Bringin' It Back Old School, Suckers

In an attempt to revive the awesome-ness that is Supper Club in blog form... and because we all realized how bad our memory is in trying to recall all past Supper Club meals I am going to try to post a recap that hopefully spurs a revival.

First, recap [big ups to Ankit and gmail for this info]:

2006
October – Sofrito - Mehga
November – Ghenet - Parmita
December – Ultimate Pizza and Pasta @ Simran's Apartment - Kyle

2007
January – Buenos Aires - Fabiano
February – Dinosaur BBQ - Jess
March – Mexican Radio - Ankit
April – Piccolo Angolo - Mike
May – Sticky Rice - Simran
June – Lima's Taste - Kyle
July – Amy Ruth's - Parmita
August – Mexico Lindo - Ankit
September – Haveli - Megha
October – Cube 63 - Jess
November – Ali Baba's - Mike
December – Freeman's - Mary

2008
January – La Cocina - Ankit

February - Shabu Tatsu - Megha

March - Royale - Kyle
April - Bukhara Grill - Parmita
May - The Cottage - Jess
June - Matilda - Mike
July - Gama (Soju City) - Mary
August - Delta Grill - Ankit
September - Pylos - Megha
October - Calle Ocho + Silk Road Palace - Group
November - Candle 79 - Simran
December - Mont Blanc - Fabiano

2009
January - Downtown Bakery @ Mike's Apartment - Mike
February - Hill Country - Naveen
March - Tsampa - Kyle

Second, summary on Tsampa:
Our first taste of Tibetan food, and it was a great success. Overall, the food was yummy and the wine was delish. My personal fave was dessert: Barley Cake [as Kyle suggested, a name change to something more enticing would probably have more people ordering this].

+'s

• Baked Noodles were a smash; as Mikey stated "THIS IS EXCELLENT!"
• Both wines we ordered were really enjoyed by all [even with a wide range of wine knowledge ranging from cardboard palate to I can't believe you drink boxed wine]
• Barley Cake!! - perfect for those that don't love their desserts to be excessively sweet
  

-'s

• It seems like the menu options are a bit hit or miss - with not everyone's meals being as delish as the baked noodles or the special that Fabs and Ankit ordered - My suggestion would be to stick with the tried and true
• The place is really intimate/quiet as far as atmosphere and isn't conducive to 'normal' Supper Club topics of conversation - some people might consider this a +
  

Topics of Conversation:

• DVDA - gross, let's not bring this up again
• Fabiano and his 'accomplishments' during Carnival
• St. Patty's Day in Hoboken recap
• Ankit and Mike's undying love for one another
• Kyle's love life

Al right homies: hope this revives more use of the blog, feel free to add anything I missed in the comments!

peas,
parmita

p.s. The optimist in me is hoping that others decide to post to. If so, blogger now has a new option that lets us add labels for posts. I think this would be most effective if we AT LEAST include the Masticator General and the cuisine type... just a suggestion.

Bringin it back DIRRTY DIRRTY

First, I want to say congrats to Kyle. I think he more than adequately made up for his previous run as Masticator General. Lima's Taste (right?) was my first experience with Peruvian food, and I really enjoyed trying ceviche for the first time. I was also really feeling the decor and overall ambiance. Job well done, Kyle - you've been upgraded. On another note, I'm also awarding Kyle a gold star for reviving the blog. Seriously, high five!



Ok, on to more important topics: the next supper club! I am the Masticator General for July's meal and believe me when I say I've thought long and hard about where to go. It's been a slightly distressing experience. There's a lot of pressure to pick just the right place. And just when you think of something you like, a different cuisine pops into your head. After much deliberation I've decided to stick with my first intuition... and I'm going to bring our fooding back to the DIRRTY DIRRTY. We are going to be having some good ole fashioned southern food. Fried chicken, ribs, corn bread, biscuits, macaroni and cheese, sweet tea... Sounds good, right? My mouth is watering:

Wednesday, July 11th - 8pm
Amy Ruth's
113 W. 116th Street
nr. Lenox Ave.
(Seating is on a first come first served basis, so please be on time)

Best transportation option to get here is the 2,3 to 116th St.



Also, if you haven't stopped reading this post, then you'll be able to hear the best news: BYOB!



masticatingly yours,
parmita

Lima's Taste - June 13

Sigiri no longer takes reservations, so there has been a change of plans.

We are going to Lima's Taste in the West Village.

Wednesday, June 13 - reservation is for 10 people.

I am bringing a Peruvian culinary expert, Tom Tortorici to guide us on our journey.

Jess (+1) and Mike have already RSVPed, as they were here when I made the reservation. If we end up with more than 10, I am sure we can change the reservation to accomodate, but RSVP ASAP!!!

Friendly February Reminder

This is just a reminder that the 2nd Wednesday in February is Valentine's Day - so whoever the next Masticator-General Elect is should keep that in mind for scheduling purposes...

parm

Reviews to Check Out

Thanks to Parmita's excellent instructions, I have figured out how to post.

So far we only have three votes....

Sigiri:
NY Magazine: http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/sigiri/
NYC.com: http://www.nyc.com/restaurants/Sigiri.75601/editorial.aspx

Ultimate Pizza & Pasta
Citysearch: http://newyork.citysearch.com/review/7158603
The menupages one is good too....

Afghan Kebab House
A rival blog! http://www.plateoftheday.com/111/
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/newyorkcity/D39068.html

GHENET - Ethiopian Cuisine

Just wanted to drop a quick note about last night's 2nd meeting of the Supper Club. We dined at Ghenet, Ethiopian cuisine, at 146 (?) Mulberry Street. The staff was very friendly. I read a lot of reviews regarding their inattentiveness. I will say that they probably weren't attentive, but as soon as we got their attention, they were available. Plus, we were having such great table talk it wasn't so much of an issue.

Back to the restaurant. I thought the decor was nice; red walls, the food smells were delicious, and I sampled some delicious Ethiopian honey wine while waiting at the bar. It's really strong and very sweet, so I don't know if I could handle lots of it at one time, but maybe in small portions. As Simran put it, "I kinda like that their pictures are crooked."

We all ended up getting various sizes of their sample platters: a couple 2 people portions and one 3 people portion. Personally, as part of the 3 people portion - I enjoyed it immensely because all the decisions were made for you. Injera, ethiopian bread, was served with all. And we had 2 types of beef and chicken plus a ridiculous variety of vegetables. We also ordered lamb tibs on the side. My faves: lamb tibs, spicy chicken and chick peas... I think I liked the spicy beans too but I'm not sure because I shared my platter with Simran and Fabiano, and Fabiano managed to take a piece of injera and take all the spicy beans in one fell swoop. Overall, it's a really fun time. I liked mooshing food together with the injera - I played a mental game where I was trying to find the best combinations to moosh together. Ultimately, I think we all enjoyed this place. Even with 3 bottles of wine and a couple of beers, it came out to $30ish per person. If you don't mind experimenting and eating with your hands, it's a lot of fun. Most especially, this is an ideal dining experience for those people who have no table manners.

~parmita~

Posted on behalf of Kyle the Tard - December's Masticator-General

Note: Kyle is a tard and doesn't know how to post a blog. This is my attempt at making sure the blog is actually maintained - posting his email he sent out. Kyle, I hope blue is a man enough color for you. Enjoy!

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OK, the vote for next months supper club (December 13th) is officially expanded to 3 BYOBs ... I will bring a St. Ides for everyone no matter where we decide to go, so it is a win-win situation. Choices are:

1. Sigiri (Sri Lankan) in the East village (http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=16416&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0)
2. Ultimate Pizza and Pasta in whatever area that is called where Parmita lives (http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=3441&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0)
3. Afghan Kebab House in Hells Kitchen (http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=3667&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0)

I know a few masticators have been to Kebab House before, so it might be cheating.All have great food, are CHEAP, and might have an unspectacular environment. So, read some reviews and research up and make your vote soon!

Kyle

Invitation to November’s Supper Club, from Parmita

Welcome to all Supper Clubbers old and new. I know there are a few of you who have been waiting in anticipation to know what the next venue will be for Mastication Jubilation.

At Sofrito, our hostess Megha deemed me to be the next Host, and I’ve been wracking my brains since trying to come up with a place. The time has come, and I felt like there had been a lot of conversation regarding Ethiopian food recently, so it seemed appropriate. GHENET (http://ghenet.com/index.html) will be our destination. I’ve thoroughly looked over the menu, i.e. salivated at my desk, and it looks to be a great meal.

Some random information about the restaurant:

• The founder appeared on Martha Stewart to introduce Ethiopian recipes.
• Gourmet reviewer stated that it’s “brighter, livelier, and more immediate than any other Ethiopian food I’ve sampled in New York”.
  

Details ---
Location - this one’s for all my Downtown folks: GHENET, 284 Mulberry Street @ Houston
Time: 8:30pm
Who: Please RSVP to me no later than October 31st so I can call and make the appropriate reservations – please don’t assume that I know you’ll be going.
Mandatory: Smiles, drinks aplenty, delicious food, and great company! Can’t wait to see you there!

~parmita