New York: Hanging Out On Bleecker Street

After Eataly, we headed towards Chelsea Market area to meet up with Janice and Allison and their friends.  Just so happens, The Standard is there with a cool rooftop bar, so before our next food spot, we went up to the top to check out the view.


Le Bain
848 Washington St
Between 13th St & Little W 12th St
New York, NY 10014

We went to the Top of the Standard, but it was quite empty, so went to the rooftop, Le Bain.

View from the top of Hudson.  Definitely looks like a storm's coming... little did we know that Sandy would be THAT crazy.


Towards the city.


Menu at Le Bain.


Half of us decided to go with the Cucumber Lemonade, which is vodka, cucumber, lemon, and soda.  I believe they made it with Stoli.  Couldn't really taste the alcohol.  Refreshing though!


---

After hanging out for a bit, we decided to head to Fish to grab dinner.  Highly recommended by Jimmy since they have this great special for raw oysters and clams.  On the way there, I saw Bleecker Street Pizza and I recognized that name from TV so I had to get a pizza there.  While the others ordered at Fish, I went to Bleecker Street and had myself a slice.

Bleecker Street Pizza

69 7th Ave S 

Between Commerce St & Bleecker St

West Village

New York, NY 10014

bleeckerstreetpizzeria.com

Looks like any plain old pizzeria in NY.


I REALLY REALLY wanted to try their Nonna Maria pizza, but sadly, when I went they didn't have any :[  I settled for their sausage pizza instead.  The great thing about the pizza at Bleecker Street is that amazing crust. That crust is crunchy...  addictingly crunchy.  It doesn't hurt that the marinara sauce and the sausage were good as well.

Fish

280 Bleecker St 

Between Jones St & Commerce St

West Village

New York, NY 10014

Fish, where the others were waiting for the plate of raw goodness.


We decided to just place our order at the Raw Bar, which is at the front of the restaurant, since it was so packed inside.


Raw Bar special: 6 Blue Point Oysters, 6 Clams, and either a glass of wine or a pint of PBR for $8.  EIGHT DOLLARS!  That's cheap anywhere, let alone New York.


Shucking our order.


We opted for the PBR.  Not a fan of PBR, but on the draft, definitely way better than can.


I believe we got two orders of the special?  Blue Point Oysters are actually local, sourced from Long Island.  Fresh, briny, not as delicate as some of the smaller ones I've had, but not bad with lemon and Tobasco.  Still can't really do raw oysters, so only ate 2... gotta slowly work my way up haha.


These clams, on the other hand, were bomb!  I prefer the sweeter flavor and texture of clams way much more than oysters.  Vinegar, horseradish, and lemon's all I need.


Fresh horseradish and other condiments to go with the raw plate.


---

After we finished, I had to go back to Bleecker Street Pizza just to see if they had the Nonna Maria.  I was actually pretty damn anxious before I went back in because I really want to try the pie.  Good thing I did go back because there were only two slices left so Allison and I each grabbed a slice!

The famous Nonna Maria Pie!  Thin crust with fresh mozzarella, homemade marinara sauce, parmesan and fresh basil.  It is ridiculously good.  Essentially a margherita, but so much better than anywhere else!  The crust is crunchy, plenty of mozzarella, great marinara sauce, and the liberal amount of basil makes the whole pie.


Add some red chili flakes, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese... Bam.

I was pretty full after having that last slice, since I already had a slice earlier and eating at Fish, but it was totally worth it.  Really one of the best slices of pizza I've had in NY!

Chicago: The Aviary

Grant Achatz is a genius.

Who is he? He is the man behind Alinea, ranked as the #6 restaurant in the WORLD, known for molecular gastronomy. He won the several James Beard Award and a few years ago for Best Chef in the US. Essentially, he is a chef that knows how to manipulate food with science and is damn good at it.

Recently, he started up The Aviary, which is his newest project, focusing on cocktails. However they are not just normal drinks that you would find at a lounge. He does the same thing to drinks as he does with food, find ways to innovate and provides a great experience to the guests.

The Aviary

953-955 W Fulton Market

Chicago, IL 60607

Neighborhoods: Fulton Market, Near West Side, West Loop

www.nextrestaurant.com

Came here around 40 minutes before it was last call. Don't really know how we found the place since there is no signs outside at all. The neighborhood looked kinda sketch (lots of food warehouse), and we were totally confused until we saw a valet guy outside and pointed us to the right direction.

The cage where the masters go to work.

Modern decor in The Aviary.

Beautifully designed space.

Amuse bouche: watermelon soaked in sake. Tasty!

Very refreshing. Would've ordered more food but I was way too full haha.

Drinks menu. The longer the line on the left means the more complicated it is. Of course we tried to choose the ones with the longest lines :P

Ahrhan's Rooibos. Ever had a hot alcoholic drink? Generally most people would say no but here, if you get the Rooibos, it is brewed like a tea with a vacuum pot. Lavender, almond, vanilla, and gin sit in a compartment above the vacuum pot and once heated, the heat sucks the boiled water up a glass tube and then boils the drink!

After it is done "brewing," the finished drinks travel back down to the pot after the heat is removed. Seems sorta odd to drink a warm alcoholic drink but it's good!

Anna's Blueberry, which is fruits, verjus, sweet vermouth, and rye. The longer you let it sit in that device, the stronger the flavors become, sorta like an alcoholic version of the fruit tea you get at HK cafes :P

The drink itself gets darker and darker after each pour.

In the Rocks,which is your traditional Old Fashioned, but with a twist. The twist isn't in the flavor or the alcohol used, rather, it is in the way the drink is made. An ice egg in a whiskey glass was put in front of me, but upon closer inspection you can see that there's something inside the ice egg, and you realize that the bourbon, demerara, and angostura are actually in the ice egg itself and that's why it's called "In the Rocks!"

Check out this video on how it is done!

Our server proceded to break the egg into slices, the alcohol flows out , add a peel of orange and there's the Old Fashioned. Somehow the man has came up with an innovative way to serve Old Fashioned.

Ben's Rhubarb, served in a tall glass, but the cool part is that it is served with little round ice cubes filled with a sweet liquor (maybe wine?) to help sweeten your drink as needed.

The server also brought a few on the side and we just started to eating it like candy haha.

The drinks are all tasty but nothing that will really justify the high price. The least expensive drink is the Hemingway and even that runs at $14. It's all about experiencing the world of cocktail, Grant Achatz style.

After The Aivary, I want to try Alinea even more... I guess it's time to save up around $500 or so :P

Shanghai: Week 3 - 人間 [People's 6)

Went to 人間, also known as People's 6, in Shanghai. It is actually owned by a Taiwanese guy, with several restaurants in Taiwan and China. I've been to one in Taipei and it's a restaurant during the day and at night, it turns into an upscale lounge/bar, which is the same for this one. Usually to get into 人間 it requires you to solve a sort of puzzle so you can open the door to go in. For this specific 人間, you had to swipe your hand across a sensor that's placed inside a rock. Pretty cool concept.

Tiny side dishes that the waitress said they are known for. Mostly preserved vegetables and stuff.

So I got Salmon Fried Rice, since it's hard to go wrong with it, since it combined two of my favorite food: fried rice & salmon :P The salmon eggs adds a nice touch of saltiness to it too.

My friend Raymond didn't get his lamb chops for like... an hour so to make it up to us, the restaurant gave us these test tube shots filled with a drink called Lemon Drop. Very weak but it has a cool presentation, since they placed dried ice around it to give the smoking effect.

Overall, the place is definitely for young professionals since it is a bit costly in Shanghai's standards. Good place to go on a date too hahah. Kinda makes me want to check out the other 人間.