wonderful
each year, the beginning of december always marks not only the rush to the holiday season, but also the start of a string of birthdays one after another through the next couple of months. four birthdays down this week (vic, dom, my cousin, and my dad), and several more to go.
i spent a couple of days in the city this week, where a group of us attended wonder-full with dj spinna and bobbito. we also wandered through downtown (its so busy this holiday season!) and drank communist-cum-yuppie coffee, amongst other things. despite the oh-so-hipster logo, my cup was suprisingly good. (and strong!) as if their nod to soviet-era russia wasn’t enough, the inside of shop boasts paper currency pinned to the wall, including none other than a 10,000 rial piece bearing the ayatollah’s likeness. the evil empire and the axis of evil all in one coffee shop!
oh yes, and i’ve been cooking too.
artichoke rice cakes with melting manchego
eggplant parcels stuffed with fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes
beijing chilled vegetable stir-fry
braised tofu and mushrooms
green onion flatbreads
snow peas with fried tofu (served alongside nori-encrusted sirloin with shiitake mushrooms and jasmine rice)
i finally saw himalaya, twilight, and letters in the wind. the first is a must-see, the second was quite good, and the third was a bit of a dissapointment.
i finished searching for hassan: an american family’s journey home to iran as well. i highly recommend this to anyone with the slightest interest in iran. part travel memoir, part childhood memories, and part reflections on the religious and historical culture of the country, searching for hassan is a fantastically written ode to iran. it touches on so many aspects of iranian society without seeming biased or too generalized. nostalgia constantly crept up on me while reading this. this book was stunning in every respect.
seeing bobbito aka dj cucumber slice doing the wop to stevie’s music… made the night perfect (even with annoying drunk people crowded around)
the food looks DELICIOUS as always
what’s the sauce with the flat bread?
I talked to Vic on Thursday and he seemed really excited about Wonderfull. Alfred and I called Dom from the De La Soul show Friday night. I don’t know if we were jealous about Wonderfull or trying to rub it in that we were seeing De La Soul.
I have a few December birthdays too, aside from Dom and Vic’s to remember.
what do you get for a 27-year old brother? Hmm.
thanks eric.
letter n – its a dipping sauce comprised of green onions, garlic, chicken broth, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce.
cindy – shopping for men is a hundred times harder than shopping for women. good luck.
You really really really need to get a link to this page to some executives at the food network. yep.
then you can have me on as a special guest with a cheesecake of the week.
only if its officially endorsed by martin yan.
They make a green onion bread looking thing here that looks similar to what you have only yours doesn’t look nearly as greasy. I bought one the other day for about $0.50 and couldn’t finish it, the bag became transparent halfway through and I was just too disgusted.
I don’t suppose you could mail any of this delicious looking food to taiwn ?
ha, i doubt it can be mailed but i’m happy to give you the recipe if you’d like.
maybe you just had a bad bag? i imagine taiwan must have an endless array of delicious food on display.
very possible, there are endless foodstalls and they serve all sorts of pig parts. The challenge is finding the tastey bits or finding something that is not pork.
i really, really wanna be like you when i grow up. wow. can i come over for dinner? i’m only just across the country…lol