Whole new level…and a heartattack on a plate.

So my brother saw my previous post on odd bacon related things and sent me a picture of the below:  chicken fried bacon with mayo dipping sauce???? Do or don’t?  (but seriously, just looking at it makes my arteries clog)

Hog Heaven?

Bacon seems to elevate all foods to a whole new level of yum, wouldn’t you say? On the side of some eggs and toast, crumpled and scattered over your salad, in a cheeseburger, wrapped around shrimp…  Oh the endless possibilities….But chocolate covered bacon? Does that hit the spot for you?

image taken from seriouseats.com

For me it stirs a bit of a gag reflex.  There are many savory sweet combinations out there that work: ham and pineapple on pizza, chocolate covered pretzels, prosciutto and melon, candied pears and foie gras…but pork meat, pork fat and chocolate? I dunno about that one.  I suppose the bacon would lend a nice salty crunch to the creamy chocolate coating….but i can’t mentally get past the combination of pork fat and chocolate.  However if this is your cup of tea, you can find this as well as fine spicy bacon buttercrunch at Ronie-Sue’s Chocolates on the lower east side. Let me know how it is — perhaps I can be swayed.

image taken from zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com

If you love that, raise your hand and move on with me to my next odd bacon lover’s discovery.  An alarm clock that cooks bacon.  Yes, I will repeat it for you: an alarm clock that cooks bacon.  10 minutes to the appointed hour, your trusty clock will actually start to cook the frozen bacon pieces you placed into its tray the night before.

image taken from mathlete.com

Next thing you know you will be waking up to the smell and sizzle of freshly cooking bacon.  What you believe to be good ole mom cooking you breakfast downstairs is really your alarm clock!!! Innovative? Perhaps. Delicious? Most definitely.  Now how do you explain the ever present smell of bacon in your clothes and bedroom to your dates?

image taken from mathlete.com

Roni-Sue’s Chocolates:  Essex Street market #24, 20 Essex Street, New York, NY

Wake n’ Bacon Alarm clock

So wrong….or so right?

image taken from eater.com

It’s a common known fact that Koreans love spam. Pan fry it to a crispy goodness and serve with rice. We put it in kimbap (korean version of a sushi roll but stuffed with veggies and meat instead of fish), we put it in kimchee jigae (a hot stew made of the famous pickled cabbage)….bottom line, we like our spam. In Hawaii you can even find a spam burger at McDonalds.  So where most find spam to be questionable/disgusting, perhaps these convenient single servings are every Korean cook’s answer.

Daily food porn…and a little something extra

Picholine

Executive Chef: Terrance Brennan

image taken from foodinmouth.com

The mouthwatering absolutely luxurious creation you see above is Picholine’s sea urchin panna cotta with caviar. Is there anything more decadent than the foie gras of the sea combined with creamy light goodness topped with caviar? I can’t think of anything more sumptuous.

AH! But actually I do have something up my sleeve. Right now Picholine is giving away complimentary $50 gift certificates to commemorate their 15th anniversary.

There is a catch however, my fellow foodies, it is one gift card per table. But free money is free money…and especially lovely when it involves something as dreamy as sea urchin panna cotta with caviar!!!!

Picholine, 35 West 64th Street, New York, NY

08.08.08 : lucky day

Eleven Madison Park

Executive Chef: Daniel Humm

My birthday took place last Friday. It is considered a very lucky day for the Chinese. 08.08.08. Beijing Summer Olympics’ Opening Ceremony took place. I got roses from an anonymous sender that morning. Friends were calling and emailing with wishes of Happy Birthday. The day was beautiful sunny and not very humid for August. The day was starting off just right and I was very much looking forward to my lunch with my very pregnant and very best friend at Eleven Madison Park.

The imaginary bell at the office went off (summer hours) and I sprinted out to head downtown to meet my friend. You walk up to the entrance of the building and it is a bit foreboding I must say. For some reason it all reminded me of Stonehedge: I think it was the fact that I was surrounded by very tall stone columns and slats and everything looks gray and massive.

image taken from eater.com

My friend was situated in one of the booths and it was nice to sit next to her at a rather decent sized table rather than across. We chatted for a bit and while she settled on a glass of ginger ale, I chose a nice dry glass of a German white, Gruner. It was crisp, dry and delicious.

To start we decided to split an appetizer. We shared the heirloom tomatoes with proscuitto, basil and oilio verde. Four colorful pieces of tomato: sweet and delicious as they are in season, with one slice of proscuitto, albeit cut a bit thick for my taste, and a couple sprigs of basil. The dish was good, fine actually, but nothing to rave about. I’ve had similar dishes like this at other restaurants only they were more generous in portion and lower in price tag.

We moved on to our main courses. She had the pan roasted arctic char with summer squash and lemon verbena. This dish was phenomenal. It sat in a juice/gravy that simply melded the squash and the juicy salmon together. The skin on that arctic char was perfectly cooked to a nice crisp to complement the flaky moist meat of the fish. Taken altogether in one bite, it was fantastic.

I ordered the seared skate with cauliflowers, capers and beurre noisette. Presentation was beautiful. The thing about skate is if cooked perfectly and nestled in a browned butter sauce with capers (which is the preparation I often order), the skate’s meat tastes and has the texture of lobster. For that very reason skate is one of my favorite fishes. This time I was so disappointed. The fish was overcooked and the meat was left tough and dry. The beurre noisette, which is essentially a creamy more solid version of browned butter, though tasty, didn’t help to improve the overcooked fish. I was not impressed. It was after several bites I developed a bad case of food envy and would have bum rushed my friend’s dish if it weren’t for the fact that she had a tiny person that needed to be fed inside of her.

Dessert helped to forget the disappointing entree I had. We opted to share the peanut butter palette with caramel popcorn and popcorn ice cream. This dish screams decadence. Bottom layer of crunchy graham cracker (I think), topped with a layer of creamy rich peanut butter then finished with another layer of milk velvety chocolate. Couple spillings of popcorn with a side of cool ice cream and the flavors simply put one at peace. There was plenty of ooh’s and ahh’s coming from our table and clanking of our spoons against the plate.

I take great pleasure in writing about meals I thoroughly enjoy which is why I sort of dragged my feet through this one as I really desperately wanted to/and expected to write a glowing review of Eleven Madison Park. As a highly acclaimed restaurant often reviewed with high accolades, I may be one of the very few that didn’t enjoy it too much. I will definitely return to try the priced fixed dinner menu however, as I have not given up hope.

All in all, a great lunch: my friend enjoyed her meal, I loved my dessert and this was definitely one of those instances where the company and one’s surroundings can really elevate a dining experience high above the food actually served (and the hype). I will return to try their dinner menu and will report back then.

Until then, happy eating!!!

From, me

Eleven Madison Park, 11 Madison Avenue, New York, NY

Just some food porn…..and some deep thoughts

image taken from newyork.seriouseats.com

What is it about really bad for you food tasting so good? I mean why can’t vegetables and tofu really whet an appetite? I suppose for a small small few (the crazy few), that kind of stuff really hits the spot but truthfully I only like veggies and tofu on the SIDE of something else….like fried chicken

image taken from roboppy.net/food/

Just eat it!

Apizz

Chef/owner: John LaFemina. Also owner of Peasant and The Orchard

This isn’t so much a review as a reflection on something. Last night I revisited one of my favorite restaurants in my neighborhood, Apizz. It’s John LaFemina’s Italian rustic restaurant. Beautiful space with a wood burning oven for the entire dining room to see — if you are looking for a date place, this is the place to go. But what has kept me going back over and over again is the food.

The food is just warm, filling Italian comfort food. All food is cooked in a wood burning oven thus imparting each dish with that smoky goodness rarely found in plates served in NYC. If i like something, I REALLY like something so with certain restaurants I visit often, I tend to get the same plates repeatedly. I usually get their gnocchi with braised short ribs. The dish is composed of soft light pillows with flecks of honey glazed braised prime short ribs scattered throughout. I’m absolutely addicted to that dish and have converted many a friend to that plate as well.

The lasagna with wild boar is also quite good. So good that I can never wait for it to cool down and end up hastily shoving those cheesy tomato-y rich bites into my mouth overeagerly and walk away every time with a burnt tongue. One would think that wild boar would impart a “game-y” taste to the lasagna but it does not. In fact no one would ever know the lasagna was cooked with game meat. The lasagna is exactly the way I like my lasagna: minus the bechamel and simply TONS of melted ooey gooey cheese, layers of pasta, tomato sauce and dense flavorful meat.

But you see, I had Mcdonald’s at lunch (seriously I love ALL foods ) and in an attempt to balance out the thousands of calories I consumed at lunch, I decided to take a healthier approach at dinner and branch out to non-pasta options. So i opted for the whole deboned grilled striped bass with rosemary, thyme and lemon…again cooked in that wonderful oven.

The flesh was perfectly cooked, moist and dense. You could taste the herbs with each bite. The dish was exactly what I expected. BUT i realized this: if you are going to eat out, don’t go healthy. Get what you want because really, why waste money on a dish that doesn’t make you go “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..yum”? Leave the healthy eating to nights at home or at the office but when dining out, indulge in that extra glass of wine and most definitely go for exactly what you want…even if it’s laden with cheese and meat and cream….because hey, you only live once and if you are spending the money and energy to eat out, go for it!!

Nothing is better than a nice glass of wine, great conversation and a plate of food that makes one swoon. I learned my lesson.

Apizz, 217 Eldridge Street, New York, NY

Hello world! and……Scarpetta

This will be my first foray into the very saturated world of food blogging. After much pressing and prodding by my very close friends and family, I have finally started my very own food blog: The Hungry Korean. I will be unable to post pictures taken a la me until I purchase the perfect camera to capture the essence of every dish, every morsel and every bite but in the meantime, I have scoured what pictures I can find on the Internet with proper credit being given. Food is visual as well as taste so I really believe pictures need to be incorporated into a food blog.

I welcome you to read my site and the various restaurants visited; the culinary experiences of the Hungry Korean. As most who know me are well aware, I eat out often, attempt to try every new restaurant, if possible, and possess a very adventurous palate, so you can expect to see this blog to be updated regularly. Below, my very first post on this blog: Scarpetta.

Cin cin! Cheers!

Scarpetta: 3 stars (by Bruni of the NY Times)

Chef: Scott Conant formerly of L’Impero and Alto.

Every morning, bleary eyed and with my trusty cup of joe in hand, I settle before my computer at work and proceed to go through my work emails. When all that is done, I gradually wake myself up by reading the various food blogs I visit on a daily basis. They fill me in with the current state of existing restaurants, those restaurants in the works, but most importantly those that are noteworthy and worth the hype. One of those restaurants was Scarpetta.

Gale Greene was the first critic’s review of Scarpetta that I stumbled upon. She piqued my interest with this one particular pasta dish: seafood calamarata pasta with uni (sea urchin roe). I am a HUGE fan of sea urchin. To me….it’s the foie gras of the sea. It’s creamy and briny and slightly sweet all at once and simply melts onto your tongue upon contact. Her review made me “aware” of Scarpetta. Suddenly there was buzz. Lots of buzz and I knew I had to try it.

I made reservations for 8:30 on a Thursday night about 3-4 weeks in advance and luckily before Bruni from the Times gave it three stars and everyone in the tri state area ran to get a reservation.

I have a thing I do before hitting any restaurant for the first time. I read every review on that restaurant I can find on the Internet so that I may order everything my hearts desired and only choose those dishes I know to be excellent. Afterall, as everyone in New York knows, you never know when you might score another reservation at a very popular (but also delicious) restaurant. I made sure to do my homework on this place!

The restaurant is absolutely beautiful. You walk in and immediately notice the high vaulted ceilings. It’s sleek and long and simply elegant. My friend and I were seated in the back room which has a skylight. Since the sun had already gone down, there was no natural light but the restaurant was lit beautifully and the glassed ceiling only added to the feeling of airiness in the room. It has been said that this restaurant had awful acoustics and I will tell you, the place can get very loud. I strained to hear my companion speak.

image taken from newyorkmag.com

The service is very much like any other fine dining restaurant. The servers are attentive and switch your various plates with every meal along with the table ware. But let’s get to the good part: the food.

The bread basket is great. You get a choice of three but the one that stood out the most is the one with proscuitto rolled into it. YUM! Salty and mealy on the inside, crispy bread on the outside. Three condiments accompany the bread basket: whipped marscarpone cheese and butter, an eggplant tapanade (my favorite) and excellent olive oil that had a very light fruity and lemony aftertaste.

We started with three appetizers. The creamy polenta had heavy cream and butter folded into it. The corn grains were so fine I wouldn’t have known it was polenta in a blind taste test. It was creamy and rich and decadent and very viscous. On the side came a side of mushrooms in gravy which is then poured over the polenta and eaten together. The muted buttery creaminess of the polenta combined with the earthy, more grounded flavors of the mushroom were a perfect marriage.

image taken from newyork.seriouseats.com

We also had the appetizer of spare ribs. The portion is in fact very small. Four small slices of meat are presented on top of a beefy flavored farro risotto. The risotto i was not insane about but let me tell you the spare ribs were perfectly cooked. Slightly pink and glazed, each slice fell apart at the touch of my fork and knife. The meat was as rich and deep in flavor as it appears in color. I had read that the spare ribs were a must have with the polenta and truly, just as the mushroom gravy complemented the polenta, the spare ribs did the same thing but with an added and different textural experience. I wanted a whole plate of the spare ribs.

image taken from newyork.seriouseats.com

To cut the heaviness of the other two appetizers, we then had the scallop crudo app. The scallop is raw, cubed and presented with avocados and bits of citrus (i think it was grapefruit). There was just the right amount of acid to bring out the sweetness in the scallop as the avocados brought out the soft texture of the scallop. Scallops were so sweet and tender that it was hard to discern which was an avocado and which was a scallop in your mouth. It was all light and airy and tasted of the sea.

For main courses, I ordered one of Conant’s signature pasta dish from Alto: agnolotti dal plin, that is little pasta pouches stuffed with ground pork and veal and melted fontina cheese in a sort of butter (or olive oil) and parmesan based sauce. Those tiny purses melt in your mouth upon contact. The filling is VERY light with a similar consistency of whipped cream cheese…not as heavy and thick as you would think. The outer pasta surrounding the filling was not doughy at all but the perfect thickness to complement the light creamy filling within. I couldn’t stop popping them in my mouth! I will go back just to have this dish again it was so excellent. I CLEANED that plate.

image taken from newyork.seriouseats.com

My friend ordered the calamarata pasta with seafood. Calamarata is essentially round fat pasta that looks very much like calamari. The seafood in the dish was mussles, clams, shrimp and apparently uni (although i didn’t see chunks of uni — supposedly it had melted into the sauce along with the panko breadcrumbs that were apparently in there). This dish was definitely my least favorite of all dishes we had. It was oversalted and lacked any creativity….it didn’t have the “oooo ahhhh” factor the other dishes had. It was just very similar to any sort of oil based seafood pasta dish found in any other italian restaurant. My friend and I ended up picking out the bits of seafood and left most of the pasta.

Bonus: accidentally, the waiter brought us Conant’s famous spaghetti pomodoro earlier instead of my agnolotti. As a true mark of a fine restaurant, we received the plate for free as it was a kitchen mistake. We were grinning from gluttonous joy since we both had eyed the dish on the menu but opted to pick more “interesting” dishes. The pasta itself is pretty simple. It’s al dente spaghetti tossed in fresh tomato sauce and basil. It was VERY good which was surprising since one would think such a dish would not be so difficult to mimic. Something about that sauce: whether the tomatoes were sweeter than any I’ve tasted or perhaps it was the olive oil used but the flavors were very vibrant and fresh — esp compared to the briny and salty calamarata dish and the more rich and creamy agnolotti. So simple but SO good. My friend gobbled most of that down as I was preoccupied with the agnolotti

image taken from newyorkseriouseats.com

We washed this all down with a bottle of rose prosecco (forgive me but i forget the name of the bottle).

No dessert. We couldn’t possibly. Besides, I should forwarn my readers, I don’t have much in the way of a sweet tooth so desserts might be a rare presence on this blog

We rolled out of there stuffed.
For those that care, I noted that celebrities are clearly hitting the restaurant so try and get there before the buzz gets even stronger.

The night was absolutely delicious and in my opinion, totally worth the hype. Three stars it deserves.

Scarpetta, 355 W.14th Street, New York, NY