Tag Archives: pretzels

Buschenschank, German Restaurant in Brooklyn

Over the past 2 weeks I have gone to Brooklyn more over those 14 days than I have over the 2 years I have lived in New York City. My friends Ken and Blaz have been letting me take their new addition, Little Bear, out for walks around their neighborhood while they are at work. Little Bear is an adorable Boston Terrier and I have fallen in love with her! The boys have trained her so well, she has mastered the basic commands but she can also follow commands based on “sign language”… Pretty smart, I know!

When I went to Brooklyn to meet with Ken and Blaz to learn about how to take care of Little Bear, the three of us ended up going out for dinner at a new restaurant in their ‘hood. We wound up at a spot called Buschenschank (located in Carroll Garden) — what a tongue twister that name is, good thing I only have to spell it for you guys and I don’t have to pronounce it!

We weren’t too sure what to expect, but while we were waiting for our table we ended up ordering a few brewskies and spent some time catching up. We were shocked at how CHEAP the large selection of beer was. The beer on tap was offered in three different sizes! Not only did we love the sizes of beer options, the selection of beer to pick from, and the prices — but we also loved all of the different types of beer glasses the booze was served in. Who wouldn’t love a chic beer mug? Do those even exist? Yes they do!

When we ordered we knew we had to order one of the pretzels. Even more specifically, we had to order the specialty pretzel with “bier cheese.” My expectations on soft pretzels is now very high after experiencing this restaurant’s pretzel… I have never experienced “bier cheese” before this evening and now I don’t think I could ever eat a pretzel without it. The flavor explodes in your mouth, it’s texture is creamy and when paired with the salt from the pretzel all of the flavors come together beautifully!

goat cheese sauce

I ended up ordering a pizza — very basic, but wow it was delish! I signed up for the “Adige” pizza, aka the “white pizza” that was topped with mushrooms, arugula, and a goat cheese sauce. The smokiness of the arugula went fantastic with the goat cheese sauce. Although, if I was to change anything about this pizza, I would add goat cheese chunks to the top of the pizza in addition to the goat cheese sauce below all of the other toppings. Otherwise the crust was perfectly crisp and all of the tastes on the pizza went together great. If you don’t enjoy a salty dish, be sure to skip out on this pizza!

My friend Ken ordered the traditional cheese pizza and I was expecting it to taste very basic but it was such a different experience than all of the other ordinary “cheese pizzas” out there. Every ingredient was bold and flavorful and unbelievably fresh. I think after our experience at this restaurant all three of us would love to return! The service was impeccable (even our hostess was beyond fabulous!). It’s always nice to have great service on top of delicious food!

The Union Sq. Holiday Market

Every year Union Square sets up a fantastic holiday market — local artists, bakers, you name it come to set up a booth to show both the locals and tourists what they have at their shops. While vendors come and go, some stay year after year and of course I look forward to seeing many of them! I will usually go once or twice in the month of December because it’s a lot of fun to see what everyone is selling, plus it’s a great place to take a friend who is visiting me in NYC. (I plan to take my friend Erica here when she comes on Sunday!!! I can’t wait, I know she’s going to love it.)

Naturally I flock to the food stands because 1. I am always hungry 2. You can’t shop on an empty stomach and 3. everything always smells so delicious! Last year I rushed over to the Waffles and Dinges truck, but this year after reading/browsing through photos of this year’s market on Serious Eats, I knew that there are a few new things I wanted to taste. Like, the Mighty Balls. When I arrived at the stand it was completely empty! And I surprised myself by doing something I never do… I ordered pork. One pork slider with the red sauce and some parmesan cheese. Looked good. Tasted great! What was the best part about it? The sauce! You can actually buy and take home jarred sauces from Might Balls! A perfect gift for a foodie. While buying jars of their sauces at Union Square is possible, when browsing their website you will notice they don’t typically sell online! So you have to be sure to grab some when you’re at the market.
Union Square Holiday Market

Time to describe the actual Might Balls’ pork slider. The bun’s quality was nothing but the best, lightly buttered and cooked to add a simple, not drastic, crunch to the bun. Having one slider was perfect! When I took my first bite, my teeth easily sunk through the warm, crisp bun down into the moist pork meatball covered with a semi-spicy red sauce. The thick slices of parmesan cheese on top of the meatball complimented the sauce but the sauce was so tasty the cheese actually isn’t necessary (I never thought I would see the day where I would tell you cheese isn’t necessary). Inhaled in about 45 seconds (I took my time). I would have happily gone for another one, but I know I’m going back on Sunday so I figured I wouldn’t pig out.

Next came the Sigmund’s Pretzels stand located right across from Mighty Balls. The gigantic pretzel loaded with huge salt crystals was what caught my eye. I love salty foods, and I love it when the salt crystals are so big you get to crunch down on them. But then out of the corner of my eye I saw the word “truffle.” Ohhh they had a Truffle Cheddar pretzel — SOLD! But then a friend of mine pointed out the Feta Olive option and I surprisingly decided to move away from the choice of truffle. I eat so much truffle and I’m afraid I might get sick of it sooner than later. The Feta Olive ended up being the perfect selection — it was nice and warm and the bread was fluffed to perfection. The subtle but at the same time very flavorful feta and olive “pretzel” impressed me. My boyfriend says that he hates olives — and to be honest, I don’t enjoy eating just olives, I love them in things. The olives in this bread could barely be tasted. If anything, the gentle flavors of an olive could be noticed. So even if you aren’t an olive lover I would recommend giving this a try!

Sigmund’s has their own bakery located at 29 Avenue B at 3rd Street and if you are a tourist and don’t plan to go to alphabet city, you can find the Sigmund cart at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 82nd Street and 5th Avenue.

Unusual Ingredients of My Life…

Since I recently started my Tumblr… I have been able to see some of the most glorious photographs that people are taking around the world. I wanted to share with you some of my favorite photographs this week from other Tumblr accounts — they are either food related, NYC related, or overall just pictures that put a smile on my face.

Notice: I was able to spot that someone else out there in the world makes Skillet Cookies! And I couldn’t help but notice they are making it at home! (See the slide show for the picture, you can’t miss it!)

Tumblr has also given me some great ideas for creating some new plates at home. Your culinary curiosities will come alive when you join in on Tumblr. I strongly encourage everyone to explore!

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