Obao

Obao is a new Thai restaurant that opened 2 weeks ago on the UES. It is a small, cozy restaurant with delicious authentic Thai dishes. The menu is small but everything looks yummy- the kind of place where you can't order wrong. We ordered the grilled chicken and spicy beef fried rice. Everything was fresh and delicously spicy and we finished every last bite. The chef gave us complimentary fried spring rolls to start which were crunchy little bites of heaven. The sauce was so good that we saved it for our main courses. Because the food had such a kick we asked for some sort of milk or smoothie and they came up with a jackfruit smoothie (that was also complimentary!) which we were fighting over down to the last sip. Everything was delicious and tasted so healthy. I can't wait to go back.

Plastic

I read in article in the NY Times last week about breast cancer and possible links to the plastic tupperware that we use. Go through your stash at home and throw away any with numbers 3,6, or 7 on the bottom (unless they say "BPA Free"). When they are put through the dishwasher or microwave, chemicals can leach out of the plastic. These chemicals are dangerous and have a possible connection to cancer. The safe ones are 1,2,4, and 5. Even though these are safer I would avoid putting any in the microwave.

Just a heads up!

Homemade Pizza

White Truffle Olive Oil, Garlic, Prosciutto, Brie, and Spinach!! So yum.

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market

The Smith

The Smith is one of my favorite restaurants. The drink menu is almost as much fun to read as it is to pick out the cocktail of the night. This cucumber and lime tequila was so fresh and light- I will be recreating it at my holiday party. Who cares if it's a summer drink?

On to the food... Whatever the mood is, The Smith seems to have a dish for it. They have anything from huge, fresh salads to big rich gnocchi as well as sweet potato fries or onion rings as a side. Very few dishes are over $20 which makes this place ideal for girls night out when we are not looking to break the bank.

The atmosphere is young and lively. The bar is always packed and there is rarely an empty table. To top off the night- there is a photo booth downstairs to take some black and white pics of everyone crammed into the tiny booth!

Green Dinner

My lil green machine dinner. Brussel sprouts from the farmer's market, broccoli, shallots, capers, white wine, white truffle olive oil and red pepper flakes.

Dumplings

C&L Dumpling House in Chinatown on Christie street is the hidden gem of the week. Before departing on Lucky Star to Boston, I grabbed a bowl of noodle dumpling soup for $3!! Talk about a good deal- I could have shared it with three friends. I also tried a sesame pancake for a whole 75 cents. So yum. So going back. I love you Chinatown.

Kitchen Staples

A friend asked me the other day what my "staples" were in the kitchen. I loved the question and have decided to work on a list of my staples and reasons for why.

1. Extra Virgin Oil Olive: No doubt the number one. A good EVOO is probably the most useful and most used ingredient in my kitchen. Great flavor and good for you. My other favorite ingredient would go under this category, White Truffle infused olive oil. I add this to pastas, salad dressing, veggies and even eggs. It has a very strong but delicate flavor that adds .

2. Sea Salt: I prefer to regular table salt for its flavor, coarseness and lower level of processing.

3. Spinach: Healthy green that is not only great alone but delicious cooked with just EVOO and garlic. Easy to add as a nutritious side to pretty much anything.

4. Arugula: Nothing like its peppery sharp taste for a salad or in pasta. One of my favorites is arugula pesto.

5. Rice: This feels like a silly staple but I cook with rice for so many dinners and desserts. Long grain brown rice and jasmine and my favorites. It is the perfect base for any flavor addition weather it's spicy, savory or sweet.

6. Quinoa: This would be the healthier alternative to rice but its nutty flavor makes it better on its own. Perfect for a side dish with a little olive oil and a veggie.

7. Limes/Lemons: I think these guys are so underrated in the kitchen. The acidity brings out the flavor in almost everything. I use the juice or zest of one or the other daily.

8. Honey/Agave: I keep in my pantry not only for my tea but as alternatives to white sugar.

9. Eggs: Brown eggs from the farmer's market are really the best. For baking or cooking alone the fresher the egg, the bester the product tastes. no question.

10. Red pepper flakes or dried peppers: I love spicy.

I will add to this list as I think of anything else important!!

11. Garlic: how could I forget!! This should share the #1 place. Huge staple.

12. Fresh pasta: For the little bit more that it costs, I think that fresh pasta makes the biggest difference.

Amorina's

The best pizza is in Brooklyn. I said it.

This is by far my favorite neighborhood pizza place. It is a tiny restaurant with the freshest ingredients that you can smell even before you go inside. With an amazing selection of brick oven pizza and homemade pastas, you really can't go wrong. The olive oil that comes out with fresh bread is good enough to drink. My only complain would be the desserts- my suggestion would be to fill up on the arugula, tomato, ricotta and olive pizzas and forget about the sweets.

After watching the cute young waiters hand-toss the dough and throw back a beer while doing so, my mouth is watering for more than one reason. ;)

Now go get some.

Tom's Restaurant

Oh Tom's....where do I begin?

This wonderfully ancient and classic restaurant in Brooklyn was just what I needed for a cold and rainy weekday brunch. Walking through the front door you feel as though you have entered a Montana diner circa 1967. The darling staff and decorations, which both have most likely been around for a century, make you feel like you are dining in a place from the past. It has everything you could possibly imagine eating for breakfast on the menu including ten different kinds of french toast and every egg/bacon combination you can think of. Even better, nothing is more than $9. If you are interested in a true indulgence of the past, try a classic egg creme- I somehow managed to get one for free! Needless to say I was impressed by the place- can't wait to go back for some more home cookin.

Sweet Potato Pasta

Autumn Harvest

Soy

One thing that I wanted to add about the addition of soy to my diet was the perk of healthy looking skin. My skin seems to glow when I am eating more soy. I would love to hear if anyone else notices this with soy specifically or if it just because of the high amount of protein-Or maybe it's just magical. Either way, I likie.

Cheryls vs. Abigails

Comparing any restaurant to Cheryl's Global Soul is unfair but after my breakfast at Abigail's, I must. My friends and I decided to ditch our usual weekend brunch spot at Cheryl's and try something new. We went to Abigail's thinking it would be a fun spot to try because it is right in our neighborhood. Big mistake. There's no need to go into detail about the not so great aspects of our 2 hour brunch so I will skip it and just talk about the one good discovery- popovers! I forgot about those delicious lil guys and was overjoyed to see them on the menu. It was warm, fluffy and oh so good. If I ever go back, I am going to order a baker's dozen and leave.

Cheryl's is the go-to brunch spot in Crown Heights. It always has a line out the door, great service and even better food. Between my group of friends, we have easily tried everything on the menu, including the specials. With this much experience at Cheryl's I can safely say that the buttermilk pancakes are the way to go. And if the outstanding food wasn't enough, first coffee and mimosa are free. Can't beat that.

Team Cheryl for sure.

Gobo and Lucky Strike

This weekend I ate at Gobo. It is a vegetarian restaurant that is dedicated to creating dishes with protein substitutes such as seitan, soy, nori, and tofu. The dishes mimic common Asian flavors and textures. I ordered spinach and soy cheese wontons and curry seitan with coconut rice and pickled papaya. The wontons were delicious and definitely the best part of the meal. The curry seitan was flavorful but the coconut rice resembled a yellow curry rice with raisins and left me wondering where the coconut was. Overall, the restaurant has a cozy but sophisticated feel and affordable prices. I would definitely go back to try the other proteins.

Last night my girlfriends and I ate at Lucky Strike. It is a hip restaurant in Soho filled with a mix of people from young professionals getting a beer to families celebrating birthdays. It had a great happy hour with Presidente beer from the Dominican Republic and small $5 apps. We ordered an amazing brick-oven style pizza with mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and kalamata olives. So good. The atmosphere is lively and the decor is perfection with antique mirrors framing the hand-written menu. Five stars.

Cafe Boulud

Last night I ate at Cafe Boulud. It is a beautiful restaurant on the upper west side known for it's liver pates. We started with two different kinds of pate that were infused with bacon, cheese and various other meats and delicacies. I would never order pate myself so having a small taste of this well made, high quality appetizer was a treat. For the main course I had trout with browned butter, almonds and the most delicious roasted cauliflower. It was very garlicky but also had a wonderful sweet aftertaste like honey..... Can't explain the sweetness but it was wonderful. For dessert we had a play on pb and jelly with a peanut butter and chocolate torte and a concord grape jelly and sorbet. The sorbet was the only part worth ordering again. It was delicious and I'm sure it was made that day with fresh seasonal concord grapes! Yum!

Dairy

Ok so after ten days of no dairy, I caved.

I really had no noticeable change in any aspect of my life that encouraged me to continue this life of deprivation. haha

I went to a tiny Italian restaurant, Max, in the East village last night. Amongst the chaos, foreign waiters, and good company, I was lulled into a steamy hot cast iron bowl of lasagna. Best decision of my life. Hot ricotta has never tasted so good.

This restaurant is now my new favorite Italian place. With $10 entrees, fresh ingredients, and simple mouth-watering appetizers like the garlic-infused bruschetta, you can't go wrong. Just make sure to get there before 8 otherwise you can expect to wait.

One benefit of the ten day no dairy mission was my new awareness of the amount of dairy I consume as well as great meal options without any dairy. I also discovered a hidden treasure- soy ice cream! I am tempted to make a statement that it is better than real ice cream but that feels wrong.

White Bean Dish

First Post

My current exploration begins with dairy. I have began to question it's use in an adult body and have decided to cut it out of my diet for 30 days. I began on Oct 1 and have almost reached a week. For someone that loves to drink a cold glass of milk, a slice of brie, or a scoop of greek yogurt onto pancakes, I knew that this would be a challenge. I decided to keep eggs in my diet as well as small amounts of butter to avoid completely depriving myself- knowing that cutting out the majority of milk products would still provide a useful study.

So far I have learned where to find soy ice cream and have switched to cooking with almond or soy milk but I have not found many other discoveries regarding my body... I'll give a dairy update in another week