SPF 100 or, another country, another blog post

It’s been a ridiculously long time since my last blog post. Can I blame my laziness on writer’s block? It’s not from lack of inspiration… I’ve been eating and cooking up a storm but just not documenting it here as often as I’d like to. But exciting news! I’m starting a culinary program at the Natural Gourmet Institute in just a few short weeks! I can’t wait to take my cooking up a notch and fill my life with nourishing food.

Back in May, we traveled to Mexico for David’s birthday. My guy is a fan of aquatic adventures and tacos so we decided to head South for a bit of both. I’m a bigger fan of tacos than of risky physical water sports but don’t worry- I still got my feet wet.
After seeing a few photos of the Nizuc Resort and Spa in Cancun, I knew this was the place for us. The restaurants at the resort looked quite lovely though we only ended up eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively, during our stay.

Our first night, we were celebrating David’s actual birthday. We made reservations at the resort’s gourmet contemporary Mexican restaurant, Ramona. We sat outside over looking the ocean as the sun escaped the sky. There were two highlights of the meal. The amuse-bouche sent out by the chef was a pistachio cream with vegetables and crispy grasshoppers. An appetizer salad we ordered was my favorite dish of the night- grilled artichokes over apricot jam and goat cheese.

The next morning, we delighted over the breakfast buffet at the resort. They had a gorgeous make-your-own taco station but the chefs would also make you quesadillas, chilequiles, enchiladas, omelettes… you get the picture. It was a beautiful spread of food. I’m not sure my lower jaw ever recovered from being ajar for so long walking around the buffet.

We didn’t just eat the whole weekend… we also went parasailing! David went jet skiing for an hour. He tells me that he nearly broke the jet ski by going out to an alluring island and getting caught in seaweeds. He had to be rescued by the team at the activity center. Whoops! Then I watched from afar as he tried jetpacks in the water for the first time. It was pretty silly watching him go up in the air and slamming into the water after being upright for a few seconds.

That evening, we went to a restaurant in downtown Cancun called Julia Mia. The restaurant was 25 minutes from our resort but that didn’t sway us from going there. (Hashtag: will travel for food.) What made it even better was that the restaurant sent a shuttle van to pick us up, free of charge! As we began to pull out of the resort, the driver asked us if we’d like a surprise. I said, “sure! Why not! Surprise us!” Abel proceeded to exit the car, circle around to the passenger side and start mixing up hibiscus margaritas for us to enjoy on the way over. Talk about service!

Julia Mia has recently been renovated along with getting a new chef and restaurant concept. I’m not sure what it was like before but with a mix of contemporary cuisine and dashes of molecular gastronomy, Julia Mia was a delight to experience. We enjoyed a grain salad with amaranth, tightly rolled vegetable ribbons and goat cheese. Next up was mini flash fried shrimp to roll into tacos. We loved the braised octopus tostada with habanero sauce. The shining star of the meal was the seared tuna with pistachio mole, tequila gelee, balsamic caviar and crispy Iberian ham.

The next morning, we went on a snorkeling tour in the world’s second largest barrier reef. I won’t trouble you with the details of the experience (it wasn’t good). As an amateur snorkeler, the coral became my nemesis and I was nursing my wounds for weeks after. When David went speed boating later that afternoon, I hit up the pool at the resort and threw back a drink or 3.

The concierge team at our resort was nothing short of heaven sent. They hooked us up with great recommendations and assistance at every turn. When I reported back that we so enjoyed Julia Mia, the concierge recommended two spots and handed me to menus so I could see my options. She strongly pushed Porfirio’s and asked if we’d like to sit inside or outside. Although I was schvitzing throughout our meal, the lagoon view and gentle breeze was a gorgeous backdrop for our last meal in Cancun. Everything we ate was absolutely delicious, the presentation unique and fun and the service was beyond phenomenal. We sipped a Mexican rosé and ate a glorious meal of authentic Mexican cuisine. Of course, guacamole was a must. Cocinita Pibil tacos with pickled onions came next. We had a grilled filet of mahi mahi with grilled pineapple and a delicious piece of steak with chicken enchiladas. Although we were stuffed, we wanted to hang around for more mariachi action and so we ordered the 4 paletas dusted in chili powder off the dessert menu. David loved the kiwi, of course, and I was a big fan of the mango.

We were up early the next morning for our day trip to Tulum. So, I have only heard wonderful things about Tulum and now that I’ve spent around 10 hours there, I can safely assure you that any and every wonderful thing said about Tulum is in fact true. It is the most beautiful, picturesque location I’ve ever visited. When we returned to Brooklyn the next day, I called my mom and asked her if she’d like to go to Tulum with me the following day. She laughed… but I was being serious.

But before we got to Tulum, we stopped at an agricultural park and recreation center called Aktun Chen. We went snorkeling in a cenote, an underground river in a cave. It was an awesome experience with our own guide who swam us through the cave and pointed out all the cool facts about the cenote. We continued onto Tulum and our bellies were growing hungry. I had done a little bit of research and many people recommended lunch on the beach at La Zebra Hotel. That little bit of research was just enough. Our 2 hours on the beach there was beyond pleasurable. We ate tacos and guac, drank margaritas, read our books and I reapplied sunscreen every 15 minutes. We decided to walk around the hotel zone but it was 90 degrees and I was dripping wet with sweat so we needed to get back to some water. We drove to another beach that was highly recommended and spent about an hour and a half playing in the water and relaxing. After beach time was over, we drove through downtown Cancun and did some shopping (I bought one top.) Then it was time for the main show.

Okay, remember how I said #willtravelforfood earlier? Well, I really mean it. We actually went to Tulum for dinner. Yes, the beach was glorious but that was just an added benefit to dine at Hartwood for dinner. An outside restaurant with no electricity, intrigued me and with the chef and owner a former Brooklynite, I knew we had to get to Hartwood. We started with tasty drinks. Next came two orders of unique ceviches: one inspired by the Yucatan and the other by the Carribean. We had no problem ordering the house speciality, the costillas al agave- a generous portion of pork ribs cooked in agave honey overnight and finished on the grill. We’ve recently discovered a love for octopus so we went for that dish as well. No regrets. It was a wonderful and unique meal.

It was back to Cancun for us and in just a few short hours we needed to be up for our flight back to NYC. It was a beautiful trip accompanied by my love! More updates soon… I’m back on the blogging bandwagon!

Surprises at every turn, or lunch at Disfrutar

Believe it or not, there are still more restaurant reviews from our trip to Spain! The very first reservation I made when we booked our tickets was for lunch at Disfrutar. Owned and operated by three former El Bulli chefs, I was certain we would be treated to a fantastic meal there. What I didn’t expect was the joy and entertainment we’d experience during our lunch. Okay, so maybe the name of the restaurant itself should have been more of an indication of what I should expect. After all, disfrutar literally means “to enjoy” in English. When we arrived to the restaurant, I picked up a business card on the window ledge. On it, appeared their logo:

Instantly, I understood the playfulness insinuated by the smiley face D. However, it wasn’t until our first bites that we truly felt the joy and humor that food can bring to the senses.

But before all the delectable food talk, I have to describe the restaurant itself. We walked in the entrance which showcases a beautiful bar and a few tables. The host brought us through the kitchen where we met two of the three head chefs who were busy at work- but not too busy to shake our hands as we walked through the pass. The kitchen was abuzz with activity. Quite honestly, I’ve never seen more staff than I did at Disfrutar. We arrived at 1 PM for the first seating of lunch, and though there was just one table seated before us, by the time we left 2 hours later, the restaurant was completely full. I have to share a few photos of the space. Just as their food has won many awards, so has the design of the restaurant!

Photo courtesy of Disfrutar website

Photo courtesy of Disfrutar restaurant

I was thrilled to be there during lunch time when the gorgeous natural light streamed through the wall of windows at the rear of the building. 

So, here you go. What you’ve been waiting for… the food pictures! Disfrutar offers three different tasting menus with price points at 75 €, 105 €, and 135 €. We opted for the “cheap-est” menu which was not only filling but kept us laughing and surprised at every turn.  I hope that as you see the photographs and read the brief descriptions, you’ll too experience the joy of Disfrutar Restaurant.

The meal began with this welcoming “cocktail” of passion fruit, rum and coffee. I use quotations around the word cocktail because this was mostly frozen!

I requested a dairy-free meal so at some points, David and I received different dishes. You might notice that I find it difficult to describe many of the dishes from the meal . We had never experienced a fully molecular gastronomy meal, and it turns out, I know a lot less about what you can do with food than I thought!

Gin, rose and lychee

They call this “the beet that comes out of the land.” The consistency of the “beet” was somewhat akin to styrofoam. (But much tastier obviously!)

 

Caramel coated hazelnuts

Crispy bow with cured Iberian bacon

Yes, we ate a lot of jamon in Spain but this tiny slice was by far the best we ate in the two weeks we were there! It was so thinly sliced and just melted on my tongue.

Next came the playful “Tomato ‘polvorón’ and Arbequina Caviaroli.” I hope I can do this dish justice with my description. As we ate this, we couldn’t help but laugh at the textures of this ‘polvoron.’ The tomato ‘polvoron,’ upon further research, is a play on a Philippine powdered candy.  This seemingly solid bite was surprising as we bit into it and discovered that it was dusty or powdery in the mouth. It was then topped with olive oil caviar.

Atop the pine cone was the transparent pesto ravioli. We were instructed to dip the ravioli into the accompanied broth. Mine was tomato water and David’s was parmesan broth. Inside the transparent ravioli were all of the ingredients of a pesto: pine nuts, basil, garlic, olive oil.

As I already explained, the three chefs at Disfrutar used to work at El Bulli where molecular gastronomy was born and cultivated by the Adria brothers. This next dish, “Disfruta de la aceituna” shows how the chefs at Disfrutar took inspiration from their positions at El Bulli, and may I say, improved upon that experience. These “olives” are a take on the El Bulli olive spherification but after tasting the Disfrutar olives, I have to say that these were better! Not only do these “olives” really look like olives, the consistency was much more pleasurable than the El Bulli version now served at Albert Adria’s restaurants in Barcelona. We were told to eat the green, then the black olive, sip the tiny spoon with tangerine or clementine essence (I can’t remember which but it was citrus!) and then dip the bread in the remaining olive oil.

David’s next course was the smoked Idiazabal cheese biscuit with apple and celery juice. While the cookie was very cold, the juice was warm. David says that this was actually his least favorite course. 

I received this trio in place of the cheese biscuit. There are tender walnuts, walnut cream and a local liquor called ratafia made from nuts. The liquor was somehow turned into a gel. 

This crispy egg yolk over mushroom gelatin was one of our favorites of the entire meal. Our waiter warned us to be careful because the yolk would be runny in the center. I have no idea how this happened.

Here’s David’s “aerial sandwich of langoustine cocktail.”

It was a very cute sandwich!

Corn “natillas” on the left and corn tarte with shaved raw foie gras on the right. 

Mushroom dumplings inside the steamer served with salmon and marinated makerel with cauliflower in vinegar.

One of the most interesting dishes of the day: the macaroni carbonara. The noodles were made from a pork consomme! While David ravished his macaroni, I was served an anchovy on a crisp piece of toast as well as a square of what our server described as local cheese. I was very confused… I had requested a dairy-free meal and here they are serving me a hunk of cheese. I took a small bite. It didn’t seem to be cheese but it was creamy. I asked another server to describe the dish to me another time. He assured me that they call it their local cheese but it was in fact almond milk ice cream!Here’s a close up of the deceptive almond “recuit de drap” topped with truffle, fir tree honey and pine nuts. Recuit de drap translated from Catalan is “annealing of cloth.”Here’s the liquid salad.  You may notice that David is on his phone texting in this photo. That’s because we had a bit of a crisis at this point in the meal. While I was using the bathroom, David received a phone call from the Air BnB host that we had not booked our last night for the apartment! We’d need to be out of the space NOW. Needless to say, I freaked out. (David kept his cool despite my inability to hold it together. Let’s be clear here: David always keeps his cool.)

This is David’s red mullet with pork jowls and aubergine gnocchi

Langoustine “al ajillo”

Both of us enjoyed this Moroccan style duck breast.I didn’t get photographs of every dessert and the photos near the end of our meal are less than stellar. The whole situation sucked a little bit but I am relieved that most images of the dishes can be found online.

Chocolate covered “peanuts.”

David had the “chocolate peppers” though I didn’t get a picture of this incredible dessert.

Photo courtesy of http://www.luxeat.com/blog/disfrutar/

There are billions of people in this world and I am a just one- a fortunate one able to travel the globe and eat unforgettable Michelin starred meals. Yes, we had to rush through the end of the meal. But that didn’t make me enjoy the food at Disfrutar any less. The service too was absolutely impeccable. When we told them we’d have to hurry up our last few dishes, they brought things out quickly and returned with our check.

Sadly, I didn’t realize all of this until a few days later when we returned to Brooklyn and I had time to process my behavior. I threw a fit in the street and got very mad at David. It wasn’t fair that my stuff was moved to another apartment so that the next guests could move in to the Air BnB but it also wasn’t the end of the world. Dealing with travel stress is something that I’m working on. Hell, dealing with all kinds of stress is something I’m working on. Here’s the mushy part. I’m so lucky to have a partner who can balance out my moody indiscretions. He’ll quickly forgive me for my elevated heart rate and panic. But I have to come to the apology first, of course. Like many others, coming to the apology is the difficult part. I had to realize that everything would be fine. We’d have a place to sleep that night. No one would be stealing my stuff. Mistakes can happen and I need to be better equipped to roll with the punches. I think that sometimes we need these mistakes to happen so that we can react differently in another situation. So, maybe in some ways, this was a happy mistake. Perhaps the experience  at Disfrutar will prepare me for something I can’t quite foresee.

Just like my birthday dinner that landed me in the bathroom all night, rushing through the end of the meal did not ruin the experience of dining in the utterly enjoyable Disfrutar. If anything, it made it an experience I won’t soon forget.

 

Eating the Rainbow, or Fiber-ing it up after too many croissants and jamon

There were quite a few croissants ingested throughout my journey in Spain. See, the Spanish don’t really “do breakfast.” But I have medications I need to take in the morning and I need to take them with food or else I’m struck with a queasy tummy ache. So, a croissant was often the route I chose to take in the mornings to do the deed. And as you know, jamon is quite popular as well in Spain. Let’s just say, we made a dent in quite a few legs of Iberic ham.

By the time we got to Barcelona, I was craving fruits and veggies. Luckily, I had stumbled upon a “flexitarian” restaurant in Barcelona during my restaurant research prior to our departure. I was very much looking forward to a meal at Flax and Kale really the moment we stepped off the plane in Madrid but I had a week to wait until we arrived in Barcelona.

We got to Flax and Kale- twice, in fact! We thoroughly enjoyed the rainbow extravaganza placed before us in the form of plant-based yumminess on both trips. Here’s some glorious “taste the rainbow” food porn for you right in time for dinner. Hope you have some veggies on hand!

David started off by grabbing a freshly made juice from the case at the front of the restaurant. There were so many options but this layered number quickly caught his eye. The Antiox with orange, strawberries, lemon and kiwis was meant to be shaken up before drinking but David opted for a more piecemeal enjoyment of the juice.

Do you see all the colors on the table! My eyes were so happy.

Below is a beautiful roasted carrot salad with avocado.

Here’s a grilled watermelon salad with feta cheese.

The surprise stunner of this meal was this gorgeous array of just oh so much happening on a plate. The squash blossoms were stuffed with a warm vegan cashew cream. (Dare I say this was the best bite of the entire meal!?) There’s salamorejo, guacamole, pico de gallo, a mixture of beans and corn, goji berries amongst a lot more. Did it all work together? Maybe not? But after we ate the squash blossoms dipped in salmorejo, I mixed it all up and it was quite enjoyable. Perhaps I was just craving raw veggies and this satisfied my cravings in every way.

After trying our first acai bowl in Hawaii 2 years ago, David has a hard time turning down an acai bowl when it appears on a menu. Of course, an acai bowl from Flax and Kale would be no exception. This glorious deep purple mountain was atop fresh fruit and a most delicious granola.

Our second visit to Flax and Kale was no less colorful. We started with a fruit salad and flatbread.

This flatbread was one of my favorite things we ordered at Flax and Kale. Smothered with smoked eggplant, the flatbread was then topped with grilled sardines, sorrel and tomatoes.

I must admit, on our first visit, any time I saw this dish arrive at another table, I immediately grew covetous of my neighbors. David kept telling me “do not covet your neighbor! We can come back!” So, we did and we ordered this! Here’s the healthy mezze platter. So there’s obviously a lot going on in this platter of goodness. They serve three different kinds of cracker: spelt and chia, beet and seeds, and kale. The three dips are all different kinds of hummus: green is spinach, arugula, and cilantro, black is activated charcoal, and orange is pumpkin and turmeric. We have meatballs made with vegan foie gras (don’t ask me what that entails) and quinoa. In the center was a yummy kale salad (as if we needed some more fiber!) And of course, some vegetable crudites for dipping. As a side note, I just translated the menu from Spanish so I’m pretty proud of all the information I was able to glean for these descriptions! Specials thanks to Google Translate!

Another dish I was eyeing on our first trip were these mushroom tacos with the works.

Flax and Kale was started by Teresa Carles who also has two vegetarian restaurants in the city of Barcelona. We were tempted to try out the vegetarian restaurant but we were totally sold on the idea of a flexitarian restaurant and so we stuck with Flax and Kale. I knew from my Instagram stalking that the restaurant with tall ceilings and big windows was a gorgeous space but I had no idea of its size! When I went in the elevator to the 3rd floor to use the restroom, I got to see more seating upstairs as well as outdoor seating. On both visits, this place was packed and we had to wait about 20 minutes each time. But with such a huge restaurant and a fast acting kitchen, they’re turning tables quickly at Flax and Kale. Now if only they could open a branch here in Brooklyn…

La Boqueria, or the real reason for this whole trip

I must admit, the defining thing that brought me to put Spain on the top of my travel destination list was the Boqueria. I don’t remember which food travel t.v. show I was watching that led me to the discovery of one of Europe’s most famous food markets and I guess that doesn’t even matter anymore at this point. But some t.v. personality showed me the wonders of the Boqueria and that turned me onto exploring Spain but most importantly, Barcelona’s amazing food market.

So, we went to the Boqueria twice and explored all that the market had to offer.

The first day we arrived at the Boqueria, we were hungry and it was nearing 2 PM. So, when we saw the crowd around the Pinotxo Bar, one of the most popular restaurants inside the market, we were a bit dissuaded by the wait. Luckily, we would end up there a few days later for a wonderful lunch. There will be more food pictures from Pinotxo Bar later on in this post. For now, here’s one of the most famous characters in all of Barcelona! 

So, we wandered around the Boqueria growing hangrier and hangrier as we passed each and every stand with gorgeous fruit salads, juices, fresh seafood and beautiful marzipan. Finally, we stumbled upon another restaurant and agreed to get a bite of food there before we took bites off of each others’ heads. 

We ordered the octopus with potatoes and patatas bravas (not pictured). Our waitress insisted we order some more seafood and suggested the prawns as well. Quite the upsell (this added an additional 20 Euro to our bill.) However, we were totally happy with this addition to the meal. The prawns were absolutely delicious.

After an espresso, we were ready to do some real exploring with full tummies. Here’s David with freshly killed pheasants and rabbits. Thumbs up!

Here’s David with a guava juice. It was decidedly too sweet and he ended up throwing most of it out. He much preferred the kiwi juice!

SO MUCH JAMON!

This was in a meat case with all sorts of offal. I’m not sure if it’s just pure fat and if people eat it with a spoon but that’s what it appears like!

Beautiful chocolates. We ended up buying a few to try and quite honestly, they were much much prettier than they were tasty.

NSFW: BOOBIES

Absolutely stunning display of tropical fruits

The same stand had a gorgeous display of marzipan.

I’ve never seen pink speckled potatoes before.

We bought one of these fruit salads to enjoy later on in the day. 

After all the exploring, we were a bit hungry again and we found the place that we saw on the PBS show, I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, El Quim de la Boqueria. It was also very crowded with no space at the bar to sit down. However, David and I split up and stood behind different couples who seemed to be finishing up their meals. It was a bit awkward to stand behind people while they ate but as I sat down on the stool after the couple in front of me finished, they assured me that they had done the same thing to get a seat at the bar. 

My favorite vegetable, the artichoke, was very much in season and we enjoyed it in many forms during our trip.

This is the dish that Phil eats on the television show: baby squid over two olive oil fried eggs. I never imagined liking squid, and in fact, we tried to order something different, little fish over fried eggs, but they gave us this dish and I couldn’t complain. This is their house speciality and for good reason. It was awesome.

On our return visit a few days later, we stood behind some people patiently at Pinotxo Bar to get a spot at the bar. The menu changes daily and hourly really depending on what they sell out of first. We ordered the octopus with potatoes. 

This is a dish I’ll be trying to recreate soon. Vegetables and shrimp with eggs. They made this in the wok and it really had an Asian flavor profile with loads of scallions, zucchini, asparagus, and little shrimp. 

This final dish was so memorable that the first meal I cooked upon our return was a twist of plate!

Here’s my version topped with fried eggs and served with a green salad.

 

 

To begin, I took handful of golden raisins and poured over a tablespoon or so of sherry vinegar for them to soak in. I set that aside while I prepared the rest of the stew. I bought two small spicy sausages from the butcher shop and cut open the casing to release the meat. I tossed the sausages into my Le Creuset pot over a medium flame and began to break it apart with a wooden spoon. While it cooked, I diced up half of a white onion. When the sausage was browning, I threw in the onion. Then, I tossed in maybe 3/4 cup of frozen peas and a can of chickpeas with the liquid. I added a handful of pine nuts and the raisins with the sherry vinegar and topped the pot and let it all cook for 20 minutes or so. I chopped up some parsley and threw that in the pot as well.

While this was cooking, I used my hands to tear apart some arugula, watercress and parsley. I segmented a cara cara orange. I very thinly sliced a small red onion. I chopped up some Marcona almonds. Salad near complete. Right before we ate, I sprinkled some olive oil and balsamic over it. Perfect.

When it was nearly time to eat, I fried up some eggs in olive oil and served them over the chickpea stew. This was so yummy that I’m making it again for dinner tonight. (Note: David says he likes my version even more than the dish at Pinotxo Bar!)

 

 

The first night in Barcelona, or let’s Godzilla those cookies

I knew immediately upon entering MOments that I was about to experience the most elegant dining affair I’ve ever had to date. I didn’t know much about the restaurant having made the reservation just a few days before we got to Barcelona. I did know that it was inside the suave Mandarin Oriental Hotel but a hotel restaurant can be many things. Well, this hotel restaurant bucked all conceptions about cheesy or stuffy service and mediocre food. Although the 3 hour long experience was elegant and entertaining, it was simultaneously casual. I felt taken care of but not patronized. Service in fine dining restaurants can certainly be a bit off putting taking my attention away from the food and more on the snootiness of the staff. Our server kindly explained each dish to us and repeated any ingredients and techniques when I had additional questions. He genuinely appeared to love his job and the restaurant itself. I could sense the pride he carried through each description of the glorious meal we tasted our first night in Barcelona.

Considering that our reservation was at 9 PM, we decided to forgo the tasting menu and instead picked a few dishes from the a la carte menu. But that didn’t mean we’d only get our three chosen dishes. The chef sends out 3 complimentary appetizers, a unique loaf of  bread and a significantly fanciful dessert near the completion of the meal.

The first small appetizer was the Iberian ham omelette with bread and tomato. My serving was atop a kale cream. (I requested non-dairy dishes and the kitchen completely accommodated my needs.)

Next came the pistachio cream with sausage and red bean bonbons. I must say, these were the most delicious little sausages I’ve ever tasted. They were perfectly bite-sized, soft and savory. They echoed the pistachios inside of the sausage as well and that made them all the better. The red bean bonbons had a very unique, melt in your mouth texture that complemented the rest of the flavors of the dish.

My final appetizer was the adorable Maresme Green caviar. Your eyes do not deceive you and this is no kitchen trickery. The “caviar” was in fact peas, and yes, they were the best peas ever. Apparently, Maresme is the area just north of Barcelona along the Mediterranean coast that is very well known for their produce. The “caviar” was accompanied by a cube of unctuous Duroc jowl, leeks and mint.

David’s last appetizer was a truffle croquette. I didn’t taste this so I don’t have much to say about it other than it looked very yummy!

Sadly, I didn’t get a photo of the special bread that MOments serves to each table. It is a unique recipe resulting in a perfectly crispy exterior and light, fluffy interior. The server presented the bread to us before the appetizers and then told us he would cut it and serve it to us after we ate our appetizers.

Our first a la carte dish was the colorful scallops with kale, pink grapefruit and kimchi. Although the menu didn’t mention it, there was also a lovely addition of beautiful Romanesco and purple cauliflower. This was a light and tasty starter.

Then came the sea bass with pumpkin and coffee. We were very intrigued by this flavor combination and it was so not like a pumpkin spiced anything. NOT BASIC! I was so interested to see little coffee beans on the plate so I asked our waiter if we could eat those. He chuckled and said, “oh yes. Those are little pastries!” I don’t have to tell you ow gorgeous this plating was, you can see that for yourself. But as pretty as it was, it was equally delicious.

I’m not usually one to experiment with different types of meats but when David saw the short description of deer with avocado, persimmon, cocoa and papaya, he couldn’t be dissuaded. Plus, it wasn’t really that difficult to persuade me to give it a try. I was so happy we ended up with this beautifully presented dish. There was fluffy chocolate cake crumbs sprinkled amongst the meaty, deeply rich deer. The persimmon and papaya lightened things up and the raspberry coulis kept things nice and tart. This was a layered dish that was the ultimate segue into the sweeter parts of our meal to come.

There was a small palate cleanser of pineapple, coconut and parsnip that came next.

Our dessert was aptly named Chocolate with notes of coffee, mandarin and carrot.

As we dined, we watched other tables receive this unbelievable assortment of cookies at the end of their meals. I was worried each time I saw one pass our table that we would have had to order the tasting menu to get this Instagram worthy masterpiece. But I was so delighted when our server placed it in front of us and described each cookie and the building it represented in the Barcelona skyline. This was our first night in the city so we had yet to see any of these buildings, besides the Mandarin Oriental, the 3rd from the right, where we were eating at that very moment. Each cookie was different but light and crispy and the best end to an amazing meal.

Partly through our meal, the chef came by our table (with a translator) to ask how our experience was– we were so delightfully happy I stumbled for some words to say. I let him know that it was our first night in Barcelona and that it was so wonderful to be here. He appeared genuinely happy to know that we chose to dine at his restaurant and smiled while his translator thanked him for us. MOments has received 2 Michelin stars and much more well deserved acclaim for their warm and attentive service and enjoyable food. After 3 hours, we left MOments feeling happily satisfied and excited for what was in store for us in Barcelona. Although we enjoyed so many incredible meals in Spain, this one in particular stands out above all the rest.

Dinner at Street XO or rabbit, frog, lamb- oh my!

There’s one 3 Michelin star restaurant in Madrid and that is Diver XO. Since we booked our trip only 2 months prior to our departure, we were unable to make reservations there. But to be honest, after watching this short film, DIVER XO, I was a bit freaked out by the whole establishment.

One night, we were getting gelato and sorbet at Rocambolesc in El Cortes Ingles, a fancy schmancy shopping mall in Salamanca. Rocambolesc was absolutely life changing and is located directly across from STREET XO, the newer, more casual sister restaurant to DIVER XO. Okay, so before I get into our experience at STREET XO, I must take a moment to talk about Rocambolesc. First of all, you may or may not have heard of El Celler de Can Roca. It’s only the #1 restaurant in the world according to the San Pellegrino list delivered every year. EL Cellar de Can Roca is owned and operated by 3 brothers, one of whom maintains their sweets division of the restaurant. Long story short, they decided to open ice cream shops, and essentially, Rocambolesc is a real life Willy Wonka experience only I guarantee no one is turning into a blueberry.

I ordered coco-violet sorbet topped with a beautiful, sparkly violet marshmallow and cacao nibs. The little shiny silver things are freeze dried banana chunks. This stands in my mind as one of my all time favorite desserts. 

David ordered the chocolate soft serve with the banana chunks, candied oranges and chocolate cake squares.The whole operation at Rocambolesc…

Some toppings…

They make their own chocolate bars and other confections…

Their take home options are truly out of this world. On tap, they had 6 different soft serve flavors but they had the rest of these insane flavor bombs by the pint as well as the hilarious popsicles you see here. 

Okay, so now, back to STREET XO. We were enjoying our gelato/sorbet at Rocambolesc and it was hard to ignore the line outside of STREET XO. This club-like atmosphere isn’t something I’d normally associate with a cutting edge restaurant, but I figured, hey, if this guy’s main restaurant has 3 stars, this one is probably worth checking out. So, on our last night in Madrid, we decided to join the throngs of foodies and wait in line for two seats at the counter of STREET XO.

Their drink menu is bizarre, no joke about that. I don’t know Spanish but the amount of exclamation marks on this menu is quite entertaining. I decided to try the rojos apasionados. Let’s be clear, I don’t really know what it was and at a place like STREET XO, you don’t tend to ask questions. I saw rhubarb, hibiscus and gin and I thought, I’ll give that a shot!

I love that there are no genuine tables at STREET XO; there’s just one long counter that wraps around the kitchen. It is totally thrilling to be able to see everything prepared and also how much fun the staff is having there. 

We saw this first dish being prepared for other diners and we knew right away that we’d have to order it as well. Below is the Pekinese dumplings with crunchy pigs ear, strawberry hoison sauce and gherkins.

Next came the skate ribs cooked over the flame in banana leaves with Indonesian sambal sauce and shell fish paste. Below the fish is a creamy, spicy salmorejo and above are prawn crackers. We were instructed to take some fish, put it on the cracker and add some sauce to the top. If I’m being honest and I try to be, this was our least favorite dish. The skate had a lot of bones and it was pretty difficult to eat.

Then came the tandoori baby lamb with causas limenas. (We ate a trio of causas again our last night in Barcelona at Pakta.) I’ve never heard of causas before but they are a Peruvian potato cake. These causas were especially delicious with black trumpet mushrooms and summer truffle. 

This next dish was by far our favorite of the night! These are marinated and lacquered rabbit shoulders with Balinese curry and crushed peanuts. The server instructed us to drag the rabbit shoulder along the quartet of sauces and dip into the peanuts. Then, take a bite! This would give the sensation of creating the curry in your mouth. It was so awesome.

My second drink was a sake horchata with lichee and coconut pulp.

Finally, this is the curry- pesto- chlorophyll with potatoes and tempura fried frog legs. David and I have never had frog legs before and this was a great introduction.

Dining at STREET XO was an awesome experience. The line to get inside was just 30 minutes or so though it looked much more daunting! From that point on, the food, the drinks and the atmosphere was totally unforgettable.

It’s been a while or Spain post #1

Admittedly, I’ve been falling behind on many an opportunity for blog posts. I wish I had some acceptable reason for a two month lag since my last post. But I don’t. However, now that I’m back from a two week adventure of a lifetime in Spain, there’s just no way I can stay away from my duties. I have so much to share with you, my dear readers–so many unforgettable bites–flavors and textures that I had never experienced before. I hereby promise to take you along the journey of remembering all of that goodness from the past two weeks.

After an over night flight into Madrid, we sleepily stumbled into our Air BnB around 9:30 AM. As soon as the host departed, we passed out for a good 5 hours or so. We began to walk towards the Buen Retiro Park which was about a 15 minute walk from our place.

We explored the park for a bit visiting the Palacio de Cristal and the lake where we would soon take a sweet boat ride.  Then, we decided to hit up the Prado Museum right on the outskirts of the park. Luckily, the admission was free from 6-8 PM! We had about an hour to explore the museum and we especially liked the Goya artwork. I sneakily took a photo but then got reprimanded. Whoops.

We were pretty hungry so we checked out my starred locations on my Google Maps app. After trying to get into 3 different spots that were fully booked, it was a Friday night after all, we realized that for highly recommended places, we would definitely need to make more reservations. We ended up eating a few things at a tapas sort of joint. It was okay. Nothing to write home about so I won’t.

The next morning we headed to the Mercado de San Miguel. This spot turned out to be my favorite place in all of Madrid! In fact, we returned 3 times. 

Here are some snaps from our visits to the Mercado…

I’d return to this stand again and again- The House of Bacalao. This is a crunchy piece of toast with bacalao, or salt cod, topped with honey and mustard. Accompanying the bacalao is one of my new favorite treats- a gilda. Gilda means lollipop and is traditionally composed of a pepper, olive and anchovy.

More pintxos from House of Bacalao– octopus, smoked salmon, bacalao, bonito…

One of the best things about Spain was the never-ending supply of ham.

It was our first full day in Madrid so we opted for a nice breakfast of Jamon Iberico, some olives and sangria. 

Here are more gildas. I assume the pickle situation is also called a gilda. Personally, I like to call it an unobstructed tuna sandwich. You’ll notice those adorable little onions in many Spanish tapas. As a child, I was so onion adverse, I wouldn’t allow my father to use onion in pasta sauce. I don’t know if it was the fact that I knew that onions make you cry or what but I was very much opposed to onion in anything. Well, to be honest, I liked the outside of onions rings but that’s a whole other issue. Nowadays, I’m not dissuaded by onions at all and in fact I could happily pop a hundred or so of these little guys into my mouth at any given moment. I better get my hands on a jar of these soon or else I’ll have to book another ticket. 

Stay tuned for the next post which will highlight our first meal at a 2 Michelin Star restaurant!

Lunch at Sergi Arola or letting the Spanish food porn flood gates open

When we began our Spain trip planning, I wanted to make a few reservations at highly recommended places. For me, it was important to have a balance of planned events and time for relaxed, go with the flow type of travel. You’ll have to ask David if we achieved that intended balance. After our first night in Madrid, we discovered it was best to have reservations at more sought after places. Spain doesn’t have Open Table but they do use as app called The Fork. Lunch at Sergi Arola was something that I booked a month in advance. I knew little about the chef but I found the restaurant while scouring the Michelin Guide website. I figured an international trip would be a good time to try our first 2 Michelin Star meal.

Considering we began our day with a paper cone of jamon, we decided to order from the a la carte menu as opposed to the tasting menu. Little did we know that even while ordering from the a la carte menu, for an additional 8 Euro a person, you get many tastes before and after your chosen dishes arrive.

Our first snack arrived in a martini glass and was then topped with a liquor turned foam from a whipped cream canister.

Along with the martini glass amuse, we had this tiny tray placed atop our plates. On the left is a miniature Spanish omelette, and on the right, a bacalao flavored bite.

Next came the “entradas” from different regions in Spain. There are fish bombas, fried calamari sandwiches, the tiniest empanadas you’ve ever seen, patatas bravas and shrimp tortitas.

Our final “snack” was different because I was eating dairy free. My option was little carrots in a spicy sauce whereas David had “faux scallops” that were dairy based.

Okay, so it wasn’t really the last snack because then we enjoyed their great bread service which included an olive oil emulsion and two smoked salts.

After plenty of snacking, our lunch began with the winter root vegetable starter. The first photo is before our server gracefully poured over an unctuous bourdelaise sauce. I can’t tell you for sure but I’d guess that there are at least 10 different vegetables on this gorgeous plate. Even better, our server told us that each vegetable is cooked with different techniques. 

Next came one of my favorite dishes of all time. Yep, I said it. I love artichokes a lot. In fact, my great aunt and uncle once gave me two artichokes for a Chanukah gift one year. I was not disappointed. So, the moment I saw this artichoke dish on the menu, I knew we’d be ordering it. Yes, the artichokes in their many forms were tasty and all but the highlight of this dish was the clear gel bubbles next to the mossy green bubbles. Believe it or not, that was Riesling gel and I had never imagined that that wine and artichoke would pair so wonderfully together. I was joyously pleased.

Our final dish was monk fish with faux risotto. The server told us that the risotto is “faux” because it is not in fact rice but little pieces of pasta shaped like rice. When I asked how they make it, he wouldn’t tell me! Apparently, this is a secret of the Sergi Arola cuisine! On this dish was the delicacy of monkfish liver, green apple and romesco sauce. 

Finally, our desserts came. These included a chocolate mousse in a chocolate cone, macaroon, tiramisu, apple pie bombas and a pina colada bite that we were instructed to eat last. 

Overall, our lunch at Sergi Arola was super enjoyable and certainly pleasing to the eye. We especially loved the little snack bites at the beginning of the meal. The service was quite attentive but not particularly warm. Either way, I’d recommend dining here for lunch service which is only offered on Saturdays.

A Farmer’s Feast or the end of crappy phone photos

Some good news: this will be my last post with the iPhone 5 camera. Halfway through our meal at Blue Hill a week and a half ago, my phone delivered a freaky message: “SIM card error.” This misfortune was swiftly followed by another message: “SIM card error.” Okay, I get it, Phone. You’re crapping out. You’re done with me. You’ve had enough.

When we returned home, the very first thing I did after taking off my wet boots was to plug my phone into my computer and transfer my photos I just took from this meal. Then, we took out the SIM card. Then we tried to restore my iPhone. Key word being tried. We only had a non-Apple charger and apparently this does not transfer data so my poor phone got stuck in a weird on/off position. I freaked out a bit. Slammed my fists a bit. I was mostly frustrated because we were traveling to St. Louis the next day and I didn’t like the thought of being without a phone for a day or longer. (Turns out I was able to survive without a phone from Thursday evening until Sunday morning!)

Anyway, I’m thrilled that now I have a new iPhone 6 with a much better camera. It’s my goal in 2016 to really focus on building my photography skills. If anyone has any recommendations for a photography or even better, a food photography workshop in NYC, let me know! I want to know more! I want to be better!

Enough about the phone and photography. Let’s talk about the incredible experience we had at Blue Hill recently. When my aunt and uncle announced that they would be coming to NYC for Christmas weekend, I immediately checked Open Table for reservations at Blue Hill. As big fans of sustainable farming, I knew that if I could take my aunt and uncle to one restaurant in New York, it would be Blue Hill. And I really only had one restaurant to take them to! David and I would be flying to St. Louis the next afternoon so we only had one night, one meal, one shot to impress. It had to be epic.

I had no doubts that it would be. The last time we dined at Blue Hill was for David’s birthday in May. I was excited to try the menu again which would be, without question, totally different due to Blue Hill’s undying attention to seasonality. Our reservation was scheduled for 5 PM which seems a bit early but that was what was available. So, I instructed my dining companions to eat an early lunch and avoid snacking for the rest of the day! Turns out that a 5 PM reservation isn’t a terrible thing at Blue Hill as we spent the next 3 hours enjoying the food, drinks and our time together. When I call dining at Blue Hill an experience, I mean it. It’s not just a meal. It’s an event.

My aunt, uncle and I all opted for the Farmer’s Feast while David chose the Prix Fixe menu so we’d have a little diversity at the table. I am kicking myself for not taking photos of the smalls bites they brought to our table as the meal began. However, I do remember the three raw veggies we munched on: a piece of leafy spinach, a breakfast radish, and a harukei turnip. Each vegetable was both earthy and clean tasting. We liked to joke that after those three veggies, the meal was over. But it had only just begun.

Delicata squash rings

Blue Hill Bread with olive oil and seedy butter

My aunt kept asking me, when is our first course coming? And finally, the dayboat sea scallop with fennel, pine nuts, spicy fruits and vegetables showed up and she quieted up really quickly. I must mention that Blue Hill was very accommodating of my dietary restrictions. That being said, some of the descriptions of the dishes are not true to the photographs as they slightly amended my dish per my needs. For instance, my scallop didn’t have the spicy fruit. Did that make it any less tasty? You bet your ass it didn’t!

I’ll interject our Farmer’s Feast photos with David’s meal from the Prix Fixe menu. His first dish called Merry Christmas was ordered primarily for the photograph it would illicit.

romanesco tree, gold-wrapped gifts, first snow fall

As much as we appreciated the idea behind this dish, it didn’t really come together. The gold wrapped gifts contained cheese and were eaten by themselves. The romanesco was perhaps lightly steamed to preserve its shape and color. This was a dish of separate components, and in the end, it was a whimsical plate with half a cauliflower on it.

The next dish for the Farmer’s Feast was the Spanish Mackerel in the style of a burrito with tuna blood line vinaigrette. The “shell” of this burrito was a very thinly sliced circle of kohlrabi! My aunt and I were very intrigued by the insides of the burrito so we opened it up to take a look. We discovered a piece of something that tasted like bacon. When we asked our server, she let us know that it was a slice of crispy pig’s ear! It was delectable. There were herbs and black beans inside the burrito as well. I really like this dish and I could easily eat a Chipotle sized Spanish Mackerel burrito ala Blue Hill if it were presented to me. Although, I’m not sure they make kohlrabi that big!

Our next dish in the Farmer’s Feast was the Potato Pizza with Broccoli and cheddar cheese broth. Now, my dish was dairy free so it had an herby foam accompanying the potato pie. This was the only similar dish to our meal here last May. However, that potato pizza was topped with a medley of mushrooms and it was served with a side of warm ricotta cheese. Either way, this is one of Blue Hill’s best dishes, and yes, the crispy crust is the best part! 

David’s second dish from the Prix Fixe menu was the fish collar in a New England Clam Chowder. While his first dish was slightly disappointing in coherence, this red snapper collar absolutely made up for it. 

Our final savory dish for the Farmer’s Feast was the pastured Capon with Jerusalem artichokes, brussels sprouts and hazelnuts. Holy capon! This was a phenomenal plate of food. Although I was thoroughly impressed with each component of the dish, it was a bit too salty for my tastes. My dining companions didn’t have the same opinion but I figure that I should be honest! My dish included a boneless Capon wing, a slice of a thigh roulade stuffed with herbs and a grilled Capon heart! I felt very special to have the heart since my aunt and uncle’s plate didn’t have any offal! But don’t worry… I shared my little heart!

David’s main course from the Prix Fixe menu was the Blue Hill Farm Pig with gold ball turnips and parsnip. This dish had many parts of the pig: the belly, a rib, loin.

Desserts were incredible and surprisingly light. The first photograph from the left was David’s pear, coffee and chocolate dessert. In the middle was my apple sorbet with quince, ginger and honey. The final photograph was an apple centric dessert with poached apples, apple sticks, a few cranberries and a delightful honey gellée.

After three hours of eating, we were all pleasantly satisfied but in need of a little walk so we wandered over to the gorgeous Washington Square Park in the final drizzles of a downpour. So much gratitude goes to my Aunt who took us out for the night– especially on this day, her birthday!

Dinner for three, or The Best Yet

I have yet to share this meal on Instagram because it’s been waiting for its social media debut right here on the blog. It’s been kind of tricky to decide what goes up on the blog and what goes on Instagram. Before my blog premiered late this Summer, I was a chronic Instagrammer. Alright, I’m still very much addicted to Instagram. However, if you follow me in both avenues, you’ll notice that there has been quite a shift. In the past, after a multi-course meal, you’d see each and every course in its own spotlight as an Instagram image. Now, I’m learning to get pickier about what I share on Instagram to entice readers to my blog. (Has it worked? Are some of you here because you saw my Instagram page first?)

I’m really proud of the following meal in that I feel like I’m really living up to my blog’s name and making my own twist on already established recipes. Moreso, this meal here is something I dreamt up on my own with a hint of inspiration by the likes of Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Andrew D’Ambrosi.  What I admire most about these chefs is their colorful presentation and layering of flavors and textures. I hope you’ll see what I mean in the photos and descriptions below!

One afternoon, many weeks ago, I decided to pull out a molecular gastronomy kit that David bought for me even longer ago. I flipped through the instruction booklet and thought hmm… I could do THAT. THAT turned out to be a technique to create balsamic vinegar pearls a la caviar. This technique was actually quite simple: I poured about a 1/2 cup of olive oil into a glass and placed it into the freezer to get cold. With the olive oil in the freezer, I whisked 2/3 cup of balsamic vinegar with a packet of agar agar powder (included in the kit) over a medium heat. When the mixture began to boil, I took it off the heat and transferred to another bowl. The kit also included some handy tools like a plastic pipette. At this point, the olive oil was cool, so I took it out of the freezer. I was a bit nervous about this step, but I figured, what the heck!? and began to pick up the balsamic mixture with the pipette and dropped it right into the olive oil glass. I was pleased to see the pearls plop to the bottom of the glass as they were supposed to! When I finished piping all of the balsamic into the olive oil glass, I poured the pearls into fine mesh sieve and rinsed them gently with water. 

I didn’t know exactly what I’d do with the pearls but I had the rest of the meal brewing in my head. Before making the pearls, I had stopped by the local fishmonger, Fish Tales to pick up absolutely gorgeous fillets of arctic char. I have stopped into Fish Tales on many occasions, but I have admittedly never purchased a thing from the store– until this day, of course! Most excitedly, the fish store had no fishy smell and even when I unpacked the arctic char- putting my nose right above the fish- I could not smell a thing. These fillets were fresh! I find that even at any given Whole Foods location, the fish department is a bit stinky. Anyway, I was supremely satisfied with the quality of the fish and selection at Fish Tales and I will be back soon.

I knew I wanted to bake the arctic char in parchment paper–ahem, en papillote– but I diverged slightly from my usual technique. I found a new technique that I’ll be using forever and a day, thankyouverymuch. It’s really very simple. I cut a piece of parchment paper and folded it in half. Then, I cut half a heart along the folded part. (If you want, you can sketch the half heart with a pencil before you cut but I trusted myself to free ball it and it worked out!) When you open the paper, you’ll have an adorable heart in which you’ll cook your fish. I wanted to keep the arctic char nice and simple so I drizzled just a tiny bit of olive oil on the bottom half of the heart. I placed a few sprigs of dill and chives atop the olive oil and placed the char skin side down on the parchment. I sprinkled a little bit of Maldon sea salt flakes and a shake of coarse black pepper. Then, it was time to close the sweet hearts up and let the oven do its work. Oh yes, the oven. I had the oven on at 400 F. To close the parchment hearts, you’ll start folding from the top to the bottom point of the heart. (For a more detailed description of this technique and to watch a video, click here!) Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Like usual, I had a lot of different things going on in the kitchen at once. I was steaming a whole bunch of baby artichokes in water on the stove. I was also preparing our side dish. Not to toot my own horn too loudly— this was quite possible the best thing I’ve ever put together on the fly. To be fair, my father did give me the idea to do something with leeks. I often call him from the grocery store with a hint of desperation in my voice, “Dad, I want to make this but with what? And how?” After turning down most, if not all, of his suggestions, I seem to come up with fabulous meals. (Shout out to Leslie for being my culinary sounding board!) Although, for this meal, I did, in fact, run with the leeks suggestion and I also grabbed some butternut squash thinking those two veggies could pair nicely together. I did a medium chop of the squash and roasted that in the oven first with just a slight drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. When it was nicely roasted but not browned, I transferred it to a bowl and covered with foil to keep it warm. Then I roasted the leeks carefully as to not let them get too mushy or too crisp. After my rendezvous at Fish Tales, I also stopped by one of my favorite neighborhood stores, Sahadis. There, I bought dried tart cherries and pepitas. When the leeks were cooked to my liking, I took them out of the oven and  tossed gently with the butternut squash. I L-O-V-E dried tart cherries so I chopped up a handful of those and sprinkled them throughout the dish. I did the same with the pepitas for a nice crunch. Aha! The balsamic pearls! Just what this dish needed! I finished it off with a bit of flat leafed parsley for some greenery.

With my colorful and textured side dish finished and the artichokes nicely steamed, it was time to plate. I placed a heart atop each plate, opened it up and snipped a bit of chives and fresh dill on top of the fish. Then, I took a hearty spoonful of the veggies on the left of the fish and placed two artichokes in the center of the dish. Dinner was served! Joining me was my boyfriend David and his mom, Angie. As we began to eat, we were all pretty quiet besides the “mmms” coming from our satisfied mouths. After the flavors settled in, we all agreed that this was one of my better meals and now I’m so happy to share it with you!