"Not too sweet" = a good dessert to me

This is probably a gross generalization, but most of the people that I know who are Asian are much more about the salty than the sweet. I find this is especially true of those of the older generation who did not grow up in the US or Canada. My possibly unfounded generalization has been anecdotally tested only in my friends or family who are Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese, so maybe this is not true of people who are of Korean, Cambodian, Filipino etc descent. If you knew me, my pet peeve is believing that all Asians look a like so we must like, do, behave the same way... uh oh, here I am falling into my own trap! Best I shut up now about this.

When I have cravings they are generally for salty snacks -- I could eat pickles and salami all day, which does not bode well for my future blood pressure. Usually if I am paying a dessert or a compliment I say, "mmmm... that was yummy because it was, "not too sweet". A lot of people think that is dessert and "not too sweet" sounds silly, but then again I'm silly so maybe that's why it works.





This place, "Bouchon Bakery" in the Time Warner Building, is for the people who like me, like their desserts, "not too sweet".





They even had a "not too sweet" beverage option! I like how they describe this as the "Grown Up Soda", because me choosing this soda is probably the only grown up thing about me.



Here is the the grown up Oreo type cookie, called the "TKO", that was not too sweet.



And an outstanding Wagyu beef sandwich which I shared so that I would have space for aforementioned grown up cookie. By the way, I got a lesson on Japanese beef terminology from my Japanese friend. Wagyu beef, generally refers to a type of cattle in Japan that has that nice marbled flesh (ie fat) that makes it taste good; whereas Kobe beef is a particular kind of Wagyu cattle that is farmed in Kobe, Japan. So all Kobe beef is Wagyu beef, but not all Wagyu beef is Kobe. And that is our lesson in sweetness and logic for the day.

U.S. Open Offerings

From my last couple few posts, you may get the impression that all I do is gallivant and eat. This is not technically true as I usually prefer to cook and eat at home, but the last few weeks have been a bit of an anomaly. I'd like to chalk it up to spontaneity, but I think it's more of poor calendar manipulation techniques enforced upon me by the Y chromosome in my life (oops he may read this, but oh well...).

It was E's mom's birthday present to go to the U.S. Open and being curious about the tennis and of course the celebrities I thought it would be fun to go. Who knew they would have such great food too!

My first Flushing treat was a morning crepe! This was followed by a discussion about why North Americans do not embrace the crepe concept as much as Europeans. In Boston, there have been several crepe establishments that I have loved to frequent, but subsequently go out of business. Very sad for my belly.



Crepe Express had it down. The crepe was really easy to eat not only because of its deliciousness but also because of the nesting technique of the wrappings: sno-cone paper inside of larger outer cardboard. I can never resist getting one savory and one sweet so that it feels like meal and then dessert!



La Grand Bouffe - marinated chicken, spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. I think its names translates roughly into English as, "the big bite".



La Gourmande - Bananas and Nutella. Nutella makes everything better. I'm technically allergic to hazelnuts but I like to take risks for the sake of chocolate spread!



I washed it all down with a U.S. Open smoothie. All their smoothies had cutesy tennis names. This one was called a Strawberry Smash I think.



And here is a demonstration of what my abdominal circumference was approaching after a weekend of eating through Flushing and NYC!