Holiday Drinks

When days become getting colder, our hearts become a little warmer with all the family gatherings and feasts from the holiday season. Sitting by the fire place, cuddling on the sofa, holding our favorite hot drinks in our hands and listens as everyone shares their stories. 

In this video, there are a few of favorite drinks that you can try this holiday. 

Be warm, be happy, be with family.

The Smith (55 3rd Ave- East Village)

Steak and Eggs- sunny up eggs, home fries $18

Buttermilk Waffles- Strawberries, whip cream, maple syrup $14

Apple Smoked Bacon $5

The Smith located in the east village is always crowded around lunch time. Especially on weekends, there's always a crowd outside waiting for a table. If so many people are willing to wait during this chilly mid-autumn, soon to be winter weather, then the food must be good. Inside the restaurant, the ambiance is nice, there is intimacy for the costumers at their own tables, although it is a bit nosy because there are lots of chatters. 

The restaurant brings the vintage feel back with style. The walls are covered in black and white photos as well as the overall theme of the restaurant. Even their floor tiles are very old schooled but somehow everything just works well with each other. Very pretty and comfortable place. 

During warmer days, the restaurant opens up the windows at the front so when you walk by you can see the whole restaurant inside. It's as if you are eating on the sidewalk but you are still inside. 

"I went during lunch time so it wasn't too crowded. The food was yummy and hot and fresh for me," said Gizelle P. a recent registered nurse from Hunter College.

The Sunday brunch menu is great because you get the both of best worlds. There's the breakfast and lunch option so even if it is lunch time, you can still order breakfast. 

From the menu, we ordered the steak & eggs with home fries and buttermilk waffles with a side order of bacon. Maybe it was because we were super hungry, we cleaned our plates in no time. Nevertheless, the food was delicious. The whip cream on the waffles was the best part, it was sweet and it went really well with the strawberries. To maintain the flavor of the waffles, I did not pour much syrup on it. 

Personally I do not eat steak often or hardly ever at all, but the combination of steak and eggs are quite delicious I must say. The sunny side egg melts on the steak and gives it an authentic taste, plus the home fries just hits the spot. Everything together tastes amazing. 

Portrait Chef Interview

Habachi Chef Interview from Danielle Yu on Vimeo.


The disastrous hurricane left many restaurants out of business for a couple of days, leaving thousands of people unable to travel to work. Fortunately after being closed for a few days, business is back in shape for Fuji Mountain. It is a hibachi restaurant in upstate New York, it is located in a decent but secluded area but since it is well known to many, customers drive a long way to dine here. The restaurant is spacious and beautifully designed. The ambiance is great with soft music playing in the background and watching the chef cook in front of the grill. Hibachi dinning is definitely an intriguing experience because all the chefs give a special performance of knife throwing and showcase their special skills.   Stevi Zhao was able to spare some time and share his experience as a Hibachi chef at Fuji Mountain. He has been working as hibachi chef for over 12 years and worked in numerous restaurants. In this short interview, he shares a little bit of his journey and perspective of Hibachi.

Noho Star (330 Lafayette Street)

Sunday brunch is one of the most busiest time for most restaurants. There are a couple of cute restaurants on Bowery that I wanted to check out for brunch but it is amazing how many people are out on a early Sunday afternoon. I stopped by two cafes and they both had a 40-minutues wait. It was a beautiful day but definitely not warm enough to stand outside for almost an hour and I was not even sure how the food was because I have never been there. So I decided to go and check out Noho Star, a restaurant that I been to a long time ago and was told that they had great brunch. Luckily, there was no wait for the tables outside.

I scan through the menu and quickly realized everything on the menu sounded delicious, it was a tough decision but I went with the Brioche French Toast with fresh fruit ($15.00) and the House-cured Arctic Salmon with thinly sliced Bagel, Cucumber Ribbons and Horseradish-Lemon Cream Cheese ($15.75), as well as fresh squeezed orange juice and mint tea.

"I love the food at Noho Star, I used to come here every week before I moved downtown." Said Laura Song, a pharmacist.

Both entrees were amazing, extremely tasty. The brioche french toast was soft and and crispy in all the right places. When ordering the french toast, you can ordered it with just maple syrup or with fresh fruit. I usually prefer it with fresh fruit. The house-cured salmon was really really good. Now I'm not just saying this, but because I am such a fan of the Salmon bagel platter, I practically order that entree every other time I go out for brunch. So I know which restaurants have good salmon platter. I don't know how it happened but ever since I gave this weird and interesting dish a try. I thought it was a weird mix and did not think salmon and cream cheese on a bagel would be tasty since I only had raw fish as sashimi. I was hesitant to try at first but now I order it all the time, almost a little too often sometimes! I fell in love with the dish, it's one of my all time favorite now.

Anyways, the Salmon and bagel at Noho Star was a bit different. First of all, it was beautifully displayed on the transparent plate. Secondly, it was not the usual salmon, bagel, cheese cheese, tomatoes, and red onions which I am used to, and totally does not mind having the same time over and over again. This entree was unique. I especially liked that the bagels were thinly sliced into four layers which made it easier to share. The horseradish whipped cream cheese was delicious. Although I did miss the tomatoes and red onions, I did enjoy the side radish and cucumber. Sometimes different is good, it gave the salmon bagel a new and fresher taste. I enjoyed it very much.

Passing through after eating, the inside of the restaurant was pretty nice, the ambiance was descent. It was packed on a Sunday brunch which was no surprise.

"The food is very good here but it was an average looking place that was not particularly memorable." Said Pierce Liu, a wedding photographer based in New York City.

I guess I was pretty lucky to grab a table outside because it was such a beautiful day and the sun was shinning right above me so it was not cold at all. Working on my tan while having brunch. Although the restaurant is a bit pricy, the food was worth it! A relaxing Sunday afternoon can't get better than this. There were also other things on the menu that I would definitely want to try next time when I come back!

The Mermaid Inn 96 2nd Ave (between 5th St & 6th St)

Personally I was never a fan of oysters, I found it very disturbing looking because it definitely did not look tasty at all. So I never had the mindset to really try it. It was recently when one of my old friends from childhood wanted to meet up and she happened to be craving for oysters and told me about this restaurant called The Mermaid Inn that had great oyster happy hour from 4pm-7pm for 1 dollar a piece.

Wow, that is really cheap for oysters, I hope it's worth it! 

Why not right?

East Coast $1 / West Coast Oysters $1.75 / Baby Clams $1

So I decided to give it a try since after all I am already here. I was really taken by the texture of the oysters. It was...a little weird...I can't really explain it but it was actually really tasty at the same time. The garlic and cocktail sauce plus the lemon juice really helped bring out the authenticity flavor of the oysters. 

The lighter brown colored oysters are from the east coast and the two darker ones are from the west coast. Surprisingly they tasted very different from each other. The east coast oysters were creamer, sweeter, it was very good. However, the west coast oysters tasted really fishy and bitter. I did not enjoy that at all. It was something about it that makes you want to puke. I don't know why I did not have the same affect from the other ones. Nevertheless, I am only going to stick to the east coast ones.

Oh, and there is a tiny baby clam next to the west coast oysters that is hardly visible. We ordered more in the next plate. The clams were pretty good as well, did not taste like the raw clams that I had before at a seafood buffet (which also tasted fishy and bitter).

Fried Calamari 

Doesn't that look delicious? Sadly, I couldn't have any because I am allergic but it is definitely many people's favorite.

Classic Slider $7

Since I couldn't have any Calamari I ordered the baby cheese burger with plum tomatoes and shredded lettuce. Just looking at this photo makes my mouth watery. It's a tiny little burger that is a perfect size for a snack. Look at the sauce dripping on the plate...yum!

Mini Fish Taco $7

This is another one of their sliders, there's the blackened tilapia with avocado and smoked jalapeños inside with lime on the side. This is also very tasty. Although I found the fish a little bit salty for my liking but then again I have sensitive taste buds. Seven dollars for a mini taco is a bit pricy but it is worth a try. Got to admit, the presentation goes well with the taste.

I asked a few people who have been to The Mermaid Inn all suggested to go during their oyster happy hour. 

"It's awesome, get the crab boil for $25 on tuesdays and the west coast oysters are better tasting than east but I don't really trust west coast oysters nowadays because of the Fukushima accident so i'd stick with east side. The place is clean and the crustaceans are topnotch!" said Linda Eng, a graduate student at Hunter College. 

"I love oysters and The Mermaid Inn has great oysters. Definitely coming back for more." Said Dash Ni, 20, from City College.

"Love the lobster sandwich! So yummy! Said Sandra Pan, 22, graduate student from Columbia University.

Nevertheless, I'm really glad I went to this restaurant with my friend even though I never really had oysters. I am the type of person who likes to stick familiar foods and am usually hesitant to try new food especially if it is raw and rare. But then again, if I never tried the east and west coast oysters I would have never known that they have different tastes and is in fact very enjoyable. The happy hour here is great for oysters--that you can't beat!

Library Lines

Just a typical day of studying in the library on top of my busy schedule filled with school work and internship. Remembering that I needed to create a photo essay I began to brain storm ideas on who should I photograph. Unfortunately many people are camera shy and even my study partner refused to be a part of my project. Nonetheless, carrying the camera in my hand I decided to walk around the library hoping to find some inspiration. I began to take random snapshots of rows and columns of book shelves and quickly I noticed a pattern. An interesting pattern of lines and shapes of books and paper.

I am not a photographer but I was able to borrow my friend's Cannon 5D Mark 2 which took amazing photos. Honestly my point and shoot was just not giving me the same results. With a DSLR camera, you can adjust the point of focus and change the ISO at a higher range than a point and shoot. Also, just by walking around with a professional camera made me feel more creative and spontaneous. It was a good feeling.

 Being able to check out the photos in the small digital screen was extremely helpful because I was able to test out the lighting and review the photos at an instant. This convenience was really helpful because I was able to narrow down some photos as I was taking them which saved time while uploading the photos. In the end I decided to keep the photos I took that showcased the library in different patterns and shapes. Looking at the library at a different perspective, after all it is a place where students spent lots of time studying, filling their brains with information in hopes of remembering them for their test.

Buddakan (75 9th Avenue)

I love going to the High-line park, the design is modern and minimal, simply beautiful. 

I walk around the west side a lot and always sees this dark and sophisticated building next to Chelsea Market. It's so low key that you do not realize it's actually a fancy restaurant from the outside. 

Never judge a place by its appearance.

The restaurant is huge inside and extremely beautiful. The lights are dim and the ambiance is relaxing. The food is absolutely AMAZING!!! 

Pork Belly Buns

(This is a must get appetizer!!! SOOOO GOOD! 

The meat is extremely tender and it just melts in your mouth, I am not lying. This is tasty!!)

Egg Fried Rice with Sausage 

(Although the name seems boring, but don't let that stop you from ordering it. Most Asian cuisine have their own style of making egg fried rice so it's always a bit different. This is delicious! ;] )

Mixed Vegetable

(I am a big fan of veggies, what can I say? Always got to eat your greens! YUMM ;] )

Sautéed Eggplant with Tofu & Pineapple

(This was an interesting mixed because you have sweet and salty mixed together. 

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetable and this is an amazing taste with a bit of sweetness. 

If you're a fan of pineapple, you'll definitely appreciate the dish! )

This a REALLY REALLY good restaurant, everything on the menu is worth a try!! NO JOKE ;p

Everything is amazing here! It's hard to choose. It is also a little pricy but you can always eat smart. Ordering a few appetizers instead of main courses allow you to try different authentic dishes that are in small portions, so you can taste their specialities. 

Also since I'm not a fan of alcohol, I save a lot from not ordering any drinks. For those that lots drinking, you can always stop by another bar after dinner. It will definitely make a different on your bill! 

Bon Appétit 

xoxo

D