Words and photos by Jackie McBrien and Candace Edwards

This past Tuesday at the 69th Armory, The Village Voice threw its 6th annual Choice Eats festival with over 86 participating New York City restaurants. While we wanted to eat every dish (and sample as many alcoholic beverage), after our seventh or eighth sample we realized that feast feat was, well, impossible. And dangerous. We did manage to hit the munchie double digits (I counted about 18 different restaurants) before we rolled back home. As first timers with zero prep and really no desire to pace ourselves, I think we did a pretty good job.

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I just came back from a 2 week time off in LA and it was FREAKING wonderful. Though it wasn’t all play. The first week I spent it with these guys (yes I was doing work) and the second week was a total tv on the couch time.

Besides eating burgers from In-N-Out and mom’s cooking, most of the meals I had were from places I have never been before. Luckily everything I ate during my 2 weeks in LA was mighty delicious.

Check out what I ate after the jump…
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Donny: I’m pretty sure by now most of you have heard of the story behind M. Wells and ultimately M. Wells Dinette, so let’s just skip all that and go straight to the food at the new dinette.

Howard: I had never been to the original site of M. Wells. It’s true LIC was just a little too far out of the way, but that was only part of the reason. The other is that I had the impression that it wasn’t too vegetarian friendly. They might have gone over the top with bone marrow and foie gras, but I hadn’t heard anything about vegetarian food. But when Donny suggested we check out their new location at PS1 I admit I was curious. So we made the trip for lunch on a rainy day, during the NY Art Book Fair.

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Is 160 Havemeyer St in south Williamsburg the foodiest address? There’s already Nha Toi, a Vietnamese joint serving not-so-traditional food like a fried duck egg banh mi. I still haven’t been but from what James Boo said, I should’ve gone asap 2 years ago.

So why do I think 160 Havemeywer is the foodiest address? Well both newly opened Lake Trout and Blue Collar Good Job also have the same address.

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There seems to be more hate (Yelp, Eater) for the newly opened Brooklyn Crab in Red Hook than love. While I think the idea is great, I’m quite sad that it is in Red Hook. I see Red Hook as the ball field food vendors, the more intimate restaurants like Kevin’s and the elusive Philly Pinoy. To many, Red Hook is like going on a trip but for me it’s just a quick 30min walk. Okay, I actually don’t mind Ikea being there (sorry..trips to the Port Authority and then taking the Ikea shuttle is not quite fun).

After couple weeks of being opened and many have shared their thoughts, 9 of us decided to take our chances at the Brooklyn Crab.

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It’s always great when you learn something new, especially when you’re eating some fabulous tasting food. Couple weeks ago I had a grand meal at Osteria il Paiolo in Williamsburg with my friend Melissa. What I learned that night was how proper polenta is made, in a giant copper pot or a il Paiolo. In keeping with his family tradition, owner Alex Palumbo makes sure to make his polenta in a il Paiolo. Unlike most polenta I had, this was extremely creamy yet there was no dairy added to it whatsoever.

Osteria il Paiolo is one of the few restaurants in Williamsburg to have tables on the sidewalk. Go enjoy your summer nights with a glass of wine and some fantastic polenta.

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I love soft shell crab and hate regular crab. It takes too much work for that little bit of meat so if I can eat the whole thing, I’m going to like it more. Yes, I’m lazy. It is also the reason why I don’t like eating that shrimp dish where they simply boil the shrimp. And you have to peel the shrimp and dip it in soy sauce. Too much work. Though I love the salt and pepper shrimp. Deep fried goodness that I can just eat it with shell and all.

I’ve been wanting to cook soft shell crab myself but it just never happened until I was inspired by Sarah Simmons of City Grit, when she made THIS.

This dish was quite simple to make. Three main ingredients. Crab, kale and spring garlic. In a pan I sauteed the kale and spring garlic with a dash of red chili flakes (and salt and pepper to taste). While the veggies were cooking, I seasoned some flour, dunked the crab in the beaten egg and drenched it in the flour. In another pan, on high heat, I added oil and a knob of butter. I fried the crab in the oil and butter mixture til golden on both sides. For an extra kick, I sprinkled more red chili flakes onto the dish.