Year one: American Thai

It's been awhile (about a little over a month) and I apologize immediately for my neglect. I started a new job and began the most famous time of year of us media buyers; UPFRONTS!!!  But let's be honest, this isn't a real excuse as to why my post on Kin Shop is soooo late.  I mean KFitz and I went there to celebrate knowing each other for a whole year, which was back in Feburary.  Better late than....never???

Since it was our anniversary dinner, deciding on a place was huge for us foodies. We contemplated for weeks; we even made a reservation through opentable at Spice Market. After tons of research, reading lots of reviews and falling in love with Chef Harold Dieterle, we canceled the first res and decided to take our chance at Kin Shop. And what a fantastic decision; not that Spice Market isn't delicious but that's a subject of a larger Jean Georges post.  "Coming Soon"  Obviously, Asian inspired food was the direction we wanted to head in and Kin Shop did not disappoint.  

Over lovely conversation about how great our drinks are, Kev and I shared the Crispy Roti and Tasting of Condiments while we waited for our apps to arrive. We should have had patience to wait to eat the roti with main meal as is proper.  

DRINKS FOR THE EVENING: 

Massa(man)hattan - old verholt rye, vya sweet vermouth, angostura vitters & massaman-brown sugar syrup

The ALN - farmer's organic gin, house-made spicy thai pickle brine & pickled watermelon radis.

Tasting of condiments 

Food Photo: pork fried rice

Wish I could give you the recipe for this but I'm not even sure how I made it. What I can tell you is how amazingly delicious it was. Oh and that it really doesn't need a recipe; kev and I used mostly the same ingredients and ended up with two very different fried rices.

What I used:
Brown rice
Carrots
Celery
Mushrooms
Peppers
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Fish sauce
Canola oil
Pork
Egg

Wow didn't realize how many things actually went into this meal. Well it was worth it

Dinner Adventure #2

There's always that one restaurant, people speak so highly of, and that blows every expectation out of the water. Momofuku Ssam Bar is that restaurant for me. I vividly remember Jeana talking about her encounter with their pork buns (at the time I didn't actually eat pork due to my own ignorance- boy was I missing out) and how amazingly delicious they were. I immediately added them to the bucketlist of places to eat (yes there's a bucket list).

When Kevin and I met, aside from falling head over heels for each other, we bonded over our mutual love for food.  I immediately mentioned how Momofuku was my number one restaurant and he proceeded to tell me about his experience there with what he calls "the perfect scallop" (just for reference, they no longer offer this "scallop" as the menu is always changing).  A few months later and SURPRISE, he takes me to Momofuku Ssam for my birthday dinner. Eating here is unlike any experience; there is no restaurant to compare it to or food type to describe it; it's one of those places you need visit to see for yourself.  We indulged in pork buns, bar buns, crispy rice cakes with sausage, soft shell crab and one of the best pork chops I've ever eaten.  I'll admit to a foodgasm I had while eating one of the pork buns that a waitress actually caught. Needless to say, aside from my favorite birthday gift ever (Canon Rebel) because that clearly held a special place for the evening; this was one of the greatest meals I've ever had.  Now, along with Jeana, Kev and many others; Momofuku holds a special place in my heart.