Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is slowly recovering from the blissful gluttony that accompanies the holiday season and time with family. My holidays began in New York just two weeks ago. Just as I began wrapping up my first semester at Columbia University, Taurin flew into the city from San Francisco. I was really excited to host his brother, Derek, and his girlfriend, who came to visit from Virginia. It’s all the more reason to wake up early to grab some bagel and lox, walk around the park, and spend all day re-experiencing my favorite spots around the city.

Bistro Petit is a small restaurant in Brooklyn that serves hearty French-inspired Korean food. The chef, Sung Park, came out to say hello, which was really nice.

Grilled artichoke heart with saffron aioli, served with toasted baguette

Cassoulet: duck leg, smoked bacon, pork shank, beans, and kimchi

Kimchi Bouillabaisse: mussels, scallops, pollack, shrimp, tofu, rice gnocchi, and kimchi

My mom recommended stopping by this Korean cafe in Times Square. Taurin and I got really nostalgic talking about all the ice coffee we drank in Korea last summer.

And it was a perfect afternoon break at Caffe Bene. We got some savory bacon waffles topped with goat cheese, fig jam, and walnuts + misugaru latte!

Derek took this photo of me and Lauren.

Freshly baked everything bagel with lox and cream cheese.

Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem!

Everything you see here is part of one single entree, lovingly named Sweethearts. Needless to say, we had a lot of delicious leftovers to take home.

For Taurin’s first evening back in the city, we attended Robert Glasper’s sold-out show at the Harlem Stage.

All Stevie Wonder covers, all night long!

The next day, we stopped by the Mary Boone Gallery on Fifth Avenue to catch Ai Weiwei’s closing exhibit featuring porcelain river crabs.

Taurin and I were strolling around West Village when it started pouring rain. Cold and exhausted, we walked into Hakata Tonton without a reservation at peak dinnertime. I can hardly believe we lucked out with a table right away. We warmed up over some Sapporo on draft, appetizers, and a hotpot for two.

The hotpot before and after cooking! They are all about Fukuoka and collagen-rich food here. They also cooked some ramen in the leftover broth at the end of the meal.

And icing on the cake: The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop was right next door!