Thoughts & Reflections

Category: Food

Afternoon Tea at the Whitby Hotel

So it’s been a year since I’ve last had a proper afternoon tea. Though, I suppose “proper” can be rather subjective; maybe what I really want is a more traditional afternoon tea with the real sandwiches, scones and some miniature pastries. That’s not quite what I had recently when Jee and I went to the Whitby Hotel.

My office is on the street as the Whitby so I’ve been watching all the construction and decorating happening both inside and out of the hotel as workers prepared it for its opening a few months ago. It took me some time before I did some research about the hotel but what caught my attention was that they were offering afternoon tea. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical about how well it would be since the hotel is located on a side street instead of busy Fifth Avenue, where most of the grand hotels are. When Jee finally returned from her winter hiatus in Florida, I suggested we meet up and try the afternoon tea here.

We had picked a date in advance and unfortunately, it was one of those weekends where subway construction had put a dent in my plans. It wasn’t as terrible as it could be and despite the unavoidable detour, I arrived first. The hostess led me to the back room—the Orangery—which was airy and light, and filled with furniture that definitely reminded me of being in an English garden. It was a nice surprise because when seeing that room from the street, one could not see how lovely it really is.

Jee was a bit late, coming over from an art show on the west side but it was so good to see her after so many months. I had more than enough time to peruse the menu and knew exactly what I wanted. We both shared a large pot of their in-house English Breakfast Blend but ordered different food. Jee went with the more traditional Whitby Tea while I chose the Healthy Afternoon Tea. There was a slight hiccup in service (they brought out two traditional tea sets by mistake), but overall it was fine. At least Jee had plenty of time to take all the pictures she wanted of the food and our lovely environs.

Both tea services offered the requisite scones, two per person (one plain, the other with fruit) with cream and preserves. Instead of clotted cream, the Healthy Tea substituted it with oat cream which was absolutely delicious and I couldn’t taste the difference at all. The tea sandwiches were not terribly traditional but tasty nevertheless. Jee’s plate came with a pretzel bite rarebit, walnut pesto palmier, grilled steak tartine and a cucumber sandwich. The healthy version offered sesame seed brittle with avocado and radishes, a pickled cucumber bite with smoked eggplant, a vegetarian biscuit BLT (mushroom instead of bacon) and a beet salad cup. I honestly enjoyed the savory options and it was all delicious and different.

Desserts were also of an interesting variety and how nice that there were no macarons for once. The Whitby Tea offered key lime icebox and brown butter hazelnut cakes, a calamansi flavored canelé, and a flourless Valrhona bar. Healthier sweets on my plate were a fancier version of an Almond Joy, a black forest quinoa puff with sour cherry, bananas foster and coconut cake, and an elderberry and Meyer lemon crisp. I tried to eat it all and I think I managed pretty well. What I liked was that the food was good and neither of us suffered from a food coma afterward.

I’d love to return and have the tea again, and it’s definitely on my revisit list. For those interested, the Whitby also offers a Champagne Afternoon tea as well. And now every time I walk past the hotel on my way to and from work, I can’t help think about the lovely space and their delicious afternoon tea. Till next time!

May 19, 2017
Tea at the Williamsburg Hotel

On a sunny winter day several months ago, I met up with my friend Queenie for tea in my neighborhood. The onslaught of new construction and gentrification continues in Williamsburg, so the views of glorious open skies have unfortunately given way to towers of glass, steel and brick. Not only are there residential buildings rising up from once desolate streets but plenty of hotels have sprung up as well.

And the Williamsburg Hotel is the first one to actually serve afternoon tea (or what they call “high tea” on their menu, though it’s not at all).

The hotel bar and lobby is beneath street level and one can enter via sweeping stairs descending from the street or through a slender door in the side of the building. The space is cavernous and feels airy when light pours through the two-story windows on a sunny day.

So, onto the food. I had been running around doing errands before meeting Queenie, who was already in the area attending a food fair of sorts. That meant one of us was hungry and the other not. We ended up ordering one “Brooklyn High Tea” to share, and an additional pot of tea for her.

The tea menu itself was a limited selection, sourced from a local tea shop called Tea Dealers. We both ordered the Wild Pear tisane from Korea and it turned out the supplier was actually sitting at the bar. He came over and there was a brief discussion on the teas, which was interesting and nice. The tea was pretty good, made with wild pears and it reminded me a lot of a soup my mother makes using apples or Asian pears.

As for the food itself, it was a varied selection of baked goods and one or two savories. We weren’t able to match everything on our plates to the descriptions on the menu but it was close enough. Alas that the savories all contained cheese, which I dislike very much. It was a little disappointing for me, because I really wanted more savories and there were far too many sweets for me to enjoy it all. Serving butter or clotted cream with the scone might have helped a bit too but in the end, we took nibbles off a lot of the pastries because it was just far too much for even two of us to enjoy. I left wanting savory foods and ended up with some delicious Indonesian food later that day to sate my appetite.

The space was really nice and if one is really into sweets, then this tea is probably good. I found out one of my other friends had visited recently (admittedly through a press engagement) and she enjoyed the food so perhaps it had improved since my own visit. In the meantime, I’ll continue to wish for Brooklyn to offer an afternoon tea as great as those found in Manhattan.

May 8, 2017
Lunch at Little Mo

There was a time not too long ago when getting friends to come into Brooklyn was a difficult thing to do. Even though my neighborhood is literally across the river from downtown Manhattan and just a stop away, not many people wanted to make the trek to one of the other boroughs of the city. But with all the gentrification, Brooklyn is now considered cool and trendy. I suppose that’s a good thing, though I do miss a bit of the quiet now.

One positive outcome of all the economic changes is the influx of new restaurants. With the rents going up, many businesses are cropping up further east of the river. One of these is Little Mo, an Asian restaurant in Bushwick. I’ve never heard of it, but my friend Q invited me to join her for lunch there one recent Sunday. We met up in the West Village after her work shift and took the train back into Brooklyn. Two others were to join us, G and J, but only G was able to make it. By coincidence, he ended up on the same subway as us though we didn’t actually meet up until we all arrived at the subway stop. I hadn’t seen G (or J) in a very long time, so it was nice to say hi and catch up.

Q had learned of Little Mo through a customer at the shop she works at and had been there before, but it was the first visit for me and G. I had taken a quick look at the menu beforehand but couldn’t decide what to order. Q told me she was planning to order pho though I thought the day was far too hot for that. The classic pho is a weekend-only special so that was her reason for choosing it. G and I were debating among the other menu items but in the end, we too ordered the pho as well; at least the restaurant had air conditioning which helped keep us cool while eating hot soupy noodles.

I must admit that the pho was really good. The broth is made of beef and oxtail broth and is very flavorful. Beside noodles were bone marrow, slices of rare ribeye beef and meatballs and the usual accompaniments of bean sprouts and scallions. And on the side were lime wedges, slices of chili peppers, and basil to add in (which I always do). And of course, there were bottles of sauces (hot sauce, hoisin sauce, fish sauce) on the table to make it as spicy, salty or sweet as one wants.

In addition to the pho, we ordered two appetizers as well: fried chicken wings with spicy Thai sauce and spring rolls. The latter were not what I was expecting. Spring rolls usually mean the crispy, fried rolls stuffed with meat and veggies served in Chinese restaurants. What arrived are actually the ones most Vietnamese restaurants around town call summer rolls. The rolls were fine but the chicken wings were definitely a highlight.

The food was really good and we were able to see what the rice bowls look like when they were brought out for other diners. They look just as delicious and G eventually ordered one to take away for dinner. The rice bowl looked very hearty and filling so maybe it was a good thing I didn’t order it for lunch. But I do want to try it one of these days, so there’s definitely a reason for me to return one day.

June 19, 2016
Afternoon Tea at the St. Regis New York

It all began a few years ago, when I discovered a friend (and former coworker) enjoyed afternoon tea as much as I did. We spent the entire summer visiting hotels all over Manhattan, spoiling ourselves with sandwiches, scones and many, many pots of tea. Over the years, Jee has continued to visit or revisit places around town for tea but a full-time job had pretty much kept me out of the loop and I’ve managed a few rare visits.

However, we managed to squeeze a teatime session recently during my very brief break between jobs and a too busy April. On a grey Monday afternoon, we met up at one of the earliest places we went for tea — the Astor Court at the St. Regis hotel. It had been a highlight and one of my favorite places those many years ago and I’m very pleased to find that it’s still an outstanding place to have afternoon tea.

The Astor Court has been renovated since our first tea there. Gone were the pastel upholstery, floral patterns and piano. The colors are a bit bolder and less feminine with metallic hues everywhere. It’s more fitting and appropriate to accompany the King Cole Bar in the back of the dining area.

Despite that, the service was still excellent. We both chose the traditional afternoon tea service (no caviar or champagne); I went for the Golden Assam tea while Jee picked the Osmanthus Oolong. Instead of the bright, shiny silver teapots I remember from the last visit, the tea arrived in white porcelain pots this time (at least we won’t accidentally touch hot metal). Because I was still under the weather, I added some lemon to my tea though I would normally drink it straight.

The sandwiches were less traditional than they were in the past, and it wasn’t a bad thing at all. There was a good variety and all were very tasty. We were served a Maine Lobster Roll with Caviar on brioche; Scottish Smoked Salmon with Lemon Dill Butter on pumpernickel; English Cucumber with minted Cream Cheese on brioche; Egg Salad with Watercress; and a Curry Chicken Pate with Savora Mustard and Cornichon. I don’t think I could possibly choose a favorite!

The scones and pastries were brought out on a tiered tray. The plain and raisin scones were warm from the oven, and served with clotted cream, berry preserves and lemon curd. Delicious. Thankfully, the scones weren’t too big otherwise we wouldn’t have room in our stomachs to sample the pastries. The pastries were fewer but slightly larger and much more manageable: rose and pistachio macarons, miniature chocolate mousse cups and cherry and pistachio financiers. A sweet (but not too sweet) way to end the meal. Neither of us finished the pastries but we did taste each of them and we were pretty full by then.

I’m so glad we had this chance to revisit the Astor Court at the St. Regis for tea. It had been far too long between visits and hopefully, it won’t be several years again before I return.

May 7, 2016
Brunch at Public

It’s already March and I’m not sure where the last two months have gone. Time seems to have flown by but I don’t recall doing anything fun or interesting lately. It’s been a warm winter but between a very lackluster Lunar New Year and now, nothing has really excited me. There’s been more work (i.e. projects for friends and former colleagues) that’s taken up most of my time but I do try to go out and get some air once in a while.

What I really need to do is catch up with friends, though it’s been hard. I did meet up with my friend M over the weekend for brunch at Public.

I’ve walked by Public so many times over the years but it was the first time I ever stepped inside it. The restaurant isn’t on ground level so I could never quite get a sense of how big it actually is from the outside. I do love the big windows that look onto the street and the skylight above that let in so much natural light.

When we were handed the menus, the choices weren’t quite what either of us expected. It was slightly different from the menu on their website but we did find good options on it. I debated between the Eggs and No Eggs sections of the menu and in the end, settled on the quinoa pancakes with poached pears, pomegranate, sunflower seeds, Devonshire (clotted) cream and red wine syrup.

The pancakes were delicious and I like the use of the Devonshire cream instead of butter. The sunflower seeds sprinkled on top also gave it a nice texture. I can never say no to pears since they are one of my favorite fruits, and they were a little spicy but not too boozy, which works better for me.

M chose the spiced avocado toast with Maryland blue crab, pickled chiles and cilantro. At one point (according to the photos seen online), the avocado toast contained poached eggs but now don’t. The eggs would have been nice but there was extra protein on our table since I also ordered a side of bacon. The avocado toast looked really good and the bacon was delicious, one of the better ones we’ve had at restaurants.

Neither of us ordered hot drinks; we were both interested in the cold drinks. I ordered the cucumber and thyme fizz and I think she had the mint charcoal limeade. My fizzy drink was pretty refreshing and for once, I didn’t miss not having a nice cup of hot tea to go with my breakfast plates.

Though I will admit, M did need her coffee fix and we ended up at a coffee shop in the neighborhood afterward.

March 10, 2016
Brunch at Cafe Clover

If anyone had asked me a year ago what my 2016 would be like, I wouldn’t have been able to guess at all. The start of this year has presented me with some very interesting challenges and adventures, especially in the work situation. After what seems like forever, I have moved on from my old company last summer and so did most of the terrific people I’ve worked with there over the years. We’re all spread out and it’s hard to not miss seeing familiar faces.

At the very least, I’ve tried to keep in touch with my old team through weekday lunches (it’s amazing how many people end up working in the same neighborhood but at different companies), farewell drinks all summer, and random meetups over dinner or brunch. A small group of us met last Saturday for a weekend brunch at Cafe Clover.

Two designers, one developer (me) and a product manager. This gathering was definitely a team effort: J, the product manager suggested the meetup and made the reservation; I sent a list of restaurant suggestions and one of the designers, C, helped to choose where we would end up. Nothing like collaboration, right?

Somehow, I ended up the first to arrive followed by J, M and C. We were seated at a corner table that was probably one of the nicest spots in the restaurant; it offered a great view of the bright interior and all of the other tables. It was so great seeing everyone together again and it felt almost like we never left given the conversation we had about the old company and other former colleagues.

But let’s get onto the food. The menu wasn’t lengthy but provided a variety of delicious and healthy options. Three of us went for the poached eggs, while C opted for the Quinoa Pancakes. To be honest, it was really hard to choose what to order since everything looked tasty.

The poached eggs were served with a tomato kale pan roast and spaghetti squash chia rosti. There was also a choice of Béarnaise sauce or herb vinaigrette; all three of us went with the latter. It was excellent! As for the pancakes, it was served with baked apples, cashews, and barrel aged syrup. C cut up little pieces from her dish to share with us and it was delicious as well. Really, it would be hard to order wrong since all the food was so good.

We asked about dessert and the waitress said they had an almond milk panna cotta. That sounded really interesting so I ordered two to be split among the four of us. When it arrived, the panna cotta reminded me of the classic Chinese sweet tofu dessert. It was creamy and not too sweet, and a sprinkling of chai tea made it even more flavorful. When we were finally ready to leave and the bill arrived, the waitress told us the dessert was comped. I didn’t quite understand why but it was very nice of them and we tipped her a little more as a thank you.

Good food, great company and a wonderful way to truly begin the new year. We’ll have to do it again soon!

January 20, 2016
Brunch at Reynard

For all that I live in a trendy, over-gentrified (in my opinion) neighborhood, I don’t really hang around there too much. When my friend Q told me she was going to be in the area to check out a local artists’ market, we ended up meeting there before heading over to the Wythe Hotel for brunch. The hotel is a short walk from my building though it seemed much longer when walking down very quiet streets on a cold, Sunday morning.

I’ve only been inside the hotel once before, to check out a pop-up artisan market in the summer last year or the year before. Reynard, the restaurant located on the ground floor just off the entrance, has always been a place I wanted to try but never had a chance to until now. The interior is very beautiful, with the tile work on the floor and the tall windows that let in a lot of natural light. We were seated at the very back, next to the glass walls that look out over a pretty courtyard. This time of year, there was nothing outside except for the strings of lights hanging along the walls that surround the patio area but I have seen it come to life in the evenings when I’ve been driven past it.

The brunch menu offered some very interesting selections. I was torn between several items but ended up with the Dutch pancake while Q chose the fried chicken. When the food arrived, the pancake was pretty big and not quite what I was expected. There was no description for it on the menu and I had thought it would be served with sweet fillings such as apples. Instead, this was a savory version, with prosciutto and topped with slightly melted cheese. The pancake itself was sweet, with maple syrup drizzled along the outer edges so overall it was a good mix of salty and sweet. It was far too big and I think I managed to eat about three-quarters of it before stopping, which wasn’t too bad considering the size.

The fried chicken appeared to be more lighter in appearance though probably just as filling. The chicken was nice and crispy, and not greasy at all. It was served with a fava bean purée and dusted with za’atar which made the whole thing absolutely tasty. I would definitely order that if I were to visit again; while the Dutch pancake was good it was probably a bit too much food for me.

December 22, 2015
Brunch at Little Park

Weekend brunch has been pretty rare in my life these days. I can’t even remember when the last time I got together with friends for a fun weekend meal and good conversation. My foodie life seems to be centered on lots of afternoon or evening get-togethers this year, the former with those who have flexible non-9-to-5 hours and the latter mainly on the many, many after work drinks with former co-workers as everyone’s been moving on from our old company.

I love hanging out with a lot of my former work colleagues and one great thing is that many of them are foodies. Who doesn’t like trying new restaurants? Four of us were trying to get together recently but with conflicting schedules, it was just me and former coworker and friend, C. I suggested going to Little Park down in Tribeca and that’s where we ended up.

Little Park was on my list of places to visit during my birthday week. Since I ended up elsewhere at the time, it was still on my to-visit list and the online menu looked really promising. C and I met up this past Saturday and were treated to a lovely, lovely dining experience.

It was difficult to choose what to order since there were so many delicious items on the menu. Once nice thing is that there were plenty of vegetarian options so there’s something for everyone, whether one is a meat eater or not.

I ended up with the eggs my way (over easy), which came with fried garlic potatoes (sooo good) and toast (the waiter suggested multi-grain). I also ordered a side of their smoked bacon, which was just as tasty. It didn’t look like much food when it arrived but all of it was so filling and I needed a very long walk afterward just to feel better. C wanted to get the coconut and spelt pancakes but had a week full of carbs, so she chose the Heirloom Grain Porridge instead. The porridge was served with mushrooms (hen of the woods), poached eggs and pine nuts. It was a much lighter meal than mine but just as tasty and she liked it a lot.

Everything was wonderful and she and I both want to visit again. The food and service was excellent and I definitely want to check out the menus for other meal times and of course, dessert as well. Here’s hoping my next visit won’t be long in coming.

November 17, 2015
Lunch at Cocotte

I’ve been very impulsive with weekday lunches these days. Recently, I met up with my friend Maggie for lunch and I was torn between two French places I wanted to try. In the end, I settled for Cocotte but even that was a difficult choice. There is Cocotte, a sit down restaurant but they also have a café next door called Petite Cocotte. We looked at the menu for both and I ended up choosing the main restaurant.

It was a slightly late lunch, around 1:30pm but there were still some occupied tables when we sat down. The restaurant is located on a more residential street, further away from the office buildings and retail shops. It’s almost like a hidden gem in the middle of bustling Soho.

Cocotte serves French fare but with a subtle Spanish (from the Basque region) twist. The lunch menu had both a la carte and prix-fixe options. We settled on the latter, which was a short list full of tasty dishes. The prix-fixe was $22 for an entree and a side dish. Maggie went with the Cocotte Burger and the sautéed potatoes with duck fat. The burger arrived on a flat stone and was composed of beef, smoked bacon, cheese, onions and Guindillas peppers; instead of a normal hamburger bun, it was served on focaccia.

I chose the Cordon Basque, which was chicken breast rolled with baby spinach, pimentos and Idiazabal cheese served with peas and tomatoes. From the sides, I ordered the lentils with farro, bacon and the house vinaigrette. Both were absolutely delicious. I also ordered a pot of green tea to go with my meal.

Several of the menus were written in chalk on various bits of wall and columns. I eyed the short dessert menu but we were both too full for something sweet. We needed to walk off the very satisfying lunch before we could contemplate an afternoon snack. Cocotte was really lovely; it’d be nice to check out the cafe as well since there are slight variations to the menu. And I would love to return for weekend brunch or dinner one of these days…

November 3, 2015
Dinner at Claudette

Despite a slightly disappointing start with breakfast, I ended my birthday with a fabulous dinner at Claudette. My friend Q was treating that evening and we both had been wanting to check out the restaurant so it made perfect sense to go there.

Claudette serves French (Provençal) cuisine with a Middle Eastern bent. There are so many delicious looking items on the menu and it really was hard to decide. In the end, between the two of us, there was a starter, two hors d’oeuvres, two entrées, two sides and one dessert. Just like with Q’s birthday dinner at Cosme last month, looks were deceiving and there really was a lot of food at our table.

First up was the Pistounade, a basil almond tapenade. It was similar to a pesto and served with a basket of warm garlic flatbread. Very delicious and it felt healthy. The hors d’oeuvres came out at the same time: charred baby octopus for me and the Autumn Salad for Q. These were pretty big plates considering; we thought they were going to be smaller dishes, more similar to tapas but they were practically full meals themselves.

Choosing an entrée was a tough choice since there were so many good options. I was drawn to the Chicken Tagine since I haven’t had one in a very long time and Q chose the Bouillabaisse. The plates that came out were enormous; my dish was served in a traditional tagine and it was a very huge portion considering how much food we ate before the entrées arrived. The couscous was excellent; it wasn’t dry and very tasty, having absorbed much of the juices that came from the chicken. I could eat just that alone and have been happy. I did sample a bit of the Bouillabaisse and that was terrific too. And we really should have stopped ordering there but we wanted to try the sides as well so we ordered the grilled eggplant and the frites with ras el hanout (served with an aioli). There really was no way to eat it all and I ended up taking most of my tagine home, and Q took the remaining Pistoundae and flatbread (we finshed one basket and they brought out another).

Of course, one cannot leave out dessert. When the menu arrived, most of the sweets were either dairy or chocolate based. After all of the savoury dishes, we really wanted something light. We had settled on the orange blossom creme brulée when our waitress told us the dessert du jour was a baked apple served on puff pastry and topped with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. She likened it to a deconstructed apple pie. Fruit! And it was totally what we wanted. We devoured most of it before our tea and dessert wine arrived at the table. That was definitely the best way to end the meal.

October 17, 2015