Thursday 13th June 2013, 7am, Dee Why Beach

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Falai Panetteria

Daddy said he had never thought of baking eggs. In fact, he is quite sure that, before he came to New York, he had never been to a restaurant that served baked eggs. His first baked egg was at Brown, a cafe one block from our apartment, serving baked eggs in cast-iron skillets and Intelligentsia coffee. But thats a meal for another day.

Back to Falai.

On a recent walk into the East Village we stopped in at Falai Panetteria, a white-walled corner cafe with old fashioned Italian posters. I suppose it's meant to feel like you are in some little corner cafe in Italy, perhaps by the sea.

As you can see from the photo, the baked eggs at Falai were served in a little white casserole dish with a lid. Inside the dish was something like a scramble, with spinach and red peppers mixed in. Much to Daddy's delight, the centre of the dish featured a barely cooked egg yolk that broke and spilled yummy, gooey yolk about the dish. A nice and seemingly wholesome, if not entirely healthy, way to start the morning!

Daddy is still not sure if baking has surpassed poaching as his favourite way to have eggs, but it does offer a better way of integrating other ingredients while retaining the yummy broken yolk.

Blue Smoke

Today, Mummy and I met my mates Harper and Abbie at Blue Smoke (116 East 27th Street) to celebrate Abbie's 1st birthday - oh! Their Mummies came too. Mummy and I arrived early, so I took it upon myself to charm the staff with all my adorable tricks - waving, saying "Dadda! Bbbrrr!", blowing kisses, laughing animatedly for no reason. It was fun!

Mummy said that Blue Smoke was a southern barbecue style restaurant and that we shouldn't tell Daddy because he would be jealous. I certainly think they had a big BBQ going because we stank of smoke and BBQ all afternoon!

Mummy says that Blue Smoke was a "fancy pants" BBQ restaurant and not the old school, homely atmosphere she was expecting. We were also very impressed with their ability to accommodate 3 Mummies and 3 babies in need of high chairs, and they had child entertainment almost covered. They just need crayons.

Mummy said she was a little bit overwhelmed by the menu and didn't know what to order. I think Daddy would have enjoyed helping Mummy decide what she should eat. So Mummy followed suit with the other Mummies and had Memphis Baby Back Ribs ("Our leanest rib, with Magic dust and Original sauce). For me, Mummy ordered Macaroni & Cheese and a side of mashed potato. We both knew the mash was for Mummy - Daddy says she loves mash "like nobody's business". I just know she eats it a whole lot.

Mummy said her ribs were very nice - personally I don't know why she wanted to eat a baby's back ribs? Unfortunately, Mummy should have followed suit with the other Mummies when she ordered for me. The mac 'n cheese was far from appealing and not up to the gourmet variety I have become accustomed to. To begin with, it was orange. And I think it tasted like plastic. Hence it ended up on the floor (where I spat it). I had to sponge off my mate Harper and eat half his grilled cheese sambo (Australian slang for sandwich). Thanks HM!

Thankfully, my meal was turned around with sharing a cupcake with my mates to celebrate Abbie's birthday (from Billy's Bakery of course) and a sugar cookie which we were able to decorate ourselves - though somehow the Mummies did all the decorating. And come to think of it, I still haven't eaten mine...

"Mummy....??!!!"

Boys behaving badly

Ok, I'm going to try a bit harder with this blogging thing from now on.

This morning Daddy and I took an early morning walk. Much to my delight, we saw a semi-trailer unloading at Wholefoods, which then drove past us and down the road. Trucks go "brooom!" I'm a bit into trucks.

We arrived at Dupars, an old style diner in LA's historic Farmer Market that must be older than my Daddy! It has wood panelled booths with brown leather upholstery, and the carpet is probably older than my Daddy too!

The great thing about Dupars, says my Dad, is that it is open 24 hours, so when I am waking up at 5am because I am still on NY time, Dad and I can go to Dupars for breakfast. The other good thing about Dupars is the buttermilk hotcakes, which are fluffy and yummy and Daddy says are the best he's had in his life. I only started solids six months ago, so obviously they are the best I've had in my life.

Dad had a near miss when he started ordering corn beef hash. Then he wondered why he always does this... he has been thinking about Dupars pancakes for days... don't get distracted. Fortunately he thought better of it at the last minute... Pancakes were ordered... Crisis averted... Yumminess ensued. To top things off, Daddy let me nibble on a rasher of crispy bacon. We are going to be friends for a ver long time... oink.

Another thing about eating in a diner at 5am... the eclectic fellow diners... including one who told Daddy that I have a very strong measure of "the force".

May the force be with you. Noah

What happened to Bubby's?

Daddy said that in 2006, on his first visit to NYC, he stumbled upon a little foodie heaven called Bubby's; a homely, southern-style, all-american diner, serving up house-cured salmon, cheese grits, green eggs and ham, and all the fixings.

Monday. Labour Day.

Daddy had been waiting for 2 years for his Bubby's re-mix. He had gotten so excited he walked me here one morning, and then rang Mummy to reflect upon the fact he had walked all the way to Bubby's TriBeCa location from LES, for no apparent reason.

We had to wait for a table, as apparently brunch on Labour Day is popular. But I got to smile at the other patrons waiting and at the cute puppy outside. Daddy was happy because he met a celebrity - Jason Bateman. Mummy was just hungry. As Jason and Daddy parked their strollers in the allocated parking bays, Jason wondered aloud whether he would get a valet ticket. Daddy suggested he could give him one for a fee.

Once seated, the usual ballet of table re-organisation occurred as I tried desperately to get my hands on anything and everything as Mummy and Daddy frantically pulled salt & pepper shakers, milk & maple syrup jugs from my reach. I had to resort to playing with the children's placemat and starring out the man behind me. I was all business, no smiles from me today! It is Labour Day after all!

Mummy ordered grits with her 3 cheese omelette, Daddy ordered grits with his BBQ pulled pork butt, and both agreed that they should not have fries. Alas, Daddy was served fries, and both Mummy and Daddy ate them (which illustrates why they didn't want to order them in the first place). Double alas, Mummy's omelette was cold and the 3 cheeses were not melted. The upside was the grits were awesome.

Unfortunately, Bubby's never quite lived up to the memory, perhaps they were too busy to cope, or perhaps they just didn't labour hard enough on Labour Day, or perhaps Daddy should only ever order grits. Personally, I was more than happy with my piece of whole wheat toast.

Doughnut Dan

There are some things that Americans do very well. Like cupcakes, Reese's Peanut Butter products, dark chocolate covered Oreo cookies, and not least of all, doughnuts.

When we moved into the Lower East Side, Daddy's work friend, Paolo, told Daddy about Doughnut Plant. Daddy calls it "Doughnut Heaven". And it is only 2 blocks from where we live!

In a non-descript store, that must be the closest thing that NYC has to a strip mall, they serve up 3 varieties of doughnuts - yeast, cake and jam. Flavours include (but are not limited to), crème brüleé, tres leche, and valrhona chocolate.

Mummy and Daddy have eaten these treats on no fewer than 3 occasions, sampling all 3 varieties, and forcing me out of my stroller in favour of the doughnut box. The most recent sampling was carried out to welcome our friends Isabelle and Dan from Aussie to the Big Apple. Carrot cake, blueberry jam with a peanut butter glaze, coconut glaze & white peach doughnuts were served alongside a smattering of Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavours.

Isabelle and Dan didn't seem to like the doughnuts, stating that they definitely could not live in the Lower East Side as it was dangerous to live too close to Doughnut Plant. Oh well, more for us I guess.

Wriggle Wrap Me

Wednesday. I was watching 'Top Chef' the other day and one of the judges said, "Thomas Keller, is possibly the best chef in America". I've never been to Napa Valley, so I haven't had the chance to even try to get a table at French Laundry or Bouchon. The good news is Chef Keller has opened a little branch of his empire in Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle -- The Bouchon Bakery.

It goes like this:

Daddy kisses Mummy goodbye in the morning, Mummy says, "Maybe we will come up and have lunch with you today." We all know what this means -- Bouchon Bakery. Ham and Cheese Baguette with a combination of sweet butter and Dijon mustard for Daddy. Shrimp and sweet corn salad with avocado and heirloom tomatoes for Mummy ('shrimp' is what the Americans call prawns).

If we were feeling luxurious, we could have foie gras on brioche, or a banana-nutella sandwich. But it is the simple things, done well, that make this cafe a great lunching spot. The views across Columbus Circle to Central Park are an added bonus.

Of course, I am confined into my Phil & Teds Wriggle Wrapper, and attached to Daddy's lap. Forced to eat banana and yogurt and smile at the passing waitstaff and the lunching office workers. Occasionally, old men stop by our table to say how cute I am and reminisce about their own grandchildren.

Oh! And did I mention dessert. For Mummy and Daddy there is no choice to be made, so they order it along with their mains, not even asking to view the dessert menu. Profitteroles to die for! Little pastry clouds filled with ice-cream and covered with lashings of thick chocolate sauce. The waiter knowingly leaves a small jug of the sauce - in case you need to top up. If only I could lay my hands on it!