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Jennifer Baker 11/14/16 Jennifer Baker 11/14/16

#DumplingCrawl 2016 (Lower Manhattan Ed.)

Summer rolls out and fall formally comes in with a nice (yet unexpected) chill in the air means the end of food stalls/events outdoors with the impending winter. This also means it's a damn good time to have yourself a food crawl before the weather gets really unpredictable. As such, and as promised, we had ourselves a Dumpling Crawl in late September.

As summer rolls out and fall formally comes in with a nice (yet unexpected) chill in the air it means the end of food stalls/events outdoors with the impending winter. This also means it's a damn good time to have yourself a food crawl before the weather gets really unpredictable.

As such, and as promised, we had ourselves a Dumpling Crawl in late September. Coincidentally it was also on my mom's birthday. (She was there in spirit if not in corporeal form.)

After having about 3-4 food crawls last year this was my first for 2016 sadly. I still have my sights set on doing a Mac n' Cheese crawl in the near future but the logistics of this haunt me. The amount of cheese that will be consumed may not end well for anyone.

My fave part of a Dumpling Crawl is the bite-sized nature of the item we're feasting on as well as it's pricing. In a group and depending on where you go you can get a crapton of dumplings for very low cost. After touring Chinatown to make sure some of my spots were still in existence and asking Beth to help call to ensure said places were also open I mapped out a decent route that began in Chinatown and ending in the East Village. I mean, it you're going to do a food crawl for Asian food you have to start in Chinatown. There were impromptu stops, missed opportunities, and Taiyaki! Good times were had by all.

We started strong with a group of 13 people (including 2 children and a pre-teen). Yes, families are welcome on food crawls, folks.

Our first stop was Joe's Shanghai on Pell Street. While I had heard this is more a touristy spot for soup dumplings and not necessarily a place for good ones it helped as a meet up spot. Unfortunately our group members, myself included, kept coming late. So by the time our group of 9 was to be seated in came 4 more people that could not be accommodated. So we had to leave. Not without a quick lecture from the hostess though. So FYI, Joe's is always busy because it's a tourist stop. It's not highly rated, particularly by natives for the soup dumplings, but if you wanna do a compare contrast and happen to have the time if it's not a long line why not?

But this was okay because I had mapped out the route! Next up was one of my fave spots when I worked in Tribeca, Tasty Dumpling. Their dumplings are cheap. Let me repeat: Their dumplings are cheap. As in you can get 6 for $1.25. No other place we visited was comparable in this pricing. We got shrimp & chive and chicken & mushroom dumplings. I liked the chicken & mushroom more for the umami flavor that came through. Their wonton is pretty thick, like udon noodle thick so if you eat about 8 you may get somewhat full. Not us though, we had one each and were set for more.

After bypassing Shanghai Deluxe Cafe due to another long weight for a group of 11 at this point we headed to Excellent Dumpling House not too far from the subway to take us uptown. We got one of the last big tables and were able to sit and have a range of dumplings including very tangy pork soup dumplings, pork dumplings, shrimp dumplings, and vegetable dumplings and spinach dumplings. The spinach took the longest and had the least flavor tasting like a wonton full of spinach. Sadly, Excellent's would be the only soup dumplings we managed to snag but not sadly they were delicious(!) though their skin was quite fragile and broke easily so we had to fight for the broth dripping through the steamer.

Since this is a food crawl I co-planned you know there'll be sweets involved. So we went to the newly opened Taiyaki NYC two blocks away from the subway to get some ice cream in a custard fish cake. SO good. These were smaller in size than the ones I had in Flushing and their custard inside the cake was a bit more egg-y in flavor but overall a good investment. The younger kids bypassed the cake for the ice cream itself and we beat the crowd resulting in more happiness as we watched a line start outside the very small space.

A quick ride on the 6 train to Astor had us headed to Drunken Dumpling but we made a stop at Dumpling Man for more sweet dumplings when I mentioned they usually have a pumpkin one available for fall. Right next to Dumpling Man was Dun-Well Doughnuts so my friend, her 2 daughters and I partook. (Side note: I was not impressed with their cinnamon sugar doughnut, it was dry and had a weird after taste to the sugar glaze with cinnamon.)

Anywho, people liked the pumpkin dumplings at Dumpling Man and felt the banana was too sweet and tasted somewhat artificial. This may be because perhaps a very ripe banana was used to cook it, maybe not. It was overly sweet.

And now we're walking we're walking we're seeing that Drunken Dumpling home of the oversized XLB is out of everything until 6pm. It was after 3pm. So we made our way to the next spot Mimi Cheng's Dumplings. Our group got pared down to 9 and we added two more so we were still a lively bunch.

Overly healthy and organic dumplings at Mimi Cheng's.

Now, I had some issues with Mimi's. First off, no cash. Whereas spots in Chinatown may say "No cards" this was the opposite. A friend commented, "This eliminates a whole demographic who may not have cards." True though it does make it easier not to have cash on-hand I guess. Also they were the most pricey. Six dumplings came in at over $8. Eight dumplings over $10. Yes, all organic ingredients blah blah blah but come now. Limited menu where Tasty Dumpling had a vast one and also kale. They had kale in dumplings!

Funny enough several people said Mimi's was a winner because of the wonton wrapping (very tight and none too thick). And they dug the vegetable dumpling flavor more than what we had at Excellent. I wasn't as enthused with the flavor as it tasted too earthy and too healthy for me. Not necessarily what I seek when I eat a dumpling. But glad I tried it.

Our last stop was Vanessa's Dumplings right on 14th Street. By now we were 4 adults and 3 kids, the remainder of the group done and full. At Vanessa's you can get a batch of frozen dumplings to make at home and they have a solid range. Like Tasty their wonton wrapper was thick, definitely made onsite and their fillings ranged from meaty and seafood to veggie options. I was able to consume one more dumpling at this point which I believe was chicken and it was solid but not my favorite of the batch we had that day.

Last stop at Vanessa's! We. Are. Champions!

And then, our ragtag group went for bubble tea and that was the culmination of our food crawl, first of fall.

Dumpling Crawl Notes:

I planned spots to visit as well as possible alternates just in case for a seamless walking experience. While I had 8 (including 2 alts) dumpling spots on the list we successfully dined at 5.
Of the places visited Tasty and Excellent seemed the faves for taste and pricing
Of the places visited Excellent, Tasty, and Vanessa's have the most available seating for a larger group. At Mimi's we had to spread out and Dumpling Man had tables but they were quickly filled.
Of the places visited Dumpling Man is the only one who offers a dessert-type dumpling.
Drunken Dumpling is a spot you have to get to early if you want to try their XLB.
Taiyaki is delicious and everyone should try it at least once.

Jenn Baker 2/15/16 Jenn Baker 2/15/16

#ChocolateTakedown 2016

It’s been over a year since I did a Brooklyn Takedown. I wasn’t necessarily going to enter another one. I mean, ice cream isn’t my forte. I contemplated doing the mac n’ cheese. The others didn’t seem up my alley because I’m more adventurous in my baking than my cooking. Plus, I don’t worry about meat.

But Takedown founder/colossus Matt Timms announced a new one this year: the chocolate takedown. This one to take place on Valentine’s Day. I thought about it for all of three minutes before emailing Matt, “I’m in.” The sponsors for this round would be Brooklyn’s own Raaka Chocolate near the BQE. They kindly donated 5 pounds per Takedowner. So I schlepped over and got my 5 pounds of pastilles.

What I didn’t know about Raaka is that it’s vegan chocolate. So I wondered how that would affect my idea. I immediately knew I wanted to do Mexican Hot Chocolate. Savory didn’t seem an option if it wouldn’t be effective. I predicted a bunch of people may try to tackle bacon and chocolate. I did my research on the spice components of an authentic Mexican hot chocolate—cayenne, chili powder, cinnamon, sometimes nutmeg. The options were a Mexican hot chocolate mini donut with some kind of frosting, perhaps a dulce de leche or a chocolate covered pretzel that I’d balance out in some way. Guess which one I went with?

The thing about the Takedowns is you never know what will win. You can have a lot of components and assembly that does (or doesn’t) work well and win (or not). You can have a unique idea that people really enjoy that may be good but not good enough to take home a prize. So when one does a Takedown you do it because you enjoy it. And sure, winning would be nice.

I did some testing, found out what was necessary, premade some ingredients and had a snafu so had to redo it, and ultimately was left with much more than I had anticipated, in particular cinnamon candied peanuts.

While assembly, mainly chilling of each batch, took longer than I’d have liked once I got to the Royal Palms I was between Angela (aka Mind Over Batter) and another candidate who had complicated entries that required much assembly. And I kind of just stood around greeting people while they both continued to do their respective things.

In the end I didn’t win. (sad face) But I got several requests of people wanting to know if I sold the product on its own. I contemplated after the fact having said yes and maybe making additional dough off of this snack. But mainly the take away was that I remembered how fun the Takedowns are. How well run they are (go Matt!). And it’s great seeing friends (Angela who won two prizes and Emily whose dish also rocked) I haven’t seen in a while and eat some good food whilst getting compliments. The best were from those who said they didn’t think chocolate covered pretzels were anything special until they tasted mine. (I’m not boasting here folks.) “I never got chocolate covered pretzels before. But after trying yours I get it.” True story.

Once again a successful Takedown, on a really frigid day, where I have leftover chocolate, pretzels, and candied peanuts. So if you’re reading this and would like some lemme know! Happy to comply while supplies last!

Jenn Baker 2/5/16 Jenn Baker 2/5/16

#TopTenChocolatiers2015

Once again the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) served as the backdrop for a food celebration this one hosted by Dessert Professional.com. The annual Top Ten Chocolatiers Hall of Fame event on Wednesday, January 27th was an indulgent festival of chocolates with deep flavors, new combinations, and stunning presentations.

Navigating my way through the main ICE floor in FiDi I was given directions to make a few turns but after the first turn I simply followed the intense smell of chocolate which led me to my destination. ICE staff offered pockets of people hors d’oeuvres while weaving through the incoming crowd. This was the pregame before tasting all the decadence that the Top Ten Chocolatiers had on-hand.

If you thought you’ve eaten good chocolate any time in your life prior to attending this event one taste from the Top Ten would set you straight immediately. Hershey? Shut your mouth! Ghiradelli? Pfft. Cadbury? Please. Godiva? Meh. The unique flavors developed by each chocolatier are unmatched. Once you have their chocolate your standards elevate tenfold. So try being satisfied from a Snickers after trying Anette Right DeFendi’s balsamic rare facets with strawberry that looks like a prized ruby and shines like one. Or tasting the silky smooth chocolate shell with no granular texture but actually melts as soon as tongue hits your lips/tongue from Stick With Me’s banana bonbon. The flat and crispy Rocher’s made by EHChocolatier that I admit I had several of whenever I found myself drifting back to that particular table. The Indian components in the mango lassi white chocolate filled piece. The subtle habanero in Oliver Kita’s semi-sweet chocolate hearts. The richness and visual beauty of these chocolates was enough to have you peer at them for a few minutes before daring to taste a piece. Once you did indulge though? There was no turning back and, admittedly, some gluttony happened on my part.

KOHLER Original Recipe Chocolates by Anette Right DeFendi had me gluttonous.

Polska's Chocolate. Had an earthy essence to it.

Adam S. Turoni's creme brulee bites made with white chocolate.

Also a sense of sorry took hold as the event came to an end and chocolatiers tried to get rid of their goods. When would I be able to have these bites again? (In the case of Stick With Me the shop is located in SoHo, NYC. Sweet!) But for pieces that range with origins in Rhinebeck to California to Mexico there was an actual pain in my chest that I may never taste these again. Admittedly this was dramatic thinking as most of the honored chocolatiers offer shipping for their goods. As is I’m saving the balsamic gems for a rainy, or stressful, day eager to taste the sweet and fruity ganache filling yet resisting to truly relive the magic.

Top Ten was a celebration of chocolate, the range of creativity of the chocolatiers, and the stunning imagery it could be molded into as well as the uniqueness of chocolate combining citrus or heat or seaweed or tea. It made me rethink how I look at chocolate as a treat to see it as a new path for imagination when developing something for others to savor. Chocolate stores are the new cupcake shops in New York City with new ones selling raw bars at hefty prices in their own store fronts that also serve as cafes, at Smorgasburg, or in specialty stores. Brooklyn specifically is a spot where Daniel Sklaar of Fine & Raw is located as well as more hipster brands that may or may not utilize high quality ingredients straight from the cacao bean. So, at least in NYC we’re not at a loss for the “good stuff.” But Top Ten incites a need for me to broaden my palate even more, delving into smoky/tart/deep/rich/tangy flavors on the ever growing range of chocolates available around North America and the world. Well, damned if Top Ten didn’t further broaden my horizons. I may never eat a Snickers again…

EHChocolatiers Ancho Bar. So good. This surpasses a Snickers.

A shiny box of glorious Stick With Me bonbons.

Congrats to all the Top Ten Chocolatiers for 2015!Chuao Chocolatier, KOHLER Original Recipe Chocolates, EHChocolatier, Oliver Kita Chocolates, Polska European Bakery & Chocolate, Fine & Raw, Co Co. Sala, Voilá Chocolat, Chocolat by Adam Turoni, and Stick With Me.

Jenn Baker 2/1/16 Jenn Baker 2/1/16

Dessert Offerings of 2015

In addition to the annual list of readers you know it’s also time for the annual list of desserts I had, the good, the bad, the ugly. And it seems fitting to post it on my birthday! Yay sweets! As you know I like to keep it honest. Life is too short for bad books and bad desserts.

Sweet Buttons Desserts – This place has been around for about 3 years in the Lower East Side. It’s in walking distances from Sugar Sweet Sunshine and they specialize in small treats. Passionfruit is one of my fave items on dessert and when done well in a tart it can be refreshing and perfect. Sweet Button’s had a great gelatin filling and thick buttery crust with meringue on top that was delectable and worth a winter splurge. I loved it big time. In fact I owe that place a visit.

Sweet Buttons Desserts – This place has been around for about 3 years in the Lower East Side. It’s in walking distances from Sugar Sweet Sunshine and they specialize in small treats. Passionfruit is one of my fave items on dessert and when done well in a tart it can be refreshing and perfect. Sweet Button’s had a great gelatin filling and thick buttery crust with meringue on top that was delectable and worth a winter splurge. I loved it big time. In fact I owe that place a visit.

Joyce Bakeshop – I partook in the strawberry croissant which was disappointing because it’s simply a croissant with strawberry preserves inside. However, the croissant itself was fantastic! Reminds you of what a good, homemade one tastes like versus the packaged ones you buy at the store. I can never go back to those. In addition I got a banana, nutella handpie which was meh. This may have been tastier warm and the pie crust was flaky yet had no distinctive flavor or sweetness. Too much nutella and not enough banana. Usually this combo is a great mix in a crepe. Upside the handpie was a solid size for the price.

Balthazar – They regularly deliver pastries there to one of my favorite tea houses in NYC, Serengeti Tea. The croissants are addictive and what a good French croissant should be. Buttery as heck, a slight sweetness, flaky like a friend of yours who always cancels last minute, and simply good. I stuff my mouth with it and a good Ethiopian chai as a treat to myself in winter. It’s one of the best things about winter. The canelle is a French mini bundt cake that is extra baked outside. With the alcohol inside (rum I believe) it gives it an almost chocolatey taste but is super soft inside.

Make My Cake – The oatmeal raisin cookie was what I got though I took out many raisins because raisins are not my thing. Of the cookies I purchased the oatmeal raisin was the best cookie of the bunch. Their coconut pecan one was hard and nondistinct, neither was another cookie I had. It may have been white chocolate macadamia nut. See? Not memorable. MMC is supposedly known for the cake so get that rather than the cookies. Though the cookies are cheap at 75 cents each if you’re on Frederick Douglass and tight on cash.

Levain Bakery – Their cookies are expensive but worth the price and walk to Levain over Make My Cake. I had the raspberry bomboloncini (Italian for ‘small donut’) twice. This is an Italian doughnut filled with raspberry preserves and covered in powdered sugar so it's a sugary mess. The first time I had it it was a treat, the second time it was a dry, hard mess that I threw out. It’s cheaper than other doughnuts at a $2.25 pricetag. So on a good day try it but on a bad one skip. Additionally I tried Levain’s cinnamon sugar brioche. Okay, not sweet as I was told and okay next day but something I wouldn't buy again. Their breads (banana, pumpkin) and cookies are the real draw. Though their signature walnut chocolate chip cookie seemed way undercooked when I had it again.

Londel’s – Noticing a trend in terms of Harlem eats? This is a restaurant where I had the peach cobbler during the AALBC party during BEA week. Fantastic crust. Fresh peaches (not canned) in a ramekin and I wanted more of this cinnamony syrupy goodness. To me, peach cobbler is only worth eating with fresh peaches, which is why I usually eat them, when offered, in spring/summer.

Little Cupcake Bake Shop – A worthwhile carrot cake cupcake! Thing is their buttercream icing is very buttery so overly sweet and stiff. Also had the vegan mango cupcake which was fantastic and had a passionfruit filling. This vegan dessert could compete with everything else I’ve had in it being super solid. Do not let the word ‘vegan’ scare you! As with the carrot cake the mango icing was very sweet but the cake was so good and moist that all this along with the passion fruit filling hit the spot. Loved! Great summery cupcake.

Nunu Chocolates - Handmade chocolates in Brooklyn. They were fine, however I wasn’t a huge fan of the ganache assortments. You can't choose what you'll get in a variety pack so you may be disappointed. A bit too sweet for some of the ganaches paired with the dark chocolate candy exterior.

Jam Jar (Pie or Cake) – I really wanted to like this. The packaging and design were so spot on as is the idea of dessert in a jar. It’s a big “thing” now. This is a small vendor who was at Smorgasburg over the summer. I chose the Flea Nut "pie." While her packaging is fantastic, colorful, vibrant, easy to read from afar, the Flea Nut was not. The brownie was too fudgy (read undercooked) for me and the chocolate was subpar, way too sweet, sweeter than anything I've ever had really, which makes me think it wasn’t fine chocolate but some cheap variety that’s more sugar than cocoa. The texture of the cake was the same as the peanut butter on top making it super heavy to eat. So basically this was a fudgy brownie with peanut butter (which was good) on top and chocolate chips. Just too too rich and not a good balance. Perhaps her other pie/cake flavors work better but this one was not made with great ingredients and perhaps much of the money went into the packaging rather than the execution.

4&20 Blackbird – Tasted their caramel apple pie which was very, very good. Been awhile since I had a pie without a crumb topping that I enjoyed as much. I really need to get more of 4&20’s stuff, their menu is often filled with things I’d love. Why are they not in Queens?

Dessert Club ChiKaLicious – I tried their vanilla bean mille crepe cake which was fine. It’s half the price of Lady M's but a bit rich in the homemade vanilla bean cream which is delicious though a mille crepe cake shouldn't have the cream oozing out of it so much. The vanilla bean comes out well in the delicate whipped deliciousness of the cream. This cream is also used in the Dough'ssant which is supposedly a take on the Cronut. I didn't find that the croissant was too doughnut-like beyond the shape. I had the salted caramel and I think the salted caramel topping (which was a lot) overwhelmed the core taste of the croissant. It is filled (in the bottom) with the same vanilla bean cream and tastes delicious but again the salted caramel was overflowing on this one. I'd like to try the others on site and see how they compare as the croissant's texture was a fantastic flaky one.

Amy's Bread – I bought the lime cornmeal cookie. It was fine. And by fine I add a slight attitude to that. “How are you doing, Jenn?” “Fine.” My money could’ve gone to their coconut bar which is awesome. The cookie has lime zest that somewhat comes through and that’s one of the few shining things about that cookie that I can remember.

Butter & Scotch – As much as I love everything that comes out of this place the orange bun is okay. It’s a bit too orangey for my taste and not enough caramel evenly distributed, plus the pastry was a tad dry. Conversely, the key lime pie is the friggin' BEST! As always the pies come through big time in this place and even when sharing the key lime with friends they attested it was one of the best things they ever tasted.

La Gran Via Bakery – During the Sunset Taco crawl I bought their black & white cake. This was a mistake as it’s nothing special and reminded me of box cake (not to hate on box cake which can be quite tasty). This was a chocolate and yellow layer cake with "mousse" in between that didn't taste too mousse like but that may have been because it was out in the heat. Nothing special to write home about. If you want a cake fix this is affordable and a good portion but I'd save the calories for something more delicious.

Georgetown Cupcakes - Key lime cupcake. (I do like my citrus.) Solid cupcake and I see why people like it. Not the best of the best but this seems to be one of those touristy spots just like Magnolia. I’d visit Georgetown again (except for the annoying clientele of tourists, hipsters, teens, cash-laden types who push and shove to get through). Also the overall vibe is that of a cast of the CW rather than an NYC bakery. Anywho, cupcake was soft and had the necessary hint of lime in the cupcake, not hidden but there and not overly subtle. The cream was soft and not a mountain of it on the cupcake so a good balance and yes the lime was there too! A good size and $3 isn't a bad price tag.

Baked – They have a new Tribeca location! If I still worked there this’d be very dangerous. First up, the peanut butter milk chocolate chip cookie which wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Not bad but not sweet enough and I think they may have used some all natural/organic PB that took away from the peanut butter taste and was more like a peanut cookie with a lot of dark choco chips in it. Good chewy texture but not a fan. And its way too big considering. Also got zucchini nut bread which was solid! Next was the pumpkin muffin because pumpkin. Also good stuff! Super moist inside. Would buy that ten times over with their zucchini bread or any of their breads! Had a key lime bar that was perfection. Light and creamy and very citrusy in taste. Some of their other items are actually gaining steam over their brownies!

Macaron Parlour – Noticing a trend with this being an annual staple? I had the carrot cake macaron with cream cheese filling and holy crap it's just like a carrot cake. They did it again! Also had the candied bacon one with maple cream icing which was okay. The bacon overwhelmed the flavor of the macaron which I believe was caramel.

Craftsman & Wolves - During my San Francisco visit and Jackie suggested it. This place has a lot of fancy fare happening but I played it safe (and to be honest by the time I got their most of their stuff was sold out) and got a brownie with caramel and salted almonds that was a good size. Brownie was split in half and caramel & almonds a thin layer. Very good and not too chocolatey. I’m eager to see if I can try more from them my next time in San Francisco this year.

Dandelion Chocolate – Also in San Francisco. When I saw it I knew I had to try it and so I did it: the brownie bite flight. This was a solid life choice. My fave of the three was the Guatemalan one with notes of chocolate cookies. Since Dandelion is artisan made on the spot chocolate from various regions' cacao the chocolate was intense, not too much but definitely unique to each brownie in the flight and made you take notice. Second favorite was the middle one from Papau New Guinea and least (but good after tasting it more) was the last from Madagascar with dried cherry notes that hit you fast and settled down the more you let the chocolate linger. Super good. Their cinnamon chocolate roll with cocoa nibs not as much a life changer. There was no taste to the pastry, all I could taste was the cocoa nibs and even the cinnamon sugar gets lost. The pastry was a fine texture but again nothing stood out about the taste of it so I could barely remember this one. They also make their marshmallows on site and that was good stuff. Pure vanilla taste and I know this would go great in their homemade hot chocolate.

Psycho Donuts – Since I was in a doughnut mood and in San Jose I found the closest shop. The options were vast but I went with the Marla and also the Drunkin' Punkin'. Like a friend said if a place has that much on top of the donuts they may be overcompensating for something. The Marla was a fine yeast donut with no filling that had butterfinger crumble on top and a peanut butter drizzle. Not at all dry and combined some of my fave things. But the donut itself would have no discernable taste without the toppings. The Drunkin' Punkin' was a sad case. A cake donut that had NO pumpkin but pumpkin spices and really it tasted mainly of cinnamon not the pumpkin spice combo, sadly. It was dry-ish and the cream cheese icing on top hardened with a bourbon drizzle and pecans. Again if it weren't for the topping nothing would stand out and as a donut it's not at all enticing for pumpkin lovers. Super nice staff but they do not make their donuts onsite, they get shipped from elsewhere. Not the best donut game at all.

Spot Dessert Bar - Had the Kabocha Brulee cake. A warm caramelized pumpkin cake with cookie crumble and condensed milk ice cream. I ate this during BinderCon and by the time I got to it the ice cream was soup but tasty soup! I drizzled it over the pumpkin cake and it was delish so a necessary addition to the overall dessert. A flat and blech sugar cookie came with as decoration which you can forgo but the pumpkin cake has all the flavors of ACTUAL pumpkin (not just pumpkin spice) so that you can enjoy this dessert being filling but not overwhelming and having a firm custard delicacy to it. So far I have very much enjoyed Dessert Bar's desserts and those with Asian flair as well. I need to go there more often!

Jenn Baker 10/22/15 Jenn Baker 10/22/15

Chicken Wing Crawl in the BK. #WingingitBK

Mid-May on one of the first real humid days of the season Margaret Chen & Jackie Gordon decided we would "wing it...in Brooklyn" and thus the great chicken wing crawl began and ended after 8 stops (with a few in-between) and 7 hours.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “Oh so now you want to post about food crawls and stuff?!”“After the fact you wanna tell me how awesome tacos and wings and Bay Ridge were?”

Well yes, internet, I do. Plus, I have pictures! I have chastised myself enough in my own mind for my lack of posts. Life has been busy! I have moved! I got carpeting! I do a podcast! Do you listen to said podcast by the way? It’s quite insightful. And I’ve been Instagramming the pictures of these events like a mad woman, or really a woman with an unlimited data plan on her smartphone. So there!

But yes, I have been quite delinquent in my posting. And I owe you a few food crawl posts and more regularity in general. Also, I plan on having a doughnut crawl in the next month or so, so yeah I need to catch up on food posts!

Where to start? At the beginning! So the first crawl of the year was in May, yes I know its October, but these places still exist! So you should eat there. Now can we stop with the guilt trip and get to the eats? Yes? Okay then.

Ahem, #WingingItBk took place on a surprisingly humid day in mid-May. Jackie Gordon and Margaret Chen organized this crawl that started in Prospect Heights and I honestly forget where we ended up. The last stop was near water. So that was far; we ended up far from where we started.

First stop was Pizza Loves Emily which was honestly my favorite and we could have potentially not gone anywhere else and I may have been a happy lady. But I was in for the long haul. Seven hours of walking for wings, people! That’s not insanity, that’s dedication.

The Nguyen wings were Asian-inspired perfection! They only serve these wings during happy hour so Jackie & Margaret worked their fantastic foodie magic to get us these wings midday. The sauce is secret but there was garlic and soy and sesame and just….yes so much goodness! It almost makes me want to move to Brooklyn. Almost.

Not on the agenda but nearby we stopped at Chuko Ramen, a place more known for their ramen but also makes of some salt & pepper wings. These were solid wings that reminded me of the kind you get at your divey Chinese takeout food spot. Nothing mind altering but solid and standard wings. A good way to test the barometer of the fry job on the chicken itself.

Semi-full of wings we walked to The Islands. As it turns out The Islands was not serving jerk wings as we had hoped. So we got oxtail, chicken thighs, and rice & peas. We ate these on the front step of the Brooklyn Museum. And I have to say I was all in on the oxtail. Tender and juicy and perfect. Extremely good stuff. And also good to eat with your hands along with a bunch of (food) crawlers on a hot day. Just sayin’.

So the walk between the previous and the next place took us past the museum and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, past the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and that’s when I started to get excited because I knew this meant we were near Runner & Stone and damn right I was gonna make a stop to get me an almond croissant on a Sunday.

Anywho, next up was Talde. And thankfully we got there just in time to get in an order before their kitchen closed. The bartender was super kind to take our orders with five minutes to go and also take drink orders, which we all made sure to do and give her a nice tip. The Talde's wings are called Kung Pao wings. They actually weren’t that spicy. And I’m a wuss when it comes to spice. These had a good tang to them and looked even nicer. But still, my heart belonged to the Nguyen wings we’d tried first. I do love me some Asian flavors.

Taldes was where some dropped off and some came onto the crawl. We laid back a bit as the humidity started to get to us and enjoyed some libation before a short walk to the next two places. We decided to skip Dinosaur BBQ’s because, in all honesty, it wasn’t gonna be that grand. Off to….

Bonnie’s Grill for their traditional buffalo wings. Now, I am not a buffalo wing person. However, if you are a buffalo wing person than I would suggest Bonnie’s where you can get them in three forms from mild to extremely hot. We got mild for the crowd and it was fine. Again, not my thing but definitely worth a try.

Literally a couple blocks away from Bonnie’s is Pork Slope your more bar type place. Based on the establishment’s name alone you can imagine that wings are not the specialty but we’d heard good things! So we got the buffalo and also a tangy teriyaki version. I went with the teriyaki which was a bit salty for my taste. Keep in mind I tend to eat low sodium so this ratcheted my salt intake up quite a bit. What I will say is that the space is great for groups, the service solid, and happy hour pricing good if you like stuff on tap be it beer or cider.

After that some more people started to drop off, one by one but we got to Wangs which does Korean-style wings in two forms (spicy and not spicy). These gave the Nguyen wings a run for their money as far as I was concerned. Again, those Asian flavors I’m telling you! Can’t be ‘em. These were perfectly crisp and seasoned and not that salty so you got the sesame and hints of soy with flakes of toasted garlic sprinkled atop. So good. I need to make another detour there.

Speaking of detours this was when me and Kian made one to hit up Runner & Stone for carbs! Once our respective brioche and almond croissant were acquired we met up with the gang at Ganso’s (Yaki) for more wings. Ganso’s is another Asian eatery. I got the crab shumai which was a very big mistake as it turned out. The wings were better but not all that memorable to be honest in terms of spice and flavor. Not bad but nothing that stuck out to me.

After Ganso’s I’d say our ragtag group was now a little less than half of what we started and we had a trek in front of us to Pok Pok NY. But on the way we stopped at Blue Marble and also Paul, Jackie’s boyfriend, was nice enough to treat us to One Girl Cookies. This was a fantastic route as far as I was concerned.

Pok Pok was a wait. The longest wait of all the eateries. And space was limited inside so we got to go and ate our last bits on the street like champions! Once again the options were hot and not hot. I wussed out again and had some salty a** wings that were good, but not worth the hype I felt Pok Pok had accrued. Of course, this could be because it was humid out and I’d been walking around Brooklyn for several hours and was full of wings and ice cream and the hostess at Pok Pok was rude. Who knows? Things start to blur at the end of a 7-hour food crawl.

But the point at hand is we made it! And it was delicious! And I’d do it again!

Jackie provided notes on how to have a successful food crawl which I will include here. So yes, this is one of several food crawl posts to come. So maybe don’t read these when you’re hungry. Or do if you want to get inspired on where to eat!