K-town Extravaganza

Well EWI, I think we did Ktown proud on Friday!


We began our adventure at Baden Baden for Korean Fried Chicken and Hite beer. I was concerned that people might have trouble finding the place, considering the entrance looks more like the entrance to an abandoned business. Up the stairs and through a door simply marked BBNY, Jo and I arrived to find Aaron, Adam and Eboni waiting at the bar. Everyone else found their way and were followed by Kaiser and Nelson with Heather, Jennifer and Aaron's guest completing the party.

The chicken was met with mixed reviews. I personally love the rotisserie chicken with the crispy, lightly fried skin positively drenched in Korean hot sauce! One thing is for sure, regardless of how the chicken was ranked in comparison to Mad For Chicken or Bon Chon (much heavier variations), no one left hungry!

We did leave in a hurry though, beginning the frenzied mad dash of an evening! Adam casually mentioned that we were scheduled to start our Karaoke in less than 10 minutes. This proclamation was met with flying cash and a scurry of stilettos (mine anyways!). We had a private room at Toto Music Studio booked from 9-11, so time was of the essence.

Toto is on the 5th Floor of a non-descript office building in the middle of Koreatown. Exiting the elevators, we were met with a divinely tacky mix of disco lights and neon signs. After checking in with the men at the front, we were directed to room number 4, I could not help thinking a happy ending masseuse might be waiting for us behind said door!

There was no masseuse, but there were more flashing lights and several books of music to choose from. For some reason, Brittany Spears videos ala 2000, were the background for each and every song selection. Gotta love K-town!

We quickly pulled-out our various bottles of wine and liquor, I personally hold Eboni's Sweet Tea whiskey for my pounding head Saturday morning. We began pouring drinks and performing. It was fantastically bad, and a great deal of fun. Emily G. and Andrew joined the festivities, and to their credit, got into the action dead sober (though their sobriety was short lived)!

At five to eleven, the nice gents up front asked if we wanted to book another hour. Why not? In typical EWI fashion, we drew new friends over from room #12, acquiring more alcohol in the process. The party continued, and with it we butchered such greats as Micheal Jackson, Radiohead, Lilly Allen, Patsy Cline and a grand finale rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Beleivin'". However bad you imagine this to be, it was probably worse!

We stumbled out into the night and, because we were in the wastelands of Herald Square, found ourselves at Legends for the after party. Somehow the karaoke followed us: music blared around us and flashed across the screens behind the bar. The few and the proud made it though a couple drinks before we all tapped-out and headed home.

Perhaps not the most epicurean of our adventures, but an adventure none the less!

Cinco de Mayo Party at Young's-May 9th, 2010

Making my way up to Young's new apartment on the Upper West Side, I kept thinking, this place better be worth the trek! After circling the block a few times, I finally found Young's doorway. The place did not disappoint! It is a beautiful, pre-war building with soaring ceilings and massive windows, with the kind of detail work that can really only be found uptown. Besides being gorgeous and large, it also has a phenomenal deck, with a grill, of course!

The party was already revving up, with a group of about seven or eight of Young's friends working their way through a second platter of Sahi's Divine nachos and fried plantains. Emily G. accompanied me, armed with a bottle of tequilla and I with a bowl of my "fiesta de pork". I layered beans refried with an ungodly amount of panchetta with guacamole (also peppered with crispy panchetta), toped with pico de guio and sour cream.

Adam and Jennifer were right behind us, bearing wine and Mexican wedding cookies (homemade of course!). They also brought a guest, Kaiser, who gained instant approval with his bags of wine and cheeky demeanor. Kaitlin burst in like a storm, whipping up some Michelada's for us all. For those of you unfamiliar with Michelada's, they are a concoction of beer, lime juice, hot sauce, worshire sauce and a thick salted rim. I have fallen quite in love with them, but Adam likened their flavor to bile! To each his own!

Heather and Mike came prepared with white sangria and a spicy corn salsa brimming with cilantro. Heather and I agreed that the Sangria could use a little something to brighten it up, like sparkling wine or seltzer, but it was consumed in short order nonetheless!

Two new members, New Heather and Nastassia brought lemon thyme bars which were light and refreshing. Young decided to fire-up the grill, despite the freezing weather, and provided us with some outstanding burgers! One of the favorites of the evening were Erin's cayenne pepper brownies. Their heat snuck-up on you in a slow satisfying way.

As you can imagine from EWI events past, we had a great party. Lots of laughs and Liza Minnelli impersonations, talk ranging from politics to religion to sex. When asked by a new member how a food group could end up on such topics, I responded that food is life. People who love food understand the enjoyment of one of our most basic pleasures and necessities. This group is really about passion and our passion may begin with food, but it certainly does not end there!

Also in true EWI fashion, last call at Young's did not mark the end of the festivities! Nine of us staggered out into the night and off to the bar on the corner to continue with the debauchery. We did get some fantastic food event ideas stemming from our slurred discussions, one of which is a Shabat dinner, dubbed Jew-biley. A re-imagining of traditional Jewish cuisine paired with flavor tripping in Queens scheduled for the second or third week in July. More immediately will be our next event: Korean Fried Chicken and Karaoke in Koreatown one week from Friday.

Though a few days-off, I think we did Cinco de Mayo proud. We ate and drank with impunity, and isn't that what it's all about?

Adios!