Meanie

grgh. totally got grilled.
my boss asked me to do a small design work and got totally KO-ed by the manufacturer rep and needed my boss' rescue.

why are people so mean?
why can't i be mean?

this is all very discouraging.

Hidden Gem No. 3 - Tsukishi

Come to the dark side...

How I find this place?
I came across a NYT review on Tsukushi back in 2005.
It's an omakase only restaurant, means no menu, chef picks the freshest ingredients for the day.
In Asia, omakase means truly the finest, so couldn't resist to try it.

We arrived at the small restaurant on a Friday night. The place was small and cozy, kinda like a small basement Italian wine bar with wood panel walls and dim yellow lighting. It wasn't packed but all the clients were Japanese, which is, always a good sign.
As we were seated, the waitress asked if there's anything we don't eat and the show began.

First course - Soy Sauce Chinese Flowering Cabbage with bonito flakes

The veggie was refreshing and light, as an intro to our multi-course dinner, which usually goes from light to heavy. I dont like bonito flakes though, always think they give a weird dry texture and brings no flavor.

2nd Course - Tsukemono

a.k.a. pickled vegetable. It was some kind of root vegetable. lotus? bamboo?
interesting texture. I liked it, as a person who usually likes tsukemono.
the rest of the table thought it was so-so.

3rd Course - Sashimi

The best course of the dinner IMO. The fishies were soooo fresh.
It easily beat out a lot of the "high-end" sushi restaurant out there *cough*cough*sushisamba*
If they offer it a la carte, this would be what I would eat all night long.

4th Course - Nimono - Veggie and....Organs? Stew

I believe the organ in question is pork intestine, which is a pretty common ingredient in chinese cooking. In fact, this is a very chinese dish, pork intestine with daikon radish and some root veggie. Unlike the usual chinese MSG overload, the stew was very light and flavorful.

5th Course - Yakimono - Pan Fried Fish

I usually dont like this - too many bones but this surprised me.
the outside was crispy yet the meat inside was so tender.
and again, the whole dish felt very light without any grease.

6th course - ???
Yes, there was a 6th course.
And yes, I forgot to take pictures and cant remember what it was.
I think it was some kinda soba noodle dish....

The entire meal came out to ~$50/person incl. tax & tip, which was reasonably.
I wouldn't say it was amazing but it was a good experience.
A lot of it was just authentic home cooking with good ingredients, simply and delicious.

Tsukushi
300 East 41st Street
Murray Hill
(212) 599-8888

Midnight Express

# I, look at the moon i see my crime
thinking of you i lose my mind
it’s something that i’m quite sure it’s fine
Read my mind #

And Time, Thought only time can kill the pain
wash away all my sin remain
god knws how hard i’ve tried in vain
let it rain

*If only someone can find that paradise
then you and i can live and never die
if only love can find a place in our mind
then you and i will never part
i only know the someday you’ll read my mind
then you’ll know that i love you *

repeat #*

The Day is breaking and i can’t see the light
but i will not be frightened
i’ll fight till the end
because of you

repeat *

you’ve got to believe me that it’s true

then you’ll know that i love you

Worth the hype - Ippudo

We went to Ippudo 3 weeks into its opening, on a similar stormy and humid Friday as today.
on the way, i was hoping the crazy weather would loosen up of the wait a little.
but it was proven the crowd was crazier.
we arrived around 6:30pm and the place was packed.
packed even more since it was pouring out keeping people inside.
We were told the wait was 40 mins.
eyeing the two stern-looking non-speaking middle age Japanese businessmen in front of the line,
we decided to wait.

tick tick tick...
we waited for about 35 mins and came our turn!
We were led to a large dining room, decorated as a hip restaurant rather than a traditional noddle bar.
the menu selection was small but that's all we (and everyone else) needed.
the ramen.

It took a while but our wait stuff were good in informing us on the status.
finally it came and we were not disappointed.
the soup was intensely flavorful and everything was perfect.
as a matter of face, we finished so fast that I realized i didnt take a pic as K was eating his last bite.
thus explained the blurry picture.



Ippudo Ramen
65 4th Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0088

www.ippudo.com/ny

Hidden Gem No.2 - Fairway Cafe

How do you keep a secret, when you have a sign stating "The Best Kept Secret in New York City" in colorful bold print, is beyond me.

Apart from the fact that you can still catch glimpses of the produce counter in the supermarket, the Fairway cafe (or Cafe at Fairway, whatevs.) does a pretty good job resembling an old steakhouse, with the starched tablecloth, candles and wait staff uniform a la The Cheesecake Factory.

They serve simple diner food that is considered to be a steal comparing to many overpriced places in the City.
And their food are actually pretty good. In fact, Gael Greene of NYmag thinks they have one of the best medium priced burgers in the City.

The best part is - there is no wait, though the service may be slow, due to the size of the open kitchen.
Where else in NYC can you find a place that serves resonably-priced good food that has no lines?

Maybe not so many people know about it after all, despite the sign.


Fairway Cafe
2127 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York 10023
Btwn 74th & 75th St

On Central Park Tanners

This was back in May, when the first hint of summer came and everyone flocked to outdoor to play and sun tan.

so here's a random thing I never thought about, growing up in Brooklyn - Central Park Tanning.

Friend: This is so weird. people are wearing their bikinis sun bathing in a park.

Me: Yeah, well this is east coast, so we dont have a beach, unless you go far. and in the city, it's hard to find a large piece of green, so this is actually pretty common.

Friend: but if you think about it, this is like people wearing bathing suit and tanning in their front lawns.

Me: people actually do that.

Friend: .........

It just never occur to me this is weird, growing up in a city.
people do all the absurd things in their little urban front lawn.
sun bathing, BBQ-ing, sitting and chilling with a fan and newspaper, etc.

I guess it's weird huh?

Top Chef Recap #14 Finale

Okie, why is Lisa still here?
The difference btw Lisa and Dale is that even though both have bad-temper, people actually respect Dale because he can cook. Like Gordon Ramsey, he's insane but he can cook.

• Sous Chefs Mismatch:
• April Bloomfield - cool accent. even though her famous burger was a bit too heavy for me. Methinks she pairs well with Stephanie. Why she chose Ripert?
  
• Dan Barber - the God of Localvorism. Looks like a mathematician.
  
• Eric Ripert - still reminds me of a Dracula-aura like vampire.
  
• Prep time:
• Stephanie - always looks so overwhelmed, like a terrified puppy dog.
  
• Richard's Liquid Nitrogen - Ripert looks like a little kid looking at his gadgets.
  
• Lisa -and her shrimps again. ERGGHHHH.
• Richard - how many times have he make those banana scallops?!
  
• Curveball Sous Chefs no show - Methinks it makes sense, to make sure that it is really their own. Remember last season, one of Dale's best dish was by CJ?
  

• Final Challenge: The Best Meal in your Life
• Why are they serving dishes in a freakin cup?
  
• Lisa - 2nd course - Tom Kha Gai Soup. I really wanna try. How can it be soo good as they said?
• Stephanie - 3rd course = Lamb + olives + pistachio? She definitely did her homework and tried out stuff on her own.
  
• Richard - 4th course - Bacon ice cream just sounds disgusting, sorry.
  
• Lisa - 4th course - Mango sticky rice! I wanna eat it now....
  
• Overall - The dinner actually went pretty well without any big mistakes.
  

• Judge's Table:
• Stephanie - was so humble. She didn't expect anything and just tried her best.
  
• Richard - Poor Richard. He was "choked" by his own creative mind. He has a vision but it wasn't executed right.
  
• Lisa - is just full of herself. yeah, she overachieved. But her attitude was like "I cook what I like to eat, if you dont like, that just means you dont have a sophisticated palate."

Stephanie's win was the most justified since Season 1. Me likey her no drama, non pretentious attitude. BUT I can't believe she won Fan's Favorite! It should be Andrewwww!

wow. I am finally done with my first ever show recap. Let's see if i have the patient to do that thru Project Runway again. I enjoy watching the show, but recapping (which means pausing every 5 mins to write) is a totally different issue.