My second Yankee game of the year and the first with CT. She was supposed to go with me a couple weeks ago, but got sick. She was convinced that she was cursed from going to a game at the new stadium, since she also tried to go last year. If we were both able to leave early enough, I wanted to check out the “secret cheap bar” near the stadium that I haven’t been to in a while. A couple years ago my buddy took me here because they have 3 beers for $10. Considering inside the stadium that 1 beer is $10, it is quite the deal. I was a little worried the place wouldn’t be around since it is closer to south end of the old stadium and now farther away from the new stadium. I didn’t get a chance to go last year during the inaugural season. Luckily, it is still there and still has the 3 for $10 deal. You have your choice of Bud Light, Corona, Presidente, or Heineken.

They also offer a variety of food. Everything from hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza to different Latin foods. I have had the “American” food before and it is not good, but still edible. The Latin food is the star(as expected in the South Bronx).

I had the Cuban sandwich before and it was very good. You can’t go wrong with the amount of garlic and butter that is on it. Once again it didn’t disappoint. For $6 it can’t be beat. Now that I think about it, I didn’t notice any pickles on it. It would have been better with that acid, but still quite yummy.

We also ordered the Chicken Mofongo. I had seen Mofongo on different cooking shows but never had it before. Mofongo is generally made from fried green plantains, which is mashed together with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. It is often filled with vegetables, chicken, crab, shrimp, or beef and is often served with fried meat and chicken broth soup. Basically it was mashed up plantains and garlic topped with pulled chicken. It was delicious and cheap, only $8. The different textures really worked well together. I am glad we ordered it.

Luckily, the weather held up at the game. Unfortunately, A.J. Burnett didn’t have it that night and we ended up losing 10-6 to the Rays. At least we lost to the current best team in baseball. I love going to a game whenever I get a chance since it is so easy to get to the stadium on the 4 train. It was a good time despite the loss and I was happy to show CT the new Yankee Stadium.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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I had never been to the NYBG, but heard really good things. It is a quick 20 min trip up to the Bronx on Metro-North. The train station up there is right across the street, which added to the ease of getting there. The garden is HUGE, 250 acres. Walking through to get to the visitor center, you really forget that you are still in New York City. It was so quiet and serene.

After meeting up with Alejandra and the other bloggers, including Midtown Lunch friend, Esther from AmbitiousDeliciousness, we proceeded into The Edible Garden for the talk by Dan Barber of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Dan is well known for his use of farm to table ingredients at his restaurants. Yvo had a great meal there last fall.

The Visitor Center and Shop

I had heard Dan talk before at an event of the New York Public Library, so I knew that he was a good public speaker. The farm manager at Stone Barns, Jack Algiere, was in the audience and Dan actually got Jack to do more talking about farming methods since Jack is the pro. It was an interesting talk about organic growing methods.

Jack Algiere, the head farmer at Stone Barns.

After the talk, the group headed over to the cafe for lunch. Catering is provided by Abigail Kirsch, who is a very well known local caterer. There was a wedding going on in the event space behind the cafe, which added a nice soundtrack to our meal.

I got a Chimichurri Beef Baguette and a Blondie for dessert. Although the sandwich was pre-made, it wasn’t very soggy. Unfortunately, it was a pretty bland sandwich. It was more of a generic roast beef sandwich.

The blondie was tasty with real strawberries baked in.

After lunch, I walked the grounds. One of the cool things I found was that the audio tour is available by calling a phone number from your cell and pressing the corresponding code.

Four chefs planted gardens, who will also be making appearances during the summer.

Mario Batali

Michael Psilakis

Daisy Martinez

Dan Barber/ Jack Algiere

Near these gardens, I found where the wedding ceremony took place. It was a perfect day to get married outside, albeit a hot one.

Here are some more pictures of various gardens.

Around the Conservatory, there were booths setup with all sorts of vendors from cookware to wine. Unfortunately, the Conservatory is currently closed for renovations so I didn’t get to go inside.

On the way out, I found Martha Stewart’s herb garden. I believe she planted one last year too, without the current exhibition.

In addition to complimentary admission(usually $30), Alejandra put together HUGE goodie bags for each of us.

It had a coupon for free lunch from Peanut Butter & Co., Esse reusuable produce bags and everyday bag, pack of Dark Chocolate Dreams squeezable peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co, jar of Timoteo salsa, Tropical Traditions citrus lip moisturizer, pack of Mothering Mother reusable food bags, jar of Peach Rosemary Spreadable fruit from SchoolHouse Kitchen, pack of Navitas Naturals trail mix, container of White Chocolate Chipn’etzel from Sara Snacker, Qbel Peanut Butter Wafer Roll, jar of Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions, pack of Eat Whatever Oraganic Mints and Jellies, 2 coupons for Green & Black organic chocolate bars, hand dyed tea towel from 5 o’clock crows, organic cotton apron from American Feast and a magnet, a gift certificate to 30 min Life Coach Session from YVR Educational Institute, and a large black reusable grocery bag from Esse. It was quite the haul, literally. See what you missed out on, Yvo.

It was a great day and so nice of Alejandra to organize. It was also nice to meet some fellow bloggers including Grace and Rachel. The Edible Garden has a ton of events going on through October and I highly recommend taking a day to check it out.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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After a shocking loss on Friday (I was at a bar with HB, watching, and I’m pretty sure the look on my face was just pure horror), a great win on Saturday, the series was split at one game apiece and I wanted the Mets to win, badly.  I mean, I’m sure all Mets fans wanted the Mets to win, but BF & I were heading to the game with HB & her BF, who are both Yankees fans.  In fact, I’ve gone to a Yankees game with HB every season since 2003 or 2002 – usually hitting up the Mariners vs. Yankees (for a little bit, I used to really like the Mariners, calling them my American League team, but it’s hard following a team that’s not in your city unless you want to shell out for those MLB Extra Innings channels, and at the time, I wasn’t as keen on watching all the games as I am now) because tickets were way easier to score than Subway Series tickets.  HB & her BF have a similar ticket plan to BF & I (they got theirs a few years ago), though obviously for the Yankees, and theirs is on Saturdays.

(Total tangent related to these ticket plans: it STILL annoys me that last year, my Sunday ticket plan included all 13 Sunday games, but this year, our Sunday ticket plan is only 10 Sunday home games, and 5 weekday games.  The Yankees also changed their ticket plans but the Saturday plan is all 13 Saturday games plus only 2 weekday games.  So much more manageable!  I would even take 5 weekday games if they’d give me all 13 Sunday games – as it is, we’re missing out on the Father’s Day game [picnic blanket day!], the last game of the year [!!!], and I’m not sure what the third game they took from us is.  ALSO – while I’m at it – what the heck?!  Mets ticket plan/season ticket holders are NOT given priority to purchase extra tickets to Subway Series games before the general public lottery, but Yankees ticket plan/season ticket holders are!  That’s SO unfair!!!)

Ahem.

As I was saying, it physically hurts to write this post, because if you’re a baseball fan at all, you probably heard about the outcome.  Because it was baaad.  And I mean massacre.  Massacre people.  I don’t use that word lightly.  WE WERE MASSACRED.  Our STAR pitcher gave up NINE runs.  Forget that!  Doesn’t the final score speak for itself?!  15-0.  FIFTEEN ZERO!!!  Who plays like that?!  WHO?!

Ahem, ahem, ahem.  I should be over it by the time this post airs.  Ahem.  (I actually currently have a sore throat and have been actually clearing my throat a lot, but that’s a story for another day.)

HB & her BF were kind enough to invite BF & I to the game as their guests.  I asked her ahead of time about the policy on bringing in your own drinks (I like to drink bottled green tea – Lipton Pure Leaf [no, I'm not obligated to say that!] or Arizona if Lipton isn’t available), and she said she always brings in her own bottle of water, no problem.

I was passing through security, holding a bottle of Arizona green tea that I’d literally JUST opened and taken a sip of when the security guard pointed at me and said I had to throw it away because it was open.  I don’t bother arguing with people because to me, there’s no point (and it was $1; instead of causing a ruckus and being ejected from the game, come on… just go with it and move on).  So I threw it away.

And later when I met up with HB, she was holding her bottle of water.  I asked her if it was open before she came into the stadium and she said yes.  I told her what happened and we decided it was because I was wearing a (pink) Mets hat and (pink) Mets jersey.  Boo on you, Mr. Security Guard!!!

Now, onwards to the food, enough of my picture-less babbling

As soon as we walked into the stadium, I saw Brother Jimmy’s BBQ.  I’ve never had Brother Jimmy’s (which I know is in various locations all over Manhattan), and I didn’t have interest in trying the BBQ there either – I don’t know, probably because I’ve never heard particular raves about the food there.  Actually, I always likened it to Dallas BBQ because that’s how people talk about Brother Jimmy’s – like a chain that is good for what it is, but nothing to go out of your way to sample – although I also thought of it as a bar because someone told me it’s a frat boy hangout.  I don’t know!  But I DID want to try ONE THING there… that since the first time I heard of its existence, I WANT I WANT I WANT

Frickles, or fried pickles.  Look how gloriously crunchy they look!  I’d been worried about that since a few reviews had said they were soggy messes at Yankee Stadium, while others proclaimed the crispy sour tang glory that they were.  Mmm.

…and it was good.  Crunchy on the outside, crunch on the inside yielding with a slight burst of pickle juice sourness, mmm.  The dipping sauce added a bit more flavor (I would sprinkle a little bit of salt on the frickles as they come out of the fryer, but that’s just me, perhaps?), but overall, these were pretty damn awesome.  BF even tried one then kept eating them, which surprised me, because I hadn’t thought “fried pickle” as a dish name would appeal to him.  That boy doesn’t cease to surprise me   Crunchy goodness for sure!

HOWEVER.  That first pic above was my entire serving, and it cost $8.  I’m sorry, but $8 for 8-10 slices of deep fried pickle is SO NOT WORTH it.  I will totally be trying to make these at home (I know, be careful of spatter because liquid + hot oil = disaster).  But it won’t cost me no damn $8!!!  Come ON!

Oh, right next to that particular BBQ stand we went to was the Lobel’s window, where you can watch a guy trimming and cutting steaks.  Some of these go to the expensive steakhouse somewhere in the stadium (I don’t know why we got to the stadium an hour early and didn’t wander around more?), and some go to the Lobel’s Sandwich Stands.  You’ll hear more about that later

My next stop was GARLIC FRIES!!!  Now, I’ve been to San Francisco (though not to the stadium there) and eaten garlic fries before.  The really good kind.  The kind San Francisco is known for, so I’m not really sure why they decided to put them in Yankee Stadium, but, y’know, whatever, right?

The picture above is of the large size, $9, and we were able to split it among four people.  The first fry I snagged was crispy, garlicky, delicious.

It went downhill from there.  The center fries were totally soggy and bogged down with a wet garlic/butter mixture, which overwhelmed the palate.  I mean – yum for the garlic and the concept – but the actual practice just didn’t work.  HB (or was is SpB?) pointed out to me that because they have regular fries at the same stand, the fries probably are all ‘naked’ and then garlic/butter mixture dumped on top when you order the fries.  Not a good combination!  (I’m pretty sure the garlic fries in SF are deep fried with whole cloves of garlic or something, or tossed with garlic butter then toasted? refried? I don’t know, but they are crispy AND garlicky, and DELICIOUS!)  BF actually said, “They’re ok, but COLD, what’s up with that?” which disappointed both of us (we’ve both been to SF countless times now and have had many renditions of garlic fries, separately and together).  Boo FAIL.

As the slaughter began – the Yankees hitting and the Mets hitting – right into gloves! – HB and I wandered downstairs for a steak sandwich from the cart right next to the Lobel’s window.  Look at the guy slicing it up right there, then dumping it into a vat of au jus (directly to his left) so the next person in the assembly line could scoop it onto waiting onion rolls.

A well oiled assembly line – the line moved very quickly.  Good thing, too.

Don’t forget your condiments – horseradish and chopped up olives!

These sandwiches run $15 a piece.  You read that right: I paid $15 for the above sandwich.  I haven’t even gotten the $17 lobster roll from Citi Field yet (and probably will not…)!  Whatever, I don’t plan on going back to Yankee Stadium this season in all likelihood, and this was one of the things people kept saying was AWESOME at the stadium.

After I took this photo, I had to put my camera away, because the sandwich was super messy and drippy.  But.  I have to admit, that was damn good steak in between the slices of onion roll.  As a sandwich – ehhh, I could do without the bread and be happy eating the steak by itself (which I did with half of the sandwich I bought BF, because he was full and didn’t want it and I wasn’t leaving half of a $15 sandwich underneath our seats, nuh-uh!).  As it was, though, it was pretty damn tasty and delicious, and adding a bit of horseradish and olive puree gave the sandwich that bit more oomph it needed.  I was really happy with the sandwich, although I did think the price was a little ridiculous for ballpark fare.  I have to say it was pretty damn good though.  (I later took the steak slices out from the half sandwich and slapped them on top of some lettuce for a steak salad.  Was good, though the steak by itself needed a little more seasoning.  Guess they ease up on the salt a bit?)

To finish off my 3,000 calorie day (I ate breakfast before we went, and I had a large Miller Lite and a small one later – do they have a specialty beer at Yankee Stadium? just wondering!), and to ease the pain and suffering of a 15-0 loss, HB bought me ice cream… so I could add to my little hat collection (though you can’t exactly tell, that cup is navy blue with the Yankees logo on the front… if you flip it over, it’s a Yankees hat!).  Ummm, where are my sprinkles?  Why did I not get as many sprinkles as Blondie did?!  Whatever… it soothed me.  A little bit.  (Also, they appear to be VERY generous with the ice cream here… at Citi Field I got like half as much ice cream!  Good for my waist, but at the same price, my wallet is angry!)

Then BF & I went home to nap.  Sitting in the sun is draining.  Watching your team lose 15-0 is exhausting.  (Actually, I went to the gym while he napped, because I’m kind of crazy like that.)

Hey, look!  It’s Mr. Met!

Ahem.

Yvo says: I’m refraining from comparing Yankee Stadium to Citi Field for a myriad of reasons – some include “it’s been done before” “I don’t need to say it” “home field advantage, obviously” etc. etc. etc. – but also because they’re two very different ballparks.  Having said that, I am not a fan of the giant concrete exterior – it seems so cold and forbidding, but I suppose that’s part & parcel of the team’s image as well.  It looks much like the old stadium, with interior differences of course.  As for the food, while there are definitely some delicious offerings here, the prices really make me cringe.  Hard.  It’s nice that they’ve expanded their food base – there’s a Johnny Rockets, Boar’s Head “Deli” and more, and of course your regular hot dogs, burgers, fries, etc. – but nothing really stands out as a “eattttttt meeeeeee” beyond what I tried.

Hey, if you’re a Yankees fan, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the additional food places.  If not, I wouldn’t say you should definitely go out of your way to try these things, though they are definitely worth a try.

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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