Baby Halibut..To Share

Although a dish served for two, this is actually a baby fish. The secret to the mild flavor and the thin, flaky texture is to cook the flatfish before fully grown. Halibut can grow up to 8 feet long-it probably wouldn't be the delicate display Marc Forgione's diners are used to, but i'd like to see if the chef could pull serving one of that size. Since the bones are so fragile, they become completely edible after a deep fry. The waiter explains them as crunchy potato sticks, but that's debatable. The newest addition to the Iron Chef completes the presentation by filling the plate with toasted hazelnuts and red pepper flakes. Not surprising he continues to rack up the Michelin Stars.

Lychee Obsession in Tribeca

As if Tribeca hasn't set enough trends lately, the friendly borough seems to be the place to go when looking for lychee on a menu. If you can't imagine what a lychee is, you are not alone. In my opinion, its not the most attractive food out there, but nonetheless, the tropical fruit has become all the rage. The native Chinese roots explain why Mai House incorporates lychee into their curry tofu (even though I'm not sure those three flavors entice me all that much-you can be the judge of that). However, to appropriately recognize Tribeca as going lychee crazy, its necessary to point out the unlimited lychee martinis Bread offers with every weekend brunch! This tiny italian hole in the wall is a favorite of Mario Batali-probably because the free selection of warm scones and muffins that arrive in front of your face even before you finish placing your order. If you aren't convinced of the lychee madness in Tribeca yet, head over to Tamarind and finish the elegant Indian experience with lychee rice pudding! Amazing. This one ranks the highest. As much as I enjoy the flavor of a good old lychee, I don't enjoy the sight of it and by Tamarind incorporating it in the dessert, I get the best of both worlds. There may be a slight bias that out of the three mentioned, my favorite is the dessert. But don't take my word for it, there's plenty of opportunities to find your own love for lychees-and you'll be getting an added bonus of vitamin C while your at it. You won't have to look hard to locate one as long as your dining in Tribeca.

Detox with Lemons

It shouldn't come as a surprise that lemons can be ideal for detoxification as they originated from Asia-where the popular culture for keeping good health is herbal natural medicine. But besides reducing a fever and giving you clear skin, the lemon has one of the strongest tastes in the culinary world. Just about every ethnicity uses it. Try some of the common and not so common ways to taste lemon...
Thai lemongrass soup
Japanese honey lemon slices
Meyer lemon tart
Italian lemon butter chicken (or pasta)
French lemon souffle
Vanilla lemon basil french toast
Mexican garlic lemon fish
Indian lemon rice

Caramelized Onions With a Side of Onion Rings

So often diners don't know the pure taste of a true onion because of how much it is used throughout the cooking process. By the time the dish is actually served, rarely is the focal point the onion flavor. But as long as your not on a first date, this sweet and savory combo ranks pretty high on the list of things to try at Tribeca Grill. There's no secret ingredients here, just two different methods to serving one basic food item. The french onion soup comes out with the cheese still bubbling-literally! And not the standard predictable swiss or gruyere cheese you'd expect. Perhaps my taste buds weren't up to par, but I'd be willing to bet the chef layered Muenster on top of my boiling brown onion broth. Either way, the choice of cheese certainly jazzed things up for that petite ceramic bowl. Equally exciting and only inches away sat the crusted onion rings piled six tiers high. If you are imaging a perfectly shaped pyramid-your wrong- the ring sizes were completely mixed, making it look so much more chic. After a bite into the crunchy shell, the smooth flavor of the onion hits.  I know your thinking this is onion overload, but again, your wrong! The dishes are on totally different levels. The soup has a bold combination of being sweet and tangy. And the rings are so much more mild, but by no means any less worthy of your time. So don't be afraid of entering into this onion oasis.

Spaghetti Squash: Carb or Vegi?

Before cooked, the appearance is an oversized yellow oval egg shaped vegetable. That's a mouthful in itself.  But when it comes out of the oven, oddly enough, there is something entirely unexpected. The insides look, feel, and taste like discolored spaghetti. Maybe that isn't the most appealing description, but you won't get very far judging a book by its cover. So stop judging and take a fork to scrape out strands of this "vegetable spaghetti" until you have a plate of "pasta" in front of you. The traditional spaghetti, meatballs and tomato sauce is hard to beat, but try tossing these strands with feta, basil and olive oil for a healthier portion of your daily carbs. A serving of tasty pasta tends to incorporate a minimum of 500 carbs in your diet, whereas a bowl of this herbed spaghetti would be hard to get past 200! Makes you think twice now doesn't it. So before writing off this substitute for your most loved italian dish, give the sweeter ingredient a fair chance. The flavor is so subtle you can mix almost any flavor combination with it to fit your foodie needs-try pesto, mozzarella, pecorino, roasted peppers, you name it. And just think, the more you save on dinner, the more room you have for dessert :)

What is a crispy tofu noodle anyway?

Isn't tofu supposed to be soft..? So what is your reaction when its sitting in front of you and its fried? If you were ever in doubt there was a lighter food than tofu out there, Viet Restaurant has proved you wrong. The individual fluffy white strands melt like textured pieces of air on your tongue. Place them carefully in your mouth one by one or grab a handful and go for it! Spice your crispy noodle up a notch by dipping in your favorite sauce before indulging, but don't be surprised if you become an instant fan of tofu.
Don't be proud, upload your new favorite dish originating from those awesome Asian Buddhists. 


FYI: Props to Owner of Viet, Lan Tran Cao- you can even buy vietnamese art work at the gallery next to her restaurant.. http://www.viet-cafe.com/press.html

Medium Vanilla Chai Please

Want to take a break from coffee but still need a little caffeine? Make a switch and order the chai latte. It's true, tea has almost as much caffeine as coffee, but since its brewed differently, the effects are less harsh. Chai wakes you up at a more normal pace so you don't find yourself tapping your fingernails and clenching your teeth after two cups. 
Take a tall Starbucks vanilla latte that has about 150 milligrams of caffeine and replace it with a Starbucks tazo chai latte that only has about 100 milligrams of caffeine. The calories are pretty much the same whether you order the coffee or the chai and if you like the taste of one, you're going to like the taste of the other- they are that similar.  
Of course if you want to indulge, you can always grab a bowl of Starbucks, Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerrys coffee ice cream to get your fix, which has no more than 80 milligrams of caffeine :)
Happy Tasting!

Is Dessert at lunch different than at dinner?

Sunday is a good day. Brunch with my best and my roomie. Although a common trend in the restaurant business is to offer a different menu depending on the time of the day, the Odeon takes it to a whole new level with a separate dessert menu just for the midday diners. 

Unfortunately, there wasn't much room on our table after ordering a light brunch-complete with eggs benedict, crunchy fries, goat cheese salad, berry french toast and sweet potato soup with duck meatballs!

Who ordered what?

But... if we sat there long enough to digest, there were some tempting top choices. 

1. Warm Doughnuts with raspberry and maple dipping sauce. 

2. Brioche Pudding with Grand Marnier.

3. Hot chocolate pudding cake with hazelnut ice cream. 

There is only one rule of preference I have when picking desserts. I like my dish hot. If it doesn't come warm, its going to have to be that much better to satisfy.

Which would you pick? And remember its only lunch time!

Red Velvet or Vanilla?

Who has the best red velvet?

This guy comes all the way from California-perfect ratio of mini cake to cream cheese frosting

Tell me what you love to taste!?!

Lemon is tart. Pecorino is tangy. Arugula is peppery. Carpaccio is.....bold?