I'M BACK! with A Fork in the Road: Paris

It's been awhile! I took up working in kitchens in both NYC and Houston, so time was limited to blog.
Most recently, I traveled to Paris and had an insanely fabulous trip with my family.  This post will just highlight some of my favorite parts.

We all know the fruit and vegetables taste fresher (and different!) and are brighter colored in the EU. These were no exception.

See those cherry tomatoes? The best! We were buying almost daily. Sweet and just cracked perfectly when you bit down.

The beautiful Romanesco and purple artichoke

Flaky, buttery croissant from Des Gateaux et Du Pain in St. Germain
A shoppe with perfect pastries and magnificently showcased. 

 This was probably my favorite part of the trip.  Not only did I wake up every morning and run with my brother and get to 'see' the city in a different way, but we also walked through many of the open-air markets. It was orgasmic every time!  Here is a link of the markets throughout Paris: http://www.parisianlocal.com/a-list-of-street-markets-in-paris-by-day-of-the-week/

Early in the morning, I would see the fishmonger cracking open sea urchin and little old women eating it with tiny silver spoons.

Rod enjoying his well-earned banana Nutella crepe after a run.

Lights of my life, my parents.

Far and away the best meal we had in Paris. Waknine is an Asian influenced French restaurant. The halibut, steak tatare and roasted potatoes were superb!

Get to Paris in the Spring at least once in your lifetime!

And a HUGE thank you to my dad for taking my brother and myself on a trip we will never forget!

SHUTTERED Calliope

Calliope is one the few East Village restaurants I really love.  Sure, the neighborhood is fun and cheap, but higher-end restaurant quality (aside from the likes of Alder, Prune, Porsena and a couple others) is practically non-existent.  It could be the most perfect, casual romantic French bistro.

Ever since The Times published an article on the happy hour oyster craze in NYC, it is pretty difficult to get me to pay regular prices for oysters (and why would you?!?!); but Calliope is an exception...though they now have a 5-7p oyster happy hour!  Their East Coast oysters with mignonette are delicious and it wasn't even so much about the oysters, but the sauce.  Oddly, mignonette can taste different everywhere and they have a superb one with cracked pepper.

Due to my total obsession with sea urchin, I had to order the sea urchin toasts and these were a disappointment.  It could be that the urchin was from Maine and personally, I only care for the California kind, but the texture was a little too slimy and tasted too fishy.  Serves me right for ordering that anywhere but a sushi joint.

One of the best dishes of the night was the spring onion, leek and goat cheese tart.  You could taste the layers in the dough with pillowy goat cheese topped with greens.  Worth the $14 (gasp).

Looking to get your green on?  Look no further than this salad.

My mom always orders 'exotic' menu items thinking they will always be the most tasteful.  The quail with chantrelle mushrooms, cipollinis and vinegar fell a little short of better than average.  It was tasty, but spending time getting meat off small game birds doesn't exactly pay off in the end.  Plus, it just looked like a mish-mosh of stuff.

Chicken was never a dish I would want to order until I had chicken from Barbuto.   Now, it is in the rotation at even the finest of restaurants.  This roasted chicken had the crispiest of skin and perfectly seasoned, juicy meat served with stuffed cabbage and carrots.

Standout dish of the evening was the milk-poached halibut, green chickpeas, favas and white asparagus.  Do NOT leave Calliope without ordering this!  The presentation, the texture, the spring peas!  All in glorious harmony together.

The best part of my night was seeing this:

Two people that have been together for 50 years and still in love.  My parents.

Aldea

Amuse Bouche of ramp, mussel, mushroom, broth, coconut foam and disk of spicy ham

Sea Urchin toast meticulously prepared with tweezers - cauliflower cream, sea lettuce and lime

Lightly lemon-cured fluke with bacon, crunchy soy and almond milk

If there is ever a poached egg dish, of any sort, on a menu, I order it. This slow poached egg in a garlic broth with bacon, peas, mushroom and seasonal black truffles is an appetizer to be reckoned with.

Hanger Steak - smoked potatoes, golden carrots and piquillo peppers

Growing up in Texas, I've eaten my fair share of game and this venison is 1st rate. I've only had one venison dish that was perfection at Auberge de Soleil in Napa. This was a Denver leg cut crusted with coriander, mustard seed, star anise, clove, cumin and black pepper and then cooked on the plancha. Then it is topped with a crumble of toasted almond, crispy shallot and huckleberry, then the napa cabbage, a froth made with hazelnut milk and finally a pomegranate reduction.

Watching George Mendes' tattooed staff cleaning after a hard night's work.

Basta Pasta

It was a last-minute decision to head to Basta Pasta, an Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant in Chelsea. Far more Japanese than Italian, this restaurant represents an interesting union between two cultures so passionate about their culture and cuisine. The industrial sized space favors Eastern minimalism, with the ambiance of a loud, Italian family gathered for dinner. Most patrons were Japanese (always a good sign in a Japanese restaurant) and the waitstaff was attentive and polite.

The bagna cauda appetizer was a simple crudite plate accompanied by a warm anchovy cream dip. The dip was a well-balanced blend of cream and anchovy; not too creamy and the right amount of anchovy that doesn't result in fishiness.

The spaghetti was the lighter of the two pastas served with the tobiko highlighted. Tobiko is versatile in cooking with its slightly sweet, salty flavor followed by crunchiness. The shiso leaf is such an underused ingredient; typically used as a garnish under the ginger and daikon in sushi restaurants (try it on a piece of tai, Japanese snapper, sushi with lemon and salt). It's pretty much used the way for the pasta, but with the shiso shredded on top, it actually has a chance of being consumed with each bite.

The uni linguine didn't sit for more than 20 seconds before I had to dig in, therefore, no photo was taken...next time. The brininess of the uni was lost in the pink sauce with basil, but the richness and creaminess was not. My tastebuds were overhyped and although it wasn't a letdown at all, I expected a little more.

The poached pears covered with vanilla ice cream and zabaglione were...if I may...a light way to end the meal. They somehow managed to play perfectly off one another in a dessert that could have been a sugar overload.

Basta Pasta 37 West 17th Street (212)366-0888
www.bastapastanyc.com