Kanoyama

November 24, 2006 Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi 175 2nd Ave, New York 10003 At 11th St Phone: 212-777-5266 Website: http://www.kanoyama.com/ --

Starter: Sea Urchin in a half shell ($22)

Spider Roll Soft Shell crab, cucumber, tabiko, lettuce, avocado w/mayo ($11)

Sushi for 2 - 16 pieces Sushi, 3 Rolls, served with Miso soup or salad ($42)

Spicy Tuna Roll ($7)

Dessert: Green Tea Mochi, Red Bean ice cream, Ginger ice cream

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To recover from our Thanksgiving feast, my family dined at Kanoyama. Sushi's mildness and freshness was perfect for resetting worn out palettes.

We arrived at 7:15 PM and the (small) restaurant was filled to the brim so we opted to sit at the sushi bar. The sushi chefs provided fine entertainment while we waited for our dinner.

We started off with the sea urchin appetizer, which was unadorned and served in a shell of sorts. Sea urchin is my brother's latest obsession and has replaced foie gras as his favorite culinary delight. Since I have never had sea urchin before, he described it to me as slightly sweet and delicious. I would have to disagree. Sea urchin has the texture of brains and the taste of old sea water. Ick! I ate the seaweed garnish and let brother and mother finish off the dish.

For our main course, mother and brother shared the sushi for two, which came with 16 pieces of sushi, 3 rolls (Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon), and soup or salad. Both mother and brother chose the Miso soup. Brother polished his off, but mom only had half. I guess it was good, but wasn't spectacular. I helped my mom and brother with their sushi for two. I thought the standout pieces were the toro and the eel. Mmm. The eel especially melted in my mouth.

I ordered the spider roll and spicy tuna roll and shared them with mother and brother. Brother thought the spicy tuna was great because it wasn't intensely mayo-ie. I agreed. I also thought the ratio of rice to fish was perfect. The spider roll was great as well; although I wished there was more soft shell crab and less rice.

We finished off our meal with some ice cream and mochi. I didn't have any of the mochi because both mother and brother described green tea as "bitter." No thanks. I really loved the ginger ice cream, but for some reason it was peach in color. Very strange. I am not a big fan of artificial coloring. The ginger flavor was strong, but not spicy and had many pieces of crystallized ginger. I only had a couple bites of the red bean ice cream. I felt that it was too sweet and lacked red bean flavor.

Beard Papa's

September 30, 2006 Cuisine: Desserts & Bakeries 740 Broadway, New York 10003 At Astor Place Phone: 212-353-8888 Website: http://www.muginohousa.com/ -- Dessert I: Cheesecake Stick Dessert II: Eclair Cream Puff -- Beard Papa's was introduced to me by my Hawaiian friend Liana. The restaurant is a Japanese import that has been in Hawaii for a while and is being franchised across the land. I can't wait for it to expand to San Diego and Philadelphia. Until then, I will have to keep frequenting the NYC location. I have been to Beard Papa's a couple of times and always order the same thing, the eclair cream puff. It's divine and cheap ($1.85). The chocolate is layered on super-thick and the custard inside is creamy and full of vanilla flavor. The puff is a bit chewy (in a good way), so spurting cream sometimes happens. Just ask the sidewalk outside the store.

Chocolate Eclair Cream Puff

The Astronomer ordered the Cheesecake Stick. He said, "it's mild." I had one bite and considered not swallowing. A mild cheesecake is a boring cheesecake. The recipe needs more CHEESE! But hey, it cost a buck.

Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria

September 30, 2006 Cuisine: Italian, Pizza 1 5th Ave, New York 10003 At 8th St Phone: 212-995-9559 Website: www.ottopizzeria.com -- Starters: Meat - Prosciutto Cheese - 1. Coach Triple Cream (Goat, NY) 2. Parmigiano Reggiano (Cow, EMI) 3. Taleggio (Cow, LOM) Salad: Heirloom Caprese Pizza: 1. Pizza Del Giorno - cheese, balsamic reduction tomato sauce, pancetta, onions, zucca (Italian squash) 2. Margherita D.O.C. - tomato, bufala mozzarella, basil Pasta: Spaghetti Alla Carbonara - Pancetta, Scallions, Black Pepper, Egg Dessert: Gelati - olive oil, lemon sorbet, cinnamon with figs -- After watching the 5th Avenue Mile, the Astronomer and I sat down for a lovely late lunch with brother and his GF at Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria. I ate at Otto earlier this year for dinner, but misunderstood the menu description and ended up getting spaghetti with marinara. In fact, I made the same mistake when I dined at Babbo (except the pasta came with AMAZING lobster so it wasn't too bad)! I hate it when Batalli doesn't give proper menu descriptions! This time around I left the ordering up to brother who just happens to frequent Otto weekly. We started off lunch with meat and cheeses. The prosciutto was sliced thinly, just the right amount of salty, and served without adornments. A high-quality prosciutto, but really nothing special. The cheese starter was spectacular. The cheeses were served with dipping "sauces": honey with black truffles, preserved sour cherries, and preserved spicy apricots. I've never dipped cheese in anything before and found the pairings delightful! My favorite was the Parmigiano Reggiano with the sour cherries. My entree was the heirloom caprese salad. I ordered light so that I could share the Spaghetti Alla Carbonara with brother, have some Pizza Margherita, and taste the Astronomer's Pizza Del Giorno. The heirloom caprese salad was excellent. The fresh mozzarella cheese was to die for and the tomatoes were fresh and flavorful. The cheese and tomatoes were splashed in a light vinaigrette, sprinkled with black pepper, and finished off with some fresh basil. The portion was quite large for one, so I shared with the table. Brother's carbonara was wonderful as well. The few bites that I had were creamy and not overly eggy. The scallions added a unique touch to the Italian classic. The margherita was simple and delicious. You really can't go wrong with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil! The crust was thin and perfectly crispy. The pizza del giorno was fabulous as well. The meat, cheese, and onion pairing was perfect. Great choice, Astronomer. We finished off our meal with some gelati. I've always wanted to try the olive oil flavor and finally got a chance. The verdict? Delicious. The Astronomer did not find it refreshing; I found it interesting, innovative, and special. Brother loves the stuff. My favorite flavor was the cinnamon and fig! OMG. I wish I could buy a whole gallon. There were plenty of fresh fig chunks and the cinnamon was a fine accompaniment. Lunch at Otto's was a fun and tasty affair! I would definitely return for the cheese course and the gelati. The pizza and pasta were yummy, but the portions were a bit skimpy for runners.

Becco

September 6, 2006 Cuisine: Italian 355 W 46th St, New York 10036 Between 8th & 9th Ave Phone: 212-397-7597 Website: www.becconyc.com -- Anitpasti e Insalata: Antipasto Misto - An assortment of grilled, marinated vegetables & seafood Caesar Salad - Becco’s version of the classic Caesar salad Primi: Sinfonia di Paste -Unlimited servings of our three pastas of the day Secondi: (Family Style) Pesce Spada -Pan seared swordfish steaks with seasonal preparations Pollo Limone -Pan seared boneless chicken breast with lemon, Cerignola olives, & Selina caper berries Bistecca alla Becco -Grilled Black Angus rib eye, dry-aged & rubbed with porcini mushrooms, served with garlic mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetable Dolci: Assorted Dessert Sampler Café e Vino: Coffee, Tea, Cappuccino, Espresso -- The meal at Becco's was perhaps one of the most extravagant affairs in my dining career. Our group had a private room and a pre-set menu designed at $82 a head without tax or tip. The restaurant was relatively large compared to many other NY restaurants and busy the evening we dined. Research has uncovered that Becco is one of Lydia Batianich's restaurants and opened in 1993. I've always wanted to dine at a Lydia restaurant because her persona on her PBS cooking show screams authentic Italian. Our meal lasted three hours and included unlimited wine that I didn't partake in. I prefer not to drink my calories. Before the courses began we were brought an assortment of breads and olives. Since I was saving room for the actual meal, I only tried the foccacia, a bread stick and a couple olives. All were good, but nothing to write home about. Our first course was the antipasti -- we had an antipasti platter filled with flavorful veggies along with some fresh mozzarella. My favorite items on the platter were the corn, eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. We were also served two fish antipasti that I thought were only okay. Cold fish is something I'm not too big a fan of. We also had peas accompanied by fresh ricotta cheese -- good texture and mild in a good way. Lastly we had a Caesar salad which I hardly ate because it was boring, definitely your average Caesar salad. After our antipasti we were served three pastas -- a penne with marinara, fettuccine with bolognese and some "gnocchi." I definitely loved the pasta course even though the penne with marinara was a bust. Penne is my least favorite shape of pasta due to it's terrible ability to hold on to sauce and the marinara was very bland. Great thing the two other pastas made up for it. The fettuccine was absolutely fresh and cut in thicker ribbons, almost like a pappardelle, which is my favorite pasta shape. The bolognese was also quite excellent and I think I tasted the employment of cinnamon sticks. The highlight of the pasta course was the "gnocchi." While the servers called it a gnocchi it was definitely very different from your average potato ball with ridges. In fact, I don't think the pasta contained any potato. The gnocchi seemed to be made of cornmeal and semolina and shaped to look like a giant scallop. The gnocchi was doused in a lovely creamy cheese sauce and topped with fresh chives. SO very good. I ate three of these gnocchi scallops. I would definitely return to Beccos just for the gnocchi. Our meat course came next -- fish, chicken and steak. I was very much out of room at this point so I only tried the chicken and steak. The chicken was moist and lemony, but I don't care much for chicken in general. The steak was fantastic and prepared rare. Lastly came dessert! Dessert was divine. In addition to the assortment of desserts offered at the restaurant (cheesecake, panna cotta, chocolate mousse) we were brought a number of gelatos and sorbets including passion fruit, sour cherries, basil and a few more. I devoured the cheesecake and panna cotta; they were superb. I didn't try the chocolate desserts because I wasn't in the mood for chocolate. The basil gelato was very special and yummy as was the sour cherry gelato. The Astronomer is quite jealous of my Italian feast without him so we'll definitely have to go to Becco's on our next trip together to the city. That is if we can't get a reservation at Babbo for the pasta tasting menu.

Caracas Arepa Bar

September 5, 2006 Cuisine: Venezuelan, South American 91 E 7th St, New York 10009 Between 1st Ave & Ave A Phone: 212-228-5062 Website: http://www.caracasarepabar.com/ -- Entree I: PABELLON CRIOLLO - Venezuelan National Dish. It is a platter with white rice, black beans, shredded beef and fried sweet plantains sprinkled with white salty cheese. -- Brother and I ended up getting take out for dinner last night and had the Pabellon Criollo delivered to the apartment. It turns out that Venezuelan food, this dish in particular, is dangerously similar to my favorite Cuban treat - Vaca Frita. The major difference between the two dishes I'd say is the use of cotija cheese on the beans and a yellow sauce that accompanied the beef. While I'm not sure of the exact name of the sauce, I'd describe it as slightly sweet, slightly spicy and perhaps mustard based. The beef was also a lot less "frita" AKA more moist. Cuban rice and beans are a lot more flavorful, probably due to the generous employment of lard. The Pabellon Criollo was very satisfying, but my heart still lies with the Cubanos.