nykeiko eats: Mekelburg's for sandwiches and artisanal beer!

Manhattanites rarely wander into deep parts of Brooklyn. The crowd usually flocks to Williamsburg (which is only one train stop outside Manhattan), spend the day at Smorgasburg or Brooklyn flea and think they’ve got a taste of Brooklyn. But what happens when you venture deeper into Brooklyn? A LOT! Every time we explore deep into the borough, we find new shops and restaurants we get really excited about.

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.

nykeiko eats: Fitzcarraldo..Rustic Italian farm to table experience [Williamsburg, Brooklyn]

New yorkers are busy, busy people and it is always hard to meet up and catch up with friends during the week so we all look forward to the weekend where we can sleep in and then get together for brunch offered at many of New York's restaurants. 

We rarely do brunch but amidst the chaos of juggling work and attending fashion shows, having a relaxing Sunday brunch was welcomed for me. We checked out Fitzcarraldo in Williamsburg recommended by Dave's cousin who has been there for late night drinks. At first, I was skeptical of the 5-item brunch menu as we are so used to having an array of choices at most restaurants. Well, it turns out, it is not about the quantity but the quality. The food was great. The crunchy artisanal bread with Italian salumi,  the spicy potatoes and the sweet caramelized French toast were all so delicious. We would highly recommend this cozy rustic place in the heart of industrial Williamsburg, located right next to the now closed 3rd Ward building. Next time, I want to try the brunch cocktails. The Kir Royale which had crème de cassis and Prosecco sounded tentalizing. We were also interested in coming back for the $35 tasting menu for dinner. We hope this place never closes. 

Fitzcarraldo's french toast with maple syrup and roasted apples

Country breakfast with toast and salumi, eggs and  spicy potatoes

Spicy potatoes

Fitzcarraldo in Brooklyn

Thanks for stopping by! xx

Boy that was a weird yet unforgettable...Voyages into The Unusual #HendricksVoyages

Hendrick's gin's latest event:"Voyages into The Unusual"

"Push the limits of the peculiar- join Hendrick's for an evening of inspiring swills, curious characters and unusual enjoyments all around as we set sail for Voyages Into the Unusual in New York City! With a cast of characters including Shoppe owner and assistant who will demystify the eleven bonaticals found within each Hendrick's bottle. Hendrick's Voyages Into the Unusual is sure to delight and excite the Unusualist among us. Naturally, an array of toothsome cocktails will be available and music provided by the oddly eclectic White Ghost Shivers."

Event was held at One Hanson Place in Brooklyn

@Brooklyn flea...two celeb spottings!

We passed by Brooklyn Flea this past Sunday so Dave could find a nice vintage cufflink for the wedding. We got there just when vendors finished setting up for the day and people start trickling in. As I admired a nice flow-y sundress, I noticed Melissa McCarthy shopping inside the tent and I got super excited. I took a paparazzi shot of her because I didn't want to bug her peaceful shopping...at first.

I contemplated on this dress for a while whilst stalking McCarthy...it was $70

When I finally got the gut to offer her an iced cold drink, I couldn't find her anymore in the growing crowd or she might have left. Soon after I gave up looking for her, we spot Kim Schifino from Matt & Kim. This time, I didn't want the chance to slip by and I immediately went up to her to chat. She was with her parents and I apologized for bugging them but they seemed chill and her mom even offered to take a picture for us. Dave is a big fan of Matt&Kim so he was super excited ...can you tell from this picture?

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nykeiko eats: Authentic Thai at POK POK NY. You must try this!!

POK POK NY. Our dishes for 2

This past Friday, it was me and Dave's 3rd year anniversary. It's an anniversary that not only celebrates our first date and kiss :) but it is the day when I first visited him in New York before I ever decided to move here ...3 months later. Happy 3!

Since we just came back from a long vacation down in South America, we felt like we were celebrating together the whole way. This past Friday, we didn't feel like we needed to DO anything more special to celebrate because I personally feel we celebrate it EVERY day. It's true. But that wasn't going to stop us from going out to have a nice dinner together and it did not have to be a fancy place. Good food is what is most important after all and the decor is only a bonus. We could have gone to a hole-in-the-wall for all I care but Dave picked this highly raved about Thai restaurant called 'Pok Pok Ny'. I am sure some of you have heard about it right? I personally never heard much about it except through Dave but I quickly learned that it is highly raved about as it has been featured in several food websites, blogs, magazines and also featured on the Food Network. The restaurant is originally from Portland and their second one is in New York and doing just as well.

As we sat down and took a glance at the menu, we wanted to order as much as our two stomachs could handle. We ordered 5 dishes which probably was too much but we did not care. I have a tendency to always over-order anyway. Everything on the menu sounded so authentic and exotic and I wanted to try as much as possible even though we could come back another day. The desserts were suppose to be heavenly as well but we didn't follow the 'leave room for dessert' principle and missed out.

Here is what we tried and I'd recommend everything but what stood out was the pork belly curry, the pork neck dish and also the chopped duck skin and liver dish! I usually can handle a spicy dish but the minced pork dish we could not finish without being able to enjoy the other stuff. We did not have any beer but should have. They a variety of beer and alcohol to choose from to pair with their salty spicy dishes.

Ze drink menu for Pok Pok NY

Pork neck dish with crispy cold vegetables

Pork belly curry hot pot

Side of veggies. That round thing is Chinese Eggplant which I've never tasted before!

Papaya salad (spicy!)

This tongue numbing spicy minced pork dish

Duck skin and liver dish

A house specialty drink

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Randomness: Creature Cups [Etsy finds]

Need an extra jolt to your morning coffee?

Pictures taken from Etsy store: Creature Cups from Brooklyyyn!


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In pictures: AFROPUNK festival 2012 [photos]

The entrance

I went to Afropunk festival to see my in-law Bill Campbell (my sister's husband's sister's husband) promoting his new book "Koontown Killing Kaper". I got myself a signed copy with complimentary poetry :)

This was my first time at the festival and it seemed pretty awesome if I had known all the bands. There were the more popular ones that I know such as Erykah Badu, Gym Class Heories, Janelle Monae and more all playing for free! There was a skate and bike show, live mural painting. Vendors and Food trucks were a plenty and as the day progressed, the crowd size increased exponentially. Also, seeing all the hip hop funk street style was awesome. I felt so out of place but enjoyed the crowd very much.

It's a two-day event (August 25th and 26th) at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn!

Writer Bill Campbell hustling his book: Koontown Killing Kaper

The line up of food trucks

One truck I knew I would try and did! Taiwanese bian dan truck

Before the crowd gathered

Ninjasonik

Main stage

Afropunk style

The sea of people trying to enter when I left

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nykeiko eats: Snapshots of Googa Mooga 2012: First year, day one!

My snap shots from Googa Mooga in Prospect Park on Saturday May 19th. This is a great unique event and hope next year will be better. Sure the lines were long but they were worth the wait. The food was delicious and since we didn't drink any wine or beer, we didn't experience whatever fiasco happened earlier on.

Tips: 
-Don't go there super hungry or you'll be pissed waiting in line.
-No need to go to the first ID line by the entrance which was crazy long. There's a guy checking IDs and giving out red bracelets at some of the beverage stands. 0 mins wait.
-Bring a picnic blanket.
-Bring lots of cash. Shit ain't cheap at all. You'll see, I posted the price of the stuff we bought.
-Go early. Some popular places sold out early in the afternoon.
-Go with a group of friends where everyone can take turn waiting in different lines and buy for one another to save time. Some lines were an hour long but some were decent! 

First sight: Discouraging long ass lines

First stop: Hill country BBQ Market tacos. Stood in the wrong line for ten minutes.

The wait was about 20-30 minutes? The Cold brew iced coffee had no wait so I got a $4 cold brew coffee. Expensive but iced drink on hot day is priceless.

Brisket taco. 1 for $8 or 2 for $12. We got 4 cuz we were hungry and also to get for friends.

In line,..again.

Second stop: Frankie's sausage peppers and polento.$10 a bowl.

The wait was about 15 minutes.

It was more effective to have two different people stand in line for different vendors

The wait was about 20 minutes.

Crawfish pasta $10 each

Blue Ribbon fried chicken $10

The line was 45-60 mins for  the Blue Ribbon fried chicken. Dave got a lemon ginger drink from Jean Georges for $5.

We had a picnic blankie so it was nice to chill on the grass and eat and then enjoying the music...
The Roots! Classic!

Live concert from The Roots!

Sea of peeps

Deserts were sold out early

There were a couple of places I wanted to try but was discouraged from the line ups. I'll try Big Gay ice cream another time.

After Googa Mooga, we had more food at DuMont burger in Williamsburg. The wait was shorter here.

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