Sushi Birthday Cake

While most people celebrate with a traditional birthday cake, I celebrated a milestone with a sushi cake from Sushi Tei. The big 3-0 was ushered in with a lovely layered surprise of my favorites--salmon, yellowtail, and tuna. The monstrosity is made up of layers of sushi rice, avocado, nori, and your choice of fish. Who needs frosting when you can have spicy tuna and sashimi roses? The hubby knows exactly what to get this birthday girl. 

Savory Delicatessen

This past weekend, we hit up the food truck scene in Hudson as the craving for donuts from Gracie's grew stronger by the day. But this time, we also checked out their neighboring food truck, Savory Delicatessen. The truck is committed to scratch cooking, from curing and roasting its own meat to handcrafted sodas, translating to well-made and cared for classics.

Hot Pastrami: If you're looking for a fatty, melt-in-your-mouth pastrami look no further. More often than not, deli pastrami is flavorless but Savory Delicatessen packs a punch. The meat is not just brined but expertly smoked, like it should be, adding that beloved flavor. The pastrami is beautifully sandwiched between perfectly toasted marbled rye with caramelized shallots, a smear of spicy mustard, and melty emmental cheese. All the flavors complement each other very well, making each bite as delightful as the next, especially when you pull away with a melty, cheezy bite. 

Fried Risotto Bites: These were so comforting; crispy on the outside and deliciously creamy and cheesy on the inside. The pomodoro dipping sauce is a delightfully bright tomato sauce, simple and well-made. 

The Cuban: This was a daily special made with the house-made porchetta. If you're going to make a Cuban, the pork has to be the star and this interpretation did not disappoint. Juicy roasted pork brought back fond memories of the pig roast at our wedding and each bite reminded us how much we love Cubans too! You can taste how much love and care is put into the meats at Savory and it's heaven for us carnivores.

Don't forget about the house-made sodas. You'll find unique flavors like spiced cherry with hints of clove and ginger lemon but the cream and cardamom is unforgettable. This little part of Hudson just gets tastier with every visit. With food trucks like Savory Delicatessen and Gracie's, Hudson is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to visit and eat. 

currently snacking on...

... freshly picked blueberries from Samascott Orchards.
Open for pick-your-own fruits and veggies. 

Banh Mi at Saigon Pearl

No need to travel to Montreal when the craving hits. You can finally find a banh mi in Albany with the right kind of bread. Saigon Pearl on Madison Ave. delivers a light and crisp French baguette that shatters upon first bite. The bread has drastically changed since their opening day offering and finally highlights the most important element of a banh mi. You won't find the classic fillings of cha lua bologna or liver pate, but the bbq beef and meatball versions are equally as satisfying, bringing together savory, sweet, and fresh flavors. Plus at $5.00 a sandwich, it's a steal and a much tastier alternative to that generic five dollar foot long. Add a durian milkshake if you're brave enough and you've got yourself a pretty good Vietnamese meal. 

Gracie's Food Truck

As much as we love the Capital Region food truck scene, it was refreshing to discover what the Hudson Valley is up to. On a recent trip down to Hudson, we discovered the most adorable little outdoor food court on Warren Street in Hudson. The parking lot is dotted with a handful of food carts and trucks offering global flavors from Indian to Mexican and American classics.

I previously stopped by for doughnuts at Gracie's Food Truck and had to come back with J for the doughnut burger challenge. Yup, we went there...and more.

Gracie's prides itself in producing scratch-made American classics using locally sourced ingredients. That just translates to deliciousness in our bellies. The donuts are heavenly on their own; these pillowy-soft yeast donuts are going to make you weak in the knees. Sandwich a juicy farm fresh all-beef patty in between with a couple slices of crispy bacon and cheese for good measure and you've got the makings of a gut-busting experiment that's worth all the calories. The meat is quite flavorful for such a small bite and could easily be tasty as a normal burger but why not go the extra mile with added gluttony. The extreme contrasts between the sweet vanilla-specked glazed donut, salty bacon and greasy beef worked ridiculously well. But it was the homemade donut and quality meat that made all the difference.

What's a burger without fries? While the loaded fries with bacon and cheese were a tad over salted, the saving grace was the tangy truck special sauce. Plus the fry job was on point and I certainly love hand-cut fries with the skin on. 

To complete the donut trifecta we had to round things out with an orange creamsicle donut and since we stumbled upon Pride Day, we got a rainbow donut to add to the festivities. I wish I had room for at least a dozen more treats, include a donut ice cream sandwich that we just couldn't fit it. Gracie's donuts are easily my favorite yeast donuts to date with a constant rotation of seasonal and creative flavors that are right up my alley. We got the traditional ones this time but the hibiscus berry one from a couple months ago was phenomenal. Luckily they are only a day-trip away to sample more flavors. Can't wait to come back to Gracie's and check out the rest of the Hudson food truck scene!

A Tale of Two Albany Ramen Bowls

The Capital Region is slowly catching on the ramen trend. There was the one-time Tavern Noodle pop-up, a couple of mediocre bowls from Mr Fuji Sushi and Samurai, and a soon-to-open ramen shop in the former Miss Albany/Scortino's space. In less than two days, we encountered two more ramen bowls on the local scene.

Brunch just got tastier thanks to the Breakfast Ramen Bowl at New World Bistro Bar. Savory soups just don't get enough attention as a breakfast item. To me, soups like pho and rice porridge are considered breakfast items so the idea of a ramen for breakfast wasn't too foreign. NWBB presents a veggie version with shiitake mushrooms, snap peas, carrots, bean sprouts and sweet peppers. I tend to hold back on veggie dishes, thinking they won't be as flavorful but I was wrong with this one. The broth was very well-developed and rich in flavor thanks to the shiitakes and added layer of umami from fermented black beans. A slight kick of heat kept your palate awake. The magic was in the perfectly cooked al dente noodles. The only tragedy was the lack of runny yolk in my poached eggs. I also found myself missing some meaty flavors but a side of peppered bacon did the trick. 

Sushi Tei has long been our #1 spot for sushi in the Capital Region. Along the way we've found gems like roasted yellowtail collar and udon noodle soup. Now we can add ramen to our list of favorites but so far it's only offered on Tuesdays.  Succulent slices of pork belly adorn a bowl of creamy golden meaty broth glistening with just the right amount of fat globules. A few shakes of chili oil, sesame seeds, and togarashi adds some zip. The dish was suppose to come with fermented menma bamboo shoots but the substitute of wood ear mushrooms worked just as well adding another dimension of texture. Interesting enough, the ramen noodles at Sushi Tei were thin and straight while the ones at NWBB were wavy. For some reason or another, I prefer the wavy kind and its chewiness. The egg here was also a misstep, hardboiled rather than poached. A slice of nori also would have been welcomed but the flavor of the broth more than made up for it. It'll be tough choosing between sushi and ramen, or just do yourself a favor and order both.

It's a tale of two different ramen bowls but it's nice to see Albany embracing a dish that deserves a spotlight. 

currently snacking on

...lavender honey frozen yogurt from Ayelada with swirls of local Acadia black locust honey from
Lloyd Spear Beekeeper and vanilla bean caramel sauce for good measure.