Má Pêche

Last night was my 27th birthday. Since I am getting old and crusty, I wanted liven up the program by eating outside of my usual downtown routine. Sometimes uptown restaurants are too proper for my wild demeanor, white tablecloths and constant changing of silverware feel foreign. I wanted a sophisticated culinary experience with a twist of wackiness so I decided on David Chang's Má Pêche.

Má Pêche means "mother peach"in French and its concept is probably best described as Vietnamese-French fusion by way of local ingredients. The staff is cool and sweet, no uniforms in sight. 

I was warned that they had an impressive raw bar: 

Best Looking prize goes to the Hama Hama Oysters from Northern California

These New Jersey sea scallops are laced with coffee and some weird home-made nougatine encrustation. They were flamed-up by a young man wielding a torch behind the raw-bar:

A fresh, salad-y twist on Long Island Fluke:

Crispy vegetation and pickled fluke with driblets of Green Goddess Dressing.

Bev Eggleston's Pork in a spring roll with peanut sauce:

Lamb Tangine Corn Dawg: 

Les Famous Peconic Bay Scallops with Chili, Yuzu, Seaweed and some crispy sesame toppings that gave the plate a mind of it's own: 

Modern Edible Art

DESSERT FROM MILK BAR...

I recommend that you save some room because  Milk Bar desserts are irresistible. Crack Pie, as you can imagine, is highly addictive. The incredible Candy Bar Cake will kill you before you stop eating it. My new favorite dessert in the world is the B'Day Cake Ball.  I have no idea how they make this sh*t taste as good as it does, but god bless them.

BTW: They opened a Milk Bar in Williamsburg on Metropolitan @ Havemeyer

Vision Quest for Bay Scallops Begins Today.

If you aren’t currently thrashing through the brush of a remote wilderness surviving off of wild nuts, wearing a skunk pelt hat and living in a lean-to without access to the modern conduits of communication, then you have probably heard that bay scallop season is upon us in the Northeast.

You can stop eating leftover zebra now, the bays are back!

Get some Nantucket Bays and lay off the buffalo hearts, you bloody weirdo!

What the hell even is that? Disgusting, just stop.

There is so much info zooming around the web in regards to bay scallops, I really don't want to bore you with redundancy. Check out this little doober on Peconic Bays from Edible East End. For the islander in you, here is another nugget you might like on Nantucket Bays from New York Magazine.

SPOILER ALERT... 

The most memorable tidbits from these articles are the following:

1) Baby bay scallops are called "bugs." AWWWWW, CUTIES.

2) Bay scallop abundance is kinda hard to predict this early in the season.

3) Bay scallops do not need much seasoning or accoutrement to taste delish, but you already know that.

Your preference towards Peconics or Nantuckets will surely depend on nothing more than where you hail from. Obviously my personal faves are of the illustrious Nantucket variety. You can tell a true Nantucket by tuning into its velvety essence. Nantuckets are usually smaller, sweeter and more expensive than their New Jerz cousins, LOL.

Truth be told, my mouth is now watering and I need a fix...

Let me hear you say WOOTY WOOT for Bays Scallops!