Part I: Atlanta, Georgia
The first part of my trip was spent in Atlanta, GA with my best friend Jennifer and her new hubby Anthony. They just moved into a beautiful new apartment home in the midtown area and so graciously hosted me at their place. I was so happy to just spend some quality time with my friend whom I rarely see since she lives on the east coast. We just relaxed, caught up on gossip, watched movies, went shopping and ate of course. I didn't take pictures of the Indian take out we had. I still think in the US, that is one of the best indian food places (called Cafe Bombay). I love eating at this place....makes me crave indian food just thinking about it.
This was our breakfast at the Flying Biscuit which has a bunch of chains all over Atlanta. I went there before when I was in Atlanta for her wedding. Their biscuits are very scone-like and their pancakes which are oatmeal pancakes are pretty unique and tasty with fruit on top.
On my last night there, I wanted to try a nice place with my hosts so we went to the Watershed in Decatur. They served nouveau Southern food which is always a favorite of mine. I had the red rice, shrimp, and okra. Jennifer had these delicious salmon croquettes and Anthony had this big plate of fried catfish, fries, and hush puppies. As much as I love southern food, I have a hard time eating a lot of fried food now, which limits your choices. As an appetizer we ate this really tasty grits with cheese bread. Gotta love the grits....especially in the south.
My obsession with cupcakes was satiated at Matty Cakes in Atlanta. And to top it off, they had a red velvet cupcake flavor. I must say, one of the most moist red velvet cupcakes I've ever had. Very rich, but not so sweet cream cheese frosting topped off the cupcake. If you're in the area, try this place.
Part II: New York City, New York
Took this picture with Eric and Johanna in Eric's Brooklyn apartment. He ended up moving back to Brooklyn to his old place he used to live at, now rooming with old Whitney-ite Niroshi. He lives right in the middle of it all (across from the subway stop), so it is pretty hustle and bustle. The first night, I could hear people till the wee hours of the morning, drunk, and fighting on the streets.....totally New York.
On my last day in the city, Eric and I had breakfast at this little eatery called "Egg" which happened to be right down the street from his apartment. It was quite delicious with southern style eats such as grits, biscuits and gravy, and some stinkin hot sausage. My egg was not poached quite right, but the cheesy grits and Eric's biscuits and gravy were awesome.
I was super lucky to have a chance to meet up with my friend Gina. Now most of you know this chica, but for those of you who don't, she is totally cool! With her high fives, gorgeous smile, and excellent taste in food and drink. I think we are very similar and personality and hobbies, that's why we get along so well. I'm so sad she moved away because she was my favorite person to hang out with on the westside. So we met up one of the nights in NYC at this great place called Cafe Mogador (101 Saint Marks Place, NY, NY 10009: www.cafemogador.com). They are known for their tagine dishes (pronounced tazheen)....a pot that looks like of like a teepee that cooks/steams the food making the meat just fall off the bone. I had the leg of lamb with this interesting green sauce of various spices. Oh my...the most tender piece of dark lamb meat...oh so good. We shared some homemade hummus and pita that was also just fresh as can be. I will definitely be looking for more moroccan places in LA!
After dinner with Gina, she took me to this dessert bar called Chikalicious (www.chikalicious.com) right down the street from Cafe Mogador. NYC always comes up with the new hip and happening places. This dessert bar just served desserts. I had the black and white cupckae and a sea salt caramel macaron and Gina had the soft serve. Just both solid, tasty, well executed desserts for an affordable price. I tell you...LA NEEDS to have more dessert only places to hang out at after dinner. I NEED it!!!
When I was in NYC, I was on a quest for a fabulous black and white cookie. I walked all the way down 5th avenue from Rockerfeller Center to MOMA to get try this cookie from a bakery called William Greenberg Bakery (www.wmgreenbergdesserts.com). It was delicious and worth the walk. The cookie was ginormous (see thumb in picture for reference). It was very cakey tasting and the frosting was perfect. I kept trying to get both flavors in each bite (anyone seen the Seinfeld episode at the bakery?) I was so content sitting in front of the nbc studios with my cookie and my iced decaf coffee from Dean and Deluca.
It is a must for me to eat the Halal food lamb on rice that my friend Malcolm got me hooked on. Eric told me to try this one at Rockefellar center so I went there...twice! I loved it so much I made a special trip out there right before my plane ride home to bring it on the plane (so good!!!). The pieces of lamb are shaved off this large roasting stick, then sauteed on a grill with veggies, put over rice with, white and red sauces, and served. All for a mere 6 bucks. I want it soooooo bad right now.
Random find somewhere while driving in NYC....a bar called Chibi's Bar. Had to take a picture of this for my little Chibi and for Angie.
I had to eat pizza in NYC...so Eric and I stopped over for me to try Lombardi's Pizzeria (www.firstpizza.com) . Now Eric must have told me a dozen times that this is not new york style pizza....but I just wikipedia-ed it and it says it is. I think New York style pizza just means that it is thin and foldable and that it is made with the New York tap water and high gluten bread flour. It was delicious and I love folding the pizza and taking a big bite. Lombardi's is also known for their coal oven cooking style which you can taste in the pizza.
Katz's Deli is widely known for their pastrami sandwiches. There is just a ton of meat on the sandwich and the pastrami is cooked fresh and hot and cut in to very thick slices that ooze with juice and fat. I love how they give you a slice whilst you wait at the counter to give you a delectable preview of what's to come. Always crowded....always great meat.
Another must eat for me in NYC is Joe Shanghais in Chinatown. I just love the SLBs (shao long baos) which are the soup dumplings. I've said it before and I'll say it again....Din Tai Fung absolutely does not compare to Joe Shanghai. Joe's has much larger dumplings with tastier meat and soup inside. I also love their other dishes like their handmade shanghai noodles and their onion cake. As Eric would say, they never let you down with their food.
