Two years ago, I hosted a very thorough examination of all the cupcake bakeries in New York (see Cupcake Cagematch, Best Cupcakes in New York, and Best Bakeries in NYC to get you started). Williams-Sonoma donated four mixes of Sprinkles cupcake mix but the results were pretty sub-par; I had never visited the actual Sprinkles Cupcakes in LA but the results from our oven was mediocre at best. Luckily, Sprinkles Cupcakes opened an actual location in New York recently and I visited the upper east side location after running through Central Park:
I was walking to Bloomingdale’s and noticed their signature Sprinkles dots all over the window and had to walk in to pick up some cupcakes. The interior is really small but has just enough space for a couple groups of people to enjoy their cupcakes and coffee:
The counter space:
The cupcakes are displayed next to the counter so everyone can pick which cupcake(s) they want to try:
I ordered four cupcakes (they’re quite expensive!) – key lime, strawberry, red velvet and chocolate covered marshmallow. The salesperson told me that red velvet and chocolate covered marshmallow were two of their best sellers:
The key lime and strawberry were only okay (they were the seasonal flavors); the frosting didn’t have enough flavor but the cake was moist and not too sweet. My favorites were the red velvet and chocolate covered marshmallow – the chocolate covered marshmallow tasted like an adult version of a Hostess cupcake (not too sweet and just enough fluffy marshmallow filling!)
Sprinkles Cupcakes at the store definitely tastes better than the Williams-Sonoma cake mix. Stop by the store to indulge in a few cupcakes after a long day of shopping – stick to the flavors that are the best sellers…they’re best sellers for a reason!
A couple weeks ago, I was approached by a marketing firm about a new food truck that is going around the United States serving Mexican food inspired by a new tequila, Camarena. I usually don’t bother with emails from marketing firms but they offered me the chance to ride with the chef and the brand ambassadors during a day of service so I signed up!
The truck:
Suenos, a restaurant in Chelsea, is preparing all of the food in New York. Their menu:
Camarena is going around LA, SF, Austin, Miami, Chicago and NY, partnering with great Mexican restaurants and serving free food and spreading the word about their tequilas. The Suenos sous chef, James, showed me his prep station:
They were serving chicken taquito bites that were prepared in the restaurant beforehand:
The food truck deep fryer:
Taquitos out of the fryer:
And the finished product with a slice of radish and guacamole to keep it in place:
The brand ambassadors told people about the menu and the tequilas that were used in the recipes – here’s James preparing one of the pork tacos that were infused with silver Camarena tequila:
The pork taco on the left and the vegetarian option (with chips) on the right:
There was a nice steady line throughout the day and I had a lot of fun getting to know the sous chef and the brand ambassadors:
The truck is going to be in New York for one more weekend (through the 4th of July) and is heading to Chicago, next! I received a bottle of Camarena tequila that I can’t wait to open and the Suenos tacos were so delicious that I really want to visit the restaurant and try their other dishes.
A couple weekends ago, our friends Hughie and Hana invited us to dinner at Churrascaria Plataforma. We were both excited and were instructed to only eat a light breakfast. I’ve only been to a churrascaria in Brazil (and that was many years ago) but I love the idea of a meat buffet! When we went to the churrascaria on vacation, we also saw a show after dinner; I recall wanting to pass out the entire time because I was literally in a meat coma.
We met on Sunday night at the restaurant started at the regular buffet – my first plate:
I started off with some easy foods – octopus, sushi, cheese, shrimp cocktail and beets. We moved onto the meat right away because the filler was good but not great. Here’s Hana in the background picking up her first piece of meat:
We ate a lot of bacon wrapped beef tenderloin, skirt steak, lamb, sausages, baby back ribs, short ribs and so much more. Ken and Hughie finished before me and Hana! We still had a little room for dessert and ordered the coconut flan:
And the tiramisu:
Hughie drove us home and we were waddling into our building because we were both so stuffed! It was a great dinner and we had a lot of fun hanging out with Hughie and Hana – I can’t wait until they’re back from Korea so we can go out again!
The first time I visited New York Kom Tang Kalbi House was also the first time I had kimchi jigae at a restaurant. Angie’s father used to send us tupperware containers of kimchi jigae but I’d never experienced at a restaurant before. I started loving Korean food when Angie’s dad introduced kimchi jigae to me: it had great flavor, lots of pork, and was so enjoyable to eat during the winter time. Surprisingly, I don’t remember eating any kimchi when I visited Korea as a kid because I didn’t like the chili peppers and practically starved myself when I visited. I hadn’t visited the restaurant in over five years, so Ken and I stopped in on Friday night. Their ban chan:
Their bean sprouts and the kimchi were the only two appetizers that I liked, but I was glad their kimchi was good because if a Korean restaurant’s kimchi isn’t good, their food is probably not that good, either.
Ken ordered the kimchi jigae, which is served in a metal bowl over a small flame to keep it warm while you eat:
I ordered the seafood chigae:
And we both ordered a side of LA Galbi (they have a special – a chigae + bulgogi or LA Galbi for $19.99):
The seafood chigae was much better than the kimchi jigae and the meat was actually not good at all. A lot of my pieces of galbi were too charred and didn’t taste like meat and the pieces I did eat didn’t have any flavor and were a bit overcooked. One surprising thing about the seafood chigae that most Korean restaurants don’t do: the shrimp was already peeled and they included lots of squid. We both liked my seafood jigae but would have passed on everything else.
The restaurant has been in Koreatown since 1979 and we might have experienced it on an off night, but after dinner I definitely didn’t satisfy my chigae craving and ended up going out for Korean food on Saturday, too!
Ken and I did a mandatory Pinkberry run over the weekend and saw these new toppings next to the usual fruit and dry toppings:
The fishballs are Pinkberry’s newest topping (at least at the K-town location) and originally I thought they were boba balls (like the balls in bubble tea) but they’re actually a jelly-like ball that is filled with juice! There are two types: strawberry and mango and the juices taste a little fake, but it’s a cool new topping that would be really awesome if the flavors were a little less sweet and more like fruit. By the way, when did Pinkberry get so expensive?! A mini costs $3.21 now!
