Grub Street Food Festival x Hester Street Fair

The third annual Grub Street Food Festival was this past Sunday and I had the honor of attending for all 8 hours of it! Brought to you by NYMag's Grub Street and Hester Street Fair, there was no surprise of how great the offerings were going to be. About 90 vendors later, it was time to narrow down exactly what I was going to eat. I was unsuccessful in hitting up everyone I wanted to try, but regardless the things I did get my hands on were delish! 

Working the BaoHaus tent like a pro! We were offering our Chairman & Haus Baos as well as a new featured item: Beef & Scallion Dumplings. People be loving the food! 

Chairman Bao

Haus Bao

Beef & Scallion Dumplings 

The abundunce of food entering my mouth continued on for the rest of the day...

Handsome Hanks Fish Hut

Oaxaca Taqueria

Arancini Bros.

LOVE Gefilte!

Pickle, Gefilte Fish & Borscht

Sticky's Finger Joint 

Macaron Parlour

Melt Bakery

Beurre & Sel

Wrap up: the eggplant & ricotta Arincini Bros. ball was beyond. Sticky's Finger Joint has turned the a plain old chicken finger into something amazing and Paul, the owner, knows what's good. Melt Bakery never fails and that gefilte from Gefilteria was right on! Great day, great food, great time being super full for the rest of the night....Not. 

Moustache Pitza

To answer your question...No, I'm not sure exactly how this word is pronounced. Like the rest of you, I'm assuming it sounds something like this...

However, I wasn't really worried about the name of the place, I'm was more worried about how the food was going to taste, but luckily there really wasn't anything to be worried about. 

Moustache is a Middle Eastern shop located in the heart of the East Village with two other outposts in East Harlem and the West Village. Personally, I love Middle Eastern food and I must say Moustache does it right. They aren't trying to hard to be something they're not. They're just doing what they love to do and it shows in their food. 

Pita

Hummus

Spinach & Chickpea Salad w/ Chicken Kebab

Lamb Kebab Plate

I ordered the lamb and loved it! Just the right amount of crisp on the outside with a flavorful tomato sauce underneath, I would definitely go back for these balls! My only complaint has to be the extra charge for the pita. It was placed on our table when we sat down and was hardly touched, but still they charged us for it. What gives Moustache?

Moustache Pitza

265 East 10th St.

212-228-2022

Burger Bash 2012

A congratulations is in order for the third time to Josh Capon for winning People's Choice at this year's NYCWFF Burger Bash! With another win under his belt and a new restaurant opening this month, it's clear that it is definitely Capon's year!! 

The Winning Burger - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

The Championship Belt

Coming Soon: El Toro Blanco

 If you haven't heard the news already, my dear friend Chef Josh Capon of Lure Fishbar and B&B Winepub is making an addition to his already delicious empire with the opening of El Toro Blanco. Set to open sometime very very soon, it only seems appropriate Josh would do Mexican. When I think of someone I would want by my side at a fun filled fiesta taking swigs of Patron, it would be JC. For those of you who know Josh, you know this guy knows how to have a good time! 

Keeping his commute light, El Toro Blanco is opening just around the corner from Josh's other two restaurants, so for those of you interested in a night of bar hopping around town, you now can go from a pub to a yacht and then to Mexico! 

Here's a little preview of what's to come - http://eltoroblanco.tumblr.com/

Sonoran Cheese Crisp: Mexican cheese, poblano rajas, roasted tomate & epazote

Salmon Parillada

Lobster Puerto Nuevo

Chicken Enchiladas

Tuna Tacos

Food looks amazing! And if Josh's other restaurants are any indication of what El Toro Blanco is going to be like then I'm positive it's going to be great! CAN'T WAIT!!

El Toro Blanco

257 Sixth Ave, West Village

212-645-0193 

Shake Shack

Better late then never, right? My first time at Shake Shack happened just about a week ago. Believe me, I know how embarrassing that is, but going to school in Colorado for four years didn't make it that easy to get to....There's something about waking up on a gloomy day after a fun filled night of drinking that makes you crave fattening food without the guilt. Bagels? Pancakes? Bacon?...Absolutely not - I wanted a hamburger!

Shack burger with a side of fries please! Luckily for me, it was shitty out and the line was only 5 people deep. 

Before I knew it my vibrator was vibrating and it was time to indulge!

Usually I like my burgers thick & medium-rare...However, Shake Shack is the exception! Kudos to Danny Meyer, this guy knows what he's doing and he has 17 locations to prove it.

Shake Shack's burger is full of that delicious burger flavor we all love, the bun is super soft, the cheese is mad melty and the Shack sauce is seriously yums! No wonder the Madison Square Park location alone racked in 7 million bucks in one year! Now, along with thousands of others out there, I'm officially a Shake Shack lover ;) 

Saigon Pho

Contrary to what people may think, Vietnamese food has much more to offer then just banh mi sandwiches, spring rolls, and pho. Don't get me wrong, I can get all up on a banh mi, but sometimes you just need to switch it up. My family and I came across Saigon Pho in Parsippany, NJ and we're like really happy about it! Everything was delicious! Portions perfect for sharing, big flavor, and some serious marination going on with the meats...

Banh Mi Sandwich

Pho Toppings

Rare Beef Pho

Short Rib w/ Rice

Lemongrass Rolled Beef Bun

Grilled Pork Chop Bun

And for those who don't know Bun is vermicelli noodles served at room temperature topped with meat on a bed of crunchy bean sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, basil and mint, drizzled with peanuts and nuoc mam [Vietnamese vinaigrette]. It's not too heavy and it's a perfect meal in a bowl.

Saigon Pho

744 Route 46 W

Parsippany, NJ 07054

973.794.4632

melt bakery

Noticed them on the highline, walked passed their store @ 132 Orchard st, even saw them at the Vendy Awards last weekend, but I still never had myself a Melt Bakery ice cream sandwich! Shameful, I know... 

Well lucky me, last night I had the honor of working alongside Julian of Melt Bakery at a GQxGap event. Yes, the picture above is shitty and doesn't do these mini bites of goodness any justice, but take it from me...they're so so so good! On the left is a ginger cookie with green tea ice cream and the right is my new favorite: brown sugar cookie with peach ice cream! 

Julian & I

Quality ingredients, incredible flavors, and perfect combinations, Melt Bakery showed up the classic Chipwich and proved the original isn't always better. They also won "Best Dessert" at the Vendy Awards last weekend. How much more convincing do you need? Get yourself over to Melt Bakery asap!

Layered Chocolate Pudding "Pie"

Forget apples & honey...this year's Rosh Hashanah is going to be filled with pudding! Yes kids, that's right, pudding. NY Daily News recently declared pudding to be the "next big thing," but for me, pudding was always the thing. Two words: Kozy Shack 

My sweet new year is going to be filled with lots and lots of these LCPPs. I was eager to test out the recipe purely as an excuse to be able to eat it afterwards. One stop shopping at Trader Joes, all you need is heavy cream, powdered sugar, chocolate pudding, and graham crackers. 

Layering is key here. First put down the graham crackers then proceed to lay down a fat layer of pudding...

After you spread out your first layer, place down some more graham crackers. These crackers will also be smothered by a layer chocolate pudding. One layer just isn't enough...

Honestly, you can put as many damn layers into this thing as you want, but I could only fit two. To top it off, you're going to want to make some homemade whipped cream. Lets be real, canned sucks. 

Heavy cream & powdered sugar is all you need. Whip on high for a few seconds and there you have it. Fresh, homemade, and light whipped cream. 

Artistically smooth the whipped cream over the pudding, refrigerate for a few hours and then EAT IT ALL UP! The best part is that it keeps on getting better with each day. #Addicted

The Village Virgin

In honor of The Rocky Mountain Showdown today, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to Boulder, CO. A long night of partying after a game day only leads to one thing...a bunch of hungover undergrads at The Village the following morning. 

Walking down the sidewalk to campus, sitting in class, even out at the bars at night...people were shooting me these looks. Looks of disgust, looks of disappointment, looks of discouragement. The rumor must have been out. Everyone knew I was a virgin...

A VILLAGE VIRGIN! A second semester senior in college, 22 years old, and I had never been to The Village. The employees here make sure to embarrass the hell out of you, silencing the diner, and shouting out to everyone that, "there is a virgin in the house!" Of course my friends did not spare me... they told our waitress the I'd never had been and soon enough all eyes were on me. 

#3: two eggs, hash browns, bacon & wheat toast

#2: two eggs, hash browns, sausage links & wheat toast

Blueberry Pancake

No, the food isn't out of this world and you're not going to be dying to go back the next day for round 2, but The Village is the perfect place to go to soak up the leftover alcohol from the night before. Plus, you can show up looking like shit in your pajamas and nobody will care! 

The Village Coffee Shop

1605 Folsom st.

Boulder, CO