Peter Cincotti @ Le Poisson Rouge

Last night I went to the concert of Peter Cincotti.
I went to his concert in Osaka 3 years ago. And this was second time.
Last time was just before I moved to NYC so I remember that I asked one of the members of his band about apartment situation in NYC... lol And I thought when I came here it would be easier to go to his concert but it wasn't. After that he didn't have concert for a while in NYC (if I didn't miss) so 3 years later finally I could go there.  He wasn't changed from 3 years ago. But I felt I aged... lol
It was just one day after from his new album came out. So he sang many songs from it. I wish I could sing with him but I didn't know all of it but there were many songs I really like!!
And that day I had lunch with my friend who is leaving NY so some of his songs touched me too much and I couldn't stop crying.  Especially this song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyhwYDiEGJc&feature=relmfu
But also he showed me what he's doing right now which is musical. And it was really fun to see. Actual actors from musical came and showed us their songs. Those moment I just couldn't stop laughing... lol
And I also I really liked the atmosphere of audience. It was much more close. And out seats was next to the family of drum person. So it was nice talking to his mom after the show. She was so excited to see his son on the stage. And he was really good too!! I really like when I share table with someone:)

And also this time I could go there with my really good friend from Japan Naoko. She was visiting here for 1 week but I was so happy to be there with her. She always be there when I have hard time.
Thank you so much Naoko!!! I love you so much!!! :)

And thank you, Peter for amazing show!!!!
These are some pictures from last night...

And this picture is from 3 years ago in Osaka!!!

Brooklyn Neighborhood Guidebook

A few months ago I had a chance to help making Brooklyn Guidebook in Japan.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/ブルックリン・ネイバーフッド-NYローカル・ガイド-P-Vine-Books-赤木真弓/dp/4906700284
And today I've just received the copy of it. It's just so cute!!
And the cover photo is our One Girl Cookies!!
I'm in the book a little bit too. If you have chance please take a look!!

And for this guidebook I made the map of BoCoCa area with cookies and buttercream.
I thought it's good for the cake decoration too. :)

Ootoya in NY

Tonight I went to Ootoya in NY finally!!
http://ootoyanyc.com/
I thought it was crowded but it wasn't. Maybe because I went there at 8pm in weekdays though.
In the menu there were both teishoku (sets of entree, rice, miso soup and chawan-mushi which is savory egg curd) and a la carte. And teishoku costs $15-20 and the portion was American size!! So I'm sure that is enough for you even for men.
The taste was good too. I miss those food in Japan so it's good to have this kind of place in NY!!
And it was fun to see the people there. I thought there might be many Japanese but most of tables were mix of Japanese and non-Japanese. Which was nice to see how we can introduce Japanese food to them:)
This time I went there with my friend who is not Japanese and he liked Katsu-don but he didn't like chawan-mushi which I really like!! So it was interesting to see how grew up with food effect our tastes.
I want to go there with more friends who like to try new food!! And most of my friends are like that:)

chemical reaction ... spaghetti + baking soda

Last night I made pork and veggie soup.
And I thought I had noodle in my shelf but there wasn't but this soup was perfect for noodle!!!
And I tried for the first time boiling spaghetti with baking soda....
I forgot when but I heard this method before and I wasn't sure it really worked...
But when I think about ingredient, they are both made with flour so it might be ok.
So I used my capellini from Trader Joe's... lol
I wasn't sure how much I should put baking soda so I just sprinkled in the boiling water.
And once water got the baking soda it almost boiled over. It was so clear something happened in the pot... lol
When I tasted just pasta, it tasted like pasta... So I was disappointed a little bit but I put this noodle in my soup and tried them together...
And .... It was just like noodle 中華そば！！which we call "Chinese noodle".
Actually it could be one of my favorites!!
It was really interesting experiment.
Sometimes when I buy noodle here even udon noodle or soba noodle, they are too salty by themselves.
And I didn't like them. But now I can make own noodle with spaghetti!! This is so amazing!!

Kaz An Nou in Brooklyn

Last night I went to French Caribbean restaurant in Brooklyn.
Kaz An Nou
http://kazannou.com/
It was a small cute restaurant close to Bergen St. station on 1 line.
A friend of mine tried to go there a couple of times but always too crowded and she couldn't try.
So this time, we went there at 5:30 pm which is their opening time.
Then we could get seat and had a really interesting dinner!!
I had no idea what kind of food French Caribbean was and it was like funky French... lol
Many kinds of spices and interesting flavors. Mango in the sauce, chili pepper in the chocolate cake so on.
Also our waiter explained us everything even how to make today's special menu!! So it was fun:)
I'm sure I will go back there!!

escargots 

Avocado farci 

Confit with mango sauce 

Tilapia with coconuts rice

spice chocolate cake

apple pie

Eric Hutchinson concert at Highline Ballroom

Last night was the concert of Eric Hutchinson at Highline Ballroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM0qzSAxrCM
Many years ago when I was still in Japan I got ticket of his concert once in Osaka but he cancelled it.
So this was the first time to see his concert....
But it was really fun!!!
The tickets were sold out that night so I went there early but most of people came around 8-9pm.
All ages from teenager to 50s I think.
The band who played before Eric was really good too.
First time I heard about Eric was from radio in Japan and I had been listening his first album so long time.
And a few weeks ago his second album just came out.
Most of audience knew almost all the lyrics and they were singing like his back musicians.
And some of them remember already new album too. It was so funny.
We danced, sang and laughed a lot.
What a nice evening. Concerts are always make my energy back. Thanks, Eric!!!

And I found they were using  i pad with their microphone...

Wow... this is interesting!! New era!! lol

And around 9pm Eric and his band came!

Maimonide of Brooklyn

Last Tuesday I went to vegetarian restaurant on Atlantic Ave.
Maimonide of Brooklyn
http://mob-usa.com/

It was new restaurant and I was always wondering what kind of restaurant it was.
Because the inside of restaurant is really interesting.

The food was really good as vegetarian and fun to try new things.
And it was fun to go there with one of instructor chef from Natural Gourmet Institute, Chef Richard and his family. His baby Kyle grew up so fast!!
Thank you, Chef Rich for taking me there and joining your family!!

Also when we were there many fire fighters came to restaurant but even waitress didn't know why...
It was really fun day.

This is menu... isn't it fun?

Kyle!!

Every babies like phones!!