The Best Thing I Had In My Mouth - Hurricane Irene Edition

It's weird what you do in emergencies.  On Thursday of last week, there was definitely rumblings of Hurricane Irene, by Friday my friend had informed me she was looking for a battery-powered radio.  What?  Like you are really that worried?  Then the news of the subways closing by noon on Saturday came, and it started to freak me out a bit.  It was more about the lack of cheap transportation than the fact that there could be some real damage.  I was feeling stuck.  So what did we get for the emergency?  Water (to make us look sane), Lay's potato chips, tortilla chips, mixed nuts, Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux cookies, and Pirate's Booty.  My friend stopped at Harlem Vintage and he they were pretty low on things (New Yorkers know what's important).  On Saturday, we spent a bit of time making salsa and a pitcher of margaritas to get us through the weekend.  The slim chance of death was just enough for me to go hog wild and not care that I  had two bowls of Pirate's Booty in a row while laying on the couch watching Friday Night Lights.  Thanks Hurricane Irene!

Please enjoy this Curb Your Enthusiasm clip, where Larry David proclaims his love of Pirate's Booty (we share the same passion):

Last year, I made this tomato salad - click here to check it out.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Photo by Marcus.

Okay, why would you trust a vegetarian's opinion when they tell you to go to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que?  I don't know, but does it help that I am from Kansas?  And every time I walk by this place on my way to Fairway, the strong waft of BBQ aroma hits me and reminds me of home?  A few of my friends and I got together and checked it out.  None of us were disappointed, even the vegetarian.  The service was friendly, the food was really, really good, and I even tried a fried green tomato for the first time - yum.  I am not going to go on and on, but I will say if you want to make a trip up to Harlem, try Dinosaur while you are there.  Just make a reservation, or expect to wait a long time, this place is popular and rightfully so.  See pictures below:

Cutest Napkin Ever!

Isn't this napkin from Make My Cake the cutest?  Click here to check out Make My Cake's website!  They have some great treats in Harlem!

Click here for a sweet and spicy lentil soup recipe.  Happy weekend!

Bad Horse Pizza Review

On Friday night, my friends and I got together for the grand opening of Bad Horse Pizza.  We followed our noses down my five flights of stairs to Bad Horse next door.  It was around 8:00 and the place was very busy, so busy that the waiter seemed annoyed/shocked that we were okay waiting for an hour for pizza.  First off, an hour wait is not that bad for New York, and second off I have been smelling their pizza all week.  I was dying to try it!  Obviously, they were not prepared for Harlem's excitement for a real pizza place.  So we decided that maybe carry out would be a better option.  So a few of us hopped over to Harlem Vintage (my favorite wine shop in Harlem) and got a few bottles of wine, and hung out upstairs at my place.  Well over an hour later and a couple of us went down to check on the pizza situation.  There was a table available at this point, so we all went down to eat.

Bad Horse Pizza Grand Opening Today

It looks like today Bad Horse Pizza is finally opening at 120th and Frederick Douglass Blvd.  Above is the sign I saw outside my apartment last night.  I am definitely bringing some friends along tonight to give it a try.  I hope it doesn't disappoint!  Hope to see a lot of people there!  Click here to check out their menu.

Bad Horse Pizza - Opening Soon

For the past couple months, I have been anxiously anticipating the opening of Bad Horse Pizza, a joint opening up right next door of my apartment in Harlem.  Last weekend I saw some workers/owners place the Bad Horse Pizza logos outside their windows, and yesterday I saw people working on a counter top and organizing chairs.  Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer, because I am dying for a good pizza place in my neighborhood.  Dominos (read review here) just isn't cutting it for me anymore (although I am not going to pass it up after a late night out).  After reading a couple other blogs, there seems to be debate over the name Bad Horse (people hate it), but I am going to save my judgement for the pizza, and besides I kind of like the name.  If Bad Horse is as cool as Patches (play video above), then I think they are on their way to something amazing.  Click here to preview their menu.

Click here to read some food-related book suggestions.

Click here for a jumbo raisin oatmeal cookie recipe.

Oh, and Rock Chalk!

Red Rooster Harlem Review

On Monday night, I finally made my way to Red Rooster Harlem, Marcus Samuelsson's restaurant that I have been talking about for months.  Since I had been waiting so long to go, my expectations had gotten higher and higher, so the pressure was on.  I took my cell phone to take pictures, since it was smaller, and seem less obvious.  It ended up just looking like I was more interested in texting than my date.  I wasn't texting - promise!

Red Rooster is located on 125th and Lenox Avenue, a main cross street in Harlem.  When you enter inside the restaurant you instantly get a warm vibe.  The front half of the restaurant is dedicated to a large copper-top horseshoe-shaped bar with a tall wall of shelving filled with glasses behind it to separate the main dining section.  The restaurant is large and the tables are actually spaced out decently, so you don't have to hear your neighbors conversation (like in a lot of NYC restaurants).  There are some communal tables, which I sat at, but there was enough space between the dinner parties to feel like you were at your own.  Red Rooster exudes a modern, upscale farm house with bentwood chairs, clean wood tables dressed with leather placemats, and tea towels for napkins.  At the very back was the open kitchen, where you could literally see Marcus Samuelsson cooking.  We sat right next to it, and although it was exciting, it might be off-putting to some since you can hear the line cook yell for the orders throughout your meal.  My favorite part was the artwork on the wall, a mix of contemporary artist, a lot from Harlem.  Oh and there was wonderful jazz singer and small band there too.Overall, this is most well decorated restaurant I have been to in a long time.  I liked that there was a definite eclectic vibe, but it didn't feel forced or cheesy.

The Best Thing I Had In My Mouth - Patisserie Des Ambassades' Croissant Aux Amandes

I know I keep posting about croissants for the best thing I had in my mouth, but seriously Des Ambassades really knows how to make a good pastry.  And when the cafe is so close to my apartment, the odds are in their favor for impressing me weekly.  This week the almond croissant hit the spot.  The pastry is flaky on the edges, but the center is filled with a softer almond paste covered in toasted almonds, and isn't overly sweet.  If you are in the neighborhood, I definitely recommend you check out Des Ambassades.

To learn how to make croissants aux amandes, click here.  Click here to check out a great quinoa salad I made, or these Southeast Asian-style Spring Rolls.

The Best Thing I Had In My Mouth - Patisserie Des Ambassades' Croissant

I am so fortunate to live literally a block away from Les Ambassades, an African cafe that serves the best croissants in Harlem, if not Manhattan.  I will say that Ceci-Cela in Soho gives them some tough competition, but when you live all the way uptown there is no place I would rather go.  Not only are their croissants always buttery and flaky, but they have the sweetest staff, and great coffee with cream and sugar.  It has become a Saturday ritual to stop down at the cafe, and then go back to my apartment and enjoy my croissant in front of the television, watching The Soup I DVRed the night before :)  It is definitely the best thing I had in my mouth this week.

OMG - Red Rooster is Opening!

Photo taken by Harlem + Bespoke

Marcus Samuelson's Harlem restaurant called Red Rooster is opening this Friday, December 17th at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue!  I am beyond excited :)  Click here to see the article in the New York Times.

Chef Spotting And Other Things

So my apologies for being away so long, but I have been busy!  I am moving just a couple blocks away from my lovely Harlem brownstone, so the last couple weeks have been devoted to paperwork, painting, and packing.  In the meantime I have been storing up recipes and restaurant reviews to share later.

A highlight of last weekend was walking past chef Marcus Samuelsson on Frederick Douglass Boulevard. I have become recently obsessed with Marcus since watching him on Top Chef Masters.  My friends and I have been rooting for him every week, although I found him rather ice cold on his first appearance on the show, I quickly forgot about it.  I wanted to stop him on the street, but I thought it would be a bit creepy.  There were so many questions I wanted to ask - like when is his new Harlem restaurant called Red Rooster opening?  Or who wins Top Chef Masters?!  Not that he would tell me.

Other things that have caught my eye these past couple weeks:

Cool infographics on food spending nationwide - click here and here to see.

Get-Set Placemats from Hello Hannah that make me want to be a kid again - click here to see.

Braided Lemon Bread from one of my favorite food blogs - Smitten Kitchen.  I have some hand-picked lemons from California that I have been dying to use.  Hopefully I can make it on Monday.  Click here for the recipe.

Don't forget to check out last year's makings: delicious strawberry-rhubarb syrup, rhubarb tart with orange glaze, and planting an herb garden.