Nina’s Argentinian vs. Motorino

I don’t ever tire of pizza because there are so many different styles in NY, as Katie and Jessica wrote about recently. We're spoiled. I’ll even admit I used to eat the deep dish at UNO’s before the calorie posting started- don’t look!! This week, though, it was classic Neapolitan style from Motorino in Williamsburg, and an Argentinian spin from Nina’s Argentinian Pizza on the Upper East Side.

Round 1: Toppings -
I ordered the special of the night at Motrorino with slabs of fresh mozzarella, salty black olives, spicy soprassata, and cremini mushrooms, and while the tastes went together perfectly, the pizza was 35% crust so there weren’t nearly enough. At Nina’s the recommended pies were the Piola, with ham and parmesan, or Con Chorizo, so we went with the Piola and a Classic. I have to give Motorino this round; I’m not sold on the ham/pizza combo, though I devoured the Classic.

Round 2: Dough/crust -
At Motorino, you get bites of great charred crust and pockets of air, making it chewy and light but doughy enough to soak up the flavors of the toppings. Nina’s is pillowy, and baked so that cheese and sauce reach to the edge and the crust is crisp but never overdone. Tie.

Round 3: Overlooked condiments -
Nina’s gives you bread along with a dipping sauce of soft eggplant soaked in olive oil that I want spread on everything. I neeeed this recipe. Motorino has a spicy crushed red pepper oil to dip all that extra crust in, and their regular olive oil is excellent quality on its own, but I’m giving this one to Nina’s.

Okay, so that was a tie, but all the better reason for you to check both out!

Food, Work & Calories

I'm at work right now. And I'm hungry.

Every day I dutifully eat my Kashi for breakfast and drink my coffee. I either eat my lean cuisine and baby carrots or hop down to one of the healthy lunch options, like hale & hearty,  within a few blocks of work. Usually, I control any hunger with an afternoon cup of decaf and some almonds, but today it seems unbearable. I already decided that I am not going to the gym. I have a paper due this week for school and I need to get home and get at it. This leaves no room for error.

On the days that I don't go to the gym I find myself struggling to eat within my calorie boundaries. On days when I do go to the gym it seems difficult to stay in control AND eat ALL my calories. I could just go splurge on a piece of cake or some mac n' cheese, but I don't want to do that, no matter how tempting. No need to eat it without a reason, right?

I spend a lot of calories on liquor every week, but the past two weeks, with the help of fellow blogger Lynsey,  I have made a conscious decision to cut most of it out (at least during week nights). It's been pretty revelatory to see how many calories are left over when I don't have that extra beer! I mean, WHO struggles with needing more calories in their day...apparently now I do.

Anyways, I realize this might not be in the exact spirit of the blog, but struggling with food is just as important as talking about good food to me. Believe me, I have no problem eating the good stuff when out with friends or celebrating, but there are all those days in between that are worth mentioning. And are a lot harder...

Fashionable food

The funny thing about fashion events (have I mentioned I'm a fashion editor by day?) is that there are almost always hors d'oeuvres served. I might be the only one eating them, but I'm ok with that. And I've gotten quite good at strategically putting myself in the direct path of the food servers, so as to not miss a bite of anything offered.

So Tuesday I had several events to go to and had dinner along the way--who said dinner had to be one big meal?

The evening started with mini cheese burgers and champagne at the Guess eyewear party. Not the usual food and beverage pairing, but it hit the spot.



A miniature cheese pizza with arugula passed by me and I couldn't resist nabbing one of those next. It was a bit too much greenery for such a small sampling, but hey, they can't all be perfect.

Next stop: The Seven for All Mankind holiday preview. Next bite: curry chicken salad sandwich sprinkled with paprika.



The trick is to eat these quick (thank god they are small) because you are juggling eating, drinking and snapping pics of the entire clothing collection. But I paused to eye the melted parmesean on tiny crostinis and these steak bites. Yum!



And then I couldn't resist the ginormous chicken sates that circled. That and the cheese platter sent me over the edge.

By the time I got to Ivanka Trump's party for her debut shoe collection, I was stuffed. But when you are having cocktails with Donald Trump, who cares about the food anyways?!

That's all for now from this Friday Foodie. Have a great weekend!

Get your Moto runnin.

OK I'm just going to come out with it. Humpday girl here on a day that is most definitely NOT Wednesday. But in the immortal words of Stephen Colbert/Chuck Noblet, "It doesn't matter when you get here, just what time".

Since nothing says congratulations for busting out of your mother's uterus better than a candlelit dinner underneath the JMZ, my boyfriend and I headed to Moto last Friday to celebrate the start of his birthday weekend. We arrived in the middle of a bluesy jazz trio's nightly performance and were seated just next to the door. And when I say just next I mean outside. When I wasn't staring at subway riders on the platform above me, I was fixated on a tween boy who kept trying to inch away from the violin player hovering above him. I think we can all agree that nothing's worse than a 40 year-old man shaking violin sweat above you as you try to eat your salmon. I felt for the little dude!

I ordered the rotisserie pork ribs and while they were definitely interesting something about them just didn't make sense. I kept expecting chicken with every bite and after awhile I think my taste-buds just sort of gave up. The salmon special was a big hit at our table as was the chilled chocolate pudding. But more than anything, the spirit of Moto is what made the meal. With its sky-high ceilings, skillfully hung lighting and antique mirrors, it's easy to forget that you're resting in the shadow of the JMZ line. A former motorcycle shop, Moto lacks the sort of pretension Williamsburg is known for. All in all, a diamond in the rough.

Preach!

*Photo courtesy of www.cafe-moto.com

Momo-thank-u

As I mentioned, last week I went to Momofuku Ko, one of David Chang's empire. In order to dine at this 12 seat restaurant, you have to endure a tedius reservation process. Reservations have to be made on their website, exactly 7 days in advance, at exactly 10:00:00am. There are two staggered eating times every night, and all seats are booked by 10:01am. Our reservation was for 9:10pm, the first seating time in the second seating. (if that makes sense).

The fun of Momfuku is that you have no idea what you are going to be eating, you just know it's going to be the best thing you've ever tasted. There is no menu and no set number of courses. You sit at a wooden bar, watching the chefs create everything right in front of you. As soon as each dish is prepared, they place it in front of you and explain each ingredient and where it was from.

The dish that sticks out in my mind the most is the shaved foie gras on lychee and reisling jelly. By looks alone, you could probably never guess what it is. It kind of looked like very fine flakes of chocolate fluffed up in a bowl. As soon as you put a spoonful in your mouth, it melts immediately. If you touch it, it also melts together. It tastes as delicate as it looks.

Shaved foie gras and lychee/Riesling jelly courtesy of scaredy kat's flickr stream

Other things that stick out are:

Honey biscuit - and being from the south you know it had to be damn good to be the best I've ever had!

Soft boiled egg with caviar, sautéed onion and homemade fingerling potato chips. When you cut into the soft boiled egg the yolk spreads over the other pairings and perfects the flavor.

Egg course courtesy of scaredy kat's flickr stream

Another thing I loved about the experience is that while the chefs are meticulously designing each artful dish, they are also experimenting with the ingredients to perfect future meals. It was interesting to talk to the chefs about their innovations and inspiration.

Albeit one of the most expensive meals I've eaten, it was worth every penny.

Dallas Delicacies

I am very much not from Dallas (Houston born and raised) but ended up in college a short drive from it around the same time I started actually trying foods outside of my Tex-Mex/ Chick- fil-a/ pretzel high school diet. This was a phase we went through where we ate soft pretzels, honey mustard and Nacho Cheese Doritos for lunch daily…there’s the school cafeteria for you. I was back recently for a wedding and sampled a few of my old favorites, and made a new one.
The best Lebanese restaurant I have ever eaten at is actually in Dallas, called Ali Baba. Somehow in a place as diverse as New York I’ve never found another as good. The zataar pie is fluffy, hot pita bread spread with an herb mix with olive oil oozing off the sides and sesame seeds sprinkled across it.


Café Brazil has several locations there and serves everything under the sun which is great when you want breakfast in the middle of the day, as I always do. I tried the Migas; scrambled eggs, tortilla strips, chorizo and cheese…so hearty and filling but not the prettiest dish to look at!


Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen surprised me as an excellent Texas BBQ and home cooking restaurant that was all about local farms, dairies, and wineries. I love that Texas has embraced this movement, and the smoky cheddar cheese grits with big kernels of fresh corn will make anyone a believer.



But you didn't think I'd actually leave Texas without some Tex-Mex did you? Thank goodness the rehearsal dinner was at Mattito's where chicken fajitas, refried beans and queso quenched my cravings.

Monday Morning Coffee

Happy Monday everyone! I woke up with a little bit of a cold this morning so let's just say it was rough. I also canceled a date with this guy last night and was feeling kind of crappy about it. Let's not get in the habit of me saying the word date or anything. This was a rare occasion, but it just added to the already difficult morning.  And I'm usually such an earlybird so when I say rough morning chances are I mean it. There is only one cure for these mornings and that is coffee.

Generally I try to drink the crappy coffee that is provided at work, but today I needed something extra. I'm just going to let you in on a little midtown Manhattan secret. There is a place called the ING Cafe on 58th and 2nd ave. Even though it is close to where I live I was always a little hesitant to go in because it's owned by ING the financial firm. But one day my curiosity got the best of me and I walked in. A little starstruck and confused, I was greeted by the super friendly staff who let me know that they carry all Peet's coffee products. Peets! I was in heaven. One coffee for $1.50 later and I was ready for my full week of work...Below you can see a photo of the futuristic decor and one of their faithful employees I snapped with my phone this morning. There isn't too much ambiance with ING being advertised all over the store, but you still can't beat good, cheap coffee without the line of Starbucks. It's my go-to place!

In the summer time the work week is so much harder to get through. Unless it's a scorcher, and we've had quite a few of these this year, I just want to get outside and stay there. Unfortunately, there is zero visible sunlight from my cube. Most days, when it's nice out, I walk the 20 or so blocks to work with my Peet's iced coffee in hand and I swear the day is a teeeeny bit easier.