Alexal eats again!

What I like to eat when I'm happy

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:46:00 -0500

Inspired by a friend of mine, Roberta Malta, who wrote about what she likes eating when she’s sad, I share what I like to eat when I’m happy. Because when I’m sad I can’t eat!

- Duck rice from Antiquarius in SP
- Rice balls and hamburguers from Ritz, in SP
- Tuna rolls with scallions from Indochine in Miami
- Quail legs from Sardinia in Miami
- Spaguetti with butter from Due Cuochi in SP
- Feijão tropeiro with chicken and rice from my mom
- Tapioca with butter from the streets in Brazil
- Pasta with seafood in Manaca in Camburizinho beach
- Tamales from Fleur de Lys in Mexico DF
- Huevos rancheros in Cabo San Lucas, MX
- My fresh pasta with ruccola, tomatoes and parmigianno
- French bread with butter from any bakery in Brazil
- Caipirinha anywhere (hmmm, I guess this is drinking)

Best meals I had in 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:57:00 -0500

Best meals I had in 2008

In 2008, I had some great trips, a couple of good restaurants and also some experiences of enjoying more eating home, cooking my own meals and testing new ingredients. I abandoned the salad-chicken type of lunch for vegan, macrobiotic stuff or just soup from Fresh Market. Below, where I had my memorable meals of the year:

1. Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles
Do you know that perfect restaurant, that perfect table in a perfect weekend? LA was full of light and I had slow cooked meat with polenta and a glass of red wine where nobody could get a table for weeks. Tom Colicchio and Mario Batali at their best.

2. La Buena Tierra, Jaso and Café Ó in Mexico DF
Because being vegetarian and continue to have pleasure is possible. I remember very well that perfect macrobiotic rice I ate alone in a pleasant afternoon in La Buena Tierra.. yummy. I can’t deny I had tons of meat at Jaso, a newly opened place in DF. Cozy, small, great service. For breakfasts, I like to go fancy at Café Ó. While we eat huevos estrellados con tortilla bodyguards wait for the wealthy mexicans outside. Hard reality.

3. Spice Market in New York
I hate crowded restaurants in a saturday night. And Spice Market at the Meatpacking District is as crowded as you can get any day of the week. I really expected it to be all show off but no real good food because all Jean Jorge Vongeritchen restaurants I’ve visited before didn’t impress me at all! Here, a fusion of ingredients, tastes and colors resulted in a magnificent dinner with a couple of friends.

4. Ubuntu, in the Napa Valley
A restaurant that doesn’t rely on meat to give you a entrée always calls my attention. Here, the stars are cauliflower, beets and pastas. Before or after, find your inner balance at the yoga studio inside the restaurant.

5. La Piaggia, in Miami
Because I love a jetset restaurant.. mainly if it’s at the beach so I can have my favorite combination: chardonnay and seafood pasta after toasting under the sun. Or, hamburger with dijon mustard.

EATING FANCY -EVEN THOUGH NOT NEEDED- IN MEXICO CITY Mexico DF...

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:16:00 -0500

EATING FANCY -EVEN THOUGH NOT NEEDED- IN MEXICO CITY

Mexico DF is a great city. And as all the greatest cities in the world, it’s crowded, messy, full of fancy places but also hidden pearls (tacky sentence, I admit). My favorites places begins with the gourmet Pujol but finishes with tacos al pastor at the streets or tamales from Fleur de Lys, a very modest restaurant in Condesa.

During my last visit to Mexico City, I visited Biko (photo above), a serious fancy restaurant inside a boutique hotel in the upscale Masarik. Even though the presentation wasn’t good everytime -trying too much to be modern- we had a great lunch. I just felt the restaurant need more life. Co-owned by San Sebastián chef Bruno Oteiza, who focuses on a basque combination of ingredients. Worth visiting it.

Biko ***
Presidente Mazaryk 407, Polanco
Tel: 5282 2064

Jaso ***
http://www.jaso.com.mx

Pujol****
Francisco Petrarca 254
Mexico City, DF 11570
555-545-4111

There’s no wedding party in Brazil without bem-casado in...

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:16:00 -0500

There’s no wedding party in Brazil without bem-casado in the end. The famous sweet means something like “happily married”. I don’t know if it’s a traditional to give it at baby showers, but a close friend did it and it was a blast.

Where to buy
Bem-casados from Conceição are the best in Brazil.
http://www.conceicaobemcasados.com.br/

La Piaggia - because there’s nothing better than...

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:26:40 -0500

La Piaggia - because there’s nothing better than hamburguers after the beach

Recently a friend took me to one of the best discoveries in Miami: the restaurant/club La Piaggia, in South Beach. It’s a beach club thing located across from Murano Condominiums and that supposedly attracts Miami Beach’s jet set crowd. Of course, with the jet set, the wannabes. I love going there for hamburguers or pasta with white wine at sunset. Worth it the big prices.

La Piaggia
**** (I’m a fan)
1000 S Pointe Dr Apt 706
Miami Beach, FL 33139
(305) 674-0877
www.lapiaggiabeach.com/

Breakfast a la francesa After exercizing, the only thing I...

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:12:28 -0500

Breakfast a la francesa

After exercizing, the only thing I crave is eggs with toasts. Or, a brazilian plate named farofa, that I usually prepare with rice, onions, eggs, manioc and any leftovers I find in the fridge. The scrambled eggs from above can be found at:

Le Boudoir
**** (I’m a fan)
186 SE 12 Terrace
Ground Floor Solaris Building
Miami, FL 33131
(305) 372-2333

A la mesa y a la cama solo una vez se llama

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:45:29 -0500

Best sentence ever from a friend (Lourdes Hernandez), expert in mexican cuisine, based in SP. She cooks in her house, who has only 5 tables. More intimate experience, impossible to find.

Go there:
To make a reservation, send an e-mail to: guisandeira@gmail.com

A while ago I decided to be a macrobiotic person. Not easy, I...

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:35:00 -0500

A while ago I decided to be a macrobiotic person. Not easy, I can tell. Even though I’m not following eat anymore, once and while I make myself soya products with vegetables and grains. Yesterday I had this kind of a version of macrobiotic (they wouldn’t eat sausages, not even from soya, I believe) with leftovers in the fridge. This is my mood today: surviving with leftovers.

- Sausages from Whole Foods
- Broccolis from Fresh Market