The Last Hurrah in the Big Apple

Gelato from Eataly. Ok Capo, I think you've met your match. Pistachio + Hazelnet in a waffle cone? ZOMG I'm in heaven. 

Is it already almost the end of August? The experience of a milestone birthday, the end of a whirlwind internship, a spontaneous trip to Montreal and now I am back in my bed at home furiously sending out emails in preparation for the upcoming semester. I don't think I even remembered to do anything particular for the one-year anniversary of this blog or take any pictures of my Bday dinner. Sigh. Is this what happens when you officially grow up? Life starts moving like a fast forwarded movie? 

At least I'm still making time to smell the pork ramen along the way :) Leave it to me to wait until my last day in NYC to finallyy check off some foodie adventures that have been on "the list" since day 1. Guess that's why they always say better late than never. 

Momofuku Noodle Bar.  Momofuku Ramen with pork belly, pork shoulder and poached egg. Pork buns with hoisin and cucumber. I think I like the noodles at Momo better but the broth at Ippudo was definitely more flavorful. Pork buns are comparable although Momo's was clearly a lot fattier. Good food is still good food  :p

Momofuku Milk Bar. Cereal Milk Ice Cream & Grasshopper Pie (not shown).  For someone who doesn't really like the taste of milk (and yet ice cream is still my favorite food group...huh), cereal milk flavored ice cream was not really my thing but you gotta praise David Chang for his creativity.

After raving about Tamarind to my co-workers the first time around, guess who was lucky enough to go back for another spectacular (somewhat gluttinous) three-course lunch? This time it was with a new friend from work. Life is at its best when moments are the most serendipitous - especially when its the start of a new friendship :)

Spicy Lamb. Curry Chicken. Sadly, I do not remember the name of these dishes (not that I even knew how to pronounce it the fist time around).

Kashmiri Murgh (Chicken) and Bhagarey Paneer (Cottage Cheese)

Amritsari Machli (Marinated Fish) and Pudina Gosht (Boneless Lamb)

Side of Nan and Root Vegetables

Rice Pudding that wound up seeming more like Vanilla Mousse but still delicious :)

Norma's at Le Parker Meridien

My LAST brunch in the city. The brunch was decent but the servings were ENORMOUS including the coffee where they served you an entire kettle (per person).  Guess who was uber caffeinated for the rest of the day?? Check out their very expansive menu.

Normalita's Huevos Rancheros.

Crunchy French Toast with Warm Caramel Sauce. So this might just put RX's crunchy french toast to shame. IF only there had been some fruit with this dish! One can only take so much of super sweetness and dense delicious carbyness.

Dinner with T. at Pipas y Mas. The lighting at the restaurant was way wayy too dark for me to get any good ambiance shots but the restaurant's website does a pretty darn good job highlighting their extravagant lighting decor of 20 something chandeliers. We didn't really explore the full tapas menu but what we did get was yummmmy. And we took NYMag's recommendation on the piggy back dates which were indeed very tasty.

Catalan Flat Bread - Slized Chorizo, artichoke, tomato and piquillo pepper

Catalan Flat Bread - wild mushrooms, serrano ham, manchego cheese, caramelized onion, almonds and truffle oil.

Piggy Back Dates - almond stuffed, bacon wrapped dates with endive leaves.

Cooking class and dinner at the Institute of Culinary Education. We had the choice of helping with one of three courses - guess who opted to help with the peanut butter/chocolate goodness dessert?? 

Making caramel (apparently you are supposed to add salt at the end of the heating process to make the flavor pop which in hindsight is kind of intuitive considering PinkBerry now sells salted caramel fro-yo but still...now it makes me want to go make caramel!), whipping up peanut butter mousse and stirring up chocolate cake batter.

Risotto with medley of vegetables.

Steak with fingerling potatoes and asparagus.

Chocolate cake with peanut mousse and caramel sauce.

Not to shabby for a wrap-up of the city that never sleeps. Lets see if I can crank out the posts I have from Montreal before I head out to Penn. Farewell NYC! Until next time ;)