Homecoming...

This past weekend I journeyed home, as many young professionals do, to the comforting arms of.....(wait for it)...my hair stylist. Yes, I did come home for a haircut. BUT, there were many other perks involved. 1) My cousin, whom I hadn't seen in over a year, was visiting my parents from Connecticut. 2) My close friend from my India program, Mimi, is working in DC this summer and I had not yet had the chance to see her. 3) I have many personal belongings that I stupidly decide to lug with me wherever I am temporarily living. Half of these clothes, books, photography paraphenalia, and shoes I probably don't need at all, yet I decide to bring them along with me anyway in order to create a more complete home for myself. So, this 24 hour trip home proved to be a lugging session of about half of the things I have accumulated from New York. And of course there is the obvious and probably most highly ranked reason for my travels: a hair date with my stylist who has been cutting my hair for 19 years. Yes, that's right folks. I've been with her since I was two. That is true loyalty.

After a morning of comfortable bus travel, I arrived in DC to be picked up by my mother and cousin at the bus station. Pete (my cousin) and I jetted home to settle me in and then we drove to my favorite bookstore, Politics & Prose, for some necessary fiction browsing.

After our outing we went to lunch in the Macomb Street restaurant enclave about five blocks from my house. We parked the car and walked up the street. Something caught my eye. In the place of an ancient antique store that my mother liked to frequent stood a brightly lit and painted new shop entitled "Something Sweet." Do you remember the Sesame Street interactive game "What doesn't Fit"? Well this sighting was a little like that. The series of restaurants on this strip have been imprinted in my brain so that the presence of a new shop sent off a message in my head with an appropriate robot voice: ALERT ALERT NEW RESTAURANT, MUST TRY!

I had to sneak in and check out the goods. Pete, confused but obliging, let me look even though he was ravenously hungry. The cute, but awfully mysterious shop, contained rows of neatly decorated cupcakes and hungry customers on line for a sweet treat. My eyes popped open. I scampered out of the store before my lack of will power would get the best of me and allow me to try cupcakes before having lunch.

At Cafe Deluxe, a local good ol' upscale American food joint, I dined with my mom and Pete on soups and salads. One of my best friends happened to come into the restaurant at the end of our meal for her own lunch date. I appropriately ran across the restaurant (yes, I ran), squealed and tackled her with a hug. What will continue to amaze me is the frequency of random run-ins when home for a brief vacation. If I have been away from DC for three months or even seven months, I will always run into some acquaintance or friend who also happens to be living away from home. Call it fate. Call it non-random. Call it a small world. Regardless, it's amazing and highly entertaining.

After lunch, I convinced my mother to come with me to my new cupcake discovery right around the corner. My mom, god love her, can never turn down a venture into a cute boutique, food, shoes, or otherwise. So, she's always a great partner in exploring these venues. We entered and after the anticipated oohs, aahs and "I can't believe this exists" comments, we decided to purchase cupcakes for Shabbat dessert and try some of their homemade ice cream. We bought an assortment of four cupcakes: Chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting, Vanilla with vanilla buttecream frosting, Red velvet with creamcheese frosting, and Vanilla with Chocolate buttercram and m&ms. Yum.

Mom and I shared a smooth and creamy peanut buttercup cup of icecream which ended up being almost three heaping scoops. Pete had a fluffy rocky road combo. The icecream was clearly homemade in that it lacked your typical freezer burned tastelessness from processing. It was the perfect consistency at room temperature--not too melted, not too soupy, but perfectly soft with elasticity that holds the flavors and the cold cream together. I can honestly hold one complaint for the peanut buttercup flavor: it did not have enough chocolate. Period.

As for the cupcakes, which were consumed several hours later by my dad, my friend Mimi, Pete, mom, and myself, I can say they did their jobs well. Large, but satisfying. Creamy, flavorful buttercream, and moist cake satisfied our already full palates and bellies. I would like to say that I would have preferred a richer and flavorful red velvet cake mixture. It sort of lacked the oomph that usually accompanies the blend of creamchesse frosting and the cocoa powder. Otherwise, each cake complimented its frosting and our appetites beautifully.

Check out Something Sweet at: 3708 Macomb Street Washington, DC across from Two Amy's and Cactus Cantina.
http://www.somethingsweetdc.com/www/index.php

Ooh Baby Baby

What do city girls in the city after work? They go out to dinner with their girlfriends of course! Succumbing to the Sex And The City trend of eating out with galpals, I met my friend Ali last week for drinks and the fateful girls dinner. As I have mentioned before, I work two days a week downtown in the heart of Soho--a shopper's heaven. You want to see fashionable ladies strutting around? Go to Soho.

I waited for Ali on a street corner in front of an air conditioned designer boutique. I was loitering, but didn't care. They want to waste their AC and draw in customers by leaving the doors wide open to the muggy NYC streets, be my guest. I plan to fully take advantage of their waste. So, while I was cooling off, I heard these girls, smoking cigarettes on what seemed like a coffee break, discussing their new vegan diets. "I mean, totally, like it's so good for you. Raw veggies, barely any gluten, nuts...Oh my god so many nuts. Though my skin is going to be like totally gorgeous." Listening to these women, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to question/discuss the vegan diet with my friend Ali who was a vegan herself.

After sixty "likes," you knows," and "oh my gods," Ali arrived and started directing us immediately to our destination: Essex Restaurant. Coincidentally, my friend Mimi had recommended that I try this restaurant for brunch. Ali and I walked through the streets of the Lower East Side, window shopping, sweating, and catching up on life.

Essex. Now how do I put this? Simply amazing. We arrived at 6:30, smack in the middle of their happy hour special: half-priced drinks from 6-9pm. The restaurant also has a nightly seafood special. Our novice waitress kept forcing the mussels special on us even after we articulated and re-articulated Ali's vegetarianism. However, I did have a ginger pear saketini and a mango belini half price so I won't complain.

Over drinks, we had mini spanakopita that weren't identified as such, but tasted exactly the same as the Greek specialty. Girl talk increased exponentially as the entrees arrived. I had a delicious manchego macaroni and cheese with an edamame, green bean, and blood orange side salad. Strange combination, I know, but the kick from the citrusy beans complimented the tangy creaminess of the cheesy macaroni. So filling! Ali had the real kicker though. Essex does a Potato Pancake Special that blows most latkes out of the water. It is set up as a triplet. One potato pancake has a huge slab of creamy goat cheese with fresh argula. The second is topped with sauteed onions and a side of homemade applesauce. The third--last, but not least--is a potato pancake topped with smoked salmon, caviar, and creme fraiche. Miraculous. Whoever thought a greasy Hanukkah dish could be so good?

After stuffing ourselves to the brim with carb-tastic food and alcohol, Ali suggested she educate me on vegan cooking by taking me to BabyCakes, a bakery that offers "all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs." They also sweeten most dishes with agave nectar, the syrup from the center of a cactus!

The store reminds me a little of an artists studio mixed with a barbershop. It has that narrow, working-space quality and the homey feeling of a private studio. Original local art graces the walls of this small shop and cushions line the quaint window seat area at the front. I purchased two cupcakes. The carrot and the brownie. The brownie was strangely sweetened with organic ingredients, almond flour, and agave nectar. There is no milk in the chocolate so it is extremely rich and thick. It sort of felt like the first time I tried Diet Coke. I couldn't place the aspartame flavor, but I let it bubble on my tongue for a while until the sweetness settled into my palate. I think agave-flavored anything is an acquired taste like Diet Coke...you need to accept the fact that it will not buzz like refined sugar.

The Carrot Cupcake, on the other hand, was like eating a nuttier carrot cake. It was delicious and flavorful, but there was no creamcheese frosting. Substitute frosting may look glossy and beautiful from a display case, but it doesn't stand a chance against creamcheese. There is a reason god made female animals produce milk (beyond the obvious infant nuturing concept). Dairy is for delicious creamy consumption! As Julia Child says so aptly, "you can never have too much butter." So true. So very true.

In short, while the decor and the ambiance of BabyCakes was adorable and my company beyond wonderful, I can't say that I would grab a vegan cupcake before a delicious buttercream frosted masterpiece. And I wouldn't even dream of making these kinds of desserts at home for myself because, as Ali says, "You need to spend approximately $100 at Whole Foods to get all the weird required ingredients for a single batch." Thanks, but no thanks.

Essex Restaurant: 120 Essex Street, NY, NY 10002 near the Essex, Delancey Street Stop (F, J, M, Z)
BabyCakes: 248 Broome Street (Btwn Orchard & Ludlow) NY, NY 10002; near Delancey Street Stop (F, J, M, Z)

Morning Magic

What gets you up in the morning? Sunlight? A persistent alarm clock with a death wish? A suggestive kiss from a significant other? Whatever it is, stick to that motivator because it is valuable. For me, I can honestly say its the smell of good food in the kitchen.

Growing up, almost every weekend and many weekdays, my dad got up early to get started on his to do list. Incidentally I have adopted this organizational habit and it is addicting. But, that description of my life is for a different day. Anyway, my father would do a fair bit of cooking in those early mornings. One of my favorite things he would prepare is his famous meat sauce. The trick to the sauce is that it slow cooks over multiple hours and the flavors are layered. Before we had a slow cooker, he did it old school--letting the sauce simmer at low heat in his enormous Le Creuset pot. I think if my father could have two wives, he would marry his slow cooker in addition to my mother.

But back to the sauce. The smell of ground beef sizzling among carmelizing onions is enough to make my mouth water and wander out of bed drooling. Yes, I know it sounds strange. The smell of sizzling meat rises me out of a warm comfortable bed. You have no idea how good it smells until you hang out in my kitchen. Even all you vegetarians out there would go crazy over that aroma.

Living in New York on my own doesn't exactly grant me the luxury of waking up to prepared food. I'm a very "light receptive" sleeper. I don't wake up without light which proves to be quite a challenge at college during the grey New England winters. I don't like to sleep in, but on this grey morning I found myself look over at my cell phone thinking it must be around 8, but in fact it was 10:49. Christ. I got up guilty and shamed that I had slept so late and wasted the day, but productively made coffee. I thought to myself, what can bring me back to my parent's kitchen and get me out of this morning funk? What do I have in the refrigerator?

Eggs. Tomatoes. Turkey Sausage. Onion. Garlic. Aged White Cheddar Cheese. Rosemary. Whole wheat olive loaf bread...a meal in the making! So, in my exhaustion and with the aid of strong coffee, I threw together one of my favorite breakfasts--Egg Scrambles. With the same strategy as my dad, but a lot less finesse, I layered the flavors. First the onions, then the turkey sausage, then tomatoes and garlic, then eggs and rosemary and cheese. Then I toasted the slices of olive loaf in the hot pan. I know I don't have the energy to eat this luxuriously every day, but maybe the memory of the smell of sweet turkey sausage, rosemary, and garlic will rise me out of bed more easily.

For amazing egg scrambles if you are ever in the nation's capital and my hometown, hit up Open City on Calvert Street in Woodley Park. Weekend brunches are packed so get there early!

Wanderings

One of the things I love most about New York is that you can spend all day doing absolutely nothing constructive, but feel as if you have done and seen everything. Last Friday I had one of those days. Like a prize idiot, I left my cell phone charger at the office of the NGO I am interning at this summer. My phone had died somewhere between Wednesday and Friday leaving me socially stranded in a city of blackberrys and iPhones. So, I headed into the office, charged my phone while I socialized with my co-workers distracting them from their constructive work and I checked emails.
Surprisingly I managed to park it at my desk and work for several hours before I needed to get out and explore the city. Situated downtown, I texted my friend Ryan who lives in Union Square for an impromptu meet up.
We met in Washington Square Park, walked over to a side-street falafel eatery, and grabbed delicious falafel sandwiches for $2.50 each. Thick white, hot pita bread, freshly fried falafel, crisp lettuce, succulent tomatoes, and a tangy tahini. Five stars.
As I said before, you can literally do nothing all day, but wander, talk, eat, and wander some more. We sat in the park and talked, savored out sandwiches and then got up and wandered to our next spot: Think Café. I’m actually sitting in this café right now composing this entry, but I have to credit good old Ryan for the introduction. Located on Mercer Street and W 3rd on NYU campus, this café is a place I’ve been looking for all summer. It fulfills pretty much all of my basic criteria for a good coffee house:
1. Large open spaces with diverse seating areas.

2.Eclectic music that isn’t played too loudly in the speakers.
3. Fair trade, delicious coffee.
4. Pieces by local artists displayed on the walls.
5. Grilled cheese
And of course….
6. WiFi
This place has its own character. It is frequented by the New York writer and the graphic designer, the edgy NYU literature student and the out-of-work actor who scans through plays laughing and gesticulating to him or herself. Think also gives 10% of its profits to a non-profit education program that reaches out to low-income kids and teens. Coffee with a cause, always good.
Ryan and I sat for about an hour, talking, sipping coffee, and catching up. For the first time in almost 10 years, I got a bloody nose when I went to the bathroom. I look up in the mirror as I’m washing my hands, thinking that I have a runny nose (like a normal human being), but I’m bleeding. What the hell? Maybe it was my inner workaholic screaming out to me “STOP ENJOYING YOURSELF BEING A SLACKER AND GET BACK TO WORK!” Of course, the best way to get my attention is to make me bleed. Thank you inner conscience.
Wandering out of Think and up Broadway, Ryan and I hit up The Strand, New York’s new and used bookstore. At 2pm on a Friday afternoon it was packed. I looked at “Netherland,” “Stuff White People Like” (in which I completely fit the mold), and finally browsed upon a stack of Noam Chomsky’s conspiracy theory books. The inner philosopher and suspicious American got the better of me and I bought one of his damn books.

We then wandered to University Place and stopped off in Crumbs Bake Shop. It wouldn’t be a day in New York without a cupcake. Crumbs is a touristy enclave, strategically situated in one of the most populated outdoor spaces in New York. The cupcakes are massive, colorful, creative, and expensive—all draws for the unknowing visitor. Ryan, being rather economical and understanding of my passion for taste testing, suggested that we get the 12 mini-cupcake assortment. Smart guy. I ventured into cupcake land hand in hand with Oreo, Cookie Dough, and Red Velvet mini cupcakes. Ryan's companions were Cherry, Strawberry, and Coconut. May I just say that the oreo was heavenly. Rich and creamy, this softer version of an oreo cookie brought me back to my days afterschool when my sisters and I would dunk oreo cookies into milk, shove them into our mouths, and smack our lips in satisfaction. The cookie dough cupcake (sounds strange, I know) brought me back to childhood activities as well. My weekly sleepover ritual at my best friend Rachel's house always ended in a midnight binge of taffy and refrigerated cookie dough. This cupcake tasted far better as I dove into a miniature fudge wedge at the center. Delicious.

I would highly recommend trying out the tasting assortment of cupcakes from crumbs. Even if you a cupcake snob and steer away from the touristy spots, indulge and make it an activity. Despite my general lack of productivity, its always beneficial to sink into a day of exploring and cupcakes.

Crumbs Bake Shop: University and 13th in Union Square.

Peace, Love, and Happiness….Vegan Style

When most people think vegan, they picture dreadlocks, thin women, lots of applesauce, and piles of nuts overflowing from shelves in bohemian apartments. When I think vegan, I think of religious Hindus, but maybe that’s because I’ve been in India too long. No longer do we have to envision these profoundly weird mental images, but we can experience vegan food with a degree of normalcy.

I stumbled upon peacefood café on the way back from an evening of comedy with my friend Tim. Wandering up Amsterdam Ave after an evening of Thai food, I was drawn to this brightly lit haven along the restaurant strip. The place is extremely modern and cleanly designed—large glass windows, nature hues cover the walls, and bright white tiles make for a trendy spot for conscious eating. Checking out the menu on the front door wasn’t enough; I had to hit it up inside and take a look at what they had to offer.

I should have known that there is no way of avoiding a crazy boho hippie crowd at any vegan restaurant. The girl at the counter, who couldn’t have been older than 18, smiled at me with this semi-creepy hunger-driven daze asking what I’d like. I asked her what cupcakes she recommended seeing as how there were three kinds in the glass display case. She looked at me confused, as if the word “favorite” was not in her vocabulary. Looking back and forth between the glass case and my inquisitive face, she finally said, “we’ll, I mean, they’re all awesome.” Thanks. Very helpful.

In situations like these, I make pragmatic decisions. How am I going to find out which one is my favorite? Aha! Buy all three kinds. Screw the calories! Screw health consciousness! I’m eating vegan! Who cares?

The girl packed up all three cupcakes in recycled pressed paper and handed them to me. I asked for a bag. “We don’t have bags.” Oh right, I forgot. Everything is environment conscious in vegan restaurants. She then proceeded to take my credit card, swipe it, sneeze into her hands which conveniently held my credit card, and then handed it back to me. Lovely.

Despite the weird, possibly drug-induced, service person, peacefood produces lovely cupcakes. I tried the lemon vanilla cupcakes that tasted very almondy. The nutty flavor from the almond base did not overpower the citrus flavor of the icing or the cake. It was lightly refreshing and for some reason, I felt healthier eating it. The chocolate ganache cupcake was sort of a mimic of a german chocolate cake because it had coconut and nutty bits in the icing. I could taste the applesauce base in these badboys. Not my favorite. Apple, chocolate, and coconut are hard to coordinate. Better luck next time. Finally, I tried the passionate fruit cupcakes which were simply magical. I sailed away on a vegan grass boat to Polynesia. There was a simple vanilla frosting, but the fruity flavor from the cake totally took over my tastebuds…in a good way. If you are in the mood for a hippie retreat with many more dairy and meat free foods, hit up peacefood café on Amersteram Ave. between 82nd and 83rd.
http://www.peacefoodcafe.com/PeacefoodCafeMenu.pdf

Friends Are The Bestest

Rainbows, lemon, miniatures, oh my!
This past weekend, I shuttled up to Boston on my favorite mode of transportation, the Bolt Bus. (A quick tangent though: On my way back to NY Monday morning, I had a bus driver on my good ol' reliable Bolt Bus service who thought it completely necessary to stop at an Arby's for twenty minutes in Connecticut. A) Why pick the worst fast-food restaurant known to man? B) Fast-food means fast, quick, speedy, pronto... Sipping on your high fructose corn syrup coma-inducing soda and savoring your crappy, unidentifiable meat sub is hardly leisure meal behavior, let alone bus service manner. C) And, if you are going to pick an Arby's, why don't you pick one that is in the vicinity of other fast-food places, not just your run-of-the-mill Holiday Inn? Ok, I'm done with my rant. Moving on...)

So yes, I went back to beantown to visit a good chunk of my friends who happen to be Tufts-centered this summer. Arriving in South Station, I bounded down to the red line of the T only to be greeted by rowdy Red Sox fans. I began to miss the NY subway on the T when we stopped, count it, six times in the tunnel. Oh, the underrated beauty of express underground transportation with minor delays.

I got off at Davis Square and journeyed up the hill to meet my friend and housemate Meg for dinner at my house in Medford. I clearly forgot two things: a) how much I sweat from minimal daily exercise and b) how damn far away my house is from Davis Square. Getting to my front porch with no muscles pulled never felt so good. Meg warmly greeted me and threw some "summer turkey" burgers onto our George Foreman grill. Two burgers, a magic hat ale, lots of gossip, and six pieces of grilled summer squash later, I was stuffed, lying on my plushy, yet filthy couch eyeing the mountain of videogame devices that had accumulated on my coffee table. Thanks, male subletters.

I would have to say that the best part of the evening is the surprise cupcakes Meg made for the occasion. The rainbow lemon cupcakes are so tiny that three could easily fit on my freakishly small palm. The cupcakes weren't frosted, but glazed with tart, yet delicious lemon gloss. Biting into my first cupcake, the whizz of lemon and the sweet crunch from the rainbow funfetti filled my palate and inevitably invoked an "oooh!" of delight. These little bad boy cupcakes pack a tangy punch that only the avid cupcake connoisseur can handle. Needless to say, I ate five. Well done, Meg. Well done.

Cornershop Comfort

Yes. It's been a while. Last week, while on a long and much needed lunch break from work at one of my internships, I wandered the streets of Noho trying to figure out why everyone and their little brother wants to eat in this neighborhood. First of all, it's the shopping capital of Manhattan which means that it's the tourist capital of the US. Since the recession, every trendy European and his stick-thin girlfriend are found traipsing about Houston Street looking for comparatively cheap fashion buys--value they can get for fewer Euros. One of these fedora-clad fashionistas almost spilled a venti mochaccino on me as I walked out of my building... Luckily I have the reflexes of a nervous cat and jumped backwards awkwardly bumping into the security guard of the building who was holding the door for me. My bad.

I originally was hoping to find a cute little coffeehouse I heard about in my search for the perfect cupcake. Memo to you, New York Magazine: 17 Bleecker, a coffehouse "where thirty-something locals lap up lattes, nibble on pastries, and cruise the Internet via free wi-fi" DOES NOT EXIST. It is now a boutique. I was dissappointed.

Wandering down Bleecker, I came across a pretty restaurant with windows open and elegant curtains shading customers from the midday Manhattan sun. The Cornershop Cafe (643 Broadway, just abover Bleecker Street) is a cute little oasis in the shopping desert. I entered the billowing curtains and found a small dining room with a variety of old wood tables and trendy bronze chandeliers. Decorative pillows adorned wall seats and the floor just screamed "I'm aged wood--don't scuff me up with your high-priced heels!"

I belong to a generation obsessed with personal technology. Blackberrys, iPods, bluetooth, portable GPS, and laptops are our most prized possessions. Even though I am technologically challenged (yes, I have issues syncing my iPod, among other things...), I am usually with my laptop. My lovely, orange encased macbook goes with me everywhere so I can write, look at my pictures and addictively browse the internet. So, stepping into this place, I didn't want to seem too out of place by being the one anti-social, workaholic chick with a computer. Luckily there was another guy, dressed in work attire, using a laptop and sipping a coffee at a table. PERFECT, I thought. I won't be ostracized and hated by the waitstaff for camping out and taking up valuable table space.

I went and sat down at the table behind my laptop buddy so I could view the whole dining room. I ordered a fresh mint iced tea and a breakfast wrap with eggs, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and smoked chicken sausage. I'm not exactly sure where the breakfast burrito craving came from, but it was a good choice. First of all, let me comment on the mint iced tea. Praised be the good lord of all holy herbal remedies. Drinking this tea was like being hit over the head with a heavy (and fragrant) pot of mint leaves. My gums tingled for minutes after taking a single sip. This flavor may be too strong for some, but it was the most refreshing thing I could have asked for. The breakfast wrap was also delicious--not too greasy, cheesy, or over-stuffed. The eggs were not overcooked and stayed fluffy in the condensed wrap. The chicken sausage was delicious and mixed perfectly with the sharp, yet tangy cheddar cheese. The tomatoes added that extra bit of sweetness that eggs always need. So, yes. Yum.

Of course, when I finally whipped out my laptop, the jerk in front of me leaves making me look like the workaholic anti-social girl I was afraid of becoming. More and more patrons entered the restaurant as I sip my iced tea and the noise level became noticeably unbearable. My waiter even dropped off the bill without me asking, as a suggestive "get the hell outta here, I got customers who want that table." Being the stubborn lady that I am, I stayed put and ordered a coffee to spite the bastard. Let me and my laptop enjoy my newfound Noho nook.