Great Find: Bia Garden

I'm typing this while in a food and beer coma, but I'm so pleased after a perfect night out that I had to share. Tonight Book Babe and I went to Bia Garden, Michael Huynh's beer garden inspired Vietnamese street food restaurant in the Lower East Side (Orchard between Stanton and Rivington) and had a perfect al fresco meal on one of the nicest nights of the summer.

After weeks of anticipation in foodie circles, Bia Garden was finally open last week. When we arrived at 6:30, a piece of white paper on which someone had written "Bia Garden" was stuck to the window as identification, but you could have guessed by the line that this was the place.
The place opens at 6:00, but according to the host, there was already a line at a quarter of. At 6:30, the line of people extended down the short stair case and into the small space that serves as the take out/delivery space of Bia Garden. From that vantage, it was impossible to see the beer garden itself, as the steel refrigerator door conceals the passageway to the garden, so it was hard to gauge what kind of a wait we could expect. But we decided to wait 15 minutes and see if the line moved.

Some people left, discouraged, but others left their names with the host, who was willing to call people when tables opened up. We stayed and took in the take out menu (which is different than the eat-in menu includes Bun) and Asian snacks (shrimp chips!) being offered at the take out window.It's a good thing we stayed b/c within 10 minutes, we were happily escorted through the steel refrigerator to the garden in the back, through the beer-bottle lined passageway. The journey to the patio passes the kitchen and is a bit treacherous - a lot of "watch your step's" by the host. The patio, which reportedly seats around 50 people, was packed. The clinking of beer bottles and happy hour chatter filled the air. A large Vietnamese family seated at the large table in the center of the space seemed to be enjoying themselves--an auspicious sign for a Vietnamese beer garden.The garden has wooden painted tables, for both small and large groups, on which chopsticks and napkins are stuck in empty Cafe Du Monde coffee tins for easy self-service. Menus looks like they were printed just that morning on someone's office printer.Our waiter, possibly one of the nicest waiters I've ever been served by, came by and took our drink orders. The way it works is you order a six pack (or more) of beer bottles off their Asian beer menu, which features beers from all over Asia, and they bring it to you on ice. You're only charged for what you drink. We ordered the "33," a Vietnamese beer, on our waiter's recommendation. A mild, nutty beer. Very nice.So far so good, but how would the food be? Dishes are arranged on the menu by size - the small dish category had the most items, then the medium dishes, and finally, the large, which featured a lobster.

We ordered the green mango salad, shrimp summer rolls, and spare ribs off the small dish menu and the berkshire pork belly off the medium dish menu. Let me tell you, I'd go back for the pork belly and the summer rolls alone - they were that good. Here's more about each dish, in order of my preference:

1. The pork belly was PERFECTLY cooked - moist and fatty on the inside and a little crisp on the outside. The dipping sauce, which had the sweetness of a fish sauce, was a perfect complement to the saltiness of the pork. This was by far the standout of the meal. This pork was so good I had to close my eyes and shut up in order to savor its flavor. It was so good I had to pace myself so I didn't eat it too quickly.
2. Shrimp summer rolls are a difficult thing to distinguish yourself by. They are pretty standard Vietnamese fare, but these summer rolls were the epitome of freshness. First of all, the peanut sauce they came with was so perfectly balanced - not too chalky or peanuty or salty or sweet - and then, when you bit into the roll, you got a hit of the fresh mint and the perfectly cooked shrimp. A great way to start the meal.
3. The green mango salad was full of flavor - tangy, salty pickled green mango, fish and shrimp flakes, tiny slices of hot pepper. This dish was saltier than I would have liked for a stand-alone salad, but it worked well as a condiment (kind of like a kimchee) to the other dishes.
4. Our least favorite dish was the pork spare ribs. You could tell there was a nice sweet marinade in the meat, but it was overpowered by the charring on the spare rib. Also, the meat could have been moister. We wanted the meat to fall off the bone, but I had to work to hard to get at it.
   

Three out of four is not bad, and pork belly....seriously good. The beer and the garden atmosphere just adds to the fun. And all for under $35 a head (mind you, we're girls and we only had one beer a piece). In the winter, Bia Garden will be covered and heat lamps will be used, so it'll be a nice place to come back to when I need another casual night out.

Great Find: Baked By Melissa Miniature Cupcakes

I was minding my own business, shopping in Soho today, when I pass a line of more than dozen people all leading up to a little window in a wall. I get closer and realized this closet-sized establishment is called Baked by Melissa (on Spring Street between Mercer and Broadway), and their sole fare is miniature cupcakes, as you can see.So although I've already bought macarons from Ceci-Cela, I stand in line. I know all of you would want me to report back. The line doesn't move very quickly, as it turns out, because the girl who works the window has to climb up on a stepladder and retrieve each mini-cupcake from racks stacked to the ceiling behind her. What a work out.

The question those of us in line had was how small are these things and how many should I buy? The minimum purchase is 3 for $3. Then it's 6 for $5.25 and 12 for $10. I decided on the dozen, so I could try all the flavors I wanted to, and have leftovers for City Guy.Of the seven flavors, I tried five (skipped the Tie-dye and Peanut Butter & Jelly), and let me tell you, as I type, I am experiencing a truly great sugar high. The answer to the burning question in line is illustrated below. That's the red velvet sitting next to a soup spoon. I'd say four or five of these things make one regular size cupcake. As a snack for one person, the three is perfect. For two people, the six is good, but if you're hungry go for the 12. The genius of the thing is the cake to frosting ratio, which is very high, as you can see. All of the cupcakes except the Tye-dye and Red Velvet have injections of filling into the middle. The cake is very moist and blends well with the flavorful frosting, and someone has obviously put a lot of thought into how to evoke the quintessential flavors of each cupcake--the s'mores have the graham cracker bit stuck in the middle, the peanut butter cup has a strong peanut buttery frosting, sticky cookie dough is injected into the middle of and tops off the cookie dough cupcake, the red velvet has a white cream cheese frosting that evokes homemade, the cookies and cream has Oreo bits on the top and the white frosting tastes like Oreo filling.

My favorites were the S'mores (check out the graham cracker bit laced with marshmallows in the chocolate ganache frosting) and the Cookie Dough (the yellow cupcake to its right, both injected and topped with a dollop of cookie dough), but they're all good.Someone who works in the area says the window is only a few weeks old. In case you're wondering where they fit the oven in the crawl space of a store, the girl at the window says the bakery is in a separate location downstairs. You can also order in bulk (100+), but you have to order in advance.

Great Find: Momofuku Milk Bar

Let me just say Momofuku Milk Bar isn't technically a "find" - every foodie in town knows about it, and well, it' s been on my list since it opened, but on this blog, if I try it and I like it, it's filed under "Great Find." So you already know how I feel about the place. Went there last night with Book Babe. Whenever she and I get together, we talk writing, books, Gossip Girl, our dysfunctional families...and we eat, dinner and dessert always, in separate places.

Last night, we concentrated our efforts in the village. Dinner at Soba-ya--I had the kitsune soba, my go-to dish, which comes with a side of two inari sushi. Not mind-blowing soba, but tasty nonetheless and friendly, fast service. Our entire dinner took a record 45 minutes. I always enjoy my meals there.

Afterwards, we took a stroll in the cold up to 2nd Ave and 13th to go to David Chang's sweet heaven. First impressions--good vibe. The entrance is actually around the corner on 13th, not on 2nd, but you can see everything going on in the place b/c of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Last night, the crowd was downtown couples, hipsters, Asian foodies, and Momofuku Ssam reservation holders (the ones wearing the ties) standing around, eating out of cardboard containers.(where the neon "milk" sign is is a hallway that links the bakery to ssam--don't even have to go outside; very clever)
Between the two of us, we had:

• Pork Buns: slices of pork belly cradled in Chinese buns; very tasty, although the roast pork at Big Wong's still can't be beat (2 for $9)
  
• Cereal milk: let cornflakes sit in milk until soggy; strain and serve in soda cup, and you have a hit on your hands; I admire the creative effort, but this was just too weird for me; then again, I'm not crazy about cereal, unlike the people standing nearby, who seem to be enjoying the cones of cereal milk frozen yogurt, one fruit loop flavored ($4/cup)
  
• Composte cookie: this chocolate chip cookie supposedly contains potato chips, pretzels and other stuff in it; the cookie retains the crunch of the chips - I had thought they were cornflakes, but cornflakes were on the brain, b/c of the above; good texture, crispy on the edges with a chewy center peak, just how I liked my cookies, but very rich ($1.75 each)
• Candy Bar pie: this thing called to Book Babe from the display case - topped with chocolate covered pretzels, in the cut view, you can see the chocolate crust, peanut butter filling, caramel oozing out the sides and topped with a layer of hard chocolate; what a Reeses would be if it grew up and moved to NYC ($5/slice)
  
• Key Lime cake: the surprise winner of the night; took a slice home for City Guy, who likes fruity desserts. With competition from all the above, I have a feeling the key lime cake gets overlooked here. The girl who packed it up for me hadn't even tried it. But I tried a bite when City Guy was enjoying it later and wow - this is amazing cake - the cake layer is flavorful, but not too fluffy or dense; sour cream frosting and a surprising layer of crispy graham crumbs and a base of graham crackers ($5/slice)

Really fun little spot and I definitely want to go back. Glad to say for once, the food has lived up to the hype. What looked good for next time: crack pie, dulce de leche cake, cinnamon bun pie and blueberry cream cookie.

This NY Moment: Dinner for No Special Reason at Park Avenue Winter

Now This is Winter
City Guy surprised me by taking me to dinner at Park Avenue Winter on Saturday night. There's nothing like getting dressed up and going to a nice restaurant for no particular reason.When we arrived for our 6:30 reservation, the restaurant was still bathed in the warm light of the setting sun, and I struck by how peaceful and beautiful the space was. AvroKo, the celebrated design firm, responsible for making the restaurant over every season, really captured the best things about winter in their 2009 space, with soft grey fur on the wall, matching fur lined throw pillows on leather banquettes, bare branches in glass vases, gossamer white curtains, snakeskin place mats on wooden tables. These photos taken with my camera do not do the space justice.

Almost Perfect Meal
After taking our drink orders, the server came over with an amuse bouche of a potato fritter topped with a dollop of lemon creme fraiche. Crunchy on the outside, moist and warm on the inside. A great beginning. Then came a bread basket with brioche bun, walnut/raisin, pumpkin loaf and flat bread. The first two were very flavorful; the flat bread too hard.

I started with the cured lemon caesar salad; City Guy with the sweet bay scallops appetizer off the special menu. Both superb. The caesar salad had a tart dressing I really enjoyed; the scallops had been seared and covered in a sweet cream sauce--so soft and delicious, they melted in your mouth.

For my main course, I had the miso glazed lobster with clam chowder beurre blanc. The server brings you the split lobster then pours the beurre blanc over the lobster. You can use the toasted mini-baguette to sop up more of the sauce. It also comes with a small onion and arugula salad. This was by far the highlight of the night. Sweet, salty, tender, delicious.

I would highly recommend the potato latkes--crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, served with two kinds of sauces--one was a rosemary sauce; the other, which was tangier, like a yogurt, was my favorite.

Sorry to say, City Guy's filet mignon over braised short rib was dry and flavorless, the nadir of the meal, if you will. Braised short ribs should be moist and the muscle fibers falling off the fork, but this had a consistency closer to pulled pork. Oh well. Perfection is a rare thing.

For dessert, we had to try the Chocolate cube--a box of hard chocolate filled with chocolate mousse with pieces of what I was told was fruit cake (though I didn't taste the fruit ), served with a side of ancho chill chocolate sorbet (okay, not great). If you're a chocoholic like me, you'll enjoy this sugar high. If not, you might find it too sweet. City Guy wished he had ordered the apple pie in a box.

Over the course of the night, the lights were dimmed, and couples and quads of Upper East siders, many of them over fifty and wearing jackets (which surprised us since the restaurant was recently on Gossip Girl), filled very corner of the dining room. The service was okay--not the best or the worst in town--a bit cold--but it did grow more negligent as the room filled. After our main course, it took our server a very long time before checking with us for our dessert order and later, to bring us our check. As Downtowners, we did feel a little out of place, but sometimes it's fun to be a tourist in your own town.

NYC Birthday: Daniel

City Guy took me to dinner at Daniel Boulud's four star restaurant, Daniel, on my birthday. So did you guess right? The restaurant was recently renovated and is really stunning inside. I felt a little cheezy snapping shots of my food on my birthday and at such an upscale establishment, but I did sneak in a shot of the beautiful light fixtures with my cell phone camera:
We had the six course tasting menu. We figured, hey, let's splurge - don't know when and if we'll ever be back. And boy were we stuffed by night's end. City Guy and I ordered different things so we could try everything, and I'd have to say my favorites were:

• Maine Peekytoe Crab with really yummy hearts of palm
• Beaufort Ravioli with peppercorn, black trumpet and ham
• Black sea bass with syrah reduction

They showered us with desserts at the end of the meal, including a special birthday cake with a candle in it, the tasting menu desserts, fresh baked madeleines and petit fours.

All in all a really enjoyable night. How did it compare to Le Bernardin (last year's b-day spot)? Well, I'm a seafood lover, so I think I'll have to give the edge to Le Bernardin. But the ambiance at Daniel is truly stunning - one of the most lavish and romantic in the city - so what can I say? I love that we have an embarassment of riches when it comes to food in this city.

Stuff I've Learned: Never Try A Restaurant For The First Time The Week Before It Closes

I've done this before. Before the Palm Court at the Plaza closed for renovations, I had afternoon tea in the space beloved by Eloise. I was disappointed. Any tea connoisseur knows a hotel tea should never feature tea bags, much less sugar packets. Ugh.

This time, City Guy and I went to Fleur de Sel for Valentine's Day--a week before it closed. To our credit, the announcement of the well-reviewed French restaurant had not been made at the time City Guy made our reservation.

The short of it is the food was "eh." Not bad, but not mind-blowing, which is what you expect for $200 a head. After finishing our five-course tasting menu, I left still hungry - and I'm not a hungry hungry hippo, fyi. The service was unexceptional. The restaurant was packed that night, and the servers were peremptory and neglectful.

So, this is the thing. A lot of restaurants are closing these days. And while your instinct may be to make a final reservations at that once celebrated institution....Don't. By the time they've decided to close, there's a good reason. What motivation do a bunch of people on the verge of unemployment have to do their best work? In this recession, the sad truth is that we're seeing natural selection at work in the food world--if you're mediocre, if your glory days are behind you, your days may be numbered. As much as I have a sentimental attachment to recently closed restaurants, they weren't that good.

To Fleur de Sel's credit, the space was beautiful. Made me sad to know in a month's time, the space would be stripped of all its charms. And the crumb cakes they gave us as parting gifts were really tasty.

But by far the most superb thing about my evening there was the company--my love of food always pales in comparison to my love of City Guy. Hope your V-day was a happy one. Fleur del Sel, how I wish I'd known you in your heyday.

Great Find: BLT Market

On a whim, City Guy and I went to lunch at Laurent Tourendel's "barnyard-fresh" restaurant BLT Market today. We had stopped at this office in midtown and thought, "hey, let's treat ourselves to lunch." Having eaten at BLT Fish before without being too impressed, we were unsure of what to expect, but we had a really great lunch. A bit pricey for $100 for the two of us (sans alcohol), but very tasty, and I like the idea of eating seasonally and locally.

The restaurant has a homey feel to it--beautifully paintings of produce on the walls, rustic furniture and table settings (a pot of rosemary on each table) and a layout that's open to the street view on 6th Avenue near Central Park South--conducive on a day like today to watching bundled tourists trundling by. The meal starts with the chef's version of pigs in a blanket - tasty little hot dog treat - and piping hot garlic bread with parsley butter. Yum. We started by sharing the chestnut, apple and celery root soup with wild mushroom toast and a foie gras topping and bacon. A perfectly creamy blend of sweet and savory, this was definitely the highlight of our meal.

For main courses, I had the rock shrimp risotto with cauliflower, topped with black truffle. The risotto was perfectly cooked, and the cauliflower pieces were lovely little treats buried in the rice. City Guy had the burger with blue cheese and rosemary fries--he liked the burger very much (you have to love blue cheese) and I couldn't keep my hands out of the fry cup. :) Dessert was the chocolate feuilletine rocky road with coffee cointreau cream glace. Not the most exciting dessert, but tasty enough. Good texture, although it wasn't very "rocky road"-y, as there were no marshmallows.

I love that every once in a while, we can treat ourselves to a really good meal for no reason at all. Love that about this city. There's never an end to the good food.

Happenings: Bon Appetit Supper Club & Cafe

Every year, the Bon Appetit Supper Club & Cafe "pops" into town for a week, featuring cafe items designed by celebrity chefs, cooking demos and tastings in a beautifully designed space. Think a fancier version of Europa Cafe or Pret-a-Manger. You choose from sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts by chefs like Tyler Florence, Cat Cora, Mario Batali, Ben Ford or Charlie Trotter. They do dinner too, apparently, but by invitation only.

Today, on the penultimate day of the supper club, Mr. Aussie and I went to lunch there. We got there early, around 11:30 to avoid the midtown lunch rush and didn't have to wait in line at all. I ordered Cat Cora's Thai Chicken Salad Spring Roll and Ben Ford's Clam Chowder with Leek Cream and Applewood Smoked Bacon and Claudia Fleming's Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookie.

The clam chowder was my favorite item - really flavorful and not thick and heavy, like other clam chowders. The spring roll was really disappointing. Where was the dipping sauce? Also, this spring roll was the size of a burrito. Not very Asian at all. The brownie cookie was good too--moist like there was cream cheese in there--but ultimately, I've had better food elsewhere.

What really made the trip uptown worthwhile were a> the free Bon Appetit tote bag, b> the free copy of the November issue of Bon Appetit Magazine, c> the sample Ghiradelli chocolate squares and finally d> the gorgeous space. When you first walk in, you order your food, cafeteria style and pay.

Then you walk into the dining room, where they do cooking demos while you eat. The only problem is you couldn't really see what the chefs were doing because they didn't have one of those reflective mirrors over the cooking station. The fairy forest decor was stunning, and I just loved the gas fireplaces and cozy lounge areas. Upstairs, there's a cookbook bar where you can browse cookbooks by the various featured chefs, a wine & cheese sample bar, Maybelline samples, Ghiradelli chocolate samples, and Gold Peak Tea samples (great tea, btw - a new line from Coca-Cola).

Great Find: Suba

Suba, a Spanish tapas restaurant on Ludlow in the Lower East Side, has great food. The restaurant has a bar on street level, then a room over a pool on the second level called the "grotto" and a third, more quiet level below that. On Saturday, City Guy and I treated ourselves to a tasty dinner there--one of the best deals in town, it turns out.

For $50 a head, you get seven course chef's tasting menu. The items on the menu are sort of a surprise, i.e., not listed on the menu, but you can ask your waiter to exclude certain items or request others that sound good. Our menu had everything, from octopus to sweet corn risotto with suckling pig to this tasty egg, potato and mushroom concoction:It tastes better than it sounds, and this picture doesn't do it justice. The chef does amazing things with potatoes and sauces too. It's flavorful, rich food, and they've got a good amount of space, so it might be a good place for a dinner party with friends. On Sundays at 8 pm, they have a flamenco show.

People on Chowhound seem to prefer the grotto for the pool, but to tell you the truth, I'm glad we sat in the more private lower level b/c the smell of chlorine from the pool water was pretty strong. I don't like smelling chlorine while tasting my food, but that's just me. I've got a super sensitive nose.

By the way, it's not the most quiet restaurant. We got there around 8 pm, and it wasn't so bad (see how empty the room looks in the pictures above), but around 9 or so, it was packed, and then it got harder to converse.

Great Find: Perry Street

I love Jean Georges Vongerichten. He's my favorite celebrity chef and my lunch today at Perry Street confirms for me yet again that he is a culinary genius. I had a bit of a hard time finding the place. It's called Perry Street, but the entrance to the restaurant is actually on West Street, not Perry Street, in the 176 Perry Street building designed by Richard Meier, so if you don't notice the etching on the glass door you may miss it. But what's new? I always get lost in the West Village.

My friend from LA and I were the first ones for a noon reservation. The space is gorgeous--minimalist, open, relaxed and luxurious. I loved the wooden tables and white leather chairs and banquettes. A great combination. The restaurant was designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen, who reportedly designed Jean-Georges' own home. With the $24 prix-fixe lunch you get to pick any two items off the menu and you get dessert. That's a great deal for a three-course lunch at a place like Perry Street!

We started off with an amuse bouche of strawberry soup with cucumber foam--so refreshing! I had the cream of tomato soup, which came with this lovely chili sauce and a slice of sourdough with fresh cheddar and basil sprinkled on top, and the roasted chicken sandwich with avocado and chipotle-lime mayo. I don't usually go for chicken sandwiches at five-star restaurants, but the server recommended it, so I took a chance. It was so delicious. The chicken had a little bit of skin on it, preserving its juiciness, and the sauce and the avocado and lettuce were a perfect compliment. My friend had the sauteed shrimp and crab salad--both very tasty from the bites I had. For dessert, we both had the molten chocolate cake--didn't blow my mind, but done well nonetheless.

The meal made us happy. The space made us happy. We lingered for a couple hours, could actually hear each other talking, and didn't feel rushed. And being all the way out there on the Westside Highway made it feel like we weren't in NYC at all...which sometimes can be a good thing.

Great Find: Sasabune

One of my favorite restaurants in LA was Sasabune. Any in-the-know Angeleno knows that Sasabune's hand-picked daily fish selection, the "trust me" chef's omakase, the heavenly combination of fish on a warm bed of rice, the no california rolls rule, the perfect sauces and garnishes and homemade soy sauce equals unrivaled sushi pleasure.

This little Upper East side gem flies under the radar--perhaps b/c it's located way east on 1st Avenue or because there's no celebrity chef draw (I've eaten at Morimoto and Nobu and still think Sasabune is better)--and has been open since the end of 2006. It's a shame it took me this long to eat here, but I'm glad I finally did. What an amazing meal.

Stuff I've Learned: Celebrity Sightings More Likely In Restaurants

City Guy and I celebrated one year of blissful marriage today. *blush* And to celebrate he surprised me by taking me to Blue Hill, Dan Barber's celebrated Hudson Valley fresh restaurant. I started with the smoked shrimp gazpacho; City Guy with the sweet corn ravioli--both so good I closed my eyes and made moaning noises. Our main courses were the Berkshire pork and spring lamb respectively. And for dessert, chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and peach cobbler. Oh god. Now I know what the fuss is about...

But what topped off the entire experience was sitting next to Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City fame, who was having dinner with the director of some new project she's starring in (I gather from my eavesdropping). I wanted to tap her on the shoulder and say "I loved Sex and the City! It inspired me to move to New York!" but I figured I'd let her enjoy her dinner. She doesn't look or sound like Samantha in real life, btw, which is probably a good thing.

The whole experience made me recall other celebrity sightings, and more often than not, they're in restaurants: Helen Hunt at Franklin Station Cafe, Gael Garcia Bernal at Hampton Chutney Company, Willem deFoe at Kori, Christy Turlington & Ed Burns at Odeon, Rick Ocasek & Paulina Porzikova at Shabu Tatsu, Oliver Platt at Parea...I did pass Colin Firth once a crosswalk in the West Village and John Slattery of Mad Men was at J&R Music the day we bought our TV, but even famous people gots to eat! So if you want to see celebs (don't ask me about bars & clubs--I'm a married woman) hang out at a> a hot new restaurant like Blue Hill or b> go to a neighborhood favorite in a celebrity-hood like Tribeca.

Funny enough, when I lived in LA, I seemed to run into celebrities while shopping--saw Ellen Degeneres at American Rag CIE and Sarah Michelle Geller at 3rd Street Promenade, for instance. Though I did see Charlie Sheen eating at Crustacean once...and my all-time favorite sighting - Al Pacino - was at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf!

Neighborhood: Cobble Hill

Miss Fashion, who grew up in Brooklyn and is helping me discover new neighborhoods outside of Manhattan, suggested we meet in Cobble Hill last night for dinner. I had previously fallen in love with DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights, but my evening in Cobble Hill was even better in some ways. This neighborhood reminded me of the Lower East Side, without the grit. I mean, people were mellow and smiled and sat at sidewalk cafes eating dinner with their kids and dogs.

First, we met up at Borough Hall and walked around the neighborhood, where Miss Fashion pointed out the beautiful brownstones. There were kids and parents everywhere, and at one point, we witnessed a returning father being greeted by his wife and kid at the door. A very sweet moment.

We then went to One Girl Cookies on Dean Street whose reputation is built on their Whoopie Pies and amazing cookies. Being the sweet-fiends we are, we both loaded up. Let me just say the pumpkin whoopie pie is amaaaazzing! And the Lucia cookie (the one with the black and white marble frosting) just sent my endorphins soaring. So good. And how cute is their store? So much bigger than bakeries in Manhattan with an entire seating area in the back, where you can just sit with your girlfriends and get your sugar rush on. I will definitely be back.

We strolled down Smith Street (Brooklyn's "Restaurant Row" according to some) and I was surprised by how many adorable boutiques there were, including Bird, which had great dresses and accessories, including foldable commuter shoes/ballet flats with carrying case:...and another whose name I forget that carries the cutest Vivienne Westwood rubber Mary Janes and Wedges, which Miss Fashion was crazy for. And we stopped in at Rime, this streetwear store that sold Kid Robot stuff, including both tricked out and do-it-yourself Munny's. They were having a DIY Munny contest actually. There was a Flight 001, where I stopped in for some travel accessories and we also passed Brooklyn Industries, though we didn't stop in. There were just too many cute stores and not enough time.

You've got to love Cobble Hill's broad selection of restaurants, from Cuban to Thai to Italian to French. On Pacific, the Angeleno in me got excited when passing the surf-shack Mexican restaurant called Pacifico and seafood joint called Trout (although the blogosphere seem less than enthusiastic about the food) But we ended up eating in the outdoor patio of Apartment 138 because Miss Fashion had heard good things:I had a Caesar Salad and a classic burger slider. The food was really delicious, esp considering restaurants seem to slack off when it comes to the slider. This one had a lovely toasted brioche bun and perfectly cooked patty and sauce. Yum! And the Caesar had a uniquely tart dressing that I really enjoyed.

Miss Fashion and I talked a lot about finding a neighborhood to call home in NYC and all the factors that go into that decision. I'm still haven't weened myself off Manhattan, but I'm beginning to think that in the future, with more excursions like last night's, I may change my mind.