A work potluck may cause some anxiety if you don't know your co-workers too well or the kinds of things they like to eat (it's all just office lunch food anyway right?) but when it's right before Thanksgiving, it's fairly simple. Just bring Thanksgiving-type food! I decided to go with jalapeño cornbread which is peculiar I guess since I've never made cornbread before and wanted to do a spin-off one...ANYHOW, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you're up for it, will make this recipe to eat alongside your leftover turkey (or use the recipe for next year!).

Step 1: Ingredients (yields approximately 8-10 servings)

• 1 cup cream style corn
• 1 cup cornmeal (I used whole grain)
• 2 jalapeño peppers, minced
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsps butter (varies by cookware)

Step 2: Preparing ingredients
Pre-heat your oven to 400°F. If using an 8"x8" pan for cornbread, add butter and place into oven to melt and coat. If using a cast-iron skillet, the butter is optional but also place in oven to heat up. Mince peppers. Then, in a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients aside from the butter. Mix thoroughly.

Step 3: Finishing
Pour mixture into pan or skillet and place into middle rack of the oven. Bake for approximately 35 minutes (add about 5 minutes if using skillet); test center with a toothpick to check for wetness (not done if still wet/sticky) before removing from oven. Let cool, cut, and serve!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

796 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019 (Neighborhood: Hell's Kitchen)
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Desserts
www.holeycream.com

Why did I go here? Oh right...I was with my two brothers who wanted to indulge their faceholes with sweets (I'm not too hyped about sweets generally). My older brother who has been living in Brooklyn since February of this year pointed this place out for its donut ice cream sandwich. Talk about an indulgence!



Of course, I was able to dissuade them from getting the diabeetus-inducing dessert before dinner but after dinner, they practically beelined here. For a small joint, it's got an impressively large selection of not just ice creams but other products. I was surprised. They also had a colorful, I-promise-it's-totally-okay painting on the wall of the steps required to create a donut ice cream sandwich. I relented to my brothers' desire for getting one mainly because there were three ice cream scoop choices and I could pick one.



So between the standard donut, we had the guy slop on one scoop each of the homemade chocolate peanut butter deluxe, pumpkin pie, and homemade java Guatemala ice creams. Then he dipped the top donut half into vanilla frosting and dipped that into a container of graham cracker crumbs at our behest. The monstrosity was tackled with three forks and defeated in only a few moments. I only tasted the ice creams with the donut a few times but stuck mainly to the cold treat which was great. The best combo was the java Guatemala with the donut because hey, who doesn't think coffee and donuts go well together? Anyhow, it's a cute name and store but nothing outstanding except for a crazy concept - hence the rating!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

It's been a long time coming now but Fullerton can now finally say that it has the tavern with biggest selection of small-batch whiskeys in Orange County (count them - 105!). Hopscotch Tavern opens today to its happy crowd of supporters and an eager community.


Prior to their opening, I got the scoop on the place after having a phone interview with co-owner Bryan Gonzalez who had crafted the idea towards the end of 2009. After jumping through many hoops and getting all the pieces in place, I think he and partner Rob Marshall are so glad to finally open Hopscotch's doors. So what is this place? I started off trying to get a sense of what the original concept was for this tavern.

Bryan: I've always had a love for craft beer. I started to fall in love with whiskey and the idea of a whiskey bar just from going to urban areas. There's a place in LA called Seven Grand and I fell in love with that place. Their concept is basically whiskey bar with craft beer; we're more of a craft beer bar with whiskey. I think it's something that is classic that was done for a long time that just died off. You know the whole margarita world, and then the vodka, and now everything's just going back to the brown spirits. There's something to be said about this harkening back to the classic liquors, and the community that is coming up through the woodwork to support this really shows the hidden interests of people.

The entire one-of-a-kind bar is made from the wood of old whiskey barrels.

Considering how long it took for Hopscotch to finally be erected, it comes as no surprise that the original name for the place has changed. The name "Hopscotch" just happened to be a happy and accidental play on words as Bryan tried to combine both his hophead-ness and his appreciation of scotch. After Rob denied Bryan's initial idea of "Hop House" because it didn't say anything about the whiskey, the name popped to mind to combine the two interests and by coincidence, it also became a name which women liked as it brings up association with the playground game.


I did tour the place while it was in its finishing stages of construction and snagged some shots of it. For those of you who don't know, Hopscotch is actually housed in the original Pacific Railway Station which was built in 1918. I wanted to get a little more insight on the place which not only has gone through many changes of space usage (for example, a cigar patio!) but also kept some of its unique characteristics.


So the space, how did you come about finding it? 

Bryan: I'd always loved this location and it wasn't something that was for sale at the time. Through a wine vendor that was a friend of the previous owner, I asked to mention to him to see if he was interested in selling the place and I literally got a phone call the same day after I told her. It was kind of just a shot in the wind and he called me back, and I was like, "Are you interested in selling?" and he was like, "Yeah, yesterday." So we kind of jumped on it and got the ball rolling.

I saw that it was listed as a haunted building. 

Bryan: Yeah you know the only thing that I've experienced was nothing I saw but something I felt. I was standing by the bar and it was really hot in the building because we hadn't started up the AC yet and there was just an area that I had just brushed my arm through. It was really cold, not just like a breeze, but it almost felt like an air conditioner blowing but there wasn't one in the area. So at one point, I called Joey over (Joey's one of the contractors), and I'm like, "Hey Joey, come feel over here." And he put his hand in too and he was blown away. It kind of freaked us out where we both got goosebumps and then it went away.

I know one of my partners, Rob, heard a weird noise behind him when nobody was in the building. Joey heard something weird when he was in the restroom. But I think that it goes along with the fact that it's a really old building, I mean it's from 1918 and it wasn't like a small business. It had many people traveling through because it was the Pacific Electric Railway station. I mean, thousands upon thousands of people traveled through this place and I had one other thing that happened.

Before I got the keys to the building, I walked over with a friend of mine and he looked in the window and he jumped back. I could tell that something had happened so I asked him. He said, "Oh nothing." I said, "Just tell me." He said, "You're going to think I'm weird but ever since I was a little kid, I could see things that other people can't see. When I looked in, I saw a bunch of people in old hats like fedoras and things you'd see in the '20s and they all scattered." And I had read in the book months before that and that was one of the things that people see.

So, I haven't experienced anything that severe but obviously I've had a couple people experience that. I kind of just did my thing where I walked around and told them I'm here to make a nice place for them and they are more than welcome to stay as long as they behave. [laughter] I did that on my own and I haven't had anything happen since. I think it's more of a cool thing than scary. Sounds like it's going to draw in some people!

One of the neat experiences that will be available at Hopscotch are the whiskey pairing dinners. I asked Bryan to touch on what inspired the menu, whether it was the drinks or something else. What I learned was the desire to make something not just different but enjoyable on a casual, homey level. Their food is advertised as "slow cooked food" which means that they will be tender and definite comfort foods.

Bryan: "Y'know barbecue's one of those things you tend to eat maybe once a month and I wanted to open a place where you'd come a couple times a week. I just wanted food that was super tender and falls off the bone if it's on a bone. I think that's a concept that some people lose when making barbecue. There isn't really anyone doing that sort of thing right now. We've got the pulled pork, beef, roasted chicken - we're going to slow cook all kinds of things. We've even joked around about slow cooking artichokes and making our own sausages."

I didn't get the pleasure of trying out their food just yet but I'm quite excited about it. Executive Chef Kent Pawlowski happened to agree with Bryan himself on all of the proposed menu concepts and threw his own expertise in the loop, coming up with four housemade sauces to add to any sandwich or protein chosen (the four being Asian, sweet and spicy, Carolina mustard, and Southern barbecue sauces). One of their cooking options for guests will also be the "slow and low" meaning that the food has been cooking for several hours (think 20 hours sometimes!). They'll also allow for a la carte and take-out options so that 1/2 lbs. or pints can be ordered to-go.


How did you choose which whiskeys to stock?

Bryan: One of the places I love going to, Seven Grand, I befriended one of the people there who does all the whiskey trainings. He does the whiskey training and the purchasing in downtown LA and I started picking his brain like, "If you were to open a whiskey bar, what are some of the ones you'd pick?" and we basically broke it down into styles and took those styles to break down into regions. From there, I decided we needed to have at least 100 whiskeys so we did. We have 105 and it's pretty cool to look at all on the shelf.

I was curious then as to what a typical night would look like. His vision? An experience to touch all of your senses. 

Bryan: A lot of people will be eating - we've got a whole separate area downstairs just for dining. You could also dine anywhere you want in the bar upstairs (taller seating upstairs). Downstairs is lower seating like pub height, counter height seating and I'm hoping to see everybody with craft beer in hand and maybe a glass of wine enjoying their pulled pork or sandwiches. We also have our 10oz barrel burgers, a play on a old-style burger called the Juicy Lucy where they would stuff the burger with cheese. We are stuffing our burgers with everything from Bleu cheese to onions. There's at least 5 different styles of the 10oz barrel burger that we're doing.

There's going to be a major focus on what type of music is going to be played. Not really going to be playing anything commercial or poppy. We're going to focus on old-school classic rock but not popular stuff that you would have heard but maybe old Stone stuff you've never heard before or old Eagles - just something with a soulful rock beat in the background and not too loud where you can't have conversation or enjoy your dinner, just good enough to where you can actually experience some really good music.

Visually, inside it's cool - we've got a chocolate brown, olive green, and a tan. I've stained cement a light light olive green. The backbar is plaid with staggered shelves that are backlit. All of our tables are old reclaimed wood stained with a dark, dark stain. All the lighting is with the old-school filament bulbs. We also have a bit of taxidermy (hopefully that doesn't offend anybody) up in the bar area. We also have TVs throughout so you could enjoy sporting events. Late night I'm going to play old Western movies.

I really liked everything I was hearing and just wanted to know if they had a target demographic. To my pleasant surprise, Bryan said no. His mission is to educate people and introduce them to food and drinks that they have never had before and will fall in love with. Yet how the masses will be educated lies in his philosophy of supporting local brands and small businesses. I love it. I love seeing this recent surge of support for the local community from various places. As Bryan says, "It's all about that now."


The reception has been astounding for Hopscotch when they were working towards completion, oftentimes being interrupted during construction by passerbys yelling at them to open up already. The great location, great drink menu as prepared by Director of Libations James Wood (had the pleasure of meeting him during the photoshoot and learned that his history and expertise in the craft beer world will stock Hopscotch with hard-to-find brews), and great food are all the more reason for you to hop right on over with me to grab a drink sometime. What do you say?


Thanks to Bryan Gonzalez (Hopscotch) and Rob Hallstrom (714 Media) for their time. Main photography by Duc Duong.

When you have something fancy like fig butter that you don't want to just put on toast, you need to make something fancy with it. My thanks to the suggestions that came in for Test Kitchen - I went with lamb in a fig sauce but put a spin on what I threw together. This recipe will contain three original recipes in itself: the lamb, the sauce, and the side. A threefer! For the lamb, I would have preferred to use a different medium besides the stovetop but didn't have a choice since I was cooking at Duc's which doesn't really have a working oven.

Entree
• oil, for pan
• 1 rack of lamb
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp freshly grated black peppercorn
• 1 1/2 tbsps garlic salt

Sauce
• 1/2 cup good red wine*
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup fig butter

Side
• 1 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 2 tbsps sugar
• 6 carrots, thickly sliced
• a handful of parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tbsps fresh ginger, slivered
  
  
  *Remember that when cooking with alcohol, choose of the quality you would normally drink and not your throwaways because the taste really does matter. I used the Cruz Alta Malbec Reserve, a 100% Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina (8 months in 50% new barrels; 50% French and 50% American oak).

774 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019 (Neighborhood: Hell's Kitchen)
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Coffeeshop
http://www.kahvebean.com/

On the search for tea somewhere through my Yelp app, I came upon [kahve] and asked if my brothers wanted to venture there. They said sure, trusting in the little stars on my screen so we padded along until we got to Hell's Kitchen and found the place.



It's teensy! Well, I suppose many of the New York eateries and shops are deep rather than wide but it was so "cozy" that I felt like I was intruding on the people who were studying at the tables along the wall (the wall had seating and then there was a small table with a chair). That's not necessarily a bad thing - merely a part of the place. I liked the interior decor though and the bakery items were sorely tempting. I felt bad that there was only one person working that night too because my order of three drinks definitely held up the line quite a bit! Hopefully they have more than one person working at a time?


Nevertheless, we were there for drinks so I snagged myself a cup of their Madagascar vanilla bean black tea while my brothers got the Zebra Mocha and the Pumpkin Latte. My tea was actually just alright - the vanilla bean portion was more aromatic than a flavorful to the tea. I smelled it as I sipped but little else. The Zebra Mocha went over well with my brother who appreciated the good coffee, and the Pumpkin Latte was received well but not with high praise. It was definitely very frothy on top at first but once you got to the drink, it was quite spiced and strong. All of them had a nifty type of lid on top by the way! Fun fact: did you know that "kahve" is the Turkish word for coffee? All along, I just thought that their name was poking fun at how snooty people might say coffee...whoops!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

363 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (Neighborhood: Park Slope)
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Italian
www.russosmozzarellaandpasta.com

Since I was in Park Slope for a work-related event, I decided to try and find a suitable lunch place for my brothers and me right before I had to do anything. While there were a lot of places around in general, it looked like Russo's was the place to go through my Yelp sleuthing (and who says no to fresh Italian foods anyway?).


Right when we walked in, I knew that it was my kind of place. All of the freshly made pastas, the slabs of cured meats in the top counter, a full olive bar, and so many by-the-pound options made me drool in ecstasy but also sad that I didn't live in the neighborhood so that I could buy from there on a regular basis. A customer came in while we were ogling and immediately was like, "I need two balls of mozz," upon which I saw the glorious cheesy mounds taken out and placed on the counter. Fresh mozzarella, wow. I knew our orders needed mozz in them.


So first, I bought a cannoli for my brothers since they had never had it before. I have to say this was one of the better ones I've had. I've seen many fail because they get too soggy or they just don't taste good. This one actually still had a crispiness to the shell and the filling light but delectable. Nothing beats a good cannoli eh?


My little brother, the growing teenage boy he is, opted for the Italian Hero sandwich (sopressata, mortadella, salami, Provolone cheese, and roasted peppers) which was very stacked with slices upon slices of delectable, savory cured meats. The roasted red peppers gave a sweetness that also acted as the sauce of the sandwich. So, so good. Mine was their #9 panini (portabello mushroom, broccoli rabe, and fresh mozzarella) which was very filling despite being technically a vegetarian sandwich. The rabe took over in terms of volume but it was very good in itself, and the fresh mozzarella made such a difference. Lastly was my older brother's panini #3 (sopressata, capicollo, and fresh mozzarella), a drier sandwich because it was mainly meat but still very good. I loved the fresh ingredients (how many times can I say fresh in this review?) and the quality of them as well. I must come back the next time I'm in NY and that area!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

I have fond memories of waking up on weekends and walking into the kitchen to find these brightly colored spring rolls for breakfast that my mom whipped up. There is something just so tasty about the natural vegetal sweetness of the jicama and carrots mixed with the saltiness of Chinese sausage and eggs. Of course, you can't forget the peanut hoisin sauce either! This is a lovely Asian spin on breakfast foods that I insist you try. It's easy enough to make too!

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 12 rolls)

• 1/2 jicama, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
• 2 Chinese sausages, sliced diagonally
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, straight
• 12 rice paper rounds

      Sauce

• 1 part hoisin sauce
• 2 parts peanut butter

Step 2: Prepping the ingredients
Peel your vegetables and coarsely grated into a bowl. Squeeze and drain out any excess liquid as making the filling too wet will make it hard to wrap. Slice up your Chinese sausages as well. In a large bowl, beat together your eggs and add in the fish sauce. I said "straight" in my ingredients list to indicate the fish sauce in the bottle, not the one already mixed with chili peppers, sugar, and lemon.

Step 3: Cooking the ingredients
For the vegetables, they only need to be heated up a bit. You could stir them around in a small skillet or you can be slightly lazy like me and stick them in the microwave with a damp paper towel over them. After heating, drain excess liquid again. For Chinese sausages, fry slightly in a skillet before placing aside. The hardest part of cooking will be the eggs which must become "blankets" for the wrapping. What I do is heat up a skillet on high with oil and then turn off the fire; right afterward, I pour in the beaten eggs and allow the bottom layer to firm up (but not fry). I edge the mix horizontally so the rawer portion can fill in the empty space again and then turn the heat back on to medium. Do this repeatedly until you have an egg "blanket" of sorts.


Step 4: Making the sauce
I only indicated the ratio for the sauce because I don't know what amount you all like. Duc loves peanut butter so I think he scooped out just about half a cup of the stuff...Anyhow, you want to soften the peanut butter first (microwave time!) before stirring in the hoisin sauce. You end up with a sweet, salty dipping sauce for your rolls!

Step 5: Finishing
To make your rice paper rounds workable, you have to soak them very briefly in water and drain the excess. Lay on a large enough plate or even clean cutting board. Divide your egg into about twelve even parts and lay a piece down first. Cover with adequate amount of vegetables and place two slices of sausage on top. Wrap like a tight burrito, repeat, and enjoy!



Photography by Minerva Thai.

261 Moore St, Brooklyn, NY 11206 (Neighborhood: Bushwick)
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Pizza, American
www.robertaspizza.com

It's funny how unaware I am sometimes since I don't watch very much TV. I landed in NY late on a Friday night and was hungry, so my brother (who lives in Bushwick) excitedly took us to Roberta's, saying that it was a highly recommended place. Of course, later I learned that it's been aired on several shows and written about with much praise...but I didn't know that when I walked in which actually was a good thing. I mean, who wants to be let down when expectations are too high? However, I did appreciate learning about their rooftop garden and how they do urban farming for their produce!


So excuse my poor photography but it was midnight after all and in general, everything was dimly lit. The restaurant itself is so unassuming and definitely not a place you'd just find while looking for food. It was just a brick building amidst other abandoned warehouses but once you walked inside, you could see everyone bustling with life. The fired-up oven was burning with hot flames and the ambiance a little hipster, a little young, and a lot of fun. In fact, I really wanted to return just to sit at the awesome-looking bar. It was hard to hear even across the table while we conversed but I suppose that's the nature of the place.


Don't come in here expecting a cheap pizza joint though. Even with the wooden and brick decor that might make it look a little more on the lower price range, general food runs from $15 upward. We snagged ourselves a meat plate for a $12 price tag first. The meats were USA cured - La Quercia prosciutto from Iowa, Biellese finocchiona from NY, and Alps Sweet sopressata from NY. The prosciutto was more ham-like and very soft, slightly melting in your mouth. The finocchiona was heavily laden with other herbs and spices in the curing process probably; its texture was the best of the three. The sopressata held up to its sweet description as it was definitely a lot sweeter than others I've had but not in a bad way. In fact, with the bits of black pepper, it had a nice flavor profile that was both sweet and savory. The meat choices were well-done.


Now here's why I don't give the place the highest of praises though - our pizza. While greatly amused by the titles of the food (there's a pizza called "Erryday I'm Brusselin'"!), I wasn't so keen on the prices but was open-minded to the offerings. I guess others praise the pizza immensely here; unfortunately, I can't join that crowd since our pizza was slightly burnt (always an overpowering taste) and just alright. We chose "The Sound & The Fiore" (mozzarella, fiore sardo, delicata, calabrian chili, red onion, garlic, sage, and oregano) which had some flavorfully spicy kicks to it but nothing wowing. It filled us up for the night though but at that price? No thanks. Maybe I'll have to dig a little deeper into my wallet and snag an entree next time to see what all the buzzing is about for Roberta's.

Photography by Minerva Thai.