Ambitious Deliciousness – Dont Eat Lazy.

A couple of weeks ago, Dan told me about a place called Mono+Mono, a Korean fried chicken place that allows you to enjoy fried chicken, mung bean pancakes while listening to original vinyl records. Intrigued by the idea, we stopped by on a Tuesday night, just three days after their grand opening at the Lower East Side Location.

We walked into an empty restaurant, with about 6 servers standing around. We saw a man with a ladder near the bar area, so it was clear that they were still fixing small things here and there. It was kind of empty at 6 pm, but we didn’t mind having the restaurant to ourselves. We saw a party of three walk in shortly after us.

It’s a nice space with high ceilings. One side has wooden walls while the other side is filled with rows and rows of vinyl records towering from ceiling to wall. The actual records rotate around the space, eventually ends at the player and gets heard. If you love jazz, this might be a great place to eat dinner and enjoy some music. It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything on vinyl, so it was refreshing for me to hear the unexpected scratchy notes and even the long pauses between the tracks.

Let’s get to the food- after all, that’s why you came, right?

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Every once in a while, I get together with my friend C and we make dinner together and  spend some quality time without the hefty restaurant tab. Plus, we can stay as long as we want. So while discussing our dinner menu for that day, I asked C if she liked Brussels Sprouts. Turns out, she’s never had them before!

Remember the last time I made Brussels Sprouts? I had David Chang’s recipe, which made them taste so delicious, and I became a lover of Brussels Sprouts ever since.

Since C lives near me, I decided to prepare the dish at home beforehand. I remember it being a very warm summer day, and I did not have the desire to turn on my oven. So I grilled them over my cast iron skillet, to get the golden roasted flavor. Plus I used a little bit of bacon fat, which is SO healthy!

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I was invited to attend an event organized by Hellman’s (yes, the mayo company). It was a lunch event with a live cooking demonstration by Bobby Flay and Lori Loughlin. I ran into a bunch of other food bloggers there, which is always fun!

The room was set up with lots and lots of mayo – even in the bookshelf! I’ll bet you never thought you could decorate your bookshelf with mayo! Very creative, indeed. =)

Before the cooking demonstration, Melissa from Hellman’s shared about the company’s partnership with Share Our Strength, an organization that feeds hungry kids in America. Whenever you click on this Facebook link and make a virtual sandwich through the Swap ‘n’ Share campaign, Hellmann’s will donate $1 (for every 5 sandwiches) to Share our Strength. The maximum amount is $75, 000. Wouldn’t it be great to help them reach that goal to help feed hungry kids? Please take a moment to make a virtual sandwich now!

Read about what Bobby Flay and Lori Loughlin made during the cooking demonstration, after the jump!

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Salsa Slam took place on a rainy Sunday afternoon, there were a lot of salsa lovers who came out to taste the delicious recipes! There were a total of 20 contestants, and the night ended with a fun Mariachi Band that took requests. I did not win any prizes for my salsa recipe, but I still had a lot of fun playing around with different flavors.

Dan, who was helping me make the sign, suggested naming my salsa Double Rainbow. It is definitely more memorable than listing out the ingredients! We figured that people will either get it and laugh, or not. I got some fun reactions out of people.

The event got covered by The Village Voice, as well as NY Metromix. Check out the links for more photos!

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About a month ago, I was invited to join a group of media people for a tasting event at a Mexican Tapas restaurant called Las Chicas Locas in Chelsea.

What a fun name, right? It was hard to pass up the opportunity to tell people I had dinner at Las Chicas Locas. =) The establishment had recently partnered with two-star Michelin Chef, Christopher Lee to handle the culinary operations. He is currently the Executive Chef at Aureole and has worked at other top notch restaurants in NYC.

It was an evening of good food, good drinks, and fun conversations with new acquaintances. The bar/lounge area that seems perfect for after work drinks, or relaxing weekend brunch!

Read more about what we ate, after the jump.

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My coworker alerted me of this salsa contest event going on next weekend, called Salsa Slam! Since I had such a great time making cookies last time, I figured, why not do it again? You’re all invited to come out and taste 20 different kinds of salsa!

I read that the owner of 5 Burros Cafe will be judging, which is awesome because I LOVE their salsa, and I’ll have to up my game! We will be competing for Judge’s favorite, a Runner- Up, and People’s Champion spots – and I need your help! So please help me spread the word and come on out!

Event:             Salsa Slam (with a live Mariacchi band!)
Date:              Sunday, September 12, 2010
Location:      Bell House
149 7th Street (Between 2nd and 3rd Aves)
Brooklyn, NY
Time:              4 -7 pm
Cost:               $12 in advance, $15 at the door

Hope to see you there! =D

As of August 28, 2010, this website has been operating for two whole years! I feel like I just celebrated the first anniversary not too long ago, but here we are.  My original plan was to relaunch the entire look and feel of the site by this date, but things didn’t quite work out that way. But it’s all good because that gives me something else to look forward to!

Thank you for reading, being hungry, trying out my recipes, and commenting! I wouldn’t be able to continue blogging without all of your support!! It means so much and I really appreciate you all!

And now, click below for a chance to win this cookbook with one of my recipes inside!

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