Blue Bottle Coffee and Little Green Cyclo, San Francisco

Having been to Blue Bottle in Brooklyn, we figured we should go to the source in SF.  We went to the branch at Mint Plaza, just a short walk from the end of the Market Street cablecar line (yes, we did the touristy thing - I even hung off the side).

After seeing the cold brew set-up in the Brooklyn store, this one was not nearly as impressive.  But we got a cup of joe and head outside to grab a bite from the food truck parked on the plaza.

It was Little Green Cyclo - serving Vietnamese banh mi and other snacks.  We each got a banh mi -- mine was Five Spice Grilled Chicken, Redneckhunter's was House Made Pâté w/ Truffle Oil & Pork Roll.  They were huge - we really could have shared one.  We were also tempted by the Sweet Potato Tater Tots, tossed with basil and mint, with tamarind plum dipping sauce.

A nice cup of coffee, beautiful weather, a cellist playing in the plaza, people watching -- couldn't ask for more...

Epicerie Boulud, NYC

We were up in New York to see a show at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, so we grabbed a quick bite at Epicerie Boulud, the take-out offering in Daniel Boulud's row of establishments on the block which includes the fine dining restaurant Boulud Sud and Bar Boulud.

We shared the banh mi with Thai sausage, country pate, jambon de Paris, radish and carrot slaw, and jalapeno mayonnaise. Non-traditional, but very very tasty.

After that it was time for a sweet - we got a slice of the Galette Bresanne - basically like a cream tart. The cream was ok - not too sweet, but the "crust" was more bready than pastry, and rather dry. It was sort of like a fancified cheese danish, but not a good one.

So unsatisfied with that treat, we decided to go back to the case and try again. The woman working the pastry case told us this brioche was filled with pastry cream and candied fruit, but when we cut it open there was neither inside -- instead there was something the texture of almond paste, though without any flavor. Again, the brioche was dry and not fresh.

Later that evening, we stopped back in to pick up some food for sitting out on the lawn at Summerstage -- a nice seared tuna sandwich, cheese and pate plates. Basically the lesson was, stick to the food, skip the sweets.

Epicerie Boulud
1900 Broadway at 64th Street, NYC
212-595-9606

Foodie day in Williamsburg

Petitesoeur and I had a lovely summer day snacking our way around Williamsburg. We started off at Blue Bottle Coffee, the Brooklyn outpost of the Bay Area roaster, for some cold brew to kick-start our day.

I got the New Orleans with chicory, milk, and sugar, along with an olive oil semolina buckle with Brooklyn Winery Riesling poached peaches and almond lavender streusel on top. Petitesoeur, much more the coffee purist, went with the Kyoto black, along with a buckwheat buttermilk biscuit sandwich with Tasso ham from Marlow & Daughters, housemade strawberry jam, and raw milk cheddar from Smith's Farmstead.

They had a very impressive cold-brew-drip set-up -- "perhaps the longest and most theatrical drip bar on the eastern seaboard" according to their website. We also got to watch the barista masterfully hand-pull espressos on their restored 1958 Faema Urania lever espresso machine.

Properly caffeinated (perhaps a little too caffeinated in the case of petitesoeur), we head off to explore some more, hitting our next string of foodie destinations on Bedford Avenue.

The first was Radish, where we admired the wonderful and fresh prepared foods we weren't yet hungry enough for, but ended up getting a homemade blueberry basil soda.

Further on down the block, we hit the Bedford Cheese Shop. The smell that hits you upon opening the door is just heavenly! We spent a good deal of time in there, taking in the overwhelming selection. Incidentally, if there were a prize for cheese writing, it should go to the Bedford owner for his hilariously colorful descriptions.

When I saw this funky pretty little cone of cheese -- called Crocodile Tears -- I knew I had to come back to get it. I decided on that along with a Farmer's aged gouda that was wonderfully sharp, nutty and caramelly, and also picked up some Anarchy in a Jar strawberry balsamic jam. Next stop on the block was kitchen supply store Whisk where I stocked up on more of my beloved Bacon Marmalade.

Finally we started getting peckish, so we head down to Nha Toi for bahn mi. It was a tiny little joint with just a couple 2-tops with low Asian-street-stall stools, a window counter with a handful of high stools, and a few benches on the sidewalk - perfect! We ordered the summer roll with pickled vegetables -- so pretty! -- accompanied by 2 delicious sauces (so good I brought them home with me).

We also split a banh mi with bì heo (shredded pork and skin with roasted rice powder). It was so big we only ate half of it between the 2 of us (with the other half packed up to bring home to Redneckhunter). And now that petitesoeur's coffee buzz had finally calmed down a bit, she left with a Vietnamese iced coffee for the road.

Our final destination was Maison Premiere for their $1 oyster happy hour. Now a lot of places in the city do $1 bluepoints, or one type of oyster, but at Maison Premiere, every oyster from their extensive menu is just $1 -- all the better to serve up absinthe, Pimm's and other cocktails. I let petiteseour choose a sampling: 2 each of Madaline, Caraquet, Quilcene, Triton Cove, Gigamoto, Elkhorn, Oakland Bay and Skookum.

Before:And after:It was lovely sitting in their back garden slowly slurping oysters and amusing ourselves by people watching. Petitesoeur finished off with a palate-cleansing cocktail -- an Old Hickory: Dolin Blanc vermouth, Carpano Antica, Peychauds and orange bitters.

Finally, it was back to the cheese shop to pick up our cheese, now that we were heading home and out of the summer heat. Petitesoeur got a slice of ricotta cake, imported from Sicily. We were going to go back to Blue Bottle to eat it (I guess she needed even more caffeine!), but since they were closed, we just had it on a sidewalk bench. It was divine - definitely the best ricotta cheese cake I've ever had. Smooth, lemony - I'm still craving more... The perfect ending to a great day!

Blue Bottle Coffee
160 Berry Street
718-387-4160

Radish
158 Bedford Avenue

(718) 782-2744

Bedford Cheese Shop
229 Bedford Avenue

1-888-484-3243

Whisk
231 Bedford Avenue
(718) 218-7230

Nha Toi
160 Havemeyer St.
(718) 599-1820

Maison Premiere
298 Bedford Avenue
347-335-0446

A Second Eden Center Food Safari

We did another mini Eden Center food safari this past weekend. This time, Fougoo and Redneckhunter tagged along.
We started at Cho Cu Saigon, a Vietnamese Chinese restaurant. We ordered their Roast Pig, and we were told not to mistake it for the roast pork. The pig came out chopped up with amazing thick and delicious pieces of crispy skin.
Redneckhunter also wanted to try Cha Gio (Vietnamese eggrolls), and the ones at Cho Cu were great- nice thin crispy skin.

Our second stop was for Banh Mi, Vietnamese sandwiches. We went to the Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop.
When you first enter, the place smelled of stinky tofu. We ordered a No. 1 sandwich with Vietnamese coldcuts. It was amazing. Their bread was chewy and delicious. Fougoo noted also that the bread was buttered as well.
I got a white gourd drink which was interesting- not great.

Our last stop was Thang Tong. We ordered their Banh Xeo, or Vietnamese crepe. It was made of thin crisp dough loaded with pork and shrimp and filled with bean sprouts and mung bean. We dipped it into fish sauce and chile sauce. It was really nice- reminded me of the south Indian dosa.

Eden Center is so big that we expect to have enough for a few more of these food safaris in the next few months.

The first Eden Center safari here.

Cho Cu Saigon
6763 Wilson Blvd
Ste 6D

Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop
6763 Wilson Boulevard

Thanh Tong
6795 Wilson Boulevard
Falls Chuch, VA

Num Pang Sandwich Shop, NYC

I love Kampuchea in the Lower East Side, so I've been trying to get to their sister store Num Pang Sandwich Shop. On our last shopping day, armed with a buy-one-get-one-sandwich-1/2-price coupon from Daily Candy, petiteseour and I finally made it there.

I ordered the pork belly along with a corn on the cob with chili mayo, and she ordered mackerel with watermelon juice. Both sandwiches come dressed with cilantro, carrots, cucumber, pickled radishes, and chili mayo - they make a point of stating there can be no substitutions. Petiteseour thought her fish was cooked really well, and loved the watermelon juice, though she was scraping off the overabundance of chili mayo. I felt the same way about the mayo - I'm not against it, but the overreliance on it got to me. Especially when you're already dealing with fatty pork. I actually found it too fatty - if you're a regular reader of the blog, you'll understand how shocking this is!

And my corn, which I failed to take a picture of (hands covered in mayo) - I had a problem with that as well. We ate at the store, not takeout, yet, my corn came wrapped in foil, so just a gloppy mess upon opening.

One good point - the bread was awesome - crusty, chewy, all that you'd want in good French bread. But I've had much better banh mi (in Vegas and Honolulu - where the Asians represent!). Once again, New York is just not the place for Vietnamese, it seems.


Num Pang Sandwich Shop
21 E 12th St
New York, NY 10003-4403
(212) 255-3271