Russell's Mussels from Brussels

I can't believe I've lived 36 years without typing that phrase: Russell's Mussels from Brussels. There are, as far as I know, two words that rhyme with Russell, and that's the first time I've ever used them together. But I guess I haven't had an excuse; as Carly was quick to point out, I'd never really had mussels before. To me, this is what the word meant:

(I look just like that, by the way.) 

But life is too short to spend without a meal of mussels, at least once. (Right?) Besides, if they were gross, I could easily make a meal of fries and mayo alone. But an open minds create new opportunities for positive experiences, and this culinary adventure didn't disappoint.

Not only were the four pounds of mussels we ordered not gross they were downright delicious. I may have overpowered one of them with lemons (to Carly's chagrin), but I'm a fan of the citrus. And as I learned from Gilligan's Island (Jesus, Russ, you're old), it helps stave off scurvy. An overlooked hazard of Manhattan living.

One thing about eating an entire meal of shellfish is that I feel a bit barbaric. No pasta to dress it up. Just a bunch of naked sea creatures dredged up from the ocean floor. It tasted amazing, to be sure, but part of me still felt like Madison in Splash:

But let's get back to the fries for a moment. A friend told me in 1999 that his first guideline to a fulfilling life is: a potato a day keeps the good times rolling. Weird that that was at the top of his list, right? Hard to argue, though. It wouldn't have been the complete culinary adventure, but I could easily have eaten BXL's fries all night. As it were, I finished my "dipping sauce," the sweet mayoriffic complement to the fries, and then used some of Carly's. I felt so European.

Glad I saved myself for dessert this time 'round. Melted chocolate, nuts, and berries is a heckuva way to cap a lovely day. Other highlights from the day leading up to the meal (in rough chronological order): The satisfaction of successfully moving furniture across boroughs, the classic RK/CH omelet/French toast split, a TriBeCa games and magic shop, Van Gogh's brushstrokes, a portrait of McSorley's circa 1912, the most valuable coin in the universe, not getting a parking ticket, a quick kiss in the cold before the sun's setting, dead poet's cozy table overlooking the bar, Phish and Floyd on the radio, an Ommegang dark, chess on the building wall, memorable footprints off 3rd Avenue...

Vocabulary for the day: Mussels can be classified as nacreous, which means "containing nacre." It's also a great word to play for a Scrabble 50-point bingo. Yes, my mind works this way.

B is for Belgian - BXL East

This past weekend, we continued our culinary adventure with the letter "B."  Part of how we decided to start exploring different foods together is a few weeks ago, I was telling Russ how much I loved mussels.  He told me he had never really had mussels as a meal before and from that point, I knew that once we hit B, we had to do mussels!  We actually had a ridiculous Japanese meal at Megu the night before with my family and then spent Saturday with Russ's family having brunch and then going to an art show at the New York Historical Society and finished off with a few beers at The Dead Poet on the west side before even heading over to BXL East for our Belgian meal.

Above:  Photo credit BXL

BXL definitely has a bar vibe with wooden tables and chairs alongside the bar in the front as well as a room with tables and chairs in the back.  The menu is full of Belgian treats but the mussels are definitely the reason to come.  There is also a huge beer menu with a rotating list of about 8-10 beers on tap and numerous bottles, mainly from Belgium but all over the world.

 Above:  Menu Cover

Above:  Beers

I'm a fan of Belgian Wheat beers so I went for the Duvel Green draft which was delicious and Russ enjoys a darker beer so he started with the Ommegang Abbey which came in a bottle.  We decided to forgo the appetizer this time because we wanted to be sure to have a delicious dessert so we just dove right into the mussels.  

 Above:  Moules Marinieres 

Above:  Moules Provencale

Above:  Fries and dipping sauce

We decided to split 2 kinds of mussels, each comes with 2 lbs of mussels and a plate of fries.  First we had the classic Marinieres which is mussels in a broth of white wine and shallots.  These were delicious, perfectly cooked, just the right touch of shallots to not be overpowering but give the mussels lots of flavor.  The second was the mussels Provencale which was in a tomato, garlic and basil.  I'm not usually one for mussels in a red sauce but this was incredibly fresh and flavorful.  I love how much garlic they used and the tomato and basil were great additions to the mussels!

Above:  Moelleux au Chocolat

This was delicious!  Molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, berries and crumbled nuts.  It was insanely good, so rich and decadent.  The trick to eating this is half a spoonful of ice cream, a bite of chocolate and some nuts (Russ ate all the berries because I'm allergic.)

All in all, a fantastic meal!  Russ discovered he liked mussels and I solidified my love of mussels and Belgian beers!  To finish up, a few pictures of the beautiful sunset that night and us before dinner!

~Carly

A is for Afghan - Bamiyan Restaurant

Last night we had our first foray into this culinary adventure with an Afghan restaurant!  Russ had told me he has walked by this place a thousand times in NYC and never thought to go in so we made it our first stop along the way.  The restaurant is Bamiyan at 358 Third Avenue in Manhattan (on the corner of 26th Street.)   A large wooden door with a tree carved on it greets you and the restaurant is very warmly lit.  On the right when you walk in are a number of small tables on the floor where you can sit around on pillows and then it opens up into a full bar and large dining room.

Above:  The main dining room and bar

There was a really extensive menu with several appetizers, vegetarian options, kebabs, entrees and desserts.  There was also a wine list and a cocktail list with a full bar.  You can check out the whole menu by clicking HERE.

Above:  The menu

We each picked an appetizer that we both shared and an entree along as sharing a bottle of wine.  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the food!  I had no idea what to expect but it was hearty, flavorful and interesting.

 Above:  Afghan Bread - thick, toasted on the outside, soft and warm on the inside, completely delicious 

 Above:   Hummus - super creamy with paprika on top.

Above:  Saland-e Sib - Warm fresh apples simmered in split peas and cinnamon, very sweet, delicious on the bread, tasted more like a dessert than an appetizer.

Above:  Basmati Rice - flavorful, well cooked, came with both entrees

Above:  Fesenjen - Sweet and Sour tender pieces of boneless chicken (mainly shredded) simmered with walnuts and pomegranate juice.  The sauce was thick and on the sweeter side, reminded me of a Mole sauce in terms of texture, very filling.

Above:  Sabzee Chalow - sauteeed spinich in herbs, fairly potent with a hint of onions, really good over the rice!

Above:  La Linda 2010 malbec - medium tannin, bright, juicy wine that complimented the food well.

All in all, I have to say I enjoyed my first try at Afghan food!  Everything was rich with a lot of spices, mostly on the sweet side but very filling and delicious.  My favorites were probably the bread and the apples, I probably could have made an entire meal out of just that but it was all delicious!  Can't wait to see what happens when we get to "B!"  To finish up, a few pictures of us at the restaurant!

 Above:  Russ photographing me photographing our food

Above:  Us outside of the restaurant after a great meal!

~Carly

The Beginning

I suppose it would be helpful to start at the beginning.  Russ and I met on April 29th, 2013 at a bar on top of Eataly in NYC after we bonded online over our love of the Oxford Comma and Phish.  After a pretty epic couple of dates in the first week we knew each other, it was clear we were embarking on a pretty awesome journey together.  It didn't take us long to fall in love and in the past 6+ months we have taken adventures all over New York together from bars to events to plays and concerts.  More recently, we have been expanding our culinary horizons and after hearing about how his very good friends used the alphabet to go through restaurants in NYC that neither had been to before, we decided that sounded like fun!  Russ thought a fun twist on it would be to try different cuisines with each letter of the alphabet so here we are!  In Russ's words, we are "a couple in love determined to experience all the cuisines New York has to offer from A to Z."