Leonelli Focacceria E Pasticceria Pumpkin ricotta cheesecake: An accomplished dessert sandwich with a crispy base, smooth and creamy ricotta and pumpkin cheesecake, and toasted marshmallow (my favorite part). Memorable seasonal dessert from Flatiron-based pastry shop. 4.0/5.0
recommended dessert nyc pastry marshmallow leonellifocacceriaepasticceria pumpkin ricotta cheesecake 4.0Leonelli Focacceria E Pasticceria Eggnog Mousse: Decorated eggnog mousse coated with a spiced red icing, a ribbon of white chocolate, and topped with a pompom, all sitting on a short biscuit base. Impressively executed. Overall a bit rich but fine if sharing. Hiding inside is a caramel colored filling tasting of nutmeg. 3.5/5.0
recommended eggnog mousse 3.5 nyc leonellifocacceriaepasticceriaLuscombe Grapefruit tonic water: I'm usually not a fan of the tangy, bitter flavor of tonic water, but this grapefruit tonic water from Luscombe is acidic and fruity, with a more mild quinine flavor. The bottle is about half the size of their regular soda bottles. Another great flavor from Luscombe. 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks tonicwater luscombe grapefruit tonic water 4.0Kuan Sheng Food Seaweed Thin Crackers: These are specialty crackers from Taiwan that are bright matcha green. They contain a kitchen sink of Asian ingredients, from buckwheat to glutinous rice, mung beans, green tea powder, black sesame, and, of course, seaweed. Altogether, though, it somehow works, creating thin, buttery cookies that taste earthy yet faintly sweet and has a slight medicinal quality to it (it contains some mixed Chinese herbs as well). My mom brought this home as a gift from one of her students, so I’m not sur... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended cookies asian taiwanese kuanshengfood seaweed thin crackers 4.0Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Celery Soda: I recently had my first celery soda from Court St Bottlers, so when I saw this old-school Dr. Brown's can, I decided to do a comparison. While Dr. Brown's design aims for nostalgia and the company has been around since 1869, it's also helpful to know they're now owned by Pepsi-Co. This celery soda was less balanced than the Court St Bottlers one, tasting more like a peppery Sprite because of its sweetness. You could taste some anise flavor, so it wasn't all sugar water, but it was just OK... (read more) 3.0/5.0
drinks drbrowns cel-ray celery soda 3.0Lotte Roasted Ohing Snack: Combining clam, octopus, shrimp, and kelp, these curled wheat crackers have a potent sweet and savory flavor reminiscent of a seafood stew with a generous helping of gochugaru (Korean chili flakes). It's a little unbalanced because the finish is very sweet, but the flavor overall is unique. Highly seasoned. Purchased from HMart. 3.0/5.0
seafood octopus korean hmart clam shimp spicy lotte roasted ohing snack 3.0