Beets for Brunch

I have a yearly date with a good friend of mine to feed at Ivan Ramen (www.Ivanramen.com) Once the weather cools off, we meet at The Ivan Raman on Clinton street and nurse our hangovers with warm big bowls of ramen.

Ivan is a sweet Jewish kid from Long Island who realized his dream of cooking while doing it in Japan. And lucky for us he found his calling. Lucky for Japan as well, in a country where ramen has a very serious cult status, Ivan opened up a ramen shop in Tokyo and it quickly became one of the top places to get that very much needed daily ramen fix.

This is a very big deal for a "round-eye" (that's a serious derogatory term for westeners, but I say it with love so that makes my use of it here perfectly ok) too not only open up a ramen shop but to then have it become one of the most successful ramen shops in a land where you can barely walk 10 feet before you bump into ramen shop after ramen shop that have already been there for many, many, many years.

I'm really hoping that you are able to grasp the magnitude of just what a big fucking deal Ivan and his food are.

Bowls of hot ramen can warm and soothe even the coldest of souls. I've watched it happen. Ramen allows you to slurp the warm broth and then chew the noodles and other fixin's that come with the bowl that you choose. All senses are satisfied.

If you are new to ramen, just ask your waiter what the best selling bowl is, close your eyes and dive in.

You will be rewarded. Greatly.

With all this talk, love and hype of ramen. I didn't even get the ramen this time. I ordered the eggs, pork and beets.

I am relatively new to the world of beets and since accepting this veggie into my life as my lord and savoir, I have never looked back. It's almost impossible to have bad beets. They are just glorious.

Ivan prepares these beets with a miso honey vinagrette and I could happily eat these things all damn day. Miso, honey and vinagrette. All things that I would have never thought to put together, let alone mix up with some beets. Thank you Ivan.

Sinking my teeth into the soft, yet still just slightly crisp beet had an addicting quality, not only did it taste amazing, it had such a great mouth feel. God damn do I love that phrase.

I honestly could not get enough of these things and came close to asking for a second helping as if I was a guest in Ivan's home or something like that. The earthy, naturally sweet taste that the beet already possess, is highly complimented by the miso honey vinagrette. Eating these beets was like reading a book that is so good, you slow yourself down so that it lasts and lasts.

As I was looking around the room to see if it would be extremely noticable if I started to lick the plate (I've been known to be a public plate licker. Judge me, I do) I realized I still had crispy pork belly with a ginger teriyaki, to dip into my eggs no less. Life is good.

Don't get it twisted, I was dragging that perfect pork belly all over my plate to get every single taste of those beets.

Fortunately, my friend did get a bowl of ramen and I took a few bites. It's literally impossible to sit across from a bowl of Ivan's ramen and not feel your tastebuds kicking you until you satisfy them with that warm, loving bowl of ramen.

I, however, did not share. Get your own damn beets.