Bistro Magico

I have been around gourmet food a long time. I have had the most amazing mentors and I have been a caterer/personal chef for some famous folks. I always wanted to/thought I would open a restaurant.

Rather unexpectedly, I had the chance to do so in Mexico. What fun. Much easier that doing in the USA in some ways (codes, permits, etc.) but much harder with regard to available supplies.

I am doing my tried and true simple items that are hard to find in Todos Santos, where I am currently living on a sabbatical from the traffic, smog and tension of Los Angeles. Really good pancakes, falafel, artful salad, grilled cheese even are hard to find. Peanut butter? Impossible. They only sell Skippy. BLECK. Some stuff I will import. Others I will make.

I am excited! I am also leary of the mountainous amounts of hardwork that are required to open a restaurant/cafe etc. etc. etc. Luckily I am a person who doesn't mind working hard. Phew.

Website only a simple marker at this point, but check it out! Fijate!

:0)

www.bistromagico.com

Eating NYC

Mr. Softee Truck Logo

 

I can't walk 5 feet in NYC without pulling out my camera to bookmark some "wow this looks good" restaurant. Here are some highlights from my recent trip to Manhattan and Brooklyn. I will provide a list below of places I wanted to try but didn't. The places I did try were really fun and delicious.

Olympic Pita is a  Kosher Schwarma place on 38th St. between 5th and 6th. They make a BEST boast: Best Schwarma in NYC. It better be good. It's $11!!!! It was good. They don't make their own pita but they do make their own flatbread which is what you get if you order the larger size for $14! Lots of topings, excellent hummus, tahini, hot sauce etc. YUM YUM.

 

Macao is a very unusual Bar Restaurant in Tribeca. They bear the distinction of being the only Chinese/Portugeuse fusion place in town. Go for the drinks! I had the Drunken Dragon which featured coconut milk and Charbay Green Tea Vodka. YUM YUM.

We enjoyed our Lobster noodles, shrimp & bacon fried rice, plantains and greens. Yeah. It was kind of a crazy carby night but it was TASTY. It's quite the trendy Young Adult place, so for some it might be a bit to "happenin'" and too noisy.

 

Roio's Pizza is the new name given to my childhood haunt, Famous Ray's Pizza. Please don't confuse this place with all the tacky "Original Ray's" pizzas which are neither original nor good. This place has been serving perfect slices since 1972. After a few years away, the original owner is BACK and has changed the name so that once and for all you won't confuse the innovator with the imposters.

 

Why is NY pizza so great? Is it the tap water in the dough, is it the old Italian recipe. I don't fuggin' know but dang if it ain't great every time. Wish I had a piece right now in fact!

After pizza ( I only had like 4 bites) we stopped off at Sanpanino, an authentic fresh and YUM YUM sandwich place on Hudson street. Good potato chips and pickles too! Delish.

 

I ate at a few other places, Casa Mono and Bacaro Restaurante. They were good, but for some reason they didn't excite me enough to write about them.

 

Paprika, which I was so excited about due to reviews and their arty website was GOD AWFUL. :(  The moral of the story is always trust your instincts. When we arrived at Paprika, it just didn't look inviting and I didn't want to go in but felt bad about cancelling at the last minute since the place was EMPTY. The foodie with heart. That's me.

 

Havana, which is right across the street from my friend's house on 38th was fantastic, but not really a destination spot, more of a "How Lucky Am I to Live Across the Street" kinda place.

 

One honorable mention goes to Pesce Pasta Tratoria on Bleecker St., a place I ate at with my ex-husband 20 years ago! According to my friend it's still going strong and is as good as ever. Worth a visit!

 

Here is my list for next time. One could never ever not ever really eat their way through NYC. There is just too much to see, be and do!

 

Kin (Thai Fusion in GV)

Jeffrey's Grocery (Oysters! in GV)

Dar (Middle Easter in Brooklyn)

La Colombe (Amazing coffee in Tribeca)
Jack's Stir Brew Coffee (Amazing coffee in Greenwich Village)

Dominique Ansel (Famous Award Winning Bakery in Soho)

Havana Alma de Cuba (Cuban food in GV)

Nom Wah Tea Parlor

With so many blogs to maintain, I save this one for the foodie experiences that are so memorable I feel compelled to sit down and spend 20 minutes telling you ALL about it.

First, let me tell you that in recent years I have been sort of "off" Chinese food. I moved over to Pho about 6 years ago after being stuck on Pad Thai for about 10 years.

I grew up in NYC. As a kid, it would freak me out to walk through Chinatown and see the sad little ducks with their bills intact, roasted to a crisp, hanging in the windows.

I live in Los Angeles, where Pulitzer prize winning food journalist Jonathan Gold holds court and he has a passion for Chinese food. Especially Dim Sum. But instead I blog about tacos and chase food trucks!

Scallion Pancakes (kinda taste like pizza bread)

I prefer noodles and the non-exotic. Chicken feet? No thanks. Fluffy, stuffy, pork Bao? NOPE.

I was headed down to Chinatown on a recent visit to NYC to try some noodles with friends when I felt compelled to detour a few doors down on Doyers St.

Moving quickly from 1 to 13, I came across the vintage Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Their windows are lined with magazine articles about how the younger son took over the less than booming family business and updated it to rave reviews.

I heartily agree. The decor is amazing, the service efficient and the food delicious. Lots of fun stuff. They give you a paper to fill out (sort of like in a sushi place.) They have a number of exotic teas and gourmet gingerale. We pretty much loved everything we ate. The pan fried pork/shrimp dumplings and the tofu rolls were excellent.

Amazingly Asian-Inspired icecream flavors.

Afterwards, you can walk around the corner to the Chinese Ice Cream Factory and have beyond delicious Almond Cookie ice cream!

Nom Wah Tea Parlor
13 Doyers Street
Chinatown NYC
www.nomwah.com
www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com

Flour and Water, San Francisco

Italian sandwich at Salumeria

It's turning out that every year on my birthday, which is mid June, that there is no place I'd rather be, eat and relax than San Francisco.

I have long since stopped fighting the AWESOMENESS of this foodie town in defense of LA, where I currently live and eat. They're both great!

My friend Dana, who lives up there, is always on top of the lastest food trends.

This year, I was the lucky recipient of a reservation she had made months in advance at a place that is still hard to get in to, two years after they opened! When another friend told me about it, I thought she meant 'Flower and Water' and that it was some hippy dippy Vegan spot. So I passed on the early frenzy.

But no. Flour and Water is the purveyor of some of the BEST pasta I have ever eaten. The place is small and casual. The service was exceptional, from the hostess who gave us no attitude to the waitress who knew every inch of every special on the menu. From what I gather the menu changes DAILY. She never once looked at a sheet of paper and all the dishes are unique and complicated.

Handmade Penne with Lamb

Nothing looks like you think it will. It's all so inventive and the flavors are out of this world. On a previous visit my friend had cocoa pasta with pumpkin something.  If I lived in Potrero Hill (which is actually where I WOULD live if I won the lottery and could afford SF) then I would eat at this place once a week.

Pasta Triangles with Mushrooms

There was a delicious simple salad that was so tasty I forgot to take a picture. What was I thinking? I had something with greens and torn croutons and my friend had a smoked trout something or other that was fantastic as well. We had perfectly jiggly but not too jiggly, fresh pannacotta for dessert.

They also just opened another restaurant, CENTRAL KITCHEN, and a fabulous salami/sandwich place called SALUMERIA. FANTASTIC.

I have no idea who these people are, but they absolutely know what they are doing and I LUFF them.

A Frame

Clam Chowder

I notice some people refer to it as the A Frame. Call it what you will, but this fabulously fun eatery is another feather in the cap of Sir Roy Choi (he of the Kogi) and I had a enchanting experience there.

This little patch of Culver City, isolated smack in the middle of Mar Vista (check out a map to see how weird the Culver City borders are) has some food gems. I have been hitting the corner near there, off Centinella and Washington, for about 20 years to visit Pacos Tacos. I still stand by my statement that they make the BEST translucent and yes, lard-filled, flour tortillas in Los Angeles.

Restaurant named for the original architecture

This sleepy stretch used to house an I Hop and a funky old diner called Crest House Family Restaurant. Now both of those places have turned fab. Waterloo and City took over the Crest House and Roy Choi turned the I Hop into foodie heaven.

I recently took a friend there who was visiting from Portland. She loved it. The menu was filled with seafood delights, but I also saw a juicy burger fly by. Great food. Full bar. Fun cocktails. Great service. Excellent architecture. Communal tables. LOVE.

Crab Cakes with Shisho Leaf

When I think of how some of my best friends in the world used to live across the street practically, I weep with how fun that would have been to hang out with them and then walk about 3 mintues to a delightful gourmet experience .

Sword Fish Tacos

Afterwards, we would have stumbled back home, tipsy but with no DUI's, our bellies full of wonder... End dream sequence. But that's ok. I can still just zip over there, and you should too, especially for the swordfish tacos and whatever other specials they have cooking in the pot.