Category: Food Stories

From September 18th to September 25th, I have been in New York. The reason was to give a presentation on Buddhist Temple Cuisine on the 20th. I’m posting my personal diary accounts of all the food and peeps. I hope you enjoy.

Read the first part of this journey at Edible Queens and then return here for the rest.

Back for Manhattans in Manhattan

Joe called it a night, and Jonathan, who is a distiller and intimately knows the New York cocktail world, took me to PDT (recently found that this was Food Network Magazine’s #1 Best American Food Destination), which people told me was THE place to start my cocktail research. I was also told that I wouldn’t be able to get in. But Jonathan said it wouldn’t be a problem. We walked into a restaurant, Crif’s Hot Dogs, and Jonathan entered a phone booth. He dialed the rotary dial on an orange phone, and the wall opened up to his left. He told the hostess that he knew the owner, and we were in.

Classic speakeasy.

So we sidled up to the bar, and I took a glance at the cocktail menu. WOW! These things aren’t drinks. They’re stories. Jonathan was my guide for all this. I wanted to try a classic cocktail first. I don’t remember the names. But this one came from the 1930s, was bourbon based, and tasted like an adult cocktail–like something my grandfather would have drunk. Manly and sophisticated.

But I really wanted to try a fat washed alcohol, so he ordered me a drink with some bacon-infused whiskey. That was my favorite of the night. It was like drinking the bacon drippings from the refrigerator. But better than that. I got drunk.

A model from L.A. sat to our right and was talking about how she was pining for this guy from London who was leaving that evening. Other than that, she was pleasant to talk to. Another couple sat down next to us, and the woman ordered a Sapphire Martini. Jonathan talked her out of it into something more interesting, and then they started to have a good time.

After two drinks, we headed out to The Summit Bar, another one in this cocktail renaissance. But I noticed Jonathan was hitting the end. He didn’t bother ordering a drink. I ordered some cured meats to help him out, but he left to go sleep it off. So I had a platter of meat before me and a drink called the Gov’ner.

I decided to go home too. My morning had been hazy since I was still decompressing from the adrenaline of the day before. You know that feeling like there’s cotton in your brain. It had cleared up by Shikgaek, but I was crashing fast. I wanted to try to walk home from the East Village to the West Village. On the way, I saw Katz’s Deli, which was closed. But Ray’s Pizza was open next door. Had a simple Margherita slice, which was the perfect drunk food, and decided to catch a taxi home. Good thing I got the taxi. I found on Google Earth that I was walking south, not west.

ZenKimchi in New York

Arrival

Wendy’s Rooftop

The Presentation

Feasting through Queens

Ultimate Food Nerd Time

The Culinary Institute

The Big Finish

Pictures

From September 18th to September 25th, I have been in New York. The reason was to give a presentation on Buddhist Temple Cuisine on the 20th. I’m posting my personal diary accounts of all the food and peeps. I hope you enjoy.

This week was packed! There was no way I could do everything I set out to do, but I did as much as I could on Friday.

I set out in the morning for Jacques Torres on Hudson Street to get a box of chocolates for my ailing grandfather, whom I was leaving the visit the next day in Alabama. He’s a picky eater, but he’s always had a fondness for chocolate, keeping petit fours and Whitman’s Samplers at his house, which I always raided behind his back. I felt that I needed to repay him with a nice big 50-piece box of chocolates from one of the world’s greatest chocolatiers. I was holding back the urge to get teary eyed as I got them.

After dropping them off at the apartment, I met ZenKimchi friend Zach in front of Trump Tower at Columbus Circle. We had plans to sit at the bar for lunch at Nougatine at Jean-Georges. I had been told by a few that I needed to go there, particularly since he and his wife are the hosts of the upcoming PBS documentary series on Korean food.

There were some great highlights of the meal, but it was obvious that this was a set up for the tourists, like me, who wanted to tell their friends they ate at Jean-Georges. I particularly loved the little Brussels sprouts with bacon and pear and the Johnny Iuzzini dessert of peaches with a champagne sabayon and pistachio ice cream. But the steak was so overseasoned that it burned my tongue–you know, that feeling you get when you eat straight salt. I also liked the yuzu cocktail and the cucumber mint martini. It felt like something was missing from the martini, and Zach and I discussed it. Then I asked the bartender for a little salt. After adding a pinch of salt, it really tasted good. It just needed a little something to amp up its subtle flavors.

The only touristy thing I wanted to do during my trip was to go to Central Park. So we trekked a bit there. I specifically wanted to see the Dakota Apartments and Strawberry Fields.

Strawberry Fields was very touristy, but so is Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris, which I also make a pilgrimage to in the early 1990s.

Artist Elaine met us, and we walked through the greens. We were still peckish after that lunch, and David Chang’s new restaurant Má Pêche was within walking distance. As a Korean food writer, I also felt obligated to try out a David Chang restaurant, so this checked something off my list.

We sat at the upstairs bar and ordered three items, a bánh mi with duck terrine, a variety of oysters and some ribs. The food was good, but it didn’t blow me away–especially when compared to Chef Kim’s food at Star Chef in Seoul. I think we were disappointed in the ribs. Great flavor on the outside but empty in the middle. But I did like the sandwich. So, yeah, I ate at a David Chang joint.

Don’t you hate it when food bloggers treat restaurants like score cards?

The next plan was to check out Xie Xie, the sandwich place owned by Top Chef contestant Angelo Sosa, but it was closed. So was the pub next to it that Zach wanted us to try.

Luckily, he had a Beer Passport guide, and he knew of another good place for a drink, The Pony Bar.

This place specializes in artisan beers, mostly from upstate New York. This is where I had the best beer of my life. On the menu it’s called “Super Friends,” and it’s a combined effort by Ithaca area brewers. A beer so hoppy it smells like a freshly cut pine tree.

That was the end of our little walkabout. I went back to my apartment to shower and rest before the final dinner. Eddie Huang had invited us to check out his new place, Xiao Ye.

When night fell, I walked out into the Friday evening. Parties were starting. I saw the San Gennaro street festival and walked down the road. It had been a very long time since I’d been in a fairground atmosphere like this. Carnies. Grilled sausages. Sideshows.

Xiao Ye is a tiny dark joint directly behind Katz’s Deli. Jonathan was already at the bar, miserable with his cocktail (“It tastes like it’s from the 1980s”). And we waited for the rest of the party to show.

Man, was it cramped and loud and dark. But we still had a good time. Youngsun Lee and his lovely wife joined us. You may remember we interviewed him a while back. This was the first time I had to actually talk to him. We ordered a lot of food, and Eddie gave us a little more. I agree with most every person I’ve read and the Village Voice that the Cheeto Fried Chicken is good, but it needs more cheese flavor. My favorite thing–and I think it was the consensus of the table–was the glazed pork chop with fried “Concubine Cucumbers” (fried pickles). The Hainan Chicken and Rice was also a hit.

But when they set down their monstrous dessert so ugly only a mother could love–Blue Magic–that’s when I was truly happy. It’s a bing soo. A shaved ice treat that’s all over Asia. But this came with some blue stuff and a precariously dumped mango pudding on top. Electrically sweet. It was gone way before the heat in that place could melt it. “Xiao Ye” means something like “snacks when you’re piss drunk,” and I get the concept.

I want to go back for those fried pickles.

After snapping a final picture of the gang, New York Joe walked me most of the way back to my place. I got back and took yet another shower. It was hot that day. I finished packing and making sure I had all my papers organized. I had an early flight to Huntsville, Alabama. I calculated I needed to get up at 4 or 5 to get to the airport in time. It was 2 when I got in bed. Obviously I couldn’t sleep. So when it rolled on to 4, I got dressed, grabbed my stuff and walked to the subway amidst the dying embers of Friday night parties.

And that was New York.

ZenKimchi in New York

Arrival

Wendy’s Rooftop

The Presentation

Feasting through Queens

Ultimate Food Nerd Time

The Culinary Institute

The Big Finish

Pictures

From September 18th to September 25th, I have been in New York. The reason was to give a presentation on Buddhist Temple Cuisine on the 20th. I’m posting my personal diary accounts of all the food and peeps. I hope you enjoy.

NOTE: I’m holding off on the Tuesday post, Eating Through Queens, because it will be a guest post on World’s Fare.

Surprised that I got over my hangover quickly. But I was still frazzled from Monday. Wendy IM’ed me and asked if I wanted to join her at the Union Square Market. At the same time, Jonathan was saying he could get me a press pass for Star Chefs that afternoon. My original plans were just lunch at 11 Madison Park and the ZenKimchi meet up in Koreatown that night. So I really packed it in that day.

Greatly enjoyed the market. All the vegetables made me envious. Just look at those heirloom tomatoes!

And emu eggs!

I badly needed coffee, so we went to a Starbucks. The guy at the table next to us needed it more. He passed out at his table, and stuff fell on the floor. I was worried he’d knock the table over. Good candidate for Blackout Korea, if we were in Korea.

I was intimidated about going to 11 Madison Park, as I’m usually intimidated by fine dining. And also being a single diner. I took the train a few blocks up and found the restaurant. I showed up 10 minutes early and walked through the revolving door.

“Hello, Mr. McPherson.”

Man, it’s true! The new version of this restaurant knows who you are when you walk in the door. They quickly made me feel welcome, and I settled down to enjoy an epic two-hour experience. I’ll dedicate an entire post to this meal later. I’m still in awe of it.

The table next to me was a Korean woman taking her elderly mother out for a Chuseok meal. When they got up to leave, I wished them a happy Chuseok.

By the time I finished, I was running late for Star Chefs. I wanted to see a lecture by bartender Junior “Liquid Chef” Merino. I got up to 66th and Park, but I couldn’t find a pay phone to call Jonathan to get me inside. It was then that I ran into Veronica, who was able to get me in without a press pass.

I couldn’t believe where I was!

For someone like me, this was the ultimate fanboy event. Celebrity chef sightings everywhere. Ooh, there’s Wylie DuFresne. Rick Moonen was MC for the main stage, and we watched the Voltaggio Bros. make a dish they called “Tongue ‘n’ Cheek.” Bryan got it finished okay, but Michael was being greatly ambitious, and equipment broke down on him. He was going to make cotton candy with smoke inside it, but the cotton candy machine didn’t work. I think it flustered him a bit because he had forgotten some of his components and added them after he had presented his dish. It still looked a lot of fun.

My big thing there was the cheese. CHEESE! We miss this so much in Korea. And they had some stanky ass cave aged cheddar and a blue cheese where the mold was so strong it had texture.

I found Jonathan, and he took me over to introduce me to Junior Merino. I tried some mezcal. I couldn’t handle hard spirits because of my previous night’s recovery. I met Junior’s wife back on the show floor. Jonathan was going to introduce me to the man himself, Dale DeGroff, but we ran out of time. We left as chefs were enraptured by a speech on pastry by Ferran Adria’s brother Albert.

Jonathan and I shared a cab. He was trying to get across the river to the gala, and I was going to the Empire State Building–Koreatown–for the ZenKimchi Meet Up. We got stuck in traffic because the UN delegates were in session, and there was added security. I just hopped out of the cab a few blocks away and found our meeting place, Seoul Garden.

When I got there, my body crashed. I really couldn’t think straight. But I was so happy that people showed up. There were Megan from Bento Zen, my old pal Regina, Elaine Tin Nyo from the artist’s project in Anyang two years ago, Robyn Lee from Serious Eats and her friend visiting from Europe, Marcus, Bohae, and Zach showed up later.

I was drinking cokes to try to get my body back up, but it wasn’t working. Thankfully, everyone was hitting it off well, and they were enjoying the food. I just couldn’t eat anything more than a few bites of Kongbiji and Budae Jjigae.

It started raining a bit when we left, and we decided to go to a cafe to get some caffeine in Joe. I actually started falling asleep on the table. But after the latte I was getting back to normal. But again, I was so happy that everyone who didn’t know each other got connected. It’s a wonderful group. Some of them I knew in Korea, and I miss them terribly. Others I had known online for a while and was glad to meet them. I just wish I was my normal annoying awake self.

We caught a train back south, and Elaine walked me home. She used to live in Soho, and her boyfriend currently lives here.

Again, I crashed as soon as I got home.

ZenKimchi in New York

Arrival

Wendy’s Rooftop

The Presentation

Feasting through Queens

Ultimate Food Nerd Time

The Culinary Institute

The Big Finish

Pictures

From September 18th to September 25th, I have been in New York. The reason was to give a presentation on Buddhist Temple Cuisine on the 20th. I’m posting my personal diary accounts of all the food and peeps. I hope you enjoy.

It’s done!

I woke up around 4 a.m., and I rehearsed and tweaked my presentation until 8. I wanted to go out and get some breakfast, so I packed the camera and wandered around.

I’ve realized that I really got lucky in finding this apartment stay. The location is a foodie’s paradise. I’m just a couple blocks from Babbo. There’s Murray’s cheese shop, Gray’s Papaya, Jacques Torres and all these cool interesting restaurants.

I got a hot dog and papaya drink from Gray’s Papaya for breakfast. Checked that place off my list of places to try. I was expecting to be disappointed by them, thinking they were hyped up by nostalgic New Yorkers like The Varsity in Atlanta. I still don’t get why people like The Varsity other than for its legendary status. My dog was dressed simply with sauerkraut and mustard. It was admittedly small, which is why they their main special is two dogs and a 16 oz. drink. Wish I had ordered two. What makes it is the snappy casing. Very much a texture thing. I then did some more wandering while finishing my 16oz. papaya drink.

I then went to the venue at Skylight at around 11. This place is usually used for fashion shows. It’s a one-story space with high ceilings and white walls. It’s a blank slate for whatever event is going on there. Crews were quickly bringing platforms and tables in to set up. Monks and culinary students in their chef’s whites were preparing food. Lotus lanterns were lined up on the floor. Lots of business going on.

I met a good many people, including the Korean bigwigs. Two ladies from Chicago–readers of the site–wanted to interview me for KBS. Made good use of my newly reprinted business cards. I met up with the Silk Road Communications people, who were my contacts in Korea, and we went out for lunch. Found a restaurant called Out of the Kitchen, and it was my sandwich fantasy. I could eat there for every meal for days. I’m such a sandwich fiend. I got a flat-iron steak sandwich with fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers. When it came out, the cook said, “Why are you taking pictures of my food? It’s for eating.”

“We don’t have sandwiches like this in Seoul.”

I couldn’t finish the whole thing, and I went into a food coma afterwards. I wanted a nap. But instead I went to Starbucks and got a Pumpkin Spice Latte. That got me back to normal.

Time went quickly, and I returned to my apartment to change into my suit. When I returned to Skylight, it was much more crowded. One of the organizers put me in a special room with Korean reporters for a press conference.

I had my first press conference!

A lovely young woman interpreted for me as the Korean press asked questions that were cues for my most favorite rants.

“What foods are becoming popular in America?”

“What can Koreans do to make their food more palatable to Americans?”

“What do you think distinguishes Korean food from Japanese and Chinese food?”

Immediately after that, a man in a suit pulled me into the main hall for rehearsal. I got out my computer to get the presentation set up with the tech guys. Then they said they couldn’t do it. They could only do MOV files. I then noticed that everyone had a Mac Book.

The first big freak out. I knew this would happen.

I worked on ways to convert my Prezi presentation into a MOV file but found that it was a slightly complex bundle of files, so there was no magic bullet solution. I was a bit miffed because I had asked two weeks ago if I could do an A/V component using Prezi, and I was told it was good, so I bought a license for it. Now they’re telling me they only use MOV files?

Are we in 1998?

I was upset and went outside to find someone, likely Wendy, to bitch to and so I could think of a solution. I found Wendy and told her, and then I ran into the KBS girls, and one of them suggested that I get their computer to go online and do it from the Prezi web site. I gave her a hug, and I felt much better. Great solution. I did my interview with them. I went in to tell the tech guys my solution.

“We don’t have wireless internet capabilities on our computers.”

So–there’s wireless internet in the building. My computer can use it. But not on the computers. But one of the guys came up with a good solution. They could point a camera at my computer and project it on the screen. That worked, but I didn’t have a means to control the presentation. They’d have to control it.

“How about I give you a script marked with cues?”

“That would work.”

I checked my bag and found I didn’t have my script. They were in the apartment.

I rushed back to the apartment. On the way, I ran into Joe DiStefano, Grace Niwa, Debra Samuels–people I’d been looking forward to meeting, but I had to tell them I had to run quickly. Luckily the apartment was just a 10-minute brisk walk away. I got the scripts, returned to the venue and sat on the floor to mark them up.

I went inside and show the tech guys what to do. Quickly ran through the presentation, and I felt much better. You see, after these big technical difficulty panics, all stage fright is gone.

People started filing in. Wendy told me to seat close to the front, where I had a nametag. While waiting, this girl was asking me to move from my seat because it was reserved. I held up my nametag and said, “Yeah, it’s reserved for me.”

Wendy sat next to me. The seats got filled. Charlie Rangle was two tables over. He was the only VIP I recognized right off. Then the even started.

I was in awe of how they pulled it off. It was dark with the eerie sounds of monks chanting and woodblocks tapping on the big screens being projected in four places on the walls. A procession of children in hanboks and lit lanterns progressed to the front. Then two monks went nuts with the big drum at center stage.

Then the speeches.

They were a little dull but thankfully short. I saw that I was a lot higher on the program than I thought. Very quickly it became my turn to speak. Vivian Lee, the MC, gave a humbling introduction of me. The running around previously had killed any stage fright I had. I was very relaxed.

I went to the center stage podium and saw that my presentation wasn’t up. I stalled a bit by talking about how the tech guys deserve a reward if we can pull this off. Then I saw the presentation come up, and I started.

It was a good thing I overprepared because I had to keep track of what was going on in the presentation and give cues to the tech guys. Everything was sharply timed in my planning. I did a lot of improvising, not really to fill time but because I was feeling so energized and relaxed. I noticed Rangle leaving. I guess he didn’t like the talk.

In my mind, the laughter was lukewarm, but the feedback I got afterward was enthusiastic.

I sat back down and couldn’t believe it was over. After five months of prep, it was over. I could finally deflate and enjoy my vacation. I said that mentally, but the rest of my being was uptight, and I would be in decompression mode for a few more days.

I was not in the mood to eat, but I knew I needed to. I met a few people in line and got a little food. The food itself was better than I expected, and the people around me said they honestly liked the meal. The most common response I heard was how surprised they were that they felt full after eating. They didn’t really miss the meat.

I hung out with Joe DiStefano and Dave Cook (New York Times). I caught up quickly with everyone. Restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld wanted me to bring the ZenKimchi meet up to his restaurant, as did the people of Do Hwa–both sounded like great places. Grace Niwa was lovely, thought she was a little stressed about some looming deadlines that evening. Debra Samuels was amazingly warm. It felt like I had always known her. Grace Meng and I really connected in our bitchfest on Korean food promotion.

Things ended quickly. I was running on adrenaline. Mark Matsumoto (No Recipes), his significant other, Shin, Joe D. (“America Joe”) and I walked out to go to our own afterparty. We walked to around my apartment to Pegu Club. I finally got a chance to try some of these cocktail renaissance drinks.

Marc is a hoot! Lots of fun and great stories. And he laughs at my jokes, which scores him some points. The Earl Grey Martini there was exactly what I needed. It has a bright grapefruit flavor. We ordered some smoked fish deviled eggs–OMG!! But after two drinks the adrenaline started to crash into decompression mode, and I was starting to see two Marcs. I told them that I wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, so we called it a night.

Did I mention how much I love this location?

Everything is within such easy walking distance. But really, many places in Manhattan are easily within walking distance.

ZenKimchi in New York

Arrival

Wendy’s Rooftop

The Presentation

Feasting through Queens

Ultimate Food Nerd Time

The Culinary Institute

The Big Finish

Pictures

From September 18th to September 25th, I have been in New York. The reason was to give a presentation on Buddhist Temple Cuisine on the 20th. I’m posting my personal diary accounts of all the food and peeps. I hope you enjoy.

Quickly got over that jetlag.

I was invited to Wendy Chan’s place for breakfast. It took me a while to get there. I had to figure out the New York subway, which makes me realize how user friendly, clean, modern and high tech the Seoul subway is. The subway has been my only negative experience in this awesome week. I got a 7-day pass from a very rude subway attendant. When I entered, it looked, sounded and smelled like those clanky dark haunted house rides at county fairs. I felt like I was going back in time. I know it’s a hundred years old. I recently listened to the entire Bowery Boys series on the history of New York public transportation. And I really appreciate the history and the difficulty of building an underground system when there’s all marsh, loose silt and diamond hard rock. That’s why it’s a relatively shallow subway–it’s not really built underground. It’s dug out like a ditch with the road on top. But there are barely any maps, and it’s very difficult to figure out where you are compared to Seoul–where they have multiple print and electronic signs and clear recorded voices in multiple languages at each stop. It feels like an idea that no one finished. A carny ride more than a serious form of transportation. But the system itself is frustrating. In Seoul, you can easily go to the other side of the tracks if you go to the wrong one. Where I got on in Queens, I just went down like I would in Seoul and planned to pick the right track once inside.

Didn’t work that way.

It took me straight to the track. The wrong track. And I had to get out, cross the street and re-enter. The only trouble is that it wouldn’t accept my card because I had used it recently on the other side. I had to wait fifteen minutes for it to let me in as I watched three trains pass through the station.

Okay. That’s the end of the bad part.

I got to Chez Chan late in the morning, and we all had pastries and cappuccino on her rooftop in Queens with a commanding view of the skyline. We then broke out our computers and got to work on finalizing details on the event Monday. I called EJ on Skype. It was fun talking to her on the video phone with the Empire State Building behind me.

“Wow, you’re really in New York!”

I already feel like the Chans are my family in New York. We all went out to this Thai restaurant, Ploy Thai, that participated in the Asian Feastival, which Wendy and Veronica organized recently. It’s a very unknown gem. While we were waiting for a table, Veronica showed me a Thai grocery store, and I found a bought a bag of durian chips.

Score!

The food at this restaurant made other Thai food stand in the corner with shame. The dish that really stood out–oh, I forget the name, I’ll have to ask them–was a mixture of ginger, peanuts, dried shrimp, I think some pork or chicken, and tiny pieces of lime with the rinds still on. This came with leaves for wrapping. The flavor on these was so intense that my eyes were watering. I had trouble finishing the last one because it was such a glorious sensory overload.

We finished with four different ice creams, including a coconut ice cream inside a coconut.

The owner was a humble and generous Thai lady. I took my picture with her. It was such an honor to eat her food.

We returned to the Chan house and did some more work. I arranged to meet Jenny Lee-Adrian of Hummingbird Appetite at Fatty Crab for dinner. It was on the way to meet her that I had my subway troubles. Fortunately she didn’t have to wait long because she was delayed too.

Fatty Crab was so loud that I just pretended to understand our server when she told us the specials. Following Jenny’s lead, we ordered Crispy Pork with Pickled Watermelon, Steamed Buns with Pork, and a Chicken curry rice–as in a quarter roasted chicken on a Thai style rice with a slow poached egg.

I knew I would like the pork buns, and I was right. I am so going to make these when I return to Korea. The vibe and the flavor of the food reminded me a lot of Star Chef. It was just a little louder, a little darker and a little saltier. The food in New York is a tad on the salty side for my palate. But that’s a debate I’ve had with my brother for years. I say that chefs’ tongues are like rock stars’ ears. The senses are deadened over time, and they need a stronger dose than the normal person. I also find it puzzling because Korean food is notoriously salty, but we balance it with other foods. If anything, I bet my tolerance for sour foods has increased as my tolerance for salty foods has diminished.

The past two New York restaurants where I’ve eaten at night have also been ridiculously dark. At Fatty Crab, Jenny and I were taking turns holding our menus up to the sad little candle. I understand creating a certain ambiance, but I think it’s a bit too far. Maybe it’s to deter annoying food bloggers from taking pictures of the food. Then again, that only encourages nasty ass flash photos. I think I’ve done pretty well in getting some pictures. They don’t really give an idea of how truly dark our tables were. I can’t describe the curry rice dish at Fatty Crab because I couldn’t see it.

Jenny was kind enough to walk me home, using her iPhone for guidance. We had a great talk, and it was great to absorb the sights and smells of the neighborhood. Pizza! I miss the smell of real pizza.

ZenKimchi in New York

Arrival

Wendy’s Rooftop

The Presentation

Feasting through Queens

Ultimate Food Nerd Time

The Culinary Institute

The Big Finish

Pictures

From September 18th to September 25th, I have been in New York. The reason was to give a presentation on Buddhist Temple Cuisine on the 20th. I’m posting my personal diary accounts of all the food and peeps. I hope you enjoy.

This is the fourth time I’ve made this overseas flight, and it seemed to go much faster this time. It does help that they have more entertainment options. I still can’t sleep on these flights, but I think I did shut my eyes for an hour or two.

Oh, and do you need anymore proof why Korean Air is awesome?

Yes, that’s a Starcraft II ad. I wish I coulda ridden that plane.

The only disaster I had was on the way to Shanghai. I think something was up with the cabin pressure because I left with a big headache and stuffy feeling. But I also think the odd pressure caused my pen to explode, pouring ink all over my hands as I attempted to fill out my embarkation card. You know, usually when a pen leaks, you don’t feel it. The ink from this incident felt like blood dripping all over. I was wearing my new suit jacket, and luckily no ink got on my clothes. But it took a while to get most of the ink off my hands using a napkin and my cup of water from the airplane snack.

Shanghai was hot. I had a three-hour layover there, but after going through immigration, picking up my bag and standing in another long line at the ticketing counter for my boarding pass, I only had an hour to kill. Was greatly tempted to get some noodles. My experiences in Osaka, Fukuoka and Incheon have taught me that noodles at Asian airports are good.

Had a window seat. I was happy about that at first. My last trip to America and back I was stuck in the center of the cabin. No window. No aisle. I felt very claustrophobic. But in a post-Google-Earth world, the window seat has lost its luster. And the girl next to me slept almost the entire way, so I couldn’t go to the bathroom without waking her up.

I also think that the airlines move the seats closer by one inch each year. I had to crawl on top of the seats to get out.

As I said, the entertainment options are much better, even in the past two years. I was planning to use my laptop, but the electrical outlet didn’t work. I wasn’t sure if it was the outlet or my adapter. Since I need my laptop for my presentation, I decided to play it safe and save the battery juice. But I got caught up on my summer movies. Really liked “The Karate Kid.” And “A-Team” was the mindless fun I was hoping for.

Checking in to Newark airport was painless. It’s funny that even in communist China the officials are much nicer than the people in American airports. This time, they weren’t as rude as the ones at Dallas-Ft.Worth, but they do treat you like you’re a child and that dealing with you is the worst part of their day.

It does feel like I’m going back in time when I return to the U.S. Incheon Int’l has been rated the best airport in the world for the past few years for good reason. American airports are run down. Baggage carts aren’t free. The lines are long. But as I said, it was pretty smooth in getting through. I met a guy returning home from Korea because he got a job teaching hockey in New Jersey.

Wendy Chan and her husband picked me up outside. Then we waited in traffic. They said this was the worst traffic they’d seen. It was around 8:00, and they were on the phone with their daughter, Veronica, making dinner arrangements.

“The earliest reservation I could get was 10 o’clock.”

Traffic was so bad to and inside the city that we missed that reservation. I didn’t mind at all. It didn’t feel any worse than Seoul. The “crazy” taxis were normal in my world. And we had great conversation.

There was a street festival going on, which was making traffic crawl more slowly. Wendy’s husband and I got out and loaded off my bags at my apartment stay. My host was still in Seoul, so I thought it would be empty. We were surprised to see two legs through the glass in one of the rooms. Like someone dropped a room on the Wicked Witch of the East. I think another guest is staying here. I haven’t met her yet. I just unloaded my stuff and left.

Wendy and Veronica had found a parking spot, and we headed to a restaurant called 10 Downing. It’s so strange to be back in an American restaurant. It’s like being in Itaewon. The lighting was super dark. Only one or two tiny candles per table. People were enjoying oysters. A bartender was vigorously shaking cocktails. The hostess and servers were personable.

Very jarring.

I had a hard time choosing from the menu. The mains sounded okay, but the appetizers sounded exciting. I chose the braised lamb shoulder with gnocchi. The server asked if I’d like any starters. I couldn’t resist and said, “The bone marrow, please.”

They gave us some bread and hummus to start. I had a glass of Brooklyn Brewmaster beer. Real beer! We were so engrossed in our conversation that when the waiter said that the marrow would be delayed because the chef was not satisfied with it that I hadn’t noticed that our food was taking a long time. And that was another shocker. A chef at a nicer restaurant didn’t send something out that was bad.

When the bone marrow came out, I was so happy. It was so rich and buttery, and it tasted like GalbiTang on toast. My lamb was also amazing. Subtly flavored with rosemary and spices in a veal jus it was perfect. The gnocchi were little potato clouds. I only wish I had gotten more bread to sop up that jus.

Before going, Wendy gave me some artisan ginger ale from Bruce Cost. I just tried a bottle this morning while checking my email. It has a major kick! This is the real stuff with actual ginger floating in it, and it has that medicinal burn of fresh ginger. What a great day to start the day.

My room is how I expected it. The bed is very comfortable. It’s strange to wear shoes inside. And even though I’m in Manhattan, it’s pretty quiet. Not nearly as noisy as living near Seoul.

ZenKimchi in New York

Arrival

Wendy’s Rooftop

The Presentation

Feasting through Queens

Ultimate Food Nerd Time

The Culinary Institute

The Big Finish

Pictures