A Christmas Feast

It's that time of the year again to get together with your family and friends and make braised beef short ribs and gin martinis.

...please note: I do not think this practice should be reserved for the holidays only.

a wintry table

Dry gin martini

stirred? shaken?...i can't remember, but it was delightful

Smoked salmon with creme fraiche on Carr's crackers

Braised beef short ribs with sauteed swiss chard and potato and celery root mash

LOS ANGELES: Local Restaurant

I will start by saying that, sometimes, living in this massive urban sprawl of highways and Midwest transplants (a city which I coincidentally happen to adore), you get a little tired of "hip", and begin to simply long for "good". Somewhat justifiably, New Yorkers make fun of us Los Angelenos' attraction to the words "organic", "locally sourced", and "humanely raised".

NYers get off...

NYers get off on beautiful, locally sourced ingredients from farms that care about the crop or animal they are producing, whether it be a foie gras liver from Hudson Valley, lamb from Elysian Fields Farm, or brussel sprouts from Suter Farms. We inhabitants of opposite coasts are alike in our appreciation for fine ingredients that do not have an adverse affect on our planet. It's just that NYers are less concerned about making it known that this or that ingredient is organic or locally-sourced, and more concerned about how that affects the overall quality of the food which they serve. As a native Los Angeleno, I am highly annoyed with the plethora of LA restaurants that are more concerned with making their patrons aware that the little birdie they are about to eat was treated kindly 20 miles away from here than serving them an affordably priced, excellent meal.

L.A. Anomaly...

But then there are those joints that transcend the borders of both "organic", "sustainable", and "good". Local restaurant in Silverlake is one of these LA anomalies. Pay no mind to the American Apparel clad 20-somethings hidden behind their wayfarers and bangs that frequent this Silverlake restaurant, and instead focus on the menu items. They all sound delectable and there is not an egg white tempeh scramble in sight. The place has ample outdoor seating where you can soak in the LA sunshine and feel proud to be in this environmentally-conscious, organic-obsessed, but more importantly, gastronomically blessed city.

gotta love 'em

Quinoa burger on a homemade bun with spicy fries and ranch

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah)

A Spanish tortilla-type dish with black beans, avocado, salsa, queso fresco, and crema

2943 w. Sunset Blvd, Echo Park

BRKLYN: Williamsburg

During my visit to NYC, I took the JMZ train across the bridge to the outer borough of BROOKLYN. I was leaving the cramped, faced-paced island of Manhattan in search of hipsters, vintage stores, gentrification mixed with existing Italian, German, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Jewish culture, and FOOD.  Serious food.  When I had traversed the BRKLYN bridge and arrived in Williamsburg, I shot a lovely picture of the Peter Luger Steakhouse sign from the subway platform [below].  A destination reminder for my next trip to this charmingly self-righteous outer borough.

Peter Luger sign with the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance

Roebling & Metropolitan Tearoom: see and be seen hipster brklyn cafe and tea room, which happens to serve delicious, locally sourced comfort food in a charming, romantic, dimly lit old-fashioned tearoom atmosphere.

Old Victorian-looking wallpaper <3

We ordered: Chicken liver mousse accompanied by baked apples, pickled onions, and toast

Staci ordered a green tea to help her soar throat (a result of all that partying in Manhattan)

I, on the other hand, ordered an Allagash White (Belgian wheat) beer.  Our water came in a very charming green glass bottle.

Fette Sau: Unfortunately, we were too full/pressed for time to grab some barbeque down the street at Fette Sau.  I hear GREAT things about this Brooklyn barbeque joint.  First off, the name means "Fat Pig" in German.  Secondly, the tables are of the wooden picnic variety and the beer taps are KNIVES (Yeah, I said it, knives.  That is unfathomably cool.)  If that wasn't enough, they have a gas-and-wood-fired smoker to slow cook their rotating menu of pork and beef ribs and shoulders, pigs' tails, flank steak, leg of lamb, pork belly, and pastrami, all sold by weight and served on butcher paper.  AND the drink menu is North American whiskey and Bourbon heavy, with a smattering of (mostly local) beers on tap.  YUM, I AM COMING BACK.

Thank you, Brooklyn, for being a burgeoning Metropolis with boundless culinary wonders.

LOS ANGELES: Palm's Market (Tamale Making)

Yesterday morning I awoke to three feet of snow and a blizzard, and after a long flight from Ithaca to LA, I woke up this morning to sunshine and 76 degree weather. I love Los Angeles. So the only appropriate thing to do was go to the beach to rollerblade, stopping on the way at Palms Market (on Motor between Palms and Tabor) for some serious carnitas tacos. After perusing the Mexican market for homemade salsas, tortillas, chorizo, tejocote fruit, and jarritos soda, the wonderful owner, Sonia Munoz, told us to stop by later in the day for tamale making. You see, tonight was the first night of La Posada (the nine days leading up to Christmas), and hungry devotees would need some comforting, steaming hot tamales during their candlelight vigil around the neighborhood. I love tradition, I really do. Especially when it involves tamales.

El maestro de los tamales

Pork in salsa roja tamale

Cheese and poblano pepper tamale

Pork, chicken, and cheese tamales... to be steamed and gobbled up

Pressing the masa (tamale dough)out onto the hoja de maiz (corn husk)

Palms Market owners Sonia Munoz and Arturo Munoz

Jarritos, Jarritos, Jarritos

Friiiied pork skin

Tomatillos roasting alongside tortillas and carne asada

*A shout out to my wonderful brother Ethan, who bought me a Nikon D3000 digital SLR for the holidays. Could ya tell? ;)

DINNER CLUB: Pig Feast

Sausage making with the Cornell MEAT SCIENCE professor! :)

Studded HAM...what a beaut

Barbeque sauce made and bottled by the one and only Isis

Makin sausage

Checking the internal temperature of the ham: 160 - 170 degrees

Baby Back Ribs

Braised Pork Belly

Crispy sweet & spicy pork belly

Dandelion Greens on Crostini with Pork Belly

An enchanting (and eclectic) winter table

NYC: Momofuku Ssam Bar

Chef David Chang is my hero.

(comments to come)

ohmygod pork (belly) buns

Honeycrisp apple kimchi with arugula and crispy pigs jowls

crispy pigs jowlscrispy pig's head with sauerkraut and pear mostarda

NYC: Joseph Leonard

It's 12:30 am, you're walking through the West Village, you pass by men in see through tank tops sporting mustaches, you're hungry, you're thirsty, you need a libation, you need shelter. You suddenly happen upon an unassuming cafe with a simple sign on the window that reads: Joseph Leonard. The restaurant is full of West Village locals drinking Grüner Veltliner and nibbling on duck rillette. Are you in Paris? Are you in Lyon? Are you in Heaven? No, you are simply in the West Village of Manhattan. This is the neighborhood restaurant/wine bar next to which you've always dreamed of living. So you pull up a seat at the bar, order frisee aux lardons and moules frites from the bearded waiter in the plaid shirt, sit back, and breath in the unassuming perfection that is this West Village eatery.

The name is an amalgamation of the names of the owner's grandfathers on both sides of his family. Joseph and Leonard's pictures hang on the wall inside.

The charming interior (picture from the restaurant's blog)

Staci drinks the house red, an Orvieto, and the house white (a Grüner Veltliner)

Oysters with mignonette

Frisee aux lardons: fried egg and brioche. The richness of the bacon, egg yolk, and buttery brioche perfectly balanced by a red wine vinaigrette.

Moules frites (mussels and french fries): Bathed in the most velvety and buttery white wine broth with ample fennel, onions, and garlic. Served with toast and frites to soak up all that deliciousness.

An open kitchen where you can watch the talented chefs at work. Interestingly enough, they were all wearing plaid.

***Did I happen to mention they have Cochon Sundays? Every Sunday, chef Jim McDuffee will take apart a whole pig, using each element in a different, featured dish. Oh yes I think the "Picholine olive risotto with crispy pork belly" sounds quite appealing.

Joseph Leonard: 170 Waverly Place, New York City