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Ho-Dduk at Grace Street

After a long day of shopping and browsing, my friend P and I ended up in Koreatown on Saturday. Our feet were tired and after a tasty but not too filling lunch, we just wanted some place to sit down and grab a snack and drink. I suggested Grace Street since there is more seating than the other bakeries and cafes along 32nd Street.

I hadn’t been to Grace Street in a long time. After we were seated by the hostess, we took a look at the menu. Besides tea and coffee, they serve a few interesting desserts. I was tempted by the waffle (which is freshly baked and the menu warns it will take approximately 15 minutes) but ended up ordering a Korean doughnut called the Ho-Dduk.

Neither of were quite sure what to expect; the waitress said she it could be shared among two people but that was pretty much it. When it arrived, the doughnut was cut into six pieces with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. There was a filling inside the doughnut that spilled out onto the plate: the cinnamon was pretty song and flavored the brown sugar nicely. I liked eating it with a bit of the ice cream and enjoyed the warm and cold, spicy and sweet flavors in my mouth. It also reminds me a lot of the Japanese sweet, yatsuhashi (my sister brought back some from Kyoto on a trip to Japan many years ago).

I’m glad we gave it a try instead of going for the slightly less interesting waffle (mochi waffles, anyone?). It’s something I would definitely order again.

November 16, 2014
Arcade Bakery

I first learned about Arcade Bakery through my friends, Queenie and Jee. It’s received several write-ups in food blogs and magazines since then but it took me a long time before I got around to visiting. Like Patisserie Burrow, Arcade Bakery is one of those places open only on weekdays and since it’s located in Tribeca, it made it hard for me to visit when it’s actually open.

On the last day of my vacation, I went down to see Queenie and with some helpful directions from her, then headed down to Arcade. I might have walked right by the entrance had they not recently put a sign on the exterior of the office building the bakery is located in. As its name implies, Arcade can be found literally in the arcade of the building. The corridor is lined with dark wood paneling and set into niches are pull down tables where people can sit and eat, if not taking their food to go. There are also shelves with fancy loaves of bread for decoration.

The baked goods at the counter looked really good but I wanted something more savory for my lunch. There are a few sandwich selections as well as pizzas. The pizzas are made-to-order and I considered it but the individual pie was too large for me to finish then and there. Instead, I picked the vegetarian sandwich (can’t remember what was in it other than roasted carrots and chickpeas but it was really good) and an iced tea.

And after that, I headed right back to the counter to pick up something sweet to go. Queenie had recommended the chocolate croissant so I went with her suggestion and also ordered a lemon sugar brioche as well. They ended up being breakfast the following days and after popping them in the toaster oven to warm them up, they tasted just fine. The chocolate croissant was excellent and definitely one of the better ones in the city. If time permits (e.g. another vacation day), I’d like to go back and try some of the other items. I did see several office workers come in and leave with bags of baguettes under their arms, so perhaps I should try one those next time.

October 29, 2014
Kiku at the NY Botanical Garden

For the past few years, the NY Botanical Garden has hosted a Japanese Chrysanthemums exhibit. Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden is held in the Conservatory, which is filled with chrysanthemums of all sizes from diminutive flowers to big, showy blooms that are wired to keep them from falling off their thin stems.

I read somewhere that this might be the last year the show is being held for now so I finally made it up there before it closed.

There were so many varieties and in so many colors on display, though most seemed to be in shades of yellow, white and purple. There were a lot in red and oranges too, and they remind me of the cooler weather outside, a very vivid reminder that autumn is here. Personally, I think I prefer the smaller flowers than the larger ones.

October 28, 2014
Patisserie Burrow

If one walks to the very back of the lobby of a somewhat nondescript building in DUMBO, there is a reward waiting at the end of corridor. Tucked into the space is Patisserie Burrow. It’s about the size of a jewel box; very tiny but with such delicate and delicious treats.

I’ve had my eye on visiting for a very long time but logistically, it was near impossible until my week off. Burrow was only opened on the weekdays (it just started to open on Saturdays this past weekend) and there was no way I could have gone unless I had a day off. And it’s even better to go with a friend, as I did the day after my birthday.

I love how there are so many tasty delights stacked on the shelves while a few miniature pastries are encased in a small marble and glass counter. When my friend and I arrived, there were slices of cheesecake, a pistachio mousse cake, fig tart and a cupcake topped with a macaron shelf that looked very much like a mushroom found in fantasy realms. We had a hard time choosing what to order but in the end settled on a slice of apple pie (it was so, so very thin!) and the fig tart. The inside of the shop was very stuffy so I also got an iced green tea to help cool down while my friend ordered a coffee. Needless to say, everything was delicious.

And I just couldn’t leave without buying a few things to go. In this case, it was a small sampling of the cookies; they all looked so good. From the many varieties, I chose a chocolate-thumb cookie, a jam sandwich, three nut-based cookies (almonds; hazelnuts; and one with mixed nuts) and a palmier. And they tasted just as good as they appeared.

October 27, 2014
Open House at the Brooklyn Army Terminal

After the fun journey of heading to JFK to see the TWA Flight Center, I traveled in the other direction and across town to Sunset Park to check out the other place I wanted to visit during the OHNY weekend. While OHNY events took place both days, these two sites were only open to the public on Saturday so I had no choice but to make another long journey to get from the outer reaches of Queens to the outer reaches of Brooklyn.

At my subway transfer point, I headed above ground for a quick lunch (at Shake Shack) and then hopped aboard one more train to reach my final destination, the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

OHNY has offered tours of the Terminal earlier this year, but those required reservations, paid tickets and taking a day off from work. I was so disappointed to have missed out on those tours so imagine my excitement when I saw it was listed as an Open Access site for thie weekend. Guided tours were being offered on the hour and I arrived just a few minutes after one began, so I just stayed at the edge and tried to listen and see what was going on. There were a lot more people there than I would have guessed; it was mid-afternoon and there weren’t many people loitering outside the building so I assumed most of the crowds showed up earlier in the day.

The guide (who works for Turnstile Tours) offered a brief history of the terminal, its usage during World War 2 and how it’s been repurposed to house businesses today. The most famous person to have passed through was Elvis Presley during the war, though he missed traveling with his group and booked a later passage to Germany because of all the press and publicity surrounding him.

As our guide rightly pointed out, what most of us really wanted to see was the Atrium.

It was a photo of this that initially sparked my interest in visiting the Terminal. Seeing old railway tracks and platform and even a train parked inside was enough to set my imagination running (I have a thing for old train stations, even one that never actually served as part of public transportation). Overhead, the glass panes from the ceiling have been removed for safety reasons (since maintenance and repair would be costly to the city) but the framework remains, and one can easily picture the glass still there.

There is a train sitting on a set of rails in the atrium but it’s not as old as it appears. The simple brown and yellow color scheme only makes it appear old but in actuality, the carriages were from an LIRR train. At one point, the idea had been to convert the cars into a dining area for the terminal but that plan was never completed so the carriages are now permanently parked inside the building since the other section of tracks have been removed or covered up to convert the area into the Atrium.

The tour itself lasted just under an hour and once it was over, everyone wandered around the Terminal, taking more photos of the Atrium and the balconies that jut out on the upper floors. I think some people headed upstairs to see what was there but I stayed on the ground level since things were far more interesting there. We were all inside Building B, which is just one building inside the much larger overall Brooklyn Army Terminal complex. There’s a lovely view of the ocean outside as well as pedestrian and ferry pier below.

October 22, 2014
Afternoon Tea at Bosie Tea Parlor

I took a few days off last week to celebrate my birthday. Coincidentally, my friend P had emailed the week before saying she was coming up to the city and wanted to catch up. The timing worked out beautifully and we met for lunch/afternoon tea at Bosie Tea Parlor.

I haven’t had a proper afternoon tea in ages and when P said she wanted to experience it for herself, I was more than happy to oblige! We narrowed down where to meet up and settled on Bosie for its much more casual dress code and vibe.

We ended up with the Afternoon Tea Service for two. It was my first time to sit down to a proper afternoon tea here; in the past, I usually end up ordering savory options for lunch or solely a dessert and pot of tea after dinner. Besides the tea, the service included mini vanilla scones served with clotted cream and jam, several types of sandwiches of our choosing, mini tea cakes (vanilla, green tea, chocolate and lemon) and two macarons each (we had earl grey with milk chocolate; raspberry with yuzu; lavender and maple bacon).

For tea, I can’t really remember but we both ordered black teas; I think I chose the Kosabei and P the First Flush Darjeeling Tumsong. Everything was so good, and I especially enjoyed the tea sandwiches. We had the Farmer’s Egg Salad with thyme blossoms; Chicken with raisins and curried mayonnaise (coronation chicken); Smoked Salmon with red onion, lemon zest and cream cheese; and Crab with cocktail sauce, capers and yuzu. I especially liked the smoked salmon sandwiches and the other flavors were very good as well.

For a while we nearly had the place to ourselves. When we arrived, there was only one other other table occupied though it slowly filled out with late lunchgoers. It was nice to sit for a bit, have a bite and catch up with an old friend. And it was certainly tamer (and much more enjoyable) than my birthday last year, which was an all-day food fest while running around Hong Kong with my family.

October 21, 2014
Open House at the TWA Flight Center

It’s been several years since I last attended any of the openhousenewyork events. I probably would have skipped this year’s weekend as well had it not been for a few interesting places that I’ve been dying to visit and did not require advance reservations.

Despite the rainy Saturday morning, I made a very out-of-the-way trek across town to the airport. Unfortunately, the AirTrain wasn’t running but at least the shuttle buses were free and frequent. It took me a little over an hour to get from home to my destination, Terminal 5, known mainly as the JetBlue terminal.

Head into the terminal, walk past the Baggage Claim area and there, off to the side is a nondescript glass door. Even with printed instructions, people (including me) had a hard time trying to find it. On the top pane of glass a small sign with the OpenHouse logo was the only indication that it was the right place. Once through the door and up the stairs and there it was, the entrance to what I wanted to see:

Those who’ve seen Catch Me If You Can should be familiar with this location. This corridor leads right into a well-known (at least among architecture and perhaps some history fans) building.

The TWA Flight Center is a thing of beauty saved thanks to preservationists and the city’s landmarking committee. Whenever I’ve gone to the airport in the past, I would pass by the building many times and have always wondered what it looked like on the inside. During previous OHNY weekends, the building was open to the public but required advanced reservations; this year, it was open access so here was my chance to finally explore and see what was inside.

The departures signs still function; they listed the current time and actual flights that were leaving JFK that day.

I did not think anyone would dress up, given the wet weather, but these two definitely stood out amongst the crowd (and all the cameras)!

I was definitely thinking of Mad Men when I saw them; they certainly dressed for the era (the building was dedicated May 28, 1962).

There has been talk of renovating the building as part of some possible future construction for a hotel. It looks beautiful now in its slow decay but I’d love to see it completely restored.

At least the restroom wasn’t left to ruin:

Even the most functional of rooms were given a design treatment. (And no, I was not the only person taking photos inside the ladies room.)

If the TWA Flight Center is open for next year’s OHNY weekend, it’s well worth the journey to take a look. Hopefully, the weather will be better too!

October 15, 2014
MatchaBar

With so many coffee establishments in New York, a new tea place is most certainly welcome for non-coffee drinkers like me. The latest tea shop just happened to open in my neighborhood last week so I went to check it out over the weekend.

Specializing in the type of tea as its name implies, MatchaBar is all about matcha. They sell prepackaged tins of if as well as offering matcha-based drinks to go. And for non-tea drinkers who were dragged in by tea-loving friends, coffee is also on the menu. The space itself is pretty nice; there is seating in the front by the window and a large communal table in the back. I also love the very appopriate leafy print that adorns the wall.

And so what to try from the menu? It was a warm day so I ended up ordering one of their specialty drinks: the iced watermelon and matcha. It seemed to be one of the more popular items the day I went. When I received my drink, the watermelon and matcha were separated in colorful layers that all turned to green once I mixed it up. It was tasty and definitely refreshing, not at all bitter.

They serve hot matcha-based drinks too, which I may try as the temperatures drop in these coming months. Some baked goods were also available as well for those that need something to go along with their drinks; since I went in the afternoon, there wasn’t much variety left but I think I did see some scones and muffins.

September 26, 2014
The Old Stone House

Two weeks ago, I ended up strolling along Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn and crossed from one neighborhood to another. From Boerum Hill, I walked south and made my way into Park Slope and my tired feet stopped at 9th Street to catch the train home. When I got home that evening to see how far I walked, I saw “Old Stone House” pop up on the map right next to my route. Curious, I returned to the area this past Sunday to learn more.

The Vechte-Cortelyou House really is an old stone house located right in the middle of a park, sandwiched between ball fields, playgrounds and a school. It’s a very unlikely place to situate a museum but apparently, it’s right near the original location of the building. (The original house was demolished in 1897 and rebuilt years later, in 1933.) The house itself is a lovely little building, surrounded by a front garden with other educational gardens nearby. There is a suggested donation of $3 to visit the museum and once inside, there is one exhibit located in the main room on the ground floor (the second floor was off-limits due to some sort of event and the side wing has public restrooms installed for the surrounding park). The sole exhibit is all about the Battle of Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War, with posters along the walls describing the battle and there are glass cases filled with objects that date from that time. Right in the middle of the room is a diorama of the original house during the Battle, which resulted in the British defeating General Washington and his troops.

It’s amazing where one can still find pieces of old New York these days. There aren’t that many of these old buildings left and the few that remain have also been turned into museums and educational centers, which benefits everyone interested in a bit of history.

September 23, 2014
The Paris Café

The South Street Seaport and Financial District are not areas where I would normally go when I’m looking for a post-work dinner. If I have to eat all the way downtown, I usually end up further west and north in Tribeca. In the end, I did what most people would do and just went to a search engine. On OpenTable, two restaurants came up for the Seaport area and that’s where M and I wound up for dinner since she’s working in the Financial District these days.

The Paris Café is located on the far edge of the general Seaport area, directly facing the East River Drive as the lanes run above South Street. We took the scenic route over, walking down Wall Street and then along the pedestrian paths that edge the East River and north to the Seaport. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the area; I haven’t visited since the last time the New Amsterdam Market was running back in early summer. The restaurant itself isn’t new—it dates from 1873—but the interiors have been restored after Hurricane Sandy (look up to see the copper ceiling tiles above one’s head); I remember seeing a news feature about its reopening a few months ago.

Despite its name, the food was more traditional British pub fare than French. There were a lot of people having drinks (mostly the after-work crowd) or a meal (residents that lived in the area) when we arrived but we were seated pretty quickly. We opted to sit in the back room which was a lot less noisy and had fewer patrons. After perusing the menu, the two of us settled on seafood and chips: fish for me, mussels for M. And don’t forget the drinks; it had been a very long week at work but I also wanted something fruity so I ordered a peach mojito while M had a glass of white wine.

The food was pretty good and it filled us but we weren’t too stuffed. There was still room for dessert (we opted out of that at the restaurant) but first, a walk was in order. The night wasn’t too bad and we trekked to the west side before sitting for some cake at a supermarket (that would be Whole Foods), of all places.

September 15, 2014