Chow Down on Brooklyn's Yummiest

I'm all about giving the burgeoning food scene in Brooklyn it's fair share of the table space at giant food events like Choice Eats, mostly because I get to discover new flavors I might not seek out otherwise. (Since moving to Queens, I've been trying to explore my new borough as much as possible and my exploration of Brooklyn has admittedly been lacking of late.) This is partly why I got excited when I heard about the 4th Annual Tasting Brooklyn event! It's a whole gluttonous evening filled with Brooklyn's yummiest offerings!

Tasting Brooklyn takes place Tuesday 4/29 at The Green Building in Carroll Gardens (452 Union Street, Brooklyn) from 6:30-9:30 pm. The event will feature purveyors including AINY favorites Luke's Lobster, Dinosaur BBQ, Fairway Market, Robicellis, Brooklyn Oenology, Huckleberry Bar, and Sixpoint Beer. Did we mention it's all you can eat and drink!

Throughout the event there will be live soulful and eclectic music by DJ Nutritious and, new to this year’s festival, a contest for guests to vote for the “Best Dish” of the night. The winning restaurant receives one-month of free advertising on the Brooklyn Exposed site as well as a featured write-up.

General admission tickets can be purchased for $55 here, but for just $25 more you can get become a VIP, granting you early access and a special gift bag (including goodies from Sahadi', Pelzer's Pretzels, Peeled Snacks, Buttermilk Bake Shop, By Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Kitchenwith). A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the New York chapter of Slow Food, an international organization whose mission is to promote sustainable and responsible agriculture and make high quality, seasonal (and better tasting) food available to everyone.

We hope to see you there, but if you can't make it, stay tuned for our recap!

Dance Your Artist Heart Out

It's time to party, Brooklyn style. The Brooklyn Museum is hosting the Brooklyn Artists Ball Dance Party next Wednesday April 16 from 10-1, and you are not going to want to miss it.

The event will feature a performance by LE1F and later DJ Brenmar will be spinning some tunes. There will also be a silent auction powered by Artsy and dessert prepared by Amirah Kassem of Flour Shop. Tickets are $100 ($90 for museum members) and today is the last day to buy them!

Superb Sushi on Smith

I could live on sushi, no joke. There's something about it that is so different from any other cuisine; perhaps it's the freshness or the fact that something so simple could taste so good, but I love it. So when I was invited to Aji 53 in Cobble Hill for dinner, of course I said yes!

Co-owner Kevin welcomed my friend and I on a cold January evening and proceeded to trick us into thinking it was summer with some sake sangria. I was a little hesitant at first because I'd never thought to mix rice wine with fruit, but the combination actually works quite well!

Sake Sangria

Our couple of courses, served by an adorable waitress who had the most clever t-shirt on (it was a picture of a smiling bowl soup with chopsticks in it and a word bubble saying "Miso happy!"), were not on the menu. Seasonality dictates what kind of fish the restaurant can order, Kevin explained. So while they will always stock staples like salmon, tuna and yellowtail, certain specialties are not always available. With that said, we had the Bonito (seared baby tuna served with fresh wasabi yuzu sauce) and Yellowtail Shots (sliced yellowtail sashimi wrapped around grilled whitefish, asparagus and lime sauce in a shot glass). The fresh wasabi on the bonito was like nothing I'd ever had before and I would highly recommend you make an effort to try some. This was not your typical pistachio green paste. The Yellowtail shots were incredible too. The mix of the raw and grilled fishes was unexpected, as were the asparagus and lime.

Bonito

Yellowtail Shots

Next we had our first off-the-menu, the Ocean River ($11) which included spicy lobster and avocado wrapped in salmon and served with ponzu sauce and truffle oil (something I'd never expect to find in a Japanese restaurant, but was perfectly satisfied with the result). This was probably the most typical sushi house appetizer we had, but still very different. I really liked it!

Ocean River

Next, we were taken on a worldwide tour of food, but always hearkening back to the influence of Japan. First up was the Blue Crab Fajita ($10), although it seemed like more of a quesadilla to me, it was comprised of fresh blue crab meat, red onion and cream cheese in a tortilla and baked. I'm not typically a fan of cream cheese in my sushi (whoever invented the Philadelphia Roll was clearly not in their right mind), but this worked. Maybe because it was baked? Maybe because this wasn't really sushi? I don't know.

Blue Crab Fajita

We also sampled the Aji Sandwich ($11), by far the most unique sushi menu item we had. It was eggplant tempura (reminiscent of eggplant parmesan) layered with spicy lobster, spicy tuna and salmon sashimi all glazed with miso sauce. YUMMO!!

Aji Sandwich

In his initial invitation, Kevin talked up the slow braised, sake marinated Beef Short Ribs ($11), and I was excited to try them. The verdict was a thumbs up from both my friend and I, but they are a bit heavy so I would not recommend eating them after a whole bunch of other appetizers like we tried to do. I felt bad even leaving one bite of these because they were delicious, but the dish was very rich and I had to put my fork down especially since I knew we weren't done yet.

Beef Short Ribs

We couldn't leave a sushi bar without trying at least one specialty roll, ok make it two. We had the Boerum Hill Roll (price n/a; spicy crunch scallop and cucumber topped with salmon and avocado and served with yuzu aioli) and the Aji King Roll ($15; king crab, avocado and shrimp roll tempura fried and then sliced, topped with spicy tuna or spicy yellowtail and served with the chef's special sauce).

Sushi Rolls

Aji 53 is a solid sushi option among the many restaurants on Smith Street. It's got something for everyone, whether you're a traditional sushi type of diner or someone who's willing to take risks and mix cuisines. The prices were affordable, the service was superb and the restaurant was spacious and eye catching. I would watch out for the bathroom lock, however, as it didn't seem to quite work for me and I ended up holding the door while I was in there. One small glitch, however, I would highly recommend Aji 53!

AWESOME ALERT: Blue Apron is the Answer to Your Kitchen Prayers

Contrary to New York City tradition, my oven is not used for storage, and I love to cook. I love everything about cooking in fact--the way my knife sounds when slicing an onion, the spoonfuls of sauce I taste before deciding it is just right, licking the batter spoon before putting cookies in the oven, and the way my kitchen smells when I've been simmering apple sauce in my slow cooker all day long. One thing I don't like though is schlepping home heavy bags of carefully selected groceries home only to find my perfect tomato smushed at the bottom of the bag or finally getting upstairs to realize I forgot the ground turkey and have to go back out.

Enter Blue Apron. As a base description I would say this online recipe/ingredient delivery service is a cross between Birchbox, the Food Network, and Fresh Direct. Basically, the company sends out weekly emails describing their recipes for the next week (typically 3 meals a week for either a meat or vegetarian menu) and you can opt in to receive all the ingredients you need (minus only basics like salt, pepper and olive oil and basic pots and pans) hand delivered to your door. Busy that week or don't like the menu items? No problem, just opt out with no consequences. It's not a diet service so don't think of it like that, but the recipes are generally for healthy and wholesome meals (500-700 calories each).

Convenience, fresh ingredients, new recipes? I was sold and decided to give it a try (well, my coworker giving me a free week was also an added incentive!). I've been traveling a lot lately so finding a week I was going to dedicate to cooking in at least three times was not as easy as I thought it would be. My shipment looked a little like this, after I'd arranged it all pretty of course:

On first glance, I was really pleased with the quality of the food. The produce seemed as it was just plucked from the farm, the meat was all high-quality Pat LaFreida, and all of the condiment type ingredients were measured exactly to how much I needed so there would be minimal prep required on my part.

For my first meal, I went with the beef and millet stuffed bell peppers. Laying out all the ingredients was kind of fun and made me feel like I was the host of a cooking show.

The recipe cards were easy to follow and included pictures of each step along the way so you would know if you were doing something wrong before you got to the final product. For someone who never cooks, this would probably be the most advanced recipe of the week because there were several steps, but I'm confident that anyone who could slice and dice some veggies and follow instructions could complete this just fine. The finished product was scrumptious and made so much food! Each meal is supposed to be for 2 people but I easily made 3.5 meals out of it after adding another bell pepper I picked up from the grocery store.

The next meal was Italian inspired but with a twist: Spaghettini with shrimp, lemon and mint. I have never thought to use mint in a savory dish, but I loved it especially with the addition of spicy red pepper flakes. This dish also turned into 2 rather large portions and I loved that they give you enough ingredients in order to garnish your plates as well.

The last menu item was Mexican-style chopped salad with chicken and corn--a fairly basic salad, but something I've never really made like this before. The queso fresco was a nice touch as were the 2 different types of lettuce and the lime mayo dressing. Also, who knew you could slice corn fresh off the cob without cooking it? I certainly didn't.

All in all, Blue Apron was a hit in my kitchen and I will most likely try it again. This service would be perfect for someone who likes to cook but doesn't know how or doesn't have the time to shop for ingredients. It would also probably be better for a couple, because I had A LOT of food to eat that week and felt bad going out at all because I didn't want anything in my fridge to go bad. At $9.99 per person, per meal, it's cheaper than going out but potentially a bit more money than just going grocery shopping yourself. But really, who's going to measure your ketchup for you or make sure that you're cooking something new every week otherwise?

Blue Apron is available all over the country, but they are based in Brooklyn so support a local NYC company and place your order today :)

I was not paid by Blue Apron for this post. The opinions expressed here are completely my own.

Awash in Satisfaction

If you've never had Ethiopian food, you're missing out on an awesome experience. The dining room of an Ethiopian restaurant is usually filled with round mesob tables made of colorful straw and the menu is an enticing mix of proteins served on top of and eaten with injera bread (I like to think of it as a cross between a tortilla because it's flat and a crumpet because of all the bubbles, thoughts?).

I was recently invited to Awash in Brooklyn Heights and had a wonderful meal. The owner, Boge, an Ethiopian native, greeted us warmly and offered us a glass of the traditional Sheba Tej wine made of honey. While the blackberry version tasted a little like Manischewitz (anyone?), I quite liked the white varietal. It's a bit reminiscent of sherry or another alcohol-infused wine.

Entrance of Awash on Court Street

Mesob tables

Interior of Awash

Sheba Tej

We started with an avocado salad ($10) which was oddly like a deconstructed guacamole, but hey, I'm not complaining. You could feed me avocado till the cows come home and I'm happy.

Avocado Salad

The best way to attack the rest of the menu is to share because the food comes served on a giant platter. We opted for the Awash Chicken ($16) marinated with garlic, ginger, and other spices, cooked with tomatoes, celery, onions and jalapenos and the Vegetable Combo for 2 ($30.95) which included the following: Key Sir Alicha (red beets, carrots and potatoes); string beans and carrots cooked in a seasoned garlic sauce; Gomen (collard greens cooked with onions, garlic, and jalapenos); Yemissir Kik Wat (split red lentils cooked in Berbere sauce); and Yater Kik Alicha (yellow split peas cooked and seasoned with onions and herbs).

All our food!

Starting in September, Awash will offer an Ethiopian Tapas Tasting for $18 per person which includes Sheba Tej paired. Also, if you visit on a Monday in September with at least one other person, you will get a free appetizer.

Brooklyn's Best New Coffee

If there's one thing that New York City runs off of, it's coffee. And you can never, never, never, never, never have too many coffee places. Good thing too because a certain chain...ahem, Starbucks...seems to sometimes have a monopoly. However, another Seattle chain is seeking to change the game, opening it's first full-on cafe yesterday in Brooklyn after a super successful (we're talking 3,000+ people) family and friends preview day on Wednesday.

Of course the company at the heart of it all, Seattle's Best, couldn't open just another storefront. They recently went through a menu revamp and came up with some pretty awesome new stuff. I was invited to come check out the new store and was pleasantly surprised. First of all the place is huge. There's plenty of space to relax, plug in your computer to do some work, or catch up with friends. The staff were incredibly friendly and treated me to a Hazelnut Creme Iced Latte ($3.49 for a small). With choices like Birthday Cake Latte and Caramel Pretzel Mocha, I had a pretty tough time making up my mind.

Hazelnut Creme Latte

Then it was onto the pastry case. The new menu was designed with the commuter in mind. Whether you're walking, taking the subway, or driving a car, all of the pastry items should be fairly easy to eat. I opted for the Very Berry Handheld Pie ($2.49) which also comes in caramel apple. I also sampled the cinnamon roll ($2.49), sour cream coffee cake ($2.39), and warm oatmeal raisin cookie ($1.99)

Handheld Pies

Coffee Cake and Cookie

Cinnamon Roll

To celebrate their grand opening the new Seattle's Best cafe will be giving out FREE COFFEE!  Swing by the Brooklyn retail location (253 Livingston Street) from 5:30am – 11pm on Wednesday, June 27, for a free small 12 oz. hot brewed coffee – a perfect perk for New Yorkers!

Kalí óreksi!

About 2 years ago, I was supposed to take a trip to Greece. Unfortunately because of personal reasons and the economic situation there, the trip had to be canceled, but there's something about Greek culture, especially food, that continues to call to me. So when Faros, a Greek restaurant in Park Slope, invited me for a tasting, I obviously said yes.

As a blogger, I go to a lot of tastings and they are usually all pretty good. The waiters are polite, the wine is delicious and the food never seems to stop coming. But at Faros, the ante was upped. We were greeted by one of the most friendly waitresses I've ever encountered (and not in a creepy way but in a "welcome to my grandma's house, make yourself comfortable" kind of way).

We were seated right in the front of the rather large restaurant (it has 2 stories!), which was nice because we could people watch out the window. The host/manager brought us a nice bottle of 2006 Greek wine from the Moraitis Winery in Paros, and it perfectly complemented just about everything we ordered. Also, to whet our appetite, they brought us delicious fresh bread with olives and a fava bean puree.

Then it was on to the real appetizers. Let me just say that Faros will not short you on food. We ordered two appetizers to get a feel for the menu, but I would definitely not recommend ordering more than one for your party of two. The cold appetizer we ordered was Taramosalata ($5), fish roe mousse with lemon and onions. It reminded me a lot of lox spread but it was served with delicious pita. The hot appetizer we got was Saganaki ($8), which they claim is classic baked Kefalograriera cheese, but who are they kidding? It's pan fried and comes to the table with flames as high as the waiter. A pretty amazing sight to see, but to be honest, I only could eat a few bites of this. It's a giant platter of fried cheese, and while it was delicious and gluttonous, more than a few bites would have done me in.

Taramosalata 

Saganaki 

Next it was time for the mains. Because I can't resist a good branzino, we ordered the fish special for the night ($20-$25) served whole with garlic, lemon, and capers. There's something about good olive oil that makes all the difference. We also went with a classic Greek comfort food, Spitikos Mousakas ($15), layered with potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, ground sirloin and luscious béchamel sauce. If you want to go for a traditional, amazing, yet very filling dish, this is it my friend.

Branzino

Spitikos Mousakas

At this point, we were stuffed to the brink. However, in the way that only your Greek family would, our waitress insisted that we at least try dessert. And you can't get more Greek than baklava. Sticky and sweet like it should be, this was the perfect way to cap of a perfect meal.

Baklava

So though I'm still longing to hop on a plane and visit the whitewashed, sea cliff villages where this cuisine originated myself, I'm content hopping on the 2/3 to Grand Army Plaza and getting my fix at Faros.

Faros is offering a special menu just in time for Father's Day! Come in Saturday June 16, 2012 - Sunday June 17, 2012 and celebrate dad with their $50 per person, three-course, prix fixe menu which includes a bottle of wine per 2 adults. Kids are only $10 each! I promise he'll love it!

Tiramisu! Get Your Tiramisu!

It's not secret that I love the NYC food scene, but when I get to partake in it for no charge  is when I get excited. Savoia Restaurant in Caroll Gardens, is new to me but certainly not new to serving up classic Italian Cuisine in the big apple. After moving to Brooklyn from Chambers Street after 9/11, Savoia is family run and emphasizes the Italian experience, offering rustic decor and even waiters with true Italian accents. Most of their ingredients are imported direct from Italy, with perishable items locally sourced from organic farms and other food purveyors. Yelp reviewers rave about the brick oven pizzas, the paninis and even their brunch specials.

If you're in the neighborhood today, Savoia is celebrating their 10th anniversary by giving away a free glass of wine and piece of tiramisu with your dinner order. Also, they will be having a demonstration of how to make their Rigatoni alla Norma today at 5, complete with a tasting of course.

Check back soon for my review of Savoia and if you go today come back and comment how much you loved the tiramisu!

Beerooklyn

Rub a dub dub, hundreds of suds in a...bank? A beautiful old bank in fact, and not your typical suds. The Village Voice recently held its first Brooklyn Pour event at Skylight One Hanson in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and if you like day drinking and beer, it was the place to be.

One Hanson Place

Built in 1927 in the popular Art Deco style, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank (yes, with an "h") now boasts Magic Johnson-built condos above, and one of the most unique event spaces in the five boroughs on the ground floors, Skylight One Hanson. I was impressed by the magnificence of the high-vaulted ceilings and finance-inspired stained glass and sculpture work. Just taking in the grandeur of this slice of NYC history is enough to make you slightly tipsy.

Financial stained glass

Mosaic map of NYC

However, the main attraction at this bank had nothing to do with moola and everything to do with beer. Lots and lots of beer. More than 50 brewing companies, beer shops and breweries set up shop throughout the main hall and the former vault downstairs. With each sampling between one and seven ales, ciders, lagers, stouts and porters, it was near impossible to try every beverage from every purveyor with my little beer tasting shot glass. Nevertheless, I gave it a good go.

Beer tasting glass

Main banking hall

Old teller windows served as brewery booths

Beer purveyors

Entrance to the vault

Beer tasting in the vault

Making my rounds throughout the main hall, I had the game plan to steer clear of the beers I know and love so that I could find and appreciate some newbies for my liver to contend with. But really, some of these beers were so local they can't take the express train (bad NY joke?), and I'm a sucker for locally made anything. 

One of my favorite sips of the day came not from a beer company, but from the cider brand Original Sin. NYC-based, these guys were sampling their apple and pear ciders at a booth covered in their amazing and risque posters (no one else came close in the decoration department). You almost wanted to visit the booth just to read the posters. 

Original Sin's display

Another favorite was Ithaca Beer Company's Apricot Wheat. Not overwhelmingly sweet, this beer managed to convey wonderful apricot flavor and I could totally picture sipping it on the deck of some upstate lake house while watching the leaves turn. Now if only I could go find that lake house and those leaves...

Ithaca Beer Co.'s display

I tried several Oktoberfest varieties, but my favorite was Brooklyn Brewery's. I know I said I was steering away from what I already knew, but I just couldn't help it after my wonderful experience at their brewery tour. 

Me enjoying some suds

Other favorites included Allahash Curiex, from the makers of my trusty Allagash White, which was aged in Jim Beam bourbon barrels and hence took on a truly different flavor. Doc's Draft pear cider and the Champagne-like Gaffel Kolsch from Germany were also hits. Singha beer was cool too because they hooked me up with a sweet keychain.

Lastly, I sampled several flavors of Fresh Ginger Ale by Bruce Cost and am now hooked. Complete with pieces of real ginger floating throughout the bottle, these ginger ales are better than anything you were ever served on a sick day growing up. The ginger flavor is celebrated instead of hidden in these non-alcoholic sodas, and I would highly recommend picking one up at Whole Foods next time you're in the area.

Allagash bottles

Doc's Draft ciders

While Brooklyn Pour revolved around a certain alcoholic beverage, the food was not to be missed. I think some of the food stands were confused as to whether or not they were supposed to sell their food or give it away because some intermittently sported makeshift price signs while some were mobbed with freeloaders. About an hour in, all were asking a few dollars for their items, with the exception of Bareburger, which I'm SO glad I finally got to try.

A local and organic Brooklyn burger joint, these guys like to experiment with their meat and the results are amazing. I had two four wild boar sliders, which were served on lightly grilled buns with some amazing pickles, cheddar cheese and chipotle ketchup. They were also serving bison and elk burgers, but the crowds gobbled them up before I got to sample either. Other local food stall included Sigmund's Pretzels, Rye House and Pizza 33.

Bareburgers

Sigmund's pretzels

Der Schwarze Kolner, a nearby Fort Greene bar, hosted the official after-party, however this awesome girl was feeling a little too full of awesome beer to partake in the ongoing festivities. If it was anything like the main event, it must have been a blast. After experiencing Choice Eats, and now Brooklyn Pour, I can tell you that The Village Voice really knows how to throw a party, especially one that revolves around anything you eat or drink. Stay tuned to see what they cook up next.