Momofuku's steamed buns are near perfection. Berkshire pork, scallions and a little of Momofuku's secret sauce on a delectable soft steamed bun are one of most satisfying snacks NYC has to offer. Momofuku Noodle Bar, which was the first restaurant reviewed on Quarter Life Living now has a younger sister. Momofuku Ssam Bar opens today to much anticipation.
The space is significantly larger but still maintains the minimalist no frills of it's small sibling. Despite it's size the menu is significantly more limited menu, essentially a variation on three items, focusing on the Ssam, David Chang's Koreanized interpretation of the Burrito (loosely translated means anything wrapped). The steamed buns from the original restaurant will also be served, however they will use pork shoulder instead of pork belly. QLL is very excited.
Now if heading over to 1st ave and 13th street (or 10th street) is too far uptown for you. Check out Province located in Tribeca at the corner of Church and Walker. Having a similarly limited menu, consisting of 4 different types of steamed buns, spicy pork, beef-short-rib-and-kimchi, chicken or pork shoulder. Equally minimalist decor Province is great for a lunchtime snack especially at 3.75 per bun.
You can never have too many steamed buns.
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So you're home on a Thursday night, you can hear people outside your shoebox-sized apartment screaming and yelling apparently having the time of their lives. All of your friends are out of town, you're not dating anyone. Bored huh? Life sucks?
Pennies have been in the news a lot recently. If you didn't know, last week was National Coin Week. Not very exciting. However, Scott A. Travers, former vice president of the American Numismatic Association, in an effort to raise awareness has put three valuable pennies into circulation in Manhattan.
Shhh! Franz Ferdinand will be playing a secret free show at Hammerstein on Friday. The show is sponsored by MySpace, which is now apparently hooking up free secret shows. There is a catch however, (no you don't have to post naked pictures of yourself) to get in, you must bring a print out of your MySpace profile with Secret Shows in your top 8 to the Tower Records at 692 Broadway. The URL for the Secret Show profile is myspace.com/secretshows. Make Secret Shows your "friend," put that in your top 8, print it out and take it to Tower. You'll get a wristband there, which is your ticket for entry to the afternoon performance tomorrow at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Doors are at 3pm, so you may have to play hooky from work. Just make it a three-day weekend!]]>
"To celebrate 
All day Sunday people were out. Dressed with various articles of ski gear, rain boots, cowboy boots, snow boots, across the city people came out to play in the snow. On Sullivan Street between Houston and Prince, a squat little snowman with smart coal buttons, a carrot nose, plaid scarf and baseball cap sat prominently in the street, guarding a parking spot. Snowballs arched back and forth across Washington Square Park in an organized snowball fight and we even spotted people on cross-country skis. New York welcomed the storm, perhaps even found it amusing, but with temperatures ricocheting up and down the thermostat, the snow simply cannot last. 
Mike Birbiglia kicks off The Medium Man on Campus Tour Thursday, February 8th at his hometown college NYU. Mike has been featured on The Late Show with David Letterman as well as several specials on Comedy Central and is a regular on the Bob & Tom Morning Show.
Low ceilings and soft lighting in the dining room create the illusion of an Old World 
If you missed it over the weekend, you can check out Improv Everywhere's new website which describes in visually painful detail their 2nd annual "No Pants" subway ride. Several readers contacted us to report on the event. The cops eventually showed up and freaked out, called in backup (25 more cops) and arrested 8 people. We choose to take the high road and not report on such silliness in advance however, today, my inner child has gotten the better of me.
Aside from playing host to one of Manhattan's hippest late night scenes, the LES is also teeming with hot new restaurants. El Bocadito, the new Mexican joint on Orchard Street, caught our attention.
