All cheese dinner at Artisanal Bistro and Fromagerie in New York, NY

If you recall, my last post about Artisanal concerned brunch. Jodi and I wanted to go back for dinner as the brunch experience was remarkable. We were ready for an all cheese dinner in this temple of cheeses! 

When making our reservation, we even asked to be seated in the Cave a Fromages (cheese room) where they setup a table for four. Unfortunately, they told us that we could not have the table on a Saturday night for the two of us...They were gracious about it, apologized and proposed to sit us next to the cheese bar. I was in fact impressed by the selection of cheeses they do have from all over the world: France, Italy, USA, Spain...

We started off with a cheese fondue, small size (petite). The cheeses used were gruyere, emmental and I believe comte. This divine mix is called the artisanal blend that they also sell. The fondue came with some pieces of bread that you dip in the melted cheese as shown in the video below.

The fondue was very good and the taste of the cheese was perfect, smooth and so not too strong. However, the bread was not the best choice: a more neutral bread such as a baguette would have been preferable so it does not overpower the taste of the cheese. Anyway, I enjoyed it. They should add to the experience the "religieuse" that is the thin layer of burnt cheese that forms in the bottom of the pan and that people would fight for!

Then, we decided to go with a selection of four cheeses, all French.

From bottom left, clockwise:

• Roquefort (sheep milk): a creamy, balanced with some spicy nuance blue cheese. Very popular in France, it is a bit expensive in the USA because of the taxes imposed to it few years ago following a ban on hormone beef imported from the USA by the European Union.
• Crottin de Chavignol (goat milk): a firm, delicate and sweet goat cheese.
• Epoisses (cow milk): a classic and soft cheese washed in Marc. It had a strong taste that is particular to cheese several days after being opened...
• Pont L'Eveque (cow milk): with a savory apple flavor, very creamy.

The best for me was the Pont L'Eveque! It reminded me my Grand Father on my mother side who liked stinky cheeses and used to buy Pont L'Eveque as well as Munster "Les petits amis" (different from the soft Munster cheese you find in the US). I think at that time I thought they were stinky cheeses, although now I think that it was my Grand Father who liked them this way and let them sit few days so they got that smell and taste. A lot of people do that in fact and love this pungent taste that is so particular. I can tell you: the Pont L'Eveque at Artisanal was not stinky at all and was amazing!

Then came dessert!

We picked the tarte tatin (upside-down tart made with caramelized apples), not only because I love it but also because it was a Cheddar cheese crust!!! I loved that one! The cheese crust was amazing: it was buttery and you could definitely taste the cheddar. The apples were perfectly caramelized and I really appreciated the fact that it was not too sweet. Definitely a hit!

This was a fantastic dinner and I will certainly go back, but next time I will wear stretch pants...

Enjoy (I did)!

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Goat milk ice cream at Victory Garden in NYC, New York

We discovered Victory Garden over the week end! It is a tiny place located on Carmine in the West Village. The logo looks like a goat's head: no wonder as they use goat milk for their ice cream! Why goat milk? Because of the Middle Eastern influence of the owners and the advantages of goat milk that are displayed at the entrance of the store:

• Goat milk is lower in fat than cow’s milk, but with all the nutrition!
• Goat milk is rich in healthy antimicrobial fatty acids, which are burned by the body, rather than stored as is cow’s milk.
• Goat milk is a great source of iron, calcium, protein and potassium.
• Goat milk is lactose friendly, making it easy for people with lactose-intolerance to digest.
• Goat milk is the most similar animal milk to that of humans and is more readily processed than cow’s milk.

I very rarely had goat milk in my life, but why not? So we decided to try their ice cream. We picked their most popular: the salted caramel. As a topping, we chose chocolate crunch. 

They propose 3 sizes and we picked the mini one. It was still generous and I was happy I did not decide to have a bigger size.

For toppings, they have plenty: brownies, sprinkles, honey, walnut, honeycomb (!), etc.

The salted caramel was very good: very tasty and creamy.

The other flavor was chocolate rosemary and we added halva as a topping. It was very rich and very creamy, even more than the salted caramel. The dark chocolate was definitely coming through and you could taste that there were some spices mixed in it, but I did not really taste the rosemary. Having Halva as a topping was pretty surprising and it paired very well with the strong chocolate flavor. 

From the two flavors, the salted caramel was definitely my favorite.

Know that Victory Garden is also selling salads and sandwiches as well as yogurt. They also sell produces made with goat milk such as soap and lip balm. This is definitely a place to try if you like rich and creamy ice cream. They would not tell you it is made with goat milk, you would not even know!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Yapple Frozen Yogurt in Westfield, NJ

I discovered a new Frozen Yogurt place in Westfield, New Jersey. I love frozen yogurt because people think that it is a healthy choice, but they forget that the calories are mainly coming from the toppings that they pack their yogurt with!!!

Anyway, the place was interesting: very bright with its white furniture, partly white walls; with fun drawings on the wall that reminded me of Japanese Manga.

The ceiling was fantastic with multicolored bulbs that gave to the place a very playful atmosphere.

Yapple is self serve.

When we went, they had flavors like: watermelon, cookies & Cream, Birthday cake, Cinnabun, blood orange, taro, banana, salted caramel pretzel, original tart. As you can see, some interesting and original flavors!

Like most if not all frozen yogurt places, the cost is per weight (very smart as people have a tendency to put more than what a standard serving would be, hence pay more). So, you first pick your yogurt(s), then go to the topping bar.

They had the basics there: from fruits to chocolate, peanut butter cup, etc...You can as well add some whipped cream, chocolate sauce or caramel.

I decided to have Cookies & Cream and banana yogurt.

The cookies & cream yogurt was just ok. It tasted like a chocolate yogurt that lacks chocolate taste....However, the banana was fantastic! The flavor of the fruit was very pronounced and tasted natural!

As usual, I put some M&M's and their color all mixed up with the yogurt like a rainbow.

Jodi picked the cookies & Cream and the Birthday cake.

The Birthday cake flavor was just ok for me, but Jodi found that it was good!

In conclusion: I would go back just for the banana yogurt! What I liked is the fact that it tasted natural and not made with processed ingredients.

Enjoy (I did)!




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CoolHaus Ice Cream Sandwich in NYC, New York

I heard about the Coolhaus truck for a while and always wanted to try it! I noticed that the truck was often at Union Square, where many food trucks are now lining up to feed a crowd eager to try some delicious food at a reasonable price. So, that day was the time to try it! The concept is simple: an ice cream sandwich made of a scoop of ice cream in between two cookies! Ideal for the sugar lovers!

The concept is simple: first choose your cookie, then pick your ice cream!

We decided to go with two chocolate chip cookies and the chocovivo salted chocolate that is as per the description: a rich dark chocolate base swirled with fudge and sprinkled with chunks of dark chocolate from chocovivo.

When they gave it to us, it was huge! And when it is warm outside, you'd better hurry to eat it before the ice cream starts to melt!!! It is a bit messy to eat, but fortunately, you hold it with and edible wrapper.

The cookie was very good: not too sweet and soft with a bit of crunch from the chocolate chips and the chunks from the ice cream. The ice cream was divine with intense chocolate flavors! Definitely a very good combination, picked by Jodi!

What is great is that you can swap cookies and ice cream in many, many combinations, making your experience new each time! They have plenty of flavors that I guess they alternate from time to time and some are original, such as candied bacon, chocolate chipotle or nutella almond (I love nutella and will definitely try this one!). If you love sugar, cookies and ice cream, try Coolhaus and let me know what you think!

Enjoy (I sure did)!

Madison Square Eats, Fall 2012 Edition! September 21st to October 19th 2012!

The Madison Square Park conservancy is hosting again this year the Madison Square Park Eats from 11am to 9pm from September 21st to October 19th. It will be a festival of food with several vendors like:

• Arancini Bros. 
• Asiadog
• Baby Got Back Ribs
• Bar Suzette
• Broken English
• Calexico
• Charlito’s Cocina
• Flourish Baking Company
• Graffiti│Mehtaphor
• Hong Kong Street Cart
• ilili
• Kitty Lee Thomas Sweets
• Kulinary Kraft
• La Sonrisa Empanadas
• Macaron Parlour
• Mayhem & Stout
• Melt Bakery
• Mexicue 
• Mighty Balls
• Mimi & Coco NY
• Momofuku Milk Bar
• Nunu Chocolates
• Red Hook Lobster Pound
• Roberta’s
• Sigmund’s
• Stuffed Artisan Cannolis
• The Cannibal
• Wafels & Dinges
• Wooly’s Ice

They will serve food daily in the Worth Square area just west of Madison Square Park (24th and 5th Avenue).

Enjoy (I will)!

Recipe: Anise Infused Bread

Anise Infused Bread recipe

Here is a very recipe to make a wonderful bread that has a subtle anise taste.

For 8 small breads:

17.5 ounce (500g) of white flour

1 tablespoon of salt

3/4 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of anise seeds

1/2 ounce of dry yeast

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

0.8 cup of lukewarm water

The first thing to do is to grind the anise seeds.

To grind seeds, I use a coffee grinder.

Mix all the ingredients and knead until firm. I have a bread machine and use the setting to only knead and rise as I will cook the bread in the oven.

Let the dough rise for 1h30.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same time, make 8 even portions of the dough and lay them on a cooking sheet or aluminum foil, making sure you either grease it or put some flour to prevent the bread to stick.

Anise Infused Bread recipe

In a small ball, make an egg wash by cracking an egg at room temperature and whisking it until the yolk is incorporated in the white. 

With a knife, make a X on top of each bread so they open while cooking.

Then brush each bread with the egg wash.

Rest for 25 more minutes; the bread will rise again.

Put the bread in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden.

Et voila!

Anise Infused Bread recipe

 Bon appetit!

My brother's culinary visit...

Last week, my brother stopped by to see us on his way back to France. On top of the fact that it was great to spend time with him, it was a great occasion to make him try some cuisine or food that are not that common in France or that he cannot find in the city where he is living. There is so much diversity in New York that I had to pick just couple of choices that I proposed to him. I'll pass on the first night when we went to Benny Tudino's in Hoboken so he could have a good taste of pizza. We also ordered chicken wings as it is something that he never tried (it is only served in few restaurants, mainly in Paris, such as the Indiana Cafe where I used to go with my cousin Sandrine when I was living there). 

The pizza was good as usual, but the chicken wings were like fried chicken...Disappointing...In fact, I never ordered anything else other than pizza over there and several people told me that the rest of the food is not very good!

The next day, I proposed to go for Venezuelan as where he lives, there no such restaurants and he never tried before. We ended up at Caracas Arepa Bar that is one of my favorites! Caracas Arepa Bar is a small place in the East Village that has these amazing arepas, which are some sort of buns that are grilled and baked, filled with different ingredients, from chicken to beef, to beans and cheese. They offer a nice selection of vegetarian dishes.

The decor has an authentic feel with its wooden tables and chairs that are a bit run down and plenty of religious figurines on the wall.

 as well as satiric figurines of politicians...

I admit that the only one I recognized was Hugo Chavez...

The service in the restaurant was efficient and extremely courteous. The menu is simple and features items that cost less than $8, at the exception of course of the tasting platters that they propose.

We started by ordering some banana milkshakes.

They had a little bit of cinnamon on top. It was more liquid than a traditional milkshake, that is good considering that it was more a drink to go with the meal rather than being a dessert. Unfortunately and contrary to the last time we went there, it did not have as much banana taste.

For appetizers, we first ordered the guasacaca & chips.

It is in fact guacamole with chips made with plantains and taro roots. The guacamole was very good and fresh, while the chips were deliciously crispy and not at all greasy.

The second appetizer was the tajadas.

It is fried sweet plantains with cheese. The cheese was salty, making it a perfect ingredient to counterbalance the sweetness of the plantains. This was a fantastic appetizer and I could not stop eating it!

Then came the arepas. My brother picked the one called "De Pabellon".

It was made of shredded beef, black beans, white salted cheese and sweet plantains. I did not try it, but my brother loved it and told us that it was his favorite food from the whole trip!

Jodi chose the one called "La Del Gado".

It is an arepa composed of plantains, avocado and white cheese. These are simple ingredients, but I have to say that it was the best! It has some nice flavors and the avocado added some freshness to the dish. The salted cheese and sweet plantains complemented each other well. This was a hit!

On my side, I picked the "La Mulata".

An arepa filled with sweet plantains, black beans, jalapenos and sauteed red peppers. This was very good, but when you eat the jalapenos, your mouth starts quickly to get on fire! It is a bit attenuated by the cheese and plantains, but still, it is a bit hot!

We skipped dessert as we were full! When you see the arepas coming, you may think it will not be enough, but trust me: it is!

For dinner, we went to have a steak at Dino & Harry in Hoboken (review of Dino & Harry here). Each time I have visitors from France, I tell them that they should try the meat in a steakhouse; there is no doubt in my mind: the meat in the US is way better than the meat in France.
Dino & Harry is a great steakhouse, but, as most of the restaurants of that kind, it is pretty dark inside, so the photos are not great...I therefore decided not to publish them!

Jodi and my brother ordered the petite filet mignon that was very tender and juicy, served with mushrooms. I decided to order the ribeye that was magnificent: perfectly cooked medium rare, juicy, extremely tender with a nice char. For sides, we went for the French fries (mediocre) and the onion rings (delicious and not too greasy). Oh, I forgot to mention the sauces: the bearnaise sauce is always perfect, but I did not really like the roasted garlic aioli.

As we had a bit of space left after this fantastic dinner, we went for the chocolate mousse: it was very dense, not too sweet with a very pronounced chocolate flavor.

I have never been disappointed in that place!

On Friday, we decided to go to Little Italy and see if for San Gennaro, we would find some succulent food!

I was a bit disappointed because, besides the stands for iconic places such as La Bella Ferrara pastry shop, it was the usual sausage and meatball stands you would see in a street fair. So we decided to eat in one of the restaurants over there. We first went to Da Nico, but nobody bothered taking care of us. So we left and ended up at Benito One. 

We picked this restaurant simply because we saw people already eating there and we were in kind of a rush (I tried to check on the internet which restaurant was the best, but unfortunately had no service...).

Jodi ordered a tomato and mozzarella salad.

It was served with roasted peppers and basil leaves. I think it is the worst tomato & mozzarella salad I ever had, that is pretty incredible considering how easy it is to make! It was under seasonned, had barely any olive oil and the mozzarella was horrible! The roasted peppers were the only things I enjoyed.

My brother ordered the homemade cheese ravioli.

They were served with a tomato and basil sauce. It was a good dish: the ravioli were not too doughy and the sauce was good although simple.

On my side, I ordered the homemade gnocchi.

They came in a tomato, shallots and cream sauce. The gnocchi were ok, but overall, the dish was bland.

Benito One was clearly not a good choice for lunch! I will definitely have to try to find the best Italian restaurant in Little Italy: this will be my next quest! Anyway, if you know any, please send me an email at jp@ijustwanttoeat.com

So, of course, we skipped dessert at Benito One and walk few feet away to the Stuffed Artisan Cannolis! We saw them on a TV show and were dying to try them!

They started 5 years ago and their idea is to put a twist to the traditional cannoli. So, for instance, they have coconut, French toast or nutella.

We decided to try (from left to right): nutella (of course!), French toast, Birthday cake, regular, regular and chocolate. Of course, these cannolis are not full size! They are half the size of regular ones.

The shell of the cannolis was good and crispy, but the filling was not: the nutella one barely tasted nutella; the regular had an off taste; the birthday cake was just ok. The French toast was good with a nice maple syrup flavor, but it was not something I would crave. 

For dinner that Friday, we decided to go to Southern Hospitality (review of Southern Hospitality here). BBQ is an amazing thing to discover as we do not have that in France. We have grilling, but not the slow cooking so particular to BBQ! And Southern Hospitality is the perfect place for some tasting!

We decided to order several dishes: for appetizer, we went for the fried green tomatoes.

These are amazing! Not greasy, very tasty, the tomato had a nice crunch. It was served with a BBQ ranch dipping sauce that is so good that I would just drink it!

We also shared some corn bread and Mac & Cheese.

The corn bread was wonderful and came warm with a delicious honey butter. The Mac & Cheese was perfect! Creamy and full of cheese!

Then came the meat! What I like about Southern Hospitality is that they propose some tasting portions so you can try different meats. We started off with the fried chicken.

It was good, but not the best I ever had: the breading was falling off as we started cutting the bird...Southern Hospitality also proposes fried chicken and waffles that I love!
By the way, as an anecdote, the first time I tried fried chicken when I was leaving in Paris was at...KFC...

Then we got the brisket.

That was a fantastic piece of meat!!! I did not even need a knife to cut it! It was amazingly good, tender and moist, that is what is sometimes a miss with brisket. I would have eaten more...

Last was the dry rub Memphis style spare-ribs.

Delicious as usual: the meat was falling off the bone and was incredibly tasty with some nice fat in some areas (yes, fat can be good!).

We could not leave that place without having a dessert...My brother went for the key lime pie.

It was very good: creamy and not too sweet with a nice whipped cream on top to counterbalance the acidity of the lime.

But my favorite was the banana pudding.

The banana pudding at Southern Hospitality is the best I ever had! It has vanilla wafers and caramelized bananas on top. It is pure heaven: very creamy and rich, each bite makes you want more. Then you reach the bottom and you get some crumbled cookies, wishing that there was more! It is definitely something to try!

That dinner at Southern Hospitality was definitely a hit and a perfect way to showcase some specialties from the South.

Saturday was the last day...We decided to go to brunch. The brunch concept is not as popular in France as it is here. Many years ago, when I was living in Paris, I used to go with my friends for a Sunday brunch, but it was a novelty (we used to go to Le Loup Blanc that still serves a brunch for 22 EUR with all you can eat croissants and chocolate croissants!).  

I checked on opentable.com and found this place few blocks from Times Square as it was one of the places we were supposed to see. We ended up at 44 1/2 on 44th street and 10th Avenue.

This place is pretty cool, very modern and very bright.

It has a nice patio in the back...

...that you can see behind the corn bread!

They serve traditional brunch dishes such as eggs, French toast...

Jodi went for the California Omelet.

It was made with egg whites, tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella and avocado on top. It was pretty good. The eggs were perfectly cooked and it was a great healthy dish. On the top left side, you can see some fruits cut into cubes: all the dishes had some. Great idea to clean your palate at the end!

My brother ordered the andouille sausage frittata.

It was made with green onions, white cheddar and truffle oil. Very good dish too, although I missed the taste of the truffle oil...

On my side, I ordered the crab cakes benedict.

It was served with a homemade Hollandaise sauce that was delicious. The crab cakes were not the best I ever had, but I enjoyed it! It had a bit of sweetness that reminded me my first attempt at crab cakes!

This was a great brunch, but we were so stuffed at the end that we decided to pass on dessert and walk on the high line...

Of course, after that walk, we needed a snack and we thought that it would be a great idea to go, before my brother took his flight, to the Doughnut Plant (review of the Doughnut Plant here).

Jodi got her coconut donut, my brother the peanut butter and banana one and for me, I simply ordered the tres leches that is one of their best selling and always a hit!

We had a great time with my brother and wish we had more time together. I would have had for sure found so many other places to try: deli (Junior's), bagels,...It will be for another time!


We enjoyed (we did)!

And remember: I just want to EAT!

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Salads at Pita Grill in Hoboken, NJ

After a week end full of food, we decided to have a salad at Pita Grill in Hoboken. Pita Grill is a chain that you can find in lots of places. The concept is healthy Mediterranean food.

We started off with a fresh squeezed orange juice.

This was a real fresh squeezed OJ, not a watered down one and for $3, there was a nice quantity of it!

For the salads, Jodi had the Goat cheese salad.

It is composed of mesclun greens, golden raisins and roasted walnuts tossed with a lemon honey vinaigrette. Served with grilled pita, topped with Goat cheese and caramelized onions. This is one of my favorites, especially the pita with caramelized onions and goat cheese! The sweetness of the onions completes so well the tartness of the cheese. Definitely to try!

On my side, I got a Pita Grill salad.

It is made of grilled chicken and basil-rubbed eggplant over mesclun greens, dried cranberries, crumbled Feta and with a roasted red pepper vinaigrette. That was delicious and fresh! The chicken was perfectly cooked: moist with a nice burnt taste on the charred areas. The vinaigrette was very light and subtle. I finished my plate!

So definitely, this is the place to go for a healthy lunch! I will try to remember the day I go to another food marathon...

Enjoy (I did)!

Pulino's pizza in NYC, New York

One of my favorite pizza is the four cheese pizza, but one with real cheeses, not some kind of processed cheeses! So we decided to try Pulino's in Nolita as they had a four cheese pizza on their menu.

The place was very nice with its high ceilings, wood oven and walls covered in bottles.

There was even part covered with magazines that the patrons could borrow, adding a casual atmosphere to the place..

We went for brunch where the menu offers a wide variety of either standard brunch items such as eggs or pancakes, as well as true Italian dishes such as spaghetti or pizza. For pizza, you can add some toppings such as olives, pancetta, anchovies...making the pizza a bit pricey.

So we decided to start with an appetizer. The choice was easy: burrata.

They served it with roasted tomatoes on the vine, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. All of this was rested on a piece of bread, fettunta style, meaning like a bruschetta. 

This was fantastic! The burrata tasted very fresh and was very creamy. It was a perfect combination of flavors, mixed with the tomatoes, a hint of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 

Then we got our four cheese pizza!

The pizza looked beautiful with all the cheeses, the caramelized onions and the crust, burnt in some areas.

The crust was very thin and crispy. What I liked was also the fact that they had, on the table, some olive oil with chili peppers inside: you drizzle some oil on the pizza and it gives a delicious kick to it!

The cheeses on the pizza were: mozzarella, grana, fontina and gorgonzola. It also had some caramelized onions on top. I loved that pizza! There was a lot of cheese and the idea of putting caramelized onions on it was fabulous! It added some sweetness to the pizza that was perfect to counterbalance the sharpness of the cheese. It was definitely a great pizza that I recommend!

We skipped the desserts as we wanted to go grab something at Francois Payard, but it is another story...

Although the service was so so, we really enjoyed our brunch at Pulino's! I am sure I will go back there to try some of their specialties, such as the nutella pizette....

Enjoy (I did)!

 

Brunch at Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro in NYC, New York

If you like cheese, you cannot pass on Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro, the cheese haven from Chef Terry Brennan that opened in New York City in 2001. The place is gorgeous and really captures the atmosphere of a Parisian bistro, from the furniture to the old advertising art, to the way the wait staff is dressed! 

Amazingly enough, they have a cheese cave, a temperature and humidity controlled room where you can dine! But make sure you reserve the only table in it! The number of cheeses they have is pretty amazing and that fantastic cheese smell fills the entire room, especially after they open one of the fridges...

The brunch menu is a classic French menu with crepes Suzette, croque monsieur or eggs, but with the Chef's own twist. For instance, they have a Tuna salade nicoise. A basic salade nicoise has canned tuna; but there, they put some seared tuna, making it fancier. They also serve it as a sandwich, called "pan bagnat"! Pan bagnat can be found mainly in the South of France; it has been so many years that I did not have it: when I was a kid, we use to have pan bagnat (in a baguette bread) whenever we were going to the beach.  

So I decided to try their prix fixe brunch menu. For $24.07, you get an appetizer, entree and dessert.

For appetizer, I chose the country pate.

It was served with pickled vegetables and a purple mustard. The pate was pretty good: dense and tasty, with some kick each time I bit into the cracked pepper. The purple mustard was good, but I did not really care for it. 

Then I got the almond croissant French toast.

When ordering, I thought: I love almond croissants and I love French toast, so there should be no issue with the fusion of the two! Apparently, it is one of their signature dishes. Let me tell you: I devoured it! The croissant was well imbibed with what I think was a vanilla batter. You could taste the almonds and even after adding the maple syrup on top, it was not too sweet. 

It was served with an apricot compote and some ricotta that added some freshness to the dish.

For dessert, I got the creme brulee "Le Cirque".

It was a very good creme brulee: the custard was perfectly cooked with a nice vanilla taste and the sugar on top was perfectly torched. 

But wait: it is not the only things I have tried that day! Jodi ordered the croque Monsieur!

This was the best croque Monsieur I ever had! Besides the quality of the ingredients, from the ham to the gruyere, it was filled with bechamel sauce and had this nice taste you get when you burn guryere! On top of that, it was served with some fantastic homemade potato chips!

Last, they somehow knew that I am a food blogger and offered us a pavlova.

It is a meringue filled with a lemon cream, served with fresh berries and a berry sauce. This was lighter than I expected and scrumptious! The berry sauce was not too sweet and the meringue was amazingly good! Great dessert!

So, clearly, a great brunch at a reasonable price. I would last add that the service was courteous and efficient, making the whole experience pleasant.

Enjoy (I did)!

Burgers at Minetta Tavern in NYC, New York

If you follow this blog, you know that I love burgers! What I like is the bold flavor of the meat combined with the cheese, sauces and bread. It is so comforting and a good burger can be divine! There are so many restaurants who serve this great dish, but not all of them succeed. Recently, I decided to try the burgers at Minetta Tavern. The place has the same owner as Balthazar and therefore gets its breads and pastries from there! Apparently,  when they need something, they send a staff member to the Balthazar bakery to get it!

The place is smaller than what I imagine and is divided into two rooms: the main room in the back where the kitchen is located and the bar where few booths are available. There is an old feel to the place, with the black and white photos on the wall and the overall furnitures. 

Minetta Tavern is known for its Black Label burger, a $26 burger with a patty made of prime dry age meats: strip or ribeye, skirt steak and brisket, all coming from the Creekstone Farms (black angus beef raised and grazed in the US and USDA approved). So I decided to try it.

I ordered it medium and the waitress told us that medium means pink in the center. When the burger came, it look fabulous: a thick patty, shiny on the outside probably from the clarified butter that they drizzle the meat throughout the cooking process, with simply caramelized onions on top. It was served on a brioche bread that was not toasted and with some French fries.

The burger was juicy but clearly more medium rare than medium. 

It did not knock my socks off! I was expecting a rich meat flavor that any good dry aged meat would have. In fact, as we wanted to make a comparison,  Jodi ordered the Minetta burger, a cheeseburger that was served with the caramelized onions, as well as the brioche bun, but with cheese on top.

Similar to the Black Label Burger, it came with a thick patty smothered in cheese. The temperature of the burger was the same: medium was in fact medium rare. I'll be honest: there was not a big difference between the Black Label and the cheeseburger! And both burgers were salty!

What I truly liked were the fries! They were spectacular! I think these are the best French fries I got so far: perfectly salted and crispy! I was close to finish my plate until I remembered that this place was just a stop in a food journey...

 We finished with eating the coconut layer cake that stared at us during the entire lunch: Jodi could not resist looking at it. The coconut layer cake is on the menu and comes from Balthazar Bakery. I am not the biggest fan of coconut, but I have to say that it was delicious!

It was made of a very moist cake with two layers of cream and some icing on top with coconut shaving. The coconut taste was perfect and subtle. On top of that, the cake was very light! Fantastic!

I was a bit disappointed by the burgers at Minetta Tavern as, with all the buzz about them, I was expecting something awesome. The only reason I would come back would be for the French fries and the coconut layer cake, not the burgers!

Enjoy (I did)!

September French Restaurant Week in NYC, New York- From September 17 to 30 2012

Do not miss French Restaurant Week from September 17th to September 30th!

Restaurants like Marseille, Nice Matin, Maison, Brasserie Cognac and many more will propose affordable lunch and dinner menus!

More information at: www.frenchrestaurantweek.com

Philippo's in Clark, NJ

Last time, we grab some sandwiches at Philippo's Pizza in Clark, NJ. I love Italian sandwiches: I find it a very comforting food. What is important for me in an Italian sandwich is a soft bread and lots of cheese!

It is the second time we tried food there. This time, we went with an all parmigiana menu: eggplant parmigiana and chicken parmigiana subs.

The subs are huge!

Imagine that what you are seeing on the photo is half a eggplant parmigiana sandwich on a regular plate! And it only costs $8.50!

I loved it: great taste and not greasy at all! They were very generous with the amount of eggplant.

The chicken parmigiana sub was also big and loaded with cheese. It was good, but the chicken was cut too thin so its taste did not always go through.

For this second try, this was again very good, at a very reasonable price. Definitely a good place to go to if you crave Italian subs, cold or hot!

Enjoy (I did)!

Thai Basil restaurant in NYC, New York

It has probably been 5 years since I ate at Thai Basil and I was excited to go back to see if this little gem was still there and still serving some delicious Thai cuisine. And here it was, still standing on 9th Avenue between 55th and 56th!

It was different though! Still a tiny place, they have completely changed the decor, giving to the restaurant a more modern feel, yet with decoration still reminding Thailand.

In term of food, there is no surprised: they serve the usual type of food you would find in any Thai restaurant.

We started off with the vegetable spring rolls.

This is one of our favorite appetizers! It was served with plum sauce. I loved it: crispy, tasty and not greasy! But very hot!

Then, Jodi ordered the Pad See Ew.

These are wide noodles, fried tofu, eggs, broccoli and black soy sauce. This was very, very good! The fried tofu was slightly crispy and the noodles delicious. It was not salty like it can be in other restaurants, most of the time because of the soy sauce.

On my side, I ordered a chicken curry massaman.

It was served with rice.

This dish is one my favorites! The sauce is a peanut based curry and it is served with onions, potatoes and cashew nuts. It is to die for! There is a bit of heat building up, but you cannot stop eating this scrumptious sauce!

Although the decor has changed, Thai Basil is still serving some delicious Thai Food at a reasonable price! A great place to know!

Enjoy (I did)!

Brunch at The Standard Grill in NYC, New York

The meatpacking district is an interesting neighborhood, filled with renown restaurants, some of them with a crowd a bit pretentious and obnoxious, making it a great area for people watching. This is where also people go to see celebrities...We ended up there for brunch after a friend's recommendation. It was for sure packed and the service suffered a little bit of it, although it was very courteous and tried to satisfy any demand we had.

Each table had some cute kissing dogs that were in fact salt and pepper, that you could purchase (I am sure some people did!).

So we started off with the Bibb Royale:

It was bibb lettuce with a white-wine dijon vinaigrette and chives. This is my favorite lettuce and it was nicely made and delicately presented.

Then, they had a soup of the day: a chilled carrot soup.

It was the first time I had a carrot soup and to serve it chilled was perfect as it was a hot day: very refreshing!

Then, we shared some homemade cinnamon sugar donuts:

They were fantastic! Not greasy, airy with a scrumptious cinnamon sugar coating.

Following the donuts coma, Jodi got her scrambled eggs that she ordered:

They definitely know how to make scrambled eggs: fluffy and very moist! If it was not for Jodi, I would have eaten her plate!!!

On my side, I got the Belgian waffle with buttered rum, walnuts and bananas:

That was a great waffle: crispy outside and chewy at the same time. You could definitely taste the rum also...

For sure we had a sugar coma after leaving The Standard Grill! It was one of the best brunches I had in NYC!

Enjoy (I did)!


And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Another Saturday in New York City!

Every week end has its own food activity! Some people plan for a trip: I plan for Food! This week end is no different than the others, so I decided to give you a glimpse of what it means and to narrate our food quest last Saturday! 

Jodi and I made a plan to meet with Jodi's cousin in the city. We were supposed to meet at 1pm at B Cafe, a Belgian restaurant located on the Upper West Side. It has been a while I wanted to try it: one of my co-workers told me that they serve a great merguez sandwich. A Merguez is a lamb sausage packed in spices, that you would mainly find in North African inspired  restaurants like Le Souk, Tagine, Felix or Cafe Mogador. 

The photo below shows you how a merguez looks like:

The best way to eat them in a sandwich with simply some ketchup or honey mustard; of course, the bread is key. When I lived in Paris, I use to go to some kebab places that were serving merguez sandwiches with very greasy fries: a pretty comforting meal! In my family, we also use to cook them on a grill (in France, you can find merguez in any supermarket): fantastic! I remember that when I was a kid, merguez used to be very, very spicy and my cousins were adding Harissa (chili paste) to it to make it even spicier; nowadays, they are not so spicy, maybe to satisfy the taste buds of everybody: after all, it is easy to make something spicier than the contrary!

So, anyway, we were on our way to the city and for me, even after having a breakfast, I was still hungry. So we decided to stop by first at Francois Payard for a small snack.

We shared a chocolate croissant and I got a delicious double expresso with it. The expresso coffee was good, but it is not as good as the one you would get at Eataly! The chocolate croissant, made in a shape of a croissant, was very disappointing! I do not know if it is because it was made earlier that day, but it was a bit dry and I could not taste the butter I tasted when I reviewed this location few week ago (click here to see the review of Francois Payard).

We continued to walk up leisurely, until we arrived at B Cafe:

B Cafe (B is for Belgian) is a nice little bistro style restaurant located on the Upper West Side. The dining room is located in the back of the restaurant and has definitely a European feel to it. Surprisingly, they did not put any air conditioning that day, although the weather was very humid. Maybe they are saving on their electricity bill! The service was very courteous and they graciously moved us to a cooler part of the restaurant.

As planned, I ordered the merguez sandwich:

The sandwich came with some salad and fries. I was pleased to see that they served it in an old fashioned baguette and was made with lettuce, diced tomatoes and caramelized onions. 

Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the sandwich: the bread was tough and they made the mistake of butterflying the merguez instead of serving it as a whole, that would have allowed more flavor, but also the sausage to keep some of the fat that makes it so distinctive. Because of that, it was also very messy to eat! Clearly a miss! Fortunately, I enjoyed the fries...

Jodi went for the omelet jardiniere:

Served also with salad and fries, it contained mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus and cheese. It was an ok omelet for me: although well cooked (meaning not overcooked), it was watery, thanks to the veggies it contained. 

B Cafe serves also mussels, but it seems that they did not taste as fresh as they should...I did not try and will probably never! So B Cafe is a forgettable experience...

The next stop was for something sweet as we did not get dessert a B Cafe. We decided to go to Levain Bakery that was on our way downtown. We went the first time few years back, after seeing the bakery featured in Throw-down with Bobby Flay. 

The bakery was opened by two women who use to run marathon and decided to create a cookie that would be packed in energy so it would help them go through their favorite activity. They created a 6 ounce cookie that is very good, but very heavy! 

It is a tiny place and it was packed! When I entered, my nose was filled with a strong and delicious chocolate smell! 

We chose the dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie:

Judging by its appearance, it is not the most appetizing cookie. But if you like chocolate, this is the best you can ever have! The chocolate flavor was intense and the cookie was oozing chocolate!

We continued walking leisurely downtown, until it was time to have dinner. We decided to eat at Miss Lily's, a restaurant in the West Village that we noticed each time we passed in the area, because of the line outside, especially at brunch time.

I had no idea what kind of restaurant Miss Lily's is! It is a pretty colorful place (lots of red) and the way the menu is displayed on top of the bar, gives the impression you are in a self service restaurant. The cuisine is from the Caribbean, mainly Jamaica. Per the waiter, they have three popular dishes: jerk chicken, Jerk pork and oxtail stew. I decided to order the jerk chicken and to start with the watermelon gazpacho, a special of the day.

Gazpacho is a cold tomato based soup that originates from Spain. It is the perfect dish for a hot weather and a nice starter for a meal. This soup was very good: they added some feta cheese on top to add some saltiness to the dish and the tomato and watermelon flavors were well balanced. There was pepper in it that gave a nice but subtle kick to it.

Then came the long awaited jerk chicken!

Jerk is, according to Wikipedia, "a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice". And I can tell you that this was packed with spices! They served a nice portion of chicken with a marinated cucumber salad and a sort of apple compote. What I liked, besides the fact that the chicken was moist, is that it was not overly spicy at first: it just built up in the back of my throat, until becoming very hot! The apple compote (sort of) helped a bit to counteract the spices, but still: it is a hot dish! What helped also is the rice and beans that came with it.

It was good, although on the dry side and had a nice coconut taste that you lose after having your mouth on fire...

Jodi chose the vegan bushman plate:

It was composed of jerk seitan (left), quinoa, stir fry vegetables & plantains (center), callaloo (right). Callaloo is a traditional Caribbean dish made with a leaf vegetable such as taro, amaranth or xanthosoma. To be honnest, I do not remember which one the waiter said it was, but it was similar to spinach, maybe on the sweeter side. The callaloo was also very spicy. The dish was ok and I thought that it was overpriced ($19). 

So, my dinner was good at Miss Lily's, but Jodi was a bit disappointed. I think that if you like meat and like spicy, Miss Lily's can be a good spot!

We did not get any dessert this time, considering the amount of food we ate that day...I am sure you understand!

Enjoy (I did)!

Burgers at Stand 4 restaurant in NYC, New York

Jodi and I went for dinner with our friends Annie and Leif to Stand 4 near Union Square to enjoy a burger.

The place, with its bull at the entrance, is pretty big with its high ceilings and mirrors that add an impression of space to the dining room. 

In term of menu, you can either create your own burger (CYOB) or order one of their special ones. If you decide to built one, this is the way it works:

• choose the bun:
• brioche, sesame seed Bun, giant enlish muffin, whole wheat, iceberg lettuce (interesting...).
• choose the patty:
• beef, turkey, chicken, salmon, veggie, portobello.
• choose the toppings: 
• free: lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles.
• additional charge: white cheddar, swiss, pepper jack, american, blue, mozzarella, carmelized onions, jalepenos, sauteed mushrooms, portobello, avocado, fried egg, smoke applewood bacon, canadian bacon, mac & chez, beef chili, turkey chili, cole slaw, kewpie japanese mayo, any sauce or mayo.

Jodi created her own with brioche, beef patty, American cheese, mushrooms and pickles.

Mine was the Buffalo Beef Burger. I asked for a brioche bun. Otherwise, it is made with fried onions, white cheddar, BBQ sauce and comes with blue cheese dressing on the side.

Both burgers were fantastic! The bun was toasted and soft. The meat was juicy and tasty with a nice amount of it. The Buffalo Beef Burger was a bit big to eat, but it was manageable. I loved the different flavors mixed together and only regret the lack of heat from the BBQ sauce. 

With the burgers, we ordered some sides...

French fries:

Skin on, crispy and well cooked (I hate undercooked fries!)

Tater tots.

Nothing special: pretty standards...

Onion rings:

I did not like them: some were stuck together and the batter was missing salt.

For the story, the kitchen forgot our sides and not only offered us the fries (we did not order them), offered us the tater tots and onion rings, but also gave us some coupons for mini milkshakes for the next time we go there. Always nice to see when a restaurant is addressing an issue appropriately. 

So I mentioned milkshakes! Yes, they do offer milkshakes: with or without alcohol (vodka, rum...). They have some interesting flavors: toasted marshmallow, cookies and cream, blueberry pie...I picked the nutella one! I love nutella so it was an easy choice and I was pretty excited as it was the first time I saw that on a menu. 

The nutella milkshake came with a light and delicious whipped cream. The milkshake itself was amazing: it was not too thick (anyway, they provided a large straw) and had the perfect quantity of nutella. More would have been too much!

So, I can tell you that after the burger, sides and milkshake, I was full! I really enjoy the dinner and will certainly go back to Stand 4 to try their other burgers like the kobe beef one. Definitely to recommend!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

Chicken Galore restaurant in Union City, NJ

Jodi was having dinner with one of her friend so I decided to treat myself with some fried chicken (I love it!). I therefore ordered a combination platter from Chicken Galore in Union City.

The platter is composed of: 3 pieces of fried chicken, 2 ribs, coleslaw, onion rings and fries.

The way it came was a bit disappointing as everything was on top of each other! The ribs were buried under the fries and onions rings.

There was a delicious BBQ sauce, but unfortunately the meat was a bit tough.

The chicken however was perfect!

The meat was perfectly cooked and moist, there was a perfect amount of breading and it was not greasy. I detected some nice spices in the breading that added a nice touch to it.

The French fries were steak cut: they were not crispy but it could be attributed to the delivery that caused them to steam a bit. The coleslaw had an off taste and the onion rings were forgettable!

So, I would definitely order back the Fried Chicken from Chicken Galore: only this...

Enjoy (I did)!

 

Lunch at Michael's in NYC, New York

Michael's is one of these restaurants that have been opened forever and where business people as well as celebrities like to go. Or at least people thinking that they will see celebrities go!

I went there for a lunch recently. The restaurant has a nice feel between classic and modern with its colorful paintings on the wall.

The service was courteous but a bit disorganized, although the restaurant was reasonably crowded.

In term of food, the menu offers a diversity of dishes that are at the same time simple and elaborated.

The presentation of each dish was a pleasure for the eyes: colorful and well put together. I tasted first the sashimi of hamachi (also called Japanese Amberjack or yellowtail). It was served with Pickled Jalapeño, Bell Peppers, Salmon Roe with a Yuzu Vinaigrette. I liked the finesse of the dish that had very clean flavors. My only regret was the salmon roe that I do not particularly like.

They also serve some amazing chilled shrimp, served with avocado, grapefruit, horseradish and a bit of Greek yoghurt. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the acidity of the grapefruit as well as the avocado added a some freshness to it.

For the main dish, I went for the Seared Maine Dayboat Scallops.

They were served on a disk made of quinoa and sunflower seeds, with a rouille sauce. The colors on this dish were fantastic! The scallops were perfectly cooked with a nice sear on it. The quinoa was perfectly cooked (thank God they rinsed it thoroughly so it did not have a bitter taste). The sauce was delicious, but I could not really think about a rouille when tasting it. Overall, it was a successful dish that healthy conscious people will sure appreciate!

For dessert, they had different types of sorbet.

The raspberry sorbet was scrumptious with a nice fruity taste! I bet it was homemade! 

I could not resist to the German chocolate pyramid either.

It was served with a delicious pecan praline ice cream. The pyramid was dense and for sure was loaded with dark chocolate! Perfect for chocolate lovers!

So, it was a great lunch there: great food, spectacular plating and fantastic flavors. I understand why it has been there so long!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

Matt & Meera, American-Indian restaurant in Hoboken, NJ - Closed

I have discovered this little gem in Hoboken that replaced Kati Roll a month ago: Matt & Meera. At first, we were not sure what we would get there as the name did not really indicate anything in particular. I was not even sure it would be a restaurant! 

We went a first time and it was so good that we came back! The first time, I was lucky to meet one of the owners Chef Hari Nayak who wrote several cookbooks. He told me that the idea was to put together American and Indian cuisine, bring Indian spices and twist to American classics. In fact, the name itself is made of a common name in the US (Matt) and a common name in India (Meera): these people do not exist and only represent the fusion the Chef wanted to create.

I like the place: simple and warm with its bricks and wood.

They have a communal table in the middle of the dining room and a large shelf full of sauces you can purchase. I bought their Habanero mustard and really like it!

The service is fast and courteous. At first, I thought it was a fast food, because you order at the counter, but in fact, they will bring the food at the table, in plates, like in any restaurant. They also pay attention to the presentation as I hope my photos will show!  The nice and sometimes playful plating gives another dimension to this place that you could not have guessed considering the prices displayed on their menu! At the time of this post, the most expensive item on the menu, the soft shell crab sandwich is $9! For sure, not all the items are full plates as the principle is to share, but still!

Looking at the menu, you will definitely recognize some authentic Indian specialties, such as the samosas:

Samosas are crispy turnover filled with this time either potatoes, vegetables or meat. We decided to try these three fillings, but you can pick which one you want. They are served with a tomato mustard chutney.

The potato and the vegetables samosa were delicious, packed with spices! As the vegetables are cut in small pieces and not pureed, you get a different flavor at each bite.

The meat samosa was amazing! The meat was definitely lamb and it was also packed with spices that reminded me of kefta that are meatballs you find in Oriental cuisine. 

This with the delicious tomato mustard chutney was awesome! I also appreciated the fact that the samosas were crispy and not greasy at all! The shell was perfectly cooked and not doughy.

Then we tried the Meera's Chicken TikkaMasala  kebab:

I love chicken Tikka Masala! So I was thrilled to try this! The chicken is pan seared and dipped in tikka masala sauce. It was a bit tough to remove the chicken from the skewer and the sauce was missing some depth. It was just ok for me.

Then we got their most ordered item: the "Naan" Chos.

This is the perfect example of the fusion between American and Indian cuisine. The chips are made of naan and there is some melted masala cheese all over it, with a scoop of cream cheese, some chutneys and some guacamole (for sure the guacamole was not fresh). I thought it was a great idea! The naan chips were crispy and their dryness was complemented by the melted cheese, sour cream and guacamole. The dish had a nice little kick! Overall a great idea.

The second time we went, we ordered again the samosa and I decided to try the lamb burger.

I thought it would be a smaller size burger, but in fact it was pretty big! It came in a metal bucket that gave a nice touch to the presentation. The bread was a soft toasted brioche bread and there was some lettuce, tomato and red onion with the lamb patty.

I asked for the burger to be cooked medium and it came at the perfect temperature! The meat was juicy and very tasty. With the lamb, they put the same spices that gave that particular taste to the meat samosa. There was no need to add any cheese, ketchup or mayo. It was incredibly good!

For one more dollar, we added some homemade crispy masala chips that were the perfect side to the burger.

Jodi ordered one kati roll:

It is like a wrap made with a thin bread that I believe was a roti. She picked the tofu roll. It was pretty tasty and there was a nice eggy taste thanks to the omelet they laid on the roti before rolling it.   

The third time we went, we decided to try more classic dishes to see how the Indian influence translated to.

First were Matt's calamari.

They are crispy calamari served with a mustard tomato chutney. This was delicious: the calamari were perfectly cooked, meaning that they were not rubbery; it was crispy and not greasy with a hint of spices that slowly builds up in the back of your mouth, but is still not strong.

For the spiciness, I went for the grilled chicken wings.

These are red chili wings cooked in a tandoor. If you like spicy, this is definitely for you! Although my mouth was on fire, I loved it! Very tasty. The spiciness hits you right away and the only way to diffuse it is to dip the wings in the sauce they serve it with. Not sure what is was made of, but I certainely could taste some pepper.

The last dish was their naan pizza.

The pizza looked very appetizing and was fantastic! You can even try to make it at home after buying naan bread at the supermarket. Yes, the dough is replaced by some naan bread that is very thin and becomes crispy during the cooking process. They do not put any tomato sauce, just cheese and the different ingredients. I did not really care for the spinach and did not taste the mint at all. However, the flavor of the mushroom and pepper gave some freshness to it. Both were blended with the cheese (I hate when mushrooms are added at the end). Overall very good!

Each times, we got some fantastic dishes at Matt & Meera and we will sure go back there! My only regret is that they do not serve sweet lassi that I love and have no desserts. They do serve mango lassi and a cucumber cooler that I have tried and was delish, but they cannot replace a good sweet lassi! They told me that they will soon start proposing a dinner menu. I will for sure try it!!!

Enjoy (I did)!