Category Archives: Food

Birthday in NYC

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Since I was in CA when my birthday hit, I celebrated with New York friends over the weekend, after I came back from holidays in California. I wore my new “Bright By My Side” dress that I ordered online from ModCloth. This flattering and sassy coral red dress is made of crepe fabric with sheer, puffy long sleeves with wrapped bodice and waist sash. I paired the dress with fashions from Shanghai: Coffee colored tights with cute little hearts all over and black high heel glittery boots, that are actually comfortable. And, of course the outfit would not be complete without an exquisitely sparkly and pearl tiara.

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I had my birthday dinner with a bunch of friends at Max Brenner at Union Square, which is a fun place to eat but incredibly crowded on a Saturday night and where we had to wait quite awhile, even with reservations. We were finally seated downstairs, in nice booth seating and I ordered one of the sharing dessert tastings with chocolate fondue. Our orders came fairly quickly and mine included a birthday candle on top an ice cream scoop, which was on a sweet waffle with berries. Everyone sang Happy Birthday, then we dug in!

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The dessert meal was pretty good, and was presented in a way that made it fun and creative to share. We had marshmallows that we could roast on the open fire (we had a little bit too much fun with that), as well as strawberries, bananas, cake, fried plantains, and the waffle. I pretty much dipped everything in the chocolate fondue. Yum! I also got to try some onion rings, waffle fries and black sesame encrusted salmon. If I had to order a non-dessert item, it would definitely be the salmon- Perfectly crispy, good flavor, beautifully presented.

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After eating, we were planning to spend the evening at Polar Lounge, which is located within the Marcel at Gramercy. However, we were informed that Polar was closed, so we waited for others in the lobby at the Marcel, which was actually quite lovely with silver and white accents… A silver couch, an area with a rectangular fireplace, and the main lobby area had a circular sleek black couch surrounding the room. In the center of the room, little white tables were adorned with candles, pretty pink, red and green flower bouquets on top. And the walls had interesting geometric patterns of white, brown and black colors.

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After more folks gathered at the Marcel lobby, we headed onward, in search of a suitable place to party. We passed by a park with this huge, gorgeous ball that changes into all different colors. There were also viewing seats that we could lay back on and watch the magic.

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We decided to go to Vunyc rooftop, which had a breathtaking and very close view of the Empire State Building! We had some drinks, shared great conversation, laughter and all around had a great time together.

The night didn’t end there. We barhopped a bit in the East Village and hit up Gin Palace and Easternbloc, where we did a lot of dancing and got a little crazy! I had a wonderful time with everyone… Even though we couldn’t party at Polar, we found some great places (and unexpected) to hang out at and enjoy each others company!

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Hotel Abrego Dining

Hotel Abrego

Hotel Abrego

Recently, I had the pleasure of enjoying a beautiful meal at the not-yet officially opened restaurant at Hotel Abrego in Monterey, California. The Hotel Abrego lobby and dining area is warm, inviting and cozy, complete with brown accents, a stone fireplace and lovely lighting.

The chef, Marc Jones, personally came out to introduce himself and present us with the menu. He was personable, knowledgeable about the food he prepares and concerned with keeping everything sustainable. The menu itself didn’t have a ton of choices, but that didn’t bother me as it normally would, because all the choices sounded so delicious! For an appetizer, we had salad which came with grapes, tomato, fresh lettuce, Parmesan and pepper with a light vinaigrette.  It was tasty and I enjoyed the added sweet flavor of the grapes, combined with savory.

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Salad

I also loved the honey bread which came with the meal. It was perfectly crisp, fresh and warm from the oven, a delightful mix of sweet and a tiny bit of salty. It was something different, but delicious. I couldn’t get enough of these little morsels!

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Honey Bread

We tried 2 different main courses. The first being pan fried Alaskan sand dabs, accented with grilled squash on the sides and mashed potato below. The sand dabs were fried in butter and topped with olive oil. I enjoyed the crispy well done texture of the sand dabs, as well as the yummy flavor. The mashed potato was superb, perfectly creamy and smooth, and seasoned well.

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Pan-Fried Sand Dabs

The other dish was bacon-wrapped shrimp with filet mignon with risotto and mushroom sauce. The bacon worked well with the shrimp, and the risotto had a great appetizing flavor to it, but I think my favorite was the filet mignon. The filet was amazing- Tender, like butter and quite juicy, full of deliciousness.

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Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp, Filet Mignon, Risotto

I will have to come back to try the desserts, calamari appetizer and filet of sole, cooked in parchment paper, with a bounty of in season vegetables.

 

Location:  755 Abrego Street in Monterey, CA

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Shanghai Cuisine

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Food in Shanghai was amazing! I tried everything from street food, to restaurant cuisine, to home made cooking at relatives’ homes. ‘

One of the staples of Shanghai cuisine is xiao long bao (pictured above & below), or soup dumplings. These particular ones are from a famous spot where people come from far and wide to try. And they were delicious – Little pockets with plenty of  savory soup and meat.

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Street food was a delight- So many choices, even compared to NYC. Skewer sticks of grilled chicken, lamb, pork, squid, vegetables- potato, tofu, cabbage, leafy greens with spices- delightful peppery mix.

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Fried sesame balls, glutinous rice balls, fish balls, fried radish cakes, fried scallion pancakes. Also warm roasted sweet potatoes (really miss that!), roasted chestnuts, peanuts, walnuts, crispy sesame chips, and so much more!

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Fried Scallion Pancakes

We also visited quite a few restaurants, like New NanHua Restaurant, Cantonese Family Restaurant, 930 and several wonderful huo guo (hot pot) ones. My favorite dishes were sweet/sour fish with pine nuts and peas; rice with Chinese sausage; cucumbers displayed beautifully with rice noodles in a yummy sauce; pork buns lightly fried on the bottom (that my dad and I had at the famous walking street, Nanjing Lun); fried duck skin pieces with thin pancake, sweet + salty sauce, onion, cucumber- A version of Peking Duck.

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Sweet & Sour Fish

Fried Pork Buns

Fried Pork Buns

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Cucumber & Rice Noodles Dish

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Hot Pot

Hot Pot with Fish

Hot Pot with Fish

As for dessert, I loved something made in a soup called “tang yaun” which is  glutinous rice ball filled with black sesame. Also pretty much anything with sweet red bean paste, and fried pumpkin buns.

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Fried Pumpkin Buns

We also ate at home quite a bit, and I enjoyed that experience as well. What was great about that was every morning the person who was cooking for the day would go out and buy fresh meat and vegetables to make for lunch and dinner! I loved the meal below of egg battered fried chicken, lima beans, beef and onions, tofu and celery.

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Being in Shanghai was truly a never ending and eye opening culinary experience!

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Foodie Weekend

Friday night, I had the opportunity to try Aurora, Italian restaurant for my friend’s birthday dinner. Aurora is a little spot in Soho, hidden away from the bright lights but quite the happening place. We were seated at a lovely corner table. It was cozy and romantic- Lights were dimmed a little bit too much, making it hard to read the menu.

I chose the le Pappardelle al Vitello, which was “homemade wide cut spinach flavored pasta with Vermont veal ragù & gremolata.” It was simply delicious. The pasta was top notch; the sauce tasty accompanied with the gremolata which is a combination of lemon zest, garlic, parsley, and olive oil was light and delightful and the veal was tender and savory. It was so tasty that I ate it all up, and even scraped the plate with bread to get the last of the flavor.

The dessert of chocolate terrine (cake) was quite rich and very chocolate-y with almond gelato and an amaretto stick on top sprinkled powdered sugar, a circle of caramel, pistachios and almonds. This concoction was unique and worked beautifully. I especially enjoyed chocolate with the lighter not as heavy flavor of the almond gelato.


Also Friday night, I got to check out a hilarious musical improv show with another friend and after that went to see Argo, which I didn’t really know about but am so glad my friend convinced me to see it. Based on true events, it showed the incredible covert operation to rescue 6 Americans from the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. This movie was suspenseful, intense, and deeply moving. One of the best this year.

Saturday I spent the morning volunteering at the Food Network NYC Food & Wine Festival, helping out at the Grand Tasting with replenishing wine glasses for the guests. I got to see part of Paula Dean’s cooking demonstration! Before leaving, I had the chance to experience it for myself. I started at the Delta lounge, hanging out on one of the Business Class airplane seats which was actually quite comfortable. I continued on, grabbing delicious small bite samples along the way- Artisan sandwiches and crackers, BBQ, pasta, mac and cheese, potato pancakes, meatballs, and more. I also was given olive oil galore, a multitude of snacks- chips, granola bars, dessert bars and even the official goody bag.

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Cancer Fighting Foods Shopping List

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, and in the quest of preventing cancer and staying healthy in general, FabFitFun has created a well-balanced, nutritious and delicious cancer fighting foods shopping list that I love (and thus wanted to share):

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Medieval Festival


This past weekend I went with several friends to the Medieval Festival at Fort Tyron Park in Manhattan. The Medieval Festival is held every year, free of charge and brings to life the customs and spirit of the Middle Ages. Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park is transformed into a medieval market town decorated with bright banners and processional flags. Despite the scattered showers, we had a happy and joyful time!

Two of my friends were dressed up in full Medieval garb and while I didn’t have a costume on, I wore a pretty light purple skirt and a deep velvety purple top. I loved seeing the different costumes on everyone, depicting knights, ladies, princesses, fairies, minstrels, as well as jugglers, jesters and much more! Some of the dresses were so lovely to look at: Ornate, beautifully crafted, and richly colored.

There were plenty of vendors selling medieval crafts, jewelry, trinkets, bath and body products, perfumes, swords, shields and much more. I purchased some delightful smelling olive oil soap in a variety of flavors: Black cherry, Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Green tea and more.

I also picked up some kettle corn and decided to have some real food. The steak and huge turkey leg looked enticing but the line was a bit too long, so I settled for potato pancakes with apple sauce. The potato pancakes were delicious and extremely crispy, the way I like it.

My favorite part was the jousting tournament between four knights on horseback. This was quite exciting and a real treat to see. I loved all the pretense that surrounded the event, with the introduction of the royals and the knights, to the first challenge of collecting as many rings as possible, then the matches between the knights. It definitely made my heart pound, cheering for our favorite knight and watching with bated breath as the knights fell from their horses during the final match. They all recovered afterwards. And after the jousting, I met a charming knight of blond hair and blue eyes.

What a lovely day- I definitely enjoyed all the festivities and Fort Tyron Park (pictured below) by the castle-like exterior of the Cloisters, was the perfect place to hold the Medieval Festival!

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Day At The Botanical Gardens

This past weekend, I went on a date that started off with brunch at Pershing Square, the bustling Midtown restaurant right across the street from Grand Central (and underneath the Park Avenue Viaduct). This lovely restaurant was roomy, with a wonderful energy and surprisingly comfortable. Also, loved that it was quiet enough to have an intimate conversation, while businessmen, tourists and locals all shared the same space.

I had the steak and eggs (any style you wish), which came with home fries and toast. The meal was delicious. I loved the peppery taste of the steak, which was quite juicy and well done. The crispy potatoes were well seasoned. The eggs, which I ordered fried and cooked completely were a bit flat and not as flavorful as it could’ve been. But overall a great meal to start the day.

We then headed to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx by way of Metro North. A truly vast, beautiful space with so much to see. Upon entering, we checked out the gorgeous and magnificent building (that housed Monet’s Paintings & Photographs), with an intricate fountain of mermaids and sea creatures in front. It was reminiscent of fountains in the piazzas of Italy… Okay, not quite, but close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued on to see interesting statues, grassy lawns, rock formations, different types of trees, colorful bushes and plants then came to the elegant Haupt Conservatory which was home to many beautiful and exotic plants, flowers and displays of bridges, water, fountains, trees, ivy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside of the conservatory was something of a Monet Garden with different colored flowers of pale pink, violet, lavender, yellow and huge green lily pads covered the surface, as well as some golden koi fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through high ceiling-ed gardens, roses, the children’s garden filled with carved pumpkins and came across a bridge that led to a sort of gazebo near a larger body of water covered with green moss. Then a quiet tree-lined area and after that took a free trolley tour around the rest of the Botanical Gardens, which was quite fun and as an added bonus, learned some interesting facts about the Gardens. Overall, a wonderful afternoon and lovely experience.

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Club Getaway Classic


A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending Club Getaway. It was perfect, weather wise (and in almost every other way as well) – Not too hot and not too chilly. I managed to pack in tons of activities, while making great friends along the way.

I did the zip line; cooking class on making apple fritters (which were delicious, especially with the cinnamon & sugar mix); archery (I finally managed to get the hang of it after several initial tries); arts & crafts (we painted tumblers- I decorated mine with hearts in hot pink, silver, blue) ; swimming and playing in the lack (a bit cold at this time of year) ; slip n slide; outdoor karaoke (of course I sang “Summer Nights” with Ajax, which has become a tradition now); rocking out to live music by Occasional Sunday; dance party; campfire with s’mores and a guitarist/sing-a-long. And that was just Saturday!

We had quite a feast during meals, with sit down dinners and buffet lunches. The lunches were the best just because of the sheer number of options. There were sub sandwiches, ribs, chicken, turkey, sweet potato, stuffing, different types of pizza and bread, fajitas, and a plethora of delectable desserts- from fruit tarts, to cheesecakes, to ice cream, to Napoleons, to chocolate cakes, to cookies, to red velvet cake and strawberry shortcake. There is even a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, rice crispy treats, strawberries and other fruits to dip in it. As for dinner, Saturday night is the best, complete with salad, veggies and rice, chicken and beef in an amazing tasty sauce.

Sunday, we woke up super early to sign up for activities. The first one was spelunking (caving), which was off-site. We took a bus to the location, walked a bit in the woods then came to Tory’s Cave- a small cave with one main room and two smaller rooms that you have to shimmy through tunnels to get into. It was pretty awesome, and I loved seeing the marble covered interior and sparkling mica or fool’s gold all over the walls.

After spelunking, I went on a hike to Bulls Bridge- Also off-site. It was not a bad walk- along a stream with waterfalls, going uphill but just slightly. We got to the bridge and hung out along the water, taking in the beautiful woodsy view and relaxing, dipping our feet in the cool, clear water.

We got back to the camp grounds just before lunch and after eating, headed back into Manhattan on the Club Getaway bus. I would recommend Club Getaway to anyone… I always have such an amazing experience and cannot wait to see what next year entails!

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Nonna’s Italian Chef’s Tasting Menu

I had heard about the 5-course tasting menu at Nonna’s Italian Restaurant and wanted to try it out, so I jumped at the chance to help host a Rotating Dinner there, featuring Nonna’s Italian Chef’s 5-Course Tasting Menu, with Random Events and New York Social Network. It was a pleasant experience and I enjoyed getting to know different people throughout the meal.

We started off with something called rice balls, which look like spaghetti meatballs but are much better. The rice balls are deep fried in a red sauce with mozzerella cheese sprinkled on top, with risotto (rice with peas and melted cheese) inside. These were soo good: Full of flavor, crispy and melt in your mouth delicious.


Next came Cesar salad and a plate of meat and vegetables. The salad was just okay, nothing to write home about, though the accompanying little cheese balls on the side were quite good. The plate of assorted meats and vegetables was lovely- Bright, colorful, fresh and came with carrots, olives, peppers, artichoke, tomato, cauliflower, a whole head of garlic, cheese and prosciutto.

After that was the pasta dish. I had the pappardalle with mushroom sauce and truffle butter. Although the description made my mouth water, the actual dish wasn’t delectable as anticipated. Though the pasta was well made, the sauce wasn’t flavorful enough.

For the main course, I had gotten the cod with some sort of white bean underneath. The cod was light and flaky, with just a the right amount of crispiness and complementary seasoning. The white beans came with a delightful sauce.


I had my dessert with coffee (included). To our utter delights, we were given 2 desserts: Zeppoli and Tiramisu. The zeppoli is fried dough balls with a honey sauce, with powdered sugar on top. They were just okay next to the Tiramisu, which was simply divine. Perfectly melded tastes of coffee, expresso, marsepone cheese, whipped cream and a sweet egg yolk mixture. The tiramisu was both light and creamy, sweet but not overly so and just melted in your mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, quite an Italian feast with good service and great company!

 

Address: 520 Columbus Avenue

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Splish Splash & Parasailing


This past weekend was a whirlwind of water fun!

Saturday I spent the day at Splish Splash, Long Island’s premier water park. We started off with a simple ride – Two long yellow water slides and I took the one to the left, since apparently that was the “easier” of the two.  It wasn’t bad, but I closed my eyes the whole time. Instead of it being a free fall, there were two major curves that I went over super fast, and definitely made me scream.

The next ride was not scary at all, called Lazy River, in which you relax on a water tube and go through the length of it at your own pace. There are certain spots that have cold water spraying at you, which was refreshing and enjoyable.

After that we tried the Jurassic Park themed dinosaur ride, which I was a little apprehensive about going on, but agreed to do it after my friend said she’d do it with me in the double inner tube. It turned out to be much fun, and then we went to the Surf City area where there was a pool with simulated waves. That was pretty chill and enjoyed being in the waves, bopping to the loud music.

The next ride we did had a super long ride and looked a bit scary- It was inside a tunnel and complete darkness, but wasn’t so bad.

We took a break for lunch, and have to say was very upset that the Grill and ice cream truck were both there just for show. We shared Johnny  Rocket’s burger and fries meal, as well as our own mixed chocolate and vanilla shake.

After that was another scary looking ride that was quite high up and quite windy; I was most worried about the midsection, where we would be spun around. When I got up there I almost chickened out, but watched others go before me and it didn’t look so bad, so I did it. It turned out to be all good fun.

The park was close to closing at this point, but we managed to fit in two more rides. One of them was a little scary when I looked at it, but turned out to be not a problem an the last one, “Shotgun Falls,” was simply high powered short water slides that propel you into 10 feet deep water. That was all right, but since the lady didn’t have me take my flip flops off, one of the straps broke.

After we finally got out of the Splish Splash parking lot, we headed to a Japanese restaurant, Sakura something…  It was tucked away in the corner of a strip mall, so we weren’t sure about the quality of it, but was actually quite nice. We decided to get Hibachi grill, so the chefs gave us a show and cooked in front of us.

I had ordered the combination of chicken and salmon. The meal came with soup, salad, fried rice, vegetables, shrimp and the meat. Everything smelled great, looked delicious and was very filling- large poritons. The chicken, however, was a bit too chewy and had a weird texture but the salmon with sauce was simply wonderful.

Sunday it was Parasailing and Beach Day in Ocean City, NJ with my friend and a bunch of new friends. I got picked up at home, which was really nice especially since we had to leave early in the morning.

We got to the Parasailing place right on time and rode a boat to the middle of the ocean and prepared to take off from the back of the boat. We got attached (two of us at a time) to a large yellow parachute and the boat took off, allowing us to be carried up high into the air (500 feet).

It was amazing feeling- I loved being up so high and being able to see that beautiful view. I just didn’t like it when the wind made us turn a  bit, but overall was a very gentle, relaxing ride. I liked when we were being lowered, and loved being dipped into the water. Such an exhilarating time! Except that I went twice because there was an odd number in our group, and during the last half of the second time, I got a little queasy but the first time was so great.

After Parasailing, we headed to a nearby seafood restaurant. Since my stomach was still a little weak, I got the chicken fingers- They allowed me to order from the children’s menu so it came with fries and applesauce. I was able to eat maybe half of it, and one of the guys actually paid for it for me to make me feel better. That was such a thoughtful gesture!

We then headed to nearby Ocean City Beach for the remainder of the afternoon, and I spent the entire time in the ocean- Swimming in the waves, splashing around in the water. It was wonderful and loved the feeling of the cool spray.

Then, started our journey back to Queens, and ended our day at A Taste of Shanghai restaurant in Flushing. It was definitely good to go with people who know what to order. We started with crab meat soup dumplings (or Xiao Lon Bao) and pan fried pork buns. The soup dumplings were just okay- They weren’t really juicy enough for me, and the meat didn’t taste like crab. Also, I’ve been spoiled by real soup dumplings in Shanghai, China. The pork buns were very tasty though.

We then shared several dishes. First came the soup with fish, pickled vegetable and see through glass noodles, which was quite good with plenty of fish. We also had a couple of side dishes:  Potato slices were okay, but really plain and bok choy with tofu was decent- Very fresh.

The main dishes were better: Pork Shoulder and whole fish. The pork shoulder was a huge piece of meat, with the skin on the outside. Delicious meat bathed in a delightful sauce was tender and flavorful. The whole crispy fish was mouthwatering — In sweet and sour sauce, and had a topping of shrimp, peas, carrots and pine nuts. Fresh and perfectly crisped, the fish meat was light and yummy.

And since we shared everything, our meal was quite affordable. What a wonderful end to a wonderful & full weekend!

 

Address: 39-07 Prince St, #1 in Flushing, Queens

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