Follow restaurants I’ve discovered or where I’ve been eating lately, some fine, some less fine.
WILL WALK FOR FOOD. A guide on how to organize a food crawl, an event where food enthusiasts gather to walk around and try different places and dishes around a theme. There’s my recipe for miang kana, a dish that we had on our recent Thai food crawl in Elmhurst Queens.
People who love to cook and cook well don’t get invited to home-cooked dinners very often, unless it’s by other people who love to cook. I’ve had many of my friends tell me that they’d never invite me to dinner. I’ve told them not to worry about me. Don’t be intimidated. They laugh uncomfortably and make reservations.
So I make it my business to have a lot of friends who love to cook. Whether you love to cook or not, if you love eating, it’s a true gift to be invited to dinner.
On the last day of Chinese New Year, my friend Kian of the blog, Red Cook: Adventures from a Chinese Home Kitchen, had us over for a banquet he called Spring Awakening Dinner.
Is it even possible for me to pick my top ten favorite restaurants of 2014? After all, there are so many good ones. Plus, there are so many good ones that I still haven’t been to. I clearly need two stomachs or a clone.
I cooked a lot. I ate a lot! I ate out a lot. This is the first year I kept a complete list. This is my top ten of the over 220 restaurants, bakeries, cafes, food stalls, food trucks, holes in the wall, etc. I ate in, in 2014. I ate at a few of them more than once. Oddly, I don’t think I ate at any food trucks. I’m not a fan of standing in line to get food or eat food.
The main artery of Chelsea Market that stretches from 9th avenue almost to 10th avenue should be called the hallway of deliciousness. You walk into a barrage of temptations and treats coming on to you like street hookers, “Hey, baby, you like what you see? Come over honey and get a little taste of this.” I love the level of glutton-ability and the throngs of food lovers, shoppers and tourists who crush into the circus, their faces ranging from delight to overwhelm and perhaps a little panic.
Last Saturday, I ignored my way down the gauntlet. My taste buds had a very important date. I was invited to a tasting at Corkbuzz Chelsea with a bunch of bloggers and food media enthusiasts. SURPRISE! Our table was set up ringside. We got to feast on Michelin-star chef Missy Robbin’s amazing food, with a view sideshow of the HORDES and MASSES hitting Chelsea Market.