Wendy's Birthday (Don't Hate, She's 38!)

September 29, 2013

It's Wendy's birthday! To celebrate, we had a little BBQ party at her place.

Happy Birthday, Wendy!

DC & NJ - September 2013

September 27, 2013

I was in DC for work for a couple days. I squeezed in a much-needed morning run one of the mornings around the National Mall and some of the monuments:

My sister was also in DC, so we hung out some more and went for another sister's dinner at Central Michel Richard.

Gougeres cheese puffs:

Ahi tuna with watermelon salad:

"Faux gras" terrine and country pate:

Tartare of filet mignon and french fries:

Signature dish of fried chicken with mashed potato:

Brussel sprouts with bacon:

From DC, I headed up to NJ, and it was nice to see this view again:

On Thursday night, I went for dinner with some co-workers in Manhattan to Beauty and Essex on the Lower East side, sister restaurant to the popular Stanton Social. It was a little confusing when we showed up, the entry is a pawn shop. 

Starters of hand cut prime steak tartare with crispy mustard and chive sticky rice cake (left) and sashimi of tuna, tonnato style with lemon zested olive oil, crunchy chorizo and sea salt (right):

Tacos with beer battered Maine lobster, red cabbage and poblano crema:

I had the brick-pressed chicken with creamy mascarpone polenta, blistered tomato and Sicilian style bread crumbs (so tasty!):

Mac 'n cheese on the side:

The boys had the pan-roasted scallops with smoked tomato and sweet corn risotto:

Desserts of sorbet (above) and black-bottomed butterscotch pot de creme with coconut chantilly (below):

I loved this dinner, really nice space and fun menu. I would love to come back here!

Yi-Yi Weekend

September 23, 2013

I headed to the east coast early for a work trip and spent the weekend with Angie and the family. On Saturday, it was sports day as each kid had an activity to do.

First off, Olivia's field hockey game:

Followed by Simon playing touch football and Charlotte cheering his team on:

On Sunday night, Angie and I hit up Heritage in Richmond for dinner:

Shrimp crackers with kimchi spice to start:

Chicken liver pate with yellow beet mostarda, ginger, fennel and toast (seriously, some of the most amazing pate I've ever had):

Oysters on the half shell with lemon sorbet:

Bourbon barrel smoked pork belly with kim chi, bok choy, carrot, peanuts and ginger:

Shrimp carbonara with cavatelli pasta, face bacon, parmesan and peas:

Deconstructed vanilla cheesecake with local strawberries, pistachio and pound cake:

Dinner was amazing, and it's always so much fun to go for dinner with my foodie sister.