Hester Street Fair: season's close

Halloween was the last day of the Hester Street Fair for the season, and they ended on a high note with some great food vendors. We started with a fish-shaped taiyaki (Japanese pancake) stuffed with sausage and cheese from the Rook.

The smoked short rib and pork shoulder chili with hominy from Char No. 4 was great - I loved the soft, potato-like texture of the cooked hominy. They also had a great side of bourbon spiced peanuts that had a little kick.

On to the desserts: the fried pumpkin pie coated in sugar from Melt Bakery was heaven and I was thrilled to try one after they ran out at the Grubstreet Food Fest.

Wink & Flip made a great pumpkin cookie with icing that had the dense, moist texture of a scone.

They also had a tree of mini pumpkin cheesecakes.

Scratchbread had an interesting take on the sticky bun in their chai sticky roll.

They also made a decadent, cocoa-ey buttercream brownie.

Macaron Parlour has some really great flavors - Thai chili with peanuts and honey; candied bacon with maple cream cheese; s'mores; and pumpkin pie.

Cups of spiced apple cider and spicy hot chocolate (with a gorgeous square marshmallow) from La Newyorkina were a perfect ending.

Grub Street Food Festival @ Hester Street Fair

The Grub Street Food Festival took place last Saturday at the Hester Street Fair, and it had great food, worth wading my way through 13,000 people for. I was most excited about trying the Mexicue truck, for it's BBQ/Mexican combos. The barbecue beet was great, with beets in a strong barbecue sauce and topped with goat cheese. The chorizo taco was very spicy, with habanero aioli slaw and cilantro and feta cheese.


Their bbq brisket slider was also incredible - smoky, tender meat flavored with with spicy slaw and avocado.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached the front of the line at Pako Taco, the beef tacos had sold out, but this Korean chicken taco with spicy sauce, kimchi and cucumber was still really good.

Dessert from Melt Bakery was fantastic - thick molasses cookies with creamy pumpkin ice cream filling.

Stuffed Artisan Cannolis

Until Stuffed Artisan Cannolis opened on the lower east side earlier this year, I wasn't a huge fan of the traditional cannoli.

This shop has changed my mind with their modern approach and with fun flavors, like birthday cake, french toast, apple pie and red licorice.

And for the holidays peppermint bark with little pieces of candy cane.

I went for the pumpkin pie, with a thick crunchy shell and perfectly spiced pumpkin flavored filling, topped with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. This is the kind of cannoli I can get into!

Kumquat Cupcakery

Keavy Landreth from Kumquat Cupcakery was at Brooklyn Flea's Gifted holiday market this weekend with her super-cute and tasty bite sized cupcakes.

The offerings included a fragrant chocolate lavender, rich peanut butter honey banana, red velvet, spiced pumpkin topped with pumpkin seeds, and the perfectly salty maple bacon topped with a few pieces of crunchy bacon on top!

Serious Eats pumpkin find: Billy's Bakery

photo by Kathy Chan, courtesy of Serious Eats New York

Check out this post on Serious Eats NY about the pumpkin bar at Billy's Bakery!

Once Upon a Tart

Once Upon a Tart is an adorable cafe in Soho that has excellent food, desserts and of course, tarts. Right now I'm loving the pumpkin tart with it's super creamy custard-like filling, but the chocolate pear tart also looks delicious!

The Grey Dog Chelsea

This week The Grey Dog opened a location in Chelsea in the old Maroons space. While Maroons is deeply missed, The Grey Dog is a welcome laid-back cafe for the neighborhood.

The space is open and airy, perfect for hanging out over coffee and a snack.

The seafood chowder was thick and creamy, and came with a big slice of olive bread.

These tacos were loaded with chili crusted seared tuna, avocado and salsa.

My favorite was this massive slice of unconventional pumpkin pie with a crust on both the top and bottom, cut into a huge rectangular piece and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.

Pumpkin! part 3

While shopping at Whole Foods this weekend, I came across a pile of these pumpkin mocha latte truffles at the chocolate counter.


Made by Azure Chocolate in Long Island, they have a rich pumpkin spice and espresso filling and are coated in brown sugar and pepitas for a comforting flavor perfectly reminiscent of fall.

Pumpkin! part 2

Another way to happily satisfy my pumpkin food obsession this season are these adorable mini pumpkin cupcakes from Two Little Red Hens at Dean & Deluca. They're small but have intense pumpkin spice flavors and the creamy frosting dusted with cinnamon is the perfect topping.

Pumpkin!

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the pumpkin flavored food appearing on menus all over town - from pumpkin beer to the standard pumpkin pie. Here's a couple of my top picks this season:

pumpkin cupcake, babycakes

Babycakes: already one of my favorite and most frequented bakeries for their dairy-, egg-, and gluten-free (translation: less guilty for a someone with a sweet tooth like me), but still undeniably delicious sweets, they've added a pumpkin cupcake that is moist and creamy with the perfect amount of sweetness.

Liddabit Sweets: these wonderful pastry chefs have come up with a pumpkin pie candy bar! It has layers of spiced pumpkin caramel ganache, marshmallow, and actual pie crust that all combine to taste exactly like pumpkin pie. Then it's covered in dark chocolate to make one of the most perfect candy bars ever.

pumpkin mash, brinkley's

Brinkley's: this neighborhood brit pub has pumpkin mash on the menu as a side dish; it's the perfect compliment to some of their meaty offerings. With just the right amount of seasoning and a drizzle of creme fraiche, it's a fresh alternative to fries or mashed potatoes.

Zibetto, New Amsterdam Market, Lulu and Mooky's

It was a gorgeous fall day yesterday - perfect weather for strolling around and checking out the New Amsterdam Market. On the way there I stopped at Zibetto, a beautiful espresso bar on Fulton street of all places. Completely different from any of the neighboring discount clothing stores, delis, and dvd street vendors, the modern space has a marble bar, lovely glass globe lights and a friendly staff that make a perfect cappuccino. I also tried a couple of the best Italian cookies I've had - buttery, sweet and a little bit salty.

The New Amsterdam Market was in full effect by the time I arrived, with queues at all the popular stands. There were numerous cheese, meat, wine and restaurant stands with samples or small plates - my favorites are below:

Meat Hook: bratwurst, sauerkraut and a touch of mild mustard on a bun.


Saltie: a delicious potato leek pie, with pickled onion and spicy mustard


The Bent Spoon: yummy new ice cream flavors - chocolate with rosemary, pumpkin with cacao nibs, and cranberry cider sorbet


Taza Chocolate: their chocolate is minimally processed for a rich flavor and slightly crunchy texture

Shellbark Hollow: creamy goat's ricotta with a strawberry jam topping

After leaving the market, there was one last place I was dying to check out: Lulu and Mooky's. They make ice cream to order using liquid nitrogen, with about 50 flavors that you can choose or mix and match to make your own new flavor. I choose pineapple and basil and then watched as they combined the flavored syrups and liquid nitrogen in a mixer and watched the fog consume the counter.


The result was incredibly dense and creamy ice cream that tasted oddly like a Dum Dum's cream soda pop.