One of my fellow Gothamist writers, Tien, was kind enough to invite me to join him and some of his friends at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden out in Astoria on Saturday. I had wanted to go for a while, and the hot summer afternoon seemed like a perfect opportunity. See his pictures for the before shot — here’s the aftermath of the food carnage:

Rumor has it that there’s a Czeck and Slovak music festival there on August 22nd — sounds like a great way to spend a summer afternoon.

I know I’ve declared their lobster rolls the best in NYC, but there’s another dish at Pearl Oyster Bar that shouldn’t be missed — their fried oysters. Now, I realize that some people just don’t like oysters, and there’s nothing I can do or say to make those folks try them. Some people might be put off by the fact that we’re dealing with fried food — the image of greasy, soggy, heavy battered things pops into their heads. Cast those thoughts aside, people. Pearl’s fried oysters are light, with a crispy, salty batter on the outside, and the sweet, juicy oysters on the inside. The appetizer is served with a homemade tartar sauce, which is also completely unlike the goopy, gloppy stuff you might be used to from your past food nightmares. I don’t even particularly like tartar sauce, yet I was licking it off my fork. I will admit, I add a healthy splash of Tabasco to my oysters, but they’re perfect as served, with a squirt of lemon. You can also get them po’ boy style as an entree.

I’ll probably do a more “formal” write-up for Gothamist Food, with pictures and all, but in the meantime, run over there and grab yourselves some fried oysters — you won’t regret it.

As I posted recently elsewhere (still in beta, but you can take a sneak peek), my beloved Otto is changing their menu — they are removing the fritto and replacing it with a selection of pastas. Yes, they are reasonable — under $10 each. But I have tasted two so far — the spaghetti alla carbonara and the spaghettini siciliana — and have been incredibly underwhelmed. The carbonara (which is one of my favorite dishes in the world, generally — I recently had a near-perfect rendition at Lupa) was super-salty, which distracted detracted from the overall experience, and I didn’t really care for the mix of flavors in the siciliana. I’d be willing to try some others, and I’m not saying they should remove the pastas, but my fritto?!? — sigh. No more calzone, oozing with cheese, no more gnocco fritto — a savory version of fried dough that was a perfect match with the prociutto, no more spicy, delicious ceci bottarga. What’s a girl to do? We’re making an attempt to voice our opinion with the proper authorities, and there’s a rumor that the fritto may make a re-appearance at the bar. This is fine — who eats at the tables anyway? Let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

After reading about Foodie back in September, receiving invites to the last few events and having scheduling conflicts each time, I was finally able to attend this past Sunday’s Spanish-themed Foodie at Gallery A in the East Village. I brought three of my food and wine-loving friends to enjoy the evening with me. After all these months, my anticipation and expectations were both running high, and I was not in the least bit disappointed. Joe DeSalazar, who runs the event, was as pleasant as he had been in our email correspondence, and after a few glasses of pear sangria, my friends and I each sat down at a large table, with a personalized menu welcoming us to our seats. We shared the table with about a dozen people, all of whom were very interesting and clearly shared our love of food and wine.

Each course was paired with a Spanish wine. The first course was a mint-marinated seared tuna with grilled peaches, which was light and simple, and goat cheese-stuffed figs with pecans and serrano ham. Despite my ridiculous aversion to goat cheese, I ate one of the two figs.

The second course was one of my favorites, a manchego corn flan with grilled zucchini, caramelized corn, and mint oil. The slightly charred corn lent a sweet, smoky contrast to the fluffy yet creamy flan — pure summertime.

The next course matched sweet piquillo peppers with a stuffing of chorizo, bacalao, olives and chive oil. Every time I have chorizo, I ask myself, “why the hell don’t I eat this more often?!” The spiciness was a great contrast to the sweetness of the peppers. The wine pairing with the peppers was a 2001 Tempranillo called Telmo Rodriguez “G” Gago, which we nicknamed “Roddy G.” We decided it was most likely related to Ali G. It was also at this point in the evening when we played “stump the chef” in order to win extra wine. [Our challenge — what is the unit used to measure the “hotness” of a pepper. Any takers?]

Despite our increased wine intake, we forged on to the next courses. The Basque seafood stew was a medley of shrimp, mussels and monkfish in a ham hock broth, with green beans and aioli toasts. As you can see, I dove right in before I could even sneak in a picture. The broth kept the stew light enough for the hot summer evening.

The last course, a grilled summer Cocido, consisted of a grilled lamb chop and a slice of pork tenderloin served on a bed of chickpea puree. We finished our evening with a rice pudding, with fresh fruit, toasted almonds, and a dark chocolate sauce, which was paired with a smooth, sweet sherry. A fabulous finish to an extremely indulgent evening.

Join me, my friends, and Joe at the next Foodie event, which will be in approximately two months. Visit the Foodie website for details and to learn more about past and future events, and click here for more pictures.

NY Metro rates NYC’s lobster rolls. I still think Pearl’s wins, but I’m convinced that one should travel to Maine to get the real deal.