Grace from cakelab contacted me a while back asking if I’d like to try some of the cupcakes she makes for Etsy and catering events. Never the one to turn down free food, I excitedly agreed and she even offered to DROP THEM OFF! We arranged for her to stop by my office and it completely slipped my mind until I received a call from her saying she was in the lobby. I wasn’t sure if she was going to drop off one huge Crumbs-style cupcake or if it was going to be mediocre cupcakes with super sweet icing – instead, they were the best cupcakes I think I’ve EVER had. Seriously. They were presented in a little case (Grace gave me two cases):
I sampled four different flavors – lemon meringue, chocolate chip cookie dough, red velvet, and blackout:
Grace stopped by right before I was heading into my morning meeting, so I took them to the meeting – my boss said the lemon meringue literally blew his mind:
The chocolate chip cookie dough frosting was light and fluffy:
The red velvet might’ve been my favorite – Grace’s frosting was SO GOOD I COULDN’T STOP EATING IT:
The blackout was also really delicious:
What’s so great about Grace’s cupcakes? Well, they’re not disgustingly sweet, the cake is SO moist and fluffy, and the taste is really out of this world delicious. You can find her on Etsy and she caters events!
I have a long list of restaurants I’d like to try and The New French has been on my list for over two years. I finally made my way there for brunch last Saturday before kayaking in the Hudson. Since it was a gorgeous day, most people opted to enjoy their brunch outdoors but Josh and I decided to skip the wait and just eat inside. The New French’s menus are all written in the same font, which Josh really liked:
The walls are covered with whimsical gold drawings that we admired while waiting for our brunch to arrive:
We went to the restaurant knowing we were going to order the tuna sandwich and decided we would figure out our second dish once we arrived. They had a special that afternoon – house-cured pastrami with eggs – that sounded really good. My tuna sandwich with fries:
The tuna sandwich is made with a large piece of poached tuna, some simple lemony aoili, and some greens. The bread is a crisp flatbread that is slightly chewy and the perfect texture and while I was eating it, I was thinking that I would definitely crave this dish later (I was right because I’m craving it right now and I had to settle for a regular tuna sandwich). We ordered the fries instead of the salad and I wish the fries were a little larger (they all seemed a little stubby). Also, we both wished there was more tuna to eat – the sandwich was definitely a little on the thin side.
Josh’s pastrami and eggs:
The pastrami was mixed with potatoes and a house-made tomato relish as well. We both thought the dish was a little too heavy for the summer time, but I really liked the pastrami and can definitely see myself eating it in the winter time.
I loved the waitresses at The New French, the food was awesome, and I definitely plan on returning!
I haven’t had gelato in a long time, but I was lured into purchasing two coupons on a deal site for half-priced Baci Gelato. Since Baci gelato is very close to my office, I figured it would be a nice afternoon snack (and they serve nutella crepes – how can you go wrong?)
Josh and I headed there and sampled practically every flavor (I’m very indecisive when it comes to picking only one flavor) – Josh settled with the tiramisu:
And I ended up ordering the pistachio:
The gelato was very creamy and I think the tiramisu was slightly better than the pistachio, but both flavors were very decent AND I only had to pay $4.75 for both, which is considered a steal for gelato. The gelato melted REALLY quickly (it was almost disturbing how quickly it became soup). The stand has a great location in the Limelight Marketplace and I definitely plan on returning to redeem my second certificate in the future.
After spending the early afternoon at the Cloisters, Josh and I headed to the Metropolitan Museum to check out the rooftop garden. My coworker mentioned the cool exhibit on the rooftop garden that was a structure built completely out of bamboo, so we headed over and caught a glimpse before the museum closed for the day. Doug and Mike Starn have been building it since April and visitors can interact with the exhibit by climbing the structure:
The twin brothers envisioned a giant created wave set against Central Prak and the Manhattan skyline:
The bamboo is securely fastened by lots of different ropes:
We didn’t make it in time for a tour, but I definitely want to check it out before it is torn down on Halloween:
The exhibit is still being built; the basic structure was completed on opening day back in April, the second part was built by artists and rock climbers, and the third is going to be built on the western part of the rooftop garden to about 40 feet high. It’s called “Big Bambu: You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop” and it is definitely worth checking out!
Taking a break from the usual Michelin Monday posts to write about a fun dim sum I went to over the weekend with David and Laura. Betel invited some friends and family to a preview of their new dim sum service and I was invited by a coworker. He ended up being out of town on the day of the reservation, transferred it to my name, and initially I was going with other coworkers but then they ended up having other plans. I invited David and Laura for a preview of their brunch since they were interested in checking it out. David and I in front of the restaurant:
It was their first day of dim sum service and they were testing out the menu and the service – everything was free except for drinks (I ended up ordering a carafe of yellow kiwi and pineapple sangria). We started with the salt and pepper cuttlefish:
Cuttlefish is in the same family as squid and had a very similar texture, but the preparation at Betel was exceptional; bits of cilantro in every bite and a special sauce with chili peppers that added just the right amount of heat to the dish. It ended up being our favorite dish of the afternoon.
Our next course was the wagyu steamed buns:
None of us were particularly fond of the dish; the wagyu was mealy and overcooked (and very sweet) and the basil on top tasted soapy to me. I also thought the buns were a little too soggy and the steaming could have been more even.
We had to wait quite a while before our next dish came out – the omelet with mussels:
It reminded David of an omelet we ate in Taiwan, but I thought there wasn’t enough seasoning (it really tasted like nothing, only a slight texture of egg) and the mussels were also very overcooked and rubbery.
Our final dish, the bahn mi burger, took quite some time before it arrived:
The burger came with sweet potato fries that were delicious, but the name of the burger was a little deceiving; I thought it would be more similar to a bahn mi sandwich than what we received. David liked the burger but we all thought it should’ve been renamed (the burger comes with pickled daikon and carrots, which is why I’m guessing they named it a bahn mi burger)
We really liked the space at Betel and didn’t even mind that the stools we sat on didn’t have backs (although David had to get up once or twice because his back hurt). I like the concept of Betel’s new dim sum brunch, but when I think of dim sum, I think fast, cheap, and delicious and this just didn’t cut it.
