June 15th- Brazil Brazil!

With the win that everyone expected, we made our first foray into Little Brazil, a glorious enclave on 46th between 5th and 9th Aves. Though LA2NY meticulously planned a lovely 3 part evening of authentic Brazilian cuisine at Ipanema (46th and 5th), a few caipirinhas at Brazil Brazil Restaurant (46th and 8th) and some live jazz to top of the evening at Via Brasil Restaurant (46th and 9th), our late start knocked out at least some of our options. By the time we made it back to Midtown it was past 10 and Ipanema's kitchen had unfortunately closed. So we decided to head over to Brazil Brazil and eat and drink there. Fantastic choice on our part I must say. Despite LA2NY's insistence that we sample a feijoada, the Brazilian national dish, TTG and I were swayed by the waitress' descriptions of a few of the other dishes. Plus we knew this wouldn't be our last foray into Brazilian cuisine, so we could afford to wait. LA2NY and I shared a lovely dish called Camarao no Coco made of shrimp cooked in a coconut sauce and served with mashed potatoes and mushrooms inside of an actual coconut shell. TTG's steak dish was also perfection though the name of it escapes me (perhaps he can correct this entry). The caipirinhas were refreshing, especially in the evening heat. All in all, the food in my opinion was some of the best we've eaten up till now. And of course the lateness of our meal meant no time for jazz. Next time Via Brazil!

June 18th -- Serbia Knows How to Party

As great as it is to watch the U.S. compete, it's even better knowing that an American victory will allow you to eat Shake Shack, or Rice-A-Roni, or a turducken. So after getting some much-needed rest, the WorldEaters were looking forward to a little home cooking--though The Purist would tell you that all foods are created equal...

Unfortunately, for most of the morning, our dreams of burgers and birds within birds (within birds) went unfulfilled, as the U.S. ceded two goals to Slovenia in the first half. However, after a quick strike by Donovan, and a beautiful pass from Altidore to Bradley, the U.S. knotted the game at 2. Minutes later, Maurice Edu one-timed a cross into the net, giving the good guys a 3-2 lead, and prompting me to dive headfirst across my office's conference room table and yell, "Give me a double cheeseburger, baby!!!" Then I sung the national anthem, which was remarkably well-received by my colleagues.

My reaction turned out to be premature. Edu's goal was nullified because he: a) was offsides; b) fouled someone; c) is black; d) didn't want me to have a cheeseburger, and the game ended in a 2-2 tie--an incredibly disappointing finish after an awesome second half effort. Fortunately, England tied Algeria 0-0, which gave America a chance to advance into the round of 16, and kept us from eating this garbage.

Typically, the Gang divides the eating assignments up by game, and I picked Serbia-Germany thinking that ze Germans would trounce the Serbs. But after a second yellow card disqualfied one of Germany's best players, the Serbs scored and held off the Germans, winning 1-0. So instead of picking up some brats from around the corner, I trekked to Kafana--by way of two trains and a bus--to celebrate the upset.

The restaurant was still packed with jubilant fans at 7 p.m., despite the game ending several hours prior. I sat at the bar and ordered the Serbian burger and the chicken kebabs. During my wait for the food, I struck up with a couple of fans, who recounted the revelry that ensued after Serbia scored. Without putting too fine a point on it--they got shitfaced as soon as Serbia scored (at about 10 a.m.) and became straight belligerent once the final whistle blew. The owner recounted--entirely in Serbia--how another patron ran down the street waving a Serbian flag; another fan revealed that their plan was to continue drinking, then take a boom box to the German bar across the street and blast Serbian music.

In short, those guys were awesome. So much so that I decided that we should have a Fan of the Day. Big ups to my Serbs. Keep holding it down...

Oh yeah, the food was awesome, if a bit pricey. The burger, which was actually similar to a gyro was flavorful, and nicely complimented by seasoned cabbage and onions. The kebabs were also very good, though I wish I had tried the traditional Serbian baked beans instead--the insiders told me that was a better choice.

Kafana was a great end to a hectic work week: the people were fantastic and added yet another dimension to our challenge. In addition to the food and "travel", we've gotten to meet a lot of great fans that are passionate about soccer and more than willing to share their culture and cuisine with complete strangers.

June 17th -- Bringing You Down to K-Town

After consuming a chivito, any extra day you live is a gift from God. So rather than sleeping in and wasting the day God gave us, we rose early to catch the 7:30 a.m. South Korea-Argentina game at Baden Baden in Koreatown. In so doing, we achieved another first: watching a game at an insanely crowded bar full of dejected fans (South Korea lost 4-1) who then had to no choice but to trudge to their dead-end meaningless jobs in oppressive heat. Another milestone! One of the great things about this challenge is that our focus on the World Cup has changed from geopolitical allegiances to gastronomic preferences and geographic limitations. It's no longer Nigeria v. Greece, or France v. Mexico--it's jolof rice v. lamb chops and frites v. chalupas, or some other equally authentic Mexican dish. Further, it's as much about what the food is as where the food is. Do we have to go to another borough to get it? Can we get off work on time to pick up the food? Is the cash register behind bulletproof glass? All these things considered, the victories by Greece and Mexico were huge blessings. We live close to one of the greatest Mexican restaurants in the city, and down the street from a good Greek spot. But before making our way home, we stopped off at Nina's Argentinian Pizzeria, where we had our second helping of Argentine cuisine. The Purist and I had the daily special: a pizza with meatballs, chimicurri sauce, and parmesan cheese. The meatballs on the pizza were fantastic, but too few, and the parmesan cheese stood out than the chimicurri sauce, which was disappointing. In addition, the restaurant was more low-key than the others we had visited, probably because Argentina had won 12 hours earlier. After slapping-five with many Uruguayans, we had hoped for the same. The rest of the night was uneventful: a couple of Coronas (rather than hitting Taqueria) and some baklava from next door. Both were quality standbys that enabled us to retire early and allow us to reclaim some semblance of our lives. But more on that later...

June 16 - When A Man Loves a Sandwich

There are a few days that you always remember: a college graduation, the day you get your driver's license, and the first time you said the "L" word. And forever more, I'll remember June 16, 2010 as the day I said the "L" word without any reservation or restraint. Over and over again. To a sandwich. My new boo is "El Chivito," the national sandwich of Uruguay, and she came into my life on Tuesday, after Uruguay bested South Africa. Prior to the game, I was a solid supporter of South Africa, and was actively rooting for either a win by the host country or a tie, which would prevent me from having the trek to the outer boroughs. However, after learning that a restaurant served a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo, bacon, ham, grilled steak, and a fried egg...well, I became the biggest Uruguay fan this side of Montevideo. To find the chivito, the Gang took its first trip outside of Manhattan, hitting Chivito D'Oro in Jackson Heights, Queens. The restaurant was full of happy Uruguay fans, reveling in victory, wearing jerseys and dining on authentic cuisine. For some reason, prior to ordering the chivito, we ordered a dessert called chaja, which was fantastic, but sugary enough to induce diabetic shock on the first bite. Between dessert and dinner, we chatted up a few fans, who were cool enough to pose with us and offer us another Uruguay dish consisting of fried provolone with ham. God bless that little-ass country. After pledging my undying allegiance to the Uruguayan flag, with its oddly anthropomorhpic sun, we made our back to Manhattan, where we sipped on a cheap Chilean wine that relieved my constricting arteries of the sclerosis I had foisted upon them one hour prior. In addition, thanks the Swiss' upset victory over Spain, we munched on some Lindt's chocolates to close out the evening instead of Liz Lemon's fave: ham. I went to sleep on June 16th with my heart full of fat and love, and my head abuzz with a tune perfected by one of the world's greatest treasures, Michael Bolton. When a man loves a sandwich Can't keep his mind on nothing else He'd trade the world For a chivito el pan....

Itinerary: Group Stage (June 11- 25)

GROUP STAGE

June 11, 2010

(1) South Africa 1-1 Mexico

(2) Uruguay 0-0 France

June 12

(3) South Korea 2-0 Greece: Korean BBQ at Kunjip

(4) Argentina 1-0 Nigeria: Empanadas at Ruben's Empanadas

(5) England 1-1 U.S.

June 13

(6) Algeria 0-1 Slovenia: 

(7) Serbia 0-1 Ghana:

(8) Germany 4-0 Australia: 

June 14

(9) Netherlands 2-0 Denmark: Accidental Amstels at the Roosevelt Hotel 

(10) Japan 1-0 Cameroon: Udon and Sake BOMBs at Udon West

(11) Italy 1-1 Paraguay

June 15

(12) New Zealand 0-0 Slovakia 

(13) Ivory Coast 0-0 Portugal

(14) Brazil 2-1 North Korea: 

June 13th: It all falls down

So a day (or two) late but you'll have to forgive me because, well...you just will.

Yesterday was quite a trying day for the team. After such a fantabulous start, we were more than excited to continue our food adventure. Not only were we eating fantastic food, we were expanding our horizons. And to top it off we had a new excuse to explore the City. But the togetherness and sense of adventure was utterly impossible to recapture on day two. Not only was the group physically scattered, our menu for the day called for Ghanaian, Slovenian, and with a late afternoon thrashing at the expense of the Australian team, German cuisines.

But as the afternoon turned to evening and the rain refused to stop, our fragile mission seemed likely to fall apart. Luckily I remembered a little Balkan restaurant I had stumbled upon close to Times Square ages ago, and a quick stop over to the restaurant and bakery Djerden Burek got us a third of the way there. They specialize in Slovenian/Balkan pastry called burek which is made with a thin flaky dough. It can be filled with cheese, minced meat or vegetables. I picked up a sampling of their cheese and meat flavors, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. But I'm a big fan of most things that are rolled in flaky dough like contraptions.

A Ghanaian meal was next, and possibly the most trying experience of the whole tournament (granted it's only day two so perhaps that statement doesn't convey the true exacerbation we were feeling, but just believe that it was bad). I had combed various websites looking for Ghanaian restaurants which took some searching. Most searches would turn up Ethiopian, Senegalese, or more general West African restaurants. I finally stumbled upon a listing for two restaurants which looked promising. I bookmarked the page and around 9pm LA2NY and myself called each up to get delivery. Both numbers were out of services. LA2NY began to get nervous. I tried to look up a few more places but we ran into the same stumbling blocks. Certain types of African restaurants kept popping up, but unfortunately for us Ghanaian restaurants were not among them. We finally found two more places, and once again, a quick call revealed that they were out of business. LA2NY reluctantly started searching for more general West African restaurants and of the two contenders, only one delivered to us. We finally ended up ordering from Le Baobab. TTG had requested a chicken item and I was in the mood for fish (plus the grilled fish had the same description as an item I had seen on one of the other Ghanaian menus so I figured it would be the most authentic meal we could get at that hour). We settled on the grilled whole fish served with onions cooked in a mustard sauce and chicken with couscous. LA2NY added a side of fried plantains and we were ready to order. Of course, considering the night we had had, even ordering was an ordeal. The lady on the other end of the line seemed to be hard of hearing, and LA2NY was literally on the phone for 20 minutes. Not only did ordering take forever but the delivery guy called twice as he had gotten lost along the way. When he finally arrived LA2NY informed us that a man in a black Cadillac with music blaring motioned to her and she had to go over to the car to retrieve the food.

After all that, this food had to be good. For my part, the fish was actually quite good. I liked the mustardy onions to go with the fish. I also enjoyed the plantains though it's pretty hard to mess up plantains. TTG had also picked up some Becks to accompany our food and celebrate the German victory.

Our determination paid off in the end. Now let's pray for ties during the work week!

June 14th - Sake Bombs? We Shower in that Sh*t.

Last night over Ghanian food, the gang and I realized that the WorldEaters have yet to balance our work lives with our primary tasks of sampling the foods of the victors of the day. Having the option to gallivant across the city looking the cuisines of the victors can be arduous enough on a weekend--if the chips don't fall the right way on a weekday, our glorious experiment could go from sick to Sisyphian. Enter Cameroon. Now, I've got no beef with Cameroon. Their unofficial name is The Indomitable Lions, which wins my award for best adjective to describe a mascot. Indomitable is scary--and worse, it beats the crap out of "Blue," which is both innocuous and confusing when placed after Samurai. Unfortunately, the only thing scarier than the Cameroon name is their cuisine, or rather, its availability. This guy tried to get some Cameroonian home cooking and had to hire someone to make it for him, because it was so hard to find. Worse, the national dish is apparently a bitter leaf stew made with nuts and fish, and LA2NY's judgments about picky eaters notwithstanding, you'll have to forgive me for hoping that the Lions were a little domitable today. As it turned out, the Samurai Blue emerged victorious, which enabled the gang to go big air and do sake bombs at a quaint little place called Udon West. Since I had a late dinner, I sipped a Sapporo, which was light, full bodied, and very tasty. C&R had the udon with beef and shrimp tempura, which she enjoyed more thoroughly after adding hot sauce. Once LA2NY arrived, we celebrated by sake bombing, which, incidentally, is one of her favorite pastimes. After some practice bombs, we managed to get on the same page, complete with a totally made up cheer--"I say Samurai, you say Blue"--some table pounding, and an utterly confused Japanese man who seemed troubled by the face that our sake glasses had somehow simultaneously fallen into our beers, causing quite a spill. For putting up with our impromptu bombs and warmly accepting our alcohol-driven love for Japanese soccer, Udon gets 7 thumbs up. After visiting chaos on an otherwise serene venue, we ventured to mad46, a rooftop bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. Hoping to score a sandwich or quesadilla with some Dutch Gouda, we pestered our server for options, but, alas, the kitchen was closed. We scrambled furiously to come up with a plan, and settled on bumrushing Morton-Williams late night and pounding a block of cheese. However, what we didn't immediately realize--probably because of the sake bombing--was that we were actually drinking a pitcher of Amstel Light, which is, of course, decidedly Dutch, and also fantastic. Putting those things together caused me to celebrate--again, the sake bombs--as if I had scored a goal in the World Cup, which seemed to disturb most of the bar's patrons. With another day in the books, we look forward to the possibility of ending tomorrow with a cool caipirihna and a blow against communism as Brazil takes on North Korea.

Let the Eating Commence!

The Story of Us:

Yesterday, when TTG and I (LA2NY) got hungry after watching our first World Cup 2010 match, Greece vs. Korea at 7:30AM, we had the idea of eating Korean food in honor of the winner and spending our Saturday watching the remaining games.  TTG and I were joined by Meatlover and C&R, and the The Grand Plan was hatched.

The eating commences... 

We began our afternoon by watching the U.S. and England tie over fries and Brooklyn Lager at the bar of a local eatery.

Then, we ventured downtown to Soho, and stopped first at Ruben's Empanadas, a small and cute operation, in honor of Argentina's win over Nigeria.  We tried a beef and a potato empanada.  The beef one, which had raisins in it, was delicious, especially with the Cholula hot sauce they have on site.  The potato one was comparatively bland.

Next, after some shopping in the area, we trekked across town to Kunjip in Koreatown.  The ambiance is casual and cheerful; the staff, uniformed in festive "Be the Reds" Korea World Cup red t-shirts, provided impressively fast service; and Kunjip's menu and English- speaking staff makes the restaurant amenable to those without Korean food experience or language ability.  We ordered the galbi (marinated steak bbq), bulgogi (marinated beef bbq), kimchee jigae (spicy stew), and appetizer portions of mandoo (dumplings) and japche (vermicelli rice noodles) with Korean brand beverages of OB beer and Sac Sac grape juice.  I thought this combination was a well-balanced introduction to Korean food virgin, Meatlover, and novice, TTG.  Though their banchan (side dishes) selection left much to be desired in terms of variety, the kimchee jigae was tasty, and the japche was a table favorite.  I was disappointed that Kunjip did not have built-in grills in their tables, but the galbi and bulgogi cooked tabletop on their portable propane grill were decent.  The complimentary orange slices they serve with the check were notably juicy and sweet, and left some of us wanting more dessert.  

Stuffed and smelling of meat, we topped off the eating with Korean ice cream bars in melon and red bean flavors from the grocery store next door, and began to brainstorm about food for the next day's games on the train back uptown.

All in all, a satisfying Saturday spent savoring the summer.  

We are so excited to embark on this food adventure!  We welcome suggestions and comments, especially from more experienced New Yorkers, bloggers, international foodies.  

Happy eating! 

LA2NY