Five Stars for Five Points

I finally had brunch at Five Points and it was really amazing! My girl Minh is my foodie partner in crime and we love to wine and dine together.... it was so nice to finally do a nice brunch together! We shared two amazing dishes. The first was their special polenta with caramelized artichokes and a fried eggs one top, it was heavenly! We also tried this salmon with poached eggs over this fluffy puff pastry. We ended on the churros, dipped in mexican hot chocolate which was super naughty but worth it. The food was really good and their bloody mary's were SO strong. I was literarily drunk half way through it! I might have to go back next weekend!

Five Points
31 Great Jones Street
New York, NY

Bangin' Biscuits!

After hours of waiting we finally got into Clinton Street Bakery on a Saturday for brunch! The wait is the only reason that I haven't been back there in probably over 5 years, it's really ridiculous! That said it IS worth it. The food is very good and the vibe, once inside, is mellow. We ate WAY too much, each ordering our own breakfast as well as an order of french toast for the table. Their buttermilk biscuits, which come under their egg and Benny dishes (Smoked Salmon and Ham pictured here) are nice and buttery! The pancakes were really good and the french toast was amazing too! Their syrup is almost butterscotch flavoured and oozing with deliciousness! They have a variety of warm alcoholic drinks, which was a godsend this day because it was unusually cold, so I warmed up with an apple cider with rum which was spot on! It was a great brunch with old friends from San Francisco and it was everyone's else's first time there so they all left very full but very happy!

Clinton St. Baking Co.
4 Clinton Street (nr Houston)
New York, NY
(646) 602-6263
clintonstreetbaking.com

Some Kind of Wonderful... or Sub

No.7 Sub is finally open! They opened their door a week ago and the line is already out the door by 12:30pm! I had heard that their freshly-made-on-the-premises-bread runs out fast so we headed there early and just beat the crowd. There were more sandwiches on the menu than the original preview menu which was a nice surprise. We decided to share a few different ones to get a proper sampling. The "General Tso" was great, the fried tofu was deliciously soft and the whole thing had a banh mi-ness to it, cilantro, pickled carrots... it was delicious! The "Broccoli" sandwich was a real surprise, it was made with simple steamed broccoli, fresh mozzarella, thai basil pesto and fried lemons. It was amazing and fresh... a truly unique taste! The "Roast Beef" was also really interesting, with pickled blueberries and korean Doenjang sauce on it! Their homemade Yuzu Hibicus Gingerale was amazing! I'm not really the type to care for a flavoured drink while eating but I loved it SO much that I plan to get it every time. It's not very sweet and has a strong ginger flavour.. and as you know Yuzu is my true love. So all in all I was impressed with No.7, the sandwiches were really good and unique tasting and the fresh bread was soft and yummy. I look forward to heading back for more. I plan to try the "Ceviche" and the "Hot & Sour Egg Salad" sandwiches next!

No.7 Sub
20 West 29th Street (at the Ace Hotel)
New York, NY
(212) 679-2222

Homestyle Udon

Yoko was here this week visiting me from Tokyo and she made me some homemade chicken udon one night. It was amazing. I watched her every step so that I can recreate it on my own. She made a simple broth from soy sauce and a bit of soba sauce I had from before until taste was right, then the secret and most special ingredient was the gobo (burdock root) she grated and added to the soup. I love gobo, it's got such an amazing earthy taste and it's amazing for your digestive system! It was just what I needed that night and we ate Japanese style on the floor over a small low table. (and because I don't actually have a table ;) The special addition was the yuzu kosho, which is a citrus wasabi-like paste that is usally used with chicken and duck. I had been given this little jar from a friend in Tokyo last time I was there and I love any occasion to pull it out and use it! Yuzu is one of my favourite things in the world! Itadakimasu! いただきます！

Garden is Guud!

The new Guu in Vancouver is open and it's really really good. All the Guu restaurants are good but I was especially into the food at Garden. I think it had some trouble getting going when it first opened but they are definitely up and running now. It's location is nice on the second floor, with a more modern and yet casual vibe to it. I really liked the feel and they have a lovely little japanese garden off to the side. We got the one little table right next to the garden, it was so nice. As for the food, the menu is similar to the other Guu's but seems to have more sushi and a whole Oden menu, which is amazing! Here's the duck oden pictured here. We ordered the classics, the tuna tataki and the salmon sashimi, which were both amazing! The ebi-mayo was also especially exceptional. I miss all the amazing Japanese food in Vancouver and always look forward to going back again.

Guu Garden
M101-888 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 899-0855

Artery Choking

The creamy and oh-so-naughty artichoke pizza slice at Artichoke is the perfect thing to soak up all the alcohol after a long week and weekend of fashion week parties! It was Peter's first time here and he was most satisfied! Sky enjoyed a more modest margarita slice, but then gave in to half of our gooey slice, which was massive! It was about 3am and the place was packed with a line out the door! I would not recommend this pizza to connoisseurs who are looking for an authentic slice but do recommend it after heavy consumption of alcohol. It was delicious but feel like it took me a few days to recover!

Artichoke Basille's Pizza & Brewery
328 E 14th St (between 2nd Ave & 1st Ave)
New York, NY
(212) 228-2004
artichokepizza.com

Congee Feast

We celebrated after Siki's show over a big dinner at Congee Village on Bowery. It was about 13 of us at this massive table and Will took care of the ordering. He ordered several kinds of congee (of course!), fried frog legs (pictured here), chow fun noodles, tofu, juicy dumplings, 2 huge duck dishes, greens and more! It was tasty and amazing as always and vodka cocktails are all $5 so we went crazy and mixed those in. Good times!

Congee Bowery
207 Bowery (nr Delancey)
New York, NY
tel. (212) 766-2828

Year of the Tiger

We rang in the Chinese New Year at An Choi with good friends. They shut the restaurant to the public and did a prix fixe for close friends and family. There were two seating times, 7pm and 9pm. The menu was 9 courses, therefore a lot of food! From amazing soup, to pickles, greens, papaya salad, suckling pig belly, to country paté, to fish, it was quite a feast! My favourite dishes were the crab asparagus soup starter and the caramelized salmon steaks. Once again An Choi brings the house down.

An Choi
85 Orchard Street
New York, NY
(212) 226-3700

Eye On Spy

I had walked past this place a few weeks ago and had been wanting to try it ever since. It opened about 6 months ago I believe and it's remained fairly under the radar until now. It was just posted on Daily Candy even. First of all I love the name and secondly the food for brunch was good. I need to go back to sample the rest of the menu but the polenta and eggs were quite good. They have some lovely brunch mimosa's. The service was a bit weird, they were stingy on the cream for our coffee (which I didn't really like) and keep having to ask for really basic things. The one thing that did blow me away was the homemade biscuit. It was ridiculous, so buttery and layered... I loved it and highly recommend it! It worked especially well with the eggs and polenta.

Northern Spy Food Co.
511 East 12th Street (btwn Ave A + B)
New York, NY
(212) 228-5100
northernspyfoodco.com