We passed Black Iron Burger few times and had in mind to go there, thinking that they probably serve killer burgers. Well, I should mention that they are few steps from a Five Guys, so the competition must be fierce! Black Iron Burger is setup like a bar, with TVs and blue lighting that I feared a bit as I do not take any photos with the flash...
I was really excited when I got invited to a press diner at La Sirene, a French restaurant located in Soho, couple of minutes from the subway. I met the Chef and Owner, Didier Pawlicki, at Le Village last December (below is a photo of Chef Pawlicki in kitchen of Le Village).
You may think that Pad Thai is a Thai restaurant. Well, you are half right: it is a Thai restaurant that serves also Japanese cuisine. Yes, that sounds weird, but they have a nice Japanese cuisine menu that includes the usual sushi and sashimi, bento boxes...But we were not going there for that and sticked to some Thai dishes.
Then came our entrée. At first, Jodi ordered some dal makhni, but the waiter told her that it was medium spicy and that anyway, I would have some in my dish. So he suggested that she picked a different dish, a gesture that I truly appreciated. So she went for the saag paneer, a dish made with spinach and cottage cheese.
Going to The Elysian is always a challenge as this popular Hoboken restaurant is always crowded and it is often that a line would form outside on week ends, specifically for brunch. Owned by Joyce and Eugene Finn who also operate Amanda's, another popular spot, it is the oldest continually operated restaurant in the city. The adventure started in 1895, when the restaurant opened as Dillenger & Jeffson's. During the prohibition, it went from a restaurant to an ice cream parlor and hair salon. I am not sure when they took that name that sounds French, but is not.
I think I have more chance booking a trip to Greece than getting a table at Uncle Nick's in Hell's Kitchen. Well, in fact, it is what I thought, having tried few times to go there, until I saw their location in Chelsea. Uncle Nick's is well known: good food in a casual ambiance, far from the trendy Avra Estiatorio or the more elegant Molyvos, that is, according to one of my Greek colleagues, the best Greek restaurant in New York.
After a couple of years feeding the avid crowd of lobster rolls at Pier 13, Luke's Lobster set foot in Hoboken and opened on May 15th. It replaced a pizza joint that seemed to be always closed and was definitely a questionable business choice, considering the number of pizzerias in the area. The pizza place was preceded by a frites joint that unfortunately did not have the same success as Pommes Frites in the East Village. Why do I think that Luke's Lobster will do better?
The Chef, Gabe Thompson is not unknown to me as we recently went to one of his other restaurants in Manhattan, L'Apicio, where we had a fantastic dinner. In fact, the menus at the two places have a lot of similarities. And for sure, we knew we would not pass on desserts as his wife, Katherine, is the pastry Chef and not only did we have amazing desserts at L'Apicio, but, when they appeared on the TV show The Best New Restaurant, she blew away the diners and the judges, Tom Colicchio being the host and head judge, each time with a different dessert.
The first time I tried a merveilleux was in Paris, at my friends Caroline and Arnaud who bought them at Aux Merveilleux de Fred. The merveilleux is a meringue cookie coated in whipped cream; it is a specialty from the North of France and Flanders (Belgium).
I love chicken in any way: fried, roasted, pan seared...So I was looking forward to try Kyochon Chicken near Koreatown. So, here I am in that place that is fairly modern: very bright, trendy decor and loud techno music, especially if you go upstairs where a large counter as well as tables are. You order at the counter and then have to wait until your buzzer tells you your food is ready.
It has been a while we were talking about going on a food tour, when I received an email inviting us to one of the tours organized by Like A Local Tours, a company that proposes food tours in the Flatiron area as well as Brooklyn. We decided to try the Flatiron History & Food Tour. Ok, I admit that I was more interested by the food than by the history, but was in fact quite pleased to learn a bit of the past of this area I often visit. It was also a good occasion to take the time, in this fast paced city, to stop and admire the architecture of the buildings we passed so many times in front of, without even noticing how beautiful they were.
This is the ultimate pizza as it has four corner slices, preventing any fight over the almighty deliciousness that a corner is. I mean, who would want s middle slice from a Sicilian pizza???
The first bite was fantastic: the nicely charred crust was delightfully crispy and the sauce was divine. And that cheese...When you have tried mozzarella di bufala, there is no turning back!
For my birthday, we went to Avra Estiatorio, an elegant Greek restaurant located Midtown East. When people asked me if I already went there, I answered affirmatively: I went there more than 10 years ago and remember two things: the long wait (couple of minutes became 45 minutes) and the delicious fresh lobster I ate. I was hoping the first would not repeat...Well, it kind of did...
Haldi is one the new new venues Michelin-starred Executive Chef Hemant Mathur is devoting his time and talent to grow. Chef Mathur is not unknown to me as I was lucky enough to taste his amazing food at Tulsi in November 2013 (he got a Michelin star there), but without a chance to meet with him. I mean, he has an impressive resume: worked at Bukhara, one of the popular restaurants in Deli that I tried last year; he teamed up to open Devi, getting a Michelin star in 2007, being the first Indian restaurant in the country to get one. I admit that I did not like Devi that since closed, but it was anyway way after Chef Mathur left the restaurant.
I was recently invited to a blogger dinner at Bagatelle, the popular French restaurant in the Meatpacking district. There, I had a fantastic time with the team of Blue Polo Interactive, Inc. (Jocelyn, Michael and Josh), as well as my fellow bloggers, Malini, The Restaurant Fairy, and Christine. There, we got to meet with Chef Sebastien Chamaret, who gave us an exclusive tour of the busy kitchen.
Ponty Bistro is an interesting restaurant; not because of the decor, but more the selection of dishes that are French, African and Mediterranean. There, Chef Cisse, who opened the restaurant in 2008 with his cousin, after years in the restaurant business and an impressive resume (Daniel Boulud at Daniel Restaurant, Vong and Mercer Kitchen for Jean-Georges Vongerichten and others), crafted an eclectic menu adding some African influence to some traditional dishes.
The last and only time we went to Marc Forgione, the eponymous restaurant of the celebrity Chef was in 2011; but trust me: I still remember a phenomenal meal there and could talk about most of the dishes we had with detail, although they are not anymore on the menu. It was time to go back and they welcomed us back after we sat, not because I am someone you would never forget, but because they probably keep the names of their customers in a database that is checked whenever somebody makes a reservation.
Rotisserie chicken brings to me some childhood memories, from the time we were going to the farmers' market on Sundays or when we passed by the butcher's section at the supermarket, our noses filled with the delicious and appetizing smell of the roasted bird. I love rotisserie chicken and could eat a whole one with some mayonnaise or simply by dipping the meat in the almighty juice.
We were looking for an Italian Restaurant Midtown and stumbled on Il Corso, a small trattoria located a couple of blocks from the MOMA. Opened in 1993, the name of this place means The path. The owners, who are from the south of Italy explain it by saying that "their goal is to
guide their clients on a path to a wonderful experience".
