Tabélog event at Skál on the Lower East Side

Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

Skál, what a strange word, except if you speak old norse where it means "cheers". It also means little bowl, representing the concept of small dishes to share that compose the menu and are even present in the decor.

Skál is where Tabélog organized a meet and greet event for the bloggers who are actively participating in the content of the site. I think it is great as it brings food lovers together. It was also the occasion for their CEO, Kenta, to announce the expansion of the site to other states like California (congrats!!!). There, I had a nice evening talking with Lord of the Fork, Cutie Patroller, The Restaurant Fairy, Lea_K and Johnny Prime. There, food was more photographed than people and they conveniently set all the dishes in an area so we could take our time to take a pic. 

So, Skál is a Scandinavian restaurant located in the limit of Chinatown, where Chef Ben Spiegel (who worked at Noma in Copenhagen) crafted an original menu using products locally sourced. 

I also spoke with one of the owners, Christophe, a fellow Frenchman, who talked to me, with passion, about the restaurant and their future projects to expand it. I got a tour of the facility and could not miss the large selection of wines in the basement. They propose 27 wines from 12 different countries that they source at small producers all around the world, as well as beers from Iceland that are not that easy to find in the city. 

It is a small place with an interesting decor considering the raven (not to mistake for a crow) that sits on top of the bar. It is not that they are fans of Game Of Thrones, but because the raven is the emblem of Iceland. 

Food wise, we got a nice sampling of their menu. Here is what they served us:

Well fleet oysters served with a versus and chamomile:

Pickles (seasonal vegetables in their own brine):

Authentic Mexican dinner at El Maguey Y La Tuna on the Lower East Side, NYC, New York

I was recently invited to El Maguey Y La Tuna, a restaurant located on the Lower East Side that serves authentic Mexican cuisine. As a blogger, I love these press dinners, not only because you get to meet other people who love food, but also because you often meet with the owner or Chef who will give you some information or back stories that you would not have as a regular diner.

I admit that I had no idea what the name of the restaurant was referring to and thought that Tuna was...tuna! In fact, it means "The Tequila/Mezcal and Prickly Pear Plants". It is a family owned and operated business: in the kitchen, Executive Chef Leonides Cortez and his wife, Sous Chef Manuela Cortez. At the front of the house is their daughter Maria who gave us plenty of hints that evening.

It is a medium size place, with a 45 seats capacity that, as Maria mentioned, was designed to make people feel like they are in the family kitchen, a feel perfectly rendered by the terra-cotta floors, the wood and tile tables and the white tile walls, decorated with photos (one of them is Maria's grandmother, overlooking the dining room and emphasizing the importance of family), as well as ceramic from Mexico.

We started off with drinks. I could have gone for a Mexican beer but decided to go for their margaritas that they flavor with fresh fruit puree. 

I ordered the mango margarita that is my favorite flavor. 

It might not have been the best margarita I ever tried, but I liked it, although a bit dangerous because you couldn't taste the alcohol too much making it taste like an innocent drink...

I also tried, out of curiosity the jalapeño margarita (don't think I drank two margaritas: that will never happen!).

I never heard of such a drink and if there would not be jalapeños floating around, I would have never guessed what it was. It was refreshing, not spicy as I would have expected.

We started the dinner with chicken tamales that they made especially for the Holidays as Maria told us.

We had to unwrap it to discover the filling made with chicken and masa (a corn dough), that we ate with green salsa.

My nephew culinary visit: day 7 / part 1: Indian food at The Masala Wala in NYC, New York

Talking with Valentin, I was not sure he ever had some good Indian food before. So I picked The Masala Wala: good food and reasonable prices, especially with their lunch special. I discovered this restaurant back in August and promised Jodi that we would go there to try some street food, as they serve some amazing dishes there.

We sat in the bright dining room dominated by the gold coin representing one of the owners, Satyen Mazumdar, and decorated with paintings representing street scenes in India.

We decided to share the different dishes we ordered and started off with the Dahi Puri, these little semolina puffs filled with spiced potatoes, chickpeas, tamarind, mint and yogurt. 

These one bite puffs are very good and extremely refreshing, thanks to the mint and yogurt.

Then we shared a vegetarian samosa and some veggie pakora that are sort of fritters.

My nephew culinary visit: day 5 / part 1: Tacombi at Fonda Nolita in NYC, New York

Interestingly, Valentin told us that the only tacos place they have where he lives is a Middle Eastern version rather than Mexican! So, we decided to bring him to a restaurant serving tacos and ended up at Tacombi at Fonda Nolita on the Lower East Side. 

It is a very interesting place: when you enter, it is as if you were on the side of a road, with a small van in the middle where they make tacos! 

Looking carefully inside the van, you can see the Chef works his magic:

On the right when you enter, they have a small cafe, for take out:

The name Tacombi is in fact the contraction of Tacos and Combi, the latter being the van that is used as a taxi in Mexico. 

Our waiter was nice and efficient, but the food took some time to come. We started off with guacamole and chips. 

It was freshly and perfectly made, but I was surprised by the small quantity for close to $12. 

Then, we all got different tacos. Jodi ordered the veggie one that was mainly made with mushrooms.

Brunch at DBGB in NYC, New York

Being a fan of Daniel Boulud, we decided to go for brunch at DBGB, a bistro located on Bowery. Casual, but a bit trendy! The decor is spectacular, with two different rooms separated by shelves, one of them full of pans and pots "donated" by famous Chefs (Paul Bocuse, who is a legend in France or Gordon Ramsay being some of them). 

Both dining rooms are different and carry a different feel: the first one, after the entrance is very casual, modern, bright, with wall covered with mirrors where you can read famous people's quotes. 

In the back is the bar, with a wall covered in bottles.

Then, there is the second dining room, that is more formal, with shelves all over, mainly occupied by wine bottles. 

In the back, is the huge open kitchen. The menu at DBGB features both French and American traditional dishes. For instance, on the French side, you can order the charcuterie plate made of pâté, jambon (ham) or head cheese; they serve also blood sausage or croque Monsieur. On the American side, they have hotdogs as well as burgers. For the latter, they propose a French version, the Frenchie, that I tried! The French touch is: confit pork belly, tomato-onion compote and morbier cheese! 

The beef patty, that was served on a peppered brioche bun, was perfectly cooked medium and very juicy, to the point that i did not need to add any ketchup or mayo. You could taste the layered components one after the other, delightfully complementing each other.

Tabélog bloggers event at SakaMai in NYC, New York

I was recently invited by Tabélog at SakaMai, a sake bar in the Lower East Side, for a meet and greet party with food bloggers that are part of a jury to elect restaurants in New York City in the following categories:

• Best Use of Truffles in a Dish
• Best Overall Plate Display
• Best Happy Hour Location
• Best Steak in NYC
• Best Ramen Noodles

(results to be announced soon!)

Tabélog is the number one Japanese review website with over 50 million users, that is launching a US version: tabelog.us, focussing, at this time, on New York City and expanding in the near future to the rest of the US. The name Tabélog comes from: "Tabe" that means to eat in Japanese and "log" is for blog.

With Kenta Hirai and Malini - Courtesy of The Restaurant Fairy

We spoke a bit with Kenta Hirai, the CEO of Tabélog US, and had a wonderful evening with Malini, The Restaurant Fairy, and her husband Yozo, that I met in previous press events. Of course, most of the discussion was centered around food, probably the only topic where rarely people would fight as opposed to politics and sports!

So what best place for this event than a sake bar? I admit that I did not know there were sake bars in New York. I only have sake (rarely though), when going to a Japanese restaurant and, usually, one would think to grab a beer or a glass of wine, but rarely sake! That is such a mistake! And to make us discover incredible drinks, we were honored by the presence of 2012 world champion mixologist Shingo Gokan.

And they have tons of sake there (by the way, Sakamai means "rice to make sake")! But also a large selection of beer. I decided to try some sake and picked the Fukuju that is a smooth one from a brewery in Hyogo.

I liked it, better that the other cocktail I tried that was made with ingredients like gin and coconut water that was their cocktail of the evening.

Dinner at The Masala Wala in NYC, New York

I was recently invited to a Press dinner at The Masala Wala, an Indian restaurant located on the Lower East Side, few steps from Katz's Deli in fact. The place, opened in November 2011 by Satyen and Roni Mazumdar features traditional Indian dishes from different regions with a focus on street food. We met with Satyen and his son, Roni, and they contributed to make this experience very enjoyable, not only for our palates! 

Before I talk about the food, let's talk about the restaurant itself: it is a medium sized restaurant that can accommodate 28 people inside and 8 people on the sidewalk. 

We ate inside and I liked the atmosphere that had some warmth, thanks to the dark wood and exposed brick. The room was surrounded by beautiful paintings of street vendors highlighting the underlying theme of the restaurant! It also had high ceilings one of my favorite fixtures, apparent bulbs, that are, I guess, both old fashioned and trendy!

One of the walls had Indian artifacts, some of them being a reminder of the Indo-Chinese culture (especially the dragon sitting on one of the shelves).

Then there is the gold coin featured at the beginning of this post and below:

First of all, gold symbolizes wealth and prosperity in India. Then, the face is no celebrity (yet!): it is Satyen Mazumdar! On the right side is their motto: "taste above all".

Their menu, created by Chef Abdul Junel, features cuisine from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka...). You find of course the classic dishes most Indian restaurants serve: Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, biryani...Interestingly, they propose for the most classic ones, their vegetarian version: chicken tikka masala & paneer masala, tandoori chicken & vegetable tandoori are good examples.

Coincidently, the dinner occurred on India Independence Day! We were therefore greeted with their Independence drink: mango lassi.

The mango lassi was delicious and a nice way to prepare our palates. We were lucky to be able to try several dishes from their menu, some of them being soon new additions. It was split between two culinary experiences: street food bites and Indian signature dishes. I was very excited to try all these dishes, especially the street ones!

So we started with the street food bites:

We started off with Bhel Puri:

Bhel Puri is made of puffed rice, spiced tomatoes, chickpeas, curry leaves, mustard cheese, onions and chutney. It was pretty good and interesting because I never had puffed rice besides the famous cereal! It added a nice crunchiness to the dish that made it different from any other rice dishes I ever tried.

Then came one of the most interesting dishes and one of my favorites: Dahi Puri.