Brooklyn ice cream parlor serves durian-flavored ice cream

Fans of durian - rejoice! A Sunset Park ice cream shop Sweet Dynasty (6410 8th Ave. btw 64-65th streets, Brooklyn, NY 11220) just launched its new flavor of ice cream: durian! Sweet Dynasty offers a dazzling array of ice cream and bubble tea flavors, among which Asian-inspired lychee, logan, Thai tea, and black sesame are some of the most popular. The shop's owner Song Lee uses hand-picked ingredients, such as her in-house roasted sesame and almonds, crushed by hand, to bring out the best and purest flavors.

We've tried some liquid nitrogen ice cream and some great shaved ice in the past. What are the weirdest flavors of frozen treats you've ever tried? Continue...

Watch Kat try brain quesadillas with Steven Page on his show The Illegal Eater

The Illegal Eater is a travel and food series about underground restaurants starring former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page. Each episode follows the singer-songwriter as he visits underground eateries in two cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago and Austin. He assists the chefs, hangs out with the locals, plays shows and samples local delicacies. In S01E10, Weird Food Club takes Steven to sample brain quesadillas at La Superior. We think he enjoyed them! The show originally premiered on Canada's network Travel & Escape and was later also syndicated on Esquire network in the US. Continue...

Weird Food Club on Fox!

The Independents (Fox Business News) recently reached out to Weird Food Club to bring some interesting local dishes in New York on the show. We had a great time trying lamb brain, testes and tongue from Ali's Kebab in Astoria, some crickets from a Mexican joint, and 1000 year egg from Chinatown. Enjoy the show! Continue...

What's your State's weirdest food?

Analyzing Food Genius database of 88,000 menus, Co.Design built this map of the each state’s most unusual popular food.

Check out the top 5 interesting foods of each state here. Continue...

Eastern European cities made out of food!

Food stylist Anna Kevillle Joyce partnered up with photographer Agustin Nieto to do an amazing photo series illustrating four famous capitals in Eastern Europe with delicious local foods, taking "playing with your food" to the next level!

Check out more capitals here.



Continue...

Read about the story behind Try The World on Zipcar's travel magazine

Read about how my co-founder and I launched Try The World, an gourmet subscription box delivering amazing food from around the world right to your door on Zipcar's online travel magazine. Continue...

Do you love international food?

Sign up for Try The World, my new subscription box service that will send you a box of the most authentic and delicious gourmet products from a different country every two months!

The gourmet journey begins with Paris, Tokyo and Rio... and goes on to other fun destinations! Each box contains a delightful selection of yummy treats (along with some unexpected finds) from around the world and a Culture Book with movies, music, recipes, and more!

Http://TryTheWorld.com



Continue...

Kat and Steven Page try brain quesadillas on The Illegal Eater

Today I met Steven Page, former singer of The Barenaked Ladies, to shoot an episode for his new reality TV show "The Illegal Eater", which premiers this fall on the Canadian Network Travel+Escape. 

Steven Page and Kat of Weird Food Club

We met at La Superior, a Mexican restaurant in Williamsburg, to try some pork brain quesadillas (sesadillas), beef tongue tacos (tacos de lengua), and a Mexican corn dish called esquites. Since March Steven has been traveling throughout the US and Canada to try unusual and illegal foods, some cooked in speakeatery style restaurants.  In this episode of Illegal Eater, Steven and I chat about indulgence in food, and how extreme and bizarre foods, like balut or live octopus, can be a form of indulgence.

La Superior's taco de lengua, sesadilla, and esquites (photo by Nacxitl)

As we ate our brain quesadillas, our conversation took us to the fact that all parts of the animals could be eaten, including bull penis and testicles. When I asked him if he’s ever had Rocky Mountain oysters, Steven joked that he’s never eaten testicles, at least not ones detached from the shaft.

I had a really great time with Steven. He’s a down to earth, fun and adventurous guy with a great sense of humor. I was seriously impressed by his ability to improvise, one of his signature traits that made Barenaked Ladies famous.

To follow Steven Page on his adventure, like the The Illegal Eater on facebook.

Continue...

Life is too short to not try the world :)

 Hi All -

I am proud to announce that I have turned my passion for international food into a new business!

It's called Try The World (www.trytheworld.com)

Try The World is a subscription box service delivering the best products from the most exciting places in the world to your door. Every 60 days, we ship a box of our curated picks from a different country.

We launched this week and are excited to present our first box - the Classic Paris Box.

This box includes some of the finest gourmet products made by family-owned (some over a hundred years old!)businesses using traditional methods sourced from across France. We are most excited about our sel de guerande (considered the most prized of all salts for its texture and complex mineral content), all natural black olive tapenade from the South of France, and a chestnut spread (yes for you weird food lovers, this one might be a hit!)

Clément Faugier

Chestnut spread

 I am super excited about this box as I have been a huge fan of all things French ever since I lived in Paris for a year back in 2005-2006. We've timed the launch of this box specifically for Mother's Day because pretty much all mothers love French things - n'est ce pas?  It really makes a great gift. :)

We are working hard on our next 2 boxes - Tokyo and Istanbul! If you know of any particular amazing Japanese or Turkish products that we simply must include, please send me a note at sayhello at trytheworld dot com.


In the meantime, please like and share our facebook page to stay tuned.

Thank you!!

Xoxo
Kat Continue...

Ladurée introduces new flavors - tomorrow!

Today I had the pleasure of tasting the new rose & green tea macaron that will be available starting tomorrow, Saturday February 2, at Ladurée in New York. It combines two of my favorite things – Le Pétale de Rose macaron and green tea cream filling, a mix of romantic French and traditional Japanese. It is a concoction that melts in your mouth, confuses yet enchants you at the same time. When tasting it, it brings both the associations of a blooming rose garden in France and a matcha tea ceremony in Kyoto.

Ladurée rose petal macaron

Ladurée window display in New York

This was my first time visiting Ladurée. I squealed when I saw the store front – decorated with its signature macaron pyramids and fans, purses, and shoes! The magic continued when I entered inside – the rainbow display of macarons, chocolates, candies, jams as well as candles, key chains, stationary, and scarves.  It was too hard to decide what I wanted so I got a set of 6 macarons, a green cone of dragee almonds and some white chocolates.
Ladurée’s only store in the United States (864 Madison Avenue, New York) is also introducing a cognac flavored macaron tomorrow. If you’d like to get one for yourself, be prepared to wait in line. We heard that when this store opened, the line circled around 2 blocks. But it’s not just New Yorkers that are dinge for Ladurée, the lines in Paris at Ladurée shops can be just as long!

The most adorable little box!

Mint is my favorite new color – love how it matches my shoes!

Alexandre, the store manager, divulged that the next Ladurée store will be in Soho on Spring Street, and will likely open in November of 2013. It’s going to be much more than just a macaron shop. It will also be a salon de thés with seating room. In addition to macarons and chocolates, they will offer an assortment of pastries. I can’t wait!

Be sure to check out the two new flavors!

What are your favorite Ladurée flavors?

Kat
Continue...