Tag Archives: grilled cheese

Westport, CT: Red Hen in the Westport Inn

15 Oct

After a lovely team event near my Westport, CT offices, I went out with my friend to grab a nice dinner before driving back to NYC.  We checked out Yelp and made some calls to see who could take us right away.  The Red Hen in the Westport Inn said they were having a slow night and their ratings were quite good, so we decided to check it out.

Sure enough, they were quite empty. The chef was at the bar and we were one of just two seated tables in the small restaurant off the lobby.  We instantly fell in love with the decorations.  The doors as dividers with this fun farmhouse feel.  Really loved it.

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The chef came over to our table and instantly started chatting us up.  His love for food and excited for this restaurant was palpable.  He talked about how he sources all of his ingredients as locally and sustainably as possible.  He talked about wanting to step everything up a notch and we gave him some ideas of what we wanted to try and told him to have at it.

The first thing we tried was the zucchini fritters.  These were tasty, but I’m not sure if they were right.  The inside of the fritters was more like zucchini dip.  Not raw, per se, but I wasn’t sure if that was really how they were intended or if they were meant to be solid all the way through.   I did like the balsamic reduction on top, however.

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Then we tried the vegan spring rolls. These had a few peppers in it, but I managed to pick around it.  I liked the idea of it and the hoisin sauce was good, but I’m not sure I could recommend it.

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We also tried the sundried tomato and basil sausage. It came with a cilantro dijonaise sauce and the cilantro was a perfect compliment to the taste of the sausage.  But the sausage itself was a bit overcooked and dry. Bummer.

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I saw bacon crusted arctic char on the menu and had to try it.  Turns out, the chef makes a bacon paste-like substance to crust the char.  It came with mashed sweet potatoes and grilled squash.  Everything on this place was very good.  The char was perfectly cooked and the bacon was a great compliment. There was an awesome char on the squash and zucchini and the sweet potatoes were tasty.

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We also decided to try the grilled cheese with a side of brussels sprouts.  The grilled cheese was a special version that had a mixture of cheeses and came with an onion jam.

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And boy was it special.  Everything else we tried at The Red Hen was good but not special, and for the most part not flawless.  But this grilled cheese was awesome.  Exactly what grilled cheese should be (and better).  Nicely browned and toasty bread (but not too much of it) with a hearty, flavorful cheese and the sweetness of the onion jam.  Mm mm mmm this was good!

The brussels sprouts were just okay. I like them roasted and crispy much better.

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Overall, I think the chef’s excitement actually set expectations too high. I know exactly what he’s going for, but the food wasn’t quite there.  There was a lack in depth of flavor in most of the dishes we tried and some executional problems.  But everything was still quite good and that grilled cheese was something special!  I will certainly return and probably order a bit differently next time.  But I still recommend.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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Brooklyn Diner- “The Finer Diner”

7 Aug

We take clients out to all sorts of fancy restaurants, so when we had one request a trip to Brooklyn Diner, we quizzically agreed. We can go any place in Manhattan and you want to go to a diner? A diner called Brooklyn Diner? Which is in Time Square? And has the tagline “The Finer Diner?”

Well… ok…

Brooklyn Diner is the classic Times Square establishment with such a bright neon sign that it blends right in to the rest of the block. When we entered, I realize it’s part of a family of restaurants including Redeye Grill, Tratoria Dell’Arte, and Bond 45, all of which are in the general vicinity of midtown.  Turns out, I’ve been to all of their restaurants except Brooklyn Diner, and was actually quite fond of the restaurant family.  The food at each was always reliably good, if not above par for Times Square.  All are more than any normal person would ever want to spend, but hell, it’s Times Square, so good quality food seemed fair at their price.

Back to “The Finer Diner.”  

After a bit of teasing about this pick, we found out that our client’s heard from some of their coworkers that this place was very good, and happened to have a really good lobster roll.  Well ok!

I actually wound up getting grilled cheese with split pea soup. It was a very chilly day and this hit the spot.  The bread was perfectly crisp, the cheese full of flavor and melty without being a mess, and the soup had great flavor.

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I shouldn’t have been so skeptical!

They put hot dogs in it too, which was a fun (and delicious) twist on ham.

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Everyone else went right for the lobster roll, which they all said was very good.  Even their fries and onion straws were especially crisp and tasty.

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I was pleasantly surprised by Brooklyn Diner.  I guess my expectations were quite low (I can be so judgmental sometimes!), but I would recommend this place to anyone in the area looking for a casual and relaxing lunch before a Broadway show.  

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

Grub Street Food Festival ::UPDATES!::

6 Dec

I was SO excited when I heard that Grub Street (the food section of New York Magazine) was going to be holding a food festival when some of my favorite people were in town to visit.  I immediately picked this as our first destination.  Some fantastic restaurants that I had wanted to try were going to be all in one place.  I was SO excited!

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And then we got there… It was being held in a very small, fenced off area and it was packed TO THE GILLS.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m short, but I HATE being in a place where I can’t see past a huge group of people.  ESPECIALLY when I want food!  You couldn’t see where lines began or ended nor what each place was offering.  I would have GLADLY waited on line for many of these places, however, it was so damn packed that it was uncomfortable and frustrating.  I was ready to throw in the towel, but the team calmed me down and came up with a plan of attack.  We would all find one place with interesting stuff, get it, and meet back towards the front to share our spoils.  Ready… Set… GO!

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The first place that caught my eye was selling chocolate chip pretzel cookies. So I got one of those and it was unique and delicious.  Surprisingly soft.  Unfortunately, I never got enough room to take a picture of where it came from.

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UPDATE: In a fortuitous turn of events, I happened upon a stand for this very company when I went to the Columbus Circle Holiday Market this past weekend.  So now I know… Sigmund Pretzelshop make fine pretzel cookies!

I also decided to try the cheddar truffle pretzel while I was there this weekend.  It was good, but could have been more truffly. 🙂

I REALLY wanted some risotto balls that were being cooked near the front, however, they obviously didn’t anticipate the amount of people and said it would be at least 10-15 minutes before new ones were out.  I diligently waited since it was near our waiting spot, however, when they finally came out there were only about 6 to buy… so I didn’t get one.

I still had a bit more time, so I found a place near our meeting spot with a shortish line called The Smile that was serving grilled cheese sandwiches.  It was good, but a bit too generic.  Not exactly what I would serve to people to convince them to come in to try a meal.

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Mike proudly came back with a short rib sandwich.  It was VERY tasty! Wish I knew where it came from…

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Our friend Sarah came back with an empanada.  I couldn’t eat it, but I hear it was good.

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Our friend Mark, however, came back with the winner… Fried Pumpkin Pie.  GENIUS!  Everything about this was sensational!  If I knew where this came from, I’d get this again in a heartbeat.

UPDATE 2!  Thank you Lillian for sending me this link that talks about what to eat at the festival.  Here I learned that the fried pumpkin pies came from Melt Bakery.  (By perusing their site, I found out that they have classes!  I also found out that they DELIVER! And they are most famous for their ice cream sandwiches.  Goodbye diet… HELLO Melt Bakery!)

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A funny side-note, however… Bethenny Frankel (best known for being on the Real Housewives of New York), was filming her new(ish) show at the festival when we arrived.  Mike even gave her a fond “How You Doin?”  She had a full crew with her, and I’m surprised she was there with all of the people.  But it was a fun local celeb siting.

It pains me at how frustratingly crowded this was.   The small, gated area made it quite miserable.  I hope that they will do this again, only do it in a larger area that isn’t so confined.  I probably would have spent a good deal of money trying the various places, happily waited on line, and returned to my favorites for full meals later on.  What a loss.  BUMMER!

Next time Grub Street Food Festival… Next time!