urbanfoodie

*20-something, filipina american urbanite
(Minneapolis via NYC, SF, & the Chicagoland area)
*creator, consumer, and all-around enthusiast of food
Feb 1

theinvertionist asked: Which establishment do you call when you need a Pizza at 1 in the morning?

Hello Mr. Inverter! Shockingly, this does not happen to me that often (I usually want a burger or a sandwich or tater tots at 1am). But recently I was hanging out with my friend at around 1am, and she ordered PIzza Luce, and I happily ate it. They deliver til 2:30am or so. Late night delivery pickins are slim around the Twin Cities. Delivery options are slim, period.

Your question makes me nostalgic for Koronet Pizza off the 110th/Broadway stop in NYC. Slices bigger than your face! I couldn’t attest to how good it tastes before the hours of 2-4:30am, though.

LionsHead1204_6

From the archives of 2004.


gratuitous photo of yourself eating tuesday | pizza | nyc | Comments (View)
Jun 30
What they eat where via Gawker via peterwknox Infographic crush!

What they eat where via Gawker via peterwknox

Infographic crush!

infographics | NYC | Manhattan | restaurants | Comments (View)
Apr 9
Margherita Pizza, Motorino Napoletana, East Village, NYC After a wacky morning of art (or perhaps, more accurately - a morning of wacky art, e.g.,  the Marina Abramovich exhibit) at the MoMa, we needed something substantial but light to quell our intense hunger before dinner. Enter the magic of the neapolitan pizza. I’ve always been a fan of Grimaldi’s and Lombardi’s, but those were much too far away (Brooklyn and SoHo, respectively). Luckily, I remembered Rebecca’s suggestion to check out Motorino, recently acknowledged by the NYTimes’ Sam Sifton for serving the best pizza in New York City.  When evaluating neapolitan-style pizza, the Margherita serves as the ultimate benchmark. The colors of the Italian flag - red, green, and white - signal the pizza’s fidelity to simple integrity. Motorino’s version did not disappoint, well-balanced in its proportions of buffalo mozzarella and tomato sauce (though I do tend to like more basil). Each bite of the crust makes you realize how truly wonderful the act of chewing can be - pliant resistance punctuated by a slight charred flavor from the wood burning oven. We also tried the seasonal Brussels Sprout pizza, which Sifton described as “something from a magic act, a dog speaking BBC English. It is great and unsettling, far better than imagination would dictate.” Now, after that kind of hyperbole you might be thinking “Yeah, right.” I will tell you - Yes, he’s right. Smoky pancetta and pecorino skirt overwhelming your senses when combined with a blunting mozzarella and counterpoint flavors of fresh garlic and subtly bitter brussels sprout leaves. And again, that crust! Best of all, Motorino does great pizza without great fuss. Okay, it’s not a greasy slice to be folded in half, eaten at 2am on the the sidewalks of NYC. Sure, there is some yuppifying/hipsterish stuff going on here (seasonal ingredients, hipster clientele in the East Village and Brooklyn). But for the most part the digs lack pretension, the most ornate feature being an intricately pressed-tin ceiling, and the pizza quality matches what you’d expect from the moderately-priced menu.  Sometimes you just want to sit down proper for a damn good pie, and for those times Motorino fits the bill.

Margherita Pizza, Motorino Napoletana, East Village, NYC

After a wacky morning of art (or perhaps, more accurately - a morning of wacky art, e.g.,  the Marina Abramovich exhibit) at the MoMa, we needed something substantial but light to quell our intense hunger before dinner. Enter the magic of the neapolitan pizza. I’ve always been a fan of Grimaldi’s and Lombardi’s, but those were much too far away (Brooklyn and SoHo, respectively). Luckily, I remembered Rebecca’s suggestion to check out Motorino, recently acknowledged by the NYTimes’ Sam Sifton for serving the best pizza in New York City. 

When evaluating neapolitan-style pizza, the Margherita serves as the ultimate benchmark. The colors of the Italian flag - red, green, and white - signal the pizza’s fidelity to simple integrity. Motorino’s version did not disappoint, well-balanced in its proportions of buffalo mozzarella and tomato sauce (though I do tend to like more basil). Each bite of the crust makes you realize how truly wonderful the act of chewing can be - pliant resistance punctuated by a slight charred flavor from the wood burning oven.

We also tried the seasonal Brussels Sprout pizza, which Sifton described as “something from a magic act, a dog speaking BBC English. It is great and unsettling, far better than imagination would dictate.” Now, after that kind of hyperbole you might be thinking “Yeah, right.” I will tell you - Yes, he’s right. Smoky pancetta and pecorino skirt overwhelming your senses when combined with a blunting mozzarella and counterpoint flavors of fresh garlic and subtly bitter brussels sprout leaves. And again, that crust!

March2010_MotorinoNYC

Best of all, Motorino does great pizza without great fuss. Okay, it’s not a greasy slice to be folded in half, eaten at 2am on the the sidewalks of NYC. Sure, there is some yuppifying/hipsterish stuff going on here (seasonal ingredients, hipster clientele in the East Village and Brooklyn). But for the most part the digs lack pretension, the most ornate feature being an intricately pressed-tin ceiling, and the pizza quality matches what you’d expect from the moderately-priced menu.  Sometimes you just want to sit down proper for a damn good pie, and for those times Motorino fits the bill.

March2010_MotorinoNYC-2-2

pizza | NYC | restaurant | reviews | brussels sprouts | travel | Comments (View)
Mar 19
353 | 14Mar10 | Gold-Coated Almonds, Kalustyans, Murray Hill, NYC Kalustyans is a speciality food store in Murray Hill (a.k.a. Curry Hill). It’s a fun place to walk around, with three floors of spices, sauces, flours, and other curiosities - like these French-imported gold-coated almonds ($29.99/lb.!). Thanks to Rebecca for introducing me. (This photo is part of my 365 project.)

353 | 14Mar10 | Gold-Coated Almonds, Kalustyans, Murray Hill, NYC

Kalustyans is a speciality food store in Murray Hill (a.k.a. Curry Hill). It’s a fun place to walk around, with three floors of spices, sauces, flours, and other curiosities - like these French-imported gold-coated almonds ($29.99/lb.!). Thanks to Rebecca for introducing me.

(This photo is part of my 365 project.)

365 | almonds | NYC | Comments (View)
Mar 17

GPOYWEKFCWWAPG Edition - Gratuitous Picture of Yourself Wednesday Eating Korean Fried Chicken While Wearing a Plastic Glove Edition

More on the bizarreness of KyoChon later. Meeting up with Rebecca of WCFoodies (and one of my long-time Tumblr crushes) was definitely a highlight of the East Coast tour. Come visit me in Minneapolis this summer!

rebeccalando:

I ventured into Manhattan - into MIDTOWN, no less - for lunch with UrbanFoodie yesterday. We feasted on wings at the strange and absurd (yes, both) KyoChon and then hit up Kalustyan’s for some dosa ingredients.

GPOYW | fried chicken | Tumblr | NYC | Comments (View)
Feb 24

Batali/Dogfish Head to Open Rooftop Restaurant & Brewery in Flatiron District | NYMag's Grub Street

Beer geeks and food enthusiasts can both have something to get excited about! [Regi & Ben, I’m looking at you].


NYC | beer | italian | restaurants | Comments (View)
Jan 5

February: Empire State of Mind

At the end of February, I logged in more travel hours with a short visit to New York for a board meeting of AAPA. While I was there, I caught up with some old friends and visited the old ‘hood around Columbia. It had been a couple of years since I moved away from NYC, and a lot was the same and yet so much had changed (well, I’m mostly thinking of the old, now newish Appletree deli/market across the street from Teachers College).

One of the highlights was my trip with Elaine to Barney Greengrass, a restaurant whose “obsessive dedication to fish specialities” like sturgeon and Nova lox never veers into the hoity-toity.  NYC and Jewish deli character written all over it, from the hustling and bustling servers who boisterously maneuver the crowded spaces to the biggest, best damn fish sandwich you’ll have on a bagel.

Later in the weekend, we grabbed a wonderful dinner at Centro Vinoteca in the West Village with our friend, Jon. Excellent, homemade pastas in an adult-dining atmosphere that suggests sleek, modern, and hip without trying. The deep brown leather seats and stainless steel amoeba-shaped bar say it all. Pillowy gnocchi and a homemade squid ink tagliatelle with rock shrimp and clams were standouts.

The weekend was capped off with some good ol’ noraebang karaoke and the obligatory post-karaoke 4am meal in K-town at Kun Jip. Walking all around the urbanscape, taking the subway across the city, and late night hanging out made me almost wish I lived in NYC again. Not to mention that the weather never went below zero (sorry, Minnesota. You always lose the weather card 5-6 months out of the year).

NYC | restaurants | 2009 | Korean | Italian | Comments (View)
Dec 8

Project Macaron evidence accumulates: Macarons close in on NYC

A mainstay of French celebrations, the crumbly, ganache-filled macaron is finally catching on here, thanks to versions now available at patisseries like Dessert Club, ChikaLicious, L.A. Burdick, and François Chocolate Bar. Most recently, Adour Alain Ducasse’s shop at the St.Regis (2 E. 55th St., at Fifth Ave.; 212-710-2277) has begun retailing its macarons (pictured from bottom, chocolate/passion fruit, raspberry, pistachio, and orange); you can also order any combination of its standard offerings (which include dark chocolate, coffee, and coconut) with 48 hours notice; $15 for a half-dozen. (via NYMag.com|Best Bets)


macarons | NYC | Comments (View)
Oct 22

Improv Everywhere’s Grocery Store Musical just made my day. Let’s squish our fruits together, people (via Serious Eats).

people really can burst into song in real life | right? | NYC | musicals | Comments (View)
Jul 24

DISGRASIAN™ publicly shames Nobu Restaurants for complicity in the Northern blue fin tuna's imminent extinction.

Nobu refuses to remove Northern blue fin tuna from its menu, despite the projection that the fish will be extinct by 2012 from overfishing and appeals from various celebrities (Charlize Theron! Sting! Elle Macpherson! Stephen Fry…wait, who?). excerpt from the UK’s Times (linked via DISGRASIAN):

A spokeswoman for Nobu last night said that it would continue to serve blue fin-tuna despite the Government’s announcement.

“We are keeping it on the menu. It is not illegal on this date. We allow our guests to make up their own minds.”

okay, i’ll admit: i’ve had the infamous tuna w/ scallions and jalapeno at Nobu Next Door. once. and it was amazing. but not worth the extinction of a species.


restaurants | NYC | sushi | issues | Comments (View)
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