US Open Prize

One doesn't attend the US Open just to watch tennis. One also goes to shop! This is where the sponsors pull out their big guns and set up elaborate shops to entice fans to spend a little money on the way to the stadium. The most impressive, of course, is Ralph Lauren. He has a "shop" complete with fixtures and outfitted salespeople.

All of his offerings are embellished with the giant Polo embroidery.

I bought this white nylon cap for $30. It's very sleek and different from the usual cotton baseball styles.

And with every purchase your receive the coveted plastic US Open Polo drawstring bag (subject of a NY Times article two years ago).

Brooklyn Lobster Rolls

Before the end of summer and the Brooklyn Flea we paid another visit to the Lobster Pound for lobster rolls. They are still very good and worth the $13 price. The lobster is fresh and plentiful with just a dash of paprika and scallions in a buttered and grilled bun.

The Brooklyn Flea has added picnic tables to enjoy your eats.

Dinner in The Living Room

In NY's East Hampton the Maidstone Inn has renovated their restaurant, The Living Room.





The decor is an eclectic mix of colonial and eccentric aunt's sitting room. Our waiter must have been an actor because his diction and projection could be heard all around the room above the noise of several conversations. But he was friendly, knowledgable and quite enthusiastic.


For my meal I started with a glass of Riesling and ordered:
Assorted Seafood Appetizer special: gravlax, seared tuna, scallop $18
Rack of lamb with mashed potatoes and ratatouille $34
Goat cheese tart with lingonberries and raspberry sorbet $9

Park's BBQ

In the Korean section of LA there is a plethora of Korean bbq restuarants. One standout is Park's BBQ. It doesn't look like much when you finally pull into the strip mall parking lot,but once inside you are impressed with the restaurant's clean and modern interior.

We ordered seafood pancake, pork belly and boneless kalbi (beef ribs). As at most Korean restaurants our meal was preceded by several small dishes including kimchi, sliced radish, seaweed and assorted pickled vegetables.

Mr. Chocolate

Okay, it's time for full disclosure. I have had a secret crush on Jacques Torres for several years now. He's cute, he has a French accent and he makes chocolates and desserts all day long - what's not to like about this guy? So when he opened an ice cream outpost next door to his chocolate store in DUMBO I had to check it out. I had a small cup of chocolate chip cookie ice cream - vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate chip cookies for $4.00.

LA Burger Part II - The Sequel

Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica features "Burger & Beer" Mondays.

For appetizers LC and I had:

Crispy stuffed squash blosooms with goat cheese and herbs $12
Soft shell crabs $16

LC had the House special Burger & Burrata $16

I had the Niman Ranch burger with Gruyere, onion fondue, bread n butter pickles and herb remoulade with hand cut fries $16.

And for dessert we shared the Salted Chocolat Caramel Tart $9

1119 Wilshire Blvd.

Santa Monica

Missed Schnitzel

I had just eaten my lunch when I spotted the Schnitzel and Things truck on 41st Street off of 6th Avenue, one block away from NYC's Bryant Park. Darn!

I might have had a second lunch if it weren't for the long line snaking down the block.

Oh, well...I will just have to check Twitter for the next time this truck is in the area.

Foodie Flicks

Ratatouille is one of my favorite movies with a food theme...so what if it's animated. The food and cooking all seem so realistic.

And the chef consultant for this film was none other than Thomas Keller.

Go For The Gold

Loehmann's offers "Insider Club Gold" which is just like their regular Insider club, but for $25 annual fee you receive 10% off all purchases on regular, sale and clearance items. So, if you make enough purchases at Loehmann's throughout the year this can pay for itself in just a few shopping trips (as it did for me).

But be aware of the "free" magazine offer. The first 3 months are free and after that you will be charged the regular subscription price unless you call the toll free number to cancel.

Blues BBQ

Today we attended the 10th Blues BBQ on Manhattan's Pier 54 in the West Village. There were 4 bbq restaurants serving up their best bbq dishes: Mara's Homemade, Dallas Jones BBQ, Brother Jimmy's BBQ and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

The crowd favorite with the longest line was Dinosaur. Originally from Syracuse, NY they opened a restaurant in Harlem a few years ago. I tried the pulled pork sandwich for $7 - it was very tender. They were also offering racks of pork ribs ($12 for 1/2 rack, $22 for a full rack).

The event was sponsored by Guinness and there was a huge truck with several beers on tap for $6/cup.

There was also live music. The first artist was a singer named Eden Brent from Mississippi. Her 3rd song was fun and upbeat - all about fried chicken. Too bad none of the vendors were offering fried chicken.

Paris in Brooklyn

We were inspired after watching the movie "Julie & Julia" to visit Moutarde in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood (239 Fifth Ave.). This was the restaurant used in film as the Parisian bistro where Julia Child first experienced Sole Meuniere. The decor and our waitress were both authentic french bistro!

The food and service was wonderful.

As soon as we sat down we were served crudite with 4 miniature jars of different types of mustard. Then we were presented a basket of warm sour dough bread and butter.

J had Escargot in garlic butter (6 for $8) which were buttery and garlicky as they should be! Followed by the Beef Bourgiugnon with perfectly crisp french fries (for $17).

I had the sauteed Hudson Valley Foie Gras with prune compote served on half of a pear ($12) and the Duck Leg Confit with lentils and frisee salad (for $18). The duck skin was golden and crisp.

For dessert - the Apple Tart Tatin with vanilla ice cream and Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce (both $6 each).

Julie & Julia

Just saw the movie about Julia Child and Julie Powell...what a great foodie flick! Stay tuned for posts featuring other favorite films that feature food.

Rock Sugar

In LA's Century City Shopping mall is an impressive Asian fusion restuarant called Rock Sugar. It's owned by the Cheesecake Factory, but you would not know of the business connection based on the decor and menu.

It looks like an Asian lounge on steroids. This vast restaurant has two outdoor lounge/seating areas - one on the mall side with individual fireplaces at each table. And a second on the street side (afterall this is Southern California where it's warm most of the year).

Rock Sugar offers a great prix fixe lunch menu of 3 courses for the table $24.95. Add a 4th course and the price is $29.95. Courses are meant to be shared and are large enough to do so between 2 people.

Instead of a basket of bread they serve crispy rice crackers studded with black sesame to each table. These were light with great texture and would make a great snack substitute for chips any time!

For our three courses we selected:

Chicken pho with chicken breast, rice noodles, chicken broth and herbs.
Claypot beef with chayote, sugar snap peas and basil.

Thai noodlees with shrimp, tofu,crushed peanuts and egg.

Believe it or not, but we skipped dessert.

Wildwood BBQ

Although it has been around for over one year I recently paid my first visit to Wildwood BBQ located at 225 Park Ave. South near NYC's Union Square. The decor is very rustic for that homey country look. This is another "theme" restaurant from B.R. Guest Restaurant Group.

Our waitress was very friendly and perky. When CW and I both ordered individual 1/2 racks of ribs ($15.50/each) and a side of mac n cheese ($5.95/each) each she voluntarily suggested we split the Rib Sampler for $28.95 because it contained the two types of ribs we wanted (spare ribs and baby back ribs) and included 2 sides (which would cover both our side orders of mac n cheese). It would save us almost $14. I found it very refreshing for a restaurant employee to downsell a check. We also ordered the nachos $8.75 to start which were yummy and loaded with bbq brisket, cheese and peppers.

Our ribs were very juicy and tender. They were flavorful enough that I didn't try any of the 6 sauces offered at each table. The mac and cheese was good with crunchy bread crumbs baked on top. The chef sent out 3 additional sides on the house: creamed spinach, coleslaw and baked beans - all very good.

For dessert we ordered the peanut butter and Fluff S'mores. And the manager sent out a complimentary strawberry shortcake.

Overall the food and service was very good and I shall return!

NYC Gap

Gap is now offering a new line - 1969 Premium Jeans Collection (starting at $59.50). The concept shop is in the NYC Fifth Avenue store. On August 20 this store will offer $20 off all denim, plus an additional 15% off your entire purchase.

Bar Boulud

Bar Boulud on NYC's Upper West Side is one of the many restaurants owned by Chef Daniel Boulud. This restaurant is more casual and features small dishes. They also have a large sidewalk dining section. Unfortunately, one of the downsides is as night approaches it gets darker outside and my photos have no lighting. So sorry in advance for the poor pics.

I started with the Tourte de Canard which is a hearty slice of pastry wrapped around a filling of duck, foie gras and figs. Can you say cholesterol? But it was absolutely decadant and delicious.

To offset that dish next I had the Aioli - olive oil poached cod, Louisiana shrimp, mussel, a hard boiled quail egg, garlic dip and veggies.

And for dessert I totally departed from anything I would normally select and tried the Cerises Gourmandises - lambic roasted cherries, sicilian pistachio mousse with breton sablémorello cherry-apricot sorbet. Very good and kind of light for a dessert.

During the month of August Bar Boulud features their "Endless Weekend" 3 course prix fixe menu for $35 on Sunday and Monday nights.

LA Burger

Who says people in LA only eat wheat grass and tofu? They also like their burgers too!

I had already dined at Comme Ca in LA last year. But I had already planned another trip last month when Frank Bruni wrote about the glorious burger offered by Comme Ca. So I knew I had to go back and try it.

It was thick and juicy angus beef topped with chedder cheese, lettuce and carmelized onions and house sauce. Plus it was accompanied by wonderful frites all for $16.00.

8479 Melrose Ave.

Hollywood

Zagat

The NYC Food Lover's Guide is now available for $14.95. This is guide for all things food related.

Harajuku Lovers

This weekend my local NYC Loehmann's had these cute sling back flat Harajuku Lovers shoes on clearance for $19.98 (originalsuggested retail price was $70).

Ice cream truck

Here is another Twitter food truck....Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream from Brooklyn which can be found in a few locations. This one was in SoHo parked near Greene and Prince Streets. They can also be found in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Prepacked pints can also be purchased at Whole Foods.

They are so precise they actually have a scale to weigh the servings.

I have tried the Ginger in the past. This time I had Hazelnut. Their flavors are very subtle and the ice cream is smooth and creamy.

Medium $5.75 (they also offer Small $3.95 and Large $7.00).

Sweet Madeline's

Hidden along a non-descript area of West 39th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) is a great little take out place called Madeline's (the catering division is called Six-O).

They offer a wonderful array of sandwiches, salads, burgers, Mexican food and hot entrees. This is a great pit stop if you are on the way to Bryant Park and need to pick up lunch.

The Hot entrees are a great bargain for Manhattan - just $5.95 for an entree and two sides (usually potatoes or rice, salad or veggies). And with every entree you also receive a piece of bread (chips if you order Mexican food). The portions are generous and everything is fresh.

My favorite is Seafood Paella - loaded with jumb shrimp, calamari, clams and chorizo sausage. The rice is fluffy and flavorful. If you just want Paella (with no sides) the upcharge is only $2.00.

They also have a daily open face grilled sandwich special for $3.95. And offer cupcakes, cookies and brownies.

The word must be getting around because lunch times are usually packed with local office workers ordering takeout. The service is a little slow, but it's worth the wait.

Kogi, where are you?

For months now I have been reading about the famous roving Kogi truck in LA. So when I planned my trip to LA I knew that the Kogi truck was in my future. Even though my flight landed an hour late at LAX and it was after 11pm I dragged LC to Sawtelle Ave. in search of the Kogi truck. According to Twitter it would be on Sawtelle from 11pm to 1am.

It was easy to find because there was a line of about 75 people standing beside it. We quickly joined the line and noticed everyone was taking photos of the truck with their cell phones and wondering about the potential of the truck running out of food before it was our turn.

As we waited patiently for over 45 minutes we noticed that this did not deter other newcomers from lining up behind us.

Finally, we approached the window at 12:45pm...just under the cutoff time of 1am. We ordered the $2 tacos (spicy beef, spicy pork and regular pork. Each one would fit in the palm of my hand. And each had a spicy Korean kick.).

Everyone including LC and I were impressed with our food and agreed it was worth the wait. Tacos were $2 and we tried the spicy pork, bbq pork and spicy chicken.

I apologize for the poor photos, but it was after midnight, extremely dark and these were taken with my cell phone.