Odds and ends

Here are a few things I meant to post last week...

Sunday night I had dinner with my "little sis" Anna Kate. I worked with her mom in Dothan, and I've adopted her while she is here doing a fashion internship. We went to Meme Mediterranean on Hudson, where we enjoyed a bottle of sancerre and split a small plate of ricotta gnocchi with truffle cream. Divine -- as in plate-lick worthy!

We also had an heirloom tomato salad with warm halumi cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds over mesclun greens.  I love grilled halumi!

Forgot to get a photo of our Mediterranean sampler plate with hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, beets, carrots, roasted peppers and something called matbucha. (I looked it up on Wikipedia: a cooked dish of tomatoes and roasted bell peppers seasoned with garlic and chili pepper. The name of the dish originates from Arabic and means "cooked [salad]." Well, now I know! It is popular across the Maghreb, a five-country region of Africa west of Egypt. Look at everything we're learning today...)

Monday I was off work for Columbus Day. Neil and I met at Coffee Shop near Union Square. Funny enough, this place has a bit of a Brazilian theme going, so I'll have to return for caipirinhas and feijoado. But it was quite warm, so we both went for the Greek salad. (Not quite as good as Uncle Gussie's, but tasty enough for a Monday lunch.) 

During the afternoon, I wandered around the Union Square area for a bit and then read World Without End for a while in Madison Square Park, where I stopped to marvel at these interesting sculptures.

Friday was a treat! I got to see my sister! She popped into town on business after spending a few nights in Philadelphia. We went to lunch together and then snapped this random photo of ourselves in the elevator lobby of my floor.

 My camera was acting up, so we also took this attractive shot.

I stayed late at work on Friday night and wanted to get something yummy on my way home. When I'd been wandering around the Flatiron district on Monday, I spotted Rickshaw Dumpling. I'd heard about their popular roving truck, so I was curious and decided to visit the store.

The "Rickshaw Regular" combines six dumplings with your choice of a salad or noodles. I ordered a half-dozen classic pork dumplings with cabbage, ginger and scallion. 

Unfortunately, they forgot the soy sesame dip, so I spent most of my meal thinking how tasty the dumplings would have been with a little dipping sauce! There was no sauce anywhere to be found, so I just assumed they didn't have any...but apparently they keep it hidden behind the counter so they can charge you for extras. I had to check the menu ex post facto to realize I'd missed out.

Anyway, the dumplings were tasty enough, and I really enjoyed citrus ginger salad with crunchy jicama and crispy shallots.

To make sure I didn't go home hungry, I also ordered a braised pork slider -- pork belly with Chinese char sui sauce and Asian slaw.

Funny enough, I am not much of a fan of Asian food, but dumplings are probably my favorite thing. Flashback to 2009 and the photo below: when Leigh Ann and I went to China, these Shanghai dumplings were the best thing I ate during the entire trip. To do: find them in New York!