one of my favorite things about spontaneous road trips is all the little hidden gems you find when you’re not looking.  cypress grill was one of those places that makes you say, this is what it’s all about.

we were on a particularly long stretch of lonely road in north carolina when i happened upon this place in my trusty guidebook.  my moon handbook says: “the cypress grill is an unprepossessing wooden shack right-smack on the river, a survivor of the days when jamesville made its living in the herring industry, dragging the fish out of the water with horse-drawn seine nets … the cypress grill is open for the three and a half months of the year (from the second thurs in jan through the end of apr), when the herrings run, and you could hardly have a more intensely authentic, small-town dining experience anywhere else.”

i was intrigued but cautious, so i asked my dad to turn into the tiny street off the empty highway in search of this shack on the river.  “if there are less than three cars there,” i said, “we’re leaving.” it kinda freaks me out when we’re the only people in a restaurant.  (sorry, make that the only asian people in a restaurant in the middle of sparsely populated southern territory.)

so we drove down this tiny residential street and i was growing increasingly skeptical.  we drove down a good three miles of quiet gravel road without seeing a soul.  i was about to say we should turn back when the road ended at this spectacular scene:

to my utter surprise there was a makeshift dirt parking lot to my left PACKED with cars.  very good sign.  i tell my dad to park, and he nearly drives us into the river trying to fit the car into the crevice between the shack and the river.  not a real parking space, mind you.

it was exactly what i would expect it to be inside.  kitschy and sweet.  a ton of locals. someone’s grandma yelled across the room for us to grab a seat anywhere.  the menu was a flimsy worn piece of white paper with hastily typed items in times new roman. i smiled because this was the kind of place you’d try to replicate in california but just can’t.

of course you have to order the herring.  twice deep fried, and you eat them whole, with a side of southern staples like hush puppies (we literally had this for 50% of our meals on our trip), cole slaw, boiled potatoes.

oyster plate. for under $7. what?! i never get to enjoy these at home because of they are so expensive..

and my personal favorite, deviled crab. it’s a spicy crabcake in a shell. oh, i ate a ton of crab on this trip. maryland crabcakes, btw, to die for. but that’s for another post should i ever get to it. :)

i think my dad’s happy.

(see john mayer’s blog for his holiday baking contest)

dear john,

here’s our holiday interpretation of “slow dancing in a burning room,” complete with orange icing flames and sad-faced gingerbread people in a winter wonder-globe.  the cake is double layered devil’s food with cream cheese frosting.  we had lots of fun making it and we really really hope we make it on your blog!  this might be the beginning of our baking career. we’ll remember you when we make it big. :)

hope you enjoy & happy holidays!

love,
crystal & jane

(okay, due to a technical mishap we’re not sure if the cake ever made it to him :( because we’re SURE we would have WON if it had!!! but here it is in all its glory anyway…)

jane spreading yummy cream cheese frosting. i thought this looked very professional. :)

m&m doors

all our little gingerbread pieces!

look at the details! sad faces! blonde ringlets! orange flames on red shingles!

gumdrop lane. the globe is an inverted fishbowl with sugar sprinkled inside.

i’m pretty sure we’re awesome.

(massive photo post… continued from yesterday)

pretty sure any new york city tourist has heard of lombardi’s. so of course it was on our must-eat list. and, i have to say it lived up to every bit of its hype. they had the most delicious sausage–sweet, and with lots of fennel. oh, and a word of warning–new york pizza places dont ever serve by the slice.. so you gotta grab a table and wait. we learned that the hard way haha..

we also took a little side trip to coney island since we heard it was closing down at the end of september for massive renovations. and what’s a trip to coney island without world famous nathan’s hot dogs? they were delicious, but it’s the same stuff as the nathan’s you can find in your grocery store. i still liked gray’s papaya better.

angie and i had an AMAZING greek meal that totally took us by surprise. it’s kind of a funny story actually. this one night we were pretty tired and didnt have anywhere special to eat, so we decided to go back to astoria (where her cousin lives) early and hopefully try one of the places there. apparently lots of greek people live in astoria and there are greek restaurants up and down the block. so we had no idea what we were doing and wandered into one of the shops that had a million people inside. it was exactly like my big fat greek wedding. i mean the waiters were yelling at each other and all seemed to be related, ranging in age from 12 to 60, haha. the menu was written in greek on whiteboards around the room and everyone sat at long, shared tables. it was pretty cool since ive never been in a really authentic greek place. and the food was AMAZING! i had the moussaka, which is kind of like lasagna.. its a casserole with eggplant, ground beef, pasta and bechamel sauce. angie had a gyro, and i think its the best one ive ever tasted–i usually don’t like lamb but theirs was delicious. we were soo stuffed at that point but it was so good that we just. kept. eating. haha. okay i cant remember the name of this place which sucks. i think it’s called michael’s.

and of course, serendipity. it would be embarrassing to mention how many times we stopped by and left because the wait was 1.5 hours. but the last time we tried there was no wait at all :) overrated, of course. but i still loved the frozen hot chocolate. its surprisingly rich.

this is the shake shack! it’s right in the middle of union square and the place is not a joke. i wish i had a picture of the line (angie does but im too lazy to get it :P), because it was about fifty people long. maybe more. they even have these signs that tell you how to “shack-xercise” while youre waiting in that ridiculous line. but they’re amazingly efficient–you get a pager for when your food is ready, none of that standing around and waiting for your name to get called or whatever. besides the burgers, shake shack’s also famous for frozen custards and, well, shakes. and the shakes WERE good. you can actually suck it up with a straw and it doesn’t taste like melted ice cream. how do they do it??? we got strawberry. :)

quite possibly the best burger i’ve ever had, outside of the kobe burger i had at anthology (that doesn’t count–it’s $26 compared to this one at $7). OMG, i need to hunt for a burger as good as this one in LA. i think its only good for cheese lovers though. that fried thing right there is a deep fried portobello stuffed with emmental. to die for.

finally, we couldn’t leave new york without trying junior’s cheesecake. this was sort of a cheap way out since we got it at the airport, haha. it was still delicious, but a lot more like what you would think a cheesecake would taste like. carnegie’s though… that’s something else. :D

okay, that’s it. now that ive made myself all wistful about (and hungry for) new york… i’m determined to find some good food right here in LA. i’ve lived here all my life and havent really explored it. who wants to go on a food adventure?? :D

(massive photo post)

i was going through my new york photos again and these were making me hungry, so i thought i’d share them here–lots of people have asked for a list of places to go, and i’d recommend each and every single one of the places we went to! i was very proud of angie and myself–we didn’t once eat at a chain for the entire week in the city. couldn’t have done it without joyce’s fabulous suggestions and our trusty fodors handbook though. :)

first stop: carnegie deli! knocked out two new york city classics in one night :) it’s really too bad we rushed through this meal because we were trying to catch hairspray in time. the place was delicious and i’d totally go back.

absolutely the most fantastic pastrami i’ve ever had. on delicious rye bread. and i don’t even like rye!

and cheesecake that is TO DIE FOR. have you ever seen that episode of friends where rachel and chandler steal cheesecake from the poor old lady? this is what i imagine it tasting like :P

this guy is known as the dosa man. he runs this little vegan indian food cart on the south end of washington square park, across from an NYU building. it’s super unassuming, until you see the ridiculous line that winds its way around the back. we got lucky and somehow ended up there five minutes before it opened at noon, and there was already a line, but a bearable one compared to the way we left it.

sooo good. its a crepe made of lentils and rice, with potatoes inside. the best part’s the dipping sauce, which is kind of curry-flavored but creamy at the same time. and you dont expect it but the SUPER spicy kick comes at the very end.

what’s a trip to new york without a good street hot dog? :) apparently new yorkers swear by gray’s papaya (and variations: papaya king and papaya dog). the other thing they’re famous for is their fresh juices–papaya, obviously. personally though i don’t really like papaya so we got the pina colada (no alcohol :( haha). it was surprisingly delicious! not sweet at all, so you could definitely taste the fresh fruit.

and the hot dogs. YUMMY.. that’s all. also, you get the juice plus these two hot dogs for like, $3. even less at the stands.

obligatory pilgrimage to magnolia bakery, for satc fans. their cupcakes though, sadly, are nothing to write home about.

i LOVE joyce for this next one… and maybe the next one after that… haha. but this is mexican style grilled corn at a cuban place, cafe habana. it looks a little intimidating at first but OMG… so good. at $1.90 each, we had to seriously resist going back for more. i’m told you can get them at swap meets or something over here though.

we trekked all the way to east village for this one–a super detour but i think angie and i were both SO GLAD we went.. because they’re probably my favorite out of all the things we had in nyc. it’s a tiny place called caracas, and they serve arepas–venezuelan corn cakes with all kinds of fillings. this one was suggested by the book and its SOO GOOD. chorizo, grilled paisa cheese, roasted jalapenos and peppers. spicy and buttery and just. so. good. dang, i need to find these in LA.

ummm crap. i didn’t think i’d write so much and now im super tired, and theres like 29384765 more photos. haha.. maybe tomorrow.