Fashion Week Water

This week during NY Fashion Week Motorino was serving a the special edition Missioni bottles of San Pellegrino. The bottle is beautifully wrapped in a Missioni-esque pattern. It was the perfect addition to our Fashion Night Out's pizza dinner! I need to find out where I can buy some.

Soup Dumplings from Heaven

Ever since I moved to New York I have wanted to go to Flushing to explore and enjoy the amazing asian food there, and finally I made it! I had other business along the 7 train and so this time there was no excuse. It was everything I could have imagined, it felt like Vancouver (but not as clean) but I felt right at home! I am a big soup dumpling fan, and frequent all the decent spots in the city but this I had heard was the ultimate and it was great! The soup was rich enough and perfect temperature, that point right before it burns your tongue. We tried some other fun stuff; fried pork buns, cucumber salad and wontons in spicy sauce, which were amazing! Can't wait to go back in the winter, which is official soup dumpling season!

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao
38-12 Prince Street
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 321-3838

Some Like it Shaved

The food court at the Flushing Mall is fantastic! I could spend all day there. Sadly we were too stuffed with juicy dumplings to try any other food but there was some of the most amazing looking food spots, taiwanese specialities, korean bbq, hand-pulled noodles on and on it goes... but we did have room for something a little sweet. This was no ordinary shaved ice. It was huge! We got all the jelly fruit fixings and tapioca pearls, there were so many! And then they drizzled condensed milk all over it, it was delicious and super refreshing!

Fresh From Nova Scotia

My girl Sarra went to Nova Scotia over Labour Day long weekend and brought me back a gift unique to Novia Scotia, bluberry syrup! I must be the worst Canadian... I've never been to Novia Scotia and I've never even heard of blueberry syrup! I love it, I've been having it in the mornings over greek yogurt and almonds, sometimes with granola. I'm looking forward to having it over home-made pancakes.

Vancouver Special: Nothing Little about this Taste!

The spring rolls and this chicken pho from Au Petit Café in Vancouver is hands down the best I've ever had! The chicken is marinated in lemongrass and bursting with flavour! The spring rolls were insane, I could stop eating them! The owner is this super cute old man who spoke french with us, he was adorable. I can't wait to go back home in December for more! I think it's gonna be my first stop from the airport!

Au Petit Café
4851 Main Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604) 873-3328

Biscuits and Bacon Baby!

I had been to Back Forty a few months ago and loved it but I have no idea why it's taken me so long to go back. It's delicious!
That said it's not the lightest lunch on the block but it hit the spot that morning.... or actually afternoon. I had the most amazing cocktail, the Black and Red, which is fresh strawberries and tequila with a black pepper sugared rim, it was stellar! For food we tried the corn pancakes, which were ridiculous I have to say! Their texture was unlike anything I've ever had. They were topped with some serious bacon and smokey bacon infused glaze (sort of syrup) on top! The burger is a staple there, good. The biscuits are nice too, a bit more of that dry (scone almost) kind and Clarence got especially nostalgic because his grandmother's used to make ones that were very similar. All in all a rockin brunch, we sat out in their back garden which was really private and casual.

Back Forty
190 Avenue B (nr 12th)
New York, NY
(212) 388-1990
backfortynyc.com

Rooftop Burgers

We BBQ-ed on my rooftop with my new mini BBQ from Target... it's so cute and we were desperate to try it out! It started to ran so we had to fix our burgers under the table. so sad :( Brian, my very tall neighbour, helped out with grillin'... the burger looks so tiny compared to him :) and Jesse came over to join us in the eating festivities! Hopefully the weather clears up and gets warm again so I can do a proper BBQ before the summer ends!

Beer and Pretzels!

Nothing like a cold beer and a giant pretzel after work on a hot summer day! that's how we celebrated last week after a long day at the office... The pretzels are huge, chewy and delicious! The beer looked great, although I had a few glasses of Sancerre instead ;) They have a bunch of sausages too, none of which I found to be amazing... I guess the one stuffed with cheese was the tastiest of them all. Luckily it was early in the week so the crowd wasn't too terrible, but I can only imagine it on a weekend. Stick to weekdays is my recommendation.

The Standard Biergarden
at the Standard Hotel
848 Washington St.
New York, NY

It's All About The Trout!

I've been obsessively eating at Westville Chelsea, since it's delicious and close by our new office. I had to throw up this salad since I'm in love with it. It's the almond-crusted trout over greens... perfect light and healthy meal with yummy roasted almonds with fresh lemon! Federico's chicken salad was pretty kick ass too. I tried the all natural beef Niman Ranch hot dog the other day and I almost died it was so good. Make sure to order that puppy with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on top!

Westville Chelsea
246 W 18th St (btwn 7th + 8th)
New York, NY
(212) 924-2223

Oh My!

So the place I am working at moved offices last week and we have been exploring the neighbourhood. I finally had the chance to try Omai, this Vietnamese resto that I've had my eye on for a while now. It's now officially my favourite spot for beef Pho! That being said, it's not cheap but rather a higher end, high end ingredients kind of Chelsea spot. Lunch luckily is a bit cheaper, but still miles away from the idea of a cheap bowl of pho! All in all I LOVE it, and I intend to go at least every week while I'm in the hood. The ambiance of the place is sirene and it's more like you're in a spa getting a massage that a restaurant for lunch. All the fresh rolls and appertizers were great. The beef Pho, was insane! I honestly haven't had a bowl this tasty in my 3 years in NY! The cold bun was wonderful. Basically everything we ordered was good! Guess that's the reason it gets a critic's pick on NY magazine's website.

Omai
158 9th Avenue (nr 20th st)
New York, NY
(212) 633-0550