Category Archives: Food & Restaurant

May 4, 2014 · 1:00 pm

Gracias Madre (San Francisco, CA)

After dinner out at Tortuga’s this weekend (which you can read all about here) I could not stop thinking about Mexican food! Rather than going back for a third round of delicious over indulgence in two weeks (you can judge me after you try it) I figured I’d take the lower calorie option of writing about it.

So you’ll notice that the title of this post has nothing to do with Mexican turtles or Princeton, NJ. The delicious little treasure that I’m going to tell you about is from my most recent trip to San Francisco, CA. The little iPad snafoo that occurred during this trip made posting very unattractive to me for a while. I think our relationship is more or less on the mend now though, so here we go 🙂

On Friday, the first day of my trip, Dr. M and I decided to go into SF to roam around without having to battle the weekend crowds of irritating tourists (not that I should be included in this group or anything…)

Note: Friday = weekend in touristville 😦

So, instead of standing in line for the cable cars and elbowing our way through the wharf we wandered our way through the Mission district for a calm afternoon and some good eats.

Enter Gracias Madre.

This cute little joint had outdoor seating, live music and a local, organic, seasonal, vegan, Mexican menu.

What?!?!

The menu

GM’s menu is seasonal and vegan. It is determined by what is currently available at their local organic farm, BE LOVE Farm, in Pleasants Valley, CA. All of their cheeses and milks and ice creams are made using nuts and their tortillas and tamales are handmade from non-GMO organic heirloom corn. They typically have a selection of antojitos, entradas, sides and postres.

We ordered three items to share.

1) The quesadilla de camote with sweet potato and caramelized onions folded into tortillas with cashew nacho cheese and pumpkin seed salsa

2) Gorditas, grilled potato-masa cakes topped with warm salsa verde, avocado and cashew cream

3) Empandads, homemade pastries filled with grilled plantains, served on a bed of spice mole sauce and topped with cashew cream

Now I always get super excited about pumpkin dishes. And they seem to be trending right now – lets put pumpkin in this, lets put pumpkin in that. So, I’m not sure if I was too excited, or if they quesadilla wasn’t totally thought through before it was put on the menu, but there was too much pumpkin! I’m also not the biggest sweet potato fan (which seem to be everyone else’s hottest crush right now) so maybe that had something to do with it. Maybe. Probably. Anyway, the over-pumpkin + sweet potato gripe aside, the food was fantastic.

To be honest/fair/whatever, the flavors and textures were not those of your typical Mexican food. Frankly, I think this should be expected given that the dishes are made from very different ingredients. It isn’t a bad thing, you just can’t expect to taste cheese when use almonds. With this expectation, the food was delicious. It was fresh and rich and filling yet not heavy.

The staff

The staff was great. The waitress was helpful and the music troupe that migrated around the patio (and maybe inside as well) was adorable.

The ambiance

The ambiance was great too. The restaurant is on a relatively busy street in the Mission neighborhood and there are buses and cars and people going back and forth in front of the front patio. This gave it a nice cozy neighborhood feel.

And complementary blessings from La Madre herself!

Gracias Madre! 😉

The inside is a little bit more done up — nice tables, decor, lighting, etc… It was a great place for an afternoon lunch and I would anticipate that it’s a hot date night destination.

Very reasonable. Main dishes are <$15, sides are <$5 and our antojitos were <$10 each. We had plenty of food and given the quality of the ingredients used (which I am willing to pay more for), I think this is very affordable.

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Tagged as Food, Friends, Princeton, Restaurants

April 3, 2014 · 8:36 am

Q: What do you do when life gives you a lemon (tree)?

A: Make lemon blueberry scones, lemon meringue pies and sushi!

So in addition to my partner in crime (and Colin Kaeppernick), a giant lemon tree welcomed me to CA last weekend. I giant lemon tree filled with lemons. One of the weekend’s top missions was to make use of said lemons.

As far as I’m concerned, mission accomplished!

Both the scone and pie recipes that we followed were actually really simple. (Note: not so simple that we didn’t have a fair amount of damage control to keep things interesting ) An added bonus is that the scones are really a basic recipe that can be flavored with essentially whatever you have an excess of ~~rotting in your pantry~~ sprouting in your back yard. So, for all of those lemons and oranges and grapefruits and plums ripening on the trees in your back yards…wait….what? you don’t have all of these growing in your back yard? they aren’t right there next to the rose bushes? My god…CK and fresh fruit…some people really do get all the breaks!! Anyway… here are two awesome recipes that will use at least a few of whichever ~~are in season~~ are on sale at the grocery store 🙂

Scones (lemon blueberry)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup raisins (or dried currants)
1/2 cup sour cream (we didn’t have this 😦 I substituted an extra egg for moisture and it worked out just fine :)
1 large egg

Protocol:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater (thinly shaving with a large, sharp knife also works…and is more exciting); use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.
In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth (or no SC and 2 eggs…see above).
Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature with coffee 😉

*Note: These can be supplemented with whatever fruits, extracts, spices you’d like. We used zest + juice from 1 full lemon and a handful of fresh blueberries (The recipe actually suggests using dried fruit, which I think this is ~~bull $hit~~ silly. Fresh fruit add moisture, their texture is nicer and their flavor is great. IMHO.) Cranberry orange and cinnamon raisin were also suggested. I would like to try some savory ones too, maybe some with dill or sage or cloves…

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and finely zested
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 egg whites
6 tablespoons white sugar

Protocol:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust. (DO NOT scale up. Regardless of the number of pies you’re making whip the meringue 4 egg whites — or one pie — at a time. This advise may or may not come from personal experience…
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown. Cool and serve with coffee 🙂

Sushi Fish

Ingredients:

Sashimi grade fish (1/3 lb tuna and 1/3 lb salmon)
2 cups sushi rice
3 cups water
1/2 cup Rice vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
garnishes to taste (sliced avocado, cucumber, radish, carrot…bleh…
soy sauce and Chipotle mayo (mayo + Sriracha)
lemon 🙂

Protocol:

Rinse the rice in a strainer or colander until the water runs clear. Combine with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Rice should be tender and water should be absorbed. Cool until cool enough to handle.
In a small saucepan, combine the rice vinegar, oil, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool, then stir into the cooked rice. When you pour this in to the rice it will seem very wet. Keep stirring and the rice will dry as it cools.
Aliquot rice into bite-sized clumps
Layer garnishes on top of rice
Slice fish and layer on top of rice + garnishes
Further garnish fish to taste

*Note: eating raw fish can be dangerous and can make you painfully, violently and embarrassingly ill. ONLY use fresh sashimi grade fish and consume in moderation.

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Tagged as Desserts, Recipes, Sushi

March 9, 2014 · 11:26 pm

Purdue Prospective Faculty Workshop Recap

I survived Purdue (and, maybe more importantly, Newark Airport)!

Both Monday and Tuesday were packed with engaging lectures and opportunities for Dr. Trot to talk about herself and her research. (In the unfortunate scenario that you DO NOT know a scientist personally, given the chance to talk about their work they will a) find a worm-hole up to cloud 9 and b) refuse to get down and shut up until they go hoarse.)

Instead of going into all of the gory details of the topics we covered, I’ll just include main, most interesting points of the day —

Monday

Tuesday

The outfits of course!!

Actually, that’s only partially true. It was super interesting to hear about the parts of working with people from different cultures (“culture” = age, location, language, religion, training ideology, etc…) that you often aren’t aware of and the significant influence they have on a project’s outcome. Presentations on what to consider when striving to be a successful mentor for graduate students (or anyone for that matter) and as a classroom instructor were also super useful. The absolute top highlights of the workshop were as follows:
1. The opportunity to meet with the faculty of the Chemical Engineering Department
2. Presenting my current research and ideas for future research directions to the CE faculty
3. Potbelly!

Potbelly!

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Filed under Dr-ing, Food & Restaurant, Uncategorized

Tagged as Academia, Postdoc, Research, Work

February 7, 2014 · 2:51 pm

It’s a (good) Small World after all!

There is something about the $2 mark for a small cup of regular dark roast that is prohibitive for me to splurge on coffee-house coffee. $1.9x isn’t great but I’ll do it and $1.8x seems like the norm. Of course, $2 is (at most) only %10 higher than both of these, but there’s something about that evil #2 out in front that sends me over the edge.

To make matters even worse for ~~the egocentric~~ Dr. Trot, Princeton is one of the most $#@&ing expensive places in the US, and this statistic most definitely includes the price of coffee. Princeton is also one of the smallest $#@&king places in the US, and as a consequence there are only two coffee-house options within walking distance of ~~jail~~ work.

#1. Starbucks. Honestly, I debated whether or not to even include these guys at all. Starbucks food/beverages are unhealthy and over packaged as well as over priced. Never mind the low wages they pay their employees and the amount of food they waste. So, no. No thank you big evil corporation.

#2. Small World Coffee. Now, these guys are a bit more my style. They’re a small business with two coffee shops, one on either end of town. They sell locally made pastries that you can carry out in paper bags, good coffee and apparently (keep reading) are cash only to keep overhead low and prices as low as possible.

They also however charge $2 for a small, 8 oz (I think) cup of dark roast coffee. 😦

Small World coffee only hit this nasty $2 mark over the last few months as it was not this way when I moved here in June. Upon ~~jacking up~~ increasing their price last fall they did explain that it was in response to rising coffee bean prices. With the current state of the market and Small World’s desire to maintain the wages of their workers (rather than saddling the lower end of the payroll with absorbing the increased price of beans) up went the price of coffee for those of us who have no problem paying $1.8x/cup. Thanks a lot Small World. This is all well and good, but it has also sent you into the “too $#@&ing expensive to justify on the post-doc salary” category. Until today.

Long story short is that my ~~horse $hit~~ work schedule required the day to begin at 3 am today — brain on and fine motor functions working at 3 am — and last until ~7 pm tonight. Lovely. Happy Friday all. As a direct consequence of this I had no second thoughts about splurging for a $2 cup of joe once I finally had time to come up for a breath of air (and gulp of caffeine) at 6 am. I bundled up, grabbed my credit card and headed back out into the dark. (Let me tell you, after being at work for 3 hrs already that’s just cruel!)

Have you spotted my mistake already? While the motor functions were still working, the brain function was not. I grabbed my credit card! My credit card! For the coffee-house that’s CASH ONLY!! I (of course) didn’t have the slightest clue of my error until I was standing at the counter with my card in my hand and struggling to comprehend that “no, I’m sorry, we only take cash.”

UGH! DUH! MY GOD! x-( What an idiot am I?!?!?!

After the patient barista patiently explained to me exactly what the hell was going on and we established that I had absolutely no cash on me, much to my surprise/delight she responded with “ah, no big deal, it’d cold out there today, this one can be on us!”

WHAT?!?! REALLY?!?! WHAT?!?!

She must have seen my jaw drop because she giggled, kept filling my coffee and repeated that it really is “no big deal. Plus, it’s just the right thing to do. Have a great day!”

With that, I bumbled through thanking her profusely, folded up my gaping jaw and staggered to the door with my steaming cup of highly caffeinated SW joe.

And also with that, I have to take back my animosity towards Small World’s $2 cup of coffee. They have a choice to make. Many choices to make in fact. They could buy different (read: worse) beans, they could pay their employees less and they could reduce their payroll and work their remaining employees more. They could do all of these and kept the price of coffee at $1.9x.

They also could accept credit cards and charge even more than $2/cup.

Finally, they certainly could send me (and every other idiot that doesn’t have $2 cash on them) packing for Starbucks w/o said cash.

But, they don’t and they didn’t (5x).

They also didn’t choose my job for me – the job that over-works and under-pays me – the kind of job that they are trying to avoid for their employees.

You have been taken down off of the cross Small World and I’m sorry I had you up there in the first place. Thank you for the cup of coffee and for understanding that while I can’t afford to support you very often, I’ll sink my $2 into your good coffee and great cause when I do treat myself to such luxuries. 🙂

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Tagged as Coffee, Small World

January 19, 2014 · 9:27 am

Columbia Firehouse (Washington DC)

As anticipated, Dr. A and I ended our Saturday (American History Museum + massage day) with a most perfect dinner at the Columbia Firehouse in Alexandria. CF is owned by the same people who have ….

The menu

To start with the wine and beer list was a fun place to start with draught and bottle beer from all over the US (although mostly from the NE) and wine from all over the world. My DC Brau Pauncy oatmeal stout was a good choice. The dinner menu for actual food had a short list of petite snacks, mussels, raw bar items, sandwiches, salads, small plates, supper items, sides, chop-house pieces and daily plates. There were only about two to ten items under each section of the menu, but they ALL looked delicious! It was great to have a bunch of different options for how to approach dinner without being overwhelmed.

Dr. A and I decided to share a few smaller items on the menu so we didn’t have to pick just one thing. I strongly recommend this approach as everything we got was delicious and plenty of other things were also calling my name.

In no particular order…

We each got a bowl of the pumpkin basil soup which was fantastic!

pumpkin basil soup

It wasn’t so much that it’d be a good stand alone dinner, but it worked great as one of our many dinner parts 🙂

We also go the anson mills roasted heirloom hominy off of the petite snacks –

anson mills roasted heirloom hominy

And the cornbread panzanella with buttermilk vinaigrette off of the sides –

cornbread panzanella with buttermilk vinaigrette

This was so so so good, despite looking like it was saturated in too much dressing, which it was not. If there was a gun to my head and I had to pick one favorite dish, this one would probably be it. Who doesn’t keep talking about food with a gun to their head?

We also got the buttermilk brined onion rings off of the small plates.

buttermilk brined onion rings + cornbread muffins

Dinner also came with the best complementary corn bread muffins (they are hanging out with the onion rings above).

The staff

The waitress was nice and helpful enough. There was nothing remarkable about her and that was just fine. The rest of the staff were nice and helpful as well.

The ambiance

So I’m not sure what the building used to be that the CF has taken over, but now it’s damn cool. We were actually seated in what used to be a big hallway leading from a door to the outside to another room in the back (now a dining room). There were benches for the sides of the table against the wall and chairs for the other sides of the table. The ceiling was super high with interesting old light fixtures, dark wood and bras lined the walls, and the whole restaurant was cozy and warm. There was a bar in another large dining room off of the hallway and additional rooms upstairs. The background chatter/noise level was nice, and there was no problem holding a conversation.

Considering the quality and quantity of food we got the prices were VERY reasonable. To be quite honest, we both ate more than we probably should have (what would be fun if we didn’t do that though?) and I was drinking (as usual) and the bill was still less than $30/person (including tip). Of course, this probably isn’t the best plan for dinner every night of the week (as I would be broke and needing an ever expanding – in the wrong direction – wardrobe) but it was most definitely a perfect plan for our Saturday night!

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Tagged as Food, Friends, Restaurants, Washington DC

January 11, 2014 · 1:51 pm

Guacamole for Dummies

Q. What do you get when you go to the grocery store specifically to purchase the necessary ingredients for guacamole and are too busy yapping on the phone with someone to remember to buy avocados?

A. Guacamole for Dummies!

1 tomato
1/4 onion
1/2 cup corn (I used frozen)
a few cloves of garlic
as much sketchy avocado as you can find in the fridge
1/4 lime
chili powder
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1. Chop sketchy avocado, tomatoes, onions and garlic
2. Fry corn in oil + garlic + chili pepper + cayenne pepper and let cool
3. Dump everything into a a big mixing bowl and mix/smoosh together
5. Squeeze lime over mixed/smooshed product and salt and pepper to taste

4. ~~Lay in bed~~ Properly sit at the table with the mixing bowl of guac and a bag of chips and eat ~~directly out of the chip bag and mixing bowl~~ off of a plate like a normal human being.

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Tagged as Food, Recipes

December 8, 2013 · 8:14 pm

Thanksgiving 2013

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. I had an awesome holiday and an absolute shit-storm of a week to follow (see Week 18 + 1), hence this being just a bit belated. The good news is that rattling on and on about good food never gets old for me, so I’m perfectly happy sharing all of the delicious details re: my Thanksgiving over a week after the fact 🙂

To begin, everything is yummier at a balmy 65 F with the sound of the ocean in the background. (And no, I do not miss the cold and snow during the holidays one damn bit, they do not make it feel more festive and Thanksgiving/Christmasy, they just make it feel cold and snowy.)

Next, everything is yummier when it is prepared for you by a personal chef and his first mate…

To acquire the strength to get through this most strenuous day, we first made a batch of homemade mac-n-cheese for lunch. That’s exactly what one needs for lunch on Thanksgiving day, right?

mmmmmmm 🙂

Then it was on to the more serious tasks of the day…

You can never have too much stuffing!

This is the vegetarian’s assignment?

Before…

…and after!

Dr.T: Maroof, can you beat two eggs for me please?
**five minutes later**
Dr. M: Maroof 2, eggs zero!
Dr. T: sigh

Never-the-less, our beautiful tripple berry and pumpkin pies

Never-the-less, our beautiful triple berry and pumpkin pies

Can you guess whose is whose?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you negate 18 weeks of marathon training!

In addition to a most gluttonous Thursday, we took the next 3 days to do nothing but eat and drink our way through Napa Valley. (See above comment.)

We managed to hit 4 wineries on both Friday and Saturday and two on Sunday before heading home in our understated vehicle…

Out of character at all?

1. Laird

That’s a little more like it!

Laird is small, family owned and operated estate vineyard and winery. You get a very nice tasting for $20 and a list of recommendations that should be taken with a grain of salt.

2. Domaine Chandon
Domaine Chandon was an over-commercial, over-plastic, under-authentic, non-appreciated experience. We tasted 4 sparkling wines here for $20, all of which I could have done without. I would not suggest visiting if you are looking for good wine or interesting vineyard/winery experiences. I would however recommend stopping here to survey both employees and clientele for who NOT to trust with your next cosmetic surgery.

3. Turnbull
Turnbull is a medium-sized family owned and operated vineyard and winery. For $20 the tasting was great, one of the best of the weekend, and the self guided vineyard tour was a pleasant way to sober up before getting back behind the wheel.

Turnbull

I kid.

Given the chance to ride a Ditch Witch, you’d be stupid not to!

(Just not now.)

4. Cosentino
Cosentino was a great way to end the first day of tasting. It’s a relative new (1980) but has quickly become regarded as a top winery in the valley. And for good reason. Again, they offer a very nice tasting for $20.

5. Mumm

Mumm Winery was the first stop of day 2. We took the ~1 hr long tour and tasted 3 wines. The tour was very well done with the right amount of info and entertainment. It kept moving without feeling rusehd or lagging. Plus, we got our glasses refilled 3 times en route, which didn’t hurt I’m sure. Regardless, not half bad for $25 each.

6. V. Sattui

V. Sattui

V. Sattui was great. We got to taste just about everything on the menu for our $20 tasting and had fantastic help. This is the one place that we ended up purchasing something, to be cracked open next time I’m in CA. Here’s to hoping it lasts that long!

To complement the fun tasting, there was a retail shop with a bunch of chocolates and cheeses to pair with the wine and a BBQ outside for lunch if you were hungary and around during that part of the day. We were and got a lamb sandwich + a margarita pizza. Both were super good.

7. Prager Port

Prager was maybe my #1 pick of the weekend. It’s a little tiny family owned and operated port winery. Now I love port, so this might be skewing my opinion just a titch, but they had really great Port.

Prager

AND, their back tasting room was covered in dollar bills from around the world. (This totally makes the wine that much better…even when you buy it to drink at home…) Of course we signed a dollar and hung it next to the Zimbabwe dollar so we could hang out with Master David and the Fresh Prince of Delaware for eternity in the port cellar. Or until we get stapled over…

Evidence that we were here! (Until we get stappled over by the next port-loving drunk…)

8. Castello di Amorosa

Now the Cstello di Amorosa is very new and a bit over the top for me. It’s an (admittedly beautiful) replica Italian castle. But, it is a replica castle. In California. Maybe this objection makes me a bit of a Italian castle snob, but it just isn’t my deal. (And of course my deal is the right deal….right?) That being said, we took some really nice pictures and had a great time walking around the castle grounds…

Castello di Amorosa

Our new dining room.

Yummy 🙂

The wine tasting was in a cellar tasting room and while the ambiance was great, thea assistance left something to be desired. We split 2 tastings and sampled all of the reds and all of the desert wines…none of which I can complain about.

4x dessert wines 🙂

After all of these adventures, we found some feathery and/or furry friends and gathered our strength for the drive back to Napa.

The week’s survivors…

…and their goat and sheep friends.

9. Hess

The Hess Vineyard, Winery and Art collection was a bit off the beaten trail and came to us upon the recommendation of Laird (one of their better suggestions). The grounds were beautiful, the 3 stories of modern art were super fun, the free personal vineyard (with 90 yr old vines!!) and winery tour that we went on was most informative and the wines we tasted (for $20) were delicious. This is another top hit of the weekend for me.

Cold Hess

Pretty Hess

PSA: Every vineyard/winery should also be an art museum.

10. Domaine Carneros

Now for some reason I wasn’t nearly as offended by Domaine Carneros as I was by Domaine Chandon, but it had the same vibe — oversized, plastic and commercial. On the bright side here, we had a table to ourselves on a patio with a beautiful view on a beautiful day. The tasting menu was also sparking wines. The three that we tasted were definitely not my top wines of the weekend, but a hell of a step up from Domaine Chandon.

Domaine Carneros

And with that it was back to Berkeley and then back to the reality of NJ and my F32. ~~Joy.~~

It was a wonderful 5 days holiday regardless of what was waiting for me. For next time we have learned to scout out the small, less advertised and less traveled options. We will also have to incorporate sections of both Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley. There is so much wine tasting yet to be done!! 🙂

Cheers!

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Tagged as California, Family, Friends, Holiday, Restaurants, Thanksgiving, Wine

November 14, 2013 · 7:05 pm

Peace Food (NYC)

My Top Secret Accomplice Dr. Allison and Top Dog Sir Jack recently came to visit for the weekend. Unfortunately Top Dog Sir Jack was suffering from a bum hip and couldn’t strut his Top self around town as he had hoped. Fortunately (sorry Jack) this left Dr. A and I able to spend the day in The City (NYC if you somehow don’t just assume this when you hear the word “city”) relatively guilt free. While I probably should spend the post discussing the time we spent at the Science Museum – the awesome dinosaur exhibits, the whale in his great hall and the display of meteors and meteorites in the space exhibit – I will instead blabber on about the restaurant of the weekend, Peace Food. We (by “we” I mean “Dr. A”) found this perfect little joint by using our (our =her) mad Yelping skills with a focus on the upper west side. Now for me, using Yelp often ends up being a bit of a crap shoot. Allison rocked this crap shoot!

Peace Food is very much what you’d assume from its name — a hippy dippy local organic vegan vegetarian friendly bomb of a restaurant…

There is a bakery, juice bar, sandwiches, salads, soups, take out options and tables for dining in. The staff are super friendly and cheery and, frankly, so are your fellow patrons (…albeit a bit malnourished looking in some cases…but never mind…)

The menu

We went for lunch at 2 pm or so and had a great menu to choose from. The dishes are largely familiar items but with a hint of Peace Food personalization. Frankly, everything looked great and as the tables around us got their food, the decision just got harder and harder to make.

We were both actually in the mood for soups so in the end Dr. A got the leek soup while I went all in for the vegetarian chili…and then we split the Asian greens salad on the side. Now my fat self is always one to worry that I’m going to have enough to eat, and of course I was concerned that this little soup and salad wasn’t going to do the trick. Dr. Trott was wrong! (Surprising, I know.) The bowl of chili was serious and the corn bread removed any shred of doubt that I’d still be hungry. To be honest though, our salad is probably the one item that I’d recommend if I could only pick one. The greens were perfect, the cheese was fantastic the tempeh was perfectly done and the Asian dressing was equally interesting and delicious. If/when I go back, I would also like to give the juice bar a try. They had a well oiled operation going on behind the counter that I was kinda bummed about being too full to partake!

The staff

Our waiter was excellent and that really seemed to be a prerequisite for working there. Super helpful, attentive, nice, personable, talkative — but not too much. We had exactly what we needed when we needed it and could enjoy our lunch without feeling smothered. The atmosphere, with loads of positive energy, was undoubtedly a product of this. If you like good service you won’t be disappointed.

The ambiance

Peace Food has a great ambiance/atmosphere.

PF2

The restaurant is bright and open and filled with funky decorations, cheery people and delicious smells. The staff set a great mood which, IMHO, draws in a great clientele. The dining room is high, positive energy, without being overwhelming or stifling. There is chatter and movement and commotion, but just the right amount.

“Vegan, vegetarian, local, organic” (never mind “Upper West Side”) generally = three days of fasting to follow, but Peace Food was very affordably priced. Now, if you’re looking for a dollar menu this might not be the best fit for you, but we got really great food at a very reasonable price. Both the quantity and quality of all the grub we got was outstanding. <$20/person for a great lunch of familiar yet interesting dishes made from high quality ingredients in a most delightful atmosphere. I will definitely be going back, and dragging my friends with me. (Friends, consider this your warning.)

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Tagged as Food, New York, Restaurants

November 12, 2013 · 7:50 am

Tortuga’s (Princeton, NJ)

Not to sound like a broken record (I can’t help it), but this post is way over due. Upon arriving at Princeton in June, one of my top orders of business was to get the scoop on the top eating (and running) and eating opportunities in town, of course. Upon my declaration of love for good authentic Mexican comida, I was directed to the wonderful Tortuga’s. This cozy little restaurant is located off the tourist (and undergrad…but never mind…) beaten path in the neighborhood on the north-west side of town. They don’t take reservations and typically have a bit (it really isn’t bad) of a wait but they start you off with bottomless and fantastic homemade salsa and chips and follow-up with dishes that are well worth any wait. They are also BYOB/BYOW, which I have come to totally love (Come on, I am picky and cheap…a most endearing combination…don’t act surprised…) Anyway, this is where I took Dr. Samia when she moved to town (town = NJ … yes, this is totally fair) and where I have been with my group mates for dinner and where I took Dr. Allison for her first dinner in town (town = Princeton … Why are you confused?) and where I will insist on going with Dr. Maroof next time he is in town (town = your definition of choice).

Tortuga’s is a locally owned and reasonably authentic (as far as this Minnesota girl … with a thing for food and other cultures … can tell) Mexican joint. The menu is big, offering something for everyone, even a diverse set of vegetarian entrees. 🙂 The dining room is often quite crowded, loudish and the service is often a bit slow. Like I said, there is a reasonable amount of authenticity to the place and with the food comes the ambiance. Enjoy it. (I’m not being a smart ass here, for once.)

The menu

La Tortuga is open for both lunch and dinner. However, I have somehow (quite unbelievably) only been there for dinner so far! The dinner menu is large and constant, and I assume the lunch menu is similar. There are a nice variety of single entree dishes (variety in terms of preparation styles – tacos, burritos, chimichangas, tomales, tostadas, soaps, ensaladas, enchiladas… – and types of protein – steaks, pork, chicken, fish, beans, etc… – as well as combination plates. A word of warning is that all of the dishes are big so bringing half home for an awesome lunch is a good mindset to have before things spiral out of control (not that I know this from personal experience or anything…)

So I’m one to enjoy trying lots of new and different food so I have always gone with some form of vegetarian combination platter. The vegetarian burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas and tomales are all fantastic. The combo platters come with both beans and rice that totally hit the spot. In contrast, my dinner dates have always gone with some kind of main meat entree – steak or chicken have been the hot choices I think. I have yet to hear a complaint from any of them.

Additionally, thanks to agreeing to participate in a game of musical tables, Dr. A and I scored free desserts on our visit. It’s probably a good thing that I hadn’t looked at the dessert menu until then because they all looked amazing! In the end we “settled” on the key lime pie and the chocolate tort (when dessert is on the house you don’t split). Damn. Both were super good – just sweet enough for a satisfying end to a rich meal, but not over the top. Again, they were both good-sized (note: this is not a complaint) so in the event of actually having to pay for your dessert splitting might be a good choice.

The staff

The staff are authentic. They are friendly enough but not the speediest. It’s part of the charm though. Your food will come out correct and hot and in the order in which it was received. (I’ve been on hold with customer service too much recently…stupid glove box…never mind.) So, there really isn’t anything to complain about, but just be warned that if you’re on a tight schedule, either let them know ahead of time (this may or may not make a damn bit of difference) or think of doing dinner after the show.

The ambiance

The ambiance is authentic, cozy and busting. Everyone is there for a nice relaxing neighborhood dinner with friends and family. Plan to Do the same next time you’re in the Garden State 🙂

Very reasonable. Entrees are ~$15 and can easily be 2 meals. NOTE: Tortuga’s is cash money only! YES, CASH ONLY! Not a big deal (unless you don’t bring cash and don’t have a particular fondness for washing a restaurant dining room worth of dishes on an overfull stomach of course), just remember to grab some green as you walk out the door. (Not that green…)

Anyway, the chips and salsa to start with are a nice added bonus and the BYO policy really adds to the affordability. Sharing works well too if you’d rather not be carting left overs around. The ingredients are high quality and the preparation is mindful soooo (IMHO of course) you really would be quite stupid not to 😉

P.S. I realize a restaurant review without pictures is a bit bullshit, but lets cut me a little slack and consider this one a work in progress.

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Filed under Food & Restaurant

Tagged as Food, Friends, Princeton, Restaurants

November 9, 2013 · 4:28 pm

Week 16

Mon 10/28 – rest

Thank you.

Tues 10/29 – 6ish mi

A lovely early morning in lab lit the fire under my ass to get the run done early. The cooler weather is nice, but it does necessitate a bit more though to go into dressing and a bit more time to get the stiff joints and tight muscles all warmed up. That, and I’m old. 😦 Now I’m probably the only one saying this, and I will probably eat my words later, but it’s nice that the winters here are still rather damp. I can feel even this very modest drop in humidity (coupled with the cooler temps) through out my lungs. MN, how did I ever survive you?!

Wed 10/30 – rest

Thurs 10/31 – 8ish mi

There is something very satisfying about bailing out of work from 8-9:30 am to get my run in during daylight hours. Although I felt like I was working harder than I really should’ve had to, it was a beautiful morning, I didn’t get lost and I finished the run all toast warm in my ruffled skirt and tank top. Once again, my complaints are unwarrented…I suppose…

Fri 11/1 – rest

Off to AICHE for the annual (oversized) national chemical engineering conference! (And some serious mischief-making around San Francisco of course.) For example…

…early on the first evening of the conference…

…and a bit later in the evening. (Don’t worry, we were all seeing double at this point.)

Dr. Maroof and Queen Penny were absolutely gracious hosts for the two days that I spent in Berkeley before heading into DT SF for the conference. They made me a most fantastic dinner for me when I arrived on Friday night.

Making

dinner.

They also gave me a most totally perfect belated birthday gift – a purple marathon Camelbak!

My super sweet new purple marathon Camelbak (and me on the side)

What a great way to start off my pre-conference weekend! I could get used to CA!!

Sat 11/2 – cross – 20 mi biking – HILLS!!

On Saturday morning we got up and turned dinner left overs into an awesome brunch of south Asian seasoned rice + beans and shrimp + potato + cauliflower + cheese quesadillas. We might be kinda into weird fusion foods. Maybe.

Fusion Brunch

Then, we got all suited up

Us…all suited up…

…and a close-up of my new glorious compression socks from Aki. Happy Birthday to my feet!!

and took out the bikes (thank you Noem for lending yours to me, it was awesome!!) for a leisurely 10 mile ride along the north coast of the bay,

bike trail + SF Bay

and then a grueling 10 mile battle up to the top of Berkeley, to Tilden Park

Tilden Park

and then back home.

20131102_151254

The climb up was honestly the most challenging and treacherous bike climb I think I have ever done. The perpetual gradual incline wore you down while the wicked steep sections totally blew out your quads in no time. And then the switchbacks. Ahhh yes, the switchbacks (at this point, why not?). They made everything super precarious, just to ensure you were actually being challenged.

Also, once we ~~conveniently~~ arrived at the farthest point from home in our route, we had an unfortunate spat between Dr. M’s ankle and his bike pedal clip. (Apparently frantically trying to clip in before you roll backwards down the damn hill is not the safest.)

Booboo!

Luckily there were some EMTs in the area (originally called to help with “a dog that was having a problem in the lake…” WTF?!?!…) who helped us bandage things well enough to get home. Thank god it was 5 miles DOWN the mountain to get back.

So (of course) this was not the most ideal Saturday workout to do two weeks out from marathon weekend, but who is going to pass up on a day long SF Bay Area biking expedition? The only people who come to mind are total idiots and professional athletes. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t find myself fitting well into either category.

Sun 10/6 – 10 + 3 = 13ish

I started the day with a beautiful early morning run along the bay, taking the same route that we biked yesterday.

Good morning San Francisco and SF Bay!

In case you’re interested, there is a positive correlation between ones amount of Facebook posting while running and the likelihood of appearing to be still drunk from the previous night. I may (or may not) have been ~~both~~ one of those…

After getting back from these first 10 miles it was time to dash off to SF for the first day of the conference. In contrast to Drs. S & M, my talk was not until Tuesday afternoon, so I did the only rational thing upon arriving at the hotel – I dashed out the door for 3 more miles through Golden Gate Park and then a 3 mile walk home. (I sadly don’t think I get to count these last three towards my daily mileage though…)

Total mileage = 27 mi

So obviously this mileage is quite low, even for the beginning of the pre-race taper. On the bright side, was able to take advantage of the northern Bay Area and get a beautiful, and extremely challenging, bike ride in (yes, I am telling myself that this counts for something) as well as my long run for the week (albeit only 12 miles and broken into 2 segments, but never mind…) On an even brighter side is that there are only two more weeks until the marathon!! (Ok, fine, there is really only one more week now that I’ve finally gotten this damn thing written x-(

Threads – tanks or tees (+/- arm warmers), running skirts or capris for the chilly mornings, + compression for the long runs and Mizunos (Wave Creation 11s and Wave Elixer 6s)