Bloomington, IN: Sweet Grass

Tonight wasn’t the usual Friday night dinner in Bloomington; this week, we had something special to celebrate – our full-time job offers (and acceptances)!! It didn’t start out with that intent, but the place Ang suggested was Sweet Grass, which is a little fancier and more expensive than our usual Friday night choices.

We actually started celebrating last night at Kilroy’s on Kirkwood, where the two of us and our friend took shots to the Big 4 (except we renamed it the Big 3) since the three of us will be working for different Big 4 accounting firms. So, the car ride to the restaurant started with us reminiscing about the night and how, at the very least, I am not ready to leave college.

Anyway, Sweet Grass isn’t in the typical “restaurant district” of Bloomington – it’s actually even further south than 1st street, an area that I have never ventured to before. It’s a nice building, but we were both kind of confused when we walked in...it’s a huge space but isn’t filled with many tables, and the kitchen is exposed but has IU and other flags hanging above it, which totally don’t fit with the Southern theme of the restaurant. On the bright side, we were only the second table to be seated (we went really early) and they served us right away. We had already looked at the menu earlier in the day (http://www.sweetgrassbloomington.com/) and there were a number of dishes that looked good. I ended up going with one of the ones that had caught my eye earlier (Vegetable Ziti with shrimp) but Angie opted for one of the specials, whose main attraction was scallops. And, not forgetting tradition, we did have some wine – me a Zinfandel (Cline, I think?) and the Pinot Grigio for her. My food was delicious. Hands down, the best ziti I’ve ever had. I think Angie really enjoyed her scallops too because she kept talking about them later. Somehow we managed to save room for dessert and I had the richest carrot cake I’ve ever had – and it’s justifiable because it has vegetables in it, right? Angie rolled her eyes at me when I said that, haha. She got this insanely decadent chocolate cake with like three layers of different types of chocolate on it. It looked yummy but it also made my stomach hurt because I don’t handle chocolate well in large quantities.

Overall it was a fun dinner, an exciting thing to celebrate, but it does make me sad to know that we’ll be leaving Bloomington and heading to different cities – New York for her and Chicago for me. I guess that just means we’ll have to visit one another and keep writing about all the new food places we try!

Bloomington, IN: Anyetsang's Little Tibet

So Angie and I are all about the traditions. They might not happen as regularly as they’re supposed to, but we both know they’re there and that’s the most important thing to both of us. One of my favorites originated amidst the stress of the fall of junior year – Friday wine & dinner night. I would come home from class at 4, we would enjoy a glass of wine, and then we would consult our Bloomington restaurant list and decide on a new place to try. There were some great restaurants (Finch’s), some purely fun places (La Torre), and others that were considered one-and-dones (Great Wall).

Thank goodness, classes this year haven’t caused enough stress to merit copious amounts of wine before, during, and after the Friday night meals, but we have tried to continue with our tradition. The first restaurant was Little Tibet, located in the thick of 4th street among the other noteworthy ethnic restaurants. After we strolled through the art fair (which had some really cool things; if you’re looking to spend a couple grand on Angie’s birthday gift, get at me – there’s a wooden desk she really likes) we sat down for a late lunch/early dinner at this place. The name is officially Anyetsang’s Little Tibet, and besides the fact that it has “the world’s jankiest bathroom,” as described by Angie, it actually had really good food. The prices were reasonable - $7-9 for a small-sized entrée that was the perfect amount of food for a mid-afternoon meal. I ordered the Temo Sha Tse (“stir-fried vegetables with our now-famous seasonings and your choice of beef, chicken, or tofu, served with temo”) and Angie tried the Sho Go Mo Mo (“vegetarian steamed dumplings filled with potato, green onion, yellow onion, and our secret seasoning, served with special sauce”). In all honesty, I can’t really tell much of a difference between one Asian cuisine and the next, so I think I need to keep trying them until I can distinguish distinct qualities between the various kinds. I think I speak for both of us when I say that the lentil soup that came with both of our entrees was our favorite part of the meal. Luckily we both had iced chai teas to keep us cool.

The most unique part of the meal was probably the temo bread that was served with my stir-fry. Unfortunately, the only way I can think to describe it is to compare it to a type of bread I tried in Ghana, and I realize that’s not very helpful for anyone who actually wants to know what it’s like. It looked like a thick dinner roll, but was soft and malleable, like partially cooked bread dough. It was really good dipped in the stir-fry sauce, but I wouldn’t have wanted to eat it plain.

Our restaurant list this year is currently about 20 places deep, so there shouldn’t be any lack of posts about our endeavors…stay tuned!

Brazil: Caipirinhas

Descriptions of Brazilian cuisine are never complete without a mention of caipirinhas, the popular national cocktail served anywhere from fancy dining establishments to beachside stands and bars and clubs. Caipirinhas come in many varieties, so it’s entirely possible that you could be at a table with five other people, all of whom ordered a caipirinha, but none who have the same drink.

This hard-to-pronounce drink is exceedingly simple to make; the recipe calls for fruit, sugar, and alcohol only. The traditional drink calls for cachaça, the most common distilled alcohol in Brazil, but modern varieties substitute vodka or sake (and the alcohol content decreases with each substitution). Technically, if it's made with vodka, it's called a caipiroska, but to me, it's always a caipirinha. To prepare, simply choose your fruit (strawberry, kiwi, pineapple, passion fruit, and lime are popular options) and mash it in the cup with sugar, add ice, the liquor, and shake.

I first discovered the caipirinha at Boteca São Bento, a fine establishment only a few blocks away from our hotel in São Paulo. We went out on a work night for a quick drink and my selection was a lime caipirinha made with cachaça. The first sip practically knocked me out of my chair, and my friend Ryan noted after 5 minutes that my drink was still at the same level. Chacaça is incredibly strong, and despite the lime flavor and sugar intended to dilute the flavor, it took a few sips to grow accustomed to the intensity (wait – is that growing accustomed or feeling the affects of the alcohol?). After that first drink, I learned the merits of trying new things and branched out to other liquors and fruits. Some combinations I’ve tried are grape & sake, strawberry & vodka, kiwi & sake, and kiwi & vodka. I’ve also had a sip of kiwi + strawberry & sake and passion fruit & cachaça, but the overall winner is definitely kiwi & vodka. Maybe it’s the fact that the beautiful lime green color really makes you feel like you’re in a tropical location, maybe it’s the taste of the kiwi, or maybe it’s a combination of the two; in any case, it’s my preferred drink and I intend to make my own version as soon as I get home and can get my hands on some good kiwis.

Collichio & Sons -- New York City

My last Thursday at work I had caught wind of people discussing going to dinner at Collichio and Sons, one of Tom Chollichio's restaurants. (He's the judge on Top Chef, one of my favorite shows on Bravo) Basically I threw all shame out the window and begged to be allowed to go with. After the usual 'mess with Ang until she's flustered' rig-a-marole they told me I was invited the entire time. SCORE!

Our reservation wasn't until 9 so we left the office around 8 and went to hang out at the bar. I tried this less then stellar cocktail called a Siesta, I chose it because it contained Tequila. It had some sort of red juice, I believe it was strawberry and what tasted like basil. Let's just say that I have had better drinks before in my life.

When we were seated and I started looking over the menu, sadly nothing really sang to me as sounding insanely delicious. This was most likely because everything contained at least one unusual ingredient that I had never tried before. For example, there was a steak that came with a bone marrow ravioli on top.

I figured since Uncle Ernie was paying for dinner I'd be really daring. I decided on the lamb, also because other people at the table said it would be good, I'm so gullible.

Our waiter brought a round of these little lobster puffs. It was beautifully plated, was a very delicious. I believe the technical term for this type of food is amuse bouche, yes my mouth was amused.

The main course arrive and my plate did not look all that appetizing. Especially after hearing the words bone marrow I had lost my appetite and it didn't help that my dinner looked like pictures I had seen in science books of what the inside of bones look like.

I ate the inside part that was pink and looked like meat, but the 2 rounds of lamb were wrapped in white, I'm hoping some sort of fat, that I was not brave enough to eat. The texture was very tender and just melted in my mouth. The lamb tasted very gamey, and after this experience I can say that I have tried lamb and have no need to eat it again for a while.

Apparently, at fancy gourmet restaurants like this it is also customary for them to send you with something for breakfast the next morning. We also got blueberry polenta muffins. Since I was the only one with a bag big enough to hold the muffins I walked home with 6 of 9. These were probably my favorite part of the whole meal.

The best part of dinner was when Joe, one of our co-workers showed up after another dinner he was at was finished. He had the entire table laughing so hard we were all crying. After we were finished Joe and I were the only ones who wanted to go do some bar hopping but since everyone else was "too tired" we didn't go, so sad. This night was by far one of the best memories from my internship. It made me sad that I really got to know people right as it was time for summer to end and me to go home.

São Paulo, Brazil: Carolinas & Sonhos

Today Renata brought more sweets to the office for me to try! The options today were Carolinas and Sonhos (“dream” in English), which were both delectable bite-sized treats. Carolinas are filled with doce de leite (dulce de leche) with a biscotti-like outer layer and then topped off with a little bit of chocolate. I like the flavor combination (because let’s be serious, I just like anything with doce de leite) but the contrast between the dry exterior and the rich, creamy filling was a little strange for me. That didn’t keep me from eating more than one, though!

Sonhos remind me of donut holes that I’ve had in the states. They were moist and denser than donuts but shared the same glazed sugar layer on the outside. The inside was a cream filling that tasted like condensed milk – it was sooo sweet! My roommate said that she saw a huge version of a sonho, about the size of a grapefruit. I can’t imagine eating one that big because I think the filling would get out of control!

I can’t decide whether I like sonhos or brigadeiros better…I guess I better try some more so I can make up my mind :)

São Paulo, Brazil: Brigadeiros

When I got into the car this morning to go to work, the first thing my coworker said was "I have something for you," and she reached into the back seat and pulled out a small bag from the bakery next door to the office. She brought me brigadeiros, which she could best describe as soft chocolate treats specific to Brazil. They're small, about the size of a ping-pong ball, and they're served kind of like truffles, in small wrappers.

According to Wikipedia, brigadeiros are made with condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter, and are heated on a pan in order to make a creamy, silky mixture. Then, like the ones I ate today, they're covered with sprinkles! The best way I can think to describe them myself are like no-bake cookies: they're perfectly gooey without being cooked at all, and they melt in your mouth. I ate all five of mine before 10 am, but who's paying attention to that? When you're in a foreign country, you need to take advantage of all opportunities :)

You have to start somewhere...

Best friends, in different cities (for the summer at least), seeking out the best foods in any way, shape, or form, and trying to share our opinions with the rest of the people out there. At this point, this is all a big experiment, so bear with us.