Brooklyn Flea Smorgasburg in DUMBO – Brooklyn, NY

Smorgasburg, Brooklyn Flea, DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY

Just two weeks ago, I was in New York City. I travel there almost month, and I love it. Well, ever since last year, I’ve wanted to go to Williamsburg in Brooklyn to attend the Brooklyn Flea at Smorgasburg. What is it that you ask? Well, it’s pretty much a “Flea Market” of food stands – good old, fresh, foodie food!

Map

Photographs

Finally, on my latest trip to New York, I was finally able to do it. This time, though I went to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge). This place was AWESOME. Not only was the Smorgasburg there, but this place had one of the best views of Manhattan from Brooklyn. The little town in Downtown Brooklyn had so much character, with cute little restaurants, the nice cobblestone under the bridge, and the pretty architecture. It was a great escape from the concrete jungle from across the water. Walking towards the Smorgasburg, there were beautiful photographs from different photographers. Each artist had their unique style of taking pictures – one of Hispanic family households, one of random candid shots of New Yorkers in the city, one of crowds or human traffic in New York, and many others. That’s what I love about New York, they know who they are, they know where they come from, and they have a hell of a lot of character. Their food and art speaks volumes. No wonder everyone wants to be there.

Cobblestone

Bolivian Food menu

Anyway, back to the Smorgasburg. I finally got there. It was such a HOT day, right away my boyfriend, cousin and cousin’s husband all wanted something cold and refreshing to drink. We walked through all the food stands, and found a Bolivian food stand. They made their own homemade lemonade sodas. Super refreshing! I had the Maracuya-Lemonade, and my boyfriend had the Rose Petal lemonade-  very different in flavor, but both so good to the body, in the sweltering heat. The passion fruit was tart, and the rose petal was delicate.

Since it was so hot, we decided to take refuge under trees to get some shade. There, we had a nice breeze coming in from the water, where we can just people watch, and enjoy the view of Manhattan. When you close your eyes you can hear the people, the boats, the breeze, and of course… the subways crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Another great view was the view of Brooklyn Bridge. Beautiful.

After cooling off, we got something to eat. I wanted something light, because personally, I can’t eat much in the heat. I ended up getting some Filipino food – imagine that? New York has it all! Lumpia Shack was my choice… I had a great variety of different Lumpias. By the way, Lumpia is pretty much an eggroll.

Lumpia Shack

I had the sampler, because I wanted to taste them all so I had 3 Lumpias of each flavor. There was the peking duck, the truffled  adobo mushroom, the original pork adobo. It was delicious, but I must say, my favourite was the peking duck Lumpia. I could totally go back all the time for that.

Now here’s the thing, when you’re Filipino, and you see other Filipinos, your pride starts kicking in. So of course, I had to talk to the chef/owner. We of course exchanged the “you’re Filipino, right?” question.  I also ordered the small Halo-Halo with my meal – but of course, he ended up giving me the large. Oh gosh, I was trying to cut down on sugar – but I guess is the Filipino generosity taking place. I take it, and I am just a happy camper. I didn’t finish it though – it was too much, but super delicious. Halo-Halo is kind of like a Filipino slush, made with milk. They add coconut jelly, coconut, sweet beans, jackfruit, ube (sweet purple yams), and leche flan. Of course this place added a twist, and decided to top it off with caramel popcorn. LOVED IT.

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All types of Lumpia!

I know, I know what you’re saying – isn’t this supposed to be a “healthy” food blog? Ok, well here is my take on healthy – eat fresh produce, make your own food with fresh and organic ingredients, watch your portion sizes, reduce your fat and sugar intakes by replacing them with healthier fats and sugars. Also, the use of herbs adds so much more flavor to your food.  And by the way – it is HEALTHY for you to treat yourself to this kind of food – once in a while.

In life, there should be a balance to everything. Too much of anything is not good for you. Eating too much, spending too much money for unnecessary things, indulging too much, etc… can take a toll on you. So live life with balance, and you will enjoy it a lot more.

Let me end by saying this – a lot of people diet, because they want to lose weight fast. The trick is, you need to change your lifestyle. There is no magical pill that will make you lose weight that is healthy. You need to change your diet to healthy, fresh food.  No processed stuff, or that crappy fast food that we all love and hate at the same time. You need to watch how much you are eating (portion control), and you need to do some kind of exercise everyday. At least 30 minutes of walking, or any cardio will be good for the heart and the soul. Finally, like Shaun-T from beachbody says… don’t have a “cheat day”, have a “TREAT DAY”. 

View of Manhattan from DUMBO

Changing My Blog!

Hey Everyone,

I have decided to change my food blog to Resfrescante Foods - a project I am working on, that I think you will love!

"Refrescante" is the Spanish word for "Refreshing" - which I think our food eating habits needs... a refreshment!

Stay tuned for the link!

Thanks everyone!

Jey

Montreal - A City Still Undiscovered - Little Burgundy & Griffintown

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have just moved back home to beautiful Montreal from Toronto. I found myself smiling more and more each day that passes that I live here. The beauty, the fresh air, the European flare, and where Bilingualism is a necessity... it feels like I'm on vacation in my own city. There aren't many places where you can live, and still be able to venture and discover and feel like you're not at home, when you really are. I never thought I'd say this, but it's really nice to hear French again.

A lot of people know about Montreal's great food areas such as Le Plateau, and the Old Port, but the commoner who is not a foodie, still wouldn't know about another undiscovered jewel in the city.

I had a little journey to a constantly developing part of Montreal - Little Burgundy. Situated between Atwater Market and Griffintown, and not far from the Old Port of Montreal, this area was introduced as a new trendy food jem, thanks to one of Montreal's great Chefs Frederic Morin. Chef Frederic Morin is known for his restaurant Joe Beef and other establishments in the area.

Not only is Little Burgundy getting a little bit more acquainted with the locals, but it is now mentioned on TV channels such as the Food Network. Restaurant "Le Boucan", a Pittmaster inspired restaurant with smokey ribs, brisket and other Southern innovative food on the menu has made its appearance on the Food Network's "The Opener" with Chef and Host David Adjey.

Little Burgundy is such a great area for food, since it is situation right beside Atwater Market, and close to its other great food treasure Old Montreal. There are other great places you can dine and hang out. I recommend Limon for some authentic and innovative Mexican dishes (fresh and not your typical Tex-Mex, Carlos & Pepes feel). I also recommend Burgundy Lion; great drinks, great atmosphere, great crowd and great gastro-pub food!

Buying Spaghetti Squash

Montreal has not just one market, but many fresh markets in all parts of Montreal and its suburbs. One of my favourite places to go to is Atwater Market, especially in the summer time. Ever since I've returned to Montreal, I've been doing most of grocery shopping here. I've purchased things like Spaghetti Squash,  great Quebec mushrooms, gorgeous gooseberries and other berries, great french pastries, game meats like Bison & Venison, terrines, sausages and cheeses. Quebec produce is some of the freshest and finest I've seen in Canada.

Here are some more great pics of Quebec produce:

The veggie you see in my hand is called a "Spaghetti Squash". I saw it on one episode of Chuck's Day Off when he made a vegetarian Sheppard's Pie! I'm going to try and make something out of it too :)

Asian produce... this guy loves the camera! 

And now for one of my favourite bakeries in the city...Premiere Moisson! My mom used to bring home desserts from this place all the time when I was a kid, and I loved it. Take a look at the quality of the desserts and breads. It's just so fresh and delicious, made with lots of love and wonderful technique!

Yum...! These are only some of them.

Another area I love in Montreal is called Griffintown, which is right between Little Burgundy and Old Montreal. Not a real big area in size, but has great potential for more restaurant business. There are already some great cafes and restaurants, and one of my favourites is called Griffintown Cafe Dining. When I first came to this place, I tried their pulled pork sandwich, and probably the lightest and freshest tasting I've ever had. I've had an amazing tasting pulled pork sandwich too at Prohibition Gastrohouse in Toronto, but just the freshness that Griffintown dining had to offer was great. Everything in the restaurant is home made, from smoking their meats, to preparing everything day of. This place has so much character as well, with its old school, yet hipster-ish flare. On Friday nights, you can experience great live jazz music and chill out with a drink, and some snacks. My friend Lisa and I stopped here while we walked through Little Burgundy to Griffintown. We had the pulled pork Tacos from the bar menu, since we went in the afternoon. I also ordered Prosecco with Creme De Cassis and Lisa had a Strawberry Daquiri. 

Bar Menu

Yummy fresh Pulled Pork Tacos!

Water in a Whisky bottle :)

On the patio chatting

The Drinks ;)

Well, I don't want to give too much away, but let me say this: the cuisine at this place is just absolutely wonderful. Everything local, fresh, home-made and  affordable/well-priced; what else can you ask for? Their Brunch menu is spectacularly good, the Lunch and Dinner as well, and their Wine menu changes often, since they support local small producers. Really interesting and trendy, so go check them out! 

Griffintown Cafe

http://www.griffintowncafe.com/

Address:

1378 Notre Dame West

Montreal, QC 

H3C 1K8

Phone:

514-931-5299

E-mail:

info@griffintowncafe.com

Other mentions in this blog:

Burgundy Lion:

http://www.burgundylion.com/

Limon:

http://www.limon.ca/

Joe Beef:

http://joebeef.ca/

Le Boucan Smokehouse:

http://www.leboucan.com/v1.1/home/index.php

Atwater Market:

http://www.marchespublics-mtl.com/English/Atwater/

Culture: Defend Hawaii; Defend Aloha... New Street Clothing Line in Hawaii

My friend Adi came over for brunch the other day to our condo, and was wearing this shirt. He's a cop, so I thought he might be wearing the shirt in support of his men or something. I didn't ask too much about it, I just thought it was cool. It was a pretty gangster shirt with a gun on it that said "Defend Hawaii". Adi had gotten me a gift too, and I only opened it after he left... when I opened the box, I had my OWN Defend Hawaii shirt! I was actually pretty happy, because I wanted one! So what is the meaning behind all of it? Well I went to their website to check it out... www.defendhawaii.com

From my experiences here in Hawaii, I've noticed that the Hawaiian people are very welcoming people, and very proud of their culture. You'll always have people saying "aloha" to you, as they wave their hang loose hand gesture, instead of our typical "hi!" wave. What I mean by this gesture is the you point your thumb and pinky finger out and close the rest of your hand to make the "hang loose" sign. I'm sure you've all seen it before. Anyway, as I read through their website, this is what they had to say: "To Defend Hawaii, is to defend the spirit of aloha. It is the resolve, accomplishment and state of mind, that is perpetuated through our culture and traditions. So that generations to come will live in our footprint. No where on God’s green earth can mirror the unconditional acceptance and support we show to family and strangers alike. It is our duty to preserve this spirit. To Defend Hawaii is to defend aloha; by any means necessary."

I'm glad Adi got me this shirt, because I totally support this cause as well. Hawaiians have an amazing way of preserving their culture and not letting it be too "Americanized" as we call it. Hawaii is in fact at state, but when you're here, it doesn't really feel like you're in the USA, because of their strong cultural push. They make sure that every visitor on the island gets a taste of Aloha, and they educate people on the meanings of many things on the island.

With this, I bid you Adieu... and ALOOOOOOHA!

Back of  Shirt

My culinary creation with Hawaiian local produce...

After a whole day of shopping at the farmer's market, this is my creation....Let me introduce to you, the ingredients to my madness!

Green papaya, Singkamas and Honey Crisp Apple:

 Sweet purple yams:

Fresh-caught Mahi filet:

 Voila! My pan-seared Mahi-Mahi with a guava glaze reduction, on top of a purple sweet yam mash. I made the salad out of green papaya, honey crisp apple and Singkamas (sweet white radish), cilantro, with a little romaine lettuce for some colour. I made the vinaigrette out our rice vinegar, olive oil, calimansi and lime juice, macadamia nut honey and guava nectar. It was delicious!

Pan-seared Mahi-Mahi with Tropical Hawaiian Salad

Hale'iwa Farmer's Market & Hale'iwa town

Hale'iwa (pronounced ha-lay-eva)... Ahhh yes... one of the purposes of my trip was to go to Hale'iwa's Farmer's Market in the North Shore of Hawaii. I'm glad I was able to go, because it was one of my main objectives to go there!

The market is open from 9am - 1pm on Sundays, so it was perfect timing to go! Since I'm staying at a timeshare, it is equipped with a beautiful kitchen so that I can cook my own food. I love that. It totally beats eating at a restaurant every night and spending tons of money. The market was absolutely beautiful... it is right off Kamehameha Highway, and it is surrounded by the beautiful mountains and palm trees. The breeze is great, as the wind pass through the valley. I walked in the market, and it was what I expected; tents with tons of produce, and some that we don't get here in Canada. I went

Maui variety pineapple

crazy buying produce. I picked up ingredients off the top of my head, thinking of what I could do with them... I ended up getting fresh basil, fresh cilantro,green onions, a big oregano leaf, Singkamas (sweet white radish), green papaya, sweet papaya, purple sweet yams, white sweet yams, a big habanero pepper, sweet baby bananas, avocados , guavas, macadamia nut honey and Hawaiian blossom honey, and very sweet Maui variety Pineapples.The difference between a Maui variety pineapple and a Dole pineapple, is that the Maui variety Pineapple is less acidic and more sweet. It was QUITE amazing I must say. The taste was like a candied pineapple but SO juicy.

The macadamia pesto man

There was all sorts of things at the market. Hand-carved Hawaiian Tikis, Hawaiian Salt, fresh juices, freshly made Popsicles, organic honey, different kinds of freshly made breads, clothing and jewelry stands, entertainment, local Hawaiian food, crepes, and on some specific dates, they have chef demos. I'm actually kind of sad that I'll be missing out on the Cacao day, where there will be chef demos making chocolate desserts... so envious of whoever will go. There was one stand, where I bought my basil from, where a local Hawaiian made a pesto from his grandmother's recipe. In their version of the pesto, they used basil, olive oil, a little bit of garlic, some Hawaiian seasoning (Hawaiian salt, and other seasonings that he won't give away!) and instead of using pine nuts, they used macadamia nuts. They put a Hawaiian twist on a pesto, it was actually pretty good! It tasted so fresh. As you can see from the picture, I of course had to try it with a fresh piece of bread.

After doing my grocery shopping at the market, I wanted to find a fish market where I can get some fresh Hawaiian fish to cook dinner. I asked the locals where I can go, and they said that the only fish market around was Lou Bueno's Restaurant & Fish Market. We drove aside Hale'iwa coast, took pictures, and watched people surf for a bit. Apparently I had a few things to see while in Hale'iwa. A worker at our timeshare, who's name is "Melvin from California, ask him anything and you get the Melvin special!", real friendly guy who's full of information, told me to check out Aoki's shave ice too while I was up there. So, OF COURSE I had too... it's a local hot spot, and there was no way I was going to miss out on this.

On the way down the road to Aoki's, I ended up spotting a shrimp truck (which is really popular on the island) where you can get some fresh shrimp! I love these places, so I coerced my parents into stopping by there for lunch. I ended up ordering the shrimp combo... let me tell you it was AMAZNIG. The garlic sauce that they make for the shrimp is like crack, the shrimp was cooked perfectly, and it was so fresh, and my steak was cooked wonderfully (medium rare... just the way I like!). I'll just show you a picture so you can imagine how scrumptious this was...  

Aoki's Shave Ice

Aoki's Shave Ice was on the way to Lou Bueno's, so I decided to go there first. I looked at the menu, and I decided to get the "Local Mix", which consisted of mango, pineapple and something called Li Hing Mui (I'm not too sure what it was, but it was local, so I decided to take it.. I think it may be some kind of sweet bean).

The "Local Mix "

My dad ended up getting the mango flavor. The picture you see of me eating the shave ice is actually a size small... can you just imagine how big the big one is? It was actually huge, and that's why I decided not to get it! I was SO FULL by eating this one already. It was quite delicious though and WAY better than a slushy!

Alright... enough eating. Now I had to go to Lou Bueno's to get me some fresh fish! We drove up to Lou Bueno's, walked up to the restaurant, I looked in the window and thought to myself... "this is all the fresh fish they have?" Apparently, Hawaii does not really have huge fish markets, maybe in China town near town they would have a fish market, but this was

Lou Bueno's Fish Market in Hale'iwa

the closest one to where we were. I was so surprised that fish markets weren't really popular on the island, since it IS and island and they have fish everywhere. Oh well, I had to make due with what I had, so I went ahead and bought a Mahi-Mahi fillet for $25 US. EXPENSIVE, but worth it. It was caught fresh that day at the harbour just a few minutes away. That is exactly what I wanted. Fresh produce and now fresh fish. I was in local cooking heaven. I was so excited to make my dinner tonight that I had ideas flying around in my head. And so back to Kapolei we go... I had to pick up some more grocery items for my meal, so I decided I should pass by Safeway grocery on the way back to the condo... All day, I went food shopping. Hey.. if you're passionate about something, you'll take it seriously right? I love to eat, and I love to cook... Just check out my creation on my next blog!

Aloha to Paradise...! A journey with a purpose...

After a full day of traveling, I finally landed...When I got off the plane from my flight form Phoenix, I felt the warmth of Hawaii... not only the warmth of the weather, but the warmth of the welcoming soul of this beautiful place. I landed in Hawaii at 6:45pm Hawaii time on December 31, 2010, which was 11:45pm Eastern time. It was nearly New Years in Toronto/Montreal already, and all my friends were ready to countdown... well I had another few more hours to spare before my countdown to 2011.

I bet everyone back home partied it up, got super drunk, or just hung out at home or at a friend's house, and spent celebrating the new year with people close to them. Well, that's great and all, but I spent my New Year in beautiful PARADISE. A lot of people think Hawaii is overrated, but you really can't say anything if you haven't been here. I've been to Hawaii 9 times now, and every time I feel a great sense of calm, beauty, happiness and serenity. The only thing is that is different about this trip to Hawaii for me, is that this time I didn't just come here to enjoy myself. This time I came here with a purpose. That purpose is to find myself again, and enjoy the life I always had... a GREAT ONE, full of adventure, fun, curiosity and back to the old happy go lucky Jenn.

I've found that being single always let's me have time for myself... obviously. Usually, in the past, my time being single was mostly, occupying my time and distracting myself with work, school, music, partying, and anything that kept me out of the house. I always occupied my mind to forget about problems. I always ignored problems that I never resolved, and didn't even realize I had problems. This time being single is different. I know what problems I need to confront instead of running away from them. I know that instead of getting over something the easy way it isn't the right thing to do. I need to know that I am able to deal with anything that comes my way, and take it in with stride and bravery. I'm reading a book called "The Road Less Traveled" by Scott Peck, and one of the lines I like in it says "you need to be able to eat the cake before you get to the best part... the icing". I've been really taking that line to heart. I even watched "Eat, Pray, Love" on the plane, and I pretty much cried throughout the movie, just because I felt exactly the way she felt about her life. It was a little freakish at how much I related to her story. There were times where she had to really fight with herself, and really push herself to get through the hard part to really find her balance. When she got through that, she was so focused on making herself happy. That is the whole purpose of my trip, and the many more adventures I will have. I do love to eat, I love to do Yoga (balance), and I want to love again and for the right reasons.

I consider Hawaii and second home to me. A place where I can get away from the stresses of life, and remember how lucky I am to have the life I have and even come to this paradise. Not everyone can say they've been to Hawaii 9 times. This is my fourth time in Oahu. I love it here. It has everything you need that doesn't stray too much from the comforts of home. Waikiki is the typical American strip, where most tourists stay. It's a really fun place to go out, drink, eat, shop. Waikiki beach is ALWAYS packed. Usually every time I come to Oahu, I usually stay in Waikiki. I loved going out to Senor Frogs, Zanzabar (no, not the strip club in Toronto!), and other clubs over there. I love going to the restaurants and visiting the International Market Place to buy great souvenirs and go to the Bautista Filipino restaurant in the food court.This time, I'm only going to visit Waikiki for one day.

I'm actually staying at the Ko'Olina Marriott vacation club resort. It's about a 30 minute drive from Waikiki. My parents have a timeshare here, so this is where we're staying this time. It is absolutely beautiful here. Although staying in resorts isn't my favourite thing to do, because I like to be with the locals and experience the real life of the places I go to, I really needed this serenity. I spent a beautiful day on the beach... the water was amazing, so warm and hardly salty at all. I already got a tan! I plan to get out of the resort soon though and drive around the island during the week.

Tomorrow morning, I am waking up at 6am to go for a jog on the boardwalk alongside the ocean. When I get back, I'm getting ready to go on my journey to Haleiwa Farmer's Market in the North Shore! I am totally excited to go, since I'll be buying some local produce and visiting a fish market so I could cook up a great dinner for tomorrow night! I'll be blogging about that soon. I have much more to blog about still, but I'm exhausted and going to bed! Aloha my friends... Hang loose!