u/CabassoG

Location: Pier 57, Chelsea, New York, NY.

Info: Platform by JBF is a dining space by the James Beard Foundation, which invites chefs to their space for single-night meals (or rarely 2,) wine events, cooking demonstrations, or occasionally other events. This particular meal was $208, including the fee, and featured Bûcheron, a Minneapolis-based French spot with some midwestern flair and ingredients that was named best restaurant 2025. Would recommend their dinners if you are in NYC with them ranging from $125 to $250 mostly. You can find more info here.

Photo descriptions and some notes-

1- Foie Gras Terrine- Amaretto gel, Door County cherry jam, warm scone, and Marcona almonds. Foie gras was local to Minnesota, being softer and less rich

2- Roasted Turnips- Turnip Greens, rhubarb purée, turnip soubise, and beef bordelaise

3- Celery Root Tortelloni- Acorn–chicken broth, hen of the woods mushrooms, and mushroom oil. Acorns come from the chef's house, and apparently lack many of the off-putting tannins most acorns have.

4- Wild Acres Duck Breast- Purple potato rösti, red cabbage purée, roasted honey crisp apple, and aronia berries. Ducks from there are Pekin instead of the usual, being smaller and more tender, which also explains the color

5- Carrot Cake- Cream cheese frosting, carrot–ginger sorbet, candied pecans, and golden raisin purée

6- Venison Tartare- Poached egg yolk, spruce tips, and rye chips

7- Pommes Dauphine- Gruyère, celery, and caraway. I apologize for the blurry photo. Was tasty with a mild caraway flavor, which I appreciated.

8/9- Menu

10- Sandhill-Dampfwerk The Crane Gin, G.E Massenez L'Ermitage Yellow, Wildflower Honey, Lemon

11-13- Staff/area

Website https://janjaokhathai.com/

Recently updated photo of the menu

List of photos. On a side note, dishes come with rice, so while the basil fried rice was delicious, it was less necessary and I would get the Larb Pla, or similar next time

1. Pomelo Salad- Royal Thai pomelo salad. Premium pomelo, shallot, mint, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chili lime dressing. $19. More of a chili jam (the dressing can be seen in the other app.) Favorite dish.
2. Yum Woon Sen Boran- Glass noodles, ground pork, shrimp, dried shrimp, peanut, and cilantro in chili lime dressing $18. Excellent version with a good amount of heat
3. Massaman Nuea- Stew beef, potatoes, cashew nuts, and fried onion in Massaman curry sauce $30. A particularly well-spiced version and not super sweet
4. Gaeng Pu- Jumbo lump crab meat, soft shell crab, and kaffir lime leaves in coconut curry. $35. Could use a bit more heat, but nice aromatics
5. Basil Fried Rice With Grilled Beef- Grilled NY steak, sweet peppers, chili, garlic, onion, egg, and basil leaves mixed with rice $34. Tender steak
6. Gaeng Kow Wan Gai- Chicken breast, Thai eggplant, longhot, and basil leaves in green curry sauce $25. Mildly spicy chicken in a slightly spicy and aromatic curry
7. Place setting

Just opened maybe a week ago or so. Open daily from 12 to 10. I think there were 25 or 30 flavors, which can rotate daily to weekly, as their original location on the LES has made 400+. Would recommend their gelato over their sorbet, which tends to be icy.

Personal flavor recommendations from previous visits: Turkish fig, amaretto crunch, hazelnut, Thai chili chocolate, and pistachio. For sorbet, the grape is fine. Also, for folks who want pints, they look pricey but are 20 oz, so it makes them a bit more worth it.

Website- https://laesquinacriollanyc.com/

Tasty newer location of this spot, originally in Corona. It's either a 15 minute walk from the 69th Street subway, or you can take one of many buses. Friendly staff and plenty of food for the price. Both the parilladas were excellent, with the steaks being cooked perfectly medium rare. We liked both of them, with the skirt steak being wonderful among everything else. Shoutouts to their perfectly cooked sweetbreads/tripe, along with the black sausage, in terms of their achuras/offal.

Photo listings-

1. Parillada Para Dos o Tres Personas- Skirt steak, short rib, sweetbread, tripe, kidney, and black/Argentine sausage. $65.90 with 2 sides. All excellent, though the kidney was a little strong. Short ribs were pretty good, but the most fatty

2. Parillada Especial Para Dos o Tres Persona- Skirt steak, flat steak, flat rib, short rib, shell steak, and sirloin steak. $80.90 with 2 sides. All excellent, with my least favorite being the short ribs, as noted

3. Camarones al Ajillo- Shrimp sauteed in garlic sauce. $25.90 with 1 side. Delicious garlic sauce and nicely cooked shrimp

4- Provolone a la Parrilla- Grilled provolone in oregano sauce. $11.90. A necessary Argentine dish with meats. Tasty, though I'd like more sauce

5-8 Sides- Plátanos Maduros, Arroz con Habichuelas, Ensalada Rusa, y Papas a la Provencal. All good, with our favorites being the sweet plantains and the arroz (especially with the meat juices/garlic sauce)

9- Ensalada de Aguacate- Avocado salad. $12.90. Good quality avocado, but the most boring

10- Panqueques Con Dulce De Leche. $9.90. Rich and tasty. Great to share

11. Sausage and toasted bread (for free.) Very nice smoky sausages

12. Chimichurri. Nice and garlicy with plenty of herbs

13. Outside

Full version

Spike Spike Spike

Twitch clip link- https://www.twitch.tv/vgbootcamp/clip/HelpfulHungryGullHassaanChop-6RQDarwRUS9Xoo3N

Grichuk could not chuck much wood

Site- https://sophiesrangoonkitchen.com/

This is a tiny new tasty place. Would recommend their Mohinga and the Dan Bout the most, but everything was tasty. The only thing I slightly preferred at Little Myanmar was their Laphet. On a side note, several dishes such as the Oh No Khao Swé are only available on weekends.

Dishes in order/prices 1: Mohinga/Rice Noodle Fish Soup- Rice noodle, aromatic lemongrass fish soup, banana stem, boiled egg, fish cake, crispy fritters $12.99

2: Kway Oh/Vermicelli Meatball Soup- Vermicelli in bone broth soup with a choice of meatball, fish paste, fish ball, egg, quail egg, pork liver, Chinese broccoli, and served with soup/chili sauce on the side $13.99

3: Laphet Tote/Pickled Tea Leaves Salad- Crunchy mixed nuts and peanuts, napa cabbage, juicy tomatoes, and savory dried shrimps $12.99

4: Dan Bout- Aromatic baked rice with a choice of beef cubes or chicken thigh served with cashew, dried grapes, fried chili, and pickled mango. Beef version $14.99 or chicken $12.99

5: Wat Thar Dote Hote/Assorted Pork Intestines- Braised pork meat, tongue, ear, heart, liver, stomach, and egg served with tangy dipping sauce $15.99

6: Mote Latt Saung/Palm Sugar- Pandan noodle, palm sugar, coconut strips $7.99

7-End: Menu photos and inside/outside

Website- https://www.cisiamo.com/

This was a pretty hard to get into place, and the dinner was a tad too long, but I would recommend it. The portion sizes and flavors make up for the price point.

Photo listing-

1, 5, 6: Grilled Asparagus- Dates, vermouth, blue cheese. Blue cheese worked well. I wish there were more dates

and

Orecchiette- Ramps, pistachio, and pecorino- Nicely cooked pasta. Ramps added some earthiness. Nice crunch from the pistachio. Slightly salty, but not too much. Generous portion like the other pasta dishes

2/3: Cast Iron Focaccia- Tomato conserva $18. Best of the evening. Big enough to split

6: Baba Al Rum- Chocolate, orange $18. Very fun spin. Dark chocolate with some sweet orange and a mild kick of rum at the end.

7: Bitter Giuseppe- Cynar 45.3, punt e mes, lemon, and sea salt. Negroni-ish but more bitter-sweet with a bit of citrus/saltiness

Other dishes I tried from others-

Insalata Verde- Basic and fine with a mild citrusy/mustardy vinaigrette

Rigatoni Alla Gricia- A bit salty, but plenty of pork and good pasta

Caramelized Onion Torta- Very big portion and very rich with a mix of salty/sweet, would be good as an appetizer

Watch more on twitch.tv/btssmash