Throwback Thursday: Manhattan's K-Town

This originally appeared here on March 11, 2019.

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I’m going to let you in on a secret: I am not a New Yorker. However, I visit on business (and occasionally pleasure) several times a year and always try to stay in the same hotel. Or at least in the same neighborhood--Koreatown. This little one-block square area in Midtown Manhattan runs from 5th Avenue to Broadway and includes 31st and 32nd Streets, which actually makes the “block” a trapezoid. There’s a bit of spillover to the other side of 5th Ave, too. In any case, this compact area is studded with restaurants, bakeries, and bars, a handful of hotels, and is a convenient 2-block walk from Penn Station. That was the original selling point for me, the proximity to transportation, but after staying in the area a few times, I realized that if I were ever too busy to think about where to eat, I could have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks without going very far in any direction. (Truthfully though, there has never been a time in my life that was too busy to exclude thoughts of food.) I also discovered that the alleged “city that never sleeps” does indeed roll up the sidewalks after dinner, at least in Midtown on a Monday night. On one occasion, I emerged from the Herald Square subway station at 1am after spending most of the evening elsewhere in the city. I was somewhat alarmed to realize that I was the only soul on the street. Fortunately, my hotel was nearby, in the middle of a block that is always busy, thanks to the surfeit of 24-hour Korean BBQ restaurants and late night karaoke bars.

Bibimbap at New Wonjo

 Among those 24-hour BBQ joints are The Kunjip, New Wonjo, and missKOREA, all on 32nd Street. missKOREA involves three floors of bbq, each with different decor and separate menus. The first floor has a somewhat naturalistic, hanging-out-in-the-forest, vibe, the second is more serene and modeled after traditional Korean study rooms, and the third floor is contemporary and spare. Diners have the option of ordering bbq both in set menus and a la carte, but also as part of multicourse feasts that include starters, a course of either hot pot or crepes served with meat and vegetables, the bbq main dish, a noodle or rice preparation, and dessert. The Kunjip and New Wonjo are both more casual restaurants with fairly straightforward menus that include stews, noodle dishes, and bibimbap as well as bbq cooked at the table.

Matcha latte at Grace Street

Three other restaurants, Gammeeok, Shanghai Mong, and Abiko Curry, are also open around the clock. Gammeeok specializes in seolleongtang, a rich soup made by simmering beef bones for many hours so all of the marrow, fat, calcium, and collagen are extracted, broken into tiny particles, and suspended in broth which turns a milky white, rather somewhat like tonkotsu ramen broth. They also serve bossam (braised pork belly, sliced and served with kimchi and usually cabbage leaves in which to wrap it), housemade sundae (blood sausage), and a few kinds of Korean pancakes. Shanghai Mong bills itself as an Asian Bistro; in addition to Korean dishes, they also serve pad Thai, udon, pho, and many Chinese-restaurant-style dishes like General Tso’s or sweet and sour chicken. If you like Japanese-style curry, and you like it spicy, you’ll probably enjoy Abiko Curry. Curry was introduced to Japan by the British, and it’s flavor is closer to the yellow-hued curry powder in your pantry than to that of Indian dishes like vindaloo or rogan josh, yet it’s also very much its own thing. Abiko simmers their curry for “100 hours” and offers a gravy-like version served with rice or noodles, and a thicker cream sauce mixed with pasta. Dishes can be customized with toppings like fried squid, raw eggs, pork cutlets, and cheese; the spiciness can also be ordered to taste, but be forewarned that even “level 2” packs some real heat. I like the donburi bowls, a mound of rice topped with some sauce, lots of sauteed onions, and a protein of your choosing. It’s not spicy at all but completely delicious.

Donburi at Abiko Curry

Several other BBQ joints dot the K-town landscape on both sides of 5th Avenue: Jongro; Her Name is Han; Dons Bogam; Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong. All have more limited hours than the round-the-clock places, and each has its fans. On quite the opposite side of the spectrum; rather than piles of meaty goodness, mushrooms and tofu are the stars at Hangawi, the rare Korean vegetarian restaurant. They also have what might be the ultimate Instagrammer’s meal: a hot stone bowl filled with rice, vegetables, and...avocado. Beats avocado toast any day.

If you’re in the mood for something sweet, you’re in luck. Everything from green tea lattes to fancy French-style cakes can be found in Koreatown. My favorite bakeries are Tous Le Jours and Paris Baguette. The former has a wide variety of pastries, both familiar and not. Croissants are big and brown and beautiful, but the much more homely hot dog encased in a squid ink roll with cheese inside and out has its merits, too. There are also French baguettes and loaves of fluffy Korean milk bread, donuts, and flaky pastries filled with everything from red beans to chocolate to sausages. Paris Baguette has a smaller selection of similar products, plus fancier layer and roll-style cakes. Both bakeries offer specialty coffee drinks as well. More coffee can be found at Grace Street, an expansive cafe that has an equally large menu of hot and iced coffee and tea drinks, including matcha, milk tea, and cocoa. Grace Street also serves waffles with various toppings, and something called shaved snow, a light and feathery frozen dessert made from blocks of flavored ice milk shaved into silky ribbons.and topped with things like red beans, condensed milk, or mango puree. Across 5th Avenue one will find Besfren, a dessert shop with a much smaller selection of pastries, but also delicious giant triple chocolate chip cookies, matcha/taro swirl soft serve ice cream, and a selection of ginseng products. Only want tea? Gong Cha is a closet-sized space that serves a seemingly infinite number of hot and cold tea drinks in flavors like familiar Earl Grey and Oolong but also wintermelon and taro. Order your tea topped with simple milk foam, or with boba, red beans, basil seeds, coconut or herbal jelly, or pudding (somewhat like flan)...even with all of the above. Don’t forget to grab a wide straw to suck up all the solids, because a regular straw simply will not do the trick.

If you’re not sure what exactly you want to eat, step into Food Gallery 32, a food court where you’ll find everything from Korean fried chicken, bibimbap, and ddukbboki to the savory Chinese crepes called jianbing, churros, and frozen yogurt. Seating is communal and the place always seems crowded, but it’s great for the undecided among us.

Fried dumplings at Mandoo Bar

And that’s not all, folks. There are at least two gastropubs in K-town, Itaewon and Osamil, and restaurants specializing in fresh tofu (BCD Tofu House) and Korean dumplings (Mandoo Bar), plus a somewhat more fancy restaurant called Gaonnuri. Located on the 39th floor of 1250 Broadway, overlooking Herald Square, Gaonnuri has some of the best panoramic views of the city. They offer both tableside bbq and entrees like bibimbap, but also fish dishes involving black cod, sea bass, and monkfish. I like the seasonal tasting menu, which at $115 per person isn’t exactly a bargain, but it does include 6 savory courses and dessert. There’s also a more economical $55 three-course prix fixe that includes bbq, but the whole table must participate.

I’m sure I’ve missed more than a few places, but I hope I’ve hit on enough to lure you into a stroll through New York’s Koreatown. There’s no shortage of food (there’s even an H Mart if you are in the mood or have the ability to prepare a meal for yourself) in this relatively small area. Shops too, if you’re into Korean beauty products. It’s definitely a neighborhood worth a visit.

Posted on Minxeats.com.


* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

What's Your Beef?

What’s Your Beef in the kitchen?! Throughout May, in celebration of National Beef Month, join our friends at Keystone Meats as they invite fans from all over the U.S. to vote daily on their biggest kitchen problem. Keystone is ready and willing to solve it with recipe-ready, all-natural beef. When you vote, you will be entered to win a year’s supply of Keystone Meats!

If you’ve got a beef in the kitchen, tell us about it! After years of headaches, vote on your biggest kitchen beef and you could win! https://keystonemeats.com/whats-your-beef-in-the-kitchen/

My personal beef: cooking in the summertime. I want to eat flavorful meals that come from my own kitchen, but don't require a lot of cooking. This means we default to cold things, like salads, sandwiches, and gazpacho. But with Keystone products, all of the heavy lifting has been done for us--we just need to embellish the meat. (No, that's not a euphemism.) Take this relatively lazy bibimbap. It involved making a sauce, warming the meat in said sauce, and serving it over rice with some veg. We have a rice cooker, so that part was a no-brainer, but if you don't, I won't tell if you buy pre-cooked microwave rice, or use leftovers from Chinese carry-out. In any case, none of it heated up the kitchen, and we had a super tasty dish that was both hearty and light in not a lot of time.

Easy Bibimbap
The sauce can be made a couple of days in advance. If you are only feeding 2 people, you can make half the sauce, or make the whole recipe and use it on something else, like roasted cauliflower or broccoli.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper bean paste)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 green onions, both white and green parts chopped

To serve:
2 14.5-ounce cans Keystone All Natural Beef
Cooked rice
Sliced cucumber
Shredded carrot
Baby spinach
More chopped scallions for garnish
Sesame seeds for garnish

Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir. If you're making it in advance, keep it in a lidded container in the fridge until ready to use.

Put the beef (with juices) in a saucepan with the sauce. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat until about half the liquid has evaporated and is looking somewhat glossy. Remove from the heat.

Place a mound of rice in the bottom of a bowl (drizzle on some sesame oil, if you like). Top with a portion of the warm beef, and add piles of the cucumber, carrot, and spinach. Sprinkle on some scallions and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

To eat, mix everything up with your chopstick (or fork) and enjoy.

Makes 4-5 servings.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Manhattan's K-Town

I’m going to let you in on a secret: I am not a New Yorker. However, I visit on business (and occasionally pleasure) several times a year and always try to stay in the same hotel. Or at least in the same neighborhood--Koreatown. This little one-block square area in Midtown Manhattan runs from 5th Avenue to Broadway and includes 31st and 32nd Streets, which actually makes the “block” a trapezoid. There’s a bit of spillover to the other side of 5th Ave, too. In any case, this compact area is studded with restaurants, bakeries, and bars, a handful of hotels, and is a convenient 2-block walk from Penn Station. That was the original selling point for me, the proximity to transportation, but after staying in the area a few times, I realized that if I were ever too busy to think about where to eat, I could have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks without going very far in any direction. (Truthfully though, there has never been a time in my life that was too busy to exclude thoughts of food.) I also discovered that the alleged “city that never sleeps” does indeed roll up the sidewalks after dinner, at least in Midtown on a Monday night. On one occasion, I emerged from the Herald Square subway station at 1am after spending most of the evening elsewhere in the city. I was somewhat alarmed to realize that I was the only soul on the street. Fortunately, my hotel was nearby, in the middle of a block that is always busy, thanks to the surfeit of 24-hour Korean BBQ restaurants and late night karaoke bars.

Bibimbap at New Wonjo

 Among those 24-hour BBQ joints are The Kunjip, New Wonjo, and missKOREA, all on 32nd Street. missKOREA involves three floors of bbq, each with different decor and separate menus. The first floor has a somewhat naturalistic, hanging-out-in-the-forest, vibe, the second is more serene and modeled after traditional Korean study rooms, and the third floor is contemporary and spare. Diners have the option of ordering bbq both in set menus and a la carte, but also as part of multicourse feasts that include starters, a course of either hot pot or crepes served with meat and vegetables, the bbq main dish, a noodle or rice preparation, and dessert. The Kunjip and New Wonjo are both more casual restaurants with fairly straightforward menus that include stews, noodle dishes, and bibimbap as well as bbq cooked at the table.

Matcha latte at Grace Street

Three other restaurants, Gammeeok, Shanghai Mong, and Abiko Curry, are also open around the clock. Gammeeok specializes in seolleongtang, a rich soup made by simmering beef bones for many hours so all of the marrow, fat, calcium, and collagen are extracted, broken into tiny particles, and suspended in broth which turns a milky white, rather somewhat like tonkotsu ramen broth. They also serve bossam (braised pork belly, sliced and served with kimchi and usually cabbage leaves in which to wrap it), housemade sundae (blood sausage), and a few kinds of Korean pancakes. Shanghai Mong bills itself as an Asian Bistro; in addition to Korean dishes, they also serve pad Thai, udon, pho, and many Chinese-restaurant-style dishes like General Tso’s or sweet and sour chicken. If you like Japanese-style curry, and you like it spicy, you’ll probably enjoy Abiko Curry. Curry was introduced to Japan by the British, and it’s flavor is closer to the yellow-hued curry powder in your pantry than to that of Indian dishes like vindaloo or rogan josh, yet it’s also very much its own thing. Abiko simmers their curry for “100 hours” and offers a gravy-like version served with rice or noodles, and a thicker cream sauce mixed with pasta. Dishes can be customized with toppings like fried squid, raw eggs, pork cutlets, and cheese; the spiciness can also be ordered to taste, but be forewarned that even “level 2” packs some real heat. I like the donburi bowls, a mound of rice topped with some sauce, lots of sauteed onions, and a protein of your choosing. It’s not spicy at all but completely delicious.

Donburi at Abiko Curry

Several other BBQ joints dot the K-town landscape on both sides of 5th Avenue: Jongro; Her Name is Han; Dons Bogam; Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong. All have more limited hours than the round-the-clock places, and each has its fans. On quite the opposite side of the spectrum; rather than piles of meaty goodness, mushrooms and tofu are the stars at Hangawi, the rare Korean vegetarian restaurant. They also have what might be the ultimate Instagrammer’s meal: a hot stone bowl filled with rice, vegetables, and...avocado. Beats avocado toast any day.

If you’re in the mood for something sweet, you’re in luck. Everything from green tea lattes to fancy French-style cakes can be found in Koreatown. My favorite bakeries are Tous Le Jours and Paris Baguette. The former has a wide variety of pastries, both familiar and not. Croissants are big and brown and beautiful, but the much more homely hot dog encased in a squid ink roll with cheese inside and out has its merits, too. There are also French baguettes and loaves of fluffy Korean milk bread, donuts, and flaky pastries filled with everything from red beans to chocolate to sausages. Paris Baguette has a smaller selection of similar products, plus fancier layer and roll-style cakes. Both bakeries offer specialty coffee drinks as well. More coffee can be found at Grace Street, an expansive cafe that has an equally large menu of hot and iced coffee and tea drinks, including matcha, milk tea, and cocoa. Grace Street also serves waffles with various toppings, and something called shaved snow, a light and feathery frozen dessert made from blocks of flavored ice milk shaved into silky ribbons.and topped with things like red beans, condensed milk, or mango puree. Across 5th Avenue one will find Besfren, a dessert shop with a much smaller selection of pastries, but also delicious giant triple chocolate chip cookies, matcha/taro swirl soft serve ice cream, and a selection of ginseng products. Only want tea? Gong Cha is a closet-sized space that serves a seemingly infinite number of hot and cold tea drinks in flavors like familiar Earl Grey and Oolong but also wintermelon and taro. Order your tea topped with simple milk foam, or with boba, red beans, basil seeds, coconut or herbal jelly, or pudding (somewhat like flan)...even with all of the above. Don’t forget to grab a wide straw to suck up all the solids, because a regular straw simply will not do the trick.

If you’re not sure what exactly you want to eat, step into Food Gallery 32, a food court where you’ll find everything from Korean fried chicken, bibimbap, and ddukbboki to the savory Chinese crepes called jianbing, churros, and frozen yogurt. Seating is communal and the place always seems crowded, but it’s great for the undecided among us.

Fried dumplings at Mandoo Bar

And that’s not all, folks. There are at least two gastropubs in K-town, Itaewon and Osamil, and restaurants specializing in fresh tofu (BCD Tofu House) and Korean dumplings (Mandoo Bar), plus a somewhat more fancy restaurant called Gaonnuri. Located on the 39th floor of 1250 Broadway, overlooking Herald Square, Gaonnuri has some of the best panoramic views of the city. They offer both tableside bbq and entrees like bibimbap, but also fish dishes involving black cod, sea bass, and monkfish. I like the seasonal tasting menu, which at $115 per person isn’t exactly a bargain, but it does include 6 savory courses and dessert. There’s also a more economical $55 three-course prix fixe that includes bbq, but the whole table must participate.

I’m sure I’ve missed more than a few places, but I hope I’ve hit on enough to lure you into a stroll through New York’s Koreatown. There’s no shortage of food (there’s even an H Mart if you are in the mood or have the ability to prepare a meal for yourself) in this relatively small area. Shops too, if you’re into Korean beauty products. It’s definitely a neighborhood worth a visit.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Dining in NY: Summer 2018 Edition

One of things I look most forward to every year is the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York. Not only do I enjoy going up and down the aisles of the Javits Center looking for new food trends and tasting everything from liege-style Belgian waffles to goat cheese, from maple syrup to ice cream, I also love eating all of the various things the city has to offer. And it has a lot.

I usually stay in Koreatown, where one can indulge in Korean bbq and soondubu jigae 24 hours a day. While I don't always partake in a full meal at one of the many restaurants around me, I usually stop somewhere for a snack and always for pastries.

This trip, I popped into Mandoo Bar for a snack of goon mandoo, or crisp fried dumplings stuffed with pork and greens. I wasn't sure I could eat all ten dumplings, but they were so good, light and greaseless, I dispatched them without much effort at all.

There are two pastry shops that I frequent, Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours. The first is great for flaky pastries, like this danish-like creation of crisp glazed croissant-style dough filled with cheese and topped with toasted almonds. Paired with an iced milk coffee, it was a good start to my day of perfume shopping. I didn't stop for lunch until about three that day, and when I did, it was to grab one of the several weirdly delicious hot-dog-filled pastries at Tous Les Jour. Imagine a cheese danish, but savory, with a hot dog stuck in the middle and a drizzle of ketchup and onions.

Yes. Exactly like that.

I also bought several donuts for Mr Minx and a couple of the sausage-looking chewy rice sticks for me to eat when I got home.

More sweetness was had at Spot Dessert Bar in Flushing. (There's one on 32nd Street in Koreatown, too!) They serve trendy, perfectly Instagrammable desserts, like the Harvest: layers of berries and soft cheesecake topped with oreo crumbs served in a small flowerpot, with black rose milk tea for "watering," and raspberry sorbet. So cute and also a nice combination of flavors and textures.

My partner in crime, Daisy, had the baked Alaska cone, which they bruleed at the table in order for her to film the action.

I had been to Besfren before for a cookie. It was February, and I wasn't into the idea of eating ice cream at that moment. This time, however, it was hot as hell and a frozen treat was very welcome. I had seen this matcha taro soft serve ice cream on Instagram many times, and can say it's as tasty as it is pretty. The texture could be more creamy/thick though, IMHO.

A few doors down from Besfren is Keki Modern Cakes, home of the famous Japanese "bouncy" cheesecake. Another Instagram darling, this cheesecake isn't the most photogenic thing in the world, but it is delicious. My roommate Dara and I put a hurting on one while having a serious conversation about life; I took another home to Mr Minx, and that one didn't last long, either.

My trip to NY wasn't all sweet. I also popped into the branch of Tacombi in the Empire State Building two blocks north of Koreatown for some taco snacks. The tacos are smaller than average, and they only use one tortilla, so two tacos make for a light lunch. I tried the al pastor and the chorizo con papas. Next time I think I might go for a tostada.

Besfren
315 5th Ave
New York, NY 10016
http://www.besfren.com/

Keki Modern Cakes
315 5th Ave
New York, NY 10016
https://kekinyc.com/

Mandoo Bar
2 W 32nd St
New York, NY 10001
http://mandoobarnyc.com/

Paris Baguette
6 W 32nd St
New York, NY 10001
http://parisbaguette.com/

Spot Dessert Bar Flushing
39-16-39-98 Prince St
Flushing, NY 11354
https://www.spotdessertbar.com/

Tacombi Empire State Building
23 West 33rd Street
New York, NY 10118
http://tacombi.com/

Tous les Jours
31 W 32nd St
New York, NY 10001
www.tljus.com/

Posted on Minxeats.com.

NY Dining, June 2017

When I went to the Fancy Food Show in June, I was prepared for an orgy of eating. The show itself is a festival of cheese, charcuterie, pastries, and more nutritious snacks like kale chips and fruit juices, but woman does not live by grazing alone. I also ate lots of real food.

I started off with a Cambodian sandwich of five spice-glazed pork belly at Num Pang Kitchen in NoMad. Like a banh mi, the sandwich involved meat, spicy mayo, carrots, cukes, and cilantro on a crisp baguette. I felt the pork belly was slightly tough and didn't have much of the advertised five spice flavor, but overall the sandwich had a nice combination of flavors and textures.

Later, after walking through the Fancy Food Show for a couple of hours, I needed a pick-me-up,. An Earl Gray milk tea with "3js" (boba, pudding, and herbal jelly) at Gong Cha--a tiny tea shop in Koreatown down the street from my hotel--looked good, and it was. Except that I picked up a skinny straw, which made drinking fairly impossible. Every sip was blocked by a big black tapioca pearl. Eventually I managed to finish the liquid and soft additions and ate the boba by shaking them into my mouth. Awkward, but tasty.

For dinner, my roommate--the beloved and legendary Dara--her friend Jeff, and I had Chinese food. The Pride parade had ended minutes before; 5th Avenue and its cross streets were eerily quiet, apart from the sound of street cleaning machines and leaf-blowers. Our first choice for dinner, Cafe China, was packed, with an hour wait for a table, so we wandered up a few blocks to the bigger and less-full Szechuan Gourmet. We ordered Szechuan Pork Dumplings with Roasted Chili Soy, Beef Chow Fun, Braised Whole Bass with Sichuan Chili Miso, and Braised Crispy Tofu with Chili and Sliced Pork.

I used to love the Szechuan won tons at a place in Randallstown called Szechuan Best; they've sadly been closed for quite a number of years. The dumplings at Szechuan Gourmet were tender with a nice porky filling, but the sauce wasn't spicy enough and was also quite sweet. And garlicky. I was afraid to breathe near people for a good part of the next day because I was sure I had awful garlic breath. (Nobody recoiled in horror, I'm happy to say).

The fish was the best of the other three dishes, with tender meat in a tasty sauce. The tofu dish was odd, as something labeled "braised and crispy" should be. The tofu was not at all crispy, but it had been fried before braising, which gave it a firm-ish texture. The pork had been quick cooked, so it was tender, but curiously flavor-less. The whole dish was, actually. It was definitely the least-sweet Chinese dish I've ever tried, and also most bland. The chow fun was just ok, maybe a bit greasy, as it often can be, and seriously lacking in wok hay. The term "wok hay" means "breath of the wok," and refers to a particular quality that is achieved through cooking food quickly in a properly hot wok. It's rare, but most often I have found it in beef chow fun. Wok hay has a flavor that is hard to describe, but once you taste it, you will always recognize it.

The next morning, I met my friend Daisy at The Breslin for breakfast. I think The Breslin is my favorite restaurant serving modern American cuisine in NY. It's close to my hotel, the food is good, and breakfast is uncomplicated yet not boring. I enjoyed my sunny-side-up eggs with harissa-braised kale and applewood-smoked lamb bacon, even without toast (which apparently is a la carte). The kale was super tender and lightly spicy, and the bacon tasted like...bacon. I wasn't even offended by the brown edges on the eggs, which are not usually the way I like them. Daisy had a lovely little charred ramp frittata, and we also drank plenty of coffee to fuel our day. She went to the Fancy Food Show, but I had other plans: perfume sniffing at Bergdorf's, Barney's, and Saks.

I figured that Urbanspace Vanderbilt was somewhat on the way back to the hotel, so after a disappointing morning of sniffing but not buying, I stopped in for lunch. Urbanspace is a food court near Grand Central Station with 19 vendors, including Roberta's pizza, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Dough donuts, and lots of other good stuff. After I walked around the place twice, I decided I wasn't hungry enough to eat anything more than a single al pastor taco from La Palapa Taco Bar. It was piping hot and fresh, good without being anything to write home about. The horchata I got to drink was excellent though. Next time, I'll go with a friend and skip breakfast.

Saks was next, then Penhaligon's. I did finally find a scent I liked--Creed Vetiver Geranium--but the price is a whopping $315. The sales associate said they were doing a $20 discount, which would have taken the price down to $295. I had $150 worth of gift cards, but even then, the scent would cost me $145--an insane price considering the over 50% discount. The SA at Penhaligon's was helping a couple, but still took the time to mansplain to me how to smell perfume. I left.

By the time I got back to the hotel, I felt I could use something sweet and popped into Paris Baguette next door for a treat. I had a "cruffin," one of the laminated pastry inventions inspired by Dominique Ansel's "cronut." Basically a croissant manipulated into a muffin shape, filled with a bit of vanilla custard, and garnished with a sprinkle of sugar and a chocolate straw, the cruffin hit the spot.

Later that evening, Daisy and I went on a Hornblower cruise to the Statue of Liberty. Sponsored by Urbani Truffles, the cruise involved loud live music and plenty of food: whole pig porchetta, arancini, truffled burrata, meatballs in truffle cream sauce, truffled pasta, risotto. Despite a decent dinner on the high seas, we stopped at Joe's Pizza for a slice afterward.

It was perfect--thin crisp crust that crackled when I folded it, an unsweetened sauce, and just the right amount of cheese. I'll definitely have to make a habit of stopping there when I'm near Bleecker Street.

Grom was conveniently located a few doors down, so we stopped in for (very expensive) gelato. I don't remember the price being so astronomical on past visits; I'm betting the whipped cream (which I never had before) was the culprit. What other reason would two small gelati cost $16? In any case, I had pistachio and it was as delicious as ever.

We made one more stop at a cocktail bar called The Up & Up for a nightcap. I enjoyed The Quilt Room (Jim Beam Black Extra-Aged Bourbon, rooibos and rose hip tea blend, lime cordial, lemon juice, honey, and Angostura bitters) and should look more into making tea-based cocktails at home.

They call NY the "city that never sleeps," at least in a song. I can attest to the Herald Square area being very sleepy and deserted at 2:30am. My only company on the way back to my hotel were the homeless people snoozing on the sidewalks.

The next morning, I had absolutely no desire to eat breakfast. I needed coffee, because I was exhausted from lack of sleep, but my feet ached too much to look for a Starbucks. Instead, I went straight to the Javits Center for another day of Fancy Food Show wandering. I was happy to find a local vendor giving away decently-sized samples of cold brew coffee right out front, and I gulped one down before heading to the show floor (where I indulged in a latte from the Ethical Bean Coffee booth, as I usually do).

I was leaving for home after the show, but I had just enough time to stop somewhere for dinner. The idea of Korean tapas was intriguing, so I tried a few things at Barn Joo 35. I really wanted to try everything on the menu, but had to settle for just a few items.

Check out the online menu, which is gorgeously photographed.

My waiter steered me toward the crunchy tofu balls with caramelized kimchi. It was a little on the sweet side, which I expect in Korean food, and the balls were indeed crunchy on the outside (and fluffy on the inside). The kimchi wasn't as intense as fresh (well, non-caramelized) kimchi, more mellow and sweet, and with a softer texture. I enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed the galbi buns. Galbi is normally made with flat-cut short ribs which cook up to a chewy deliciousness, but the filling in these buns was a more tender cut, perhaps conventional short ribs. They were lightly glazed with galbi sauce and topped with a scallion and cabbage salad and served in folded steamed buns. Two buns plus the crunchy tofu made for a nice medium-sized dinner. I also enjoyed a housemade yuzu soda because I felt it was too early for a cocktail. "What???" you say, "It's always 5 o'clock somewhere!" It was 5 o'clock in NY, but I was going to stagger several blocks with a very heavy backpack and didn't need any more impediments to walking.

I picked up three donuts at Underwest Donuts at Penn Station for Mr Minx before I boarded my train. Underwest was Underwhelming. The rest of the eats I had, however, were pretty darn good.

Barn Joo 35
34 W 35th St, New York, NY 10001

Gong Cha
12 W 32nd St New York, NY 10001

Grom
233 Bleecker St New York, NY 10014

Joe's Pizza
7 Carmine St, New York, NY 10014

Num Pang Kitchen
1129 Broadway New York, NY 10010

Paris Baguette
6 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001

Szechuan Gourmet
21 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018

Underwest Donuts
2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121

The Up & Up
116 Macdougal Street New York, 10012

Urbanspace Vanderbilt
East 45th & Vanderbilt Ave, New York, NY 10169



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Best of 2016, Part 1

Every year we compile a list of what we felt were the best dishes of the year, both at home and in restaurants. These are completely subjective, of course - it's what tasted most delicious to our palates. First up: the best of restaurant dishes. They are in order of posting, starting, of course, with January.

January

This rockfish dish at Waterfront Kitchen came with a plethora of carrots, and I couldn't have been more pleased.

February

A dinner at the Food Market's Private Kitchen included these succulent lamb chops, which we were happy to eat with our fingers in order to get every morsel of meat from the bones.

March

I indulged in a rather extravagant multi-course Korean meal at Gaonnuri in NY early last year. My favorite course was the kalbi, or short ribs, easily the best I've ever eaten. The bibimbap was pretty delicious, too.

Mr Minx and I had a great meal at Seasons 52. We enjoyed every course, but I think the sea bass with black rice was my favorite. Honestly, it was hard to choose.

April

Another tasty sea bass dish was had at the Rusty Scupper during an introduction to their Spring menu. Mr Minx also had blue crab ravioli that hit the spot.

May

Lamb shoulder isn't the first thing one thinks about when one considers chiles rellenos, but Chef Mike Ransom's lamb-stuffed chile in an ancho bbq sauce was among the best dishes at a B & O American Brasserie dinner where everything was pretty wonderful.

June

We went to a media preview of Gnocco in the spring, and honestly, there wasn't a bad dish in the house. The agnolotti with goat cheese, chanterelles, and hazelnuts was probably my favorite, though.

July

I'd never think I'd include a kale dish in a "best of" post, but here it is. The kale chaat from Sneha Indian Cuisine is an odd hodgepodge of crispy fried kale and a sweet tamarind yogurt sauce, and it was both unusual (not a classic "chaat" dish at all) and delicious.

September

In September, Mr Minx wrote about the best pizza we had all year - the cape sante di pancetta at Cosima. Topped with smoked baby scallops, smoked mozzarella, basil, caramelized bacon, and tiny whole onions, the pizza was fabulously unusual and unusually fabulous. The whole meal was excellent, but we gotta go back for this pizza.

October

It's hard to pick our favorite dish at Points South Latin Kitchen. Everything was marvelous, including this slab of meltingly tender short rib braised in a sauce containing bittersweet chocolate. The pork belly chicharrones and the evening's duck special were also amazing. One of the top meals of 2016.

November

Is it weird to have a salad on the best of list? This one,.the Fall Harvest Salad at the newly remodeled Milton Inn had mixed greens, maple vinaigrette, roasted butternut squash, feta cheese, and pistachio nuts and totally hit all the right spots.

B&O American Brasserie has yet another new chef, this time it's Scott Hines, who had been their executive sous chef for a while prior to his promotion. We love Scott - he's a great chef and a good guy, and always willing to help us out with recipes. He contributed several to our latest book, Maryland's Chesapeake. He's come up with some delicious dishes for the B&O's dinner menu, among them is this house-made pappardelle with veal sugo and an unexpected orange and marjoram gremolata. Another dish we need to have more of before the season ends and it comes off the menu. His oxtail marmalade and lamb dishes are notable as well.

December

We were invited to Charles Levine's new restaurant at Quarry Lake, Citron, where we had a lovely meal. There were many high points, the highest of which may have been this lobster bisque. Redolent of shellfish broth and containing two butter-poached claws, it is last-meal-worthy.

That's it for 2016. Not a good year in many respects, but not bad at all when it comes to restaurant food. Still, we can hope that 2017 is even better!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - A Little Bit of Korea

Why is it that Korean flavors work so well in non-Korean applications, like tacos, burritos, and sandwiches?

--Kathy

This post was originally published on October 5, 2011.
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A Little Bit of Korea

One day last week, I lunched on something that was billed as "Korean BBQ tacos." With that description, I hoped to chomp down on some toothsome beef that was both spicy and sweet and seasoned with garlic and sesame oil. Imagine my disappointment when instead I ended up with a mouthful of pot-roast-like meat seasoned with a ton of thyme. (I hate when that happens. The thyme part. I think thyme - especially dried thyme - when used in excess, tastes like something that would be better used to clean floors.) Turns out that the person who assembled my lunch used the wrong beef and the tacos weren't supposed to taste so bizarre. Still - a huge disappointment that left me wiping my tongue in disgust.

I made up for the experience by making Korean-style food at home over the weekend. Rather than duplicating the taco idea, I made a sandwich with marinated flank steak topped with vegetables including a Korean spinach salad known as sigumchi namul (a popular banchan dish), and a spicy mayonnaise.

After a couple of bites, Mr Minx said, "this is one of those things that tastes so good, you just want to keep eating more and more." Words I looove to hear. And I gotta admit - it was damn good. The meat was garlicky, sweet, and sesame-y, just like Korean short ribs, aka kalbi. The assortment of veggies added a variety of textures, and the mayo added some heat. While I'm not a huge fan the bizarre hair-like texture of sprouts, I felt they added a nice earthy flavor to the sandwich. If you don't like them, feel free to leave them out; ditto for the pepperjack cheese.

Korean-style Flank Steak Sandwich

Flank Steak
1/2 cup light soy
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon kochukaru (Korean red chile flakes)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 bunch scallions, root end removed, chopped into 2" sections
1 1.5 lb flank steak

Place flank steak in a zip-top plastic bag and add the remaining ingredients. Marinate for at least one hour up to overnight. (The longer, the better!)

Preheat broiler and move oven rack to the highest position. Place the marinated steak and scallions on a foil-covered shallow baking pan and broil for 3-4 minutes on one side. Flip steak and broil for an additional 3 minutes or until desired doneness. (Use a digital thermometer to access internal temperature. Ideally, 130-140 is medium-rare). Allow meat to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before slicing thinly on a diagonal against the grain.

Sigumchi Namul
1/2 lb fresh spinach
1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon vinegar
black pepper

Blanch spinach in rapidly boiling water for 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl of ice water to retain the green color. When cooled, carefully squeeze out all of the water. Chop the spinach coarsely and mix with the remaining ingredients.

Spicy Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (I like Kewpie)
2 teaspoons gochujang
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger

Mix together in a small bowl.

Zucchini Pickles
1 lb small zucchini, peeled and cut into coins
1 tablespoon agave syrup
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
large pinch of kosher salt

Mix everything in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate a couple of hours before using.

To assemble sandwiches:
Radish sprouts
thinly sliced pepperjack cheese
baguettes or crisp-crusted hoagie rolls

Split roll horizontally. Spread both sides with mayo. Top with broiled scallions, sprouts, steak slices, cheese, spinach, and zucchini. Serve with your favorite chips. (I used Garden of Eatin' Sesame Blues, figuring the sesame accent would work well with the sesame in the sandwich.)

Makes 4-6 sandwiches, depending on how generous you are with the toppings. There will be zucchini pickles left over - refrigerate, and enjoy them within the week.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pork, Kimchi, & Dr. Pepper. Or, How to Take an Idea and Make It Your Own.

Yum yum - don't those look delicious?  And they were. The general recipe for these ribs came from Bryan Voltaggio's new book, Home: Recipes to Cook with Family and Friends. It's a very nice book with lots of interesting and not overly-complicated recipes (quite a change from the very chef-fy VOLT ink, his book with brother Michael). This recipe is so simple, in fact, there are only five ingredients: pork spareribs, kimchi, Dr Pepper, ketchup, and scallions.

The recipe is written for a pressure cooker, but since not everyone has one of those hanging around the house, there are also directions for baking the ribs. Rather than the 15 mins for a pressure cooker, oven cooking takes 3 hours at 300°F. For both versions, the ribs, soda, and kimchi are dumped into the cooking vessel. Simple, right?

The recipe's instructions are pretty simple, too. Once the ribs are cooked, the cooking liquid is poured off, the kimchi reserved and kept warm in a separate pot. The liquid should be cooked down with the addition of 1/4 cup of ketchup, to make a glaze. The ribs are then browned on a grill, glazed with the sauce, and served with the kimchi on the side. Easy, peasy. Except....

I don't know how much liquid comes off of the ribs in a pressure cooker, but the oven method produces well over a quart of various pork juices and fat. And I didn't even use the recommended amount of kimchi. The recipe calls for two 30-ounce jars. That's 3 3/4 POUNDS of kimchi. My supermarket had only two 16-ounce jars; I thought that was plenty. There's no mention of salt in the recipe; I'm guessing the massive amount of kimchi was going to supply that element, so I salted the ribs before cooking them. Now what to do with all of that liquid, which tasted nice and porky, with a light cabbag-y element that reminded me of my Polish grandmother's cooking. I decided to keep a cup of it, which I defatted with ice cubes. I didn't think a mere 1/4 cup of ketchup would make much impact, so I upped it to 1/2 cup, added a bit more Dr Pepper, plus 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and, because the kimchi is a Korean thing, a heaping tablespoon of gochujang. I also tossed in an entire bunch of scallions, chopped. After this sauce boiled for a few minutes to a nice thick consistency, I gave the scallions a whiz with a hand blender to make a chunky sauce redolent of meat, sweet, and heat.

Rather than firing up our charcoal grill for about 10 minutes of cooking, I put the ribs under the broiler, instead. Browned them on both sides first, then brushed them with my sauce for a final broil. The result was pretty delicious. There was no obviously Korean flavoring to them, despite the kimchi and gochujang. Perhaps if I had added a bit of sesame oil and a bunch of garlic to the sauce, but I didn't want to risk burning the oil during broiling. Yuck. The cooked kimchi itself had lost a lot of its oomph, but was still tasty. I had been slightly skeptical that the ribs would come out with much flavor at all, being that they hadn't been dry-rubbed the day before, but they had absorbed a good deal of the kimchi's garlic flavor.

I think that if I make this recipe again, I'd do it with baby backs, which are far less-fatty and easier to work with, since they are so much smaller and don't require any trimming. I'd use my tried-and-true Alton Brown method of dry-rubbing and foil-wrapping the ribs the day before, except instead of a dry rub, I'd puree the kimchi with some of the Dr Pepper to make a paste and allow the ribs to marinate in that overnight before adding more soda for the final cooking. Will let you know how that goes if and when it happens.

In the meantime, I have to figure out what to do with a pint of leftover cooked kimchi.



Posted on Minxeats.com.