// Koi Palace - Dim Sum //

suckling pig - roast pork. skin was super crispy!

chicken feet

pork buns

lamb buns - looked better than they tasted

taro puffs

peking duck, duh

On my recent trip to San Fran to visit family. My cousins took me to Koi Palace in Daly City. Everything was delicious and the place was packed for a weekday late lunch. We went around 1:30 or 2:00 and it was a full house. Definitely make reservations if you go. The funny part was that my cousin was like "Order whatever you want!" and at the end of the meal, he used his Koi Palace credit card. It was literally restaurant credit because he had booked this place as a wedding venue, put down a deposit, and ended up just eloping. So then he was stuck with a no refund policy and they just gave him a ton of restaurant credit. He said they had gone there for numerous dinners that cost up to $500 because of some specialty seafood dishes. Even after our meal, he still had a couple hundred left! I thought that was a pretty good "problem" to have. ;]

// State Bird Provisions //

 

duck liver mousse + almond biscuit

oysters with kohlrabi kraut & sesame 

 

garlic bread/knot

hands down our favorite. fried seaweed (tasted more like a shrimp chip) w/fresh avocado + hamachi

the state bird (fried quail) w/provisions

uni pancake

deep-fried pork belly w/citrus and mint

red ruby grapefruit & lime granita, rhubarb, yogurt

I've noticed now that I'm older, that all my travels are planned by where I want to eat. On this particular trip to San Fran, State Bird Provisions was the top of my list. I had an ATL friend recommend it since he had gone there for work the week before and sat at the chef's counter (as did I). It was listed as one of Bon Appetit's "Best New Restaurant" in 2012. You basically have to book reservations months in advance, but there's a line that forms outside the restaurant starting at 4:45 (they open at 5:30). Luckily, my friend was able to get there at 4:30 and we were the 1st in line. The line outside quickly became about 30 ppl after us and it's basically getting in line to get on the waiting list. If you're in the back, they'll put your name down and you'll have to come back at a later time. We got sat at the chef's counter right at opening.

The kitchen is pretty open and you can see how efficiently everyone works together and how much the staff loves their job. It's a super casual atmosphere where you can just wear jeans and a tee or come dressed up and still fit in. The place itself isn't that big, but is cozy and comfortable. They serve the food dim-sum style in that they're all basically small plates and the servers/chefs present each dish and describe it, then they state the price and you tell them "yes" or  "no" and they mark the item on your tab. There's also set things on the menu that you can order that are bigger main dishes as well as desserts. We had three people in our group and we split a bottle of wine and it came to $60/person. Not bad at all for all the variety of dishes!  Everything was soooo fresh. If you're in the area, it should be on the top of your list, too.

// X-mas present //

Look what I got for Christmas!!!! Thanks to my bf, Luke. I've been hinting for a more professional look for my food photos. And voila....another X-mas, another nice Canon camera. I'm looking forward to putting it to use!

// Cucina 24 //

off-menu pasta made with fancy mushrooms, cheese, greens + onions

raw beets w/fresh butter + sea salt

sausage + apple pizza (?)

spiced bourbon drink w/thinly sliced pears

Just went to my second Moogfest in Asheville, NC. One of the best music fests in my opinion, since it's soooo cheap and the lineup is always unique/good. The hotels are gonna be the most you'll spend money on, but the food, drinks, entertainment are really cheap compared to other festivals. Also, the venues are all within walking distance and the crowds never get too crazy. I mean, it IS a hippie-town. Although, the GZA show kinda got outta hand because they booked him in a venue that was too small. Other than that, I got to enjoy seeing one of my favorite DJ's - "Disclosure" (all the way from the UK and they're only 17 & 20 yrs old!), who put on a REALLY good show. They had everyone dancing! Even my bf, who normally doesn't dance. ;]

Other highlights: Santigold (fun/cute dancers), Divine Fits (one of the guy's from Spoon), Nas (full band, who was fun to watch), Miike Snow & Primus.

Anyway, it was hard to schedule dinner at a normal time, since the bands started playing around 7pm each night. We kinda had to go in between some shows later on in the evening. After doing hours of research on where to eat beforehand, Cucina 24 was my must-eat choice for the trip. The rest of the weekend only allowed us to kinda just grab quick things to eat on the way to shows. The place was simple, chic and very delicious! Everything on the menu had meat/seafood in it, so I asked if they could do a vegetarian pasta and the waiter happily said the could. I told him I trusted the chef and they could just throw anything they want in it (except olives). It came out perfect and it was exactly what I was craving. If you're ever in Asheville, definitely check it out. Also, shout out to Rosetta's Kitchen for all the vegans/vegetarians. Everything we got there was really good (except the mac 'n cheese. I did NOT like the vegan cheese at all!). And now I present: "Nellie in Nature"...

                                 ...and on the streets of downtown Asheville.

                              

You can view the rest of the set here.

// butternut-walnut stuffed shells //

In October, my Ba Noi (grandma on my dad's side) passed away. She was a hardcore Buddhist who lived until the age of 95. She came to us from Vietnam when I was in middle school and I remember that we didn't get along at first. It was a lot of cultural differences and language barriers (she had a different dialect "nguoi bac" than my typical conversational Vietnamese skills). I was able to learn the Vietnamese kyoto/zither because she brought the instrument over for me. I used to be embarrassed of her black-coated teeth (think it was an enamel for protection), butt hen she ended up Americanizing them after awhile. She's lived w/us ever since she moved over here and it's going to be sad when I come home to visit and she's not there blaring the t.v. watching any kind of music video that came on (Bollywood, K-pop, B.E.T., etc.) or praying at like 6 am w/her loud gong and wooden knocking thing. I am grateful that we got to have her live with us and help take care of my bros. and I as we were growing up. The house was never empty. She also went to the temple almost everyday. In Buddhist tradition, if someone passes from your family, you cannot eat meat/seafood for 49 days (7 weeks). I'm on my 3rd week now and have been trying different recipes that are vegetarian. This one was a really satisfying one and even my non-vegetarian friends and bf enjoyed it.

// magic watermelon pickle //

Found this in the eastern European section at the Buford Highway Farmer's Market. Wonder why it's magic?

// cold noodles + pork //

chopped ginger + garlic

mint + cilantro (Viet staples)

pho noodles (any wide rice noodle will do - "that's what she said!")

cook in boiling water for about 4-6 minutes

ground peanuts

sliced cucumbers, peanuts, mint + cilantro

mix everything w/the sauce + the cooked ground pork

Being the typical Asian - even in the hot summer days, I still crave noodles. This cold noodle recipe happened to show up in my inbox from the lovely Tasting Table site.  They tend to have really enticing (and easy) recipes shared by chefs and sous chefs coming from all different types of restaurants/regions. I practically made this the same week that I saw it since the ingredients were so simple and cheap...AND it's been uncomfortably hot out.  I'll definitely keep this on my regular rotation for summer dishes. It's very easy to assemble and the only thing I substituted was mushroom soy sauce for the dark soy sauce. I also didn't have any star anise or Chinese five spice powder, so I omitted that. Still came out really good.