We celebrated our 1 year anniversary at Rookie Chef after launching on Dec. 30th in 2013 and we couldn’t have been happier. Our cooking, traveling, and exploring has been incredible to share with you and can’t wait to see what 2015 brings. Thank you for coming along on this delicious adventure.

To close out 2014 with a bang, we decided to check out Pig & Khao on the Lower East Side. Owned and run by Top Chef contestant Leah Cohen, their Southeast Asian inspired cuisine offers a variety of Thai and Filipino influences on the menu — we couldn’t get there fast enough.

Here’s a look at our delicious New Year’s Eve Asian Fusion experience (forgive us for the dark lighting).

Pig & Khao (68 Clinton St, Manhattan)

To start the celebrating early, refreshments were in order. And although the $15 bottomless self-serve PBR draft was tempting, we went with a San Miguel Pure Pilsen (super light and tastes like a Corona) and the Lucky Buddha Enlightened Beer which comes in this amazing bottle.

Always in the mood for shared plates, I was pumped at the idea of ordering a bunch of dishes at this spot and getting a real taste for the food. Our first selection was the Khao Soi, a spicy red curry, coconut milk, chicken, egg noodles, pickled mustard greens and shallots.

The server suggested adding the coconut rice as a side — which was an amazing decision as to not waste the incredibly flavored broth that packed a punch. The next dish we wanted to check out was the Grilled Sirloin, with cabbage, crispy garlic and spicy isan sauce.

Because you can’t celebrate the new year without some steak. And although the sauce and steak was tasty, it was a bit of a let down after kicking things of with an incredible red curry to start. Not bad by any means, just would have been a great first course to begin the meal with.

Wrapping up this adventurous meal was the real reason whey we were pumped to check out Pig & Khao in the first place. The dish they are most famous for, the Crispy Pata. A pork shank cooked in soy sauce and five spice garnished with coriander, crispy garlic served with a secret family recipe sweet and sour liver dipping sauce and pickled green mango, this was unreal.

Some of the best flavors and tastes that we’ve never had anywhere else, I couldn’t have been happier with our decision to forgo the usual steak and potatoes big meal for something more lively and memorable.

This meal was pretty comparable to the year we’ve had in 2014. Exciting, unexpected and it really packed a punch. Cheers to you for reading Rookie Chef and here’s hoping you have a healthy and happy 2015.