Showing posts with label Smorgasburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smorgasburg. Show all posts

Monday, June 22, 2015

nykeiko plays: Saturday in the Burg [Williamsburg, NYC]

J train shananigans
This past Saturday, we celebrated Father's Day at Dave's parents with some hot pot. We would love to say that we prepared the feast but the truth is, we didn't do anything at all except bring a cantaloupe as dessert. I mean, the father doesn't like to eat out and likes to cook so Dave says it's not really "abuse" when we're allowing him to do what he loves. All we needed to do was show up hungry. There was more than enough food for a party of ten. We had pork, chicken, beef, shrimps, fish balls, tofu, liver and kidney from an animal and finally, a ton of veggies. We were ready for a nap but the best way to digest was to go for a walk so we hopped on a bus and went to Smorgasburg and the annual Renegade Craft Fair which we try to not miss every year. This year, it's running for 4-weekend straight! We bought a "silly idea" drawing from Lauren Simkin Berke and a super vanilla bean milkshake from Milk Truck. And of course, our Renegade Craft Fair tradition is to take a complimentary photo inside Magnolia Photobooth.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial day weekend: Three Montreal girls in New York city!



At the High Line

I have known X and H for almost a decade now and they are still as vibrant and energetic as the first time I met them back in cegep. We all grew up and attended school in Montreal but now, we find ourselves in three different cities. H is happily settled in Montreal with a great job and amazing house while X also works a good job and just building a new life in Toronto. Happy.
 
At the high line
Spending time with these girls has reminded me once again to grab life opportunities by the balls and take advantage and enjoy everything life throws at you. These two certainly have taken control of their lives and seem to be content in every aspect of life. It is contagious and I'm glad to know them and call them my friends. When they planned a trip to NY to celebrate both their birthdays, I was gleeful and could not wait to find out their plans so I can tag along. They were here for the city but also for discovering the salsa culture New York has to offer. I did not attend the salsa meet-ups they went to or stay out every night dancing until the wee hours (4 a.m.!). but together, we did visit the High Line park, check out Williamsburg eats and shops, eat ramen at Momofuku noodle bar, watch Hanyue street salsa at the Loisaidas street festival and finally, eat cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine. All these things I've done before but it's better with enthusiastic friends for sure!

Artichoke's Staten Island pizza


Full pizza
Putting my pole dancing classes to "good" use.. on subway train.

By the Waterfront after checking out Smorgasburg
Looking for treasures at Beacon's closet
Street festival - Loisaidas festival
Street salsa dancing
 
Birthday cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine
Last hours in NY, loving the shoes!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

nykeiko eats: Another weekend full of feasting- Williamsburg's Smorgasburg, ISA and Pies and Thighs

Smorgasburg
We had gorgeous weather for Easter weekend and it was also the first weekend Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg resurged from a long winter's hibernation and we did not want to miss it ! Smorgasburg had all these new food vendors that we didn't see last year and the area in general looks more organized especially with the new recycling and waste bins placed all around the venue! I scarfed down a big hot dog from Meat Hook for $5 and it was delicious. My sister had the one with cheese in it which cost $5 but was suppose to be $6. We had the usual Blue Bottle coffee and tried a couple of new things like overpriced 'Smores'..I had Greek feta cheese salad and Dave had this pulled pork type bun from a vendor I don't remember.

Sorry we didn't take any picture of uneaten, untouched food. we were just too hungry and I only thought of taking the picture once we bite into it. If it wasn't good, I don't usually want to take a picture so biting comes first most of the time unless it's pretty.
Bruleed Smores




Once we filled out tummies with goodies, we headed to Soho for my sister to take advantage of NY shopping and no taxes on clothes below $110. We also checked out the new Georgetown Cupcakes from DC that just moved into Soho. There was a long line so we just took a peek and continued shopping.

Sis end up contemplating between two trench coats. One from Banana Republish which I liked alot and another from Michael Kors which suited her but we both agreed the color was not as nice. She opt for the Michael Kors which was a more casual look and a hat, useful for rainy days. Both coats were Made in Vietnam and water resistant and close in pricing too.


Lady-like Banana Republic trench

Michael Kors- lovely on her!


 I was looking for bright jeans and loved the orange skinnies I tried on at Rag and Bone but was not sure about forking out $176 for a pair of seasonal colored jeans. Still thinking about them though and they were really comfy and stretchy!

Four hours of Soho-ness later where I was well-behaved and only bought a rose bath bomb from Lush, we headed hungrily back to Williamsburg for dinner at ISA.


I made the reservations through Open Table and made a special request for getting seats with a view of the kitchen. At ISA, all the food is prepared in front of the restaurant and nothing is prepared in the back so we can't see waiters or chefs spit in our food if we became demanding.


The menu was small and original. A tasting menu was also available.
 There were only two main entrees to pick from.

Dave ordered a thyme cocktail
Apetizers were delicious and original!
Fresh calmari with ink

Fresh raw scallops with kumquats and ice

Beef tartare, sunchoke and flax and cremefraiche

Duck liver and heart with sweet potato,  onion and 'dirt' which was coffee grind 

inky leftovers
The mains:
Pork loin main entree with baby beets, pasnip and green onion

Fresh Mackerel with  celeriac


Out tummies were nicely filled but we definitely saved place for dessert and  so we headed to Pies N' Thighs for some pies and ice cream. Obviously, when we got there, Mel had to try their famous fried chicken and I was craving Mac N cheese so... we got just that plus a donut, deep fried caramel pie and ice cream from home! It was dinner #2 I guess.

Homemade donuts and pies


Comfort food! This is why it's a top fav resto in Williamsburg


The next day, Dave and I returned to Pies N Thighs where I had the big bowl of salad to offset the food we had the night before but Dave choose the buttery and greasy fried chicken biscuit which is also very good. Oh, and we also got a free rich chocolate donut because our waiter is awesome.

Big salad for $10
This donut tasted more like cake and was super rich in chocolate flavor!