Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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July 22, 2009 By cheryl

Sicily: A Duomo Above Others


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Just about this time last year, I was in a little car, racing four hours across Sicily in search of a good meal.

At the end of the trek from Palermo, in far western Sicily, to Ragusa, in the Southeast, lay Ristorante Duomo, one of just two restaurants on the island at the time to have received a Michelin star.

Now, I’ve gone to many lengths in the name of sampling noteworthy food — this level of devotion is not anything new. But doing an eight hour-trip in a day just for a spot of lunch? Even that was a little insane for us.

What can I say? It was worth it. 

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Filed Under: Food Porn, Italy, Restaurants, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Agrigento, Almond, Amberjack, Baba au rhum, Baroque, Berlotti beans, Cannolo, Chocolate, Ciccio Sultano, Cod, Cucuzza, Felidia, Fennel, Fettucine, Focaccia, Greek ruins, Ice-cream, Jasmin, Jello, Lacoste, Lamb ragu, Lambuga, Limoncello, Marian Burros, Michelin, Mojito, Mozzarella, Mullet, New York, New York Times, Palermo, Pistachio, Pizza, Pork, Port, Prickly pear soup, Ragusa, Ricotta, Ristorante Duomo, Sicily, Sorbet, Tenerumi, Truffles, Valley of the Temples, Watermelon, Zucchini

July 20, 2009 By cheryl

Cowgirl Sea-Horse: Fish So Good It's Got To Be Bad For You


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It’s always a little unfair to judge a restaurant based on its first week out the gate — kinks still have to be worked out; the kitchen may not have found its rhythm yet.

Judging from a visit to Cowgirl Sea-Horse just days after it opened, it’s a place well worth checking out. If things are only expected to get better after the first week, well, let’s just say they’re already pretty darn satisfying.

This new seafood outpost of the popular Cowgirl in the West Village has the same Southwestern flavor and Steel Magnolia bartenders that the original restaurant does. But it offers slightly different fare from the chicken-fried steaks and smoked barbecue ribs that have been mainstay of Cowgirl for decades.

On the menu are $12 to $14 seafood gumbos, fish tacos and shrimp cornettas (crispy cones filled with shrimp). Like Cowgirl, it does a good job at what it does — uncomplicated comfort food. One thread links the two restaurants: there’s an awful lot of fried in both places.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.

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Filed Under: New York, Restaurants, Seafood, So Good It Must Be Bad For You Tagged With: Baked potato, Brooklyn Bridge, Cowgirl, Cowgirl Sea-Horse, Hot Fudge, Ice-cream, Jalapeno, New York, Po'boys, Rattlesnake, Reuben Sandwich, South Street Seaport, Steel Magnolia, Swiss Cheese, Thousand Island

June 18, 2009 By cheryl

Paris: The Tried And True


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The upside to visiting Paris with a first-timer: The excuse to retread paths well worn.

There is the Angelina chocolat chaud yet undrunk, the freshly baked Poilane pains undiscovered. 

The sister, she has come to Paris with guidebooks well-marked and images of Amelie’s Montmartre flitting through her head. But first, the basics must be covered; important stops must be made.

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Filed Under: Boites, Food Porn, France, Restaurants, Sweets, Tales From the Road Tagged With: A Moveable Feast, Amelie, Angelina, Barack Obama, Berthillon, Brasserie Lipp, Cafe Flore, Cervelas, Ernest Hemingway, Hacques Chirac, Ice-cream, Île Saint-Louis, Laduree, Les Deux Magots, Louis Vuitton, Macaroons, Mon Vieil Ami, Montmartre, Paris, Poilane, Seine, St. Germain

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