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Finalist for Saveur’s Best Food Blog Award!

April 7, 2012 by Jennifer Che 20 Comments

I got the craziest email last night.

I was quite sleep deprived, actually, so I wasn’t even sure whether to believe my tired eyes or not when I received an email from Saveur telling me that I was a finalist for their annual Best Food Blog Awards in the Best Dining/Restaurant Coverage section.

Thanks to whoever out there nominated me, and thanks to those who worked so hard to narrow down such a crazy huge number of nominations (over 40,000 they said??). It’s a tremendous honor to be among such a small, talented group of bloggers. Even if I don’t win the actual award, in many ways I already feel like I’ve won.

All final winners will be chosen based on number of votes. To vote, please click here. You will have to sign up for an account with Saveur just so they can keep track of the votes.

For fun, I decided to round up some of my favorite restaurant posts from the past few years. It was hard to narrow it down, but I worked together with Bryan on this, and we tried to pick posts from all different sorts of locations.

Enjoy!

Ragout of Wild Mushrooms, Farm Fresh eggs, flowers, herbs
Craigie on Main (Boston)
One of our favorite restaurants in the Boston area, we scored the exclusive “ringside seats” for Bryan’s birthday, where we got to watch the kitchen firsthand!
Kyubey Toro
Kyubey (Tokyo, Japan)
The one-on-one interactions with the sushi chef as well as the top-notch sushi makes this one of our most memorable meals in Japan as well as one of our favorite restaurants in the world.
Untitled
Menton (Boston)
A really unique and educational white truffle tasting meal at the Chef’s Table at one of the best restaurants in Boston.
Kurobuta Kago
Kago (Tokyo, Japan)
Insanely delicious shabu shabu with kurobuta (Berkshire pork) belly from the Kagoshima region in Japan.
Oia Greece
Eating in the Greek Isles (Santorini, Greece)
Pictures and food from one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Joel Robuchon Mignardises
Joel Robuchon the Mansion (Las Vegas)
The craziest, most over-the-top meal we’ve ever had (to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary)
MadeInChinaCarvingDuck-1
Made In China (Beijing, China)
At one time only available in the imperial palace to royalty, this mouthwatering, delicious specialty was finally brought to the masses in the 1800’s and is still immensely popular throughout Beijing today. This was one of our favorite restaurants (and yes, we tried several places!)
Jia Jia Tang Bao
Jia Jia Tang Bao (Shanghai, China)
The most delicious pork soup dumplings (xiao long bao) that we enjoyed in China, and only $1 US for a dozen!!
Granville Moore Beer
Granville Moore’s (Washington D.C.)
Lines go out the door at this fascinating, historical moules frites Belgian pub in D.C., which serves fantastic mussels, delicious fries, and has one of the largest selections of Belgian beers in the US.
Untitled
Peking Restaurant (Los Angeles)
Our favorite “hole-in-the-wall” Chinese place in the Los Angeles area – you must try the “beef and scallion roll” (pictured).
French Laundry Amuse
The French Laundry (Napa Valley)
An exquisite meal in a farm house in Napa Valley – our first experience trying Thomas Keller’s creations.
Fried Asparagus with black truffle
Per Se (New York)
Thomas Keller’s urban, East Coast flagship, we visited this place just a month after visiting the French Laundry.
Sturgeon sabayon
Eleven Madison Park (New York)
Having just received three Michelin Stars, Chef Daniel Humm produces dishes that look like works of art and taste like magic.
Untitled
SAMM (Los Angeles)
Sample Jose Andres’s favorite creations (hello molecular gastronomy and various Spanish and French influences!) by trying a multi-course tasting at this restaurant-within-a-restaurant.
Peter Luger steak
Peter Luger Steakhouse (New York)
Insanely amazing steak at this no-nonsense cash-only steak restaurant right across the bridge in Brooklyn.
Gastronomy Fiesta
The Gastronomy Fiesta
Spain’s Basque region’s most famous chefs (15 total Michelin stars between!) ALL together in the kitchen at once to create a tasting menu of a lifetime at the World Expo in Shanghai.

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Comments

  1. Weber grill Recipes says

    April 7, 2012 at 2:14 am

    What a great looking pics! Love your blog so much 🙂

    Log in to Reply
  2. Meister @ The Nervous Cook says

    April 7, 2012 at 10:20 am

    Congratulations on being a finalist! I’ll admit I don’t usually like blog posts about meals in restaurants, but yours are always so lovely and smart that I’m a huge fan of your blog. Easy to vote for you for this one!

    Good luck.

    Log in to Reply
  3. BBQ restaurants says

    April 7, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    The serve servicing of restaurants must be good and they must be serving the hot food always.

    Log in to Reply
  4. scrapper al says

    April 7, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Congratulations! Saveur is one of my favorite magazines, so to see one of my favorite bloggers nominated there is a happy combination. I admit I follow your blog more for your cooking rather than the restaurant reviews, but I’ve learned a lot about about fine cooking from your restaurant reviews. Congratulations and good luck in the voting.

    Log in to Reply
  5. Yuling Designs says

    April 8, 2012 at 2:30 am

    Yay! Well deserved!

    Log in to Reply
  6. the ulterior epicure says

    April 8, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    Congratulations, Jen.  It is an honor to be nominated with you.  

    Log in to Reply
  7. conniepuff says

    April 13, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    voted for you, jglee! 🙂

    Log in to Reply
  8. Jon @ vodkitchen says

    April 17, 2012 at 8:05 pm

    Wow, congratulations. I would die of happiness if Saveur even looked my way, much less nominated my blog for anything! 🙂

    Log in to Reply
  9. Jennifer Che says

    April 18, 2012 at 10:49 am

    Thanks so much!

    Log in to Reply
  10. Jennifer Che says

    April 18, 2012 at 10:49 am

    Thanks Conniepuff!!! 
    jgleepuff

    Log in to Reply
  11. Jennifer Che says

    April 18, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Thanks so much! Same here. 🙂

    Log in to Reply
  12. Jennifer Che says

    April 18, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Thanks a lot! I just received a subscription to Saveur as a gift a few months back and I love it too. 🙂

    Log in to Reply
  13. Jennifer Che says

    April 18, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Aww, thanks so much! I’m trying to add more cooking posts, but I’ve been so busy lately it’s been hard to find the time!

    Log in to Reply
  14. Jennifer Che says

    April 18, 2012 at 10:52 am

    Thanks!

    Log in to Reply
  15. [email protected] for the Soul says

    April 26, 2012 at 12:25 am

    ahhhhhhhhh congratulations Jen!! You TOTALLY deserve it, and yet again, the Lord has blessed ya in an unexpected way~:D  And yayy!! I’m totally gonna try that Peking restaurant in LA! 
    Dang, all your pictures are way too gorgeous they make me wanna *tear up* 😛

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  16. oneeyejack says

    May 3, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    you chose kyubey over all the other sushi places in japan??  just curious as to why?

    Log in to Reply
  17. Jennifer Che says

    May 3, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    Hi oneeyejack – I was picking favorite restaurant posts, not necessary favorite restaurants. The Kyubey post is especially interesting because it includes video, conversations, etc. There are many other sushi restaurants we tried in Japan that we also love – some arguably have better sushi than Kyubey. Check out the Sushi Mizutani or Sushi Kanesaka posts, for example. However, some posts (like the Mizutani one), have no pictures because they did not allow cameras!

    Thanks for reading!Jen

    Log in to Reply
  18. oneeyejack says

    May 3, 2012 at 3:19 pm

    so out of all of them, which one would you choose as your favorite sushi place?

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  19. Jennifer Che says

    May 4, 2012 at 12:32 am

    Ooh, good question! Bryan still like Kyubey the best for overall experience because it’s friendly for non-Japanese speakers. At Sushi Kanesaka, we didn’t get Kanesaka himself – we got a younger, really serious guy who made amazing food but was shy. Sushi Mizutani was legendary – fantastic fish, though he also is less friendly to those who do not speak Japanese. Hard to choose a favorite! Each has its pluses and minuses and it really depends on what you are looking for.

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  20. Cheap Flights to Tokyo says

    May 21, 2012 at 9:54 am

    By the time I had finished my coffee and returned to the streets, the
    rain had temporarily abated, but the streets were full of vast puddles
    where the drains where unable to cope with the volume of water. Correct
    me if I’m wrong, but you would think that if one nation ought by now to
    have mastered the science of drainage, Britain would be it.

    Log in to Reply

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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