Dinner: Eating House (Miami)

When I found out that ZCDIV had to be in Miami for work the same weekend as Miami's COCHON 555, the only thing I asked him before booking my flight was what time his golf outing would be over on Saturday. That allowed me to do the Saturday morning "KKdouble" (for those of you who aren't obsessed like me, that's a Flybarre with Kara Liotta followed by a Flywheel with Kate Hickl) and even get half of a 2nd ride in with Leah Clark. Even with all that, I arrived in Miami with enough time to have an awesome dinner Saturday night. Yes, my trip would be less than 36 hours, but that easily accommodated Saturday dinner, Sunday in the sun (weather-permitting, in an effort to continue my 2013 resolution to be tan the entire year), and the main attraction... Sunday evening's pig party, COCHON 555!

With only one evening to eat, I wanted to find a goodie, and since we were staying at The Biltmore in Coral Gables, I excluded South Beach restaurants in my search, for convenience-sake... plus, the only SoBe spot on my list is The Bazaar by Jose Andres. After a little digging, I came across Eating House, which, from my research, sounded like a similarly creative yet less extensive version of State Bird Provisions in San Francisco, a dreamy meal.

I emailed to see if there were reservations available, and within 24 hours, I received a response with available times. Hooray, we were IN!

We arrived at the restaurant, on the corner of a somewhat busy intersection. The restaurant was formerly a bakery space that Eating House "borrowed" in the evenings as a dinner pop-up, and with its popularity, they ended up purchasing the bakery and its 1800 sq ft for their permanent space. The exterior is a bit reminiscent of the bakery, but with the outdoor tables, some patrons waiting for tables outside while drinking bottled beers, and a bustling bar as you enter the restaurant, it certainly is a bakery no more.

We were seated immediately, and our server, Joseph, was friendly and helpful without ever being annoying. You can tell Eating House is a laidback, hipstery kinda place, with servers wearing t-shirts/jeans and, that evening, hosting a "420" party with a special family-style menu, drink specials and even live music!

While we perused the menus, we received a bowl of spiced popcorn to munch on. Tasty! We opted for the special menu as well as a couple add-ons from the a la carte menu; I wanted to try as much as I could!

The 7-layer dip was a surprisingly refreshing take on this usually heavy starter which included super fresh tomatoes, avocado crema, salsa verde, red onion and cotija cheese with super crunchy chips spiced chips served on the side. The cold lo mein also tasted rather light, despite being a noodle dish, with fresh carrots and a soy/sesame/vinegary sauce. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the black garlic, but I loved the egg noodles.

Next up were the "bagel bites", a riff on a classic from-the-freezer snack, but Eating House's version was AWESOME. Tender meaty short rib, enhanced with black truffle and topped with fontina cheese on a chewy, toasty bagel made for the best adult bagel bite you will ever try. It was love at first bite!

The "chorriperros" - the name is derived from a combination of chorizo and perro, a Colombian-style hot dog - were fantastic. Chorizo-style kielbasa from Proper Sausages in a toasted hot dog bun with a ketchup, pineapple relish and topped with potato straws was another giant success. Huge props to Proper Sausages for making an awesome sausage for Eating House! (I may have to order sausages from Proper Sausages soon... or at least make a pit stop the next time I'm in Miami.)

We received a break from the 420 special menu when we received one of our a la carte menu items: pasta carbonara. This is my absolute favorite pasta dish: fresh pasta adorned with classically, guanciale, in a creamy, unctuous egg-yolky sauce; when it's done right, it is MAGICAL. And Eating House might have the best carbonara I've EVER tried. Theirs arrives as a bowl of fresh tagliatelle pasta blanketed with fluffy Parmagiano Reggiano, and when uncovered and tossed, a smooth, rich, creamy, truffle-inflected eggy sauce coats these perfectly-cooked ribbons of pasta intertwined with meaty chunks of crispy bacon... O. M. G.

Back to the evening's special menu, we received a vaca frita (crispy beef) bun, which is more than vaguely reminiscent of Momofuku's pork buns (that I had just eaten the evening before at Ma Peche) with its cucumber & scallion topping and hoisin sauce (Eating House's is sweetened with guava), except this was served on a dinner roll (looked like a potato roll). Unfortunately, the crispy beef bun was a bit too sweet for my taste; I should have asked for Sriracha as we did at Ma Peche the evening before!

Our final savory dish from the 420 menu was the candied pork belly on bacon pancakes with maple syrup. Despite the pork belly, I actually thought I would be turned off by this because it sounded so sweet, but Eating House got me again. The salty, fatty, rich pork belly was perfectly balanced by the sweetness and crunchiness as well as with the wonderful bacon pancake it was served upon. This is why I try everything; another winner.

Our other a la carte menu add-on was the raw cabbages salad (I thought I would need some vegetal considering what we were eating), and it arrived at the end of the savory portion of our meal; not sure if this was in error or European-style. This "salad" was a spin on a Caesar salad, but the dressing didn't include egg or anchovies. I enjoyed the presentation and delivery - shredded cabbages, dressed with "Caesar" dressing, spread on thin garlic toasts, layered on top of each other and then heavily showered with Parmagiano Reggiano. Unfortunately, my cabbages were overdressed and wilted which took away from the crunch you expect from not only cabbage, but also a Caesar salad.

We were pretty stuffed at this point (actually, ZCDIV was pretty stuffed even earlier on), but since dessert was part of the 420 menu (of course), it's not like we were going to turn it away.

The brownie sundae topped with vanilla Dutch Masters ice cream was interesting... our brownie was a little disappointing, being on the dry side, but that ice cream... the vanilla Dutch Masters infused ice cream left a slight tingling sensation at the back of the throat with each bite. But I have to give it to the chef at Eating House: the "breakfast" dessert of Fruity Pebble mousse on top of milk panna cotta then sprinkled with a healthy dose of Fruity Pebbles was the perfect translation of and improvement on cereal. Wow, fantastic!

One last notable: the succinct wine list has great options and is completely affordable, with most bottles in the $40 range, the priciest at around $60. (I was eyeing only whites, and the Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc was fantastic, the Albarino also tasty and they even have a Txakoli available! ZCDIV had a glass of the Malbec which he enjoyed).

What it comes down to... you will definitely be surprised, impressed, and sometimes in awe of what Chef Georgio Rapicavoli does with food. And most importantly, you will definitely leave Eating House happy. Move over Michael's Genuine; I think I found a new Miami fave!

Eating House

804 Ponce de Leon Blvd at SW 8th St

Coral Gables, FL 33134

305/448,6524

Reservations are most easily obtained via email: eatinghousemiami@gmail.com.

Recipe: Avocado Sandwich

My spin studio, Flywheel, is doing its own version of March Madness called Fly Madness. The goal is to ride as many miles as possible each week, and my buddy Foxy asked me to partner with him. Amazingly, we've made it to the Final Four, and we're hoping to advance to the finals next week (fingers crossed!). Since it's all about miles, I've been riding as often as possible (thank God for the monthly membership that is no longer available). Being the super competitive Korean that I am, I have truly dedicated myself to this event. I also started the Flybarre Challenge on Monday, so between that and Fly Madness, I'm burning a crapload of calories, and I'm famished ALL THE TIME.

When I get home from what sometimes can be 5 hours at Flywheel, I want food as quickly as possible. My favorite quick meal of right now is this avocado sandwich that I adapted from a recipe I received in the California Olive Ranch newsletter. My version is even easier and quicker!

Avocado Sandwich

1/2 ripe Haas avocado, halved & pitted

1-2 slices of multigrain bread (I like Ezekiel's)

good-quality extra-virgin olive oil (I use California Olive Ranch!)

sea salt

crushed red pepper flakes

Toast bread. While bread is toasting, cross-cut avocado in peel and then scoop out with a spoon.

Evenly distribute on one slice of toast. Sprinkle with salt, red pepper flakes (to taste) and drizzle with olive oil.

You can eat it open-faced (as shown above), but I usually top with another slice of toast and make it into a sandwich. 

I'm thinking about having another one now! DELISH, enjoy!

Dinner: Pure Food and Wine

I've tinkered with the idea of going part-time vegan for quite a while now... my very close friend, TC, was diagnosed with testicular cancer a couple years ago and then after my sister, JY's, bout with breast cancer... a lot of seeds were planted (I just made a vegan joke!). Realistically, I knew going full-time vegan would be absolutely impossible for an intense carnivore such as myself (I mean, I am a full-fledged, jerseyed member of the NYC Pork Club!). With my 2013 New Year's resolution to eat more healthily, I thought it was time to revisit the part-time vegan concept. I've tried my hand at a number of recipes from vegan cookbook, Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli, and they turned out fantastic, and a redonkulously delish dinner at Candle 79 on the Upper East Side with my girlfriend Anna pushed me over the edge... part-time veganism, here I come!

Next stop: Pure Food and Wine. I purchased a Groupon for dinner at Pure Food and Wine in Gramercy because I figured it would force me to try this vegan eatery not far from my apartment. I threw an invite to a bunch of friends to join me, and Julie & her husband accepted while Foxy came for drinks & company (not food). It came as a surprise to everyone that the restaurant was vegan. What came as a surprise to me was that the restaurant didn’t serve BOOZE. Always hoping to start (and end) with a tequila cocktail proved to be a huge failure here. Instead I "indulged" in the Himalayan Paradise, a goji berry (WTF is a goji berry???) sake cocktail. It was pink. Sigh. 

We ordered a ton of food in order to try a number of menu items and make sure we filled up!

The salad with bitter greens was my favorite. The simplest of the dishes, it really just highlighted how lovely a salad can be with bites of Asian pear and spiced walnuts. The only disappointing part of this salad was the pistachio-crusted cashew nut "cheese" discs... they had a horrible gritty texture and odd taste.

Given my current love of kale (especially the kale & butternut squash salad at Saxon + Parole), I was very excited to try the Tuscan kale salad. Unfortunately, this salad didn't find a place in my kale-loving heart. Giant kale leaves (center rib still in!) were served whole with orange segments and barely any shaved fennel and then sprinkled with candied almond crumbs; the dish balanced toward the sweeter side and the kale wasn't tender enough to be served so largely. Disappointment.

Based on menu description, I was most intriigued by the king oyster mushroom “scallops” with shaved Brussels sprouts, shaved radishes, micro greens and miso-glazed pecans in a miso broth. The mushrooms totally looked like scallops! But the murky shiitake miso broth lacked the punch to enhance the mushrooms and veggies, and the combined flavors didn't work for me.

The Philly roll with avocado, kimchi and creamy cashew nut cheese had the best combination of flavors, although each piece, depending on what dominated, was hit or miss. If you had a kimchi-forward bite, it was a score. Otherwise, it was rather bland, even with the sweet chili sauce dipper.

Onto entrees... the lasagna layered with zucchini, tomatoes, pesto and macademia-pumpkin seed "ricotta" was the overall table favorite, but I wasn't that impressed. Given the ingredients, I was hoping for fresh clean flavors, but there were too many salty notes. (oops, no photo!)

The salsify (root vegetable) "noodles" with radicchio, fresh fig and lemon-pine nut "cream" sauce served with bitter mustard greens actually worked quite well together, despite the sweet components. That said, you had to be mentally prepared that this was not going to be a plate of pasta!

The sweet corn & cashew tamales with chili-spiced portabella mushrooms had that same odd texture of the cashew "cheese” discs in the appetizer salad but had a nice bright taste from the sweet corn. The raw cacao mole didn't do it for me, but the cashew coconut "sour cream" was a success.

Surprisingly, I was pretty full after all of this, but I’ve been on a bit of a dessert kick lately, so even though we hadn't been wowed by our meal, I still ordered one dessert for the table to share. I opted for something somewhat light, the cranberry apple crisp with sweet ginger ice cream and buckwheat streusel. This was probably the tastiest dish of the entire meal with tart cranberries popping in each bite balanced with sweet apples and a yummy ice cream!

I’m obviously not an expert in vegan cuisine, but I do really enjoy good food (I'm telling you, I LOVED Candle 79), and this unfortunately did not hit the mark. Suffice it to say, after dinner, we went to Saxon + Parole for cocktails, and Julie's husband ordered a burger!

Pure Food and Wine

54 Irving Place btwn 17/18th Sts

New York, NY 10010

212/477.1010

Reservations available on OpenTable

Recipe: Spicy Tofu Ribbon "Salad"

I've been obsessed with tofu skin since I discovered my love of huǒ guō (hot pot) in Shanghai in 2007. Tofu skin is DEFINITIVELY my absolute favorite add-in. Unfortunately, my travel to China has markedly decreased since 2010 (this may need to change soon!) so my opportunities to have hot pot (with tofu skin) are less frequent.

When we did hot pot for RGB's birthday in August, we found a variety of tofu skin at Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown. After dim sum at Oriental Garden with my girlfriend Susie the other day, I popped into Hong Kong Supermarket on my way home, and I stocked up on my love, tofu skin!

I've been on the lookout for healthy AND delicious tofu skin recipes. I would love the recipe for the tofu ribbon salad at Yunnan Kitchen (a DELISH restaurant on the LES), but my variation on this wonderful recipe adapted from Angela Nguyen for Spicy Yuba Ribbons will have to suffice.

Spicy Tofu Ribbon Salad

1 8oz package knotted bean curd (alternatively, you can use tofu skin sheets)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red chili flakes

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 cup sliced oyster mushrooms (you can use any kind of mushrooms)

1 hot long peppers, sliced

1 Thai red chile

1 cup fresh shelled edamame (or frozen, thawed)

2 cups baby kale

1 red bell pepper, julienned

2 scallions, both green & white parts, sliced at an angle

soy sauce

rice wine vinegar

Sriracha

sesame oil

sea salt

Separate knotted tofu skin. Soak in warm water for about 30 minutes then soak in clean warm water for another 10 minutes. Drain and then slice into 1/2" wide ribbons. Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oilive oil, red pepper flakes and minced garlic in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add mushrooms and sprinkle lightly with salt; cover and saute for about 3 minutes. Add both hot peppers and saute for another 2-3 minutes until softened. Add edamame, baby kale and red pepper, sprinkle with salt and mix until combined and the kale is just wilted. Remove from pan into a large bowl.

Using the same pan you used for the veggies, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add tofu ribbons and stir around until the tofu ribbons have softened, about 2 minutes. Add tofu ribbons to veggie bowl. 

Add scallions, soy sauce, vinegar, and Sriracha (little by little, to taste) to bowl and stir to combine until all veggies and tofu ribbons are coated. Then drizzle with roasted sesame oil and toss again.

I like this salad at room temperature, but I'm sure it would be tasty warm or cold!

Dinner: Flour + Water (San Francisco)

During my last trip to San Francisco, my sister, JY, raved about how fantastic Flour + Water was and how much my niece & nephew loved it when they went, so I thought it would be my perfect last supper to celebrate my niece & mom's birthdays. Since my trips to San Francisco are booked pretty last minute, it's difficult to make dinner reservations, but Flour + Water has a great walk-in policy as long as you're willing to line up before the restaurant opens at 5:30PM. When we arrived around 5PM, there were already a few parties in line ahead of us, but we felt confident that we'd get in.

february birthday girls: my niece & my mom!We were actually one of the last parties on line to be seated, and a guy that didn't make the initial cut was definitely giving me the evil eye while waiting in the entryway (you snooze, you lose, dude!). We were seated at the community table, and we immediately ordered buttered noodles and a margherita pizza for the kids.

In the meantime, I took some time to peruse the menu (again, not the pasta tasting menu, sigh), and there were a few things that sounded wonderful. I consulted with our server on my choices, took some of his advice, and we had a dinner menu planned!

We started with the most beautiful citrus salad with blood orange, Cara Cara orange, Mandarin oranges, beets, olives and avocado cream. Not only was this salad visually stunning, it tasted wonderfully refreshing and bright.

I'm a sucker for smoked fish these days, so the smoked sturgeon was a definite choice. It was wonderfully satisfying served with pickled turnips, radishes, kohlrabi and crispy kale. This normally meaty fish made for a flavorful yet light starter.

We decided to share two pastas. JY and I were both unanimous on the squid ink spaghetti with Tesa, clams, chili and crispy breadcrumbs, and it was a resounding winner. There was a little kick with the chili, crunch from the golden breadcrumbs, saltiness from the Tesa ham, brininess from the clams and perfectly cooked, wonderful tasting squid ink spaghetti. A wonderful dish.

Our 2nd pasta wasn't as easy of a decision: I was completely undecided as the remainder of the pastas all looked fantastic, although my interest was most piqued by the rutubaga cappelletti. When I asked our server, he, without hesitation, recommended the pappardelle with braised pork. I love pappardelle and I love pork, so I figured this was a win-win. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. The pappardelle was wonderful, with a good chewy bite, and the pork on its own was also tasty. But for some reason, the combination with the addition of sunchokes, chicories and creme fraice ended up bland. We tried to liven it up with some red chili flakes, but it was a lost cause.

We ended the savory portion of our meal with the funghi pizza and a side of roasted cauliflower. I couldn't resist the hen of the woods mushrooms, but I thought the earthiness of the mushrooms and the somewhat mild Fontina cheese would benefit from the addition of anchovies.. and this time I was 100% right. Toss on some red pepper flakes, and this pizza was PERFECTION.

Roasted cauliflower is one of my favorite veggie preparations, and this one roasted with capers, chili, Pecorino and topped with breadcrumbs was a huge success. I pretty much licked the pot clean.

For dessert, the olive oil cake was the obvious choice, and it was absolutely delicious, but I was so intrigued by the candy cap mushroom panna cotta, I had to order that too. The panna cotta had a mushroomy component, but not in a bad way. I was into it. I pummelled both of these desserts, even though we had already discussed that we were going to Humphry Slocombe for ice cream afterwards.

The kids' buttered pasta (my niece had TWO BOWLS!), both antipasti, the squid ink spaghetti, that funghi pizza with anchovies and even the olive oil cake were enough to sway me to the side of Flour + Water, but still, there was a lingering disappointment that my mind wasn't blown entirely. Yet another spot that I'll have to return to for the full-blown pasta tasting menu!

Flour + Water

2401 Harrison St at 20th St

San Francisco, CA 94110

415/826.7000

Reservations available on OpenTable