The Forthright Fork

Not Your Mama's Fruit Plate

January 20, 2013 
As much as I love the entirety of the food pyramid, my favorite food group is probably fruit. I think it's because fruits have so many varying flavors, fragrances and textures - eating them never bores me.

One of the best places to get fresh fruit is Flushing, Queens. This Asia-away-from-Asia has some of the most exotic fruit I've seen in the United States. And in recent years, the produce quality just keeps getting better and better.

This time, I picked a few things to make myself a proper fruit plate.

Read more »

Ichimura at Brushstroke: Precision, Brilliance and Transcendence

January 14, 2012

For a quick recap of the meal, check out the slide show at the bottom of the post. 

Symbolic lighting, no?

Rating: ◊◊◊◊◊

Once in a while, something will come along and knock the wind right out of you. Whether it's a person, a place or an experience, it touches you so intensely that you find yourself irrevocably altered and deeply humbled by its arrival.

I had such an experience when I met Eiji Ichimura.

Read more »

Economy Candy: A Real-Life Candyland

Read more »

Upstate: In Search of Simplicity from the Sea

December 24, 2012

Tucked in a corner... 

Rating: ◊◊◊½

Growing up in a coastal city in Northern China, my family and I often bonded over large spreads freshly steamed fish, crustaceans and mollusks. We would drink, laugh and feast all night until there was nothing left but piles of empty shells and clean bones. It was during those wonderful meals that I fell in love with the unadulterated flavors of the ocean.

Now that I’m older (and living on a different continent), my heart and stomach are constantly looking for restaurants that remind me of those delicious feasts. This is what led me to Upstate.

Read more »

Veselka: All American with an Ukranian Flair

November 17, 2012

Al fresco - the New York way...

Rating: ◊◊◊

It’s 11:47AM and you finally rouse from sleep, feeling the remnants of fatigue from the past work week and exhilaration from partying the night before. Your hair is a mess and you desperately need to brush your teeth. But before you even make it out of bed, your phone buzzes. One word flies across the screen: “Brunch?”

You feel an unexpected pang of hunger and mentally list your options. Café Orlin? Clinton Street Baking Co.? No – dainty and delightful is out of the question when you look like a raccoon that just came back from dumpster diving. Endless Drunch at the Sunburnt Cow? Double no – you can’t stomach even the thought of alcohol right now. Then, it hits you. You’re going to Veselka.

Read more »

Double Ginger Cookies

October 28, 2012 

Double ginger cookies fresh from the rack. 

"When you get a chance, could you wipe that butter off the wall?" - A. the Kitchen Cleanliness Inspector

Read more »

Beyond Sushi: Mind-blowing VEGAN sushi - Is that your brain splattered against the concrete?  

October 20, 2012

For a quick recap of the meal, check out the slide show at the bottom of the post. 

The unassuming store-front with sexy vegan food inside... 

Rating: ◊◊◊◊ ½ 
Here’s a question: can vegan food be sexy? When we talk about sexy foods, oysters, foie gras and chocolate are usually involved. But, what about vegetables and grains?

Now, most people (myself included) probably feel that the words “vegan” and “reckless abandon” are not symbiotic. It’s understandable, really. More often than not, vegan food comprises of some combination of tasteless tofu and tasteless vegetables with a side of tasteless starch. How are you supposed to feel deliciously wild and naughty when your entire meal feels like cardboard in your mouth?

Read more »