Golden Birthdays and British Food

Last week I was able to experience something I had been waiting for my entire life. Which is a whole 23 years. Because last week on the 23rd, I turned 23. My Golden Birthday! For some reason as a kid I was convinced that something magical was bound to happen when turning the age of the date your birthday falls on. Like you'd win the lottery. Or you actually got the pony you asked for. Except it was a unicorn. Or your dream job would fall into your lap. Well, I don't have any unicorns to vouch for my Golden Birthday Theory. And I'll surely still be working to earn my money. But I'll be doing it while cooking in a fabulously beautiful, creative and award-winning restaurant. The restaurant where I took cooking classes a few months ago offered me a job! Oh, how life is funny sometimes. I'm sad to leave my last job. I've made so many great friends there and have learned so much, but this is an opportunity that cannot be passed up! So, as I'm adjusting (yet again. I feel in a perpetual state of adjustment) and settling into a new routine, I'm grateful for every second I'm standing in that kitchen. I'm beyond blessed to be where I am. God is good!

This new job doesn't change where I'm headed in a few months, though! So my birthday lunch with my family was celebrated at a British restaurant, The British Chip Shop. I wanted to enjoy some true English food before being surrounded by it all the time having no idea what it is. After this meal, however, I've only gotten more excited for what's to come.

Here's what we devoured:

Welsh rarebit. Or what I like to call beer battered French toast covered in cheese. These Brits are onto something.

A sandwich with chicken, Swiss cheese, wholegrain mustard and sliced apple.

My Ploughman's lunch. If this is how meals are over there, I'm set! A little bit of everything.

Chicken and mushroom pie. 

Fish and chips! And they make an excellent version.

Fish and chips in sandwich form. Can't go wrong with that!

I walked over to look at this pastry display at least seven times. I am in heavennnnn.

I ordered an Eccles cake, cherry shortbread, vanilla bean shortbread, and a "spot of tea!" Eccles is the town I'll be living in, and this pastry is their claim to fame. It's surprisingly similar to the Currant Cakes I posted a few weeks ago. They had so many shortbread flavors to choose from, though these two were amazing. And I now refuse to pour tea of anything other than tea pots this adorable. 

Mom Mum got lavender and ginger shortbread, which were also excellent. 

Needless to say, I left the restaurant pretty stuffed excited for what's to come. All this talk about how undesirable the food is over there is just plain riffraff. I'm not sure how anyone can say beer-infused cheesy French toast is undesirable. And then I started P90X the following day. It seemed fitting.

Happy June, everyone! Hope you've been able to get the grill going and spend some quality time outdoors. Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trippin'

I got back from a visit to Florida a couple weeks ago. I have a bunch of family trickled down that way, so I tagged along with some of my craziest most beloved and entertaining cousins, and we had a blast. After a train ride to DC and a 13-hour bout in the car, we arrived in paradise, aka Port Orange. If only I could wake up and start every day with a run on the beach instead of the treadmill. And then casually have an ocean-side lunch. Perhaps a bit of surfing to follow. I would seriously consider moving there if I could, but I can't, and I'll explain why later.

Of course, the food was awesome. We tried a few Mexican spots (Tia Cori's-$1.50 tacos!), got our fill of gator, and did a little bar hopping. One place that had us coming back was Our Deck Down Under, where you can't tell who works there and who's just a regular because everyone is friends with everyone. The clam strips seem to be their claim to fame, but everything we tried was right on the money. The seafood was all very fresh and cooked by someone who knows a thing or two. The variety of sides (Hush puppies, anyone? Slaw?) and portion sizes definitely made you feel like you got your money's worth. And dessert--I have a love for Key Lime Pie, and they didn't have to do much arm-twisting to get me to try theirs. The thing I love about it is the tartness. Any dessert is sweet, but the fresh key lime juice is what makes this kind of pie stand out, and in my opinion, it needs to be loud and abundant. They served the pie very chilled, which was a refreshing surprise, I just would have liked a little more of that coveted lime juice in their version. But in all honesty, what do I know, I'm just from New Jersey.

Fried oysters, blackened scallops and hush puppies

We had a great time catching up and enjoying the surroundings. I even got offered a shoulder to sleep on during the plane ride home. Could be creepy, but I thought of it as a kind gesture (then fought to stay awake the rest of the flight). This post would have been more appropriate posted a week or so ago, but a few cool changes have come about recently and have temporarily sucked my attention away.

Cool Change #1: I'm now a contributor on HonestCooking.com, an online food magazine. I'll be writing about and sharing recipes (mainly desserts) all happily paired with a beer. Be sure to stop over there, even if you're not interested at all in more of my nonsense work. They've got a lot of new and useful info!

Cool Change #2: I'm moving to England! It's been real, America. You will always have my heart, but I gotta set sails and check out somewhere new for a while. I'll be in Manchester working through the church. I couldn't be more excited to give up everything I know to serve God in a new setting. I won't head out until September, which is good because I'm not sure how to pack everything and I think it'll take me that long to figure out. 

I hope you have some cool things going on too. If not, the weather has been pretty amazing lately. Though I really hope you have more to look forward to than the weather. Have a wonderful day!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 

Philly Food and Fitness!

My dad and I recently signed up for the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run in Philly in May. Actually, the registration process more closely resembles an internet version of a Black Friday stampede, so we're pretty lucky that we were both able to get bib from day one.

The race is a ten mile run down one of the city's main streets. The two of us have done our share of long runs together, but we've been training for this race for about a month in the hopes that we could have a somewhat decent time for just being recreational runners (80 minutes, or maintaining an 8-minute mile for ten miles). Our training has no real structure, though we like pretending that it does. We just try to run 20-25 miles a week balanced with some strength training and lots of high-fives.

We opted for a seven mile run this weekend to gauge where we're at, and we have a little time to shave off, but not much. We spent our quality time together sharing motivational running stories, but only had enough to get us through mile five. The last two miles were spent running uphill in painful silence.

Keeping with our Philly theme, we ended up heading down that way afterwards and having lunch at Rembrant's, a pub near the art museum that seems to be known for its burgers. The restaurant was quaint and inviting, and definitely thriving.

Now, because we (or maybe just me) were famished from our morning run, I didn't quite remember to take pictures before eating the food. So I apologize in advance for the grotesque, mid-meal samples I'm sharing with you. It just proves we liked it, right?

Dad got the Pulpa Pizza which has "soprasetta, roasted peppers, capers, octopus, kalamata olives, tomato sauce, sharp provolone, and mozzarella," and it was amazing. It got a good hit of saltiness from a lot of the ingredients, but it wasn't ever overwhelming. The crust was thin, perfectly crisp, and not the least bit soggy. 

My brother got the Rogue burger: a beef burger topped with pork belly, bleu cheese, onions, greens and a fried egg. The waitress genuinely thanked him for ordering it. I only have a picture of the aftermath of this one. I'm actually impressed he was able to consume it so quickly. And a messy aftermath means it was delicious to begin with. 

Mom had their nod to a falafel sandwich, the Chickpea Hoagie. She really enjoyed it. There was a pleasant yet mysterious spice we couldn't quite figure out, but it kept things interesting.

And I had the turkey burger, which came with brie cheese, avocado and some sort of aioli. Not being a fan of avocado or mayonnaise-y products, I chose to promptly remove those items. The burger, however, was very good. Turkey burgers can easily be dry, but that wasn't the case here. They use brioche-type buns, too, and you know what they say...you can't go wrong with brioche! Fact. Ironically, my meal was the only one that I didn't get a picture of. 

I highly recommend checking out Rembrant's. The service was excellent--they make you feel like a regular from the minute you walk in. The food was the perfect balance of familiar and innovative, all executed really well. And if you're into beer, they have an excellent selection to choose from. My brother is moving to Philly soon, so there should be many Philadelphia restaurant reviews to come! Have a happy Tuesday, everyone!

NYC Food Tour Round 2

I was lucky enough to venture back to good ol' NYC so soon after my last visit to check out some more awesome restaurants with my dear friend Sarah. It was a beautiful 70 degree (winter?) day to spend walking around the bustling Washington Square Park along with other parts of the city.

Sarah, being a well-seasoned restaurant tour guide, had our destinations all planned. First up: Tom Colicchio's restaurant, Riverpark, to dine outside near the East River and soak up as much premature spring weather as possible. Then she decided we needed to check out The Frying Pan, an old lightship-turned-docked drinking boat. Need she say more?

Shortly after relaying to me our plans for the afternoon, followed by our bouts of excitement, we decided to be on the safe side and call for reservations to make sure there'd be a table for us at Riverpark as we trekked on over.

Then came the let-down: a special event meant the restaurant was closed that day for lunch (Who do you think you are, Tom Colicchio, with your fancy Top Chef friends? Tempting us with your river-side dining then closing your restaurant on a sickeningly beautiful day? Rude.).


(Just kidding, I love you.)

However, Sarah doesn't come without a backup plan. We ended up going to one of Mario Batali's restaurants, Lupa Osteria Romana. They didn't have seats outside, so we stayed inside the cozy building and enjoyed some pasta.

Inside of Lupa. They even have a prosciutto slicer on deck!

One of my all time favorite dishes at the restaurant I work at is the grilled calamari and octopodi. If eating octopus just isn't up your alley, the way they serve it there will definitely make you a believer. So when I saw the octopus on the menu at Lupa, Sarah and I decided we had to try it.

Octopus with Farro

It was good, not  rubbery or anything. The flavors were fine, and all-in-all it was a pretty good dish. I guess I just am biased towards our own octopus that it'd take a pretty convincing argument via plate to win me over.

Next we went for some pasta. I had the pasta special for the day, which was a linguini pasta with a tomato and chicken sauce. Sarah went for the waitress's suggestion of their "Bavette Cacio and Pepe," another linguini-like pasta with a butter and black pepper sauce. Both were simple and very good, not heavy at all like many pasta dishes. The portions were appropriate too (aka weren't made to serve an entire family). 

Linguini with tomato and chicken sauce 

Bavette Cacio & Pepe 

Overall, Lupa was a good plan "B." The meal was pleasant and simple, and the company was great. We decided we liked it, but there wasn't anything in particular that would have us yearning to go back. However, if you're in the area and are looking for some great, simple Italian food, Lupa would be a great pick. 

After lunch we made a quick stop at Sarah's place to regroup before heading out to the Frying Pan. Having learned from our last experience, we decided to call ahead. Lo and behold, it was closed, not to be open again til the following weekend. 

Strike two. 

Sarah, with her brilliance, knew that the renowned White Horse Tavern wouldn't let us down. So that's where we ended up, finally sitting outside, basking in the sun and enjoying a few beers. 

One last stop before heading to the train left us at our tried-and-true Chelsea Market for some gelato. Some perfectly-made sour cherry and spicy chocolate gelato to be exact (excellent choices, by the way). Sarah went for the tiramisu and panna cotta gelati, which were heavenly. 

Luckily we were able to get much accomplished before reaching strike three (wouldn't want to find out what happens after strike three...). Nothing may have gone as planned, but armed with the 2012 Zagat NYC restaurant guide and Sarah's vast knowledge of Manhattan, that's all the more reason to go back and try again. 

NYC Mini Food Tour

A few weeks ago I was able to go visit my lovely friend over at the Native New Yorker (who is so incredibly lucky to live in Manhattan among some of the best restaurants and food shops in the world) with some other wonderful college friends of mine. She was just about the best foodie tour guide we could've asked for, and thanks to her I was able to check many places off my "I need to eat here before I die" list. I was too in awe to snap many pictures, but I'll share what I have and leave the rest for you to check out for yourself someday!

First stop: Joe's Pizza

I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the pizza. Or the inside of the place for that matter, with the graffiti-adorned tables and their Wall of Fame. It's not huge, but they definitely make good use of every inch of space they have. The wait wasn't bad--maybe a 20 minute line outside, but the weather was nice and us ladies had some catching up to do as it was. When it came to the pizza, we just stuck with the good ol' classic plain pie, and it was definitely a good pick. The crust was thin and crispy, and they weren't shy with the cheese (which I take off anyway. I know, "then what's the point of eating pizza?" I hear it all the time. Old habits, people! But I understand if that completely voids any and all of my pizza reviews.). It reminded me a lot of the NJ favorite, famous DeLorenzo's Pies (which I am partial to...). Joe's was absolutely worth the visit, and I encourage anyone to stop by if they have the chance.

Next up: Chelsea Market!

My, oh my, Chelsea Market. It is what dreams are made of. Glittering archways, bon bons, liquor. Are you as enthralled as I am right now? We made our stops at Bar Suzette Creperie, Jacques Torres' for chocolates, Eleni's for cupcakes, the Chelsea Wine Vault, and window-shopped at every other place they had to offer (mostly because we couldn't consume anymore food at the moment).

Check my shirt! Chive shout out!

The crepes were perfect--just like you'd get in Paris. I stuck with the standard chocolate filling, but all of them were tempting (Butter with cinnamon-sugar! Butter with sugar and berries! Or bananas! Nutella!).  And they were completely portable, which is good when you have "work" to do.

Next door was Jacques Torres' shop (how convenient!) where I got six of his amazing chocolates and one of his famous cookies. The chocolates I went for were the chai-filled white chocolate, the cappuccino, the pistachio, the espresso, the dark chocolate truffle (recommended by the staff), and the menage-a-trois, which was a special combination of three of their flavors. I brought them home for my family to sample and we all collectively decided the menage-a-trois was the definite winner! It was so interesting...fruity and roasty and bitter. They were all excellent though. I also really liked the chai, but I'd probably like anything chai. The cookie was the chocolate peanut butter cup version, and I wasn't overly impressed. I've heard so much about these cookies, even have replicated them myself in the past, but it just didn't do its name justice. Though that could be because they had been sitting on the counter all day...! I just loved that I was in the presence of something Jacques Torres. He's been an idol of mine of all things chocolate and French since I was a kid.

We popped by Eleni's so the ladies could grab some cupcakes. Those of us who went for the crepes weren't quite ready for another round (rookies, I know.), but they seemed to thoroughly enjoy them! And who wouldn't love this cute shop?

Our last purchase at Chelsea Market was some lovely Pinot Grigio, then it was off to the High Line walking bridge for a stroll before our last stop of the day.

Final stop: The Doughnut Plant

I have longed to go to The Doughnut Plant for years. It's so quirky and they have such unique flavors. And who doesn't love doughnuts? I'm sure The Doughnut Plant was even on my mind as I made these doughnuts a while back. Again, I picked out a few and waited the couple hours(!) until I got home and was able to share them with my dear family. I decided to try the coconut, the vanilla bean, the pistachio (which my mother claims was hazelnut...we haven't settled that one yet), the black-out (chocolate cake), and the tres leches, which the girl behind the counter suggested. I have to say, they were all very, very good. I'm not a fan of cream-filled things, but the coconut was awesome regardless. I can even see non-coconut lovers loving this guy. If I had to pick a least favorite, it would probably be the tres leches. I say if you're having doughnuts, they've got to be from a yeast dough. The tres leches and the black-out were both cake-based, and the texture of the tres leches was a little off for me (a tad soggy maybe?). But it must be a big-seller if it was recommended, so my opinion is probably way out-numbered! It most definitely fulfilled my years of waiting, so I suggest you pop in if you get the chance.

There you have it, a long-winded, mini food tour of NYC, mostly consisting of all things sweet. I couldn't have pictured a better way of checking some destinations off my list than doing so with some of my dearest girlfriends. Thanks, ladies, for putting up with my insane enthusiasm and random shrieks of excitement. You are the best!