Food on my mind

Excuse me, as lately I have been interested in nothing much else other than food. My husband and I ate at three different joints last night in a matter of 2 hours while in Manhattan.
First sushi (unfortunately, I had to stick with California rolls but they were delicious. I just prefer the real stuff) at Lincoln Center.

Then we headed down to the East Village to visit ChikaLicious, our all-time favorite dessert bar.
Let me just say a few words about this place and Chika. Chika is brilliant! Every time we go there, I am blown away at her creations. She puts together flavor combinations that I never would have thought of.
The place is small with only about 20 places to sit and it's set up for a three-course dessert "meal", each course being small enough to feel satisfied but not too big to fill up. Some of the "amuse" courses we have had in the past include:

• lemongrass gelee with Cortland apple sorbet
• honeysuckle parfait in raspberry soup

We are wowed every time.

Then comes the "dessert". Here are some of our favorites:

Poached pear with Asian pear salad and lemon-? ice cream.
I liked pears before but I have a new fondness toward them now.


Fromage Blanc Island "cheese cake".
My husband gets this e v. e r. y. t i m e. He calls it a cloud.


Warm chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream and red wine sauce.
I liked this so much I tried recreating it at home. I succeeded with the pink peppercorn ice cream, but the chocolate tart was way to much work for me so I made lava cakes instead - still delicious though.


Banana salad on crispy kataifi with adult pudding and milk froth.
I wasn't sure about this one but I loved it and I have never regretted my decision since. You wouldn't think that a minor thing such as milk froth, essentially a garnish, would play such a roll in the overall flavor of the dish. Again, brilliant!


Finally, the "Petits Fours" which for us has always included coconut marshmallows, and then some variety of mini cakes or cookies. Last night we had some bite-sized chocolate chip cake and some amazing macaroon cookie with some kind of gelled center. I failed to get the proper name because I was having so much fun eating it.
If you are ever in Manhattan, you must go see Chika. You won't regret it.

Feeling completely satisfied and very happy, we still decided to check out a small, small place on the way to the subway called Pommes Frites which only serves Belgian Fries (If you've forgotten, I'm pregnant, hence fries after dessert) along with many many sauces for dipping, like rosemary garlic mayo or pomegranate teriyaki mayo . It was the only heavy thing we ate all night but it was so worth it. Good thing I walked about 5 miles yesterday.

So, there you have it. An insignificant, superficial, gluttonous post about nothing but food.
I love good quality and uniquely delicious food, but I'm pretty sure this won't turn into a food blog.