Diary of an east coast passenger princess
Diary of an east coast passenger princess
What’s better than a newsletter sent on the first day of the month? A newsletter sent on a Fri-yay (go with it, please)! Much like the month of February, this newsletter is going to feel brief and chaotic. Enjoy!
Birthdays and the Birds
February was summarized with east coast pride. The month began celebrating my favorite fellow Pennsylvanian and esteemed roommate, Zoe. The birthday weekend entailed a classic bottomless brunch pipeline starting at the Lyle, a brief skip, hop, and a jump to Sauf Haus (locals know it does not deserve the tag), and eventually led to where all roads must end on a weekend bender, Barcelona Wine Bar. There is no better feeling than being nearly drowned by a porrón filled with limoncello while chasing albondigas at 10:30pm on a Saturday.
The birthday dinner was booked at lobbyist hotspot L’Ardente, home of the 40-layer lasagna that lives my lactose-induced dreams and nightmares. Must-have starters included the cesare with mint bread crumbs and the polpo, so tender. We ordered four different pastas (skipped the 40-layer lasagna): the bucatini cacio e pepe, linguine alle vongole (with SAFFRON!), zucca, and pappardelle. All four dishes blew us away. You truly cannot go wrong with any pastas here. Dessert was a flaming chocolate-covered and extremely boozy tiramisu, we left very full and with plenty of leftovers. A dream for all parties involved.
The week after birthday festivities was overpowered with foolish optimism that the Eagles would win the Super Bowl. A girl can dream. The only consolation to the Birds’ loss was that I could eat the rest of my buffalo chicken dip tray for a straight week after. With the written permission of our queen, Aunt Polly, I bestow upon you the beloved buffalo chicken dip recipe:
Aunt Polly’s Buffalo Chicken Dip
2 blocks of cream cheese
1 bottle of ranch
1 bottle buffalo sauce
Shredded rotisserie chicken (used 2 containers from Whole Foods)
2 bags of shredded cheese (I used a sharp cheddar and colby jack)
Melt everything until combined in a pot on the stovetop and transfer to a dish to bake off right before serving. She is the dairy-induced moment that you need at every party.
I also had too much fun with Grossy Pelosi’s antipasti deviled eggs. I only made the pesto eggs for Eagles green and will now admit that I added two drops of green food dye for extra pizzazz.
The bright side of not having a Super Bowl parade to attend the week after the big game was that I could enjoy Valentine's Day as scheduled with Will (romance is not dead!). We chose Perry’s in Adams Morgan to try Masako Morishita’s new menu filled with Japanese comfort food, which has completely replaced all non-sushi bar items for the better. The menu has really exciting additions like the mentaiko udon noodles, heart-shaped okonomiyaki, miso butter clams, etc. I’m counting down the days I can go back for patio season!
A northeast regional Amtrak slay
In the spirit of doing too much all the time, I took the train home to Philly the weekend before my future sister in-law’s bachelorette weekend in NYC. I arrived home to find that mom had brought a special delivery from La Baguette Magique in West Chester, which has the BEST ham and cheese baguette and quiches. Later that day, I tried Crow Bar with my parents in Wilmington which was pretty good given a busy Saturday night. Their menu is a little scattered, but they do a few interesting takes on some Asian dishes like korean fried chicken bao buns, tuna poke on seaweed crackers, and a very mild version of dan dan noodles with a soy egg. Not the real deal, but not bad for the burbs!
The next day, we snagged an early res at Mish Mish in Philly, owned by former Foobooz editor in chief, Alex Twefik. Tewfik left his title in October 2021 to open this restaurant and rejoin the industry he’s most passionate about. I was a little nervous about taking my parents here. They’re Philly hospitality veterans, which makes picking the restaurant a bit nerve-wracking. All fear subsided after the first dish reached the table: the clam toast special. The server describes the dish with a simple gesture of a chef’s kiss. Stellar dishes continued to be cranked out: satsuma mandarins, oranges and grapefruit endive salad, the saltiest bacalao brandade whipped with potatoes spread over sourdough, plump grilled shrimp with saffron mayo and pickled carrots, grilled baby octopus with muhammara and chilis that made my dad slightly emotional, smoked and glazed winter squash, charred broccolini, and a pomegranate-lacquered chicken with soft leeks and labneh to soak everything up in one perfect bite. I left the meal thinking about dessert as much as every other dish. This rarely happens. This is largely in part to the “cheese plate, kinda sorta.” A shallow bowl with a layer of short, thin curls of gouda cheese covering a grainy sweet mix of brown sugar and maybe oats, with some sort of jam. It was other-worldly.
Onto the Big Apple
I parted the Joseph R. Biden train station and made my way to the Big Apple for a week-long eating bender with the help of many well-vetted dining partners who also kindly housed me. Here are the spark notes of everything I ate in the concrete jungle:
Silver Rice (Crown Heights) - We grabbed sushi cups filled with rice and topped with sushi-grade fish options. Adorable in concept, impossible to consume. I had an ikura and tamago cup topped with fish eggs and slightly sweet cubes of egg omelet. I also sipped a shrimp wonton miso soup = cozy as heck!
Harts (Crown Heights) - Same owner as Cervo’s, I knew that this would be deliciously simple, ingredient-driven food. Crammed into a tiny corner table that was too cute to be mad about, we shared a citrus salad with green olives, charred broccolini with an anchovy sauce and croutons, rock shrimp skewers in a fra diavolo sauce, and braised chicken thighs with butter beans, mushrooms, and dates. We ended with a beautifully dense olive oil cake, talked shit about high school, and rolled home.
Edy’s Grocer (Greenpoint) - A pantry enthusiast’s paradise. Each product is stamped with their iconic lemon logo circled in pink and green lining. I’ve followed the Lebanese grocery’s Instagram for years and took advantage of the wildest lunch special, $15 for a massive soup and half sandwich. I got the Moroccan harissa soup and chicken shawarma lavash and have never felt so full for $15. The chicken shawarma lavash was a lovely surprise as more of a warm chicken salad wrap. Walking back, we popped into Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop for a classic cake donut to split and power-walked home through a sudden hail storm.
Bonnie’s (Williamsburg) - This new Cantonese-American spot is futuristic and nostalgic at the same time. The simple interior keeps you focused on food until you find carefully placed family photos. Chef Calvin Eng named the restaurant after his mom who taught him about Cantonese cooking. Think fuyu cacio e pepe mein with fermented bean curd, bringing complex heat to an otherwise plainly cheesy dish. Other stars were the chrysanthemum salad with an addictive soy sesame dressing and crispy shallots. The hup to ha dish was an effortless balance of crispy fried shrimp lightly coated in kewpie mayo, steamed broccoli, candied walnuts, and orange slices. A really special dinner worth an early 5:30pm res.
Benoit - After being politely declined entry to Monkey Bar at 5:45pm, my trusty guide took us to Benoit in midtown for a cocktail and snails. I sipped the NYC beet, a frothy gin elixir with beet juice and we nibbled on some escargot packed with herbs and garlic butter in their beautiful bar seating section.
Elios (Upper East Side, UES) - This time capsule is bumping with boomers slurping spaghetti. Reservations can only be made during the day by the office secretary who will accept a request over the phone (gasp!). We quickly learned that reservations have little weight here. Just tell the maître d' how many guests you have and nurse a martini while you wait. We came for the off-menu chicken parm, and ordered a smattering of accouterments including a white bean shrimp salad, anchovies and roasted red peppers, clams oreganata, penne vodka, spaghetti alle vongole, and tiramisu for the table. Watch out for servers rolling in folding round tables to fit another five-top in the dining room. Strongly recommend rounding out the evening with a pickle martini at Penrose a few blocks down.
Yin Ji Chang Fen (Chinatown) - Only slightly hungover from martinis and red wine the next morning, I transported my body from 82nd street down to Chinatown for a breakfast I wish I could eat every day: shrimp congee and rice rolls. I originally wanted to go to Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodles in the same block, but it was apparently closed. So, I went to the corner spot where it seemed like everyone else was having a nice Friday breakfast. I hovered over a steaming bowl of rice porridge with my DJ headphones blasting my Wine and Crime podcast. A 10/10 experience that was followed by severe social whiplash as I joined my brother's fiancée in midtown to look at wedding bands in a luxury office building that is eye-level with the spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
12 Chairs (Soho) - This all day Israeli cafe turns into a club at dark. Servers loudly clap along to the music and direct everyone to turn their napkins into rally towels throughout the night. The menu is designed for herds of girlies (us) ready to take on the town. Seven girls crushed 2-3 bottles of wine and many apps within a little over an hour. Definitely order the hummus with mushrooms, the lamb arayes, chicken schnitzel, and the dreamy halloumi. This is a great spot for a pregame before a night out.
Tavern on the Green (Central Park) - Booked for brunch and goodbyes for the bachelorette weekend, the space has a gorgeous dining room with fully glass windows looking into Central Park. We split potato pancakes and pastry baskets. I needed a burger to hold me over for a trip to La Guardia (which is nice now?) and then onto Dulles. The tavern’s burger didn’t disappoint. Although kind of difficult to eat over the tiny skillet they serve on, this is a ridiculously thick and juicy patty. Please don’t leave without getting their classic slice of birthday cake with rainbow sprinkles.
Thanks to United Airlines credit from one of the many flights canceled in March 2020, and my brother kindly driving me to the airport, I flew back to Dulles in basic economy luxury (not even an apple juice offered for the hour-long flight, the injustice). I made it back in time to try out Toh Roong’s last Sunday pop-up at Little Beast in Chevy Chase, which you can also find on my feed.
All in all, it was a lovely month of dining and zero driving. An ideal state of living as an east coast passenger princess.
gonna make aunt polly’s buffalo chicken dip expeditiously!!