eating and eating and eating...

The following is a continuation of my report on our trip to New York with a group of 64 - most of whom were high school theatre and film students.

When Clin and I go to New York - a highlight is the food. I blame my interest in new and fun food stems from too many hours spent with the Food Network (although Clin's family says that he has been food obsessed since birth.)

Some of my favorites:


S'Mac - I can't believe that we did not take pictures of our food at this place. But here we are in front of the menu. This was my trip highlight. Not very expensive - and a.maze.ing. What can I say? It's all Mac & Cheese. I got the Mediterranean, Clin got the Masala Mac, Brent (another chaperone) got the Alpine, and Amanda (Brent's wife and chaperone extroardinaire) got the Napoletana. I liked mine - really rich with Goat cheese, but I really loved the Napoletana bite that I had.

My only disappointment was that we did not go back. I thought about it the rest of the trip and it still lingers in my mind.

ChickaLicious - I can't remember where I heard about this place - but we were looking at their website over a year ago. We stumbled upon this dessert bar trying to find another restaurant. Completely lost, not planning on eating a meal of dessert - but the second we saw it we said oh yeah - we've been meaning to eat multiple courses of dessert. And it was perfect. Not too much, and oh, so good. Go here now.

Clin and I both ordered the Prix Fixe - which comes with an Amuse, an Entree Dessert, and Petit Fours. Here Clin poses with his entree - which was a type of fruit/dessert soup and was like eating light clouds with a bit of air.

My entree was the Warm Chocolate Tart with Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream and Red Wine Sauce. I wanted something chocolatey but also the pink peppercorns intriqued. I mean, come on, who has ever heard of pink peppercorns? It was really great. I ate slow, made it last, and kept telling Clin that I scored the better entree. He disagreed.This is an image of the petite fours, which consisted of: homemade marshmallows covered in coconut, chocolate truffles, and pecan shortbread. My tastebud's happiness from favorite to least: Shortbread, truffles, marshmallows.

I wanted to return to this establishment as well. It is tiny. Only 20 seats, the owner is right behind the bar creating the desserts in front of you. You can see the only back room, which is smaller than a bathroom, and then there is also one bathroom - that is it. Everyone is right there with you, while you eat and talk. And everyone is very, very nice. Clin and I were the only ones eating at the time....talk about royal treatment.

Peanut Butter & Co. - This picture is of Amanda, Me, and Brent in the back of the Taxi trying to book it over to Peanut Butter & Co. This has been on our list for a few years, and it is a bit out of the way as far as the planned itinerary goes. We had to make a concerted effort. But it was well worth the wait. I was dreaming about peanut butter the rest of the trip and am sad that we didn't purchase a bottle to bring home for us.

I ate the fluffernutter (my first ever), and it was so rich I could only eat half. Clin got White chocolate Wonderful Sandwich (White chocolate peanut butter and orange marmalade - and I thought it also had almonds on it as well.) Oh, heaven. I ate the second half of it as a midnight snack and it was divine!!! And it was very, very messy.

The store is tiny - no place to eat. So we headed down the block and ate in a tough looking section of Washington Park. Our table was a chess board and we had sets of people playing chess on each side of us (you know, making money by winning). We felt out of place, but it was fun to watch.

Momofuku - Noodle bar. What's up with trendy restaurants not having a sign or even anything on their door (ChickaLicious too)? We got lost finding this place (but then happened upon ChickaLicious). But when we did - oh, wow noodles.

To Be Continued...