Chelsea Market

My first lunch in Manhattan!! (Since moving here, not ever, but still!)

My friend and I A-trained it into the city and walked around enjoying the beautiful weather for a bit before finding our lunch destination: The Chelsea Market. This is a collection of specialty stores and restaurants on the bottom floor of a building that also houses The Food Network, among other cable luminaries. It stretches the length of the block on 9th Avenue between West 15th and 16th Streets. In a previous life, the building housed the company that created the very first Oreo Cookie. We didn't find any Oreos but we did find several bakeries, a huge wine store, an Italian market, a fish market, a flower shop and several eateries.

We decided to try The Green Table, an organic and sustainable foods restaurant. I don't think I can rave about the meal enough. We ordered the barbecued pork sandwich and the macaroni and cheese. While we were waiting, the server brought a bowl of seasoned popcorn, my one true weakness. We scarfed it down in no time, enjoying our Boylans sodas: Ginger Ale and Root Beer.
Each entree was served with a light green salad, perfectly dressed and salted. My macaroni and cheese was hot, creamy and not at all greasy. My friend's sandwich was perfectly seasoned with a unique barbecue flavor that we were unable to decipher. Unfortunately, the server didn't know what the secret spice was either. I will ask again on my next visit.



The Green Table
Sun-Mon 12pm-6pm
Tues-Sat 12pm-9pm

The Chelsea Market
75 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10011

Atlantic Antic

This Brooklyn street fair is a mile and a half long, stretching from 4th Avenue near the Atlantic Center into Brooklyn Heights. I went hungry and searched each block for small bites. In Seattle, the food booths are rather predictable as you see the same vendors at all the big events: giant burritos, curly fries, caesar salad, pad thai, hot dogs and my favorite, blackened salmon burgers. At the Antic, I was rewarded with many other choices. The boyfriend and I each had 1 chicken satay skewer with peanut sauce for 99 cents. I would rate the satay 2 points for flavor, and then take away 1 point for size (skimpy) and 1 point for the sauce - more like watered down crunchy style Jif. Now at zero points, I would ask for my 2 cents in change from the $2.00 I gave the lady. But I am already a block away...

My next attempt was an order of mozzarella sticks. Too expensive ($5) and too cold. Gross.

The falafel sandwich the boyfriend got was very good: crisp lettuce, tomatoes, two nicely fried balls of falafel and a tahini sauce over the whole thing. I had a few bites.

The last purchase was the best: two grilled corn pancakes with melted mozzarella in the middle. $4 per sandwich. The combination was a bit strange, but it was hot off the griddle with perfectly gooey cheese. Yum!

New York!!

Well, it's official. I'm a new york blogger now. In my archives you will find many of my favorite Seattle establishments. I will miss the familiar places and tastes. Here are some of my most loved:
Le Pichet
La Carta de Oaxaca
Thaiku (kao soy)
El Greco
Tango
611 Supreme
Bagette Box
Paseo
Thai Thom
The Palace Kitchen
La Spiga
Bandelone
Than Brothers
Alibi Room
Frites
St. Clouds
The Dish
Vivace

Now that I'm in a city I've never lived in before, my posts will all be discoveries, for better or worse. I can't think of a more exciting city to explore. If you have suggestions for restaurants, grocers, coffee shops, delis, markets or hot dog carts in and around nyc, please send them to me. I can't wait to make a new list of favorite places.

By the way, this whole moving across country and trying to find an apartment thing has somewhat interfered with my ability to post very often. I'm living out of a suitcase and laptop. If all goes as planned, I should have a home within the next week or so. Please stay tuned!

The boyfriend kicks the Uhaul goodbye!

D'Vine Taste

While shopping for a dinner party, my friend Naomi and I found the cutest little gourmet shop in Park Slope. D'Vine Taste has specialty items, a great bulk section including a huge assortment of spices, fresh bread and a deli in the back. We were on a mission for spices for an Indian chicken and spinach curry dish. We found everything we needed and then some. Highly recommended.





Indian Spinach Curry with Chicken or Potatoes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 jalapenos peppers, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 cups water
2 10 oz. packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove as much excess water as possible
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or substitute 3 or 4 boiled, chopped potatoes for a vegetarian version)

Here are the rough directions as given by my mother over the phone:
Heat oil
Add onions and saute until beginning to soften
Add garlic and ginger, saute until fragrant
Stir in spices, saute for 30 seconds
Add jalapenos, tomatoes, cream, cinnamon stick and water
Add spinach, simmer for 5 minutes
Add chicken, simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through
Serve with/over rice

Variations: I added a package of sliced mushrooms to my version and sauteed the chicken separately to accommodate the vegetarians in the house.

You can also use fresh spinach: add to boiling salted water for a minute or two until cooked, drain, cool and squeeze in clean towel.

Liki

Who would've thought that I could enjoy the spectacle of a Japanese Hibatchi Grill chef prepare a delicious meal for me in the middle of somewhere off Route 724 near Pottsville, Pennsylvania? Not me, that's for sure. We were lucky enough to have front row seats for the preparation of fried rice, grilled steak, chicken and prawns. Here's how it all went down:

The grill is heated and the chef weilds a squeeze bottle to write the following word so that it reads correctly for us: O I L (written in oil, presumably.) He then creates a dramatic kick off to the festivities by lighting this word on fire.



He reappears unsinged and begins to prepare the meal. While we watch the show, our appetizers appear from the kitchen:
The boyfriend and I share eel and avacado rolls, while mom has lobster salad. We also enjoy small green salads and miso soup or clear soup. The clear soup has a mild salty flavor and paper thin slices of mushroom.










Meanwhile, the chef serves the fried rice and continues with our meat and veggies.



He keeps us entertained by meticulously building an onion volcano:








Finally everything is finished and the chef delivers the final serving.

My last meal in Seattle... for now

I didn't take my camera to three restaurants that I went to my last week in Seattle: The Palace Kitchen, The Kingfish Cafe and Sichuanese Chinese Restaurant. But I did take photos of my very last meal before hitting the road to New York City and my new life.

Usually, I don't eat beef, lamb, venison or duck. Once a year, on New Year's Day, I make an exception for Betsy's Chili con Cosmo. It's really good in a really beefy way. And I eat several bowls.

This year I made another exception. The boyfriend wanted to get Dick's on the way out of town. Here's what happened. God forgive me...