (I can slip it on, so I'm not sure how that happened). Did my foot grow while my hair was being chopped off? Why would it do that? Come on, foot, stop joshin' me.

I ended up buying a pack of bandages ("SHEER COMFORT FLEX™") to cover all the hurty spots, which was two on my left foot and three on my right. I figured that the cushioning from the Band-Aid pad ("won't stick to wound for gentle removal"...awesome, thanks!) would help a little. A smidge. And I suppose it did help...a smidge. Or 1% of a smidge. I pathetically limped behind Diana, who would otherwise walk at the speed of light if she didn't have to wait for me to catch up. By the time we got to Brooklyn, my half-hearted, "Oh yeah, I'm...o...k..ay!" turned into, "Maybe I should buy a cheap pair of flip flops."

Tamari

But I didn't get the chance before we arrived at Tamari for some Japanese tapas action. I ate dinner barefoot.

fish meats

Diana went for the sashimi. I've probably eaten out with Diana more than any other friend, but our tastes can be very different. For instance, we both like Japanese food, but she is immediately drawn to sashimi while I am not. :( The raw aspect doesn't bother me (I ate sashimi while I was on the raw food diet), it's just the taste. It. ...Um. Actually, it's not surprising that Diana loves sashimi; she doesn't like aggressive flavors. And it's not like I LOVE bathing my tastebuds in a gazillion flavors (hello, I'll eat a bowl of plain rice if given the chance, perhaps with the aid of a little brain damage), but sashimi just doesn't "do" it for me. Of course, I'll eat whatever comes out of the Tsujiki Market when the time comes.

gimme pancakes!

I ordered kimchi "Pa John" (or pajun as I knew it), the delicious savory Korean pancake. Diana tried a bite and was immediately turned off by the spiciness. I thought maybe her reaction was due to a "burns your skin off" level of spiciness, but the spiciness level was quite weak, for better or worse. Not that I care; it was still tasty! And just a tad spicy. The thin, slightly chewy pancake was full of chopped veggies and kimchi and burst with...the flavors of Korea. Don't ask me what these flavors are. Try pajun if you get the chance and if you don't like it (there are other choices besides kimchi; seafood seems to be the standard), then you lose cool points. Don't lose cool points.

gimme prawns!...wait, that doesn't sound as good

Mmm, grilled prawn skewer. This was a special, which means I can't refer to the take-out menu I swiped for more details. I recall that the prawns were grilled. And put on a skewer. Like in the photo. Fancy that! A mild coconut curry sauce accompanied the prawns, which were set atop a cooked vegetable salsa-type thing. The sensation of piercing into the outer, slightly charred prawn "skin" to uncover the juicy flesh is a good one.

I like my meats fried

But is it as good as eating catfish tempura? NO. ...I mean, in my humble opinion I prefer biting into golden, light, deep-fried batter with creamy fish innards instead of the aforementioned grilled prawn experience. But either one is a great choice. You should get both to decide for yourself.

litchi juice is yummy!...but I don't mind just drinking water

With drinks (note to self: just drink water, you never enjoy drinks that much, unless it's a milkshake, but then you have to think about why you drank more liquid ice cream than you'd actually eat in its solid form) the bill was around $17 per person. I'd definitely go back. There's a lot more stuff on their "tapas" menu (besides their sushi, sashimi, and entrees) I want to try and I'd love to see the adorable grandmotherly proprietor again.

god, I wish that were my bedroom

And now for the real reason we trekked out to Brooklyn: dessert at The Chocolate Room! Diana may not dream of a world made of chocolate, but she knows I doooo! She treated me to dessert for my birthday. :)

mm, shadowy ice cream

They gave each of us a complimentary spoonful of their homemade chocolate ice cream. Mmm, dark, deep chocolate taste. I'd eat a bowl of that, no prob.

this cake...it's short?

The Chocolate Room's version of strawberry shortcake was composed of chopped strawberry topped with a large dollop of whipped cream sandwiched between cookie-ish chocolate cake. I say cookie-ish because they were slightly crispy (...don't quote me on that; I don't really remember), but mainly cakey. Diana liked most of her strawberry shortcake, except for the whipped cream.

"You like milk! You don't like whipped cream?" I already know Diana doesn't like whipped cream, but I prod her anyway.

"It's like eating air!"

"...But it's sweet, creamy air!"

I know I'll never win the "WHIPPED CREAM IS AWESOME" argument. What's my take on it? Whipped cream is great in conjunction with non-whipped cream substances for making them more tasty with smooth, airy fatasticness. It's a mouthfeel thing for me. I like whipped cream enough to eat it straight (homemade, mmm!), but I'd rather eat it with something else.

I'm considerably fatter than Diana; maybe I should cut out the whipped cream.

huge cake is good cake, even if it's blurry

Although I had trouble picking a dessert at first, I should've known from the start that I'd go for the chocolate layer cake. Of course, this isn't an average chocolate layer cake. It's a fluffy, moist, light, evenly crumbed, soft-as-a-bunny's-butt chunk of heaven unlike most other chocolate cakes. Everything—cake, frosting, sweetness, chocolate-y-ness—was perfect. I wouldn't object to it if it were a little more dense (in that form it would remind me more of Westville's chocolate magic cake), but I couldn't even finish the slice.

Luckily, Sean was there to make sure the cake would find a home in human stomach acids (the destiny of all cake, you know) and not a lonely dumpster! Not that it was very hard for him to eat the last two bites. ...Yeah, that's all I left behind. Two bites. Until then I was slowly shoving spoonfuls of the cake into my mouth, only half-aware of what I was doing.

Anyhoo, Sean is really cool! That's pretty much what Diana had been telling me for the past few weeks, but I can't know these things for sure until food is brought into the picture. ;) I'm glad Diana invited him to our chocolate hunting or else I wouldn't have found out that Sean is way into the food. Waaaaay. 200%. I've met so many people who should be blogging about food instead of me, him being one of them, that I don't understand why I'm the one writing a blog entry and editing photos at 4-something AM. ...Oh, they have real lives! Duh. I'll have to come back to Park Slope to check out Sean's recommendations, which aside from Tamari include Cafe Mexicano, Thai Sky, and Sakura.

(And aside from the food coolness, you may have noticed that Sean designs stuff for a bunch of music artists you hopefully know. Or if you don't, start listening to them! It's never too late! Unless you're dead! In which case, I don't know how you're reading this. Are you a zombie?)

When Diana and I told Sean which birthday I was celebrating (21, if you're keeping track), he responded with a horrified look. At least, that's how I interpreted it. In a split second I tried to figure out the meaning behind the horror. Do people spontaneously combust (and then somehow regenerate from a few flaps of meat) when they turn 21? What is it? WHAT DARK ATROCITIES LIE IN MY FUTURE?!

"You're a baby!"

Ohhh. ...No wait, I feel so old! So very old. 25% of my life may be over. 100% if I die tomorrow. Oh crap.

Okay, I guess I'm young. It's nice to know I still have a gazillion years to figure out what to do with my life. I just finished Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl (very awesome, I highly recommend it, as opposed to only partially recommending it) and I felt so useless compared to her. ...But then I realized the comparison was just a bit uneven. And I should be glad that I'm not as crazy as that customer that used to stalk her.

The first thing people mention about turning 21 is the legal right to get wasted and hungover. I doubt I will participate in that even when I'm middle aged, but it's nice to know the option exists. The real plus for me is going to venues that are 21+ (so that everyone inside can get wasted and hungover?...I don't know), except I will avoid The Living Room because they are bastardy poop heads and...poop, poop, poop on them I say.

Chocolate is awesome.

Oh, remember the shoe problem? I DO! While walking to the Chocolate Room, Diana and I passed a large beauty salon. She said they'd have slippers and while we stood outside the entrance with me inquiring about these hidden slippers (I don't know anything about salons!), one of the employees conveniently walked into our midst. Diana explained the plight of my limpy feet, to which the young woman said, "I AM THE SLIPPER FAIRY, PLEASE FOLLOW ME." (She didn't say that. But it would've been cool if she did. And weird.) We followed her and for $2 I got a nice pair of bright green, floral-patterened flip flops possibly made by baby chinese girls. Thank you, people who get pedicures and thus cause beauty salons to stash cheap, comfortable footwear! (And thank you, Diana, for pointing it out!) If my feet had respiratory systems, they would've given a sign of relief.

mm, meatballs of sweden

how much are these tables?

In the magical land of IKEA (bringing Swedish sensibility to the wastelands of Paramus, NJ), furniture levitates! Holy shit! I don't know how they eat off of these magical tables, but those Swedes...they're awesome.

rainbow

Oh wait, they use string. I was hoping for Swedish magic.

Swedish balls of meat

My childhood was filled with many Swedish meatballs from Market Basket, but I had never tried IKEA's version. It's great! "Bursting with Swedish goodness!"...is definitely not how they should describe the meatballs. But they do. Burst. With Swedish goodness. I couldn't discern much flavor aside from salt, pepper and onion, but what else do you need? That's right, PENGUINS! ...I mean, NOTHING! Nothing else. Oh, gravy helps. You can make your own meatballs and gravy using IKEAhacker's recipe. The plate in my photo was a "small". 10 pieces should be enough to satiate you, but for less than $5 I guess you could splurge on a larger size.

apple cake

Of course, I couldn't ignore the selection of desserts. The impressive stack of sliced apples in the $2.50 apple cake caught my eye. Not bad, not awesome, but it's only $2.50; can I really complain? I would've prefered if the cake and sauce were sweeter, but the low sugar (in taste, at least) may appeal to some people. The apple was slightly cinnamon flavored and topped with a crumbly crust. I ate the whole thing; it's the Robyn way.

It's past 6 AM. Despite that I have more things to talk about (hell, you must be sick of this entry by now), it's sleepy time.

Well, shower time and then sleepy time.

[Last note: you probably noticed that the photos from Tamari and The Chocolate Room look different from other ones I've posted. There's some crazy DOF going on in there, for one thing. I took them with Diana's 50 mm lens. It's all in the leennns, dude. I need to get myself a nice one someday.]

map time

Tamari
201 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217

The Chocolate Room
86 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217

IKEA
100 Ikea Dr
Paramus, NJ 07652

random!

PES uses food in this stop motion film. Cooool.

Utah State Fair also uses food in their film...in puppet form. Still cool though.

From McSweeney's "Bedtime Stories by Thom Yorke":

Everybody Enjoys Manners!

When we eat, it's fun to have our manners eat with us! Wear your napkin on your lap and don't hit your sister, even if she throws peas at you. Reason your reasons, razors shave the planet clean. Blood fills the rivers, clogs the tubes. I want to die, eat your ice cream.

Hahaha, that Thom! Eat your ice cream.

Natalie Dee says: TRY QUALITY™ PENGUIN NUGGET

[I'm going to Paris in less than a week oh crap oh crap ohcrapcrap.]

If you keep up with my flickr account, you may notice that I blog about 75% of the stuff I actually photograph. I'm too lazy to write about everything, but I'll dig up some old stuff for you. It's time to...

DIP INTO THE PAST!

Dip into the past?

DIP!!!

Cheese dip?

...CHEESE DIP!

Why are you shouting?

WHY AREN'T YOU SHOUTING?

I was a weird kid

This goes way, way back. Back to when I was a wee lad. Or ladie. While wading through the old grade school assignments my mum unearthed from her box labeled, "WHEN ROBYN'S BRAIN WAS AT 1% CAPACITY", she gave me the gem pictured above. It goes a little somethin' like this:

Dear Mrs. Brincka,

I love you. am I ever going to get a picera. I hope I do. I relly like you. I'm lacy the I'm in your class. I wish I can stay in yoar clas for every year. I'm never going to forget you. Even when I'm dead. When I'm dead I want your cat to remember me.

Wuh? When I'm dead I want your cat to remember me? ...HUH? I wonder how many kids have said that to their first grade teachers. And how many restraining orders have been made against students by their first grade teachers.

That wasn't food related, but I figured you'd enjoy it.

[I'm still going to Paris in less than a week oh crap oh crap ohcrapcrap!!#@!$@#! JE NE SAIS RIEN. (Well, I know that much. Helpful, eh?)]

I celebrated my birthday over two days with the magic of compressed meat patties, or something resembling compressed meat patties. That's right—I got me some BURGERS.

As I foreshadowed in a previous entry, for dinner I went to Shake Shack, a stylish hut of super-fine American dining in the corner of Madison Square Park, with whoever cared to show up. Not everyone I invited could make it, but seven people eventually arrived and one friend swung by just to say hello. Some friends were busy spending time with family before the start of school (oh damn, that's soon!) while some other people were stuck in Brooklyn working on stuff...AHEMCOUGH...I'm not bitter. :)

If anyone reading this was eating at Shake Shack last night around 7 PM, I apologize for being the head of the large, excessively loud group that was being...excessively loud. I was fully aware of our unending laughing and weirdness, yet did nothing to stop it. Those groups may annoy the crap out of you, but sometimes you have to be in that group. Be the party! The madness! Laugh until your brain feels like it's going to explode and your eyes expel buckets of fluid! IT IS SO MUCH FUN.

two lines!