Empanada Mama

I am in love with this place! Empanada Mama is delicious and the variety of empanadas can't be beat. Their menu is huge. They make corn empanadas, wheat empanadas, oven baked empanadas and dessert empanadas. With classic choices like beef or chicken to brocoli and cheese, there are plenty of choices for everyone to find a favorite. Along with empanadas, they also serve tapas, arepas and sides like rice and beans and guac with plantain chips. YUM! Check out the full menu here.

Empanada Mama has two locations at 763 9th Avenue NY, NY and 189 East Houston Street NY, NY. This is a great place for dinner before a broadway show or before a night of drinking and dancing. Service is quick and the food is just so damn tasty. Empanadas range from $2.50-$3.75 each. So, take your Mama and have an empanada today!

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Doughnut Plant

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Doughnut Plant on the lower east side to pick up some doughnuts for our staff Birthday celebration at work. And then, I had the pleasure of trying to flag down a taxi with my foot, in the scorching heat, while awkwardly holding two boxes of three dozen doughnuts.  I'm just going to go ahead an pat my self on the back for that one. More importantly, let talk about how awesome Doughnut Plant is!

With recipes dating back to 1910, Doughnut Plant is pleasing the people of New York City one by one. Originally inspired by his grandfathers doughnut recipe, Mark, creator of Doughnut Plant, has been in the business of fried dough since 1994.  Starting from the basement of a tenant building gone kitchen work space, Mark and his team have come a long way now with two Doughnut Plant locations in NYC as of 2011 and locations in Tokyo and Seoul. I would like to personally thank Mark and his grandfather for their amazing doughnuts. Well done folks!

The doughnuts here are not so typical and that what makes it that much more interesting. They use all natural, high quality ingredients to make flavors like; Peanut Butter Jam, Black Out, Vanilla Bean, Tres Leches, Coconut Lime and they always have a fresh seasonal fruit flavor. Check out the full menu here.

Glazed and Peanut Butter Jam

 Cinnamon Sugar, Tres Leches, Vanilla Bean, Black Out

The Famous Peanut Butter Jam Doughnut

Doughnuts For All!

Doughnut Plant is located at 379 Grand Street and at 220 West 23rd Street in NYC. Grab a friend and go get some sugar at Doughnut Plant. You will be glad you did.


P.S. This is my favorite book right now and is the perfect accent to coffee and doughnuts. Get your copy now!

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Tacos with Panavahn

 Panavahn is a name you are going to be hearing about quite frequently. This girl has now introduced me to four of my new foodie favorites and I cannot thank her enough!  

El Tenampa is the focus of today's discussion. It's half grocery store, half Mexican restaurant and all delicious. El Tenampa is family owned and operated and makes authentic tacos, burritos, tortas, soups and rice and beans. They also have an awesome salsa bar with homemade guacamole. Plus while you are enjoying the fantastic food, you can watch Spanish Soap Opera's on the main TV's in the restaurant.

The food is super cheap and super tasty. One taco is $1.75- you just can't beat it! It's real authentic Mexican food so if Chipotle is what you call Mexican, you'll be in for a rude awakening when you visit El Tenampa.

El Tenampa is located at 706 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY and the party's in the back!

Carlo's Bakery

Next time you want to get out of the city for a afternoon, head on over to Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ. Carlos's Bakery fuels Hobokens with cakes, pies, cupcakes, cookies, wedding cakes and much more.Its just a train ride away and you better believe it will be worth it. Carlo's has been serving up delicious baked goods since 1910 and recently received National recognition on the reality show "Cake Boss" where the fourth generation baker-decorator Buddy Jr. and his family star in the series about Carlo's Bakery.

Since watching the show "Cake Boss" my friends and I just had to go to the bakery and see what all the fuss was about. When we arrived we looked at the bakery, saw the line outside and thought "OK that's not so bad!" Then we looked in the other direction and saw the other half of the line across the street and then we knew we should get cozy for the rest of the afternoon.

We waited in line for a few hours and when we finally entered the bakery it was complete chaos. Talk about a panic attack. You get a ticket with a number on it when you walk into the overwhelmingly crowded shop and try and see through people to decide what you want to order. Oh, and if you don't hear your number you just wasted your afternoon. So I listened closely and ordered my $12 worth of personal pastries. Once we walked out of the shop we sat and enjoyed the sweet treats, then contemplated if all the chaos was worth it...and it was.

Do you see all those people!?

Yay! I have a number!

Enjoying our treats on the street!

For more information on Carlo's Bakery and to see everything they can make you, check out their website here. Carlo's Bakery is located at 95 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030.

Welcome!

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my new blog. My name is Olivia Castriota. I am a recent graduate of York College of Pennsylvania. I currently reside in Brooklyn, NY and I am an intern for the production company Warrior Poets. Of all the amazing things in my life, let's face it food is the most important. And not just any kind of food...mind blowing food. Eating fantastic food has been a passion of mine since I met my best friend Annie Swade. I mean I liked eating food before I met her in the ninth grade, but she really changed my perception of how much better life can be with ridiculously good food. Now finding cool and delicious restaurants, hole-in-the-wall joints, bakeries and everything in between has become a part of my daily routine. In this blog I am going to introduce you to the most mouth watering and tasty things one could ever eat. I live in New York-the Mecca of unique and amazing food- so most of the places I blog about will be here. But I will spice it up with some other areas from time to time. So grab a tissue cause as you read on you are sure to be drooling. Enjoy!