Dining Out: Cinamoon

Some weeks back I visited Greenpoint, a neighborhood in northern Brooklyn known for having a large Polish population. Immediately out of the subway I saw a large and elegant vodka window display, and further down the block was Cinamoon, where I had lunch with a friend. The food was delightful and pretty exotic for a Texan.

Pierogies: some potato and cheese, some mushroom and potato

Borscht, and a "cutlet," which seemed like a kind of spring roll whose wrapper was made out of a crêpe, and then the whole thing rolled in crumbs and fried.

From Austin With Love

While in Austin over the holidays, I took advantage of the bountiful options for Tex-Mex which is one thing that money can't buy in NYC. Took my camera along to a couple of the places I hadn't been to before, or hadn't been to recently...

Large breakfast burrito with egg, bean and nopalito
from La Cocina de Consuelo

Sign in front of La Cocina

You know you're nostalgic for Tex-Mex when you
take a picture of chips and salsa

Guacamole at Curra's

Mole enchiladas at Curra's

Fish Tacos at Curra's: thumbs up

Flan (with Kahlua!)

Katz's

Ok, so I went to Katz's way back when I first got to NYC. I went because it's famous, because it was near where I was living, and because I was really hungry.

I was confused by the ordering system (take a number, and then MAYHEM!) and got in the wrong line for latkes, so ended up with a corned beef sandwich which I happily ate, and the hunger subsided. It was good but probably not what she was having.

Quaint water dispenser

Patrons

Aforementioned corned beef, pickles, and matzo ball soup

Around Little Italy

The "real" Little Italies may have moved off Manhattan (according to the guide books), but I still enjoyed living near Downtown's old Italian quarter, which is by turns touristy and seemingly authentic.

Torrisi Italian Specialties

Ok, so Torrisi is not great for vegetarians, but I got some eggplant, broccolini, and cauliflower treated in various ways, plus some smoked mozzarella from Raffetto's

Delicious pasta salad from Raffetto's

Lasagna from DiPalo's

Tiled floor at one of the million eateries on Mulberry Street

Amazing wild mushroom and olive pizza from Lombardi's

The old-school espresso and sweet shop, Caffe Roma

Cannoli from Caffe Roma

Eating at the Brooklyn Flea

The Brooklyn Flea takes place every weekend and I suppose it's a gathering place of sorts for the hipper types of Northern Brooklyn. The stalls have all kinds of antique clothes and knick knacks that would be finds at garage sales, here sold at a premium. No matter, I was more interested in the food.

This guy was doing all right selling nothing but pork on a roll

And I, sadly, couldn't resist the bbq sausage roll

Food vendors ranged from some faces familiar from the Red Hook ball fields, to Middle Eastern, to wood-oven pizza (they had installed one at the tent!), to this table advertising themselves as Texas barbecue. When I asked if they were from Texas, one of them answered in the affirmative, so I had to give them a shot.

Taïm

The Israeli-Vegetarian restaurant Taïm was recommended to me by a friend when she found out I'd be working on West 14th Street over the summer. When I finally made it I got a date-banana smoothie and this falafel sandwich - though they have some other selections on the menu that look equally tantalizing. The tiny restaurant has a line out the door most of the day, but if you can go at 3pm on a weekday you might get a seat at the window counter....

My falafel sandwich on whole wheat pita

Sorry for the poor picture quality and for the fact I was too busy eating to take a picture of the brilliant green insides of the falafel (they also have red and yellow varieties, with slightly different flavoring). What sets this falafel apart from others, for me, is that all the ingredients are really fresh, including falafels fried "to order." No stomach ache after this one.

Chiyono

Chiyono is a tiny restaurant in the East Village specializing in what they call "Japanese homestyle"cooking. The menu is small and everything seems to be prepared with a lot of care. There are literally only two tables in the restaurant - one long table, where multiple parties can be seated, and one 2-person table in the window.

Dessert:
Sesame pudding, fruit, red bean sauce, and vanilla ice cream

The vegetarian plate:
I don't know what half this stuff was, but it was all delicious and tasted very healthy

Dim Sum Go Go

Careless checking off on an ordering menu led me to order two rounds of dim sum at this Chinatown establishment. Too much of a good thing? Possibly. But it meant I got to sample both their vegetarian and their meat (mostly shrimp) dumplings.

Meat dumplings

Veggie dumplings filled with all kinds of things
+ the same sponge-like thing in the middle - seaweed?

The green sauce, which had ginger, onion and oil in it was
especially tasty (I went through two small bowls of it)

Hot tea and toasted soy beans, also very tasty

Actually the most interesting thing about the whole experience was that I went early, around 5pm, and restaurant was nearly empty. I was seated next to an older lady with a strong European accent who started talking to me when she realized we were both alone. She tipped me in on the green sauce and told me about her experiences in the neighborhood. Who says New Yorkers aren't friendly?

Belleville

Brunch is a big deal in NYC, and there are lots of restaurants who offer it. A couple of weekends ago I met friends at the French-inspired Park Slope establishment called Belleville. My "oeufs pochés" were delicious - sautéed mushrooms and a creamy sauce over nicely round eggs. Thumbs up on the home fries too, which were crisp on the outside.

Everyone else's meal looked equally tantalizing.

Vanessa's Dumpling House

Over the summer, I was fortunate to live within walking distance to Vanessa's Dumpling House, which I found out about through the internet when I was looking for good dumplings. You know it's a winner when there's a steady stream of customers, which there always is at Vanessa's.

Waiting in line isn't so bad, though, because you can watch the skillful steaming and frying of massive numbers of dumplings... And anticipation is a good appetizer.

A juicy shrimp dumpling

A veggie dumpling
(These take extra time to prepare, but are worth it)

A scallion and egg "pancake"

Dumplings prior to being consumed

A sandwich made on a sesame pancake, with fried egg and veggies

I think my total for all this food, which fed me for three meals, was $13.

Huarache in the City

Ever since I read David Byrne's description of the Red Hook vendors several years ago, I'd been longing to see them for myself. Since the ball field is a manageable walk from my apartment, I headed over there over Labor Day weekend. The crowds were small at 11AM on Sunday. All the better to observe the offerings of each truck, and make a careful decision.

I ended up with a shrimp huarache and some horchata, which I sat down to enjoy at an empty picnic table. The huarache, on a giant, handmade, masa, tortilla-like structure, disintegrated quickly and as I had failed to ask for a fork, I ended up eating it with my fingers. It was delicious but very messy and I was glad no one was sitting next to me... Until a little old lady sat down with her arepa and looked over and said, "Bueno?" To which I enthusiastically responded "Si!" and then continued contentedly to stuff my face with saucy bits of huarache.

Dining Out: Thai Fresh

Thai Fresh, recently recognized by Bon Appétit, is a multi-purpose food-related endeavor, offering cooking classes, catering, a changing selection of prepared foods for dine-in or take-out, and even a few Thai cooking utensils for sale. They locally source many of their ingredients.

I went there recently with food blog compadre Citizen Taco, and sampled some of the dishes available from the deli. You can choose one, two or three items, and are given the choice of brown or white rice. About half the selections are vegetarian.

Tofu with green beans
(I also got a green curry, which I liked better but was less photogenic)

Two ice creams: Thai tea and black pepper

I was also offered sticky rice with my ice cream (I declined). The ice cream/sorbet selection had all kinds of interesting flavors, and would be even more appealing during Austin's long summer.

Dining Out: Tâm Deli

Based on numerous good reviews over the years, including a recent one from the Austin Chronicle, I decided to try out Tâm Deli for their banh-mi sandwiches.

Shrimp and egg sandwich; vegetarian tofu sandwich

Allison kindly held her halves up for the necessary closeup

Tâm Deli has a nice, large menu with several things that look tasty. The sandwiches were good, but not very substantial - even with a spring roll to start and a dessert, I left hungry. Still, I'll look forward to going back and trying new items on the menu - and maybe taking a closer look at the sandwiches to see if I can make them at home.

More From France

A few more pictures of delicacies from France, just to make you jealous... We made it to a few very good restaurants and managed to eat well nearly the whole time we were there.

First up, the Breizh Cafe, a Breton restaurant specializing in galettes (buckwheat crêpes) in the Marais. This one was found on David Leibovitz's recommendation.

They also have an extensive selection of cidre, the traditional slightly-alcoholic apple cider also known for being a Breton specialty

My galette had mushrooms, egg, cheese, cream, and a little red pepper

Maman got one with some rustic sausage, a hash of fishy potatoes, and greens

Another stellar dining experience was at the cafe for the Jacquemart-André Museum. Their menu consists mostly of beautiful salads, a lovely dessert tray and a nice selection of teas.

My salad had smoked salmon, a lobster terrine, and a small spinach souffle.

Mom got a meatier one.

A slice of the pistachio-flavored bûche.

Let's end with something sweet, shall we? Berthillon is very famous but I never made it there during my study-abroad sojourn, so it was on my list of must-do's for this trip. We went to the little Berthillon storefront on the Ile-St-Louis. It was a lovely room, and not crowded late on a Monday night.

Mom got apricot and fig sorbets - and I think would have been ready to eat here for the rest of her life.

Pour moi, the mandarin sorbet and nougat-honey ice cream, with whipped cream (crême chantilly) and raspberry coulis