POCKET LINT.

LA/NYC (BI-COASTAL): THE BEST "T" ON TAP

I'm a teetotaller.

Only, it's not 1920's prohibition era.  Instead, it's 2010, an era where you can create an avatar to virtually drink buffalo pee for you on a reality show, so you can win a million dollars, find a husband and claim Paris Hilton as a new BFF.

But enough about progress.

Like I was saying: I'm a teetotaller.

Only, I drink liquor.  A lot.

I guess I'm not a teetotaller.  But, boy, do I like tea.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I happened upon T Salon on Melrose (next to M Café).  The truth is that I spotted the new tea shop awhile ago (they opened in October), but I only had an occasion to stop in as I was walking all the way from Hollywood & Highland to my house the other day.

Long story.

Apparently, the original T Salon is in Chelsea Market in NYC.  And it turns out that the tea shop is not only a cute little café and tea boutique.  They also offer tons of both hot and cold teas--wait for it--on tap.  How cute is that?  I just love that they offer like eight different iced teas, just ready to drink.

Best of all, by sheer luck I happened upon a Red Tea that turned out to be an iced version of the Rooibos with which I'm obsessed from Chado Tea House.  My favorite tea--but iced!

The iced tea wasn't cheap, but the "plastic" cups are actually all eco and plantable and stuff, so you can't feel TOO guilty.

Hey.  At least it wasn't liquor.  See?  I'm the teetotaller.

xo - N.

 

NEW YORK (NEW PALTZ): THE BEST TWIST ON A DIRTY MARTINI (IN A WINTER WONDERLAND)

I'm a big fan of the dirty martini.  Extra dirt (wink, wink).

Don't I sound tawdry?  How sad is it that all I'm really saying is that I love when a boatload of salty olive juice masks the medicinal flavor of vodka?

Either way, if you love the dirty, you love the dirty.  And so, naturally, I was mucho excited when I discovered the above twist on a dirty martini at Mohonk Mountain House.

If you're hanging with people originally from NYC and you mention 141 year old property, you'll find that most of them have some story connected with the place: family reunions, yearly summer breaks, a one time family trip gone horribly awry thanks to a couple brats.

(If that last one sounds specific, it's because it was me.)  My parents brought me and my sis up to the property years and years ago and apparently we didn't behave very well.  Ahem.  Maybe it's because the amazing eco-spa hadn't been built yet???  I could just sense the absence even then, I'm sure.

Still, when we arrived, there wasn't a wanted poster of my six-year-old self tacked to a bulletin board or anything. So, it couldn't have been that bad.

Anyway, I discovered the above cocktail, aptly titled a The Dilly Tini, in their Carriage Lounge.  It's made with, well, what it sounds like: either dill pickle juice OR the dill juice used to pickle the above string bean.

Since I haven't quite shamed my childhood self enough yet today, I'll just go ahead and admit that, as a kid, I also occasionally drank pickle juice.  And, while I abstain from that behavior these days (um, swollen much?), my taste for the stuff has not diminished (as evidenced by my previous mentions of both Pickled Veggie of the Month Club and pickled string beans).

See, this is what I call a dirty martini with a capital "D."  That's right.  "D" for dill.

xo - N.

 

PALM SPRINGS/VA/MT/VT: THE BEST ARTISANAL RESORT PRODUCTS AND THE BEST WAY TO SAY ADIEU TO A YEAR WELL DONE

I know.  I know.  I keep apologizing and then being bad again, but I'm off on yet another jaunt and will not be LINTing Christmas week.  Actually, that's sort of not true.  I'll be LINTing in the sense that I'll be scouting new finds to share (though I still owe some Pittsburgh and NYC stuff), but I won't be posting regularly until January 2, 2010.

Anyway, I thought I'd leave you with a link to my latest little story in Travel & Leisure (see above) about resorts that farm or crush and create their own beauty and food products.  Short and sweet, just like me and my attention span.  And my patience.  And my fuse.  And my family.  And the time it takes me to devour french fries.  And the time it takes me to read a trashy detective novel.  And the time that will pass between now and my next post in 2010.

So, happy holidays of all kinds, folks.  Good tidings to all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  (I know I already have my sequined number picked out).  Well, I mean one only has so many sequin dresses from which to choose, right?

Love ya.  Mean it.

xo - N.

MD (AND BEYOND): THE BEST POMEGRANATE ICED TEA

I like an antioxidant as much as the next girl, but I often feel like most pomegranate drinks are like so many cranberry or grapefruit "juice" options: overly sweetened and almost thick.  So, while I know this might fall under the category of: "How the hell can someone get excited about BLANK?", I just have to rave about my new favorite beverage of the moment: Honest Tea's Pomegranate White Tea.

Yup.  It even eclipsed cherry coke zero.  First of all, it's not super sweet at all and it doesn't taste all diet-y either.  It has a little caffeine in it, but not enough to offend my delicate sensibilities (and by "delicate sensibilities" I mean that it doesn't make me all cracked out like a meth addict in withdrawal).

Also, I feel all virtuous drinking it because of the acai and stuff.  I just love it.  Honestly.  Honest Tea.  Honest Abe.  Honest to goodness.  Okay.  I'll stop.

xo - N.

NYC/PARIS (AND BEYOND): THE BEST GOAT & RAW MILK SALTY FRENCH CARAMELS (WITH ROASTED BUCKWHEAT?)

I know.  I know.  I'm the worst.  All I do is travel and whine about living out of my suitcase and then depart again and leave you poor LINTERS all alone to fend for yourselves.  But I'm sure you've all been busy too, plowing your way through turkey, stuffing, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes and stuffing.

What?  I like stuffing.

Well, like you all, I was eating my weight in starches, but in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C. (with Obama, mais oui--yeah, we totally hang out all the time and play ball and talk policy and stuff) and finally back to good ole NYC.  I was also reading my LA Times story about NYC designers using LA as a testing ground (the whole front page of the style section) and my Martha Stewart story about honeymoon destinations.  Sorry, I felt that I had to slip that in:)

The good news is that I come bearing gifts.  Well, gifts in the form of information, that is, which I will unveil throughout the rest of this week and next:

To begin, in Brooklyn (so working backwards and starting with my final destination, I suppose) at AMAZING foodie heaven BKLYN LARDER: cheese & provisions (where I would like to move in), I discovered a life changing sweet: Beurre et Lait de Chevre (AKA: goat milk caramels)!

Two words: SHUT. UP.

If you're suspicious (and many of you non-lactards may be so), just try them and you will be in heaven.  See, I love a chocolate.  But I REALLY love a caramel and this is one I can eat guilt free.  Also, there seems to be some buckwheat component, so I guess what I'm really saying is that these are a health food.  Voila!

Health food that tastes like a buttery, condensed milky, salty, sweet heaven of caramel greatness.

Thanks to the very friendly folks at BKLYN LARDER, who are very helpful and totally unpretentious (and make a mean broccoli too BTW, not to mention selling amazing cheeses and their own pickled veggies), I tracked the caramel mofos.  First, they get a bunch of their amazing imported Frenchie products via Crossings French Food, who gets these particular caramels via a company called Paris Caramels.

'Nough said, at least in my book.  Of course, you should take that with a grain of salt because "my book" is most likely U is for Undertow, which came out this week.  Yup.  I said it.  I love you, Sue Grafton!

And, yes, I know that made no sense.

xo - N.

P.S. BTW--If you're in Brooklyn and looking for sweets, you should also stop in at new chocolate, wine and coffee bar (and boutique) Nunu Chocolate on Atlantic Avenue.  The owner is from South Africa and sources her cacao from a sustainable farm in Columbia, so she has interesting influences.  They say you have to cross the Atlantic for the best chocolate anyway.  This Atlantic is just a little less vast.

NYC (TRIBECA): THE BEST PISTACHIO BROWN BUTTER CAKE & STRACCI WITH WILD GAME RAGU AND COCOA

Since I'm pretty much a salt addict (and by "pretty much" I mean that I would salt potato chips, if no one was looking), I almost never save room for dessert.  But, before I even got to Locanda Verde, I knew that I needed an attitude adjustment in the sweets department, as they're known for their sugary delights (or "dolce" in Italiano).  I figured I was up to the task.

But as soon as I actually looked at the menu, I realized that instead of "saving room," I was just going to need to eat MORE cause there was no way I was passing up any amazing Italian appetizers and pastas.

I will mostly let the food porn pictures speak for themselves, but suffice it to say that on yet another unseasonably cold rainy evening (on which my umbrella blew inside out at least three times), Locanda Verde was a wonderful, lively, cozy refuge with amazing bites from Sheep's Milk Ricotta with sea salt and herbs with olive oil grilled bread to unbelievable Stracci with wild game ragu, cocoa (yup, cocoa!) and fiore di sardo to (the above) Pistachio Brown Butter Cake with huckleberries and pistachio gelato.

Rain or shine, I'm definitely returning again.  That Sheep's Milk Ricotta is the stuff of happy dreams.

xo - N.

[CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE: Lamb Meatball sliders with caprino and cucumber & Cotechino Sausage crostino with pickled ramps on ciabatta; gratis pizza bread; Sheeps' Milk Ricotta with sea salt & herbs.]

[CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE: Stracci with wild game ragu, cocoa and fiore di sardo; Autumn Salad of bitter greens, crimson pear, hazelnuts and smoked speck; My Grandma's Ravioli.]

BROOKLYN (WILLIAMSBURG): THE BEST AUTUMNAL PIZZA & BUTTER RUM ITALIAN SODA

Of course, more so in NYC than in LA, making a name for yourself in the pizza biz is tricky.  I guess first a distinction needs to be made between by-the-slice and a more high-end artisan version with farm-to-table ingredients and the works.  But, still, the competition is stiff, so standing out depends not only on creating the most amazing version, but also on innovating new types.

Well, I had the extreme pleasure of tasting some such new-fangled innovations (or at least unique bites) at Motorino in Williamsburg, when they hosted me and my friend A.P. for dinner.

First of all, the setting is totally ideal for fall: cozy and comfy and down home with a small dining room and an open pizza oven kitchen (see above).  Second of all, A.P. and I are like the most annoying diners because, while we both LOVE to eat, we eat have dietary restrictions.  I can't do cow dairy; she can't do wheat.

That said, since pizza is basically wheat and cheese, we decided to cheat just a bit, but also do what we could to get around the whole issue.  As a lactard, of course, I LOVE any pizzeria that offers to replace cow milk mozzarella with buffalo on any pizza.  Thank you, MOTHER LOAD!

[CLICK IMAGES TO EXPAND: A.P. perusing the menu, The Fashionista cocktail, Mortadella grilled and served with mustard, Humbolt Fog goat cheese]

From their relatively vast Italian soda menu, I ordered a Butter Rum soda that really tasted like candy--I loved it!  Ever since I found out I was lactarded, I have craved butter rum ice cream (though I previously hated all things remotely butterscotch-related), so anything in that vein makes me happy.  Then A.P. ordered the above Fashionista cocktail (we'll excuse the name) with aperol, white wine and orange.

After a delicious baby spinach salad, olives with preserved lemon and chili, mortadella grilled and served with tangy mustard (which I would never have thought to order unless the chef sent it, but it was amazing!), some bresaola and prosciutto with lemon and Humbolt Fog goat cheese served with figs and pistachios in honey (KILL ME NOW--the sweet, sour and salty combo is so good!), A.P. and I wondered if we could possibly eat another bite.

[CLICK IMAGES TO EXPAND: Buffaline Pizza and Homemade Jelly Donuts and Chocolate Gelato]

But, where there's a will, there is definitely a way.  And faced with the simple, but unique Buffaline Pizza with mozzarella, olive oil, raw basil and sea salt and the seasonal (a revolving part of the menu) pizza with squash, pancetta, mozzarella and sage, we dug deep and found a way to get through a good portion.  It was DELICIOUS and really different than your usual tomato sauce version.  I'm not generally even a white pizza fan, as I always find it too rich, but the flavors were so unique (sweet, salty, tangy and sharp) that it was just cheesy heaven.

And, for dessert, we ordered the above homemade jelly donuts with chocolate gelato (which I believe had a fancier Italian name).  A.P. ate the ice cream and I, of course, devoured some of the donuts.  Cause that's just how we do in the hood.  If the hood, that is, is Williamsburg.

xo - N.

NYC (MURRAY HILL): THE BEST SWEET POTATO FRIES AND ROOT BEER SELECTION

Okay, so back to NYC after that small digression into the fried food-filled land of LA sports bars:

So, the moment I scheduled my lunch with two lovely PR ladies I know, they insisted that we hit delicious BBQ spot Blue Smoke.  Now, I hardly need my arm twisted to indulge in some delish pulled pork or brisket, so we agreed and I met them there on a very rainy Thursday afternoon.

The place was hopping, but we were immediately seated at a cozy, cush table (half booth, which is always a good thing), as the pregnant member of our party admitted that Blue Smoke had become her primary craving during the past months because it's so damn good.  She wasn't kidding.

 

[CLICK IMAGES TO EXPAND: Root Beer, BBQ Sauces, Mac & Cheese and A Pulled Pork Sandwich]

As if the vast root beer selection (including the Fitz's that I ordered) and three types of BBQ sauce wasn't reason enough to frequent the place, I inhaled a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw (why do I just love coleslaw so damn much?) and we shared macaroni & cheese the above sweet potato fries, which are of the over-sized chunky variety.

Okay, of course, I didn't really eat much of the mac & cheese because of my lactardity (yup, that's now a word).  But my fellow diners raved about the stuff and I definitely trust them.

The only bad part was when we had to leave and head back out into the rain.  Maybe next time, I'll just move in.

xo - N.

NYC (UPPER WEST & BEYOND): THE BEST BRUNCH AND LUNCH BASKET

Maybe it's all this talk of NYC or, I dunno, the general ravenous hunger that seems to have come over me since I got stung by a bee in Mexico and became Bee Girl (a buzzing super hero who smells like nectar and flies around stinging evil doers), but I woke up this morning with a CRAZY craving for, well, just about anything.

Now, today happened to be the day that the Zabar's catalog arrived too, so naturally--especially because my parents' move to Pittsburgh has resulted in a marked decrease in Barney Greengrass Beverly Hills Sunday brunches for me--I started craving deli food.

Being completely off my rocker, I spent the morning considering which of all the catalog's baskets I'd most like to receive.  Oh, and I worked.  Riigght.

Anyway, see, I get the catalog in the first place because my friend S.D. sends me a food package every year for my birthday (which is fast approaching, BTW).  One year, she sent me the New York Goodies box with black and white cookies and other yummy stuff and a Zabar's mug, which has quickly become my fave.

Anyhoo, I've decided that despite the overwhelming amazingness of the $495 Ultimate Basket (HEAVEN), if money was no object, I would actually more likely luxuriate in the above Deli Sampler.  Why, you might ask, if you're also insane and thus still reading?  Well, for one thing it includes mini-potato knishes (the fresh, hot, full size likes of which I used to gobble regularly on the way home from school in flavors like Spinach and Cabbage) and (one of my favorite all time foods) cornichons.  YUP.

Okay--someone give me some effing pickles and hot corned beef on rye with mustard stuff NOW.  I don't care where it's from.

xo - N.

NYC (NOLITA): THE BEST PASSION FRUIT CANDY

I am so damn behind on blogging that, not only am I writing about experiences from two trips ago, but you guys probably gave up on me two trips ago.  But, here I am again, for reals this time.  Not another trips for weeks.  Unless you count my trip to your mama's house.  Yeah.  I said it.

Who even knows what I'm talking about?  I am one Cherry Coke Zero away from losing my mind.

Anyway, I never covered my NYC journey really, so this week is all about the Big Apple.  Or, as I like to call it, um . . . New York?  Home?  I dunno.  Apparently I have nothing funny left in the arsenal.  So be it.

So, is it just me or every time I go home for a visit, is there some new weird dessert trend that's emerged specifically in a storefront on Broom?  Rice pudding, rock candy, frozen custard--whatever.  So, when I wandered with my fam (we were all in the old homestead at once) past Papabubble, I sort of scoffed at first.  But then my father, who is not much into passing up weird enticing food spots, urged us inside.

Basically, the company creates the most beautiful artisan hard candy that is literally cooked and chopped like so many vegetables right before your eyes.  The colors rarely seem to match the flavors, as Passion Fruit (a candy chef's suggestion and my personal favorite) is blue (see above), for instance, so cherry might easily be purple or green.  You get the picture.

Some of the more unusual flavors are, of course, the most interesting to me: some come with chili on top (and I LOVE a spicy candy sitch like The Chocolate Room's Red Chili chocolates in Brooklyn) and the soda flavors are filled with a sort of fizzy experience.  All and all, even if the candy didn't taste good, it looks absolutely gorgeous.

Plus, the website itself is just worth a sort of trippy minute and the store looks like a Willy Wonka apothecary.

Holiday gifts anyone?  Yeah.  I said it.

xo - N.