Brazilian Standard

To anyone who is wondering what a typical Brazilian meal looks like...

This is pretty much it, you have your rice with beans on the side, some veggies (broccoli and fried yucca) and some meat (beef with some caramelized onions). The most common meat choices are beef, chicken and pork. We also eat pretty much all the same veggies as commonly found here in the United States. Black beans are also very commonly served, this one is kinda like a pinto bean.

Don't Attempt at Home!

WELCOME TO PARADISE!

The Island of Fernando de Noronha is truly a hidden paradise. A beautiful tropical island hidden off of the Northeast coast of Brazil.

Unfortunately for us who live here the day to day food is far from paradisaical. Here, the cheapest quick lunch we eat. A simple pasta, with little thin sauce (the most expansive ingredient), and some sausages to give it a little more taste, better than nothing? maybe.

For most it's best to come for a week and live like a king, rather than live a few months and eat like a poor man. I for one, think that our daily exercise and conditioning allow us to still be somewhat healthy despite the garbage that we often times eat (more examples to come). Of course, as often as we can afford, we diverge from our poor man's food and spend a little more to keep our gastronomical sanity, and give our bodies a little more of that crucial nutrition that it needs.

Almost ironically, this is the type of thing you don't want to be eating on a daily basis!

At the Club!

Sao Paulo. Countless restaurants to choose from, and we go eat at the club restaurant. What's a better incentive to go work out then to know you can enjoy delicious food, guilt free!

This particular day I didn't work out, or do any physical activity, but I ate all the same (that's why I went healthy). A simple salad and some pan fried chicken breast to start, followed up by some pasta with a beef filet (not pictured) and for dessert some pineapple and chocolate mouse (not pictured). Yes, this is the good life!

Consulado da Bahia

São Paulo has every type of restaurant you can think of. Any type of food you might want to eat, you can find somewhere in the sprawling metropolis. Consulado da Bahia is a restaurant that offers traditional foods from the northern regions of Brazil.

This is a portion of the moqueca de abadejo, its a fish stew made in clay pots. It comes with rice, farofa (a specific type of fried flour), and pirão (a very thick sauce made from fish). The sauces blend into the rice to make a moist mouthful of deliciousness. The farofa can be mixed in to give it a drier heavier consistency. This is a great place to get a taste of the northern Brazilian cuisine without leaving the big commercial capital of Brazil.

Welcome to Brazil

WELCOME TO BRAZIL!

My next few posts will be from Sao Paulo, after which will come the homely Fernando de Noronha cusine.

Quitanda!!!! YES.
This is one of my favorite places to eat in SP. It is relatively cheap and absolutely delicious. Their Saturday brunch might be one of the best buffets in existence. Their lunch service is a salad buffet plus an optional meat, or plate.

This is my beautiful salad buffet plate. Then I got a chicken breast and more salad. But for now appreciate this fresh awesome selection. This place always has the freshest stuff, which is one of the reasons I love it! Also (not pictured) they have juices made on order from the freshest fruits. If you want a semi-quick delicious non-expensive dinner look no furter. QUITANDA, I love it.

Moonstruck!

Moonstruck dinner will strike quite a blow to your appetite. The menu offers up a great variety of options, from a great on paper breakfast menu to full sized entrees. The portions are BIG. A sandwich here easily goes for two meals, unless you are really hungry. Don't believe me, look down just a little.

Grilled chicken, caramelized onions, covered in melted mozzarella cheese on a french baguette. With crispy on the outside and soft on the inside fries... If it wasn't for its monstrous size you wouldn't be able to stop until it was all but gone.

This is the last post from NYC. Stay tuned for delicacies from down south as I write about my gastronomic ventures in São Paulo, Brazil.

Into the Rabbit Hole

The only place showing the Texans game in mid December in NYC was a bar going down some shady stairs, through a dark hallway and into a basement bar. Then again NY is known for having interesting (for lack of a better word) locations for some of their bars.

I have to go back to find out the name of the bar, but it was pretty darn good. I got a bacon and egg cheese burger. Above average fare for a basement bar in my opinion. The fries were surprisingly good and very crisp. The internet is getting better, so I think the post will start rolling in daily again.

Frank Sinatra's Pizza

Grimaldi's Pizza. Supposedly where Frank Sinatra ordered his pizzas. Though I am not sure exactly what pizza he ordered, from my experience I can tell you it must have been good.

We got a white pizza with ham ricotta and garlic. The crust is really thin in the New York style, and the pizza is loaded with cheese. The ingredients are top notch and that's what makes this pizza good. I will say though that the 1 hour wait in line was a bit too much for the pizza itself. It is a cool experience to eat here near the Brooklyn Bridge, but it isn't the best pizza I have eaten. Would I recommend it, yes, but don't expect to be completely blow away by it.

Petroussian Cafe

Smoked Salmon Baguette from the Petroussian boutique and cafe. A small place near central park (NYC), which has a variety of pastries and sweets, as well as some tables for restaurant style dinning. They also sell a wonderful selection of caviar. I came in for some lunch.

The strong flavor of the salmon is what sets smoked salmon apart from other fish. There is so much flavor to be had. This sandwich, with just smoked salmon and some butter on french bread is the pinnacle of simple and yet delicious. The salad on the side breaks the monotony with a mild but tasty vinaigrette sauce.

Another Greek Cafe

I have momentarily forgotten the name of this little Greek Cafe near in Fullerton (SE LA), but its a quiet little place, with great healthy food. I choose a pasta salad combo, the pasta was a simple white sauce, chicken pasta with bread crumbs and cheese on top, while the salad was a traditional ceasar salad.

I'll keep this post short as I have to catch a flight today. I have one place left in LA I want to post about, then I'll be posting about a couple places in NYC.

Market Fare

The farmers market in LA (at least near the LACMA) is a must go to place. Go have lunch at one of the many stands that offer all kinds o foods. I chose a Brazilian BBQ place and though it isn't the best BrBBQ I've had it definitely gives you a little taste at a fair price. Keep in mind that it is an outdoor market, but then again, you are in sunny California. The LACMA is also pretty good, though I didn't check out their cafe's selection.

Bonjour Monsieur

My first step towards learning French: going to a great French restaurant. Madame Chou Chou in Santa Monica was a great intro course. I went during lunch and got the daily pasta special, wild boar. I thought it was absolutely delicious, the meat was so soft and moist that it really felt like it was melting in my mouth. The pasta was thin and not heavy. I hope to go again soon, but ordering in French!

Fritto Misto

Welcome to Santa Monica! There are a lot of good restaurants around here. This time around I decided to go to a small homely Italian restaurant called Fritto Misto. This place has delicious homemade pastas at a moderate price. Under recommendations I got the Jumbo Raviolli, this plate is a ridiculous assortment of delicious. All you need to know is that it has prosciutto, chicken, mozzarella, pancetta (bacon), dried tomatoes, and caramellized onions, all immersed in a garlic cream sauce. Ok enough talk, take a deep breath and take it in.

I haven't even left, but I already want to come back to LA.

New Food Opolis

At the suggestion of a close family friend I went to Zoës Kitchen, a trendy new Mediterranean dinner. I ordered the grilled chicken pita sandwich and chose the pasta salad to accompany it.

This place is good. The ingredients are fresh and the food tastes like something you should eat while enjoying the sun and overlooking the Mediterranean from a high Greek balcony. I am also a huge fan of Mediterranean food. A good point this family friend brought up, is that they have wonderful vegetarian options. I could gladly have a vegan meal off of Mediterranean foods (though eating feta cheese would be extremely tempting).

Tequila or Taco??

So the Yucatan Tequila Bar Taco Stand  recently opened on the Woodlands waterway, so me and some friends went try it out (I feel like I need to go back for dinner and order some liquid fell good food). I admit this picture isn't much to look at, so yes if you will actually have to read what I have to say about it.

This shredded carne de puerco (pork) taco looks more like a burrito bowl salad. That's a good thing, it gives you an idea of the size of this flavor packed taco. As an after thought I would have liked to mix the ingredients all together, as you can not see the pork is all under the salad and cheese, but there is plenty of it, trust me. For this meal I only got this single taco, I was saving up room for the dessert. That can wait till tomorrow though.

Bento Box!

From sushi and tempura to bento box and donburi The Japanese seem to never fail to please. This is an elaborate bento from Fokuda Japanese Restaurant. If only every day my lunch could be as carefully prepared.

Out of the many bento options I chose the Robata bento. It was very good, as was the not picture salad and miso soup that comes before the main portion. After eating this, it makes me think we could all take a lesson from the Japanese.

Brio Tuscan Grille!

If you want that top notch service, great food, classy upscale atmosphere, head over to Brio, a nice upper scale Italian restaurant. The lunch menu is different from the dinner, with portions considerably cheaper, but also smaller. I had the Pasta Yandolino with Rigatoni, chicken, spinach, mushrooms, Feta and diced tomatoes in a light bercy with pesto bread crumbs.

Everything I have eaten here has been of great quality. I have never had a bad waitress, and somehow just walking in makes you feel important. I think it's a great place for when you have a little extra to celebrate, besides just being your awesome self!

Rolling with it

I am a huge fan of sushi and I am surprised it has taken me this long to post them up on here. I don't know of any studies on how healthy sushi is, but every time I eat it I feel like I'm being healthy. This is a roll that I got at H&H, but I much prefer simple sushi like just tuna or salmon over rice (also healthier).

Pre-prepared sushi also makes for a great lunch on a hectic day.

Cuatros!

Ok, what has a 4x4 mega screen, shows soccer matches, has great burgers/chicken sandwiches/tacos, and 

some of the cutest waitresses in Austin?

CUATROS. I love this place.

This is the Burger for Breakfast. Say hello to a sunny side up on your burger, and then say your goodbyes as it disappears into your stomach.
I can't say exactly how many times I have come to Cuatros for a brunch and devoured one of these while watching a football or a futbol match. I can say it hasn't been enough.

Simple Bowl Complicated Salad

In my hometown (The Woodlands, TX) there is a upscale outdoor shopping center called Market Street. There is now a salad wrap/bowl location there, which is not creatively called Salata. This place is pretty cool. You first choose whether you want a tossed salad bowl or a wrap, then you pick from their vast array of extras to compliment the lettuce just the way you want it. Then, for a small fee you can add some protein in the form of chicken or seafood (salmon, shrimp, etc.).

Though some will say it's a bit pricey for 'just' a salad, I think it's a great fast option for a light and healthy meal. Also the salads are quite big, and all the ingredients are incredibly fresh and of great quality.

I got mine with a pesto toast (devoured before picture...), mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, feta cheese, green and black olives, grilled chicken and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.