Marumi, the first sushi place in New York I fall in love with. It begins when I was a fresh grad who have no money, bold enough to sold my car and move to New York City with no job prospect in sight. I would work 20 hours a day, have only a plain bagel with no cream cheese for lunch (well, cream cheese cost extra $0.50 at the time). Drowning myself in cheap coffee and smoke way too much to keep myself awake and not feel the hunger.
It wasn’t until my second Christmas in New York that I felt I can live here, not only survive. It was that winter, a friend invited me to a birthday dinner at Marumi. Right there, it was love at first bite. A favorite was discovered. That was 2002. It’s been almost 15 years now, and I consider myself a loyal regular at Marumi.
Month: <span>June 2016</span>
These are probably old news now, but I have been busy (eating), and finally get around to organize what we did in Miami……
Most people go to Miami for the sunny beach paradise, or the hot night scenes, some for the infinite pool side parties with frozen beverages, but I come to Miami for one thing, food… well, mostly. The sweet fried chicken at Yard Bird itself is enough reason for me to hop on the plane, plus the stone crab, and all the Cuban food… Honestly, I really don’t know how folks who live in Miami keep up with their beach body. Though our visit to various eateries, everything had been amazing, and we were very satisfied and keep going back for more. But, there’s always a but. During our most recent visit to Miami, we have encountered our first disappointment.
The Pubbelly boys, a trio of rising stars in the culinary world base out of Miami. Since the opening of Pubbelly in 2010, this empire now has 6 restaurants under the brand. All are critically acclaimed. Pubbelly and Pubbelly Sushi in Miami are both on the Eater Miami heat map for a long time, and still are. In fact, the year that Pubbelly opened, Chef Mendin was nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef South award. He made it to the semi-final, then again and again, four years in a row. The other Pubbelly boy is Chef Navarro. The brothers met while working together at Nobu Miami and Sushisamba. Between this dynamic pair, Mendin takes cares of food, while Navarro gets in touch with his designer talent, and whatever they are doing, they seem to be getting it right. But….. we feel very differently.
Facebook, snap chat, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter…. How many does one need? Social media certainly change the way we live. Not only has it changed the way we communicate (or not communicating) to each other, also change the way we view the world. Nowadays, we get our latest news from twitter; express (or stalk) our concern to our love ones on Facebook; share everything from vacation pictures, cats video to what we had for lunch on yelp, Instagram and snap chat. I admit, I am one of these people, other than all the articles that I can read from authoritative “food” news outlets, I occasionally read reviews from yelp, but definitely check out the pictures from Instagram. Yes, they are not all trustworthy, and sometime the pictures can be deceiving or it doesn’t do the place any justice. Either way, I found myself checking out other people’s food journeys more than I should. But sometimes, it pays off. We would found places off the hidden path, and sometimes, I would got lured in by the pictures. Sushi DaiZen is one of the places I’m got drawn in by the power of social media.
Don’t remember when but ramen seems to have invaded the NYC dining scene. It wasn’t a thing before Momofuku. I remember a time when Rai Rai Ken seemingly the city’s only option, and I would have to cross the river to Mitsuwa to get a decent bowl. Thanks to David Cheung, all the sudden, NYers are obsessed. Nowadays, there is always a line outside of Ippudo; Momofuku became an empire; everyone is making ramen. The Japanese slurping culture became a trend here, a hip thing to do. Ramen places keep popping up all over the city. Minca, Mr Taka are among my favorites, to name a few. And now the Iron Chef decided he can make ramen too. Well, not exactly that he is “making” ramen. Morimoto team up with Sun noodle (US-based ramen manufacture, factories in NJ, LA & Honolulu) -to deliver his vision of ramen to NYers. Their love child- Momosan open its door on an April Friday evening near Grand Central.