Monday, January 1, 2007

Tiny Urban Kitchen in the Press and other Fun Activities


Winner of Saveur Magazine's 2012 Best Food Blog Award
Best Restaurant /Dining Coverage


Winner of 2010 Project Food Blog: The Next Food Blog Star



Get to Know Your BFBA Finalists April 17, 2012
Friday Cocktails, Citrus Saveur June 1, 2012




Blogger Spotlight: Tiny Urban Kitchen featured on CNN Eatocracy, June 28, 2010




Time Magazine: 5 Ways to Get Oatmeal In Your Diet Deliciously October 29, 2010
(no longer available online)


Holy Eggplant, Is That the Pru? (article) December 16, 2010
Radio Boston Interview (listen) December 16, 2010
Boston: A Veggie Skyline December 13, 2010



Boston Globe: Battle of the Blogs November 16, 2010


Nina Simonds on Celebrating the New Year Right January 21, 2012

"In the video, [Nina Simonds] and Jennifer Che from Tiny Urban Kitchen cook their way through some traditional Chinese new year dishes."
Watch Boston-based cookbook author and Chinese food authority Nina Simonds and Tiny Urban Kitchen's Jennifer Che make dumplings for Chinese New Year January 20, 2012

Tinyurbankitchen.com An Enormous Helping of Support


Photography {photos.tinyurbankitchen.com}
Jen's photography has also been featured in well-known publications such as Bon Appetit,  Gourmet, and Glamour.


Tiny Urban Kitchen is a Finalist for Saveur's Best Food Blog Awards April 11, 2012

    Apartment Therapy

Make Eggs the Star: 5 Incredible Edible Egg Nests September 1, 2011

Featured as a "Delicious Link" for the following posts
Pizza flags December 3, 2010
Homemade hob nobs February 19, 2010
Indoor grilling September 16, 2009
Yogurt popsicles August 5, 2009



Wikipedia Entry
Tiny Urban Kitchen (added February 18, 2011)

Foodbuzz: 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs
Pizza Food Flags of the World November 22, 2010

Food News Journal 
"Best of Blogs" April 29, 2010

Smartblogs.com
June 4, 2010
When asked "Who are some of the top Foodbuzz bloggers?" Ben Dehan, founder and CEO of Foodbuzz, mentioned Tiny Urban Kitchen as one of the few blogs that he has "spent time on and enjoyed."


Workshop Speaker at 2012 ITASA East Coast Conference
Georgia Tech, February 16-19, 2012


BostonZest


The Frisky
Play with Your Food Patriotically October 31, 2010

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (JSOnline)
Prevention Magazine; 'Kill It, Cook It, Eat It'; tinyurbankitchen.com January 11, 2011

The Foodie Blog Roll
Finest Foodies Friday Picks for October 23, 2009


ApartmentGuides.com
Top Five Apartment Cooking Blogs November 21, 2011

HelloKitty.fr 
Recette : Hello Kitty aux céréales January 4, 2010


Online Degree Programs
100 Cooking Blogs for Students
100 Best Food Blogs for the Starving College Kid

Illusion360
Flag Pizzas October 30, 2010

Flavorwire.com
Tiny Urban Kitchen's Edible Pizza Flags October 28, 2010


Daring Kitchen

The Best Sculpture of Boston Made Entirely Out of Food - Ever
We've Secretly Replaced the Authentic Chinese Food they usually serve with Folger's Crystals
Feel like a little Alsatian Tonight?
Her Love for Toscanini's Is Neverending
Flaming Desserts are Hot at Seafood Place
Try the Stew at Izzy's
Cantabrigian Discovers Dedham secret - Five Guys Is Really Good  
Mamma Maria: Expensive but Good
The Age Old Debate: Cannolis from Mike's or the Modern?


The Secret's In the Vanilla

Boston GrubStreet - "Blogston Proper" Round ups
Frozen Food at Myers + Chang
The Blue Room has an Awesome Buffet Brunch
Leisure Station Has Customizeable Bubble Tea
Trattoria di Monica "serves up fresh salads, beautifully rustic bruschettas, and fantastic homemade pasta dishes" in a tight and bustling space.
Mare's tasting menu is excellent, but probably not an amazing value
The Upper Crust keeps their crust recipe a secret, and it sure is delicious!
Papa Razzi Stumbles At Restaurant Week, Oceanaire Surprises
Sapporo's Is Almost Like Japan
Bina Osteria's new tasting menu is "not the best meal I've ever had (by any stretch), but for only $45, it's a pretty amazing deal."
Beacon Hill Bistro: just alright and too expensive!
Sel de la Terre's Fries are some of the Best in Town
Prezza Continues to be Excellent
Guilty Pleasure Restaurants; Portions Sized Just Right
The super speedy service at Le's Vietnamese Cuisine makes it a boon for the hungry
 Om - Not a Bad Place to go on a Sunday
Getting Stinky At Dok Bua
No. 9 Park is just the place to celebrate an Anniversary 
Uni Disappoints
The duck for two at Salts is "incredible" and "worthy of its accolades"
Grafton Street Pub & Grill is a perfectly fine Harvard Square option
Sel De La Terre's Natick location is solid, but not a "wow"
At Shabu Square, you get what you pay for (read: not too much)
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Tiny Urban Kitchen in the Press and other Fun Activities

The Kitchn (Apartment Therapy)
Feature as "delicious links" on the kitchn  for yogurt popsicles, indoor grilling, and homemade hob nobs

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Boston Based Links

Universal Hub
Try the Stew at Izzy's
Cantabrigian Discovers Dedham secret - Five Guys Is Really Good  
Mamma Maria: Expensive but Good
The Age Old Debate: Cannolis from Mike's or the Modern?

Wicked Local
The Secret's In the Vanilla

BostonZest
Tiny Urban Kitchen - Visit Our Friday Link

Boston GrubStreet - "Blogston Proper" Round ups
The Upper Crust keeps their crust recipe a secret, and it sure is delicious!
Papa Razzi Stumbles At Restaurant Week, Oceanaire Surprises
Sapporo's Is Almost Like Japan
Bina Osteria's new tasting menu is "not the best meal I've ever had (by any stretch), but for only $45, it's a pretty amazing deal."
Beacon Hill Bistro: just alright and too expensive!
Sel de la Terre's Fries are some of the Best in Town
Prezza Continues to be Excellent
Guilty Pleasure Restaurants; Portions Sized Just Right
The super speedy service at Le's Vietnamese Cuisine makes it a boon for the hungry
Review on Om
Getting Stinky At Dok Bua
No. 9 Park is just the place to celebrate an Anniversary 
Uni Disappoints
The duck for two at Salts is "incredible" and "worthy of its accolades"
Grafton Street Pub & Grill is a perfectly fine Harvard Square option
Sel De La Terre's Natick location is solid, but not a "wow"
At Shabu Square, you get what you pay for (read: not too much)
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About me

Kyaraben
Who is Tiny Urban Kitchen?

My name's Jen. Tiny Urban Kitchen was born out of my tiny urban condo situated between my alma mater and the other school in Cambridge. My tiny urban condo comes with a tiny urban kitchen, hence the name of this blog. It was bit tight at times, but over all, it worked for me, and I spent lots of time there exploring new recipes and cooking methods.

I have since moved out of that condo into a medium urban townhouse in Cambridge. My kitchen has a bit more space now, though my spirit of exploration and creativity has not diminished one bit.

I am an experimenter by nature. I worked as a research chemist for years synthesizing new molecules in the lab. Similarly, at home, I love experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with fun, new creative ways to cook.

I also love eating, and am very willing to travel for good food! That's why this blog also includes my takes on my various eating adventures, whether in Boston or around the world. I love sharing about my food adventures, and I also love hearing what you have to say. So, please leave a comment, say hello, and feel free to give me your thoughts and suggestions too.If this is your first time here, welcome!

If you're interested in cooking, definitely check out the Recipes link, which is a compilation of all the recipes on the site to date. If you like Asian food, visit the Chinese Recipes Gallery, which gives you a quick, photolicious way of browsing through the Chinese recipes on the site.  For dining out, check out all my Boston write-ups, posts from other US cities, or food from my worldwide travels.

Interested in the sous vide technique? Here's a primer on sous vide, including links to several recipes I’ve made from famous chefs like Thomas Keller and David Chang. 

How did Tiny Urban Kitchen get Started?
Check out my entry for round 1 of Project Food Blog which describes not only how this blog began, but really the core of what motivates me and what defines Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Dining Out 
Since I live in Cambridge, many of the restaurants on this site are in the Cambridge/Boston area.  You can check out the “Restaurant Index” if you want to search by neighborhoods. For a fun photo gallery of all the Michelin Starred restaurants I visited, check out the Michelin Stars Gallery. I do travel extensively, and thus you’ll find all sorts of food from places such as New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, China, Taiwan and Europe. 

What has surprised you most about food blogging? 
I think everyone says the same thing, and I have to agree. The community is AWESOME. Most people start food blogging to share recipes with friends and family, or to keep a record of all the restaurants they've visited - at least that's why I started my blog. You never really realize how food blogging can connect you to so many like-minded people around the world. I've had the great privilege to "meet" people from Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and, of course, all over the US. Things like the Foodbuzz Festival are great ways to connect with other food lovers. I never would have thought that starting a food blog would open the door to so many other friendships, opportunities, and experiences.   
What has been the most amazing food opportunity that you've had as a result of food blogging? 
No question it would be my trips to Napa Valley (both in 2010 and in 2011) to Napa Valley to blog about the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition. In 2010, Foodbuzz and S. Pellegrino had hosted a contest to send one person there. I was thrilled and beyond belief that I had actually won the contest. The trip really opened my eyes to what the food industry is like. The food industry, especially the restaurant industry, is grueling, and it takes a ton of hard work and perseverance to make it. I was so privileged to be able to see this up close. It really gave me a new perspective and added respect for those who choose to follow this career path. Of course, Napa Valley is also beautiful, and I had a fabulous time there just checking out the vineyards and trying some amazing restaurants! 

What camera do you use? What's your process in photography? 
I switch between my Sony DSC RX1, (which is more pocket-sized so I carry it around with me everywhere I go) and my Canon 5D MKIII depending on the situation.  The SLR is really big and heavy, so I use it more during vacations and food events that are clearly "camera-friendly." I would say 80% of the pictures on my blog are taken with the pocket sized cameras. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 to catalog and work up my images, which are all shot in raw format. I then export them to Flickr, which hosts all my images.   

I got both of these above cameras in 2012, so any photos before 2012 were taken with either a Panasonic Lumix GF1, Canon 5D, or Canon 5D MkII, all of which are excellent cameras.

Which posts did you have the most fun making? 
Man, that’s a tough question! Before Project Food Blog I would have said my first 24, 24, 24 post titled "Kyaraben on Steroids." I spent the day making sushi and other foods in the shapes of my favorite Japanese anime characters. It was a ton of work and took all day, but to this day I still love looking at the pictures of the cute Hello Kitty, Domokuns, Totoros, and Keroppis that I made for this post.  However, I had a lot of fun creating posts for the numerous rounds in Project Food Blog. My favorites would have to be a toss up between the final post in the last round (“Final Reflections”) where I made a moving stop-animation video of Boston constructed out of vegetables (and sang a song!) and the hand-pulled noodle instructional video that I made for Round 7. In general, I love playing with my food and photographing them in different angles, and therefore some posts whose photography I really enjoyed creating are the ones about dragon fruit, meyer lemons, ratatouille, and inside out apples. 

What are you favorite restaurants in Boston? 
My favorite neighborhood restaurant is Ten Tables, which is probably the place we visit most frequently. David Punch is a natural in the kitchen and consistently executes well thought-out, flavorful dishes reflecting the most seasonal ingredients. The menu changes constantly, so it's always fun to return.

Bergamot is also one of our favorites that we visit on a regular basis. The staff there is incredible and they really take good care of you. Of course, Chef Pooler makes fantastic food, and Paul makes great drinks at the bar.

Before we moved, we used to love going to Garden at the Cellar. The truffle fries alone are the best I've ever had, and the rest of the menu is excellent and priced very very reasonably. Since then, the original chef Will Gilson has moved on, and we have moved away from the neighborhood as well.

Hungry Mother (French/Southern American cuisine) is excellent, though really hard to get into because it’s so popular! For fancy dining, Craigie on Main, formerly Craigie Street Bistrot, is fantastic - some of the best food I've had in Boston. O Ya (Japanese inspired cuisine) is also an amazing dining experience - hands down one of the best restaurants in Boston. Similarly, Menton by Barbara Lynch also executes incredibly good food. 


For outdoor dining during the summer, some of our favorite places in Harvard Square include Upstairs on the Square, Monday Club, Rialto, and  The Red House.   Muqueca (Brazilian coastal food) is one of my favorite little ethnic family restaurants, while Mamma Maria or Prezza just might be my favorite North End restaurants (of course you can't forget Mike's Pastry or Modern!). Though it’s not Italian, Neptune Oyster in the North End is one of my favorite seafood places - a perfect taste of New England.    

Outside of the North End, we love Gran Gusto and Basta Pasta, both the original Cambridge location and the new Quincy location. 

As for Asian food, because I'm Taiwanese, that cuisine tends to be my favorite, which is why I love going to Taiwan Cafe, Gourmet Dumpling House, and Shangri-La. I also love the hot pots at Little Q (more recently moved to Arlington). I think Oishii takes the cake for best traditional sushi while O Ya kicks butt when it comes to nontraditional Japanese inspired food. Fugakyu has one of the best sushi lunch specials around and Cafe Sushi is our favorite place for Sunday evening sushi dinner specials ($1/piece nigiri!).   

Hi Rise Bakery is one of my favorite bakeries (love love love their vanilla loaf) and also one of my favorite sandwich shops. My favorite ice cream is from Toscanini's (though his brother’s place Rancatore’s is awesome as well) and my favorite pizza is from Emma's. My favorite burgers are from Bartley's, while Bryan also really like the burger at Craigie on Main, Radius, and Smith & Wollensky.    

What have been some of your favorite dining experience ever? In the world? One of my all time favorite dining experiences in the world was at Kyubey in Tokyo. It's this sushi place right down the street from Tsukiji Fish Market. We got the omakase and essentially had our personal sushi chef for most of the meal, creating interesting bites for us. Similarly, our sushi experience at two star Michelin Sushi Kanesaka and three star Sushi Mizutani (Jiro's disciple) were out of this world.     


As a seafood lover, my favorite restaurant in terms of food is probably Le Bernardin in New York City. One of my favorite dining experiences was at Daniel, where the service, food, everything was so impeccable, it really made for an unforgettable experience. I also love dumplings, and therefore Din Tai Fung in Taiwan (and China!) is also one of my favorite dining places in the world.  

Final Thoughts? 
I love interacting with my readers through comments the blog. I like to think of the blog as a forum for communication about food. Although I offer lots of information on the blog, I have also learned a lot of things from my readers. The communication totally goes both ways, and I love it that way!  So please, feel free to leave comments and say hello. I definitely read every single one. :)

Thanks for visiting!
Warmly,




You can contact me at jen{at}tinyurbankitchen{dot}com
Follow me on facebook, twitter, Google+, or subscribe via RSS!
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