Kee's Macaroons!!...

Went to pick up Angie's bday chocolates last wk--and then...got carried away with macaroons and bought one of each :P

There were only 11 there that day...

That smashed one is i think passion fruit. The green tea jasmine one was a nice touch b/c of the jasmine--green tea is a little overplayed to me in pastries (but i still likes mah goodies!). Rosewater lychee one was subdued and the lychee added to the general flavor. The Madeleine macaroon with rosewater was so overpowering (and ugly blemished macaron top part!) that it really reminded me of eating soap or those...skin toners :(

lavender was just plain pretty photograph :)

^_^ weeee!!! My favorite so far--TRUFFLE OIL macaroons!! strange right?? It hits u as an after-taste the way the thai chili chocolates gets you. I'm not big on truffle oil in my pastas and this def was...an oddball choice but YUMMAAAAAAAY!

Sour sap--the orange one--very tasty! a little tart, can't quite place it. Not a citrus flavor. I wanna say in the same family as...tamarind-y kind of tart/sour.

Verbana mint was all right (that's the speckled looking one next to the blood orange stripes. I've been spoiled by Parisian macaroons and whatnot :P Blood orange was pretty nice but...eh. Kaffir lime--I thought it'd be kitschy as too much like lime candy or key lime pie, but nope! still very restrained :)

Bottom line? Quite pretty, very flavorful with lots of interesting combos that add an edge what macaroons tend to be. I wish the chocolate lining wasn't so "chewy" but I'm assigning that to the temperature it was stored. Kee's gave me one to try @ the store b/c I was pretty much fawning over the wares :P (and mentioned the blog hehe and my inability to ...well...not buy everything all at once for the sole purpose of photographing them and not to indulge in some phantom sugar glutton :P). She's really nice!

Like the chocolates, the ingredients come across really well articulated on ur palate but of course restrained, very enjoyable and...gleeful! :) It's been such a long time since I've had my Sadaharu Aoki macarons, but this tides me over a bit. I do wish the cookie part of the macaroon was a little more substantial. I know they're always really airy and light--but it felt like there was...no cakey part to be airy, just a really good crust and then some bits of the cookie on the bottom. Can't complain though, they were all refreshing ^_^

Park Ave Winter...

*sigh*. that's all I'll say about...the context of this dinner. *wink!* i'm half joking. It was the Gossip Girl promo @ Park Ave Winter wherein you get your entire meal comped (1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert, 1 sides per 2 people, and 2 rounds of drinks per person!) if you...wore...garbs...resembling...plaid skirts, button ups...etc. O.o hehe

ANYWAY...so since there were 12 of us we were able to dabble in most of the menu in all categories. (see pic of the bill at the end! :D we ran them dry)

Wouldn't have this been a nice shot if I had managed to hold still?

They were carving up and moving about rather quickly, and people kept on effin' walkin' past my shot and I kept seeing asses blocking the meat carving and multitude of hands serving so much -.- ANYHOO...

For appetizers, we got the calamari salad (salty--i very very much liked over some others), the Park Ave Winter open faced scallop sandwich with brown butter and bacon with...some other stuff, sashimi of hamachi, the Nantucket Bay scallops in some..sweet sauce and what I remember as panko crumbs?

No venison tartare :( we were sad. I think our other table got salmon tartare, but I don't remember anyone getting butternut squash soup (which i love! esp as a drink w/ palernum & rum at Tailor's hehe) or the porcini mushrooms (very sad to not have tried that one =/).

And here you see my Nantucket Bay scallops. Was thrown off by how sweet it was--made even sweeter with the thick cream. Not sure...how...I feel...about that! Otherwise, perfectly cooked :)

SiDES!! BROCCOLI and CHEESE! I don't...understand, but eh. yum. VERY yum were the brussel sprouts w/ apples which--can't make what the sauce was but it was buttery and savory :D Also had the creamed spinach and parsnip puree since the Crispy Cauliflower was actually in tempura batter =/ EH.

Entrees! Had to hurry it a bit w/ taking photos b/c the ladies were ready to dig in and with my--obsessive shooting things would er...get cold and whatnot :) hehe Opted for flash, kinda wish I edited some more but...OH wellllzzzzz. :) Miso glazed lobster with citrus fennel salad, John Dory w/ brioche encrusted poached egg & black truffles,

Filet mignon braised short ribs w/ root veggies, Dover Sole filet with herbs & brown butter (there was even a brown butter pecan ice cream! they lurves their brown butter...and so does the rest of the word ^_^)

Seared yellowfin tuna w/ avocado, grapefruit & ginger--and I think someone got the Organic scottish salmon w parsnip puree blah blah...Can we do more pics of lobster? mm surely!...

DESSERTS! - Chocolate flourless cake w/ Kentucky bourbon and peanut brittle mousse, Pistachio brown butter cake with red wine pears & Bartlett pear sorbet, Preserved plums with Ricotta custard, polenta crepes and pignoli...and THE CUBE! :) Chocolate cube with caramel mouse and chocolate cake bits inside, with what I remember as a coffee/chocolate-ancho ice cream on top of a meringue. Desserts were HUGE. :)

I really liked what they did with the sugar components in a few of the dishes--I mean nothing extraordinary in terms of flavor but made it quite memorable and enhanced my experience with the desserts--just...threw in some edge and complexity in it!! :) I mean honestly--kind of gimmicky but it really displayed a kind of mastery and playfulness u usually encounter when people are more than capable at what they do so it frees them up to play around with what's 'basic'! :) love love!!

B/c I'll never post if i have to discuss at length--everything was SCRUMPTIOUS. If I could afford it I'd eat here on the regular. Entrees are on average ~$40 bucks with appetizers and desserts clocking in at ~$15-20 each. This...is worth it. Butter--similar pricing, maybe a little less--more of a scene...food was WHATEVER. Can't wait to see the other seasonal incarnations of Park Ave Spring/Summer/Fall!

And this be our bill...notice on top the Gossip Girl promotion :P HEHE...miscellaneous items not listed in order of....order...-.O And then somewhere in the 6.50 tax. HEHE. I guess for that capuccino (was not included in the comping)...Needless to say, we left quite a tip.

A lil' shout out to Juan Carlos--our baddass and cheeky server with lovely suggestions to ensure we maximized our fun potential--and foodie potential!--at Park Ave Winter! A rare break in the lack of people appearances in the blog...but well deserved and noted :P This was only our table. Not gonna post the other ladies on here cuz that just might be weird to have ur face blasted on the interweb no? :)

I am conveniently absent since I'm taking the picture :D ANYHOO...The staff was extraordinarily nice and accomodating. A smidge cheeky, as I prefer it :P, all in good fun sorta spirits and helpful. Everyone was really nice and jocund--I'd say 85-90% of diners were 'school girl's including what I can tell was a mid-50's yr old woman in super pig tails. ROCK ON. reappropriating the whole trope as a sort of...empowerment...foodie thing! :)

Oh, and featuring the fellas from www.brokeassstuart.com who partook in such revelry :) Enviable gams, gentlemen!

Chilean Sea Bass pt 2!...

Dinner per due (for 2): 2 filets of patagonian toothfish! ;) pan seared for 2-3 min each side then oven baked for ~3 min. Rosemary & borsari salt crust.

Garlic and oil pasta tossed with sauteed asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, leeks, and basil.

Yummay yum yum. we keep this one short and to the point. :)

Thurs was roasted sweet potato with roasted brussel sprouts and pancetta with tons of garlic and lemon zest/juice. Eaten with some sweet potato soba noodles and FISH SAAAAUCEE!! light hand, mixed with a little (tiniest bit) of rice vinegar and lemon juice.

...*sigh*. i need to work on my lighting and...stop FORGETTING stupid white exposure when i shoot =/ BUT STILL so yummay. *smacksmacksmack*...