I Scream For Yuba

I LOVE LOVE yuba, which is tofu skin. I found this new favourite on the menu at Sobakoh. It's the perfect light and healthy dish on a cold night. Everything is good at Sobakoh but obviously they specialize in soba so it's definitely my go to spot for soba.

Sobakoh
7th street, nr 2nd Ave

We Love Elsa

Elsa is one of our favourite neighbourhood bars. My girl Sarra lives across the street so it's so convenient. It's "usually' filled with cool local East Village cool peoples, I say that without the "weekend" disclaimer, the weekend draws often an unexpected crowd. Weekday you are safe to go to Elsa and find a great vibe. The drinks are fantastic and not too expensive. I love their Pimm's Cup and their Dark & Stormy... and actually pretty much any drink on the menu! My recent favourite is their Tequila Old Fashioned. Amazing!

Elsa
217 E 3rd St. (btwn Ave B + C)
New York, NY

Peels Gets a Hooray!

Peels is the latest and greatest brunch spot in the East Village. Same owners as Freemans, these people know what they are doing. They are serving up some heavy, yet yummy grub. We went the first time on a weekend brunch and sat at the communal table (the upstairs wasn't open yet) and although it was a bit of a wait and brunch was eaten on free-standing stools it was still good. The upstairs is now open and much more comfortable. They have both booths and proper tables upstairs. The food is yummy. We tried a variety of stuff, from fried eggs with pulled pork and cornbread, poached eggs over succotash, pancakes and their version of a monte cristo! Their bacon is ridiculously delicious and their biscuits are excellent. They even have a build-your-own-biscuit program! My kind of place!

Peels
325 Bowery (Corner of 2nd St.)
New York, NY
peelsnyc.com

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!