Viewers Discretion Is Advised: Food Porn Is Shown

Food lover - Wine enthusiast Food is life and wine brings life together.

[cooktochefed]

HSUSOUP!!!

Well it’s official Leiti Hsu (Host of Word of Mouth radio show - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/word-of-mouth-with-leiti-hsu/id700965272?mt=2) and I are collaborating on starting a pop up event called HSUSOUP. This event will take place every month at a different location featuring the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, Drinks, and a food & restaurant crowd. Our first event will be taking place at Matcha bar in Brooklyn, NY. - http://matchabarnyc.com - The even will be taking place on Wednesday February 25th at 7:30 PM. A Facebook event will be created within the following week and I will add a link to that to my Tumblr as soon as that is up and running. Wine and Spirits, Brooklyn Brewery, and Mast Brothers Chocolate will be sponsoring the event. Can’t wait for this to kick off. Please email me at [email protected] if you have any questions about this event. We will be doing an online paying system for the event that will be easy for everyone to secure and pay for a spot at the event.

[cooktochefed]

For Restaurants and food this week,

 Fornino – 187 Bedford Av, Brooklyn - http://fornino.com

Small little pizzeria I found on my way back from work. Super cozy and Sunday night type of place. Wine list is very basic but the food is good. The pizza’s go through generations from being your basic Margherita to the third generation that has up too 8 toppings. My friend and I decided to share the Al Roker: Tomato, Mozzarella, Fontina, Caramelized Onion, Roast Pepper, Sopressata, Piccante, Rosemary and the Prosciutto Calzone: Cherry Tomato, Mixed Mushroom, Ricotta & Mozzarella. Food really hit the Italian flavors. The tomato sauce tasted homemade not processed shit, which is the first thing I look at when having pizza.

 Sweet chick – 164 Bedford Av, Brooklyn - http://sweetchicknyc.com

It was snowing and nothing was opened and a weekly fried chicken dinner has started becoming therapy hour for me. Started off with a delicious chicken potpie, the crust was crunchy and buttery. The filling was creamy, enough salt, and not too run down. This might have been too heavy to start the meal but it was the only meal I had all day so it was okay. I would suggest it as a meal not an appetizer. I ordered the Buffalo chicken fried chicken, which came with waffles and blue cheese dressing. To be totally honest it was good, but like any other fried chicken I had the waffles were not made fresh so there were a little stale but for the price I would pick another fried chicken place. Cool spot, and awesome service but the fried chicken could have some more love.

 The Whiskey Brooklyn – 44 Berry St, Brooklyn - http://whiskeybrooklyn.com

I was able to get out of work early enough to not miss the second half of the game. I decided to go to the whiskey Brooklyn that is a basement whiskey bar that always has the right crowd. Open until 4AM, with the kitchen open until 2AM they have the best prices of bar food that is just right while having a drink or just simply drunk. Their party platter has chicken wings; jalopeno poppers, mozerella sticks, and chicken nuggets went very well with the many cocktails I tried. My favorite cocktail had to be the Kentucky Snakebite: Lime, Bourbon, Sour and Light beer. This drink was perfect the fresh limejuice was a perfect way to feel like its summer and your watching the game in Miami. The bar itself has great decoration and ambiance. Great place to check out.

 A+ Lollipop – Seamless

On another snowy day seamless fit my schedule perfectly. A+ lollipop a Vietnamese place had the perfect order in food. I ordered Vietnamese roll, Pork Belly Bahn Mi, Curry Chicken noodle rice; Curry fried rice, and Tofu Ma Pon. Price was great, delivery time was acceptable, and food was very good.

 Schnitz- 177 1st Av, New York, NY - http://www.schnitznyc.com

Went to Momofuku noodle bar and ended up eating here cause the line was too long not a bad place at all. Order your own food then you sit down and get served so technically not a restaurant. Food is pretty good its as German as your gonna get for a fast food place. I ordered the Schnitzel and waffle to start off I don’t know what my obsession with this is but I have wanted to try all different ones. Thewaffle here was very thin and crunchy, it had a great bbq maple syrup. The schnitzel was over cooked but overall okay. The sandwich of schnitzel came on a pretzel bun and was double thumbs up I recommend the sandwich to anyone in the area and looking for an easy fast bite.

 Milk Bar - http://milkbarstore.com/main/

The legendary milk bar itself momofuku’s genius creation. The cinnamon bun ice cream with crunch – with corn cookie, compost cookie, and cornflake cookie. YUM try it out just do it get your ass there and try it out. The only sad part was that the cookies weren’t so fresh but I’ll give them a break with the amounts they’ve been producing.

[cooktochefed]

This week I will be dividing this blog up into Wine, Restaurants, Food, and introducing you to the pop up event I am putting together.

 Hope everyone’s week is going well with all this snow and Superbowl celebration everyone is in a mid winter jumble. During this past week between Wine and Spirits magazine and Corkbuzz I have been able to taste and enjoy many great wines. I was able to taste many new vintages of Sancerre and Chablis at work. There’s a couple I took note of which were the Cuvee La Grange Dimiere Sancerre Pinot Noir 2009. It was very light and it was cool to find a good Sancerre red. Vieilles Vignes Alsace AOC Sylvaner 2013. This is a cheaper wine that can fit anyone’s budget and likings for it’s price definitely something to check out. I met a salesperson from Indie Wineries who introduced me to the smallest Brunello producer who started producing wines at the age of 16. The winery is L’Aietta. I was able to try the Mulinari Rosso di Montalcino Sangiovese Blend 2012, and the Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese 2009. The 2009 was very bold and had a different not so powerful taste to it that made it different then any Brunello I’ve had. Also was able to try this very weird and cool white wine. I’ve been trying to find it ever since I tasted it. It had a meaty taste to it that popped in my mouth and made me want more. Terre di Mate Vino Bianco. Corkbuzz had its annual Riesling Feier 2015. At this event producers and sommeliers come together and bring their own Riesling for people to try and share. At this event I was able to try many different German and Austrian wine nothing I took note off. I also was able to try a Henri Goutorbe Brut Grand Cru Champagne 2004, which was an A++ this champagne hit every not it was supposed to hit and more. Something every person should experience and try. I also purchased a Bourgogne Aligote 2012, which was another great purchase around $25 great choice for such buy.

[cooktochefed]

Throughout the week I was able to attend two events:

The Guild of Sommolier had there yearly party at Corkbuzz – Union Square and I was able to attend the event. I got to meet some amazing people, and contestants running for best new sommelier. I was able to taste some great wines. My favorite two wines of the night were Illumination a Sauvignon Blanc from Rutherford in Napa Valley. 2011 vintage. It was crisp with lemon grass, grapefruit, clean long finish. It was the highlight of the white wines of the night. As for reds I truly enjoyed the White Rock Vineyards 1992 red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. This Napa Valley wine is aged in bottle in rooms made of cave walls. Soft on the taste not heavy for it’s age. Subtle on the palate with a dark berry note.

I was also able to attend the new drink menu launch at wallflower in the west village. A mixologist specialist crafted the new drink menu. Xavier a French native. I tried many cocktails no judging here. Shush Pineapple and Chipotle Infused Vodka, Strawberry Syrup, Limejuice, Angostura Bitters. No Bananas Today! Hamilton Jamaican Black Rum, El Dorado 12-year-old Rum, Giffard Banane du Bresil Liqueur, Lime, Banana Syrup. Pere Pinard Pigs Nose Scotch Whisky, Per Willaims Pukart St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Lemon, Pinot Noir Syrup. Cornelia Cimarron Reposado Tequila, Jalapeno Infused Mezcal Del Maguey Vida, Corn Puree, Lime, Basil Oil. Negroni Carbonato Campari, Byrrh Grand Quinquina Aperitif, Cynar, Verjus, Lemn Sorbet, Sparkling Wine. Black Tie Elijah Craig 12 Year Old Broubon, Coffee Beans Infused Cynar, Letherbee Fernet, Cacao Nibs Infused Maple Syrup. Yes I know what your thinking obviously you did not drink all those drinks which I did not I tasted most of them but ordered 4 of those. I would have to say the No Banana Today! Was my ultimate favorite it had a very unique flavor to it. The Negroni Carbonato took me back to being in Tuscany drinking straight Campari at the beach. The spice in the Cornelia was perfect on the throat it was the right quick in a drink. Awesome cocktails, atmosphere, bartender, ambiance, and right near the subway stop.

  Website of all the places above:

  http://www.wallflowernyc.com

http://corkbuzz.com/ 

For daily food pictures follow me on instagram @ edouard0078

Also check out the wine app that is used by all sommeliers : Delectable. Follow me.

Keep eating, keep drinking, keep living.

Until my next meal.

[cooktochefed]

Sorry about the delay. I have decided to transfer over to weekly posts because no one truly has time everyday to update or check blogs. The 21st century does not give us enough time to do such activities.

  My first picture is a breakfast I made myself. Whole-wheat rice cake with Nutella and some banana slices. Nothing too fancy but gives you that quick at 8 before work with some coffee.

  During the weekend I took the initiative to brunch. Fada was my first stop a small French inspired restaurant on 530 Driggs Ave. A well thought out and designed French Café with the exact food that you would eating while sitting on St. German having breakfast in Paris. I ordered an egg FADA which consisted of grilled eggplant, tomatoes, goat cheese, and two poached eggs. Companied by 3 slices of French baguette. The tomatoes were broken down into a chunky sauce, which added the right acidity to the eggplant. My friend got the Croque Madame and it was truly one of the best Croque Madame’s I have ever had in the US. The cheese they used was what made it so good. Over all an awesome Brunch spot. Recommended.

  The next day I met up with a couple of people from brunch at the infamous Roebling Tearoom on 143 Roebling St. Reservations were not available. Instead of individually ordering our own meal we decided to make it a communal family Sunday brunch and order a bunch of things off of the irresistible menu. We started off with the yogurt parfait. Such things are very white girl basic but yogurt is the best way to start a breakfast or brunch. The tart from yogurt with the crunch of apple and oats made this the best and freshest way to start an amazing Sunday morning. We then proceeded to order the Sardine Sandwich on French baguette with olive tapenade and radishes. The Smoke Salmon plate which consisted off a cream beet relish and pumpernickel bread. Baked Cheddar Eggs served with a raison fennel toast, grits, and apple butter. Ricotta and fig sandwich with walnuts, dry cherry, honey, and greens. Every dish had it’s own unique taste and twist. The menu development was very well thought out and put together. All the flavors complimented each other. Everything had it’s own specific place in the plate. French pressed coffee. Good service. Awesome location and well designed restaurant. Price point is acceptable around 20 dollars a person.

  Juliette on 135 North 5th St. at Bedford. When you step foot into Juliette it feels like you took a time machine to France and placed in the bottom of a apartment building in small restaurant with plants everywhere. White walls, red bar. It is absolutely perfectly done. Menu is designed to walk you through Paris streets with different drink choices, Wine on tap, and food variations from different regions in France. It is known for it’s brunch menu but I had an early dinner there. I went with a classic grilled chicken sandwich on baguette with applewood-smoked bacon, Vermont cheddar, arugula, jalapeno, avocado and pomme frites. The baguette had the perfect crunch and the avocado gave the sandwich the right texture to bring it all together. The fries were thin with minced garlic and parsley done the right way. There menu is way more developed then a simple chicken sandwich but I wasn’t in a mood for a full meal. Check out there website, pictures, and try this restaurant out for a date or just for any dinner it a very well done concept of migrating the French influence into New York.

  Chai Thai 124 N 6th St. at Bedford was a perfect place for a quick under 10-dollar lunch. Some Pad Thai with spring roll for 8 dollars is a double thumb up for the service and food portion. The Pad Thai was good nothing different then a normal pad Thai really can’t complain about the whole experience if your in a rush and want a quick good bite for cheap this is the perfect place.

  I wanted to honor Martin Luther King day the right away after watching Selma which was a very well produced movie teaching our generation of the history that our parents lived through and what we should know. So I decided to celebrate this day by heading to Pies and Thighs on 166 S 4th St. at Driggs. We had to wait a whole 45 minutes but it was worth every second. You think the place is really small but just wait until they bring you out back where you really feel like your home for some fried chicken. I couldn’t just dive in for the chicken I needed something to lead the way which was the HIPPIE BANJO. Oh hippie banjo you made me fall in love with food even more then I already have. Egg, cheddar, avocado, tomato, sprouts, mayo, on thick anadama bread. WOW. Perfect sandwich. It was one of those you take a bite and your like holy shit this is a god damn sandwich. Then it was time for the Fried Chicken box with three pieces of fried chicken, buttermilk biscuit, sausage bacon gravy, and buttermilk mashed potatoes. Yes it was that good. Yes all that fat was so good. It felt as good as it sounds believe me it did. The chicken has that right crunch and if you dip in the gravy it stays crunchy. The buttermilk mashed potatoes were the as good as thanksgiving mashed potatoes. Biscuit some honey and hot sauce was the dessert to ever bite I took. GO EAT HERE. DO IT. GET OFF YOUR COUCH. Check this place out people. This is good food.

  To end the week off I had to do some farm to table cooking just to make me feel better about what I have consumed. Rabbithole located on 352 Bedford Ave between 3rd and south 4th St. Portuguese Octopus A La Plancha served over carrot puree, chermoula, purple potato, and putanesca. Plate design was well thought out and everything was at the right position to be able to take the perfect bite with all the flavors. I really appreciated the open kitchen in the back and the effect of the mood scene, and music that complimented the food true nature. If you run out of places to eat this different.

Website of all the places above:

http://www.fadany.com

http://www.roeblingtearoom.com

http://juliettewilliamsburg.com

http://www.chai-restaurant.com/wp/

http://piesnthighs.com

http://www.rabbitholerestaurant.com

  For daily food pictures follow me on instagram @ edouard0078

Also check out the wine app that is used by all sommeliers : Delectable. Follow me.

If you actually read this whole post thank you for your time.

Keep eating, keep living.

Until my next meal.

[cooktochefed]

Today was my first day of work. So I woke up a little early and decided to make myself some breakfast. I wanted to hit home before a big day so I made myself somewhat of a Lebanese breakfast. Okay it wasn't Lebanese at all but I used Lebanese ingredients so I guess that counts. I heated up a whole pita bread. I spread some labneh on it which is just like Greek yogurt but a little thicker. Then I threw some hot sauce on that. Then I layered some crispy spicy salami on that and finished it off with some sunny side up eggs. A little sea salt and black pepper. My drink of choice is always a double espresso shot. It was the perfect way to start off the morning. As for the rest of the day I ate at work on the go and did not have time to take pictures. Hope you all had a swell Wednesday Stay warm Until my next meal

[cooktochefed]

Today I stayed local. I had lunch at Café Colette, which can be found on 79 Berry St., Brooklyn. This small café is on a corner of Berrys and fits perfectly into the neighborhood. It is a cozy and small café but has the right amount of tables to feel like you are either in Paris or London. They are known for there coffees and quick service which I was a fan of. The menu was simple and neat. I was very happy to hear that they have specials everyday, which is always a plus. Not only does it mean that the chef is actually trying to come up with new dishes everyday but it also means that they have new inventory often. I ordered their specialty, which is the fried chicken sandwich. I know that’s simple but it was there specialty and it was darn good. The sandwich was on fresh grilled bread, which was soft and crunchy, just right. Piled high on the fried chicken was house pickled vegetables, cilantro, mint, and Thai chili mayo. The mayo brought the whole sandwich together. I’ll admit this right now (early in the game) mayo is one of my favorite condiment / sauce because you can get so creative with is and it is made of two simple ingredients : eggs and oil and can be whipped in less then 5 minutes. Overall I really enjoyed this small cute café. It is definitely a chicks place to grab a small bite and coffee with there girlfriends.

  As for dinner, I was too lazy to look up places so I started walking towards Foodtown for some groceries and decided to stop at a restaurant that caught my eye. To be honest there was so many that I didn’t know what to choose. But then I came across Oregano located on 102 Berry St. in Brooklyn. This place caught my eye because it reminded me of being in Umbria on a cold April night near a wood oven eating pizza. So I went in grabbed a seat and looked at the menu. The menu was your typical average Italian restaurant but they offered many specials. Truffle was found in a couple of dishes. Now I know this is a very big topic, but to be totally honest I think it’s cool that our generation is so into truffle. Why not, why can’t we be so in love with a fungus? Yes it is over used, but so is everything else so let’s splurge and love it while it lasts. I ended up ordering a personal calzone with smoked salmon, buffalo cheese, ricotta, tomato sauce, and basil. The calzone was delish. It was the right size and there wasn’t too much or too little of the filling. The dough was consistently cooked, and rolled with no fat or too skinny parts. I would have loved the calzone even more if I had known that it was BYOB because a red wine would have paired so well with this Italian meal. It was a lesson learned to start checking about BYOB. Overall the atmosphere, food, and service were very good. I can’t complain about a thing. Yet another great find.

  I hope you had a great Tuesday

  Until my next meal.

[cooktochefed]

Today was my first day in town. I’ll have to say this very loudly – if you have a passion for food and wine, then this is the century to be living in. I mean can we just talk about how many awesome food places we are surrounded by, and how easily accessible food is. Don’t forget how awesome apps such as Yelp and OpenTable are. We truly have to be thankful for such inventions.

After researching for a bit I decided to walk over to Battery Harris – Caribbean cuisine. Located on 64 Frost St. in Williamsburg. The location is very easy to find. The restaurant was very clean and well decorated. Music is upbeat. Decoration and mood mirrors the menu itself. For my appetizer I tried out their jerked chicken wings, which were delicious. I mean I love me some wings. These were done the right way, spicy but not too spicy. The chicken tasted fresh and its sauce was done right. They even give you extra sauce on the side in case you’re the saucy type. As a lunch special they offer their short rib burger, and jerked chicken sandwich with fries and a beer for a measly ten bucks. You really can’t beat that. When I went, I ordered the jerked chicken sandwich (picture attached). The bread was soft and fresh, which is very important for me. The sandwich was layered with a coriander slaw, jerked grilled chicken breast (juicy), and fried plantain. It was all very authentic and well done. All of the flavors just went well, I felt like the sandwich could have been so much simpler but they brought the chicken to life with all of the other flavors. A filling meal for sure. The fries were the traditional cut thin type. I paired the Purple Haze beer with it. Just because of the coriander and spiciness from the burger complimented the berry sweetness from the beer. Overall, I give the location, service, food, and pricing a 4 star.

For dinner I went out for a drink with a friend in Manhattan and we stopped by The Drunken Monkey on 338 East 92nd St. near Lexington Ave. The cocktail list was outstanding, if your looking for a different type of vibe this is the place to go. I ordered the Pier 1 as a drink. The metal straw is what got me but the cocktail was crafted to perfection, the bartender knew what he was doing. The bar was cozy and equipped with a full view of the kitchen. I enjoyed that a lot. Indian cuisine was available at their restaurant. My friend and I shared an appetizer (picture attached). Chicken Malai Takka – a grilled chicken marinated in ginger, garlic, yogurt, and nutmeg. It was served on a bed of onions and peppers with a cilantro sauce, and apple butter. I squeezed a lime over the chicken just to bring out the flavors of the yogurt marinate, but overall it was very good. I learned a lot about Indian cuisine and different marinates.  This particular marinate was beautifully seasoned and not over powering with a cocktail. Another awesome find with a different vibe and ambiance. I assure you that this is a good place to try out when you’re ready to step outside of your norm.

I hope your Monday was as enjoyable as mine.

Until my next meal. 

[cooktochefed]

Welcome! My name is Edouard Massih. People usually call me Edy. Yes I spell it like the ice cream, it’s part of the character. I am a Culinary Institute America Associates graduate and currently getting my bachelors in hospitality management. After finishing up my junior year I decided to take some time off, to decide what I wanna focus my senior year on and experience life. After staging and applying to many places I will be working at Corkbuzz - wine studio (Chelsea market location), and will be interning at Wine & Spirits Magazine. Follow me as I go on my journey of cooking, eating, and drinking through 2015 while studying for the sommelier test. Ask me anything you want, where to eat, recipes, food pairing, I’m hear to share!! Cheers to 2015!