Friday Pics: The Way I Travel- New York

The Winter Whites of New York City.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

I would never consider myself an expert on Chinese New Year and all the traditions and rituals that come along with it. (Christmas expert yes, but not Chinese New Year.)

However, I hope your homes have been cleaned, CNY decorations as well as fresh chrysanthemums are abundant around the home, new clothes have been bought and that you're all ready and excited to eat and be reunited with friends and family! 

It's been about 9 years since I last spent CNY at home with my parents and it pains me to think about all the good times I've missed or about all the ang pows that never came my way. Oh well...

This year, I am doing a second night dinner with my cousins and then heading down to OC to spend the rest of the Chinese New Year weekend with my bro and Co. It's not quite the same as spending the New Year in Singapore. Nevertheless, I am thankful for having family close by. 

Xin Nian Kuai Le folks!

Photo Credit: Beth Liebetrau 

Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant

I love breakfast. Well no, I love brunch, because brunch combines two of my great loves: breakfast and sleeping in without missing breakfast. 

Waaa-it... didn't I already mention this? Right... deja vu huh? 

But worry not, I got that negative "press" thing out of my system on Monday. Instead, since I'm in New York this week for a work/play combo weekend, I thought I would talk about this lovely brunch place that I dined at the last time I was in New York- Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant.

The one thing about brunch that really gets to me, is that everyone else seems to love it too! Therefore, there is, inevitably, always a wait for a table at any brunch spot (least it be McDonalds. Which, btw, I had for breakfast in Singapore on Xmas eve- don't judge!). 

This was exactly the case when I dined at Clinton St Baking Co & Restaurant. My friend and I braved the hour long wait because I just had to have their pancakes. What a foodie brat I've become ;)

But let me tell you, these wild Maine blueberry pancakes that we had was truly worth the long wait. Served with warm maple butter, these pancakes were not too thick and not too thin. They would have surely satisfied Goldilocks herself!  

The pancakes had just the right amount of crisp to dough ratio and were delectable with the warm blueberry compote and sinful with the maple butter. I really can't explain why the pancakes were so good, but if you trust my taste buds, you too would wait for over an hour for them. 

The second dish we shared was poached eggs in heirloom tomato and summer squash stew topped with grated Parmesan cheese and served with sour dough toast. The combination of the warm poached eggs, stewed squash and tomatoes made for a very homey and comforting dish. The tomatoes were so vibrant and sweet, while the eggs were beyond fresh. I love it when simple ingredients come together like this to make a tasty and stellar dish.

Speaking of simple ingredients and simple life, I kept picturing myself on a quaint little farm, eating this dish with farm fresh eggs from the coup, and freshly grown tomatoes and squash from the garden patch out back. Apparently I watch too many farm movies because if you really lived on a farm, you would be too pooped from farm chores to fix yourself such a breakfast. At least I would.

 

Finally, we also ordered a side of their fried green tomatoes. These were truly a perfect combination of fried sinful crunch, with salty and sweet goodness. Furthermore, the fried green tomatoes were not the least bit too greasy and were so amazingly good that I've been craving a good fried green tomato since then.

Anyway, that was what I was up to the last time I was in New York. Stayed tuned to find out what other shinnanigans I get myself into on this trip. Happy February and almost Chinese New Year! 

Details:

Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant

4 Clinton Street

New York, NY 10002

646-602-6263

The White Rabbit

I love breakfast. Well no, I love brunch, because brunch combines two of my great loves: breakfast and sleeping in without missing breakfast.

Combine my favorite meal with my favorite holiday and you have boxing day brunch at The White Rabbit in Singapore.

Now I know most, if not all, of my "reviews" on restaurants have been in a very favorable light. But its high time I come clean with you and admit that I don't always enjoy every restaurant I dine out at, I just usually don't blog about such restaurants. No negative "press" is my general rule.

But when I come across a fancy restaurant that does not deliver food wise, it irks me to no end and I feel strongly compelled to break this rule of mine. Case in point, my boxing day brunch at The White Rabbit.

Photo Credit: Blargh from Hungry Go Where. 

 

To understand why The White Rabbit falls under "fancy" in my books, let me first tell you about the space in which The White Rabbit is housed in. Set in a beautifully-restored old chapel off Dempsey Road, The White Rabbit has a grand almost awe-inspiring feel to it. With high ceilings and beautiful hard wood floors, the interior of the restaurant is sparse yet cozy. Large arched shaped windows allow natural sunlight (if you go in the day) to filter in creating a relaxing and warm atmosphere. All very fancy.

Next I must tell you about the wonderful job the design team did in branding this restaurant. Themed loosely after the ever popular 1865 Lewis Carroll novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the restaurant presents itself as a classic European restaurant that is cleverly presented in a current and kitschy way. Classic modern cool, if you know what I mean.

If you need examples of what I am talking about, just browse their website.

But all in all, I think we can agree that The White Rabbit thinks itself fancy. Therefore, I think it reasonable to expect a certain amount of fancy to translate over to their food. 

Wrong! I ordered the Croque Madam with grilled pama ham, Emmental cheese and topped with a sunny side up egg. First of all, my egg was sorely over-cooked and the yolk did not ooze with delight. Next, the English Muffin that my sandwich came atop of was cold! Cold! Can you believe that? They didn't even bother to toast the bugger up before serving it.

Then there was that parma ham. Cold and stiff, it did nothing but pull the dish lower and lower into the pits of yuck. And I won't even go there with the limp "salad" that sat depressingly along the edge of my plate.

Needless to say, brunch at The White Rabbit is the epitome of what not to do! Do not house yourself in a gorgeous building and brand yourself smartly, only to let your diners down. Had the bar not been set so high by the location et al., maybe your fall from grace would not have been so drastic. So, my dear The White Rabbit, how about focusing a little more effort into actually making your food edible?

Thank you.

Details:
The White Rabbit 
39 C Harding Road
Singapore 24951
+65 6473 9965

Friday Pic: Corner of my Home (in Singapore)

My maternal Grandparent's wedding picture. Behind that is a old family picture taken in the early 90's. I don't know if you can see this but I am deliberately pouting because I was upset with Mama T that day and wanted to purposefully ruin her family picture. 

What a brat I was! 

But I guess the joke is on me since I now look like a tool in the picture. 

Happy Friday! I'm off to face the freezing temps in NYC tomorrow! 

Otto Ristorante

Do you have a best friend? One who is your partner in crime when you want to monkey around? One who will never judge you or laugh at you (only with you)? One who builds your confidence, challenges you to be a better person, makes you feel stunning, and puts you at ease no matter the situation?

Well I do, and her name is Nik.

Nik and I have been BFFs since we were 8 and 9 years old respectively. While our friendship started off on rocky ground (it's not my fault that she couldn't handle a little friendly competition when I beat her in our first ever swimming match up), we became inseparable when we discovered that we wore the same styling shoes- LA Gear with little light up flowers. It was love at second sight and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since the day we declared we were BFFs, because every friendship needs to start of with an official declaration of feelings, Nik and I have gotten into the habit of aiding and abetting each other into whatever mischief we could manage. If we weren't begging our moms to let us play hooky from school, then we were pretending to be ladies who lunch and finding our way into any and every fabulous restaurant in town. Umm, we were like 10 when we started our lunching extravaganzas. 

Years later, while we live light years apart, lead very different lives, and have really nothing in common (except each other), Nik is and always will be my best friend.

As to that mischief we got into when we were younger... that hasn't changed much. Instead, we just get into more grown up versions of said mischief (You KNOW what I am talking about Meeks... Xmas eve *ahem ahem*) We also still think we are ladies who lunch, except we have expanded our repertoire to include breakfast, dinner, dessert and anything that falls in between those.

This trip home was no exception, with Nik calling in "sick" one day and us getting all gussied up to lunch at Otto Ristorante.

Surrounded by expat businessmen in posh suits and fashionistas that don't have to work, we fit right in with the crowd who lunch.

For our first course, we decided to try the Carpaccio di Capesante con Condimento allo Zafferano e Polvere di Olive Taggiasche, or if you don't speak Italian, the Hokkaido scallop carpaccio with saffron vinaigrette and black Taggia olives powder. 

With saffron and olives in the mix, I had such high hopes for scallop carpaccio. I was expecting something that was bold yet delicate, pronounced yet refined. However, upon tasting the dish, all I got was bland, boring and blah.  

While the flavors of the saffron and olive were pleasant, it was apparent that the dish lacked any kind acid. A squeeze of lemon would have help bring everything together. What a waste. 

The sole reason we had come to Otto was because Nik was craving her "uni pasta." That and the fact that the restaurant we had initially planned at (Andre) dining at was fully booked.

So to Otto we came to eat their Spaghetti ai Ricci di Mare e Bottarga di"Carloforte" or spaghetti with sea urchin and grey mullet bottarga. The original plate that they laid before us was wa-ay too salty, even for my now Americanized-I'm-immune-to-salt palate. A little too heavy handed on the roes there, Chef!

After sending it back to the kitchen, the second plate came out lovely. The soft creaminess and brininess of the sea urchin and grey mullet roes linger on your palate and then open up to a warm, slightly metallic (but in a pleasant way) and fishy sensation. Nik said that she was not pleased with her uni pasta that day, saying that there wasn't enough fresh uni, but I didn't find anything too offensive about it.

The second dish that we shared was the Tagliatelle con Fegato Grasso e Dadolata di Manzo Giapponese or Tagliatelle with foie gras and Wagyu beef ragout.

The combination of the Wagyu beef ragout and foie gras created a dish rich enough to clog anyone's arteries. Foie gras? Wagyu beef? Fish Roe? The way we were eating that day, you'd think we'd never heard of Gout. But hey, you only live once right? 

For how rich this dish could have been, there was something still appealing to it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Was it the beefy dept of flavor? The contrast in textures between the soft foie gras and meaty beef? Or perhaps it was the freshly made tagliatelle that held up beautifully to all the lusciousness that was going on around it? 

Suffice to say I quite enjoyed this dish.

And because our initial uni pasta was too salty, the suave Italian manager gave us mango panna cotta on the house. 

Now ladies and gents, if you hail from Singapore, you'll know that comps are a VERY rare thing in Singapore dining. But somehow, whenever I dine out in Singapore, I manage to charm my way into a free dessert. Apparently I have the magic touch. 

Magic touch aside, this mango panna cotta had a lot of lovely mango (my favorite fruit) action to it. But sadly, the texture of the panna cotta itself was a little off. I wanted it to be just a smidge lighter. 

All in all, it was a lovely lunch. Not just because the food was pleasing, but because I got to be a lady who lunched with my bestie. xoxo Meeks! 

Details:

Otto Ristorante

28 Maxwell Road, #01-02

Red Dot Traffic Building

Singapore 069120

+65-6227-6819