Coffee Mad

It all started with a friend of mine going to San Francisco and raving about Blue Bottle's New Orleans iced coffee. We soon learned that there's one on Williamsburg and I was enticed to try it by the promise of a sweet coffee with no sugar. I tried it and was fascinated by how it tasted like sweet banana.

Fast forward to less than a year and I'm now in a midst of coffee madness. I bought a Bodum Bistro grinder and a Bodum French Press 8 cup- the Bonavita Thermal coffee drip is tempting but old NYC wiring may not agree with it.

To do justice to the entire endeavor I wanted to make the best coffee I could with two key features- not bitter and chocolatey. I soon learned I despise sour coffee and want to minimize or eliminate it from my brew.

My best coffee method (via French Press):

1. Pick excellent beans and read the roaster's description of the flavor. It's important to know when the beans are roasted, and you may want to wait a day or so after the roasting date before using them. A good roaster knows how to make dark roasted beans without burning them. I prefer medium to dark coffee. I seem to prefer blends and single origins from Latin America. I really like the Roasting Plant's Espresso Blend. Love their charts too.

2. Use a burr grinder. Electric is easier and convenient especially if you want to make more than one batch at a time. Blade grinders don't really allow for coarse settings and heats up the beans. Grind your beans right before you use it. Using Bodum's coffee spoon that approximates 7g I seem to need 7-8 spoons for the French Press to be filled up to the bottom end of the silver band on top.

3. Use clean equipments (and water of course). Coffee is oily so always wash your equipments with soap.

4. Preheat the French Press and use water at 195-200F. I've used my thermometer and it seems like I can eyeball the process now. Let the water come to a boil. Pour about 30ml of it in the press discard the water while the water is back on the stove.

5. Place the grounded coffee in the press and pour the just off boiling water (20-30seconds) evenly, in a circular pattern, to saturate the grounds.

6. Cover the press and wait a minute before stirring, and then replace the cover. Allow an additional 3 minutes to pass. With about 30 seconds left, scoop the coffee grounds on top and discard. Press the plunger. Pour your coffee asap and enjoy.

Clinton Street Baking Co.

Banana walnut pancakes with warm maple butter, $13. It's flavorful and smells fantastic. The warm maple butter was delicious, lightly flavored and not too sweet.

Wild Maine blueberry pancake, $13. It's not as aromatic as its banana counterpart but it's just as airy. It was also generously filled with blueberries.

Both pancakes are the best I've ever had.

Nicely crispy and tasty bacon.

I forgot what kind of tea this was, but my friend didn't like it.

Strawberry lemonade. I love it. Perfect summer drink. If I'm inspired enough I may make it myself.

Eggs benedict, $17. Poached eggs, Petrossian smoked salmon, classic hollandaise, over a toasted buttermilk biscuit. I usually don't care for bread, but it went well with the salmon and eggs.

I do love me some runny egg yolks.

P.S. I ordered the eggs benedict when I went to the restaurant a second time. The pancakes are more than enough for one meal.

Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton Street
New York, NY

Dinner at Basta Pasta

Sangria Bianca, muscat wine and plum wine with mango and I believe there was some grapefruit. A very refreshing drink, and the alcohol was not overpowering.

Calamari alla Griglia. The sauce on the top right is aioli sauce, and I definitely tasted mustard in it. On top of the squid is curry risotto in a sausage-like encasing.

Linguini with sea urchin and jalapeno. What is sea urchin doing in a pasta dish? Well Basta Pasta is a Japanese take on Italian cuisine. The pasta was cooked just right. The sauce took a backseat to the jalapeno even though I wouldn't call this dish spicy at all, just a nice kick to it. The sea urchin was soft and slightly creamy.

I thought a close up pic of sea urchin was needed. This was the biggest piece in the dish.

Fifi or yogurt mousse with honey gelato and various fruits. My friend finished this very quickly so I think it must have been very delicious.

Parmigiano Reggiano Cheesecake. I've never had cheesecake with this kind of texture before. Soft and airy but not creamy at all cheesecake.

My friend and I each had a drink, appetizer, pasta for main course, and dessert. The total was $120.

Basta Pasta
37 West 17th Street

New York, NY 10011-5503

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Dinner at Dera Restaurant

Sweet Mango Lassi, $4. I just wish it was served cold.

I believe this was Chicken Tikka Boneless. I'm not 100% sure because my friend ordered this, but nonetheless this was amazingly tasty. The spices really soaked into the chicken well.

Tandoori Beef, $8. Just like the chicken, deliciously well-spiced. I loved both dishes. However next time I'd also get a dish with some curry sauce.

Dera Restaurant
7209 Broadway
Jackson Heights, NY

Dinner at La Flor

I'm usually not a fan of bread, but I couldn't get enough of this one. Crunchy on the outside but nice and airy on the inside. It's a blueberry bread with one or two blueberries inside.

Steak with soft tacos. The meat was delicious and soft. The salad on the side was also very good.

Chicken pineapple pizza. It was tasty but we couldn't finish it at this point of the meal.

We had this in the beginning so that was probably why we couldn't finish the pizza. Different but just as good as Cannelle Patisserie's hot chocolate, maybe even better because the chocolate flavor is more pronounced.

All of this was $25 before taxes.

To top it off there was a guy singing Beatles's songs with the guitar. It added to the already idyllic atmosphere of the place.

They also have excellent desserts here. I highly recommend their flan, tres leches, and tiramisu.

La Flor

5302 Roosevelt Ave

Woodside, NY 11377

Lunch at Patsy's Pizzeria

My friends and I were hungry so I forgot to take a pic until there were only a few slices left. A large pizza shared between 4 women were quite enough thank you.Excellent cheese, fresh basil, and sausage. The thin crust was charred perfectly.

I lied. We shared this seafood pasta's "individual portion" before we had the pizza.

Nicely chilled Pinot Grigio. Light-bodied with some tart aftertaste, just enough to be noted but it didn't bother me enough- I drank half of the bottle. Well only one of my friends were into the wine as much as I was, waste not and all that.

Three of us shared this cannoli.

Patsy's Pizzeria
67 University Pl
New York, NY

Desserts at Cannelle Patisserie

Mango Kiwi.

The mango and kiwi flavors make this a perfect summer dessert. I do wish I could taste more of the mango a tad more though. I also like the different textures- the mango mousse, the kiwi filling, and the crumbs at the bottom. I believe this was $3.75.

If I recall correctly these macaroons were Black Currant flavored.

I prefer the coffee macaroon but this was good too. It's expensive for $1 a piece but I also know a place in Manhattan that sells one for $2.50.

I rarely not get the large hot chocolate. Even in the summer I can't resist this delicious real chocolate drink.

Another shot. I forgot how much this costs, but it's definitely less than $4.

Cannelle Patisserie
7559 31ST Ave
East Elmhurst, NY

Dinner at Max Brenner

Not really. The next two pics will be non-chocolate food.

A chicken pizza dish. I can't remember the name and this was my friend's dish.

My Blackened Steak Fajitas. It was good but not enough steak. I like mushrooms but they might as well call the dish mushroom fajitas.

This was my dessert, and again I don't remember the name. Chocolate in various temperatures and state. There's hot fudge at the center of the cake. The entire plate was excellent and all of them were sweetened just right.

My friend's milkshake. I don't think she finished it but I remember she liked it.

The damage was $53 before tips.

Max Brenner
841 Broadway (between 13th and 14th Street)
New York, NY

Gimme! Coffee

I was in a rush so I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the milk design floating on top of the coffee. The mocha cappuccino was excellent, but at $3.75 I'm more than happy that I can't drink too much caffeine.

Gimme! Coffee
495 Lorimer St
Brooklyn, NY

Dinner at Himalayan Yak

I had breakfast at Jollibee's, exercised at the gym for ~45 minutes, late lunch at Joe's Shanghai, and dinner at Himalayan Yak.

Above is the lamb kebab. Nicely charred and I prefer it over the chicken kebab. The meat's texture reminded me of liver. (Yum!)

Above is chicken kebab...There were more pieces but we were hungry.


Above is the Indian Chicken Butter Masala. It was delicious and went well with the cheese nan below.


Below is the Tibetan Chicken Sha Momo or dumplings.


Nepali beef stew- I can't remember the name.


A glass of Mango Lassi. I could have easily drank several of these.



Himalayan Yak
7220 Roosevelt Ave.
Jackson Heights, NY 11372