Kión ceviche + tapas...

Kim visited, and dragged James out too with us for a lovely little meal @ Kión on E. 6th st and Ave A: Japanese peruvian food...the pictures speak for themselves....:) Had sushi too last time but that was "meh" in comparison to everything else...^_^

Sweet plaintains on the side (w/ what I think was condensed milk drippings!)

Spicy mussels (wok roasted mussels with rocoto peppers, ginger, cilantro and miso broth)

Pulpito (Chilled baby octopus and sautéed octopus tentacles with panca miso garlic ginger sauce)

Toro con palta (tuna belly tartar with avocado mousse, capers and ceviche lime juice)

James got pan seared filet mignon with a fried quail egg topping and blue potato gnocchi side...

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Lychee martini...

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Ceviche mixto (shrimp, squid, snapper and fluke marinated in a spicy ceviche sauce)

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Anticuchos and Papa a la Huancaina (grilled miso-panca marinated beef, shrimp and chicken skewers served with blue potatoes with feta cheese sauce and kalamata aioli)

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Also had the Pepino Rollo (cucumber rolls stuffed with salmon, avocado and seared tuna in a sesame Yuzu sauce) but last time I had the Salmon Yuzu and that was much better--same concept ish with the cucumber hollowed and filled with salmon and yuzu sauce.

here's another shot of the lychee martini but just artsy fartsy sepia :)

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

In Vino + [Mike's Pastries v. Ferrara's]...

There are 2 places in the city I go for Italian: Pisticci's near Columbia, and In Vino in the LES. Both have distinctive, brief menus--all the food is well portioned, well seasoned (or perfectly lightly flavored), culmination of interesting sauces + flavors that sets them apart from other Italian places *anywhere*. (side note: I don't like the lobster tail @ Ferrara's on Grand & Mulberry b/c the filling is more custardy and marscapone-like instead of a sweet cheese like ricotta @ Mike's Pastries in beanown) Here's some torrone instead :) :

Anyway, Annie visited from CA in October with her boyf--so I took her for non-Asian foodies @ Cuba Cafe and In Vino :)...Cuba Cafe will be saved for later when I can find my photos--so back to In Vino.

Anyway, Annie got the Gnocchi w/ gorgonzola cream sauce + walnuts, I got the Papardelle with shrimp arrabiata (which I always do), and Chris got the porcini Ravioli in truffle cream sauce.

The pastas are home-made...per se...but it tastes noticeably different and wonderful ^_^ Anyhoodle, I ran into Albee w/ his boyf there once and they got the risotto special--it was freakin' amazing, but me & Jun still stuck to our usuals.

We [as in pretty much anyone I go with, and I go too often] tend to start with the sottocenere cheese plate (cow's milk cheese with truffle oil and truffle flakes) with apples, walnuts, and a really intensely flavored, dark honey. I don't care much for many cheeses but I LOVE the truffle cheese!! warm, kinda nutty, creamy taste (sorta) with a delicate truffle flavor, but especially fragrant per se with the truffle.

Sometimes I get the crostino di avocado (avocado + goat cheese puree on toast and it's freakin' AWESOME). Jun and I split the calamari salad the last time I was there--white wine sauce w/ tomatoes and...lemon and something whatever. Blah di blah blah. pictures later.