Small Bites

Good morning and happy Monday. Did you catch the Next Food Network Star last night? SPOILER ALERT: Melissa won… and I can’t say I’m surprised. When you saw her “pilot” on the final episode, she really nailed it. Sure, she’s perky. But isn’t that what the Food Network is looking for? If I would have been competing, my goal would be a boozy show that’s one-third Martha, one-third farmer wannabe (the garden has to play a big part!) and one-third traveling adventurer. Might make a nice change from the regular programming, don’t you think? (I’m kidding.)

So this weekend I biked across the Brooklyn Bridge —

— to have lunch at Franny’s with some friends. We got a couple of apps and then an amazing pasta with cherry tomatoes and sheep’s milk ricotta and a delicious Margherita pizza:

After that we got back on the bikes and headed down to Red Hook park to see all the street vendors:

There’s an amazing selection of empanadas, tacos, quesadillas and even ceviche. The lines are really long, especially for the most popular trucks:

I got a watermelon aqua fresca:

We didn’t eat anything, having just been to Franny’s. But I’ll be back.

After freshening up a bit at my friend’s apartment, we had a little cocktail hour on her roof.

A couple other friends came and we watched the sunset. Nice view of the Empire State building, isn’t it?

After dark, we headed down to the East Village and had dinner at Double Crown.

We shared lots and lots of little things and a few entrees, too. This was the pork belly:

And this was the sea bass:

All in all, pretty good stuff.

A funny street corner scene on Saturday night:

We met the same friends for brunch again at Rosa Mexicano in Union Square. The highlights of the meal were the tortilla soup:

The cochinita pibil:

And the chicken tortilla pie with a poblano cream sauce:

For Sunday supper, I went to my folks’ again.. Mom made salmon. Sorry. No photos this time. It was a great weekend, but way way too short!

And with that, here’s what people have been talking about this week:

Westchester food bloggers have banded together to cover farmers markets this week. They’re shopping and writing recipes and shooting photographs for the Westchesters Farmers’ Market Blog-A-Thon. (I’ll be participating later in the week, too… I missed my usual trip to my markets this weekend…. I usually hit at least one from Nyack, Piermont Pleasantville or Hastings.) Anyway, participating are:
Ceramic Canvas. First post: Purple Potato & Cauliflower Creamed Soup from Rye market.
Chick in the Kitchen. First post later tonight from Muscoot market.
Cooking in Westchester. No post yet!
Culinary Comments by Cinnamon Girl. No post yet!
Farmers Market Cooking. No official Blog-A-Thon post, but there is this profile of Suffern Farmers Market vendor GBC Style by Gloria Collins.
Somebody’s Mom. First post: Bruschetta with arugula from New Rochelle.
Sweet Paprika. Posting from Croton.

In other news:
Doug finds a new waterfront dining spot, Johnnie’s Pier Restaurant & TIki Bar coming to Rye in 2010. (HT)
Sharon goes to Big W’s Barbecue on Route 22 in Dutchess.
Sharon also goes to Rraci’s Restaurant. (I’ve heard it’s great. Our Rraci’s write-up here. Funny how we would both call it a best kept secret! I guess not anymore!)
Todd goes to Half Moon. (WE)

And some Chowhound chatter:
Mimi’s Gourmet Mediterranean in Yorktown Heights.
Good meal at Blue in Mount Kisco.
A few comments on my trip to Juicy Sushi.
A good experience at River City Grill in Irvington.
A new source for tamales in New Ro. (Thanks Pat, as always!)
Great salads in Westchester: MAD, Leftyris, City Limits, The Cookery.
Burgers at Q in Port Chester.
Fried chicken at Bailey’s Smokehouse in Blauvelt.

EDIT:
Oops! Sorry… almost forgot the Gray Lady:
Frankie and Fanucci’s in Hartsdale gets a Good From Alice.
Emily goes to Sunsplash Bakery in Elmsford.

Photo Caption: lj0080309loca01