A perfect Brooklyn day

The day started off at Totonno's in Coney Island. It was my second time there this summer, and in fact, ever! Oda and DMR had both been before, but Nellie and Jimbo popped their Totonno's cherry. It was also Little Henry's first visit, but he's still trying to master pureed foods so no pizza for him! Our group had to wait about 10 minutes outside as we arrived before doors even opened but that meant we got the first pie of the day! They were not quite as delicious as I recalled my first taste of Totonno's, but pretty close.

Then it was off to catch the Cyclones take on the Staten Island Yankees. But first, I took a quick side trip to Nathan's to grab a hot dog. Well, I thought it would be quick when I took my place on line and saw there were only 4 or 5 patrons in front of me. In a cruel twist of fate, the cashier turned out to be a moron. She was incredibly slow and then she disappeared for 10 minutes! She just walked way from her register and couldn't be found. We tried to flag down managers and assistant managers to find her, but nobody could (or care less, actually). Finally, she reappeared and she did a crappy job of putting together my very basic dog with sauerkraut and onions. I lost 30 minutes of my life to get hot dog in a wet bun. Sigh.

At the Cyclones game, I had tons of water and a lemonade to keep myself hydrated. By sheer coincidence, members of the Sweet Meats, our bocce rivals (well, can you call it a rivalry when you have never beat a team?) were seated next to us.

Then it was off to Avenue U in Bensonhurst to stuff our faces at and with Russian Style Ravioli! We had to split up into two tables as our crew had grown in number since Totonno's and the restaurant denied us the VIP section up front. DMR and I shared a table with Anne and Alex and we began with a pitcher of kompot, a non-carbonated, non-alchoholic drink made with cherries. Tasty, but it was not very cold and a few ice cubes in our glass would have really upped the ante.


Anne and Alex went with a couple variations on pelmeni (Siberian and chicken) and an order of fried cabbage vareniki. Dan and I ordered potato vareniki, Siberian pelmeni and a beef stroganoff (with a choice of kasha or potatoes, we picked the latter).

The vareniki and pelmeni portions at Russian Style Ravioli are huge and super cheap - less than $5 for an order. Did you know that there is a pelmeni eating record? Dale Boone ate 274 of them in just six minutes. He deserves a round of applause.

Potato vereniki served with intensely caramelized onion bits. They need to add the onions as a side dish.


Siberian pelmeni, simply prepared and served. What can I say, I love any sort of dumpling. Dump 'em into a bowl, give me a fork or spoon and get outta my way.


The stroganoff was served in a bread bowl! It was like the most delicious, rich, creamy chowder ever, with a bounty of tender beef strips and vegetables. Anne abstained, but Alex, Dan and I all put in solid efforts.

Team Ubuntu bids Rabbi Paul adieu and eats a lot of Korean BBQ

After six years of dedicated service to the children of South Africa, Rabbi Paul is saying farewell to Ubuntu. If I have any say in the matter, he will pursue a career in televangelism, make obscene amounts of money and dedicate the rest of his life to Ubuntu – but for free! No, actually, he’ll PAY.

To properly send him off, Jake and Lara (with a healthy dose of subterfuge, courtesy of Sus) planned a surprise goodbye party for Rabbi Paul at Woo Chon in Koreatown. While we waited for Sus to deliver the “package”, we got started with a couple of Hite beers. After a whole night of them, this is where I felt like I was. Doesn’t it look grand?!

Upon the honoree’s arrival and the yelling of “surprise!”, we all sat down so the amazing feast could begin. First, they brought out little dishes of kimchi and all of the other little deliciousnesses they serve you at Korean restaurants, which I just learned are called banchan. My favorites were the octopus and drunken crab type thingies. I was making some amazing combo-bites with the octopus and something else, but I don’t remember what it was. Whatever it was, it had a great texture. It was probably some sort of sliced up radish dish.

Next, our waitress brought out some yummy Sae Woo Bojm, which are steamed shrimp dumplings wrapped in lettuce. They looked just like adorable brussels sprouts! After that, it was time to get really serious, so we started the table-grilling portion of the evening. We began with a huge plate of what I believe was Wang Galbi (prime rib filleted off the bone – king sized!). We grilled it up, flipping it with our chopsticks (just like YL does when making bacon) until it was ready to be eaten. Most of us like our beef on the rare side, so it was ready pretty quickly. I took my first piece and wrapped it in a leaf of romaine with a bit of tasty red bean paste. It was mouthwateringly delicious! Soon, to aid in my consumption of savory galbi, I abandoned the whole lettuce leaf idea entirely. Jake remarked that he was on the wrong half of the table with me, Rabbi Paul and Sus, because of our take no prisoners attitude toward eating. We were ruthless and probably ate twice as much as the other half of the table. The prime rib was followed by Dak Gui (sliced chicken breast) and a vegetarian friendly bibimbop. Jake was feeling orderer’s remorse over the former. While I thought the chicken was really tasty, I probably would not order it again. Instead, I would opt for the triple layer pork, provided all of my dining companions were ok with that program.

Then came the piece de resistance – Teak Galbi, which is parenthetically noted on the menu as being PREMIUM. This delectable galbi is thick cuts of Black Angus rib. Feast your eyes on this picture of it sizzling on our table:


Here’s a picture of Newell gnawing (phrase coined by Dr. Lief):


And here is one of me gnawing on the same bone (Gross? Sure. Amazingly delicious? Absolutely.):


After speeches, toasts and an inordinate amount of beer and sake, Newell was presented with this wonderful gift (it’s a picture of the cutest little girl ever):


Here’s a great picture of Lara and the rabbi:


Then we had fruit and some more beer and sake. At the end of the night, everything pretty much looked like this:


Well Paulie, mazel tov! Your next group of co-workers will be some of the luckiest people in the entire workforce! But then again, I have never actually worked with you, so what do I know?

I do know this. Once I was eating breakfast at Everest Diner with Newell and he gave me his last piece of bacon. For no apparent reason, other than he knew that I probably wanted it, as I love bacon more than just about anything. To me, that is really the spirit of ubuntu, and Paul’s got so much of it. Thank you and catch you later on down the trail, albeit a short one (Remember P? I called you three times today to ask you silly questions! Oh, and we don’t even work together now.).