Tag Archives: Let’s eat

Lunch at the much talked about Tartine Manufactory in pictures and prose

To me, travel and food are one of the most exciting couples around.  They are one of those rare, precious, giving duos that in tandem have filled my life with some of its most precious, memorable moments!  And with all due respect, I rarely think of one without the other.

On a recent trip to San Francisco, it was only natural for me to think of the places I wanted to experience on the food scene.  Tartine Manufactory bubbled up to the top of that list.  A place that started off with more humble beginnings as Tartine Bakery, now has a chic, light filled, industrial outpost as well where bread is baked and meals are served.  The teaser here is that bread is available after 10:30 am till it is sold out!

True to its calling, the place serves up the most delicious bread and baked goods.  But I was also pleasantly surprised with the creativity displayed in the salads on the menu.  As a party of six, we sampled an assortment of items.

Let’s start with the basics.  The bread served with butter that contains specks of salt crystals is to die for.  The grilled cheese is buttery perfection on the outside with a creamy, veggie concoction on the inside.  And what’s not to like about the roasted eggplant flatbread? The most pleasant surprise came in the form of a tomato and stone fruit salad.  Surprise, because this was a bread place and delight because it was the perfect amalgamation of flavors and attractiveness that left me smiling from ear to ear.

Here are pictures from our lunch.

You too can get inspired by their menu.  Have you eaten at either the bakery or the Manufactory? If so, what were your favorites?

Eating our way through London for 192 hours!

By Lakshmi:

Can I make a confession? I’m a baby about my birthdays!  For many years now, I’ve made a resolution to not work on my birthday and fill the day surrounded by the people,  activities and food I love.  And every year I look forward to the 24 hours dedicated to me.  But this time around, I decided to extend the celebration to 192 hours. That’s right, eight days of eating my way through London with my teenaged daughter and her dear friend for company.

Now, this was going to be no random Eatathon.  I had a wish list of five places I definitely wanted to hit up on my trip.  Places where tables tend to get booked up months ahead of time. And here I was with my air tickets to London purchased barely two weeks away from D-day! OpenTable and the phone became my best friends as I wrangled my way to reservations at all five.  With those anchors set, I scoured my way through bookmarked clippings from food and travel magazines, Time Out London, and other sources to create a list of restaurants by neighborhood that served amazing meals at not too exorbitant prices.  This list was vetted by my travel companions, and the end product was a list accented with highlights and bold colors.  We were ready to forage our way through London!

The first stop on this journey was a dream come true.  NOPI, a restaurant by one of my favorite chefs, Yottam Ottolenghi.  He is the MAN who does vegetables like no other.  The flavors, the seasoning, the fresh taste, the creativity…I could just go on and on.

My excitement entering in was like a kid who had been promised a trip to a candy store for a long time and now had permission to pick out anything she wanted.  Let me walk you through a visual journey of what we ate!  If I had to pick one word to describe the meal? Divine.  Add another word? Magic!  Tell you how I felt? Like Royalty. How was the taste? It was a like a perfectly orchestrated taste festival on my tongue.  And my admiration for the creator of this culinary nirvana? Undying!

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The menu – presenting us with the agonizing tradeoffs we would be subject to!!

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Bread with the richest olive oil you could dream of

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AAhhhhh! Nothing like marinated olives with a glass of wine

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Jicama, smokey jalapeno and tomato salsa – I’m crying with happiness

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Mixed seed lavash with burnt spring onion dip – too bad we were in a place where it would be inappropriate to lick our bowl clean

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Roasted butternet squash, red onion, tahini, zatar – nowhere have I tasted squash this good

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Spiced potato cakes with a topping of parsnip chips

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Peanut and caramel icecream with chocolate sauce and peanut brittle – should I eat them separately or mix them?

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Baked chocolate ganache, plum soil, creme fraiche, the perfect backdrop for a candle

Stay tuned for our next post on this 192 hour food fueled journey through London!

Funk and Waffles: Taking College Breakfasts to the Next Level

By Rohan:

Funk and Waffles is more than off the beaten path. In order to get to this Syracuse University favorite, you have to cross through a mini-mall and go down a set of hidden concrete stairs. But what lies on the other end of this voyage is definitely worth the trip.

This little dive has been serving Syracuse students for years, and after months of hearing about it, I just had to try it out. I grabbed a few friends and we decided to go for breakfast before a long day of work and classes (a la Friends).

The decor is perfect for a college eatery. Bright colored chairs, plenty of seating, and funky artwork adorn the walls. There is a stage off to one corner of the restaurant, where open mic-nights and poetry readings take place every now and then. It brings yet another sense of community to the campus. Here you’ll see everything from friends reuniting over piping-hot waffles to groups working on projects in one of the restaurant’s booths. The music that plays in the diner matches its quirky name. Everything from Aretha Franklin to Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead to The Beatles. Funk and Waffles certainly knows how to bring spunk to a campus that is known for freezing over in the winter.

Oh, and did we mention they serve some of the best waffles around? Their buttermilk waffle with powdered sugar and hot maple syrup might make your taste buds go crazy, but their menu surpasses any other breakfast joint I’ve been to in recent history. Toppings ranging from strawberries, blueberries, Nutella, chocolate chips, Oreo cookies, spinach, artichoke, mushrooms, bacon, basically anything that can be put on a waffle will be put on a waffle at this quirky eatery. They have a large espresso bar and certainly know how to make a killer latte. If you need something to cool you down (which would be surprising considering upstate New York’s brutal winters), they also have great smoothies and juices made from fresh fruit.

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If you’re in the Syracuse area, be sure to give Funk and Waffles a try. Their atmosphere, food, charm, and servers will win you over in a heartbeat. To get there, cross through Marshall Square Mall and you’ll see signs pointing to that infamous stairwell.

For more information on Funk and Waffles, visit http://funknwaffles2.blogspot.com/