Desserts at Bann, a Korean restaurant in Midtown NYC, New York!

I went to Bann for dinner few months ago to try some Korean food, especially their Bibimbap, and ended up going back recently for lunch with my colleagues. I like this place that is pretty big! To go to the dinning room, you first go through the bar area:

Then a small corridor:

With wine bottles on one side (left on the photo above) and chopsticks boxes on the opposite side.

Then, the kitchen and its counter where you can dine and at the same time observe the Chef cooking!

Then we arrived in the dining room (they have two in fact: a large and a smaller one). They first brought us some kimchi, pickled cucumber and I think daikon.

If you have never been to a Korean restaurant, know that a meal always starts with banchan or small dishes. Similar to last time, I was a bit disappointed that there were only three different dishes, being used to close to 6 in other restaurants. But I was pleased to see that they served kimchi!

They then brought us some salad with sesame seeds and a vinaigrette sauce.

We ordered our dishes that looked very good, such as the bibimbap that, in the lunch menu was a colder version, meaning not served in a very hot bowl!

Or the Un Dae Gu Jo Rim individual box:

The individual box contained a spinach miso soup, salad, rice, some side dishes (kimchi, broccoli and daikon), as well as some sort of pancakes. Then, the main dish was blackened cod simmered in a spicy garlic soy reduction.

Then I tried some fantastic fried rice with shrimp:

It was very tasty and not greasy, that can sometimes be the problem with fried rice. It was in fact my favorite dish!

On my side, I went for the Kimchi Chi Ge, a stew made with spicy pickled kimchi, tofu, onions, scallions and pork belly.

It came in a very hot bowl and between the temperature and the spiciness of the dish, I admit it was a challenge! But overall, it was good, spicy, but good and I tried to counteract the spiciness with rice...

It worked a bit but my mouth was on fire!

I also thought that there was too much kimchi compared to the rest: there was a lot of firm tofu, but not enough of the delicious pork belly. So it was good but not the type of dish I would surely recommend (the fried rice however...).

Then was time for dessert. I admit that I was not expecting anything as, in the past, I was not that thrilled with the dessert menus proposed in Korean restaurants. Well, Bann is different! They have a fantastic dessert menu and the desserts presentation is phenomenal!

Here is what we tried:

Hot Chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream.

It was a chocolate molten cake that was very light, not too sweet and perfectly...uncooked, so the center was flowing like lava!

Asian pear crumble:

This was my favorite dessert! There were two components worth describing: the sorbet and the crumble itself.

The crumble first: it was very buttery with the sweetness coming mainly from the pear that had a fantastic taste, the juice soaking the cake in the bottom.

Then the pear sorbet that was also very good and was probably homemade, with some small bits of pear in it, to add some fruity taste. On top was a rose petal coated in sugar that was delicious and crispy (my assumption at the time was that it was meant to be eaten and not just for decoration...).

The most spectacular in term of presentation was the tropical snow:

It was shaved coconut ice with jellied fruits, sweet beans, coconut ice cream and creme anglaise. Imagine a big bowl of ice with all these elements on top. It was pretty good, especially the coconut ice cream that was very creamy.

Yellow mungbean cups:

The mung bean can have various colors, one of them being yellow, and is cultivated in Asia; it has some sweetness to it making it perfect for both savory and sweet dishes. It was the central element to this dessert where they made a custard with it added toasted pistachios and baked everything in a small phyllo cup. It was good and creamy, a bit too sweet.

The last dessert was macha green tea ice cream.

The ice cream was laid out on ice that looked like a little boat, keeping it cold. I am usually not a big fan of green tea ice cream because it can be bitter, but this one was very good and creamy. Surprisingly, after they brought the dish to the table, we started to hear some noise coming from the ice, like a whistle! Probably created purposely by the ice melting.

So, these desserts were definitely the big surprise of this lunch: the creativity and the presentation were phenomenal and I surely did not expect it. I am wondering now if one should go to Bann for the dishes or for dessert...Let say for both!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at Incognito Bistro in NYC, New York

This week, I was invited at Incognito Bistro in the Flatiron District for a press dinner. I was very intrigued by the description of the restaurant: "Roman with Scottish flair"! I was already imagining some strange fusion dishes like black pudding lasagna or haggis pizza. It is not the case: the Chef, who is from Scotland, introduced a Scottish corner, featuring some traditional dishes that I was lucky to try that evening.

So here I am at Incognito Bistro, greeted by the owners, Adriana Moretti and Chef Paolo Montana, with a glass of prosecco. Both of them are Scottish Italian (on top of that, Paolo having an Irish mother), raised in Glasgow, explaining why there is this "Scottish flair". Right away, I understand that it will be a fun dinner thanks to their personalities that made me feel like I was eating dinner at a friend's home!

Chef Paolo Montana (Press photo)

One particularity of the restaurant is that it is the only one in New York City to showcase the Italian Tartan from designer Michael Lemetti, that brings together the Italian and Scottish cultures (there are more than 60,000 Scottish with Italian roots in Scotland). So, if you go to Incognito Bistro, look at the ties of the staff!

Italian Tartan (Press photo)

The restaurant has three sections: the bar with a warm and casual feel.

The main dining room, with a more elegant setting and an impressive wraparound champagne color banquette. 

Then, a smaller room, with 40 seats, perfect for private parties or for celebrities to be apart from the regular crowd and the autograph chasers! The walls are covered with either abstract paintings from Patricia Moretti, Adriana's mother, or beautiful black and white photographs of European dining scenes.

In the back, is the kitchen that I got the chance to see.

Yes, it is the base of a pizza that you see and pizza was in fact the first course!

It was a fennel and mushroom pizza with roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The crust was thin and crispy, a bit puffed up on the outside. What I love the most was the freshness of the vegetables and I truly appreciated that it was fresh mushrooms, and lots of them! I was a bit worried at the beginning that the fennel would be overpowering, but it was not the case at all. Last point to mention: there was a lot of mozzarella! 

The second dish was braised octopus:

I love octopus! I admit that I was secretly hoping they would serve it after reading the menu at home! This dish was made with capers, anchovies, olives, black beans (what? Black beans in an Italian dish?) and a tomato broth. The octopus was very good and tender. The overall dish is pretty successful with different components that, although can have pronounced flavors, like the capers or anchovies, work well together. For sure, they add some saltiness to the dish, a bit much, but it is easily forgotten. 

Then we got the beef carpaccio, served with rucola, parmigiano cheese and truffle essence.

When the dish came, my nose immediately picked up the truffle essence. You probably wonder, like me, what truffle essence is compared to truffle oil? Truffle essence is a synthetic concoction recreating the scent and taste of real truffle oil. For that reason, you get it for a cheaper price. At least, to write on the menu that it is truffle essence is honest and know that lots of oils named "truffle oil" are also made synthetically instead of being truly infused with truffles. 

I liked the presentation of the carpaccio: nice colors with a bit of marbling on the thin sliced beef. I liked it, but would have like a bit more oil on the plate or at least on the rucola.

Then, they served us s nice red Italian wine: a Montepulciano.

The next dish was a soup made with roasted tomatoes, tuscan bread and...Greek olive oil!

I loved it! It was a very comforting dish that combined successfully the robust savor of the roasted tomatoes with the sweetness of the olive oil. Unfortunately, this dish is not on the menu and was only the soup of the day! I would definitely put it on the menu!

Then came the first Scottish dish: Highland Haggis!

Haggis is in fact considered The National dish of Scotland. The definition on Wikipedia is for sure not as appealing as the photo can be:

"Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours". 

The one from Chef Paolo was made of: lamb sausage (with oats - Mc Cann's Irish oatmeal brand that we could see in the kitchen from the dining room!), turnips, creamed potatoes and whisky jus. Now, forget the definition I just gave you! This dish was very good and the Chef succeeded in making an elegant version of it! Although we had a smaller quantity because it was a tasting, I found it light with a nice balance of flavors. The whisky jus was perfect: the alcohol content was reduced so it did not overwhelm the dish and definitely contributed to the success of the dish.

Then we had a pasta tasting. Interestingly, only few pastas are homemade: the ravioli and capellini if I remember. For the others, they use Barilla pasta. Adriana told us that is because the taste of al dente pasta is different between homemade and boxed pasta and they have been raised with the boxed one so prefer it. 

It was composed of:

Butternut squash ravioli, mascarpone sauce and green peas:

Believe it or not, but the part I liked the most was the sauce! Rich and creamy, with a smooth taste. Adding the peas gave some texture. The ravioli was ok for me: a bit too thick, it sometimes overshadowed the delicious butternut squash filling.

The risotto - afumicato:

What was interesting about this dish is that everybody was trying to figure out where the bacon was as it was smokey. We were all wrong: this dish is vegetarian and the smokiness was coming from the cheese! It was good, but I am not sure I could eat a full plate of it.

Piccante:

That was my favorite pasta dish and apparently a very popular one at Incognito bistro! It was penne pasta with crumbled sweet sausage, marinara sauce, chilies and ricotta. The penne were cooked al dente and that rich sauce was to die for! Yes, it was rich and spicy, with bold flavors, but comforting at the same time. Definitely a dish I recommend!

Then came another wonderful dish: the Isle of Skye scallops:

It was for sure a big piece of scallop and what you see on the left is the roe, that is most of the time served in Europe, but not in the US. It has a very rich, smooth and sweet taste. I finished it first! Then on the right was the scallop: perfectly cooked, it had this fantastic parmesan crust that added some crunch and salt to the scallop. It rested on a nice creamy bed of mashed potatoes. This was a very elegant and rich dish: another favorite!

The scallops were paired with a glass of Chardonnay:

Then, for the last entree, we had another taste of Scottish cuisine: Ayrshire pork with Stornoway black pudding, apple julienne, a sort of twice baked slice of potato, some caramelized onions and a grain mustard sauce.

The Stornoway black pudding (Stornoway is a city in Scotland) is a blood sausage. Interesting to see all the different versions of blood sausages across Europe: from Black pudding to boudin noir in France or morcilla in Spain. There are also different texture: from soft to dry. This was deliciously dry and homemade. The pork was perfectly cooked, tender and moist, perfect with a bit of caramelized onions for some sweetness or with just some grain mustard sauce that was very tasty. This was another Scottish dish that I appreciated!

At this point, I started to be very full...But I could not refuse some dessert, especially after seeing this:

I had two favorites, although all were good: first was the chocolate torte with a salted caramel sauce.

It was a soft and creamy chocolate cake that paired very well with the caramel, and the combination was not too sweet. But rich! This is the kind of dessert that chocolate lovers would appreciate.

The second favorite is called a cranachan:

It is a mascarpone cream with meringue and toasted oats, served with a wonderful berry compote:

It was like pairing something delicate (the mascarpone cream, smooth and light) with something bolder (the compote), the first one neutralizing a bit the sweetness of the second. 

The two other desserts were more traditional: 

The tiramisu:

The tiramisu was more like a cake than the creamy version I sometimes encounter in Italian restaurant. It was pretty light and, similar to all the desserts I tried at Incognito Bistro, not too sweet.

And last was the panna cotta:

The vanilla panna cotta was firm and gelatinous. Again, not too sweet and not a heavy dessert.

Desserts were served with a deliciously sweet moscato wine.

This was a fantastic tasting: great presentation and great taste. I liked both the Italian and Scottish dishes, although I do not know how many people will go for the Scottish ones: with a name like Incognito, people will probably be ready for an all Italian meal. But you never know! If you ask me, the Scottish dishes are worth trying!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own! 

Pizza at Mezzaluna in Soho, New York City, NY

Mezzaluna is a tiny Italian restaurant located in Soho. Yes, tiny represents 17 seats, some if them at the counter next to the kitchen and then the one next to the window, perfect if you practice people watching!

The decor is interesting: colorful chairs, dark wood for the walls with plenty of pizza cutters hanged.

In fact there is even a pizza cutter on the plates!

The menu is of a reasonable size, featuring a mozzarella "bar" (three different ways if serving mozzarella di buffala, my favorite, for appetizer), salads, pasta and pizza. 

The pizzas are cooked in the wood fire oven visible from the dining room.

As we were going to have an early dinner, we decided to go for a "light" lunch. We started off with a special: gazpacho.

It was good, nothing exceptional, but good and refreshing.

Then, we ordered a Quattro formagi pizza or four cheese pizza.

It was made with mozzarella, fontina, Gorgonzola and tallegio. There was for sure lots of cheese and a perfect selection because creamy and not dry. The pizza was Neapolitan style with a bubbly crust that had a bit of a char. The crust was slightly floppy. Definitely a good crust, but missing a bit of char that could have been created from that beautiful oven.

Don't get me wrong: it was good, but not to the point where, like Luzzo's, it would be on the top of my list, or at least I would absolutely want to go back, knowing that there are many places in NYC that I did not try yet!

For the area, I still prefer Pulino's that has prices not that much higher than Mezzaluna. 

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dorado, Tacos and Quesadillas in NYC, New York

I just discovered another cheap restaurant near Union Square: it is called Dorado Tacos & Quesadillas. They make tacos and quesadillas, but you can also get soup, one being with cheese and quesadillas, the other one with tacos. Ok, let just say that they serve tacos and quesadillas in different ways!!!

It is a small place with a communal table in the center, two small tables and some stools. It is so small that If you sit at one of the tables like I did, don't be surprised to bang into the person behind you from time to time! 

The way it works is that you order at the counter, they assign you a number, and will call you once your food is ready. 

We started off with the chips, guacamole and salsa. 

The guacamole was already packaged but pretty good! The salsa, not spicy and refreshing, perfect with the tortilla chips that were thick, well salted and seemed homemade. 

Then, I decided to go with an all fish taco selection. I first picked the Baja taco: beer batter Atlantic whitefish served with cabbage, picked onions, crema and salsa fresca.

The second one was the grilled fish taco made with mahi mahi. 

Between the two, I preferred the Baja Taco: more flaky, crispy and tasty; but don't get me wrong, the mahi mahi one was good too! 

Then Jodi got the vegetarian black bean quesadilla.

It was a vegetarian black bean quesadilla that contained...black beans, salsa and some cheese. It was pretty good with a nice crispness.

It was definitely a delicious meal, at a very good price! So if you are in the area and want to eat cheap, this is a good place!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at Craftbar in NYC, New York

After a delicious brunch few weeks ago at Craftbar, one of the restaurants from Chef Colicchio, we decided to go back for dinner with our friends Annie and Leif. Of course, before going, we did our homework: check the menu. I admit that I was a bit disappointed because they do not serve their burger for dinner...Well, it will give me an excuse to go back...

We went on a Tuesday and the place was crowded! I liked the atmosphere there, rendered by the impressive decor and all the candle lights. 

The menu is seasonal and apparently, the vegetables are coming from the green market, located few steps from the restaurant. What I like is that they propose small plates and large plates, the small ones perfect for sharing, with the possibility to make them the size of an entree. 

While we waited for the food, they served us some cheese sticks that were a bit spicy. 

Then the food came and I was thrilled to try one small dish that Leif shared with me: duck hearts and dumplings!

I never tried duck hearts; veal, chicken, yes. But not duck. And it looked like...a heart! 

It was served with small onions, bacon and a fried egg. Before trying the dumpling, I tried the duck heart. It was interesting and not what I imagined. The heart was so juicy that when I bit on it, the juice got released in my mouth leaving a sensation characteristic of a horror movie...Ok, I exaggerate a bit, but it felt weird! Then, the taste was not as robust as duck meat can be. The outside was also chewy. I liked it, but not as much as chicken or veal heart.

The dumpling was a bit dry and heavy; it was better eaten with the egg yolk. In fact, I am not sure what all these components were doing on the same plate.

Jodi got the Green Market vegetable salad, served with sheep's milk ricotta and a truffle vinaigrette.

When the dish came, you could definitely smell the truffle in the vinaigrette and I truly appreciated that it was not overpowering, although being present enough to give another dimension to the dish.

On my side, I got the fried chicken!

The presentation was nice and appetizing and there was for sure lots of chicken. The coating was made with buttermilk: it was thick and crispy, not greasy, and the chicken was very good, perfectly cooked and moist. I definitely liked it! However, the sides it came with were not as good:

• The Anson Mills white grits were a bit bland. I wish they would have served it with cheese or butter.
• The BBQ Heirloom beans had a nice texture, not being fully cooked and being a bit crunchy, but the BBQ sauce was really too sweet.
• The braised escarole was a bit bitter.

We also shared some green beans with cocoa nib butter and mint:

Based on the description of the dish, I would have thought that it would taste different from regular green beans...It did not...

Last was desserts! Jodi went for the ice cream sandwich:

It was made of a delicious buttery blondie cookie and a tasty peach ice cream that had small bits of peach in it. A perfect Summer dessert!

On my side, I ordered the praline chocolate cake:

It was served with a vanilla ice cream and candied pecan for some crunch. The cake was light with a nice layering of the chocolate and the praline. I truly appreciated that it was not too sweet!

I have mixed feelings about the dinner at Craftbar: the menu is definitely original, but not as good as the brunch and a bit pricey. The service that night was not that good and it took a while to get our desserts, to the point that I thought they forgot to place our order. 

Enjoy (...)!

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Fried chicken at Sylvia's in Harlem, NYC, New York

It has been a while since I wanted to try Sylvia's, a restaurant that is an institution in Harlem, celebrating 51 years of existence. Why did I want to go? For their fried chicken and waffles. I heard so many times that they are the best in New York City, I had to taste it! We decided to go on a Saturday, as Sundays are apparently crowded. We went early and were lucky that the restaurant was not that packed. The place is interesting because it is as if time stopped at some point and you get the feel that it is more or less the way it was when it opened. The table and chairs reminded me of a banquet room. I truly appreciated the fact that tables were, for the most part, not too close to each other, giving a bit of privacy to the patrons. 

To confirm this restaurant is an institution, photos of celebrities are all over the walls and, if you are a fan, you can leave a message or your signature next to the photo of the founder, Sylvia Wood aka The Queen of Soul Food who past away last year. 

When it comes to food, Sylvia's offers authentic Southern dishes. While Jodi was focussing on dessert, I was excited to try the fried chicken and waffles. This is an interesting combination that I first discovered at The Pink Tea cup, two years ago, in one of their location downtown that closed since. Then, at Ken and Cook (pretty good, but white meat only) and Southern Hospitality (not their best, but still one of my favorite BBQ restaurants). 

While waiting for our dishes, they brought us some biscuits, fresh and warm, perfect with a bit of butter. 

The food took some time to come, a long time, and finally, they brought our order! Jodi had a salad:

Nothing special about it... And some Mac & Cheese.

The Mac & Cheese was just ok. Not as creamy as I like. By the way, I also got a little bowl of it, coming with my dish! 

So, it was time to try the chicken and waffles. 

The presentation is simple: waffle on one side, with some butter on top, chicken on the other side. After spreading some syrup on the chicken, I drizzled a generous amount of syrup that was, fortunately, not too sweet (I hate when they serve cheap syrup with great waffles or pancakes: it kills the dish!). The waffles were delicious: soft and chewy. My next bite was the chicken. At that moment, I understood why Sylvia's has such a reputation: the chicken was cooked all the way through and was very moist. The coating was thin, crispy and not greasy, very good with or without chicken.

It was then time for dessert...I was already full but still wanted to try a classic dessert. Jodi went for the coconut cake:

It was a large piece of cake that was good, but a bit disappointing because it was just a cake with  coconut flakes on top instead of a true coconut cake where the coconut is used in the batter or between the two layers.

I ordered the banana pudding.

It was appetizing but just ok for me, not as memorable as the banana pudding at Southern Hospitality. This one was a bit dry, maybe because the Nilla wafers were not soaked enough. It was good, but I would not pick that next time, because I am sure there will be a next time! 

Enjoy (I did enjoy the chicken, yes I did)!

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An Italian Culinary Experience with Casa Vinicola Zonin Wines and Aroma Kitchen and Wine Bar

Last Monday, I was invited by Casa Vinicola Zonin, Italy's largest privately owned wine producer, to the Italian Culinary Experience at Astor Center. It is an event that brings together food and wine, Italian of course! This month, they featured the Sicily region and their award winning wines from Feudo Principi di Butera Estate and the food was the creation from Chef Vito Posola, Chef and owner of Aroma Kitchen and Winebar, an Italian restaurant located in Noho. 

I was really excited to go because, usually, when I went for wine tasting, the food was either not present or just few crackers and little pieces of cheese! There, it was an opportunity to experience how these two components complement each other!

The setting was interesting: like an auditorium at the university. I could not not imagine what going to class would have been if they have been serving food and wine...

When we arrived, we were greeted by Ingrid, Jelena, Francesco and Paolo from Zonin, as well as Chef Vito Polosa.

Jelena, Paolo, Francesco, Chef Vito

They welcomed us with a glass of prosecco:

Some like to say that Prosecco is the main competitor of Champagne and for sure I would not call it sparkling wine! If you wonder what the differences are between these two: the grapes and the fermentation method. 

The prosecco was served with our first dish: crostino di cozze P.E.I. e lardo or crostino of P.E.I. mussels and lardo.

This was an aperitivo or amuse bouche (one bite, although this was a giant mussel!), pretty common way to start a dinner in Italy (in France, it would be the apéritif), to stimulate the appetite. Pairing the lardo (imported from Italy) and the mussel is not usual in Italian cuisine, but Chef Vito thought it would be a good idea...and he was right! The lardo brought some smokiness as well as texture and the bread some crunch that made this dish a nice way to start what would truly be an Italian culinary experience!

And let me add that it paired perfectly with the fruitiness of the prosecco.

The next dish was the tartare di capesante New Bedford, barbabietola, pompelmo, pane carasau or tartare of New Bedford sea scallops, beets and pane musica.

That dish was aesthetically spectacular with all the colors, especially the bright red from the beets and the green from the avocado.

It was a succession of layers: beets, sea scallops, zucchini and peppers (that added a nice crunch), avocado and the bread that was a perfect tool to push the food into the fork. Chef vito decided to add avocado because he wanted to add some fat to the dish and thought it would be better than pork. It was a successful dish presentation and taste wise with all the elements coming together and having flavors that complemented each other. 

This wonderful dish was served with a white wine: Insolia IGT Sicilia 2012, Feudo Principi di Butera, one of their top sellers.

It is a wine made 100% with Insolia grapes, grown and harvested in the South East of Sicily, from an area 5 miles from the sea. They describe it as:

"Bright and luminous golden straw yellow with light greenish reflections. Full, with scents of exotic fruit and flowering bloom. Rich and harmonious with delicate scents of sweet almonds."

I am not a huge fan of dry white wine, I prefer the sweeter ones like a good riesling or a Sancerre (perfect with foie gras!), but I enjoyed it with the tartare, the acidity of the wine counterbalancing the sweetness of the scallops!

The next dish was the pulpo brasato con finocchietto ed arancia rossa or braised octopus alla piastra, fennel and grapefruit.

As Chef Vito put it, the presentation was challenging because of the octopus. Personally, I thought it was fine! I love octopus so I was really excited! I was curious to see if it would be tough because if it is not cooked properly, it can be tough and chewy. This one was very tender and had a nice char taste (they cook it for 45 minutes in garlic, parsley, basil, and then finish it on the grill). Interestingly, Chef Vito explains that he receives it frozen from Portugal, but, contrary to fish, freezing octopus does not ruin it.

With it was fennel, grapefruit (nice addition of acidity), frisee salad, olives, olive oil and some sea salt. 

They served the Feudo Principi di Butera Chardonnay 2012 with it because octopus has a meatier taste perfect for a Chardonnay as it is creamy and more full bodied.

The way they describe it is: "Dry yet well-balanced, with an elegant touch of toasted almonds offsetting the fruity notes. Good zesty acidity and velvety fruit".

The next dish was one of my favorite of the night: Bucatini Del Verde con sardine, pinoli, uvetta e pangrattato or Bucatini Del Verde (Del Verde is a brand in case you wonder) with sardines, pine nuts, raisins and bread crumbs.

The dish, typical from Sicily, looked beautiful, with a nice swirl made with the pasta that were perfectly cooked al dente. The sardine was under (you can see a tiny bit on the left side of the photo): I loved it! It had a nice grilled taste. But what I loved the most was the pasta: the sauce was made with a branzino broth, bread crumbs (that added a fantastic crunch), oregano, and some sweetness coming from the golden raisins.

And guess what! It was served with a red wine: Feudo Principi di Butera Nero D'Avola 2011.

This wine is apparently selling well in NY and it was my favorite red. So you wonder why the Chef committed such a blasphemy? He thought that pairing a young wine, that hasn't settle, would be perfect with the flavorful sardines. And then started a passionate debate about red or white wine with food, some advocating for white wine with fish, others disagreeing. As Jelena said, there are guidelines, not rules! 

Here is the way this wine is described: "Dry, well-structured and extremely rounded, it offers very complex fruit flavors on the palate. These are reminiscent of cherries preserved in brandy, mingled with a very appealing spiciness that lingers on the finish." I have to say that I love these descriptions: reading them is surely easier than guessing them!

The last dish before dessert was Trancio di pesce spada alla griglia con tapenade di Castelvetrano e caponata or grilled swordfish, Castelvetrano tapenade and Sicilian caponata. 

Again a spectacular presentation, very appetizing! The fish was perfectly cooked, moist, with a nice grill mark and taste. Having it with the tapenade made with Castelvetrano olives (it is a variety from Sicily) was great as it gave the necessary salty element to the dish. The caponata, also Sicialian, reminded me of the French ratatouille in a way, that is not surprising considering that it consist of a vegetable (here eggplant) stew.

They also paired it with Feudo Principi di Butera Nero D'Avola, but an older grape from 2008. Again, the choice of red with fish seem to make sense: swordfish has a meaty taste and is often referred as steak. 

The last dish was dessert! It was Pistacchio di Bronte in tre maniere or Bronte pistachio three ways.

Again a phenomenal and appetizing presentation! It was pistachio gelato, pistachio madeleine and pistachio creme brulee. That was something! The inspiration was from Sicily where there are lots of pistachios. I started with the creme brulee that, despite not being as expected by the Chef was good; the best proof is that, Jodi, who does not like nuts ate it (in fact it was so good that she ate all three!). The madeleine was light and had a very subtle pistachio taste. Last was the gelato: creamy and tasty with tiny pieces of pistachio in it, laying on a very thin layer of brittle and a small (too small) amount of nutella. It was delicious and I truly appreciated that it was not too sweet.

This was served with a Castello Del Poggio Rosato NV:

This is a sweet wine perfect served as a dessert wine, made with moscato bianco and pinot noir grapes. It is described as "Fruity and floral, with delicate rose and exotic fruit scents. Fresh and pleasantly sweet with a taste that reveals its varietal characteristic". This was the exception of the night: coming from Piedmont, it is not from Sicily. It had a beautiful color, was refreshing and had a nice sweetness to it, that perfectly complemented the dessert that was not too sweet (sweet + sweet is not always good).

This was a great evening: the Zonin wine was good and the food fantastic. It was fun, but at the same time very educational thanks to the crew! They had such a knowledge and the surprising pairing of red with fish will definitely make me think twice the next time I order wine with my dish, especially if it is fish!

I also discovered Chef Vito Posola, his incredible knowledge of wine (his restaurant has more than 150 different labels) and his passion for food that transpired during the entire evening. His food was fantastic and, although it was not regular dishes from his restaurant (some key items like the octopus are on the menu but presented differently), it gave a nice insight on how the food at Aroma Kitchen and Wine Bar must taste! I will definitely have to check that out!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own! 

Another visit to Bambootori in NYC, New York

If you follow this blog, you certainly know that I love Bambootori, a small place located near Union Square that serves fantastic yakitori at an affordable price. My last post about this place was about the few times I went there as well as the video interview of the owners, Hendy, Jonnie and Christophe who are very nice guys, totally passionate about this restaurant adventure. I love Bambootori so much that I even made it the pick of the month for July and August. So it is no surprise that I went back for dinner. 

Ok, I admit that I was disappointed at first by the fact that they do not propose steamed buns as an option for the skewers anymore except if you order a platter of three with possible choices of beef, pork or chicken meatballs. I love these little buns and was ready to order my favorite: pork belly in a bun. So we decided to order the platter and got two pork meatballs and one beef meatballs skewers.

As usual, the presentation is nice, with the meatballs nicely decorated with the spicy mayo. What I really like is the combination of meat, sauce and bun, three layers that pair very well. As usual, the meatballs are soft and moist. 

Then, I ordered two pork belly skewers and one tri-tips.

Perfectly cooked, they were juicy and had this fantastic taste coming from the char created by the grill. 

Then, they offered us some desserts! That is true that I did not talk about desserts in my last post. Not that I did not try them. What happened is that I tried the rice pudding a night when they were short of caramel. It was good, but the photo looked a bit boring and I promised Hendy that I would come back for it another time. Well, I did!

This is my favorite dessert! 

First of all, it looks like a skewer with white meatballs! Then, I love the taste! It is a denser version of the rice pudding, but you still get the same texture for the rice with a delicious hint of coconut. The pairing with the caramel is perfect. 

Then, we got mochi ice cream. Hendy would not have told me it was ice cream, I would have thought they were cookies! 

It was interesting: you definitely can feel the two layers (mochi and ice cream) and need a knife and fork to eat it rather than a spoon, especially when they are in plastic. We got two flavors: black sesame (my favorite) and green tea. They also have chocolate and vanilla. 

The last dessert was the yuzu panacotta: a great take on an Italian dessert!

It was very creamy and refreshing!

The desserts were definitely a good surprise! What I appreciated was that it was not too sweet and the portion enough not to over indulge, but give you the impression the meal is complete. Who would have thought that this place had desserts? Well, trust me: they are as good as the rest, so for sure, the next time I go, I will order one!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at The Masala Wala in NYC, New York

I was recently invited to a Press dinner at The Masala Wala, an Indian restaurant located on the Lower East Side, few steps from Katz's Deli in fact. The place, opened in November 2011 by Satyen and Roni Mazumdar features traditional Indian dishes from different regions with a focus on street food. We met with Satyen and his son, Roni, and they contributed to make this experience very enjoyable, not only for our palates! 

Before I talk about the food, let's talk about the restaurant itself: it is a medium sized restaurant that can accommodate 28 people inside and 8 people on the sidewalk. 

We ate inside and I liked the atmosphere that had some warmth, thanks to the dark wood and exposed brick. The room was surrounded by beautiful paintings of street vendors highlighting the underlying theme of the restaurant! It also had high ceilings one of my favorite fixtures, apparent bulbs, that are, I guess, both old fashioned and trendy!

One of the walls had Indian artifacts, some of them being a reminder of the Indo-Chinese culture (especially the dragon sitting on one of the shelves).

Then there is the gold coin featured at the beginning of this post and below:

First of all, gold symbolizes wealth and prosperity in India. Then, the face is no celebrity (yet!): it is Satyen Mazumdar! On the right side is their motto: "taste above all".

Their menu, created by Chef Abdul Junel, features cuisine from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka...). You find of course the classic dishes most Indian restaurants serve: Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, biryani...Interestingly, they propose for the most classic ones, their vegetarian version: chicken tikka masala & paneer masala, tandoori chicken & vegetable tandoori are good examples.

Coincidently, the dinner occurred on India Independence Day! We were therefore greeted with their Independence drink: mango lassi.

The mango lassi was delicious and a nice way to prepare our palates. We were lucky to be able to try several dishes from their menu, some of them being soon new additions. It was split between two culinary experiences: street food bites and Indian signature dishes. I was very excited to try all these dishes, especially the street ones!

So we started with the street food bites:

We started off with Bhel Puri:

Bhel Puri is made of puffed rice, spiced tomatoes, chickpeas, curry leaves, mustard cheese, onions and chutney. It was pretty good and interesting because I never had puffed rice besides the famous cereal! It added a nice crunchiness to the dish that made it different from any other rice dishes I ever tried.

Then came one of the most interesting dishes and one of my favorites: Dahi Puri.


These are small semolina puffs filled with spiced potatoes, chickpeas, tamarind, mint and yogurt.
Roni explained to us that it is a one bite appetizer. So I ate it at once, opening my mouth as much as I could. Clearly, trying to eat it in several bites would have been catastrophic and I would have ended up with some on my pants!!!

So you put it in your mouth and then when you bite on it, it is like an explosion of flavors, where you taste each ingredient before they merge together, the yogurt and the mint adding some freshness. This is a fantastic dish that I strongly recommend!

The next dish was Mumbai samosa:

Samosa are crispy turnovers that can be either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. These were vegetarian, filled with spiced potatoes and peas. I was really happy to see samosa on the tasting menu as this is one of my favorite Indian appetizers. They were delicious: crispy, not greasy and very flavorful, the peas adding some texture to the filling.

Then we got a surprising dish: Kolkata Gobi Manchurian.

This is an Indo-Chinese dish made of cauliflower florets that are tossed in ginger, garlic and spices. This dish comes from Kolkata, aka Calcutta, that is the capital city of West Bengal. Looking at it, it reminded me of the sweet and sour sauce that we can find in Chinese cuisine. It was really good, not spicy, with some sweetness to it and a bit of texture provided by the sticky sauce that had a wonderful red color.

The next starter was chicken tikka. It was cubes of chicken marinated in a red tandoori mixture and grilled in a tandoor oven.

The chicken was very moist and the tandoori mixture very flavorful. A nice dish for sharing for sure.

The last starter was lamb Kakoti Kebab:

The ground lamb was grilled in a tandoor grill until soft. It was mixed with spices and there was like a citrus-y taste to it. I was a bit disappointed as I found that the bold flavor of lamb was a bit lost, overpowered by the spices.

Then, they served us their signature Indian dishes! They brought all the dishes at once so we could share, not thinking about the mayhem it would cause! Imagine six food bloggers trying to take photos of 10 dishes spread over the table! It was crazy and funny!

We tried the following dishes:

• Nawabi Chicken Biryani: basmati rice, saffron, spices and chicken. This dish had a nice spiciness to it that built up slowly in the back of my mouth!
• Baingan Bharta: roasted eggplant cooked with ginger and cumin. This is one of my favorites: I love the particular taste of eggplant, smooth but a bit spicy at the same time.
• Vegetable Jalfrezi: vegetables with paprika, tomatoes and coriander. It was an ok dish for me. Nothing great about it.
• Shahi Paneer: one of my favorite entrees! It is a pressed Indian cottage cheese cooked in a rich cashew-almond cream sauce.

That sauce was fantastic! Creamy, it was very tasty and perfect with some rice or naan! I could have eaten the entire bowl. The cheese had this great chewy texture and I surely did not mind loving a vegetarian dish!

There was also:

• Chicken Saagwala that is slow cooked chicken with creamed spinach. I am not the biggest fan of spinach (Popeye, you did not convince me!), so this dish was just ok for me.
• Lamb Pasanda: sauteed lamb cooked in yogurt, cream, tomatoes and cashew. I admit that I am not even sure I tasted that one! Dammit! I love lamb! Well, you know what? I just need to go back to  The Masala Wala to try it!
• Kerala Fish Curry: it was tilapia served in a sweet and tangy creamy sauce, with onions, tamarind and fenugreek. That was a nice dish that made me think that I should order more often fish in Indian restaurants!
• Shrimp Konkani Curry: South Indian curry with red cayenne pepper, coconut milk and coriander.

This dish was fantastic! Very creamy, the sauce was tasty and velvety, not spicy, with nice size shrimp. This was also one of my favorites.

The last dishes were dal.

There were two kinds: Dal Tadka, made with yellow lentils (photo above) and Dal Makhani, made with black lentils. Both were good, but my favorite was the Dal Makhani that had a more robust flavor.

These dishes were served with rice pulao and some naan bread, butter or garlic (the butter one was so good...):

It was so puffy with some nice char on the outside, a bit like a Neapolitan pizza! 

To cool our palates whenever the heat started to build up (most of the dishes were mild to slightly spicy). There was raita:

As well as sweet lassi, a drink I always order when eating in an Indian restaurant!

Then, it was time for dessert! At this point, we were all stuffed, but we could not pass on it, especially after seeing how appetizing they were!

The first two were kulfi, traditional Indian ice cream. There was pistachio kulfi:

The second one was mango kulfi:

Then there was my favorite Indian dessert: Gulab Jamun.

These are cheese balls that are fried and then dipped in a sweet syrup. The way they served it is dry, meaning that they did not serve any of the sweet syrup with it.
Before we started, Roni told us that we should start with the ice cream first, so this is what we all did. The kulfi was very good: creamy and not too sweet, my preference went for the pistachio one. The gulab jamun were delicious too and not too sweet with a perfect texture. Definitely, the desserts were a hit!

We finished the dinner with a chai tea that was very good:

It was definitely a great tasting and I was excited to show the photos and tell Jodi how it was. It gave me the opportunity to try some spectacular dishes, the vegetarian ones being as successful as the non-vegetarian one (maybe some vegetarian restaurants should check out Indian cuisine so they understand that vegetarian food does not need to be bland!). The Masala Wala is not just another Indian restaurant in New York City and is worth a visit!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

Little Town NJ in Hoboken, NJ

For brunch, we decided to go to Little Town NJ, not the city in New Jersey, but the restaurant in Hoboken. Opened recently by the sons of the Manzo family who own the Brownstone, apparently an institution I did not get a chance to try. In fact, one of their dishes is the Brownstone Tenderloin.

The place is pretty big, with an impressive bar, solid wood tables and leather banquettes that give this place some warmth. 

In the back, they even have a game of skee ball!

But I admit that the noise of that game is not the most pleasurable to the ears, especially if you are looking for a nice and somewhat quiet brunch. 

We were there early and decided to order from the menu instead if waiting for their buffet to open. 

Jodi ordered the cranberry bog salad.

It was made of crumbled goat cheese, mixed greens and dried cranberries. Good salad, although more cheese would have been much appreciated. 

On my side, I ordered the crab Benny or Benedict if you did not guess. Surprisingly, the waitress asked me how I wanted my eggs. I responded "poached", surprised by the question, but realized that it is probably because they propose any style in case people do not like poached eggs. 

With it, I had a choice between fries and mixed greens. I went for the mixed greens, trying to convince myself I was having a healthy lunch...

The plate was impressive! Usually, they serve you a little salad, but at Little Town NJ, it is a good size. The eggs were perfectly poached, with a nice runny yolk and topped with a delicious thick Hollandaise sauce. The crab cakes, probably made with the meat of the claw were good but salty. Too bad! Last, in the bottom, was a piece of Taylor ham, all of this on an english muffin.

Despite the saltiness of the crab cakes, I really liked the dish and I am looking forward to going there for dinner!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Sandwiches at Francois Payard Bakery in NYC, New York

I went to Francois Payard few times already, mainly their location on West Houston. This time, we decided to go to the one near Columbus Circle to grab sandwiches. I always like to go there because their pastries look fantastic. 

We decided to order a croque Monsieur first. 

It was made with big pieces of ham, cheese and bechamel sauce, served between two slices of white bread. It was very good; the bechamel sauce adding some gooey-ness to it. It is one of the best ones I had so far for a reasonable price. No need to serve it fancy, just simply!

Then, we ordered the ham and Brie. 

They asked us if we wanted it heated: we said no as we wanted to go authentic. There again, there was a lot of ham and thick slices of Brie. They made it with a piece of salad, some butter and some mustard. I personally would have preferred just butter, ham and Brie, the mustard over powering at time the sandwich. Also, the bread was not that fresh. I guess that it is because they prepare it in the morning (we went after 2pm) and keep it refrigerated. 

Still, I love Francois Payard: they have good sandwiches and amazing pastries. 

Francois Payard Bakery
Midtown West
1775 Broadway
New York, NY

Enjoy (I did)!

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Johnny Rockets in Hoboken, NJ

I went to Johnny Rockets for a second time: it is a place like no other, like traveling in the past! Everything makes you think about the 50's, from the decor to the music, although the first restaurant opened in 1986. 

Let's start first with the decor: You have two types of seats: at the counter or in a booth. The entire decor reminds me of American movies or TV series we use to watch in France, when I was a kid. TV series like Happy Days, called "Les jours heureux", a literal translation. 

Then there is the tiny jukebox in every booth: you put 5 cents (provided by the restaurant), pick a song and the choices from the patrons will play sequentially (hopefully...).

In term of food, they have a large selection of burgers, sandwiches and salads. We decided to start with some fried pickles:

They were pretty good, not greasy, crunchy, with a delicious sour taste.

Then, Jodi ordered the route 66:

A beef patty with fried onions and mushrooms. It was just ok: the onions were too big and a bit messy to eat!

On my side, I got the Smokehouse burger:

A beef patty with moked bacon, crispy sourdough onion rings, cheddar cheese and their special barbecue-ranch sauce. It was good with a nice crispiness coming from the bacon that added some smokiness on top of the one coming from the BBQ sauce.

With it, we shared onion rings and fries that were pretty good, especially the onion rings that were crunchy and not greasy.

Of course, I could not go to Johnny Rockets without trying their vanilla milk shake!

The presentation, straight from the 50's was fantastic and it was a very good shake: very tasty and not too thick. Know that they give you a lot of it!

It might not have been the best burgers, but I think that just the experience makes Johnny Rockets worth the trip!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Republic in Union Square, NYC, New York

One of my favorite reasonably priced fast serving restaurant in Union Square is Republic. I went few times and have never been disappointed! 

The pluses besides the prices?

- they have a nice selection of small plates that are perfect for sharing. 

- several menu items are vegetarian. 

- fast service. 

The minuses:

- the noise level, especially the music. 

The decor is very simple with amazing photos featuring noodles (they have several dishes made with it). There are only communal tables, but they usually sit you on your own table, except if it is too crowded. 

So we decided to order small dishes. 

We first shared the sauteed mini dumplings. 

It was the first time we ordered this and I was surprised because I was expecting a plate similar to what I eat in a Chinese restaurant ! It was served like a salad, with cabbage, ginger, cilantro and scallions. The sauce was oyster sauce. The dumplings, made with minced pork, were light and softer than I expected. I guess the salad made it look like an healthy dish! Great dish in fact!

Then Jodi ordered the vegetarian salad.

It was of course with some fried tofu (not greasy), cabbage, carrots, broccoli...Lots of veggies for sure with a delicious ginger dressing. Light and fresh!

I ordered the fried calamari. 

For sure, I was not expecting the Italian version if the dish! It was an Asian rendition that was quite successful! It was lightly breaded calamari dipped in a spicy mayo, topped with sesame seeds. 

I also ordered the Vietnamese Chicken Salad:

It was made of shredded chicken, napa cabbage, carrots, shallots, asian basil, with a ginger dressing. There was quite a lot of chicken considering it was a small dish. It was very refreshing and light.

This was again a great dinner and perfect as we were heading to a concert at Irving Plaza! Definitely a good spot for a quick, affordable and delicious food!

Republic
37 Union Sq W
New York, NY 10003

Enjoy (I did)!

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Papatzul Mexican restaurant in Soho, NYC, New York

Papatzul is a Mexican restaurant located in Soho. It has this fantastic dining room decorated with colorful posters, but also because of the sunlight coming from the window on the roof. It feels authentic for sure.

We went there for brunch and their menu offers standard Mexican dishes, most of them at a reasonable price. We started of with the dish we always order in a Mexican restaurant: guacamole.

Although it looked homemade, we definitely could see from the oxidation of the avocado that it was done a little earlier and not a la minute. It was good otherwise, served with some crispy corn chips.

Then, I ordred Huevos Rancheros. Unfortunately, the waiter did not understand me and came back with Huevos con chorizo or scrambled eggs with chorizo. As we were in a bit of a hurry, I did not bother and decided to try.

It was the driest eggs I ever tried and only ate the refried beans that were good...and the soft tortilla...

Jodi ordred the Torta de Aguacate y Queso Panela:

It is a sandwich made with avocado, panela cheese, refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce and a sauce I could not really identify! It was passable and a bit spicy.

We were craving Mexican food and left disappointed. The service was also just ok and they did not even ask if there was a problem with my dish. Interestingly, all the restaurants around were packed except this one: there might have been a reason!

Enjoy (...)!

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BCD Tofu House in Korea Town NYC, New York

If you follow this blog, you may remember this wonderful moment I had at BCD Tofu House for their Grand Opening back in April (check out the post here!). I had the honor and privilege to be part of the ribbon cutting ceremony, standing next to the President and Founder of BCD Tofu House, Mrs Hee Sook Lee! 

Courtesy of AD Group Communique

So we decided to go back as regular customers. We went on a Saturday, for an early dinner and showed up there around 6:15pm. Believe me or not, but the place was packed! We waited 10 minutes and got our table, excited to try their food.

While looking at the menu, we noticed the table sets that had some sentences in Korean translated in English and with some help for the pronunciation. Reading it, I clearly realized that the couple of words I know in Korean might not be pronounced properly! Hopefully, I never offended anybody!!!

After we ordered, they brought to us some side dishes, called banchan, ritual that is typical of a Korean restaurant.

As we were looking, trying to figure out what was what, they gracefully explained each dish, although I admit that I do not remember the details for all of them.

Kimchi (fermented cabbage):

Squid:

Fried fish (first time ever I get that)!

Fish cakes:

Soy:

Seaweed (I do not like like it, but Jodi does):

Some dish made with veggies and gelatin:

The best for me was the kimchi (quite spicy) and the squid. 

As an appetizer, we ordered fried pork dumplings:

They were very good and the shell was crispy, but extremely hot! 

Then, this time, we wanted to try their bibimbap. Bibimbap is a rice bowl dish served in a piping hot bowl, so the rice gets this fantastic crust if you let it sit for some time!

Jodi ordered a vegetarian one, served with Tofu and a raw egg that cooked after being mixed in the bowl.

I ordered the regular one, with bulgogi beef. I asked or an egg and got a fried one:

Mine had tofu also and in term of ingredients, they were very close: mixed rice with vegetables, sauteed spinach, shitake mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, radish, served a red pepper paste that was not spicy. We also added some soy sauce to give some flavor. This was good, but it might not be the best bibimbap I ever had. In fact, when leaving, we noticed that most of the customers ordered the Soon Tofu Soup that we tried last time and that I really liked. So maybe we should have stuck with it! Well, I am sure I will go back anyway!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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The Pink Tea Cup in NYC, New York - CLOSED!

I would not call our last visit to The Pink Tea Cup a revisit per se as it was the first time we went to their location near Union Square. Yes, close to the start of the blog, we went to their location downtown, that closed few months later. Then, few years ago, this one popped up and I promised myself to try it someday. That day had come! The place was for sure different: no communal table but a large painting taking an entire wall, pink walls in the back. 

This place serves comfort food and there was one particular Southern dish I really wanted to try there: chicken and waffles. Weird combination, but so good! It is like having an entree and dessert at the same time! What makes this place so particular is that they serve different proteins with waffles, such as catfish, shrimp...Also, they make all kind of waffles: plain, sweet potato, raspberry...

To start, we decided to share the fried green tomatoes. 

When the plate came, it did not look that appetizing. We had to ask for a sauce and they only had some caesar dressing that was pretty salty. We barely ate them! The tomatoes were a bit mushy and the breading we were expecting was breaking apart and quasi none existent. These are fried tomatoes! Don't be shy about the frying: we were not expecting a healthy dish!

Then, Jodi ordered the Mac and cheese. 

We could immediately see that they served it from a tray. It was good: lots of cheese (probably processed) and not dry. 

Them came my chicken and waffle:

Contrary to the first location I went to, there was a decent amount of chicken. Unfortunately, it was overcooked and so dry. The waffle, plain, was good but the syrup was so sweet (low quality) that at the end the waffle taste was lost in too much sweetness. 

So it was definitely not the best revisit for a restaurant and we left pretty disappointed. At least we tried!

Enjoy (...)!

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Dino & Harry's steakhouse in Hoboken, NJ

Yes!!! A dinner at Dino & Harry, one of my favorite steakhouses in Hoboken! We were so excited to go there as we always had great food there (well except for Restaurant Week where the quality of the steaks was not that great...)! My only complaints would be the noise level, but we asked to be seated next to the windows where it is quieter (also for the light for the photos...).

So, the ritual is always the same: we get the bread basket and butter.

Then, we got our steaks! Jodi ordered her usual petite filet mignon, served with mushrooms.

She also ordered some delicious béarnaise sauce with it. I think it is great when steakhouses propose a petite version if a filet, because otherwise, the pieces of meat can be so big! So it can satisfy anybody with a small appetite (compared to me...). The filet was very good as usual, tender and perfectly cooked (Jodi asked medium-well). Also, we appreciated the fact that the mushrooms were not overpowering at all!

Then was my steak: ribeye!

That was huge! 24 ounces! Probably the size of my head...I ordered it medium-rare and it was fantastic: tender, juicy, with a nice char and this incredible taste of charred fat! This is one of the best ribeyes I had! I know: that's a statement I have to live with!

With the steaks, we were happy to see that they resurrected the Mac & Cheese, one of the best dishes with meat, I think, besides fries or mash potatoes.

Well it was not the Italian Mac & Cheese they used to serve and that I tried to reproduce (check this recipe), but still. It was deliciously creamy: definitely recommended. 

Last we got dessert. I admit that I saved myself for dessert this time by not eating the entire ribeye. At least, in the US, if we do not finish, we can take the food home and not waste it. It is a concept that does not exist in France (although quantities are smaller), except for wine in very limited number of restaurants because patrons were not ordering a bottle (wine by the glass is rare), thinking that it would be a waste. 

So, back to dessert, we decided to go for the Snowboken: vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, marshmallow, crumbled Oreo cookies and shaved coconut. 

I liked it, but Jodi not so much! It was a good take on a sundae and perfect for a warm weather.

It was a great dinner: great food and great service. Dino & Harry remains one of my favorites!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Vive La Crepe in Greenwich Village, NYC, New York

Crepes: a typically French dish that some people call thin pancakes...I love crepes. In fact I learned how to make crepes at school, when I was probably 7 or 8... So I was really excited to try Vive La Crepe, located near Union Square! It is Jodi who found this place and we added it to the long list of places to try. 

This small place was fairly busy and the staff was efficient. At least, they had five crepe makers to work with!

The menu offers sweet and savory choices, French inspired for the most part. 

Jodi ordered the ham and gruyere crepe:

I ordered the raclette:

Raclette is a dish popular in France and Switzerland, where cheese is melted on potatoes. So this crepe was made of cheese, boiled potatoes and prosciutto. There was enough meat, but clearly not enough cheese! Also, the potatoes were bland; I would have preferred less potatoes or maybe skin on would have given a bit of taste. 

The ham and cheese did not have enough ham...and cheese either!

What was very disappointing was the crepe batter: weird taste! I do not understand how they can screw it up! It is so simple to make ( I should post the recipe!). 

For dessert, we ordered the sugar and butter crepe and the banana and Nutella one:

I could unfortunately not get past the taste of the batter. Too bad because there was a lot of nutella!

So it was clearly disappointing ! And pricey! Bar Suzette remains for me the best so far, although I am always amazed by the cost of this cheap dish!

Enjoy (...)!

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Brunch at Craftbar in NYC, New York

I have become a fan of Tom Colicchio: not for his personality on TV, but his food! We tried Colicchio and Sons and the famous TC Burger that is for me the best burger so far in New York City. So, last time, we were close to Union Square, trying to find a place for brunch and decided to try Craftbar as it was on my wish list of restaurants (trust me: it is a very long list). The place is gorgeous: high ceilings, dark wood with a gateway across the restaurant joining the wine cellar that you cannot miss.

Similar to Colicchio and Sons, although a bit industrial looking, there is this sense of space, modernity and warmth. 

For brunch, the menu offers pretty standard brunch dishes, but just reading their description, you know that it is different and you wish you could order everything! After a difficult time to make up our mind, we ordered our food. Jodi ordered the croque Madame:

Croque Madame is a croque Monsieur with a fried egg. It was served with mustard and pickles.

What definitely made this dish successful is the sauce Mornay that is the Béchamel sauce with additional shredded or grated cheese. This was fantastic and very filling. 

On my side, I ordered the braised mushrooms and poached eggs:

Even if I preferred the croque Madame, I liked that dish: the eggs were perfectly poached (I hate when the yolk is overcooked), there was a lot of fontina cheese and lots of mushrooms that gave an earthy dimension to the dish and contributed to the balance of flavors.

This was definitely a great brunch and I look forward to going back to try their Craftbar “Double Stack” Burger!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Island Burgers and Shakes in Hell's Kitchen, NYC, New York

Island burger is a burger joint located in Hell's Kitchen. This place has been there for years and I probably went there 8 years ago! I think that at the time, the menu was simpler. This time, I was very impressed by the wide variety of dishes: they have close to sixty different types of burgers with names like Bourbon Street, Hippo or El Camino, each being prepared with different ingredients and a different level of spiciness. They also propose the same dish in two ways: burger or churascos, that is grilled chicken.

I decided to pick The people's choice burger, made with swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions.

It came with slices of tomatoes, onions, pickles and lettuce. The bread was a potato bun with lots of sesame seeds, too many I have to say.

The burger was disappointing: the meat was flavorless and a bit dry (I ordered medium well because the waiter told me that medium would be pink in the center, but also all around). 

My friends Benny and Shaj ordered the Mulberry street churasco in ciabatta bread:

For sure the sandwich was big! I tried the chicken and it had a nice flavor coming from the grilling. Unfortunately, I found it dry.

Then we ordered fries:

as well as onion rings:

Both were very good. The onion rings were not too greasy, but some were a bit overcooked. The fries however were very good: crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside as I like them.

Last, to go with the burger, I decided to go with the black and white milkshake!

It looked beautiful and very appetizing. Instead of being a mix between a vanilla and a chocolate milkshake, it was chocolate sauce and a thick vanilla milkshake that was very tasty and had a perfect consistency. This was the best part of the meal in fact!!!

The dinner at Island Burger and Shakes was disappointing and pricey: I would have definitely preferred a smaller menu made to perfection. But it was not the case. The only highlight was the milkshake...I'll pass next time!

Enjoy (...)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!