Cakeman Raven

Dear friends, do you know what that is? This is a $6 slice of Red Velvet cake. This is a $6 slice of Red Velvet cake with walnuts.  Oh, my. Is that not gorgeous?  A friend of mine (BB, for those keeping score at home – YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!) just moved very close to Cakeman Raven, so when BF and I went to her housewarming party, I had to swing by and grab a slice of cake or two and introduce the BF to the joys and wonders of the Cakeman.  Moist but light, super rich [...]

Robicelli’s Gourmet Market

I’ve totally raved about Robicelli’s cupcakes before, but here’s some beauty shots of my recent trip (after eating at Ba Xuyen) anyway.  AWL’s pretty raspberry lemonade cupcake! My totally awesome chocolate turtle cupcake.  Oh my gosh, when I bit into this, it was like I died and went to heaven.  I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fluffy, cloud-like frosting that so far, I’ve only found at Robicelli’s.  Mmmmmmmmm.  Amazing.  I don’t think Keywee is quite as good as Layla (any Cupcakes Take the Cake readers will recognize the reference!), so I kept mine in the upside down [...]

Red Hook Ball Fields

Food adventures.  You know I love to have them.

But you know I hate hype even more than I love adventure.

A year or two (or more?) ago, the food world buzzed with the news of vendors that attended to the Red Hook ballfields.

They talked about the authenticity, the low prices, and the wonderful food.

Dominican, Salvadorean, Mexican, Colombian, and more.

Everyone & their mamas flocked out to Red Hook.

The New York Times wrote an article.

The hype increased to fever pitch.

Then, incredibly, some governing agency (DoH or DoP, I’m not sure) stepped in and decided [...]

Banh Mi Bender: Final Thoughts

After trying banh mi from some of the top-rated places in New York (and some just thrown in there), I can honestly now say I feel comfortable giving an opinion about banh mi in general.  The bread is as important a part as the pate, the quality of what they’re putting inside your sandwich.  A good banh mi strikes the perfect balance: the bread doesn’t overwhelm nor take centerstage, but neither should any of the ingredients within; it truly is greater than the sum of all its parts, with each part being equally boosted by the others. 
Having said that, [...]

Ba Xuyen (On a Banh Mi Bender)

Yup, I took a trip to Brooklyn to sample another banh mi place.  Well, I’d heard a lot about it in the past, and AWL asked me if I wanted to check it out with her, so I was game… even after I found out it’s really f*cking far by train from me.  Oh well!  I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was nice hot and sunny.  There weren’t many people in Ba Xuyen, but people trickled in and out as we sat there, eating. 

I lucked out because RC didn’t mind sharing two sandwiches with me, [...]

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