The birthday edition
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Nocciola IGP Piemonte (dairy free) gelato at L’Alberi de Gelato
341 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
I didn’t expect my birthday to turn out the way it did — standing in my PJ’s in my sweaty apartment, holding ice packs to my ears, and making two panicked trips to urgent care — or that my body would betray me so unexpectedly and violently as soon as I entered my late twenties. But diving into my scoop of nocciola (hazelnut) gelato from L’Alberi de Gelato, the day felt like a celebration after all. Gelato is magical like that, but the gelato from L’Alberi is especially so. I got two flavors for quality testing reasons (duh), one scoop of marsala wine and raisins, and one scoop of dairy-free hazelnut. To my surprise, I liked the dairy free gelato even more than the dairy-rich marsala wine one; and as a frequent consumer of ice cream alternatives, I can say that that’s hardly ever been the case. But the hazelnut flavor (which is apparently sourced from Piemonte hazelnuts) is so intensely nutty, milk would only dilute its fragrance.
Strawberry blossom cupcake at Ladybird Bakery
1112 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
My friend and future doctor Liz is a beautiful angel who will do things like spend hours piping perfect macarons and also explain to me the gory details of a breast reconstruction with flap procedure with glee, which is precisely why I love her. She’s also a meticulous giver of gifts and writer of cards with penmanship of surgical precision.* When she showed up to my apartment with sunflowers and a box of cupcakes, I didn’t need to open the box to know that what she chose would be delightful. I was right. The strawberry blossom cupcake she brought me from Ladybird Bakery was just the right thing to cheer me up. Made of “pink velvet” cake, it was filled with strawberry jam, and topped with strawberry cream cheese frosting piped in the shape of a flower, dotted with pink sugar balls. There’s nothing like pink cake for when you’re feeling blue.
*If you didn’t sign up for this newsletter to hear me hype up my friends, this is not the newsletter you are looking for.
Chilean sea bass collar yuan set at Ootoya
141 W 41st St, New York, NY 10036
Because my life was falling apart I spent 27 dollars on lunch, probably the most money I’d ever spent for a lunch that contained no alcohol. But there were times, like after the fourth doctors’ appointment in a week, that only a meticulously prepared bento in glossy mahogany bowls could soothe my soul. I sat awkwardly across the bar from midtown businessmen on business lunches at Ootoya and tried not to make eye contact with anything except for the Chilean sea bass I ordered. I wasn’t sure what “fish collar” was except that it sounded fancy. I learned that it was fatty and full of bones and I sort of wish I’d ordered the more affordable and reliable Saba instead. But today was a day for fancy lunch, and I was pulling no punches. The fish came with a little bowl of shredded daikon, like a pile of snow, that was cold and spicy and I didn’t see the point of, until the man next to me doused the mound in soy sauce and put it on his rice. The meal left me feeling a little hungry- but the point of eating at Ootoya wasn’t to feel full. It was to feel like there was order and ceremony and peace in a thankless world.
Pad see ew with Beef at Coco Thai
268 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215
I love all kinds of Thai food: Mind-numbingly spicy curries, sour papaya salads, steamed fish, sticky rice, all things fragrant and fresh. But I’ll admit that I’ll always have a soft spot for pad see ew, the takeout equivalent of a weighted blanket after a long day at work. The sweet and salty noodles, fat and soft, are the kind of carb you can drown your sorrows in, or just your exhaustion. Usually I order it with fried tofu, but when I feel like especially babying myself, I get it with beef. It reminds me of the beef chow my family would sometimes order from the dim sum place in our town on Sundays, back when the dim sum place was still open.
Cultured cashew beverage, mango flavor, at Trader Joe’s
Your neighborhood Trader Joe’s
To combat the two heavy doses of antibiotics floating around in my system, I’ve been purchasing every form of (non-dairy) probiotic food I can get my hands on. I’m sorry to report that the non-dairy yogurt front is not quite as advanced as the non-dairy ice cream front: Most forms of soy/oat/almond/coconut yogurt are pretty damn disgusting, either slimy with starch, chalky, or flavorless.* Maybe it’s the consistency that’s the challenging part, because the bottle of mango “kefir” I picked up from Trader Joe’s was great. It’s unsweetened (hooray!), smooth and creamy, and contains just a short list of ingredients: Cashews, mangos, tapioca starch, and cultures. It’s also only $3.99, a steal as far as dairy-free “yogurt” products go.
*If you have a recommendation, I’m all ears.
Wishing you health and happiness,
Soph