Alice's Tea Cup

Brunch is great thing and any excuse to have breakfast food at a meal other than breakfast is OK by me.

One of my favorite places in the city to have brunch is Alice's Tea Cup. The name and decor of the restaurant is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with Alice-inspired art and quotes lining the walls. Dishes and tea are served on what I would describe as "mismatched" china, but I feel this only adds to the restaurant's overall charm. With 3 locations in Manhattan, Alice's is best known for its lengthy tea list and freshly baked scones. Scone flavors rotate daily, but once you try their pumpkin scone (pictured above), you'll never order any other flavor. If you are in the mood for a serious meal, the brunch menu offers a tasty selection of breakfast goodies - eggs, crepes, pancakes and such. My personal favorite is Poached Eggs with Smoked Salmon on a Buttermilk Scone.

More pictures below...

Caracas Arepa Bar

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything and what can I say but I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been saving up some things I've wanted to post about and now that I have much more free time on my hands, I'll see if I can just get them all out on a regular basis over the next week or so.

Anyhoo... a couple weeks ago, I had dinner with a friend of mine at Caracas Arepa Bar in the Lower East Side. The place dishes up freshly made arepas, which are made-to-order and are hot and toasty when they get to your table. As you can see, it's tiny and we had to wait about an hour for a table, but it was worth it for some delicious delcious beef and chorizo in our bellies. If you're not in the mood to wait for a table, they have a "To Go" version a couple of stores down. However, arepas are still made-to-order so don't expect fastfood-like speed.

More pictures below...

Election Day Cake

CNN may have holograms, giant plasma TVs and fancy touch screens, but do they have an edible electoral map?

The cake was made for an Election Night party I attended and I thought it was simply awesome. I can't really think of a better way for foodies to celebrate the new president elect. map of the United States was drawn free-hand (I asked the host and he said he just had the map on a computer screen and copied it using a plastic bag attached to the tip of a squeeze bottle). Also, we had red and blue colored icing, and would fill in the winner of each state as they were declared either Obama or McCain. We weren't able to finish filling in all the states though. Some people got a little too impatient.

Muffin Web Cartoons

I recently discovered Muffin Films, a project created by by Amy Winfrey for her MFA thesis project at the UCLA Animation Workshop. The site includes 12 animated shorts where muffins sing, dance and promote general muffin love and awareness. Some of the films are a little bit on the weirder side, but I personally like "Pssst..." and "Muffinale".

Geek Art Through Food

Witness the power of this fully armed and operational melon!

The Kitchn is reporting that Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has created a Death Star-like cantaloupe, and everyone's inner dork just can't enough of it. Looks like dork culture touches just about everything in our lives even the food we eat. And let's face it, you took one look at the picture and knew exactly what the melon was supposed to be.

That's No Melon (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories)

Save About 2 Minutes For Each Bottle of Wine

Following up on my post about alternative ways to open a wine bottle, Gary Vayenrchuk, wine expert for Eat, Drink or Die, has a quick tip that will save you 1:43 minutes (at least according to him - not really sure where he got this number though) every time you open a bottle of wine. Coined the "Slide Rechnique", instead of cutting open the wrapper that normally surround the top of the wine bottle, he simply twists the entire thing off the bottle. I'm not really sure if this really "blows my mind" or "changes my wine life" like the video suggests, but hey... it's kinda cool the first time to see it.

Ithaca Apple Festival

I was in Ithaca over the weekend and it happened to be the annual Apple Festival. Four years at Cornell and I had never actually gone, so I figured this would probably be my last chance. My one goal was to find a good old fashioned candied apple circa Disneyland (and as you can see from the picture that was a success). I haven't had one of these since I was 8 years old maybe, but I recommend them to anyone who wants to feel like a kid again. although it will never compare to New York City, as my girlfriend mentioned over the weekend, it's events like the Apple Festival that makes Ithaca so special and

More pictures below...

Meet the Top Chef Cheftestants

The date is set! Bravo has finally announced that Top Chef Season 5 will be premiering this November 12th. I'm sure everyone has been starved for another generous helping of weekly Quickfire challenges (at least I know I have) and now the wait is only a little over a month away. For this season, the chefs will be battling in New York City, and previous reports/rumors have them living in Williamsburg for the duration of their stay. You can learn more about the 17 new cheftestants on the Top Chef home page on the Bravo TV web site.

In addition, this season Top Chef staple Ted Allen will not be returning as a judge and will be replaced by Toby Young, British food critic and author of the book How to Lose Friends And Alienate People (yes, the book that the movie of the same title that is coming out soon is based on). Not really sure what prompted Allen's departure, but I believe no show could could hurt from a splash of British humor. Special guests that have been announced include Martha Stewart, the Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges, Eric Ripert, Rocco DiSpirito, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Natasha Richardson.

How to Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew

If you've ever been caught with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew, or you're just too cheap to buy one, Wired has a How-To article showing how to open a bottle without the handy device. All of the necessary tools can readily be found in most homes (hammer, screwdriver, etc.) and it's sure to wow a few guests if you ever decided to try it. Click below for the full article.

Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew (Wired)

The Cupcake Fad in NYC

(Image: Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times)
The New York Times had a feature a couple weeks back on the current cupcake trend among New York City foodies, asking if the fad was nearing an end. The article mentions that perhaps the nostalgia for the childhood treat is finally wearing off, and that the rapid growth of boutique cupcake bakeries may actually be harming the trend more than helping.

The Kitchn recently expanded on the New York Times article by looking into other possible sweet trends that may hit New York soon.

Click on the articles below to get the full story.

Will Cupcakes Be the Next Krispy Kreme? (New York Times)
Trend Watch: Is the Cupcake Fad Nearing An End? (The Kitchn)

Cleaning with Spam and Pantyhose

On the stranger side of things, Apartment Therapy has a post about bizarre household cleaning tricks. The example they talk about involves combining a can of Spam and some old pantyhose to buff wooden furniture in your home. I'm not doubting that it works, but I don't know if my love for Spam extends to my furniture smelling like the ever-so-famous "spiced" meat. Click on the link below to get the full story, as well as other unique household cleaning tricks in the comments section, like using used coffee grounds to remove lingering smells from your hands after preparing food.

What's Your Most Bizarre Household/Cleaning Secret? (Apartment Therapy)

Neo-Japanese Cuisine at Ono

Last night, I had dinner with my uncle and cousin at Ono, a neo-Japanase restaurant located in the Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District. My uncle is visiting New York this weekend and he was in the mood for some good Japanese and was fine spending a pretty penny to get some (needless to say, I couldn't get a table at Morimoto on such late notice). Although definitely not for the budget conscious, Ono delivered a memorable meal which I would be more than happy to have again.

The concept of the restaurant is "family-style" eating with dishes placed in the center of the table for diners to share. I personally enjoy eating this way more as you get to try a lot more dishes, and as we were taught when we were little - everyone has more fun when you share. Highlights of the meal included Spicy Crab Pizza with avocado, radish sprouts and red miso, Duck and Lychee Robata (basically pieces of duck breast and lychee skewered and grilled - the combination of the saltiness from the duck and intense sweetness from the lychee was surprisingly satisfying), and Garlic Rubbed Whole Sea bass with black beans and peppercress. However, the definite star of the meal was the Togarashi-crusted Rib Eye, a 28 oz dry aged piece of Wagyu (Kobe) beef served with a red wine teryaki sauce (seen above - yes, you can start drooling if you already haven't). 

More pictures below...

Bruce Lee as Fast Food Chain Mascot

It's settled. I've found the single greatest corporate mascot of all time. Fast Food Critic is reporting that a fast food chain in China called Kung Fu uses Bruce Lee as it mascot. Let's just say, Ronald McDonald should find a good hiding place to avoid getting his ass kicked. Check out the articles below for more pictures and the story.

Kung Fu Fast Food, with Bruce Lee? (Fast Food Critic)
'Kung Fu' Fast Food Chain Has Bruce Lee as Mascot (Serious Eats)
Kung Fu Fast Food (When Eating A Wolf)

Using Statistics to Beat the Shake Shack Line

Blogger Vinicius Vacanti has taken a unique approach to beating the long lines at the Shake Shack. He took line lengths reported by Twitter users over the last four months and graphed the average wait time throughout the day. I especially like his comment about the 60-minute or "third tree" long wait that some of us (who don't have interns to line up for us) have had to endure. Still, it always seems worth it once you dive into your Shackburger and cheese fries. Click on the link below to continue to the article.

Shake Shack Without The Wait (Vinicius Vacanti)

New Alton Brown Special on Food Network

Feasting on Waves, the new Alton Brown (Good Eats & Iron Chef America) special series premiered last Sunday night on Food Network, and let's face it - we all can't get enough Alton to satisfy our culinary curiosity. The show: part cooking demo, part history lesson and part travel show - is a spin off from his popular show Feasting on Asphalt. Like Asphalt, the show follows Alton and his film crew as they travel in search for authentic culinary dishes and history of the region; however, instead of riding around Middle America on motorcycle, the crew sails around the Caribbean on a 50-foot catamaran in search for true island cuisine. I personally like the new show more than its predecessor as I find the filming locations much more interesting. And as always, the show is much better in HD...

On a side note, Gizmodo has a great interview with Alton about the various technology used while filming the show.

Food Network's Alton Brown Talks to Giz: Caribbean Adventuring With A Garmin, an iPhone and a Shload of Cameras (Gizmodo)

Flushing's answer to the New York burger craze

A friend of mine, George (who will probably be helping me with the design of this blog), told me that I had to go to this burger place that he loves in Flushing and talk about it on Belly Blabber. So we decided to head to Flushing tonight and grab some dinner at Joe's Best Burger.

What makes Joe's different from your normal fast food burger joint is that they use FRESH ingredients (or so says their website) and the burgers are cooked to order, which kind of makes it sound like the East Coast equivalent of In-N-Out Burger. I'm not saying that the burgers are as good as In-N-Out (or Shake Shack for that matter), but they were pretty tasty. My only complaint was that the burger was cooked through a little bit more than I would have liked. Also, Joe's serves its fresh cut fries with special "gourmet" sauces like Chipotle BBQ, Roasted Garlic and Mango Chutney. I tried Chipotle BBQ, and I did enjoy it. But I have to say - although the combination was interesting, I still prefer ketchup with my fries. In terms of fast food burgers, Joe's is a definite step up from Mcdonald's or Wendy's, and worth a stop if you're already in the area.

More pictures below...

A Visit to Ithaca

Over the Labor Day weekend, I took a trip back to my old campus in Ithaca, New York to visit my girlfriend. While most of my college life was spent eating like a poor student (There was that one semester where my roommates and I basically alternated between Chinese food and Subway each meal), I think I was able to sample a fair amount of Ithaca's offerings in terms of food fare. With the Ithaca area reportedly having a higher restaurant per capita ratio than New York City, it isn't too much of a surprise that there are quite a few really good places.



Here is a short list of my favorite Ithaca eateries.

Maxie's Supper Club

I think the main reason I love this place so much is because of my love for barbecue and Southern food, and Maxie's allows me to enjoy both. Personal favorites are the Fried Green Tomatoes, Cajun Fries and the Pulled Pork Plate (and if you order all of that, I recommend sharing it with at least one other person). However, the best option is definitely the raw bar, which you can get half off from 4-6 PM everyday for happy hour. Fresh shucked oysters (usually 2 or 3 varieties) with some drinks are definitely the way to go when making a visit. It can get pretty busy at times so a reservation is recommended, especially if you are going in a big group (5+ people).

Wings Over Ithaca

There is nothing quite as satisfying as having a big order of Wings Over Ithaca in the middle of the night, or even better after a long workout. However, you haven't had Wings until you've eaten it in the actual restaurant. The fries, onion rings and wings are crispy and fresh as they haven't been steaming in a covered delivery package for 20 minutes or so. Aside from the standard Buffalo, Garlic Parmesan is a personal favorite, but Cajun Teryaki and Honey Mustard are quite good as well. In addition, I strongly suggest ordering bone-in wings as they are juicier and tend to have more flavor. However, if you are in a rush, your order will get to you MUCH quicker if you order boneless. Till this day, its the one thing I have to have whenever I visit Ithaca.

Kilpatrick's Publick House

My roommates and I discovered Kilpatrick's pretty late in our stay at Cornell. From the outside, this Irish pub looks like any other, but in fact it boasts a very decent menu. Also, if you can get one of the booths in the back, you get your own mini-TV (with cable!) that you can program to any channel. The burgers are quite good - juicy and HUGE, and the Irish Fries pretty much describe themselves (Beer battered fries smothered in smoked bacon, green onions and pepper jack cheese). My personal favorite is the Hen of the Woods burger, which is topped with Swiss cheese, sauteed wild mushrooms, bacon, sweet onions, lettuce, tomato and herb mayonnaise. I think what sealed the deal was the Ithaca Bakery cheese bread that they served us (for free), the first time we were there. However, the other times we've gone, we were just served normal rolls, so you may not be quite as lucky when you make your visit.