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Weekend in The Cape

8/24/2018

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One of my last vacations this summer was to the Cape, my parents had a wedding and since none of us had been to The Cape we all went. We stayed with our friends the Whitehead’s and they lived really close to P-Town, so on our last night they took us to Victor’s. Victor’s is a restaurant that they had raved to us about and said that we had to go there. This restaurant was really fancy and they didn’t just have a menu where everyone would get their own individual meals they had lots of appetizers. So, we all ordered a lot of appetizers and we shared them.

The first dish we had was brussels sprouts with hazelnuts. The brussels sprouts were really soft and the hazelnuts gave it that nice crunch, so the textures in the dish were very pleasant. The taste of the dish was amazing and had so much flavor and overall I really enjoyed the dish.

The second dish was edamame, although edamame is very simple and is usually enjoyed with a little sea salt these ones had a burst of flavor. They tasted amazing because they were soaked in soy sauce because you didn’t just get the flavor from the pod you also got it from the bean itself. In addition to the soy sauce there was red chili and sea salt on top. The chili gave the beans that bang of spice and it is always nice to have some sea salt on edamame even with the soy sauce on it.

The third dish was calamari. I love everything about calamari the chewiness of the octopus, the crunchiness of the fried outer part, everything!!! This calamari was no different it was crispy and chewy and was so good I kept putting more and more of it on my plate because I couldn’t get enough.

The fourth dish were hand made pan fried pork dumplings covered in peanut sauce. Dumplings are definitely very different in the way they are prepared, what kinds of ingredients are in them, and the different sauces people dip, or pour on the dumplings. Personally, I prefer my dumplings pan fried like they were in this dish because they are super crispy and not doughy. Some people like it doughy, but I just don’t. The dumplings here met my perfect dumpling standards they were super crispy and although I would normally dip my dumplings in soy sauce the peanut sauce added a good unexpected sweetness to the dish and tied the whole dish together. The sauce was especially a good addition because the pork in the dumpling was salty so you had the balance of sweet and salty.

The fifth dish was sizzling Asian skirt steak. The steak was served to us in a little iron skillet that was EXTREMELY HOT but luckily we did not touch it so no one got burned. Steak can be very good if it is cooked right and has a lot of flavor because if steak is bland it is terrible. As you can see Victor’s has been very consistent with their amazing flavor and this time was no different. The steak had so much flavor and although it was on the hot pan it cooled off quickly and it was a nice medium throughout the meat. I don’t tend to eat steak very often, but when I do I want it to be good steak and this steak exceeded my expectations.

The sixth dish was macaroni and cheese. I know what you are thinking macaroni and cheese? That is for younger kids it isn’t something you should post on a food blog. Although mac & cheese is traditionally a children’s food it can be elevated in so many different ways and is one of my favorite comfort foods. This macaroni and cheese had a nice panko crust covering the top and also had truffle oil in it. Usually when you make kid’s boxed macaroni and cheese it comes with the cheese powder and is really watery. This mac & cheese was the opposite it was creamy, made with real cheese, and had a panko crust on top. The panko crust always adds a lot of crunch to the macaroni and cheese and really balanced out the textures in the dish. The truffle oil added a lot of depth to the dish and I love truffle oil, it always enhances any food and just makes dishes a lot more sophisticated.

This last dish was definitely the most impressive of the night. It was mussels. I do not have mussels very often and I usually like oysters more, but these mussels were off the charts. They were sake steamed mussels!!!!! The sake brought out all of the flavour in this dish as soon as you took a bite. POW!! You got that amazing flavor of the sake. There isn’t a lot to say about this dish because it was just absolutely on point. I think that the sake was the star of the dish because it made the mussels 100 times better than just normal mussels.

Overall Victor’s was amazing and I am so glad that our friends introduced us to this amazing restaurant!!

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A Top Chef Layover

7/16/2018

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One of my favorite TV shows is called Top Chef. In one particular season, there is a chef named Brooke Williamson and she was my favorite chef on the show and I was rooting for her to win for the entire season. Brooke ended up winning and ever since she won, I really wanted to go to her restaurant in Los Angeles called Playa Provisions.

My dad and I had a 9 hour layover in LA on the way to Australia and we decided to go to Playa Provisions. Playa Provisions is a seafood restaurant in Playa Del Rey and is right next to the beach. Brooke owns many restaurants including Da KikoKiko, Hudson House, and Playa Provisions.

When we arrived they led us to a special room because we were meeting family there and there was a lot of us. The restaurant was beautiful and felt like a very fancy beach house. When all of our family arrived we ordered our food.

As some appetizers we got assorted pickled vegetables, fried calamari, and biscuit bites. The first thing to come to the table were the biscuit bites. It was a tiny biscuit that came with dulce de leche on the side. I opened up the biscuit and spread the creamy lush caramel on. When I bit into it, I got all sorts of flavors and textures rushing towards me at the same time. I tasted the creaminess and sweetness of the dulce de leche and the moistness of the biscuit. It was the perfect way to start off the meal.

The calamari and the pickled vegetables came next. Let's start with the calamari. The calamari was so crispy and tender, when I dipped it in the cocktail sauce it gave it a nice sweet tangy flavor. The pickled vegetables were a little sweet, but also obviously sour. There were three vegetables that we tried cucumber, carrot, and cauliflower. My favorite was the cauliflower. It was my favorite because cauliflower usually isn’t a pickled vegetable that I’m used to and it was very delicious. It wasn’t as overpowering as the other vegetables. I thought that they came in a very cute jar and was delighted that they didn’t come on a plate.

For our entree, my dad and I shared a lobster roll and fish tacos. The lobster roll was my favorite of the two it had a crispy bun which is sometimes hard to have because the lobster makes it soggy. The lobster was cooked perfectly and was bursting with flavor. The mustard seed on top really helped enhance the flavor. The fish tacos were also very delicious. On top of the tacos there was a very nice refreshing relish that brought so much flavor to the dish and really elevated the fish’s flavor. Overall it was a very good meal and I would definitely go back.
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I am also hoping to get the chance to interview Brooke in a few months and I can’t wait to share it with my readers!
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History and Tradition: A Night on Broadway

1/29/2017

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I don’t know about you guys but I can literally not stop singing Hamilton songs. They are too good! It is so hard to get tickets to it because they are really expensive and they sell out really easily.  Lucky for me though, my dad got tickets to see it last year for this January!

In the 1920s, people went to Broadway shows and then after they got out they would go to Sardi’s, a restaurant near Times Square.  It was a tradition, and now everyone says that every New Yorker should go there before or after a Broadway show at some point. So, that is just what we did. We went to Sardi's for dinner before Hamilton.

When we got there, on the walls were pictures of famous people who have been there.  Actors, actresses, and politicians were all up on the wall.  The best one in my opinion was Lin Manuel Miranda in the front of the restaurant.  For those of you who do not know who Lin Manuel Miranda is, he created Hamilton and played him.  Besides the picture it looked like the restaurant was right out of the twenties which I loved.

I just got a burger which was good, but it was a burger.  I think the thing that was really special was just to be there and sit where hundreds of stars have been.
Hamilton was amazing. It was everything you would imagine and more.  It was funny, sad, and happy all at the same time. Also it teaches you about the history of our founding fathers.  Now, go online and buy Hamilton tickets, and if you get them stop by Sardi’s for a quick bite before the show.

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Anniversary Hot Dogs & Milkshakes

9/24/2016

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What is better than going out for your parent’s anniversary and getting a hot dog, fries, and a milkshake? Going out to get a Black Tap milkshake, with a Walter’s hot dog, and potato puffs is better than that!.

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Walter’s Hot Dogs is located in Mamaroneck and, in my opinion, has the best hot dogs you will ever taste.  They are split down the middle and charred with a grilled bun.  They also are famous for these tiny fried mashed potato balls that are addictive.  Black Tap is located in New York City and have these huge amazing milkshakes that are to die for.  They are not super heavy, but they are light, creamy, and airy.  For one weekend only, they decided to do a little swap. Walter’s was going to sell Black Tap milkshakes and Black Tap was going to sell Walter’s hot dogs.  So, obviously my family was going to go to Walter’s and to make it even better we were going on my parents wedding anniversary.

Walter’s is unlike any hot dog stand you’ve ever seen. It looks just like a pagoda. A pagoda is a South Asian temple, that is used to to keep remains of saints, and kings. Even though Walter’s was selling the milkshakes they were also still selling their famous hot dogs.  So, when we went we got four hot dogs, two orders of potato puffs, and two milkshakes.  We got two because my family of four was not going to drink those huge milkshakes all by themselves.

The first time you bite into a Walter’s hot dog, something is born in your body that hasn’t been there before: the need to go here every weekend.  When you bite in the hot dog, you notice a couple of things that make them unique. First, most hot dogs aren’t split. Splitting them makes them get a char inside and outside which makes them crunchy. Also they are not all beef. They are half pork, half veal.  I love that it has that nice char and they get so much flavor from the veal and the pork.  Next, the potato puffs were perfect.  The outside was a crispy fried shell and the inside potato was so soft.  The very last thing is the milkshakes.  The thing that I really liked about their milkshakes was that they didn’t fill you up so much, and it was very silky and not really heavy.  It was a good shake but I just wanted to taste a little bit more of the oreo in the shake. Everything else about it was really good, especially the frosting.  Overall it was a really satisfying meal, and I hope to go there again soon!
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NYC Restaurant Week Brunch at Perilla

8/31/2015

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My mom and dad were going to run the Chardonnay Run in New York City and they wanted to find a good place to have brunch and they found a place called Perilla. Perrilla's Chef Harold Dieterle was the winner of the first season of Top Chef and it was NYC Restaurant Week. After they ran their race, we headed over there.


My dad and I decided to split a few things. We decided to split the vanilla scented donuts and the calamari salad for our appetizer. For our entrees, we got a spicy duck burger and french toast with roasted plums.  When the food came I started with the calamari salad while my dad had the donuts.  The calamari salad was nice and crunchy and the calamari was amazing. It was so tender, there is just no way to explain how good it was but I would’ve liked more calamari in the salad because it was so good.  The donuts were amazing also. The inside was nice and airy and the outside was sweet. It couldn’t get any better but when you put the pear sauce on the donut it was like heaven.


After we finished the appetizers we got our entrees. I started off with the french toast and my dad with the burger.  When I got the french toast, I noticed that the roasted plums were actually a sauce.  I decided to taste it without the sauce first to see what it tasted like. It tasted good and was nice and sweet.  So, I put the sauce on it and it tasted amazing with the sauce on. It was a mix of sweet and sour in your mouth. It was the best french toast I’d ever tasted and I’m not the type you’d call a french toast lover.  Next I tried the duck burger.  The burger was a nice sort of soft texture. When you took a bite it was so spicy! I was a tiny bit worried at first because I wasn’t a big duck fan, but when I had it all I tasted was spice but next time I want to taste a little more meat. The spiced fries that the burger came with was the star of the dish. It was nice and crispy, but it had that spice that made it shine.  If I had to choose two dishes to have again, it would be the french toast and the vanilla scented donuts.  Perilla was very good and I’d be super happy to eat there again.
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A Trip to Smorgasburg

7/29/2015

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The Ramen Burger at Smorgasburg!
For my dad’s birthday, we decided to go to Smorgasburg.  Smorgasburg is a bunch of food stands in Brooklyn (go figure that my dad wanted to go here).  The first stand we went to was a ramen burger stand.  The bun was made of ramen noodles with a sweet sauce in it so when you bit into it, the sauce came pouring into your mouth.  The burger was really just a burger, but with a different bun.  I know it was just a burger, but it was so good when you took a bite. The ramen bun turned into ramen noodles and the burger was so juicy and the sauce was so sweet.  It all came together to be ramen + burger = delicious.

The next stand we went to was a stand that was called Brooklyn Soda Works.  When we were looking at the menu something caught our eye. It was an Arnold Palmer soda.  An Arnold Palmer is a mix of iced tea and lemonade.  It is really refreshing especially on a hot day, and that day was probably the hottest day of the year.  So since we love Arnold Palmers so much, we decided to get it (obviously).  It was  a little bit different because it had that sparkling taste to it.  Besides that it was delicious.

The next place we went to was sort of like a bakery, but we didn’t get any bakery treats because it was so hot.  So, we decided to get a thai iced tea fudgesicle.  It tasted really sweet because of the iced tea and there was a slight taste of fudgesicle in there.  I would’ve liked a tiny bit more fudgesicle in there, and a tiny bit less thai iced tea in it.

Then we started just walking around until, we came to a place that sold olives and olive oil from California.  First, I tried an olive from the Mediterranean sea.  The olive was really good, but then became super duper salty.  Then the nice women who ran the stand let us try some of the olive oil and it was the best olive oil that I have ever tasted.  Me, my mom, and my dad loved it so much we decided to get a bottle of it.  

The next stand we went to was the stand right nextdoor it was called Ish. They sold  a way better horseradish.  The Ish came in many different varieties from regular horseradish to citrus horseradish and ginger horseradish.  It was the best horseradish ever, and to be completely honest I hate horseradish, but this isn’t horseradish. This is ish.

After that, we needed to sit down so we went over to some tables and sat down.  Then, we noticed that there was a place that sold sticky rice.  So, me and my dad went over and got some mango sticky rice.  The sticky rice had a nice amount of sweetness and the mango was refreshing since it was a hot day, but it went nice with the rice and the black sesame seeds. After that we got a little shade, and then started out again.

While my mom and my brother got ice cream, me and my dad went to Bon Chovie.  At Bon Chovie they are famous for their anchovies (again obviously).  Me and my dad went over and got a couple of fried anchovies with their heads on!  When I tried it I didn’t really like the anchovy because it was soft. I personally don’t love that soft texture.  If you like your anchovies soft then that’s the place to go.

The last place we went to was a place that sold maple lemonade it had a nice maple taste and it was refreshing.  We liked it so much we kept on going back to get another one in the end we got like five of them.  After we got our last maple lemonade we started to head out.  If I had to go back I would get this mango on a stick where you got to put spices and stuff on it, I’d also get the roasted corn with cheese on it.  I’d really like to come back soon.
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Birthday Brunch at Melba's Restaurant

3/1/2015

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For my great grandma Peepa’s birthday, our whole family went to Melba’s Restaurant in Harlem.  My Uncle Henry made a reservation for us and when we walked in I could see why.  Man, that place was packed!  Once everyone got settled at our table, we ordered our food. Melba’s serves soul food which is food from the southern United States. Soul food can be things like corn bread, hush puppies and black-eyed peas. Those are some of my favorite things. Melba’s is known for their fried chicken and eggnog waffles. They were featured on The Food Network. Almost everyone in my family got the chicken and waffles including me.  I don’t think you’d be surprised that I got it. I wouldn’t have been surprised either.  I was so excited when the food came because I was starving.  When I bit into the chicken it was so crispy on the outside and so tender on the inside. I love fried chicken! When you dip it in syrup it’s even better.  The waffles were packed with sweetness and was really soft. On top of the waffles, there was strawberry butter. The whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to Peepa and they brought her chocolate cake. Our waiter Thomas was really nice and gave Peepa the cake as a birthday present. I’m glad my Uncle Henry took us here and I think I’d come here again. You should too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEEPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Harvest Dinner at Wolfert's Roost

10/30/2014

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I went to Chef Eric Korn's new restaurant called Wolfert's Roost. They were having a Harvest Dinner for the Irvington Farmers Market. Some of the things on the menu for the dinner were going to be in his actual restaurant. He has a catering business called Good-Life Gourmet so he can't be at his restaurant all of the time. That's why he has Chef Jennie Werts. Jennie will be running the restaurant when Eric is not there.

When we got there and sat down at the counter they put a snack platter in front of us. The snack platter had seasoned goldfish crackers, spiced nuts, pickled vegetables, and olives. The goldfish were cooked with herb-infused oil and cheese. You could taste the cheese but not the herbs really. The pickled vegetables were a combination of sweet and bitter which was interesting. Then there were the spiced nuts. They had cayenne pepper in them but they were also a little sweet. It was kind of Moroccan. Last in the snack bowl were olives which are my favorite. They were sour and I like that personally.

My dad and I had three appetizers, two entrees, and three desserts. We split them all. The first appetizer was a Torta di Spaghetti which was like a spaghetti pie with shredded pork in a tomato sauce. The spaghetti pie was hot and soothing. It was good. The pork was meaty and stringy and went well with the spaghetti. The second appetizer as a fried broccoli with cheese and apricot jam. The broccoli was super crunchy and delicious. The cheese could have been a little better. It was too creamy and a little overpowering for me but my dad really liked it with the apricot jam. The third appetizer we had was a bitter greens and bacon salad with apples, spiced pecans, and maple vinaigrette. The bacon was thick cut and had a lot of flavor and the pecans were nicely spiced.

Next were the entrees. The first one we had was the fish. It was served with quinoa and had broccolini and rainbow carrots. The broccolini looked like asparagus but tasted like cauliflower and felt like broccoli. The next entree was fried chicken that had lemon, basil, and raw honey on it. The outside of the chicken was crunchy and spicy and the inside was moist. The skin had cayenne pepper on it which made it spicy.The lemon flavor on the outside was really strong and with the honey on it, the flavor burst in your mouth.

Finally, we had the desserts. The first dessert was an apple crisp with bourbon caramel, toasted almond, and pretzel crumble. It was crunchy, dreamy, and sweet. It had cinnamon in it and would go really well with pumpkin spice cookies. The next dessert was a banana sundae. The bananas on top tasted like like sweet plaintains and the caramel went well with the bananas. We had an extra dessert which was a pound cake with lemon curd. Wolfert's Roost is a really good place to go and you should go there once it is open!
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Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in Miami

8/26/2014

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This summer, my family took a cruise out of Miami. After the cruise, we stayed with some friends there. On the Monday we were there, they had to work late. My dad looked up places for us to eat. We went to a place called Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. The owner Michael Symon is an Iron Chef who has been on TV a lot so he decided to open up this restaurant. When we got there we ordered drinks. My dad got a homemade cherry rosemary soda. It was sweet but you couldn't taste the rosemary. It also tasted like chai, a Chinese tea. The menu was different from regular menus. Usually menus have sections like appetizers, main courses, and desserts. But this one had sections by sizes like small, medium, and large. We ordered a few small and medium dishes. We ordered a wood-oven roasted double yolk farm egg, shrimp ceviche, cauliflower with parsley sauce, crispy pig ears, pork belly, gemelli, and steamed mussels. The farm egg was really yolky and it had a nice crust but it needed seasoning. Next, the shrimp ceviche had a very citrusy taste to it and the shrimp was just right. Then right after that we had crispy pig ears. They were the most sensational thing in the world! They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They were so good that we ordered an extra order to bring home to our friends. The cauliflower came after that. At first I thought I wouldn't like it but it was amazing. The pesto gave it a nice kick and the cauliflower was soft. The pig ears and that were my favorite. The mussels came next and they were soft, chewy, and rich but they were normal mussels. I don't have anything special to say about them. Then we had pork belly which was soft and fatty on the inside. It had good seasoning but I thought it was too fatty. The gemelli was a pasta that had ground chorizo. It smelled rubbery and I thought it was disgusting but my parents liked it. I think I would give this restaurant a good Zagat rating.
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The Inn at Pound Ridge by Jean-Georges

7/14/2014

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For my mom's birthday, we went to The Inn at Pound Ridge which is owned by Jean-Georges who is a famous chef in NYC. Most restaurants only have one floor but this one had two. The outside dining had a beautiful landscape. When we got to our table, we were served bread and dipped it in olive oil. The olive oil here was better than any olive oil I have had before. The bread was soft inside but the crust was crunchy. We shared one appetizer. It was a spring pea guacamole with warm, crunchy tortillas. It also had lime juice for a kick. They added sunflower seeds to it which made it crunchy with the sweet peas. When I dipped the tortilla in the guacamole, it was warm, crunchy, and spicy. My mom, my dad, and I split three main dishes. We wanted to see our waiter's recommendations about what he would pick. He said the same things we were going to order! The first dish we had was a slow cooked halibut with sweet peas, crunchy potatoes, and spring garlic. The halibut was soft and had the right seasonings. The potatoes were soft and had a nice crust on the outside. The second dish was a bacon gruyere grass-fed burger with russian dressing and yuzu pickles. The pickles were sour and the bacon and burger were just right and tender. Our third dish was a grilled beef tenderloin with spinach and tempura onion, and housemade butter sauce. The butter sauce was made with scotch bonnet hot peppers. The grilled beef tenderloin was chewy which made it good. The spinach was soft and slippery just like it's supposed to be. The tempura onions were crunchy on the outside and soft inside. When I dipped my fork in the butter sauce, it was really spicy but good. For dessert, I had a salted caramel sundae with candied popcorn, peanuts, and fudge sauce. The caramel ice cream was a sweet and salty combination which made it good. The popcorn and peanuts were so good that I dug through my bowl for them. My overall experience was really good because the food and scenery were both enjoyable. Happy Birthday Mom!
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    My name is Jordan. I am a 12th grader and I love food!

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