Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

Last Friday night, I had a really wonderful Bryn Mawr filled evening! Last week marked one of our major traditions (and my favorite) at Bryn Mawr --- Hell Week. To celebrate, Bryn Mawr happy hours were held across the US to commemorate Hell Week. It was so so so much fun! At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, since I did not know who was living in Manhattan, but in the end I decided to go. What a great decision. It was fantastic seeing old friends and discovering that some friends were living in Manhattan. I don't have much else to say, but I just wanted to say that it is heart warming to be part of such an amazi

Last weekend, the East Coast was hit with a mega snowstorm...the menacing NEMO! *dum dum duuuuuuuum* Why is this snowstorm named after a Disney fish? I have no idea. I will say, it was rather impressive! The day started off with me going to chemistry recitation. It was just drizzling in the morning...no snow yet. After recitation, a few friends and I made our way uptown to attend a medical school fair at Columbia University. It was at this moment that it started snowing heavily. The medical school fair was rather intense. Lots of schools, mobbed by far too many students. Also, people were dressed as if they were being interviewed right then and there! Wow. I was a bit distracted at the fair because I was planning on going home to NJ, but the snow was starting to worry me. Every few minutes, my phone lit up telling me about train delays or cancellations. After a few minutes of consideration, I ran around the fair, collecting information about the schools, and then decided to make my...

Recently, I was at my local grocery store and was pleasantly surprised to find Bronzini on sale. Bronzini, also known as European seabass, is one of my favorite fishes EVER. It sort of looks trout and it is a deliciously meaty white fish. Yum! At home, my dad cooks this fish fairly frequently, but since moving to the city I haven't had it. As you can imagine, I was delighted to find this Bronzini...and on sale nonetheless! Huzzah! Here is our family recipe for cooking Bronzini. Ingredients: - 1 whole bronzini, cleaned and gutted - fresh rosemary - 1/3 lemon, thinly sliced - salt  Directions: 1. Preheat your oven to 350F. 2. Prepare the lemon slices. 3. Season the fish with salt. Don't go too heavy, or else it will be inedible, but don't skimp either. 4. Stuff the fish with the rosemary and lemon.  5. On a prepared pan, place you fish here.  6. Let your fish cook in the oven for about 30 minutes.   7. After your fish ...

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with my good friend H. I always affectionately call "H" my "sister from another mister" because we are like sisters and have been friends for over a decade. Wow! H is living in the city with her parents and splits her time between work and attending grad school at Pratt. Very cool. She is studying graphic design.  I made my way uptown to meet H for dinner. First, I stopped off at a famous Japanese sweets store called "Minamoto no Kitchoan" to buy a present for H and her parents. This store, located off 5th Ave and next to Rockefellar Center, sells traditional Japanese desserts. It's a really gorgeous store and the goodies they sell are delicious! Choosing what to buy is always difficult because everything is so enticing! Since I was sort of in a rush, and wasn't quite sure what to buy, I ended up calling my mom and sending her pictures from the store. Essentially, she was picking out what I should buy, even t...

When you hear the phrase "Japanese food", what do you think of? Sushi? Teriyaki? Tempura? What about "Robatayaki"? No? Me neither. According to Wikipedia: In  Japanese cuisine ,  robatayaki   ( 炉端焼き ? , literally "fireside-cooking") , often shortened to just  robata  (ろばた in  hiragana ), refers to a method of cooking, similar to  barbecue , in which items of food on  skewers  are slow- grilled  over hot  charcoal . Many  Japanese restaurants , both in  Japan  and abroad, specialize in this style of food preparation.  Traditionally, the food consists of a combination of morsels of  seafood  and  vegetables , but other kinds of food that are suitable for grilling may also be offered. Sounds good, right? It was! So freaking delicious. How did I never try this before??? So glad my mom decided to make a reservation at this East Village gem: Robataya. The restaurant is very low key from the ou...