BEA 2013…..the food post (aka – the one y’all keep buging me to post) Warning! It’s loooong

I tried to get my BEA book post up in a timely fashion but then you’re all…where’s the food post?? I want the food p*rn post! SO demanding!! lol But here you go!

I promise to take a real camera next time because my phone takes the worst pictures, especially in low light conditions.

My first welcome to NYC snack was from my hotel – warm chocolate chip cookies from the Double Tree Inn



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The BEA breakfast of champions. Or more commonly known as…the only food available at Javits Center that early in the morning.



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But my favorite place for breakfast is Good Enough to Eat. No matter what I order it is always delicious. Plus the have strawberry butter to go with their fresh biscuits! Can I just say that bacon pictured was the best bacon I’ve ever had. It was thick, crispy and cooked so perfectly it melted.



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We wanted to try a few new places this time so we stopped for dinner at The Meatball Shop. (excuse my bad photos – low lighting made for blurry pics)



Each table has an erasable menu with a marker. You start by checking off the “naked balls” of your choice – beef, pork, chicken. veggie or the special, then pick your sauce and your sides.

The meatballs were good but it was the side dishes that were a standout. We got beef & pork meatballs – tomato & mushroom sauces with mashed potatoes, a cold roasted vegetable salad with a lemon vinaigrette (that was SO good!) and spinach.

Then dessert! You can make your own ice cream sandwich by choosing your cookie & then your ice cream. We made one using ginger snap cookies with vanilla ice cream YUM.

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Another new discovery was Café Blossom, a vegan restaurant that a friend of mine had recommended. I’m not vegan but I love my veggies and grains too! We loved this place so much we ate at two of their locations, on two different nights.



We had Garlic Herb Gnocchi (not pictured) AMAZING, a quinoa salad with black beans, veggies & a guacamole topping, Smoked BBQ Tempeh with potato salad and fresh pico de gallo which was delicious! Cheesecake (meh) and chocolate mousse (yum) for dessert. The next night we brought a friend and had Roasted Vegetable quinoa, Seitan Marsala, Fettuccini Alfredo.

I highly recommend this place whether you’re vegetarian or not.

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We also tried a few new snack food places...

Bee’s Knees Baking Company. They have cake in a cup! We had the Chocolate Salted Caramel (the most popular flavor) and Honey Bourbon (which was so strong that I’m pretty sure I got drunk from it)



Pie Face – mini pies – both sweet and savory. We bought a several sweet pies (pumpkin, chocolate cream cheesecake and apple crumble) but I would love to go back and try more! If you ever go you MUST try their Aussie iced coffee! Iced espresso blended with ICE-CREAM! Why are we not doing this in the US???? It’s a travesty. It would kill the Frappuccino.

 

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Two places we MUST go to every NYC visit is Tea & Sympathy for my scones and clotted cream (not as gross as it sounds – promise) and Magnolia Bakery. I’ve tried a lot of cupcakes in NY but these are still my favorite. I like the size and delicate texture with  the fluffy buttercream frosting. They remind of the cupcakes my mom used to make when I was a kid. I also got their banana cream pudding this time. It’s made with nilla wafers which apparently everyone thinks is unusual but that’s how my mom made it all the time when I was a kid. the recipe is right on the box.

  

I do want to try this place the next time we visit NYC. I was just all cupcaked out at this point. I know…shocking! lol But I guess even I can have too many cupcakes.



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Eataly the restaurant/ Italian food Disney like theme park boasting Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich as partners. It’s crazy busy there and overpriced but the food is top quality and delicious.

We had a cheese/meat sampler, then pasta & pizza – ummm….forgot to take a picture first. It was good.

 

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Shake Shack! I can not go to NYC and NOT get Shake Shack. They have the best hamburgers and shakes. YUM. YUM. YUM.



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And the last place we went to was a totally new experience for me that I’ve been dying to try. My hubby & I were lucky enough to be invited to Dim Sum with Pam Midnyte Reader and Kate – Midnight Book Girl. Dim Sum intimidated me because I have no idea what the food is. Pam had been before but the rest of us were newbies at her mercy.



The place was HUGE with food being carted around and you choose what you want to share with the table. A lot of of it is in dumplings so you have no idea what is inside. It’s a gamble (even though they tell you, it’s a generic answer– like pork. Okay but what part of the pig exactly??) I just kept saying – no chicken feet!

It was a little overwhelming at first and there were a few misses but almost all of it was amazing! Especially the dumplings (pic – top rt). OMG –they look bland but are so sweet and delicious. I also asked for tofu (pic – bottom rt) , expecting those firm cubes to mix with rice and Pam brought me a bowl of what could best be described as gelatinous, chunky goo. She had this face that said…hey – this is what you asked for lol Since I ordered it I decided to give it a shot. It was SO good. Really creamy like a dessert with a sweet honey flavor. We all ended up loving it. HUGE surprise.

I really have to try Dim Sum again. I will investigate it further beforehand though so I’m not as intimidated and (hopefully) know what I’m asking for.

So that’s it guys! I love BEA and all the books but thing I look forward to most is the food.