Located in Princeton University’s new Arts and Transit neighborhood and across from The McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts, Cargot Brasserie is a French inspired restaurant that opened in July 2017. We got invited there last week for lunch, an occasion to go to Princeton not just for that, but also to visit one of our friends, Livia.

The last place we tried at Urbanspace Vanderbilt was La Palapa, a mexican restaurant that is not unknown to us as we went few times to their East Village location (great French toast for brunch!). Perfect for a quick bite, it was not the best tacos though...Here is what I tried:

Guacamole and chips: good but this is a tiny portion that they give! There is a larger portion but it is not worth the $15 they ask for. Otherwise, the guacamole, not made to order, was good.

No need to go to Brooklyn anymore to have a delicious taste of Roberta's: their outpost at Urbanspace Vanderbilt is superb! Yes, the pizzas are small and a bit pricey, but they are worth it. These small neapolitan pizzas serve one person, allowing people to share a bunch. I love the crust that is crispy on the outside and deliciously charred and they offer a nice selection that can satisfy vegetarian and non-vegetarian patrons. For instance, we tried:

Mr Bing, located in Urbanspace Vanderbilt, serves jianbing, traditional Northern Chinese crepes, a street food that the founder, Brian Goldberg, tried while studying Chinese in Beijing in 1998. The way the crepes or bings are made is with mung bean, rice and wheat flour crepe coated with egg, sesame seeds, scallions, hoisin sauce, crispy chili paste, cilantro, and crunchy wontons. Then, you can pick the filling. Jodi ordered the classic vegetarian bing that is the crepe with no filling.

I love fried chicken, a dish I never had in France if it was not at...KFC in Paris! Yes, fried chicken is not something that you would find in classic French cooking, and I think it is too bad as I love it! So, I was really looking forward to try Delaney Chicken at Urbanspace Vanderbilt. Their menu is simple: chicken, chicken and chicken, offering three types of sandwiches.

I love food halls as they offer some food diversity, perfect if people have different tastes and usually not too pricey. We discovered last year Urbanspace Vanderbilt, a food hall located few steps from Grand Central, that hosts 20 different vendors, from Japanese ramen (Ippudo), lobster rolls (Luke's Lobster), to burgers and shakes (Hard Times Sundaes). We went for the latter, trying not just the burgers, but also their old fashioned egg cream, an item that screams Americana, that was quite good.

Finally! Choc-O-Pain, the French bakery located Downtown Hoboken just opened an Uptown location, replacing Ganache in the Hudson Tea Building. It is a good move as the north part of the city is missing some places like this, Brod finally withdrawing their project to open in the Maxwell Place building, close to La Isla. 

Choc-O-Pain Uptown is quite big, with a lot of light thanks to the large windows, with even a small room where people with kids can enjoy some time there.

For Valentine's Day, we decided to go back to Boucherie, but we discovered that they just opened, a couple of days before, a new location near Union Square, on Park Avenue South. I admit that we are always a bit reticent to go out that day because a lot of restaurants are packed (kitchen overwhelmed and short in staff) or propose an overpriced prix-fixe. But, considering the meal we had the week before in their West Village location, we thought it would be worth trying.

We recently discovered Boucherie, butcher shop in French, a restaurant in the West Village that is conveniently located close to the Christopher Street subway stop. With its brasserie feel, this place is quite big, with two dining rooms that boast a nice decor made of old commercials and photos, and white tiles to give that butcher shop feel.

When I booked a table at Da Marino on Opentable, I did not realize I passed many times in front of this place, where every time, there was somebody outside the restaurant haranguing the crowd to persuade them to come have a meal there, something that I always thought was unnecessary if a place is good. Well, too late: we already had a reservation and I was set on having spaghetti alle vongole, one of my favorite Italian dishes, as well as a tiramisu (yes, I most of the time know what I will be eating as we always scrutinize the menu before going). 

We recently discovered a great place in Long Island City called The Baroness. Located few steps from Queensborro Plaza, it is a burger bar that serves fantastic burgers! Well, fortunately for them as this is their main purpose, but no, really, their burgers are so good that we went twice in a week. They have close to 20 different beef burgers made with Pat Lafrieda meat, that they cook medium rare and bring with a knife planted into them adding a bit of drama to the presentation. But, if you do not like beef, you can have lamb, chicken, ahi tuna or a vegetarian patty (that is house made), but with a much limited choice, all on the menus that are presented in old record sleeves.

I love Qi, a Thai restaurant serving a modern fair that relocated from Times Square to Hell's Kitchen, at the location where Chef Pichet Ong opened Chaan Teng, an eclectic Chinese restaurant end of 2016, that unfortunately closed. It is unfortunate as Chaan Teng was pretty good, but at least, it gives Qi a better chance to attract customers, the restaurant in Times Square being beautiful, but not the best location, with people also wondering if it was a lounge considering the feel it had. In Hell's kitchen, there is no doubt, even with the music playing, that they are serving food.

We were looking for a restaurant on a Friday when we stumbled upon The Little Beet Table, a place located few steps from the Flatiron that focusses on local ingredients, mostly vegetarian, with only few non-vegetarian dishes. Their menu is interesting as the plates show some creativity: it is not an after thought and, for a carnivore like me, quite satisfying. Here are the dishes we tried:

The last time I went to Mont Blanc 52, it was called Maria's Mont Blanc and was located in the Theater District: same owners but different location as they lost their lease. The one on 52nd has less exposure to foot traffic, but equally good and welcoming. We went there for dinner, eager to try this time their cheese fondue. I admit that I was surprised about the price, as, for $54 of two, it seems a bit overpriced, and did not expect having a salad and some fried potatoes (called rosti) that then explained the price.

One of my colleagues, Abe, has been talking about Basta Pasta for a while and so, Jodi and I decided to go there for dinner. Little did I know that this place first opened in Tokyo, back in 1985, with the concept of having an open kitchen so diners could enjoy a sort of cooking show, offering entertainment as well as good food. Five years later, they opened their Chelsea location, where Chef Takada crafted a creative menu inspired from classic Italian dishes.

So right now is Restaurant Week until February 9th. I have to say that I am on a fence when it comes to Restaurant Week: it is a great event, but not all restaurants are embracing the principle that is for diners to discover restaurants and, in a way, want to come back to try their regular menu. No, some restauranteurs simply lower the quality of their food: too bad. But I have to say that Ruth's Chris is not like that: first of all, they have a delicious lunch menu that they serve all year long, crafting a menu for restaurant week is not too far fetched.

I recently went to Yakiniku Futago, few blocks from Union Square and I was blown away: the food there is superb and there is a nice and relaxed atmosphere, all the ingredients for a great evening. The decor is beautiful, elegant and zen, with a noise level that was perfect considering that I like to enjoy a good conversation with a meal. 

Ramen-Ya Samurai Edition is the second location of Ramen-Ya, a place I discovered a couple of years ago. Bigger than its sister restaurant, the Samurai Edition, the food there was delicious and quite comforting, especially in cold temperatures.

We wanted to have a burger or maybe I should write I wanted to have a burger, and decided to go to check out Kings of Kobe, a place I found on instagram. This place is an odd to Americana, serving burgers and hotdogs made with all natural American wagyu beef. So I was expecting quality burgers, as going for both a burger and a hotdog would have been too much considering the size of the hotdogs they serve.