Malagueta

So this weekend was mostly devoted to working, although Aviva and I did have a wonderful Shabbat dinner with Paul, Maia and Mordechai on Friday night. Paul made fantastic brisket and Maia made an even better challah, light and fluffy, the half she sent us home with sustained me through much of the weekend. Still, I worked a long day on Saturday and a bit on Sunday, after we had brunch with Aviva's friend Abbie, so Sunday night was a good time to get out and relax.

Fortunately, we had made plans to meet Stacy at Malagueta in Long Island City/Astoria, so after a relatively quick trip to the Fairway (I simply love that market) in Red Hook with our friend Koffman, we headed back up to Queens. Stacy had given us a couple of options for dinner, and I had immediately wanted to go to Malagueta because of my blissful memories of brazilian food from my trip to Rio in 2002. Ah Rio, such a blast ... I had hair then ... In particular, I was interested in the moqueca (seafood stew with coconut milk) and acaraje, a street food made of ground black-eyed peas shaped into balls surrounding a shrimp paste or meat and garnished with salsa and veggies. Kind of like a hamburger, only not at all. I know the acaraje sounds like it would be terrible, but it is really hard to describe (take a look at the picture on the left to see what it looked like in Brazil) and really good.

Anyway, we got a bit confused about the directions and were about 40 minutes late, but fortunately Stacy lives around the corner so she was just hanging out and actually showed up about 10 minutes after us. Just after she sat down the acaraje I ordered was just coming out, and while it was a little fancier than the street food in Rio, it was definitely worth it. Little yucca root pancakes topped with vatapa (that shrimp paste I was telling you about) and a single shrimp. The main courses came pretty quickly after the acaraje, I got the moqueca I had been dreaming about, and although it was not really what I expected (on the right, courtesy of the bridge and tunnel club, not quite as thick or soupy as I expected), it was a beautiful dish and really, really good. Aviva and Stacy got pork loin and top sirloin respectively, and their dishes were also quite good. I was particularly pleased that everything was served with rice and black beans and farofa, a ground root poweder that you sprinkle over just about everything. Overall, dinner was extremely filling and very good, and soon we were all wiped out just from the food, so we paid up (very reasonable, the three of us ate for 74$), said good night to Stacy and headed home so Aviva could make beef jerky. I will let you know how that turns out :)

Butter

Having had a wonderful day with Dan and Karla on Saturday, we finished the weekend with another day full of gastronomic adventures, highlighted but a late lunch that took advantage of New Yorks restaurant week. The first of our restaurant week experiences for 2009, we took Dan and Karla to lunch at Butter, a trendy restaurant "space" on the lower East side, on Lafayette between 4th and Astor. We wanted to go somewhere that provided a true New York experience, and Butter did not disappoint. We showed up just before our 2:30 reservation, checked our coats and were ushered downstairs, getting just a glance at the fake outdoor scene plastered on the huge glass window in the back of the main room in the restaurant. The upstairs area feels large and light, with a huge vaulted ceiling a soft, green light filtering through the bamboo and trees painted on the aforementioned glass window.

The downstairs area was distinctly different, dark and candle-lit with low ceilings, a small group of tables surrounded by booths and moderately loud 80's music projecting from both ends of the room. We sit at a booth close to the bar and choose between the 3 or 4 different items in each section of the prix fixe restaurant week menu. After a few minutes of discussion, we decided to order at least one of everything on the menu, with the exception of the lemony desert, which lost out to my goat cheese and argula salad. On the whole, the food was excellent, and except for the 25 minute gap between appetizers and the main course, the whole meal was wonderful. I would have to say that the exceptional seafood bisque, the salmon and the ultra-rich, smooth carrot cake, which is the restaurants signature dish, were the best. The salmon, which both Dan and I had, was especially good, cooked medium rare with purple majesty popatoes and fennel and sprinkled with a lime vinagrette. Karla's deliciously smooth pork shoulder with ratatoullie, lentils and rosemary was also wonderful. We had a really wonderful meal and I would say that if I had to go out to eat a fancy meal, I think butter would be a great choice.

Sated (but not stuffed) and happy, we wandered out of Butter and down the street to Astor wines, where I examined the scotch selection but somehow refrained from buying anything. After having satisfied my gastronomic craving, we followed Aviva's stomach to Murrays Cheese shop on bleecker street so she could hunt down some Sottocenere, which she had eaten at a beer and cheese tasting in Philly and has been lusting after ever since. Luckily they had her cheese, and we got a pound of it to take with us before heading back into the cold. The sun had gone down and it had started to snow again by the time we got back to the car, so we were happy to leave Dan and Karla at their hotel and head home, stopping at Fairway for a quick shopping trip on the way.

Turkish Much

Actually, I don't get to eat Turkish food much, and after dinner last night at Sultans, I would like to change that. I hadn't seen my friend Adam for quite some time, due to his attending a class teaching him how to manage estate for the ultra-rich, and we met up around 80th and 3rd, then walked a few blocks down to 75th and 2nd for dinner.

Sultans was not actually the restaurant we were looking for, but I would say we were lucky to have found it. We sat down in the back, where I started to complain about Turkish beer (when I was in Turkey the only beer I could get, even the native Efes Pilsen, was consistently terrible) and then immediately ordered a beer when the waiter came over. We also ordered a large salad plate and a number of cigar shaped appetizers.

While we waited for the food we chatted about how things had been going, I talked about the paper I am working on getting accepted and Adam talked about the right way to manage private planes, set tables properly and how to handle dealing with your ultra-rich employers ethically. I have to say, Adams' new job prospects sound a lot like a reality show based on Dirty, Sexy Money.

As I remembered, the beer was not great, but salad platter was amazing in both size and taste, with 6 or 7 different salads like fresh hummus and tzatziki, as well as a bean salad in the center. It came with baskets of fresh, thick flatbreads, and when combined with my phyllo-lamb cigar shaped things, it was delicious. I particularly liked the two different eggplant salads, and Adam could not get enough of the hummus. Overall dinner was great, the food was excellent, the service was pretty good and the price was quite cheap. The next time I am feeling turkish, I am definitely heading back to Sultans.

Upper East Pub Grub ... Nope, Sushi (?)

Last night, in the midst of a rare set of nights off (as I have been ridiculously busy over the last few weeks) I met up with my buddy Koffman on the upper east side for a drink and some grub. The initial idea was to meet at a place I have been wanting to go called BB & R (provocatively meaning Blonde, Brunette and a Redhead) at 89th and 2nd. This place got great reviews and is apparently a superlative sports bar.

That could have been the problem, and not a lot of New York sports were happening last night ... the place was empty, with maybe five people sitting at the bar. And more disappointingly, there were no blonde, brunette and redheaded waitresses .. there was one waitress, she had black hair, and another guy was behind the bar.

Since I was in the mood for pub grub, I was still interested, so I moved past the door and investigated the whole place ... and quickly moved back outside. It wasn't that the place was disgusting, in fact it was the opposite, spotless leather stools surrounding cute little glass tables with a single, lit candle on each of them ... it was too swanky and sleek for a sports bar. If Koffman and I had sat alone in the back at a candlelit table, we would have been on our first date. Still, for a private party, or a big game, or just a packed Friday night, I am sure this place would be awesome, but this night the vibe was not for me ...

Anyway, we ended up at a little Japanese place called Tenzan, also at 89th and 2nd, where we had excellent tempura and okay sushi. The miso soup was good too, but if you are a Japanese place and you have bad miso soup, you have a serious problem. The sushi was well-priced and interesting, and the flavor of the rolls we got was very good, but the integrity of the rolls was suspect. I am no novice with chopsticks and the rolls continually fell apart during the meal ... still, a good time because it is always excellent to hang out with good friends.

Exploring a little Greece in New York

Unintentionally, this week involved an exploration of Greek seafood restaurants in Astoria ... gotta say I miss that part of the city. I never lived there but Aviva did when we started dating, and we spent a lot of great times wandering around the neighborhood. While the NE Bronx might be a nice place to live and a wonderful place from which to commute to work and school, it is not so great for evening socializing.

On Monday night we met up with Aviva's "cousin" Stacy and her friend Ben, for a later dinner at Taverna Kyclades, a pleasant, indoor/outdoor restaurant at Ditmars and 33rd. We have been to this place before, when my father visited last October, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had been placed at a table outside, and as we were perusing the menus a woman at the next table leaned over and said, "Try the scallops. They are delicious." She went on to explain that she lived in Astoria and had been coming to this restaurant at least once a week for 11 years. My father, who no longer eats shellfish (much to his detriment in my opinion) asked her what else was good, and she said "I never get anything but the scallops, they are the best anywhere. " Well, that was about as good a recommendation as I have ever heard, so I did get the scallops and they were in fact delicious.

This time, though Ben got the sea bass, both Aviva and Stacy ordered the scallops, and even though I wanted to, I thought three plates of scallops was a bit much, so I got the shrimp stuffed with crab. I was kind of fascinated with the idea of shrimp being stuffed with anything, as they are quite small. We also got some fried calamari and a greek salad, and altogether the meal was fantastic. The shrimp were good but not great, but again the calamari was incredible, and since each scallop dish came with so many of the little buggers, I got to eat plenty of scallops as well. We had a great time, Stacy was just awesome, as always, and Ben, despite being slightly obsessed about ultimate frisbee (an obsession I heartily approve of), turned out to be a very cool guy.

So the next night, we followed up that wonderful dinner with a second fabulous meal, this time at a place called Philoxenia, also in Astoria, at 34th Av. and 32nd street. Unlike the previous restaurant, this place is all inside, and had a homey, almost European feel to the interior. Apparently the place is made up to make one feel comfortable and at home, something that they definitely achieved. We hadn't actually chosen the place, my uncle Eric, who we had not seen for most of the summer, had been there before and really loved it. Eric, my aunt Rhonda and my cousin Ben (who is currently visiting from Israel, where he plays French Horn for the Jerusalem symphony) showed up about 5 minutes after we got there.

Although the menu was covered in delicious looking seafoods, our dinner actually consisted of 9 or 10 different, fabulous greek tapas, ranging from meatballs to stewed veal to grilled eggplant baba ganouj. Combined with the pita and olive dip it made for an incredible meal. As we slowly, luxuriously made our way through the different courses, we talked about our summer; Bens time in Israel, Eric & Rhondas vacation in California, our trip to Prague ... great time. After dinner, we passed on what would certainly have been a fantastic dessert to head back to Eric & Rhondas in Long Island City to eat a peach pie Aviva had baked from the peaches we picked in New Jersey last weekend. We hung out for a while, enjoying the pie and talking with Jake, Eric & Rhondas younger son, when he came by to do laundry, before heading home to the Bronx and wrapping up another fabulous evening.

Gobo

I generally try to write about new restaurants I go to soon after I eat there, so the images and flavors are still fresh in my mind. However, things have been quite busy, so I have not been as up to speed as I would like and I have not been able to write about a fantastic new restaurant I went to last month until just now. The restaurant I am talking about is Gobo, a modern vegetarian restaurant on the Upper East Side, at 80th and 3rd ... they also have a place in the West Village on Sixth, but I haven't gotten to check that one out yet.

So about a month ago, Jane and Glenn Fisher (parents of my buddy Dave, who features prominently in our trip to California last winter, and good friends in their own right) were visiting New York while Glenn was attending a convention on behalf of his company, Second Life. As a side note, this job is probably the coolest, and certainly the most interesting job that any of my parents friends have. Second Life is the company behind the identically named virtual world that exists only in cyberspace and is limited only by the imaginations of its users. This world is quickly becoming a world-wide internet phenomenon, and I absolutely love hearing Glenn talk about it because it completely bends your mind thinking about the prospects and successes, and possible directions that this type of technology may take our society. Its right out of heavy science fiction, and it is happening today. If you have never heard of Second Life, check it out, it will really blow your mind.

Back to the restaurant ... we got there a little before Jane and Glenn, and ordered drinks. The place was really nice, with a preponderance wood all around the interior, and a series of diaphanous bead-like curtains separating the entry from the dining area. The center of the room was full of small wooden tables, and the walls were lined with tables and benches, underneath massive flat logs adorning each wall. The place was a little loud but that was probably due to the packed dining area. As with all New York eateries except the most expensive, the tables were small and the dining area was packed.

I had a sake and Aviva had a berry flavored sakitini that was delicious. Our drinks came about the time Jane and Glenn did, and after some small talk we settled in to investigate the fabulous menu. Dinner was wonderful, we got so many different small things that I cannot pick out the best, but among other things we had wonderful eggplant stuffed with herb tofu cheese, and a fantastic butternut squash risotto. Also, the yam and taro fries were tremendous. The deserts were not up to par with the main meal, but still they were excellent. But beyond the food, the company was wonderful. Jane and Glenn are like a second family, and it was fantastic to see them. After dinner, not ready to end our conversations, we walked from Gobo over to 5th, and then along the park down to the apple store, where we spent some time perusing the latest apple offerings before heading home on the subways. As usual, a great evening in the city ..

Engaged!!!!

So last November, while Aviva and I were in Cherry Hill for Thanksgiving, I grabbed her dad toward the end of the weekend, shoved him in a closet and asked him for permission to marry his daughter. He laughed, hugged me and said of course. Which is definitely a wonderful thing to hear from your future father-in-law. I had dragged him into the closet to try to keep my question on the down low, because it has been kind of assumed for a while that I will propose to Aviva and I wanted to keep some element of surprise.

Two days later Aviva walked up to me and said, "Its so sweet that you asked my Dad for permission to marry me." So much for surprise :) Not that it was going to be all that much of a surprise, while we were in California we went to Gleim Jewelers (the owner, Georgie, is a close family friend ... plus they are incredible craftsmen) and got her a ring, designed to her specifications (hey, when you are marrying someone who can make their own jewelery, you let them make the ring).

However, from that point on, the when of the asking, that was going to be my surprise. I found out the ring was finished about a week ago, and arranged to have it sent to my lab on Wednesday. Waiting for the ring to show up in the mail was agonizing, but nowhere near as stressful as having the ring and waiting to ask. Longest two days of my life, for some reason I cannot even fully articulate ... I mean, I was pretty sure she would say yes and be happy no matter how I did it, but I still slept for maybe 3 or 4 hours on both Wednesday and Thursday night, mostly laying in bed going over plans for the proposal. I made a reservation at Aureole, a really nice restaurant on the Upper East Side, for Friday at 6 and I spoke to my boss on Thursday about the plan. She was wonderful about it, encouraging me to leave early on Friday to set up the proposal.

Aviva had a conference in the city all day, so was going to be dressed up in Manhattan, so I suggested to her that I get dressed up and meet her for dinner. I also told her that I would be leaving work early on Friday to spend some time in Central Park taking pictures. I left work just before 2 pm, freshened up, changed into a suit and took the 5 down to 59th street. I was lucky, it was a beautiful day outside and rather warm, for February, at around 45 degrees. I got to the park at 4 pm, and walked around the area near the pond to find the right spot to propose.

I chose a spot just off the path, across the footbridge over the north end of the pond. It was just south of the ice rink, far enough away that I would not be proposing with to the background music of Eagle Eye Cherry, and I waiting. Aviva called around 445, and I told her how to come and meet me in the park so that I could take some pictures of us. When she got there I had her stand over by the water and pretended to set the camera for a timed picture. Then I moved behind her, and while her back was turned I knelt down and asked her to be my wife.

She didn't cry, or shriek, just giggled and smiled. And said yes.

We were both thrilled. Excited. Ecstatic. Walking around with huge, megawatt smiles. Honestly, I cannot believe I get to spend the rest of my life with this amazing woman. And incredibly, she seems to feel the same way. We are so happy.

After we got ourselves together, I packed up my camera and we agreed not to call anyone until after we ate and spent some time together. The rest of the evening passed happily. We walked over to Aureole, and had a wonderful meal, probably the best scallops I ever had. The monk fish was also spectacular, and the deserts were really excellent. Truly a wonderful restaurant. After dinner we just sat, talking, for a while, then we headed over to Madison Avenue, caught the BxM10 and headed back to the Bronx. We used our time on the bus to begin calling everyone we know, with maybe the best news I have ever had :)

Thime for Thai?

I don't go out to eat that much, as I am just a lowly post-doc and eating out in New York is really priced for those who make actual money ... not that there are not good bargains, I just don't often find them ... in addition, eating out in the Bronx is a limited affair. You can get fantastic Italian, some of the best in the country to be sure and lots of, well, pizza and crappy Italian. And there is some trashy Chinese ... but thats it. So I am forced to range around through out the boroughs to satiate my moods, and recently I been fortunate enough to get to two excellent, and reasonably priced Thai places in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The first is Joya, which is in Brooklyn at 215 Court street. It is the kind of urban, industrial chic that is often found in Manhattan, with small tables, dark lighting and an uncovered metalwork ceiling. The prices, however, are nothing like the city, with most items on the menu for less than ten bucks ... and the food is fantastic. I ended up there with my friend Shauna on the way home from the New York Aquarium and it made for a memorable ending to a great day.

The second place is called Spice (I think the full name, oddly, is Spice Thai Hot & Cool), on the Upper East Side at 2nd Avenue between 73rd and 74th, and like Joya, has the urban minimalist theme common to most new restaurants in the city except that this one is tempered by 1950's era taste and leaves a distinct impression of red and steel, not really sure why. The prices were a tad higher than Joya, but not much and this is the upper east side after all. The waitresses were a lot of fun and the food was excellent, and they did not rush us out or push us to order, giving us time to chat ... which was really important as the guy I met for dinner was a friend from summer camp who I had not seen in over 7 years.

Two thai restaurants, one great (Joya) and one good (Spice), both a huge treat for the typical Bronx-dweller, who basically only eats Italian or bad chinese.