Billy’s Bakery, Chelsea, New York

These pictures are a few months old but I thought I’d pay tribute to the first place that got me started on the cupcake craze, thanks to my dear friend, Shasha.

Billy’s gives me the warm fuzzies in my tummy every time I step in, I’m not sure why but the place is just so welcoming. Their cupcakes are amazingly good, yes, they are sweet, but what’s the point of cupcakes if they aren’t sweet? Shasha says, Billy’s cupcakes are the key to happiness.

A very happy Shasha

 

Billy’s Bakery
184 9th Avenue,
New York, NY 10011
http://www.billysbakerynyc.com/

 

Fette Sau, Brooklyn, New York

I guess it’s time to revive this blog. I can’t be living in one of the greatest food havens on earth and not be posting anything here. So here goes…

The name of the place intrigued me the very first time I heard it from a friend of mine (who of course, is a mighty foodie and a great food blogger, so here’s to you Sarah) – Fette Sau means fat pig in German – so I thought I had to check it out. I finally got down to it a week ago and dragged my friend Jen with me.

We got there right before the mad rush for meat started and got seated comfortably in the corner next to the wall. You know a restaurant is serious about their meat if they dedicate an entire wall to describing the edible parts of an animal.

We tried a host of meat products: pulled pork shoulder, beef brisket, ribs and pork sausages and I can say that all of them were very good. The brisket was sliced thin and extremely tender, the pulled pork could have been slightly juicier but it was still good. My favorite part of the meal, however, wasn’t the meat but a spicy sauce that they had on the table. The sauce was amazingly subtle, i.e. it wasn’t very salty, but it was spicy and definitely met my criteria of spicy-ness.

The tables at Fette Sau are arranged in a communal way – long benches and picnic-like tables. It enforces a family-styled dining area and I liked it. Seating a big group could prove challenging, so get there early if you can. They have about 10 to 15 different types of beer on tap, which is quite a good amount.

Fette Sau
354 Metropolitan Avenue,
Williamsburg,
Brooklyn NY
http://www.fettesaubbq.com/

 

The Cupcake Bakery, Sydney

Okay, this has got to be my favorite type of cake ever. I don’t need big slices of cake to cheer me up, just give me one of these little bundles of joy and I’ll be content. I have to attribute my first cupcake encounter to my dear friend, Shasha. It was in New York City on a nippy December afternoon and we were walking in The Village and suddenly the subject of cupcakes came up and someone yelled out, “Magnolia!”**. But Sha said, “No!”. She claimed that there was another store that made cupcakes just as good and we wouldn’t need to queue up for ages. And that’s how I came about Billy’s Bakery and of course, the pure bliss of cupcakes.

When I got to Australia, I had another good friend here, Eileen, who is also obsessed with cupcakes and food in general. And she brought me to this place called Little Cupcakes in Melbourne.

So started the cupcake hunt in Sydney. I saw the opening sign to this place about a year ago and got pretty excited. Almost everyone who passes by this store gives it a second stare, and some stand and ogle because the cupcakes they have on display just look divine.

Cupcakes on display

More cupcakes on display

A little gem

The cakes are moist, and the icing is not too sweet and they taste so fresh! My favorite is the one above, chocolate with vanilla icing. Cupcakes here are $3.50 a pop, and if you buy a dozen, they’re $3.20 each. Not a cheap treat, but you can always split one with someone. Half a cupcake is better than none!

They have a few locations in Sydney:

1. The QVB, Sydney
2. 320B George St, Sydney NSW 2000
3. 438 Oxford St, Paddington NSW 2021

** For the sake of those poor souls who don’t know about Magnolia Bakery, they are credited with starting the “cupcake craze” in the 90s, according to Wikipedia. If you’re ever in the West Village in New York, do go check out the queue . But if you want just cupcakes, I recommend Billy’s.

 

Recipe: Peppered Steak

If I think Zayni’s a great cook, her sister’s even better. No offense to Zayni intended, but then again she acknowledges her sister’s prowess when it comes to cooking and creating masterpieces.

So Shamim’s finally getting down to writing a recipe book and I’ll be posting her recipes as I follow along with them. This one is very simple, yet extremely yummy. Perfect for a nippy, winter evening, especially if you like to go nuts on the chillies like I do.

Here goes.

peppered steak ingredients

peppered steak cooking steps

Enjoy! Comments about the recipe are most welcome!

 

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Zayni has a terrible sweet tooth, and Sonia’s the total opposite. But we have found that we all love the chocolate tarts at Bourke Street Bakery (I should get a picture of those tarts). When we used to live in Ultimo, there was a Bourke St Bakery branch on Broadway St. Then I discovered the original bakery in Surry Hills while on a photography trip in the city one Sunday afternoon.

If you zoomed in on the corner where the bakery was, you would feel as though you were in the Village in New York, or somewhere in Lincoln Park in Chicago. I especially love the loaves of bread on display on the window of the shop.

It’s an awesome breakfast/hang out place. If the tables run out, there’s always the park across the street. A perfect Saturday morning ritual: fresh sausage rolls from the bakery and eating them on the grass in the park under the sun.

Bourke Street Bakery,
633 Bourke St,
Surry Hills 2010 NSW

 

Cafe Giulia’s, Chippendale

There’s just something about this place that compels us to come back every time. The service isn’t necessarily 5-star. If you try to get your own cutlery, prepare to get snapped at by the surly chef. The service can sometimes be spotty because the some of the wait staff are foreigners on a working holiday and they either don’t speak English very well, mess up your order or totally ignore you when you want some more pepper or butter (remember, you’re not allowed to touch anything on the counter).

But, we come back every time.

I remember my first morning there about a year ago. I had just arrived to Sydney and Zayni got very excited and said that we have to go to her favorite breakfast place. I was still a bit jetlagged, very tired and finding it very hard to believe that there were so many Asians in Sydney. Giulia’s was my culinary introduction to the harbor city and it made the list as one of my favorite places to eat.

Try the salmon omellete, chicken omellete, fish burger, or Zayni’s favorite, the kafta. Or the special that Sonia never tried but has always drooled over them: corn fritters, avocado bacon and poached eggs.

Cafe Giulia’s
92 Abercrombie St,
Chippendale 2008 NSW

 

Fuuuuuuud

This blog was created for two of the dearest people in my life.

To Sonia; who taught me that there is always reason to eat more even if you’re extremely stuffed, for going on late night food hunts with me in Sydney, for bringing Dr. Karg + avocadoes + tomatoes into my life and for making 2008 one of my best years.

To Zayni; for never hesitating to shower me with food love, for making the best curries, for being so anal about rice being separated and for being the best thing that happened to me since sliced bread.

I love  you both to death.

Here’s a tribute to food, the essence that brings people together, keeps people together, a wellspring in a desert that is life.