Rob and Tessa's Tacos

     I recently took an adventure to Queens to visit my new friend Tessa. She was hosting a house warming part at her new pad and the apartment was amazing! It is one of the largest apartments I have ever seen in NYC but, the food was even better! I was having such a great time that I forgot to snap photos of most of the food but I really wish I would have because the display of fantastic food looked like it was straight out of a magazine. Snaps for Tessa!

     Tacos were the main event on the menu and these tacos were like nothing I have ever experienced. These tacos took me to a new level of Mexican and I couldn't stop raving about them after my first bite. The recipe was created by Tessa's boyfriend Rob, who owns multiple burrito shops in PA called Roburritos, and they were bursting with flavor. The ingredients are as follows:

•  braised spring chicken, shredded
•  black butter grilled green beans
•  cojito cheese
•  pico
•  roasted garlic
•  jalapeno salsa verde
•  blue corn tortilla  

All of these flavors together were fantastic and I cannot wait to eat this again! Now you have the ingredients so make it at home and let me know what you think.

Le Pain Quotidien

 
     I discovered Le Pain Quotidien a few days after I moved to Brooklyn in October, 2012. I love the shop on Bleeker Street, but they have locations all over NYC as well as PA, CA, Washington, D.C. and all over the world. I was immediately in love with the idea of a bakery who's bread only has four ingredient and who strives to only use quality organic ingredient. But don't be mistaken. Le Pain Quotidien is more than just a bakery. They serve breakfast, brunch, lunch and pastries daily. They also have a pretty unique way of serving coffee. Every hot drink is served in a bowl and sometime guests need a lesson on how to drink a cappuccino in a cup without a handle.

     Another very cool thing about this place is the communal tables. They like the idea of bring people together and making it feel like a community. I love the communal table concept plus that is where they put all their jams and spreads for you to try with their bread.

     There are so many things on their Belgian inspired menu that I love but to keep you focused I am only going to name a few. The lentil soup is one of the best things I have ever tasted. It is thick and amazing. I never even thought to try lentil soup but I am so glad that I did. I like to add some cheddar cheese in my soup and its a flavor explosion.

 
      Another thing I love is the Rustic Tuna Hummus Tartine. They have a large selection of these open faced sandwiches with unique flavor combinations like: ricotta, honey and mission fig or chicken smoked mozzarella with pesto, all made on their famous whole wheat rye bread. The picture below is the Rustic Tuna Hummus Tartine served with chickpea soup.

     To finish off a fantastic meal I always indulge in something sweet. I love that they have mini treats here because if you're like me you can't just try one thing and with mini's you can try more and not feel guilty. Picture below from left to right is the pistachio tart, apricot tart and the mini brownie. All of them are amazing in their own way.

     I'm sure by now you really, really want to check this place out so visit their website to find a location near you! If you'd like to learn how to bake bread like the pro's, the Bleeker street location also has bread baking classes for the public every week. For more information go to http://www.lepainquotidien.us/#/en_US/about_us.

Go bread!

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                                                       Pinterest: Olivia Castriota






Some photos from: Fifth Floor Kitchen's Blog