Etc.

New York, 2014

It's been a very decadent week around these parts, between a Wednesday dinner party, a Thursday fried chicken lunch at Momofuko, and a Chinese wedding banquet last night at Lake Pavillion in Flushing, Queens (complete with dancing dragons.) Time for some green juice, I think.

11211 Love

Williamsburg, 2014

Breaking news in Brooklyn...I have added a new coffee shop to the rotation! I am a serious creature of habit, so this is indeed a major development. It's called St. Balmain and has a sort of Aussie, surf-y vibe (their cookies are called 'Bondi Bikkies' which I am willing to overlook since the rest of the place is pretty lovely.)

Crusty bread from Il Buco, a big backyard, lots of Antipodean accents, and some fresh, simple lunch options. Plus it's a great place to while away an afternoon looking at very plausible real estate listings. Dream big!

Rockport

Maine, 2013

Today we went on a little excursion to Rockport for lunch at Salt Water Farm at Union Hall. The sea salt chocolate chip cookies were pretty insane (since we definitely needed more food this week) and the design of the market and cafe is gorgeous. They have a little cooking school I'd love to try some day.

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Williamsburg, 2013

As much as I've been flagging lately, it is dawning on me that in 3 1/2 months, I'll be back in newborn mode and that Will and I should take advantage of our relative freedom to go out in the evenings.

This list of the best restaurants in Williamsburg and Greenpoint just came out and reminded me that there are a few new places we should try.

Just Dinner

Paris, 2013

Falafel by the Seine...what more could you want?

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Motorino, 2013

So we have a really hectic (but fun) summer ahead, with France, weddings, Will's grandmother's 100th birthday celebration, family in the U.S. from Asia and Europe, Axel's first birthday celebration, lots of Maine, lots of heat, and oh, yeah, work...And all this kicks off in just three days.

It always gets kind of manic like this, summer. So much so that by September we usually swear we'll never overbook ourselves to such an extent again, only to foget what we swore and do it all over again twelve months later.

All of this means that we don't have much time to laze around in Brooklyn, at least not until August. All of these summer guides to the city? There's no time!

But that doesn't mean I'm not insanely excited for the re-opening of Motorino, one of our all time favorite pizzerias, in its new location. We may not get there 'til November, but we will certainly enjoy it when we do.

I've also been perusing the new site Bedford & Bowery, dedicated to happenings in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, but with a big focus on Williamsburg. It goes a long way to explaining why much of North Sixth Street was covered in yarn this weekend.

At least we've gotten some peeks at the Brooklyn summer mayhem before we set off on our adventures.

Whatever, Looks Tasty

Jeni's 'Zelda; Ice Cream, via Serious Eats

Nothing like a dysfunctional marriage and some problem drinking to inspire a line of delicious ice cream. But am I wrong to think this already-sold out collection looks delicious?

Dinner, Solved (Part Two)

by Diana Yen for dcuisine

I mentioned a while back that I had been working on a food-centered project.

That project was dcuisine, which delivers really stellar flash frozen soups and entrees to your door; they are made by a certified Master Chef (a big deal in the foodie world if you don't know about the certification process.) You prepare them in boiling water (they come in a sous vide-style pouch) and it's a really simple process.

This endeavor was my first foray into the world of e-commerce, and it was a really interesting journey. Along the way, I got to meet the chef and taste and test nearly all the meals. My personal favorites? The butternut squash soup, beef bourguignon, and spicy Thai chicken soup.

The founders are really obsessive about making beautiful food and the meals, which use top-notch, organic ingredients and are created in small batches, show their attention to detail.

Their site is now live, and I'm pleased to offer free shipping for Williamsburg Baby readers. You order any combination of 8 soups or entrees at a time, and can keep them in the freezer to use whenever it suits you.

Just enter FRIENDS at check out between now and May 15.

We definitely could have used this when Axel was a newborn and when I'd leave meetings with a few packages to test and re-test, I'd feel a huge sense of relief because dinner was solved, and it wasn't terrible-for-us delivery food.

Dinner, Solved (Part One)

via Serious Eats

A friend had a code for a free week of delivery from Blue Apron, a subscription service that sends you the ingredients and recipe cards for three complete meals a week.

I had all but forgotten about signing up to give it a try it until the rather impressive box arrived yesterday (handy, because we had exactly zero plans for dinner and hadn't been able to get to the grocery store because we were away over the weekend.) You can sign up for a meat and poultry service or a vegetarian service.

We wound up making a delicious chicken satay with rice and a green tomato salad. My pictures didn't really turn out, but basically, everything in the recipe is pre-portioned like this:

via Katie at the Kitchen Door

You can check out Katie at the Kitchen Door for another review. The meat comes from Pat LaFrieda, a very fancy butcher in New York. It was all very straightforward and I liked the fact that we weren't going to waste any produce or esoteric oils (so often we have a giant bunch of cilantro that wilts in the fridge because we just needed a few sprigs.) The tiny bottles of things like sesame oil or mirin were pretty darn cute as well.

Will and I love to cook, and so this service suited us; it feels like you're really making dinner from scratch (but without any advance planning required.) We were saying a month or so of this would be the perfect gift for someone with a new baby, with the caveat that they'd have to like to cook in the first place to find this a real time saver.

I felt a bit guilty about all of the packaging that arrives with it, but I was glad to hear the box lining is biodegradable. In any case, the results were far better than my usual there's-nothing-in-the-fridge go-to, turkey tacos. The meals are portioned for two people, so the one drawback is no leftovers.

Like Farm to Baby, our baby food delivery service, this is definitely a luxury I'd only really justify because I'm working full time. Hey, whatever gets you through the week, right?

11211 Love

Tiny Empire via MilkWithOneSugar

My poor sad camera is at the repair shop this week, hence the spotty posting...

I am seriously hard on cameras (like throw-them-on-the-ground-by-accident-at-regular-three-month-intervals hard) but I've been putting off taking it in since I feel naked without it. While I wait for it to return to me I figure it's a good time to check in on some recent Williamsburg happenings.

First up, Tiny Empire, my latest obsession. It's a ridiculously twee and amazing juice shop that sells ridiculously twee and delicious $10 cold pressed juices (think kale and pear or beet and carrot.) It's just the kind of non-decadent decadent thing to do after a weekend of epic Brooklyn brunches.

Sweet Chick via Thrillist

Then there's Sweet Chick, which opened a stone's throw from our apartment today. This place is dedicated to its namesake dish, fried chicken and waffles (talk about mixed messages Williamsburg.) It's the sort of place that serves artisan-made soda water and fancy cocktails along with its pseudo-ironic hearty fare, but when I walked past it tonight it looked cozy and well lit.

Aska via Bon Appetit

Frankly, we've missed out on a lot of the Williamsburg openings lately. I suppose with a new (okay, new-ish) baby we tend to stick to what's tried and true (spots like Fada, Walter Foods, and Spritzenhaus.) But it seems like every day somewhere new is opening its doors, selling oysters and absinthe or organic doughnuts or exotic sausages. There's even a Scandinavian restaurant with a very esoteric tasting menu that includes ingredients like lichen.

When I moved here nearly ten years ago, there were very cool things going on here, but you had to seek them out. Have an address in your back pocket.

Today, there are moments when I find myself in a boutique like Brooklyn Fox, eyeballing a $400 top and wondering where the heck I am. It's fairly disorienting to see so much slickness proliferating and to see hip young tourists wandering Bedford Avenue with maps in hand. I sometimes feel like I'm having an out of body experience, unsure whether I've been teleported to Tribeca or L.A. The Ides? It definitely feels like a Manhattanized version of a neighborhood I used to know really well.

Bamonte's via Saveur

I can hardly complain (after all, I actually bought that kale juice.)

But I'm still glad that the old school joints like Bamonte's are still going strong. Hopefully Axel will someday be able to remember living in a quirky place called Brooklyn, before Williamsburg was big in Sweden or lampooned on the cover of the New Yorker.

The New Yorker

A Peek

by Diana Yen, The Jewels of New York

I've been tinkering away on a few magazine and web projects of late.

Here's a sneak peek at one of the collaborations, which blends writing and food.

It's always amazing to work with people you admire (in this case, the very talented Diana Yen from the Jewels of New York.) Diana and her team catered our engagement party a few years ago, and we worked together on this story. So it's nice to circle back and pair up again for something entirely different.

I will most definitely reveal more when the time is right!

Learning Curve

Williamsburg, 2013

Last night I did one of those things you read about on lifestyle blogs, but are rarely organized enough to execute. After dinner (penne with sausage from the Meat Hook, broccoli, and pepper flakes) was made and consumed, I made an enormous pot of chili for another dinner. The kitchen was already messy so it felt pretty painless.

Lately, you see, I've been struggling a bit with the freelance life (plus baby.) Yes it brings with it a lot of flexibility. I can make it to Axel's doctor's appointments and occasionally take breaks to play on the floor on the days when I am not in the office or at meetings. But there are also very few boundaries on work. It kind of seeps in at the edges of things and you try to cram in an hour in the early morning or late at night when the baby is sleeping.

What usually falls through the cracks is household order, which is a shame, because I love nothing more than a proper dinner and crisp sheets and a tidy living room. Add to that the new challenges of Axel's food. I am dead set on making his food from scratch, so in between everything else there are a lot of dishes full of rejected mashed veggies strewn about.

I posted about feeding families with newborns, but let's just say we are still figuring it out at the six month mark.

There are of course a million delivery options in Williamsburg (okay, 297), but eat Queen of Siam basil chicken too many times and you can't help but crave real, simple fare. Lately I've been exploring other options, and have been happy to see that there are services like Sip Soups. Last week I ordered some of their soup, which was fantastic but is a little pricy on a long term basis.

As much as I love to be spontaneous (and as much as Will loves to get creative and ambitious in the kitchen), I think sometimes we need to be a little 1950s about it, as in " Friday is chili night." End of story.

January Grind

Williamsburg, 2013

It's been an intense week of meetings, interviews, crashing stories together for work. It's part thrill, part panic, trying to juggle all my deadlines, with all of my projects seeming to dovetail in the most challenging way possible.

It always seems to be like this in January, and so it's nice to dial back our social expectations and come home to simple meals and watch a movie. Will made this Irish soda bread from scratch the other night and it was delicious. I'm occasionally on the fence about homemade bread because our oven doesn't always crisp things up as much as I'd like, but this was insanely good. Especially with a chunky leak, spinach, and potato soup.

Lately

London, 2012

England before Christmas is all about the food...planning old fashioned meals, fighting over picturesque tins of tea at Fortnum and Mason, hunting furiously for obscure ingredients (peeled hazelnuts), and sourcing meats at butchers that are older than time.

This obsession with cooking in a very traditional fashion makes things quite festive and funny. People take things like, say, bread sauce, very seriously. Suggest a short cut, and people are really undone.

The good news is we are probably not going to starve.

Tasty

Williamsburg, Axel, 2012

A good day...boot camp, an espresso milkshake at Milk Bar, grocery shopping, a nap...

And now the boy is sleeping and we just finished a great skillet-made pizza with fresh basil and are curled up watching Revolution. It pretty much feels like our old Friday nights, except exponentially better. I guess it feels familiar because we weren't exactly out raving before we had a baby. Our life is organized in such a way that nights like this are pretty appealing.

Anniversary

New York, 2012

This weekend marked our 8 year anniversary (and first wedding anniversary.) It's been such a nutty few months getting situated here and getting ready for baby and we've certainly had our share of stress. But all in all it's been a wonderful year, with a fabulous honeymoon, adventures to London, and a very relaxing iguana-filled babymoon in the Virgin Islands.

We celebrated in low key fashion by having the nursery painted, staying in the AC as much as possible to avoid the 100 degree weather, watching episodes of Louie on Hulu, and having a very excellent dinner at Saraghina in Bed-Stuy. We've been long time Roberta's fans, but I have to say it's gotten a little hype-y lately and Saraghina's pizza was pretty fabulous.

Field Trip

Sripraphai, Queens, 2012

On Saturday, a friend took us to a perfect Thai spot in Woodside, Queens.

There's nothing especially atmospheric about the dining room at SriPraPhai (the food is really the point here), but we sat under a canopy of flowers in the backyard and ordered dozens of plates of delicious food accompanied by fresh coconut juice. It's not exactly a secret, but it was news to me. We'll definitely be back.

Wanderlust: Saigon

Vietnam, 2011

Around this time last year, we visited a friend who lives in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, with a fabulous detour to the island of Con Dao, one of those rare places that defies all description. Ahhh...the pho!

Looking back through our pictures, I'm reminded of some of the great little spots we discovered (and the lamps...we brought four of these guys home with us.)

L'Usine, a very chic cafe in Saigon's colonial district.

Six Senses Con Dao, a dreamy resort on Con Dao.

Cuc Gach Cuan, a stellar, tucked away restaurant we'd have had zero hope of finding without our gracious hosts.

The Refinery, a French-colonial cafe for wine and nibbles.