light

15 east

chardonnay and amaebi pair so beautifully, creamy, buttery, lush. rainbow hued sea lettuces still taste of ocean. tofu dissolves smoothy into ginger soy, leaving behind only a memory of taste. nights like these make me feel nostalgic even before they're over.






15 East
15 East 15th Street
New York, NY
(212) 647-0015

the new york city macaron expedition

do you remember this ridiculous sugar fest i had in boston, which ended with the conclusion that boston has no good macarons to offer?

well, i did something similar for new york, except it ended much more happily! over the course of a weekend, i consumed about 283476 macarons, and returned to laduree no fewer than 3 times. i'm not ashamed.

actually, the shopgirl at laduree told me, "I can tell you've been here before because you picked all the best flavors." best compliment ever.

(those flavors were raspberry, cassis, coconut, lemon, salted butter caramel, and pistachio.)

notes:

• everything from maison du chocolate has chocolate ganache in it. chocolate is nice, but—dare i say it?—chocolate has a time and place. it's not all the time and not every place, especially not in a passionfruit macaron.
• the earl grey from michel cluizel is subtle and lovely.
• bouchon's macarons are gargantuan. sprüngli's luxemburgerli : bouchon's macaron :: european portions : american portions.
• the cassis violette from laduree is the best flavor ever. EVER. 
• the texture of macaron cafe's macarons were technically good, but the flavors weren't as concentrated as the ones from laduree. however, they do ship nationwide, so it's good for a emergency fix when you have no other options nearby. (actually, i have a box chilling in my freezer right now.)
• i want more macarons....

wisteria

can't. stop. photographing. flowers!

i love love

flurries of petals and proposals by the fountain -- springtime in the park is too lovely for words.

glitter

a taste of tokyo in new york in boston

nom! thank you :)

labor day weekend in nyc

...was, in a word, blissful.

lots of pictures after the jump!

recent eats

the past few days have been filled with very simple, delicious eats. stomachs finally rumbling out of protest of their emptiness around 9 or 10pm, we look on opentable or yelp for something that piques our interest -- something simple, quick, yummy -- before stumbling outside in search of our appointed meal.

grano trattoria, in the west village. so cute and low-key, complete with outdoor seating and a woodburning oven in the corner from which pizzas bubbling with cheese and tomato sauce emerge.

the pastas are superb -- dare i say better than del posto's. (and a fraction of the cost!)

i had the casarecci pasta with wild boar sausage & mushrooms. DIVINE. the black linguine with calamari was also very good.

tiramisu, which i found to be a bit odd since it was served atop streaks of raspberry sauce, which i'd never seen paired with tiramisu before. i think i would have preferred it with a puddle of coffee like i usually see, but this certainly wasn't bad at all

late dinner at gobo the other night. it's a vegetarian restaurant, which at first scared me, but the food turned out to be really, really good.

the sliced seitan in ginger sauce was insane. i think i'm addicted to the texture now -- rubbery, gluteny (okay that doesn't sound so good but i promise it was) -- served atop kale with a cute seaweed-wrapped pyramid of brown rice.

sweet and sour tofu was also really good, though it could have come with a side of carbs to feel more balanced...

this is why i love having dinner at 10pm. uncrowded dining :)

went to a tibetan restaurant called tsampa. it was my first time ever having tibetan food, and it tasted like a cross between the methods and ingredients of chinese cooking (stir-fries) and the spices of indian cooking. we had the special seat directly under a giant portrait of the dalai lama :)

we had the tsampa roll (a sort of pan-fried spring roll filled with tofu and vegetables, which was incredible), spicy shrimp, and bhutanese chicken.

the pièce de résistance, however, had to be the barley cake. kind of gritty, hearty, sweet, and rustic, topped with vanilla ice cream and cubed peaches. it was insane -- so, so good. truly one of the best desserts i've had in the city this summer. i've been dreaming about it ever since. go just for this if nothing else!

there was also brunch at blue ribbon bakery & cafe, where we had the most amazing eggs benedict (coming from a girl who orders eggs benedict every single time i see them on a menu, this means a lot). the french toast with whipped cream and berries at the next table also looked incredible (though, when does french toast not look incredible?).

we drew out this meal and picked at our food and chatted away for probably close to three hours, because it was raining and we didn't want to venture outside with only our tiny umbrella. delicious food, unrushed atmosphere, enormous windows, and fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice makes for the perfect sunday brunch.

a day in eats

unpictured late (1pm) breakfast of rioja, dark chocolate, and cherries

late afternoon snack at le pain quotidien

smoked salmon, chopped dill, and avocado tartine

avocado & chickpea tartine in the background

sandwich at lincoln center during the intermission of an all-beethoven program. it was delicious. hunger is the best chef.

a post-concert snack / light dinner at morimoto. p.s. aren't the names so cute?

half dozen oysters

hamachi tartare with caviar

dipping sauces included wasabi, creme fraiche, seaweed something, avocado, and crunchy rice puff things? ahah i have a bad memory

smoked salmon ravioli with japanese sweet yams, salmon roe, and yuzu gelee... topped with a lot of foam

the awesome mind-boggling bathrooms