DAILY-BITES
Okay so we know Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg is swarming with good food and lots of people. Not to mention Smorgasburg on Saturdays, which is one of our favorite places to go; but there is also so much to try beyond where the huge crowds are. We decided to route a foodie adventure for you and we recommend renting some bicycles for some light biking in between so you can burn a few calories and really enjoy the day. You can rent bikes for $35 per day, including the helmet, at Bike Peddler near the Lorimer stop on the L train.
Rick Bayless is a highly acclaimed chef of Mexican cuisine, especially in the Chicago area. He has over five restaurants and catering companies in Illinois, and he is widely known for his television show, Mexico One Plate At a Time on PBS. Bayless has made multiple appearances on the Food Network, so it is not surprising that the channel has praised many of his restaurants, including Topolobampo. Located on North Clark Street in downtown Chicago, the restaurant is right in the middle of all the action. “Topolo,” as the frequent visitors call the restaurant, is known for being the quieter, possibly classier version of its sister site Frontera Grill, also owned by Bayless. Rick’s goal is to enhance the typical reputation that Mexican cuisine has by putting an upscale twist on the food, while maintaining the authentic flavors and techniques.
The city can be an unforgiving and unfriendly place to work and live. Since we all have our own agendas and jam packed calendars, our manners oftentimes fall by the wayside. We’re all guilty of it. You’ve held the close door button in the elevator to skip over floors and you’ve hopped in a cab someone else hailed. We’ve all done things that aren’t so sweet to our fellow New Yorkers. Austin-based Sweet Leaf Tea has set up an interactive campaign on the High Line under the Chelsea Market Passage (16th Street and Tenth Avenue) to help change that. Sweet Leaf Tea is on a mission to encourage Big Apple residents to spread kindness throughout our community.
Enter a world of lavish parties, glamorous women, and the most powerful and influential men in existence. The fictional life lived by Jay Gatsby is the thing of literary legend. With the success of the recent reboot of The Great Gatsby, which premiered with an opening box office earnings of $50.1 million, has been one of the most talked about films of the summer. From the flapper fashion to the unnecessary 3-D effects and the fabulous soundtrack, The Great Gatsby has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue since the film encountered some issues prerelease. Thanks to the success of the film, and the fact that everyone was assigned the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel at one time or another, people get enough to Jay Gatsby and the grand parties thrown at his West Egg, Long Island home, and restaurants around NYC have stepped up to the plate, literally, to other diner’s the a glimpse into the luxurious libations and meals savored by the socialites of the Gold Coast in the 1920s.
Looking for the perfect restaurant to WOW your date? Son Cubano in Edgewater is the perfect place! Located right on Riverwalk Place, the view of the New York skyline will definitely impress your date along with the elegant decor that transports you back to opulent Havana in the 1950s.
Son Cubano, meaning the sound of Cuba, has the most exquisite Cuban cuisine menu in North Jersey. They are open Monday through Sunday, serving brunch, lunch, and dinner. Brunch is only served on Sunday and their hours vary. A must-have on the menu is their guacamole for those guac lovers. Dinner menu highlights include Pulpo Octopus with thinly sliced Spanish octupus with spicy tomamto sauce, the Sole del Alma entree of steamed sole wrapped in banana leaf, cilantro pesto with steamed vegetables, and Son Cubano's Famous Pernil prepared with Berkshire pork shank slow roasted with corn chorizo stew. A must-have dessert for flan fans is Son Cubano's Trio de Flan, a sampling of three different flans with flavors including creamy vanilla, tangy pineapple, and coconut flan. Also, Son Cubano offers a wide variety of wines and cocktails and be sure to try their red sangria, it is AMAZING!
Call me a snob if you must, but when you can buy a dish at your local gas station, it kind of loses its luster in my eyes. There is probably no better example of this than sushi. Once deemed something exotic and only for the adventurous eater, now it seems like sushi has become as exciting as a ham and cheese sandwich. Now, just like there are some pretty orgasmic ham and cheese sandwiches out there, there continue to be otherworldly sushi experiences in the world, and even some in Miami. Nevertheless, the majority of sushi experiences can be likened to getting a media noche at a cafeteria. Give it whatever value you’d like. There doesn’t seem to be much in terms of innovation when it comes to sushi. The best sushi chefs stick to tradition and minimalism, and the midrange guys (and gals) can only pile so much onto a roll before it starts to resemble a Colombian hot dog. Sushi, it seems, has become old news...or so I thought. It turns out that the maki, temaki, and nigiri that we’re used to are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to presentations of seasoned rice and seafood. With all that being said, it is high time that we are introduced to the temari.
Upon entering the dining area of Oya, the first thing you'll notice is its strikingly luxurious interior design. Ornamented with chandeliers, feather covered columns, and a few of those cool fire pits with the glass in the bottom, you can’t help but anticipate an equally opulent meal. Oya delivers.
The menu features an array of carefully engineered sushi, small and large plates, and a prix fixe menu for lunch ($22) and dinner ($36). I was very hungry so I decided against sushi and instead ordered two of Oya's Land Small Plates: BBQ Sticky Ribs and the Beef Short Rib Wellington. The sticky ribs had a delicious caramel sweetness that was like eating those Werther’s Originals my grandmother would give me, except the ribs weren’t old and melted together. Cooked to the perfect tenderness, slathered with a soy-lemongrass glaze, and complimented with citrusy coleslaw, the BBQ Sticky Ribs were an interesting and delightful spin on a southern comfort staple.
New lifestyle trends and choices are constantly popping up all over the country and it can be hard to stick with them when cravings arise for unhealthy, high calorie comfort food. Up until recently, vegetarians and vegans have had to give up things like bacon cheeseburgers, hot wings, and tacos in order to stay on track. However, the increasingly popular Chicago Diner, which has locations on Halsted Street and Logan Square, has changed the way that vegans can eat, but more importantly, the way that meat-eaters view the vegan lifestyle. With menu options such as Chickun Ranch Salad, Country Fried Stӕk, and Mac & Teese on the kid's menu, customers are able to stay inside of their culinary comfort zone, while branching out into the world of tofu, seitan, and vegan cheeses.
Joonbug’s taste buds were awakened with diverse flavors from the only Colombian style food truck in NYC, Palenque! This food truck, specializing in arepas, is back in action after taking some time off over the winter.
What makes a Colombian arepa different than the more common Venezuelan ones you might ask? Venezuelan arepas have more of a sandwich look to them and are filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables whereas a Colombian arepa is open-faced and topped with the selected ingredients.
The menu at Palenque has a pretty diverse selection to choose from and all the ingredients are eco-friendly and organic. While the menu doesn’t seem like traditional Colombian food, there is an authentic charm to it. Perhaps that’s because of the Colombian owners, Viviana Lewis and Nina Sierra. Plus their sauces are homemade and taste amazing. When we visited the truck last week, we decided to change things up and order a brown rice sesame arepa instead of the original corn. We also decided to go vegetarian and try the seitan topping, but if that’s not your thing there are plenty of meat options as well. We have to say though, we are pretty glad we got out of our comfort zones and tried something new. We might be going back for round 2 tomorrow.
Artistic innovators are what many people are striving to be in NYC. The food industry is trending in creativity and NYC is the best place to get a front row seat to these unique opportunities. We’re not just talking about yummy restaurants and food trucks. There’s a whole lot of new technology that gives us more access to food too! Joonbug hit up the Assembled Food event this past Saturday at General Assembly to find out what is trending. The event had a line up of speakers of professionals in NYC’s food industry that have come up with cool new concepts and are successfully executing them.
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