Guerrilla Ice Cream

No, no... guerrilla, not gorilla.

Yesterday Lauren and I ventured down to the Hester Street Fair and found what might be the best ice cream I've had all week, maybe even all month. It's called Guerrilla Ice Cream and they have some of the most genius flavors I've seen. I got the yogurt flavored sorbet topped with halvah and pomegranate molasses. Is your mouth watering yet? They also had Chai Masala topped with sliced almonds and candied fennel. The most visually impressive flavor was the dark chocolate/port wine flavor, which was then dressed up with cashews and bananas that they fosters-ized in front of you with a blow torch. 

If the flavors aren't enough to motivate you to go chase these guys down every weekend, then their philanthropy hook should - 100% of the profits go to helping marginalized communities around the globe. Each flavor of ice cream is named after political movements around the world. That's right. They're the ice cream men that care. I'm not 100% on how all the distributions of funds works, but I like to think that because I ordered their Lebanese flavor that somehow I was helping the people in the old country. 

Who wants to chase them down when I get back?

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Gorilla" Yazge

Jacques, mon ami

This man knows what he's doing.

My latest chocolate love is a variety of dark Mexican Oaxaca (pronounced wah-ha-kah). It's chocolate that's seasoned with chipotle flavors and cayenne pepper. Some people might think it sounds weird, but it adds a really clean, refreshing finish. It's not like you're sitting there begging for water because it's so spicy. Think of it as more of an afterthought than an overpowering flavor. Jacques Torres understands my love, and has addressed my love with his trademark flavor called "Wicked" - his take on Oaxaca. Even better, he took that flavor and made it into Ice Cream. So on our little adventure through three boroughs yesterday, Lauren and I stumbled upon the Jacques Torres location in DUMBO (the neighborhood in Brooklyn, not the elephant). It was instantly deemed necessary for me to eat something. We grabbed some Wicked ice cream and sat on the rocks over in the park, 10 feet from the water and watched the sun set over the Brooklyn bridge and New York skyline. This is one of the millions of reasons why I love New York.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Oaxaca" Yazge

Ciao for Now!

So there are two muffins in an oven. The first muffin says to the second muffin, "Man, it's really hot in here." The second muffin says, "OH MY GOD! A TALKING MUFFIN!"

These muffins sure were speaking to me. You know what they were saying? Eat me. Well, technically I had cupcakes, but one was carrot cake, so I feel that counts. I bought and used my first Groupon yesterday at a restaurant literally around the block from me called Ciao for Now. It's a great little cafe that has a lot of locally sourced ingredients with great organic/vegetarian options. I really wish I would have known that it was there 3 months ago, because I've been looking for a place with this vibe all summer.

Thanks to both Groupon and my mother, Lauren and I enjoyed a delicious dinner/dessert. I got the Asian chop salad, which was really filling without being too heavy. Sometimes if there's too much dressing or they use too much sesame oil you can feel a little gross after eating those types of salads. To drink we got their lemon ginger green tea, which was like a glass of sippable heaven. Again, they really know how to flavor things, because you weren't left with that sticky/congested feeling you can sometimes get with flavored and sweetened teas. It was enough flavor to enjoy, but no so much you couldn't finish the glass.

Long story short we loved the place (and the people that worked there) and we're going back tomorrow for brunch! Anyone want to join???


Ciao (for now) Bella!

Matteo "Talking Muffin" Yazge

So a shark walks into a park...

Don't be confused. This picture does includes neither a shark nor a park.

Lauren and I made crepes tonight. Why? Because we're going to celebrate Shark Week in the park tomorrow night. Well, it's really more that we're meeting Jamie for the movie their showing at Pier 54. It's Julie & Julia, so we thought it would be appropriate to bring a good supply of food with us. And maybe wine. We're not committing to a position right now. The confirmed menu includes an arugula/watermelon/feta salad, potato salad, quinoa, and crepes with a Nutella-like spread for dessert. I say "Nutella-like" because we went to Whole Foods today and they didn't have Nutella. The salesman said it was because there's some hydrogenated oil or something in it... we looked confused and disheartened, so he grabbed Lauren's hand, comforted her and said "But we do have several other hazelnut/chocolate spreads that - unlike Nutella - won't kill you." Who needs a doctor or therapist? Those Whole Foods employees are great!

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Not going to die thanks to Whole Foods" Yazge

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Meat

My new gastronomic obsession...

Is there anything more primal, more manly, than giant balls of meat? And now there's a restaurant on the Lower East Side that sells only that: lots and lots of meatballs. Not only is their food amazing, but they're really good at naming things. The restaurant's name for instance - The Meatball Shop. No ambiguity there. Though they have a lot more than just your mother's meatballs. Take a look at the menu below:

You can get SO many things with your meatballs. Who doesn't love polenta, especially when it's freshly milled? And for all you brioche-heads out there, I personally think that's their best sandwich. I get my veggie meatballs on the brioche with pesto and some provolone. Delicious. And just when you think the fun is over, then there's dessert! They make their own ice cream sandwiches by hand. First you pick your cookie (or brownie) and then you pick you flavor of homemade ice cream. I got a brownie sandwich with mint ice cream. They even use real mint! You can see and taste the leaves in the ice cream. No artificial flavoring here!

The best part is how affordable the whole thing is. Now I just have to figure out how much I need to work out so that I can keep going back on a regular basis!


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Meat-balled" Yazge

Sasquatch Visits the Garden

The Brooklyn BEER Garden!

Sticking with our Tribal theme for the week, I thought it'd be good to get back to nature. And what better place to do that than a garden... full of beer. Do you see the trees in the picture? It's practically a forest in there. And don't forget that those benches used to be trees too. Just because they're dead trees, doesn't make them any less a part of nature.

So, tonight I'm headed to the Brooklyn Beer Garden. I've been there once before, to watch the US/England World Cup match. It's a pretty happenin' place, not to mention that it's in the middle of a very Eastern European part of Williamsburg. As if I needed any more of a blessing to go to the garden, there's a huge Orthodox church right down the street complete with onion domes. While my night is more likely to include onion rings, I still think that somewhere up there, my grandfathers are smiling down at me, proud that I'm connecting with my inner beer-drinking roots. I'll toast a pint of lager to you guys! Pofta Buna!!!

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Garden Guy" Yazge

Things that are delicious...

It was love at first bite.

I haven't actually tried a bite of it yet, but I made flan last night. This is the same flan I mentioned a few days ago, the celebratory flan for Spain's win and my winning of the pool. I'm not going to lie; caramel makes me nervous. I've never seen it made, so I wasn't sure if it was going right? I kept adding more water, or more sugar, which I don't think you're supposed to do. With my luck, there is a huge layer of burnt sugar at the bottom of this pan. Whatever. While I promised the people at work a flan, I never said anything about it being edible.

Something that I made last night that I both tried and was fantastic was a shitake squid risotto. Three of my favorite things all wrapped into one. Well, more than three. Shitake mushrooms, squid, rice, Argentine wine, cheese, etc. Leftovers may be the best part of that experiment. Too bad I don't measure things or write down proportions. Odds are I'll never be able to replicate it. So for a limited time only, hunt me down at my office and you can try some. (While supplies last).

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Flanmeister" Yazge

The Truffle Shuffle

It has given me a riso to live... 

I have two words for you: truffle oil. Yesterday after work I met up with Jamie, my partner in crime from my time in Italy, and just life in general. We ended up going to Risotteria on Bleecker St. I had never been before, but I have a feeling I'll be back early and often. Why wouldn't you go back when you could get Porcini and White Truffle Oil Risotto? 

Now, I'm going to be honest. I did't entirely know what a truffle is. I knew that they use pigs to hunt them down in the woods, and according to someone on the Food Network, apparently they've started using dogs to hunt them too. Mainly because the pigs eat them once they find them. But who could blame a pig for doing that? I'd do it. Does that make me a pig? Don't answer that. So anyway, I did a quick wikipedia search on truffles and apparently they're a "fungal fruiting body." The accompanying photos didn't make truffles look particularly appetizing, so instead I've pictured toddler-sized mushrooms running running through the forrest with fruit growing off their bodies, trying to escape a herd of swine. 

If that visual wasn't enough to convince you should be eating things with truffle oil, try this video on for size. I'd do this if it meant I'd get truffle oil at every meal:

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Truffle Shuffle" Yazge

Pure Blintz

Let's get blintzed!

The padre and I went out for breakfast this morning before he hit the road to go back home. Under no other circumstances would I be awake at 8am on a Saturday morning. Apparently no one else is up at 8am either, and the only place we could find open for breakfast was Veselka - quite possibly the best Ukranian diner the world has ever known. They even have a cookbook now. And that cookbook even has a quote from John Stewart on it. What more could you ask for? Nothing.

For those of you who don't know, I'm one of the least decisive people you will ever meet. Menus daunt me. So I turned to a good friend's advice this morning: "Always go with the blintzes. Trust me. Our people do them right." (Thank you Tammy Schaffer). And boy was she spot on. These blintzes were HUGE, and had the best sweet cheese filling I've ever blintzed. Add a little raspberry sauce and powdered sugar and you're good to go. It was the perfect way to cap off a really great couple days with il padre!


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Blintz-meister" Yazge


P.S. - anyone interested in trying to make these from scratch next weekend???

Oh! Oh! Ballarò!

Take away that large plate of food, and insert 'un cornetto'. Grazie!

My love for Ballarò never fails. I went this morning for caffè and un corentto - the Italian variation on the croissant. DELIZIOSO! Since I no longer get my daily fix of Italian pastries on the NYU Florence campus, I have to find something equally as buttery and delicious. Plus, the Italians just know how to do coffee way better than anyone I know. And I know a lot of people. I'm kind of a big deal.

One thing that I don't like is that my Italian is slipping. I used a bit of it with the waitress. Most of the people that work at Ballarò are honest to Caesar Italians. So I feel the need to embarrass myself in front of them with my feeble attempts at their language. It didn't help any that I was wearing my Fiorentina jersey. Such a poser. But the good news is that I may have gotten my hands on a copy of the language-lesson software that I will not name on this blog, mainly because I don't want them to know I have a questionably legal copy of their product. Let's just say it rhymes with Hosetta Bone, and may or may not be named after a famous tablet that first helped decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. CHEERS!

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Cornetto" Yazge

It's a dairy kind of day!

This is the face I get when cheese is around...

How I managed to live in this city for three years and never enter the 3rd Ave. cheese store until today is a mystery that may never be solved. It also may be the most genius store I have ever laid eyes on. Here's a few shots of the shop:

  

Outside and In...

Everything is so ridiculously cheap. I don't even understand how they can sell it for that little. I got the biggest wedge of brie for $3. And not disgusting brie either. This was Presidente, which granted isn't gourmet, but it's a legit hunk of cheese. I also got goat cheese for $2? On what planet. I don't think it could even be that cheap if someone gave you the goat for free and then set you loose to make cheese. This could be bad for my bank account though. Lots of small purchases add up. As do saturated fats... 

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Formaggio" Yazge

A Solid Cup of Joe

It's true love...

Yesterday I took some people from my building to a cupping session over at Joe's Coffee. It was amazing. A cupping session is what buyers and brewers do to decide which beans to order for their locations. Think of it as a wine tasting, only for coffee. First you get to sample the scents of the grounds, which are then steeped in hot water. You get to sample the aromas, and then actually drink some of the coffee. Apparently, it's considered good tasting practice to slurp. It moves the coffee evenly across your tongue, so that no taste group (sweet, bitter, sour, etc.) over-influences the flavor. Think about that next time you're drinking coffee. SLURP. IT. UP.

We also learned all about sustainable coffee growing, fair trade, and all that jazz. I never knew how much went into making coffee. One of the more interesting tid-bits was that big places like Starbucks who offer "roast" varieties, French Roast and the like, essentially just take crappy coffee beans and burn the buh-jeezes out of them. Then all you taste is the "roasty" flavor. So really you're not tasting coffee. You're tasting roast. So if you like drinking smokey fire that has no real coffee value, keep guzzling all the Starbucks you want. When you're ready for a real honest to java cup of coffee, slurp your way over to me and a dude named Joe.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Joe-tteo" Yazge

Maztos and Massage

Protecting bubbulah's everywhere from leavened bread.

I'm not Jewish. Though many people, after looking at my nose, assume that I am. But I do feel very Jew-adjacent. In addition to my shnaz, I enjoy lox and shmere, deli food, and have a long history of family guilt. So with Passover approaching, I decided to buy a box of Matzos. It's delicious, especially with Whole Food's corn and seafood bisque. I'm not particularly sure that you're supposed to eat matzos with other things? I plead not guilty on the basis that I'm a gentile. But assuming that you can mix matzos with different food, you should. 

You know what else you should do? Get a massage. Better yet, a Swedish massage. I have no idea whether my massage therapist was Swedish, Jewish, or a matzos fanatic, but I'd like to think she was all three. I enjoy harmony among all the elements of my day. It's even better when this harmony includes getting the golfball-sized knot out of my left shoulder. Seriously. Try it some time. Ask for Helga Markowitz, aka - Matzos Woman.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Massage-a-matzos" Yazge

Life. Lick it.

Loving every minute of it.

This is why Kirstie Alley is amazing, and Oprah is a huge loser. OK, so ignore the bazillions of dollars, the media empire, success and notoriety. Because you're still a tool (Oprah) if you have all those things and can't make me laugh (on purpose). There are so many similarities between these two women:

1. They yo-yo diet like they're putting on layers of fat for the winter, then starving in the summer.
2. They have very distinctive ways of talking... (EVERYONE'S GETTING A BRAND NEW CAAAAAAAAR!!!)
3. I really didn't care about either one of them. Until now.

I had to turn Kirstie's show on halfway through (I'm watching as I write), but already I'm loving every freaking minute of it. They all call her "mommy"? I'm just glad they didn't add a "dearest" to the end of it. And if this whole season is about her losing weight, we're in for some good sound bites. There's nothing more desperate than a D-List celebrity trying to drop 75 pounds.  OH OH! She just called a man she calls her "fat friend" and invited him over to eat. They're talking about weight loss... OVER FOOD. And cocaine just entered the conversation. Maybe that was where all the pounds went: the lines of blow. Whatever. I don't care. All I know is I love this show, and Kirstie Alley is a genius.

The last minutes of the premier was the weigh-in. Her initial weight at the beginning of the season: 230 pounds. She didn't want to hear it in pounds, so she had them convert it to stones (some British measure???). I'm pretty sure she just made that up to make herself feel better. It involved doing long division, and that didn't go so well. Apparently the only thing harder than staying skinny is doing math.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Lick It" Yazge

My jet is lagging...

This just made sense...

So what else are you supposed to do when your body tells you it's 2 in the afternoon, when really it's 2 am? Bingo! Go out for a drink with some friends.

Here's what I don't understand: the entire time we were in Singapore, my body clock was fine. No jet lag. Not even a little bit of helicopter lag or cab lag. There was no lagging of any sort. But right now my body literally can't tell whether it should be sleeping, eating, sweating, spinning, you name it. Although can we discuss how nice it is to have a meal that isn't doused in some variety of fish sauce? Or deep fried with pork? I had a wonderful tofu salad last night for dinner, which all things considered was still very Asian. But the point is that it was something green. I was in Singapore so long I almost forgot what a vegetable was. Like, real vegetables. Not the type that have names that don't translate and are then used to make weird jello or dessert soups. Don't ask. Just understand that my stomach is now being able to digest things without the assistance of anti-nausea medication.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Not-so-Iron-Stomach" Yazge

Food with Soul

If the eyes are the window the soul, then my stomach is the revolving door...

Last night Jamie and I went out to eat. We wanted to go somewhere fun, and I really wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before. And that's when she suggested ACME. That's also remembered that she was a genius.

I've always been a huge fan of soul food. Coincidentally, I also seem to be one of the few white people who crave collard greens. DELICIOUS. ACME is beyond mouthwatering. Every table is set with cornbread and butter, and while I wasn't in the mood for a drink last night, the mango margaritas sounded like heaven in a glass. What I did end up eating was a half-shrimp-half-oyster po boy sandwich. Well, I ate half of it. That's the only thing missing from my undying love for soul food: a bigger stomach. I guess I only have half a soul?


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Po Boy" Yazge

The way to my heart

I don't want to leave the cheeeese!

I find it ironic and fitting that Valentine's Day and the beginning of Lent fall on the same day. There's something very poetic about a season that centers around abstention being kicked of by a day that most people construe as being all about sex. Lucky for me, abstention isn't a huge problem for those who don't participate to begin with. It is a problem, however, when we get to the more serious things: cheese.

Right now I'm scarfing down cheesecake for lunch. Since I'm forgoing cheese and desserts this Lent, I figure it's a double whammy on the last day I'm allowed to eat any of these things. Dinner is going to be SMAC (Sarita's Mac and Cheese). I'm going whole hog, and eating like one too. 

To make matters worse, I'm going to not one, but TWO movies today: An Education and A Single Man. Both are really depressing movies. So, I'm pretty excited about that on Valentine's Day. You think I'd want to see a happy movie, but that just reminds me how not happy my own dating life is. I'd much rather see other dysfunctional relationships that make me feel better about myself. I'm going to see both movies with my local Valentine, Helen. But I also have an out of town Valentine, Lauren (left; she's sad because I can't be with her, hence her turning to the statue for support). You know, it's not Lent just yet. I'm still allowed to have multiple partners. 

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Different Area Codes" Yazge

Chow Time

My latest obsession...

So after meeting with the CBS recruiters at the job fair, I got turned on to chow.com. Essentially, it's everything the inner foodie in me yearns for on a daily basis. It's got recipes, restaurant recommendations, blogs, videos, and an online foodie community. One post involved a woman asking for help with a skim milk béchamel sauce (which I had stellar advice for btw).

As much as I love the graphics and the site overall, my favorite part is the videos. They taught me all about proper keg procedure - you have to put it in ice and let it sit for a few hours before you tap it. There's also an entire series about coffee and espresso. It's like this website was engineered for me. It went perfect with a glass of this week's wine. Oh, you thought I was going to give away what type of wine I'm writing about this week? False. I will say that it also went really well with my leftover paella though!

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Chow-down" Yazge

The Haitian Haze

The only good Haiti graffic on Google images...

There are so many ways to help Haiti, that sometimes you wonder why we weren't helping the impoverished nation BEFORE the earthquake. That's actually part of the problem. It was such a poor country, that it's almost impossible to provide relief efforts because there's no infrastructure to get into the country. But putting all that aside, here's some of the more creative ways I've seen fundraising happening:

1. Eat Cookies for Haiti

Insomnia Cookies is wrapping up a promotion tonight. Half of the proceeds will go to the relief efforts. I'm ordering 50 cookies and giving them to the residents on my dorm floor. Helping people has never been so easy or delicious.

2. Drink for Haiti

Yup. Lots of places are hosting happy hours and other similar promotions to help Haiti. Also, if you're at NYU, there are several Hot Chocolate for Haiti drives going on. While student organizations are not allowed to donate to causes directly from their budgets, that doesn't stop them from buying packets of cocoa, and letting all of your money go to the relief effort!

3. Text

At least let your early onset carpal tunnel do someone some good. Text the word "Haiti" to 90999, then confirm through their follow-up text and donate $10 to the Red Cross.

Better yet, do all three!

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Haitian Helpin" Yazge

Ben & Jerry's, Self-Portraits, and Shakespearean Quotes

Where do the last two pieces go...?

My average evening usually involves a cup of tea, maybe some television, a shower, then a good book right before bed. You know, because I'm an 80-year-old man. I've had many decades to hone this fail-proof evening regimen. But last night I got a call from my friend Sascha, who told me about this bar called "Common Ground". It's a little neighborhood dive over on Avenue A, and on Wednesdays it hosts a Trivia Night. Now you know how I love me a good game of trivia. It feeds the competitive monster inside of me. So naturally I told Sascha that I would be there and that we would win. Or die trying.

I was expecting something along the lines of Jeopardy difficulty for these questions. Man was I wrong. There were six rounds of ten questions. We only stayed for four before giving up. Our categories that we valiantly attempted (and failed at) were Quotable Quotes (historically relevant quotes for which we had to guess the speaker), General Knowledge (which wasn't so general), Ben and Jerry's Flavors, and Self Portraits (we were given the portraits and had to name the artist). For the record, I did know some of the quotes. My love for books ensured I at least knew the ones from Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain. And the Ben and Jerry's thing? That was ridiculous. I didn't see the team that got 9 out of 10 correct, but if I had to guess, they were probably the ones sitting in the corner with a huge plate of hot wings and deep-fried cheese balls.

But fear not! I'm not intimidated. We're recruiting a team and going back! This is not over. Oh, no. It's just begun.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Trivially Untriumphant" Yazge