Fried Chicken at Momofuku (NYC)

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My mission to find the best fried chicken, so called ended a few weeks ago at the Chicken Ranch here in Houston.  But, since I was making a trip to NYC, I decided I will continue my mission at Momofuku for their famous fried chicken that you have to make reservations for at least 3 weeks in advance, minimum party of 4.  So, though I set low expectations, I always hope for the best and considering how unlucky I have been in finding amazing fried chicken, I have little real expectation.  However, some years ago I did see David Chang (Momofuku owner) on the Jimmy Fallon show competing with Quest Love with Jimmy's guest for the show as judges, one I remember being Tina Fey, can't remember the others.  And it was unanimous...David won!  So, that is in the back of my mind and as our obnoxiously big plate of fried chicken comes out, I'm super curious!  I try it and...it's...good.  The fried part of it looks kind of unusual doesn't it?  It's actually not bad, good, but not knock me out of my chair, punch your mama good.  Anyways, I'm officially, officially done with fried chicken...until someone else suggest some stupendous fried chicken...and I'll reconvene my mission to find the best fried chicken.

Palma (NYC)

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I love this place!  One of my clients had highly recommended it and kept reminding me, which was good thing because I kept forgetting!  Being in NYC can get hectic especially when with friends, but it was on my list of places to possibly visit.  We did have one night free and decided it might be the best time especially since we were running 13.1 miles in the morning.  I looked up pictures on yelp and I was not really feeling it.  But, since Carla made it a point to keep reminding me, I decided it's the least I can do and try it.  Driving up to the restaurant, I was feeling really hopeful!  It was so cute!  I love the front of the restaurant, so charming!  And walking in...wow, so super cute and cozy!  I loved it!  

We had decided to go last minute, so we ended up sitting at the bar, which was not ideal, but our bartender and server was so helpful and excellent, it was all still great.  We ordered the cauliflower as everyone had recommended and delicious, it was!  We also wanted a salad, so they whipped an off the menu salad for us, simple and tasty, perfect.  I ordered the Fettucine al Funghi and Matt ordered the Pappardelle.  Again, only very few times I had pasta so tasty, you think, this has to be homemade.  My dish was so simple and flavorful, exactly what I like.  It's one of those very few times I shut my eyes and nod over and over, savor.  Wonderful, excellent, special, perfect...are the words that come to mind when I think of Palma.  It was the perfect marriage of food and ambiance.  I loved it so much, I wanted to find other restaurants similar to it...it's my perfect restaurant!

I forgot to mention, we did order the Tiramisu, and I'm not a huge fan of Tiramisu in general, but it was pretty good, big slice too.  Matt and I loved it so much we convinced Susan and Kirk to come the next day and they loved it as well.  So excellent, you must try!

My Big 4-0!

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Add favorite current and life-time friends, great food & spirits, and some good ol conversation...makes for the perfect 40th celebration.  Details on where and how much below. 

This super relaxed an casual event was pretty inexpensive...globe lights from C&D Hardware were $30 /box, here are a total of 4.  Canvas tarp $20 from Home Depot.  White table covers $3/each from Arnie's Party Supply, 2 were used here.  I happen to have to burlap table runners that I purchased from Battery Operated Lights.  Votive candles can also be purchased at Arnie's.  Cushions and pillows were from lawn/patio chairs and around the house.  Blue Ball jars for flowers were from Michael's, $1/jar.  The Korean BBQ was a hit and a crowd favorite.  It was purchased from HMart, marinated short ribs $11/lb.  Cupcakes were made by a guest, Jennifer.  Veruca Salt cake $66 from Fluff Bake Bar.  Super inexpensive party that created the perfect ambiance for my special day!  

Vinoteca Poscol

Vinoteca Poscol has been on my radar for atleast a few years, but because of the look of the exterior and location, it's always been on my back back burner.  Even my foodie friend, Janice, said she had been once and didn't like it.  But, I did remember a client having it listed as one of her favorite restaurants and after looking up some pictures of the interior and food on yelp, I was pretty convinced this is where I wanted to celebrate my low key birthday dinner with my family.

On arriving, I was a little distracted by the fact that some of my friends were unexpectedly present, but I did take note of the interior while walking in and I thought the interior felt really cozy and charming.  Not too charming, but charming because of the lighting and not the decor.  We had a great server and he helped guide us through the menu so we ordered this big charcuterie board with cheeses.  We also got a pasta, and I apologize because this review is coming 2 weeks after and I cannot remember for the life of me the names of the dishes we got, but we had everything from a pasta, lamb, risotto, beef, etc and most of what we had were really good.  And actually, the dishes tasted authentic, ie the pasta.  I haven't had pasta like that where the noodles were so wide and super tasty and just subtly flavored.  I'm not an expert at authentic pasta, but this is the way I would think it would taste, homemade.  I really enjoyed my entire evening from the ambiance, food and especially our most excellent server, which I forget his name.  He was hispanic, but you would never know because he talks like he's Italian!  Awesome place, we all loved it!  Including Janice!