Brunch is kind of a big deal here in NYC.  New Yorkers really love to get together and enjoy a delicious, leisurely meal with friends or family.  Now, I'm never against a delicious meal and in an effort to enjoy the city and our neighborhood as much as possible, we've been trying to do brunch more on the weekends.  Last weekend we decided to hit Buttermilk Channel to check out their brunch offerings.  Buttermilk Channel is super popular but luckily it's just a few blocks down from us so we were able to get their early and beat the rush.  

True to Hoon and Kari fashion, we ordered too much but somehow managed to eat all of it.  I ordered the short rib hash, Hoon had the eggs benedict, and we ordered a short stack of pancakes on the side.  All were very delicious.  If you are craving something heavy and greasy and really want to indulge, definitely get the hash.  Hoon's eggs were poached to perfection and the pancakes were so light and fluffy they practically floated their way into my mouth.  Like magic!  We've been to dinner there before which was good, but I really liked brunch so we'll definitely to try the rest of the menu. 

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This weekend we had in-laws in town so after we finished up our Broadway show (we saw Memphis and it was awesome), we hit Keste in the West Village for a late night snack.  We got there just before they closed so we got our food quick and service was great.  Hoon's sister ordered a couple of pies she's gotten before, the Pizza del Papa and another vegetarian one loaded with lots of goodies (sorry not sure which one).  The crust was light and crunchy and they were big enough to share between 5 people.  I'm more of a tradtitional pizza girl (more pepperoni please) but I thought these were pretty good.  My favorite part, though, was the dessert pizza.  I've had dessert pizzas before and I've never been terribly excited about them but this one was really good. Nutella pizza!  The crust was warm and crunchy with a good bit of chew and topped with powdered sugar.  Reminded me of a crepe only with more texture and crunch which I love.  All I needed was a side of peanut butter and I would have been in heaven.

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oh how i love these cookies.  why don't i make them year round?  i always just feel like i can only cook them when October rolls around, but they are soo comforting and delicious!  they are a bite of fall in your mouth.  they have a cake-like, moist consistency that i really enjoy.  the recipe is very simple and basic and is perfect for doctoring any which wayyou like.  like more cinnamon?  feel like adding nutmeg?  or nuts?  this is a great, basic recipe for that.  hoon likes it with less spices so i keep ours pretty simple, but they are still delish.  enjoy!  

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

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The other night we got together with Hyeku and her friend, Tom, to spend an evening in Chinatown.  We LOVE going to Shanghai Cafe for their soup dumpling's but Tom is an NYC native born and raised in Chinatown so he wanted to show us some new spots.  On our way to the restaurant we passed by the huge entrance to the Manhattan Bridge and the sign welcoming drivers to the city.  Kind of apropos for us NYC newbies.  

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As if we hadn't stuffed our faces enough, we stopped by Tai Pan for my favorite Chinese pastry: egg custard tarts.  Oh mama.  Even Serious Eats agrees that this place is one of the best in the city for those little treats.  The lady in the picture looking at the camera was telling me "NO PICTURES" but I couldn't help myself.  We also got a couple coconut buns and I think a lemon roll number.  And FINALLY, we stopped by TenRen's Tea Time for a lychee boba drink.  So much good food, and that's just 1 neighborhood! I think we're going to like living here... 

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So we're still getting settled in NYC (I'll cry and complain about that later) but of course we have time to make food a priority.  Our friend and chef, Harold, told us that the Exec Chef from the best restaurant in the world, Noma, would be cooking and presenting in Union Square.  So we went to check out this "Nordic Cookout."  It was really cool to see actually.  A ton of people came and we got to hear Rene Redzepi speak about his world famous restaurant in Copenhagen and his philosophies on cooking and food.  He was speaking with Editor in Chief at Food and Wine magazine, Dana Corwin, and the discussion was really interesting, not to mention it helped pass time while we waited in line to taste his delicious food.  We tried savory ebelskivers, salmon with cheese, some kind of pork dish, a little potato bite and a piece of delicious cake.  Very simple clean flavors but done to perfection.  It was a really cool experience and probably the only way we'd get to try Noma!  A little taste of the Nordic here in NYC...

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Before we up and moved to NYC, I had the pleasure of eating at Gjelina with some of my coworkers.  Not only did I share great company, but they were all super patient with me and let me take pictures of all their dishes!  Kind people, I say.  Now we're getting settled here but I had to share the photos I snapped, they're too delish not too!  I loved everything I tried there and the space is really cool.  We got there right around 11am when they opened but not long after we arrived the place started to fill up.  I would definitely recommend trying Gjelina but only if you have time to wait as I understand the dinner wait gets pretty long or try going for brunch and get there first thing to grab a seat on the patio!  

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Crab salad

Grilled peaches with burrata and proscuitto - delish!  

Braised pork meatballs

Lamb sausage and tomato confit pizza

Lamb Hamburger - so tasty and juicy!

Wonderfully prepared carrots - cooked to perfection - no mush at all. 

This was amazing - butterscotch pot de creme with salted caramel w/ creme fraiche.  WOW!!  Must save room for this.  

I believe this was some kind of pie, banana creme perhaps?  It was good too.  

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Hat tip to my brother in law for first teaching her this trick. We were half way there with the high fives though...

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saturday we headed out to check out the hottest sandwich shop in town right now,  ink.sack.  after seeing this review on serious eats we were dying to get over there.  we got there just before 12pm and it turned out to be perfect because within 15 minutes the place filled up and there was a line out the door.  everything was really delicious.  the sandwiches are small and only cost between $4 - $6 so we tried a few.  we ordered the cold fried chicken sandwich, the jose andres aka "the spanish godfather," and the maple pepper turkey melt, a side of bbq pork rinds and some vintage sodas.  mama!!  we could not decide which one was our favorite but I think i was really leaning toward the turkey sandwich because of the camembert cheese and candied fruit - sweet and savory, baby!  definitely gotta go back and try the rest of the menu!  

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this weekend we had a grand ol' time just hanging out and enjoying where we live.  friday night we walked around downtown with chloe and hit up pete's cafe.  we've been a few times now, but this time we grabbed a seat on the patio and took in the summer air.  

spotted on the walk: hipster couple with matching hats.  presh.  

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my most favorite thing at pete's and what i REALLY wanted to go there for is the blue cheese fries.  if you like blue cheese at all, you will love these.  seriously.  amazazing.  i could eat the whole thing by myself.  easy.  even chloers found something on the menu.  ok it was just water but the server brought it out for her and it was really nice of him.  oh yeah we also ordered a salad or something and some chicken stuff that was pretty good but i was really just focused on those fries!  

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after dinner we were walking home and hoon was talking about how he needed a haircut so I told him he should check out Bolt Barbershop.  they're open late and dog friendly he slipped in for a quick cut.  its such a dudes place.  they serve you free rootbeer (amongst other drinks) and have dog treats so me and chloe hung out while he got his hair did.  he had never been to a barber before!  imagine that!  the barber took his time and definitely did a better job than his flowbee...just sayin....

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saturday we lazed around for most of the morning.  literally.  we blew up our air mattress in our living room and laid on it while we watched tv.  it was awesome.  isn't that what saturdays are for?  then when we decided to actually get up we decided to hit up one of our new favorite spots, TiGeorges.  it's a small Haitian restaurant that is deelish.  we love to get started with some freshly made Citronade.  Not quite lemonade but has a unique, different flavor that i loove.  this time around we tried a new app - kassav bread with herring chiktay.  i dont really know what that is but it's haitian and TiGeorge himself recommended it.  followed shortly thereafter was the real star - roasted chicken with beans and rice.  oh my.  i could eat those beans and rice every day.  every single day.  i need to figure out how to make that asap.  after dinner we went to the americana and shopped, checked out the new apple store and saw crazy stupid love.  it was cute.  and i got popcorn so thats pretty much the makings of a great day.  

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our final meal of the weekend was the mac n cheese pizza from pizzanista!  i saw them post about it on facebook and knew we pretty much had to have it.  sounds gross and awesome but its just pure awesome.  i didn't know how the mac n cheese part would translate but it totally worked.  the crust was crispy and crunchy and the pasta was a soft and cheesey and it was perfecto.  definitely a heavy dish but good for a treat. and a party because the pizza was big.  yum.  

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leave it to the Dutch to come up with something so cool.  this slide was installed in a railway station as a courtesy to travelers in a hurry to make their connection.  aka the "transfer accelerator."  i love this.  

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This weekend we braved carmageddon and headed out to Eat Real Fest LA edition in Culver City.  They had it at Helms Bakery which I've been meaning to get to because Father's Office is over there so between the food festivities and Father's Office, I knew it was going to be a good day.  Look at that burger.  They only have 1 burger there at that's all they need.  Stinky cheese + sweet onion bacon "jam" + juicy meat = yes, please and thank you.  we really enjoyed this burger but after eating it, Umami may still be our favorite.  

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The fest was a combination of food trucks + live music/demos + market of handmade goods.  I love the idea because it's all about support local community and small businesses.  There happened to be a little pen of piggies and goslings there also.  Not sure why they were there but they were real cute.  The piglets all tucked together and sleeping away reminded me of chloers!  stankers!  

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After our lunch at Fathers Office we grabbed an ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus.  Yum - Nutella ice cream!!  Delish.  Another truck was making fresh reuben sandwiches and they looked + smelled amazing.  we were too stuffed to try them though.  on our way out i had to grab a snow cone.  i had such high hopes for it.  i seriously love snow cones.  i had like a charlie brown make your own snow cone machine as a kid.  i would just grind up the ice and eat that without the syrup.  i did not care.  i miss that little thing.  but i had to wait forever for this one and im not sure how you mess up snow cones but believe me it looks a lot better than it tasted :( .  still fun to give it a try.  we checked out the other vendors and haps around the event as well.  there was a lot going on and the weather was perfecto.  i loved the umbrellas and hay bales for relaxing.  it was a fun day!  

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Then we got out entrees. I got their signature dish, cochinita pibil, which I get every time. Fally aparty pork goodness. Hoon got Bistec a la Yucateca. It was tender and moist like a steak should be.

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Then to finish it off we got some of the best flan I've ever had and I dont even like flan! You totally have to save room for the flan when you come.

Sent from my iPad

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a few weeks ago we heard about a los angeles bulldog group that had occasional meet ups for owners and their pups and being the crazy dog people that we are we looked up the group and found out that they were having a meet up over memorial day weekend.  so we ventured out on memorial day morning to be crazy dog people with a bunch of other crazy dog people.  we met up in long beach, there is a small section where dogs are allowed off leash.  i believe this is the only dog beach in all of LA.  we were late of course but we were still able to catch the majority of the group.  we were welcomed by like 20 english bulldogs playing and having fun.  all the owners were so nice and attentive to their dogs and the pups in attendance.  it was something i never really thought we'd do but once we got there it was such a good experience.  i just loved seeing all the bullies and watching chloe go crazy with them.  we had a blast and we're definitely planning on attending more meet ups for our precious, stinky bulldog.  we love her!  

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hoonku bought tickets for us to see dale earnhardt jr jr a few weeks ago.  i had never heard of them but he downloaded their songs and pretty soon that's all we were listening to AND they only have like a 4 song EP so that didn't get old at all.  nevertheless we checked them out on friday at the echo and it was a super fun show.  we hadn't been to a small club show like that in what felt like ages.  we've been spoiled lately.  the last show we saw was local natives at the walt disney concert hall (amaaaazzzzinng show by the way - you can see my vid from that show here).  these guys had tons of energy and they jazzed up their songs for the live show which i love.  i especially enjoyed them because one of the guys reminded me of Frank from 30 rock.  Trucker hat and all.  they played a few songs off their new album out tomorrow which im definitely looking forward to listening to.  

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this memorial day weekend we did not go anywhere.  it was so awesome.  we enjoyed lazy days, a random korean pop concert (amazing by the way) with friends, got caught up on movies and of course lots of eating.  it's what we do best!  Saturday morning we hit up Angelique Cafe for a bite of brunch.  We really like this little French spot.  It's cute, we can walk there, has a nice seating outside (chloers can come too!), and most importantly the food is yummy.   I ordered a savory crepe, nothing too fancy just ham and cheese but it was yummy.  dishes come with a side of roasted red potatoes which are very delish as well.  hoonku got the eggs benedict but it had spinach instead of meat.  wow the hollandaise sauce on this baby is a real delight.  this time hoonku ordered better than i did.  his dish totally killed mine.  luckily we like to share!  

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after that we came home so hoonku could watch the soccer game.  he even met up with coworkers and watched it the sports bar across the street.  kinda made me laugh.  i read my book on the roof and caught some rays.  it was such a nice weekend!  after that we got ready to head to santa monica because i really wanted to check out The Market at Santa Monica Place.  I heard it was supposed to be similar to the Chelsea Market in NYC which i completely loved so I was very excited.  my enthusiasm was completely dashed, though when i got there.  i was completely underwhelmed.  i see the inspiration but it just felt super manufactured and fake.  a little too LA for me.  also the vendors were not very diverse and the space was kind of small.  maybe it will get better its only been open a couple weeks but i wouldn't tell you to run out and check it out.  

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one bright spot from our trip out to santa monica place was that we grabbed dinner at pizza antica.  my friend, erin recommended that we eat there and we were really happy. the space is cool, lots of light and it has an open kitchen which i enjoy.  we ordered gnocchi with sundried tomato cream sauce and pizza with fennel and spicy sausage.  Oh mama.  the gnocchi was definitely our favorite and this is hard for me to say since i love me some pizza but it was done just right.  super light and fluffy not heavy like potato can be.  i never order gnocchi because it always seems so heavy like little rabbit turds.  you know?  anyway the sauce was just right, pasta was to perfection and you can never go wrong with sundried tomatoes in my book.   

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monday after we played with all the bullies at the long beach dog beach (thats a whole separate post - picture like 20 stinky, wet bulldogs running around. amazing) we stopped by ktown to grab some korean fried chicken at kyochon.  i've never tried it before and im not a huge fried chicken person but we watched the best thing i ever ate on fried chicken so we were dying for anything that even resembled fried chicken after watching that. also we had a groupon deal which also motivated us to try it.  i just let hoonku order whatever he wanted so we eneded up with a sampler platter (yeah there were only 2 of us...) with wings, chicken strip things, drumsticks with different sauces and sides.  it was actually really good.  i liked the honey wings the best and their potato wedges.  and its open til 3am!  jackpot!  

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nothing makes me happier than hanging with my hubby and puppy and eating some good eats over a long weekend...

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