Tag Archives: restaurant review

Nommin’ Through the Hamptons: John’s Pancake House

30 May

On our 3rd morning in Montauk (after a few other Hamptons meals), we decided to try John’s Pancake House, which is right on main street in the center of town.  It reminded me of the pancake houses on the Jersey Shore. In fact, Montauk reminded me in total of the Jersey Shore, except with fewer teenagers. That is until the Montauk St. Patty’s Day Parade, which is an annual parade a few weeks after St. Patrick’s Day that for some reason magnetizes the teenagers from all over Long Island to show up, drunk, and make a mess.  (It got so bad we actually left Montauk just after the parade ended and the highschoolers descended). 

Anyway… back to John’s.

We were sat at a kitschy (and sticky) breakfast counter due to lack of seating.  The waitresses all look like they have been there forever.

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Mike went with the western omelet.  It was a very classic omelette with very classic breakfast potatoes.

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I got a side of the corned beef hash (which was a huge portion).  The charred side was delicious, though it had some of the gritty texture that makes corned beef hash a bit less than delectable. 

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And I got the banana pancakes.  These were classic pancakes with a bit of banana in them.  Could have used some more banana.

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Overall, John’s is exactly what it looks like.  A run-down, classic diner that has been around forever and serves classic, good-enough food that they have no desire to change.  It’s good fuel, but not exactly a tourist draw.

Total Nom Points: 6 out of 10

Nommin’ Through the Hamptons: Montauk Yacht Club

29 May

It’s Hamptons Week in honor of the official start of summer! If you are going to The Hamptons this summer, check out all the posts from this week to get my recommendation on where to eat (and where not to).

Our second Restaurant Week Reservation was at Montauk Yacht Club.  We had a whole lot of trouble finding it (note: iPhone GPS puts it in a different location than it really is). The restaurant is actually called “Gulf Coast Kitchen” so be sure to follow those signs.

When you walk in, it’s simply beautiful.  Every room had a great look and feel to it.

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The view from our table was across a seating area and to the water.  

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Their menu was pretty good for Restaurant week with 4 selections each for the starters and the mains. 

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Mike chose the Chowder MYC that came with double smoked bacon, local clams, and fresh cream.  This was pretty good with some nice flavor, but one thing I love about chowder is the big pieces of clam and potato.  This was a bit more liquidy than I would prefer, but still quite nice.

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I got the Big Eye Tuna Tartar that came with shallots, Italian parsley, lemon zest, micro truffle salad, and crostini.

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This was gorgeously constructed and was a great combination of flavors.  I didn’t know what micro truffle salad was, but I was expecting something truffle flavor. Unfortunately, there was none.  This was one of those “over-promise and under-deliver” moments.  Had they never mentioned truffles, I would have eaten this happily and been on my merry way. But once the “truffle” was out of the bag, I wanted truffle.  

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For the main, Mike chose the grilled hangar steak with fresh salsa verde, roasted vegetables, and rosemary and sage potatoes.  This had good flavor and the salsa verde gave it a nice touch.

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I got a special that wasn’t on the menu but still counted for Restaurant Week.  It was a pork chop with some greens and potatoes.  Unfortunately, this was a bit disappointing. Not too big on flavor and in need of a sauce.

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The dessert selection included lemon tarts that Mike enjoyed while on his lemon kick.

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I chose the chocolate mousse cake that came with a passion fruit sauce. It was delicious but VERY rich.

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Overall, I enjoyed the Gulf Coast Kitchen at the Montauk Country Club, but I can’t say it was a brilliant meal. For $25 it was a well priced meal, but I’m not sure I can say it was great. The location, however, is stunningly beautiful and probably worth it just for that.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

Nommin’ Through the Hamptons: East by Northeast

28 May

Mike and I decided to take a long weekend in Montauk during the off-season.  I had heard lovely things about this town at the end of Long Island and the neighboring Hamptons towns.  We took the train out to Southampton and rented a car (note to self: DO NOT rent a car at Enterprise in Southampton again… WORST RENTAL CAR EXPERIENCE EVER) and then drove the rest of the way to Montauk.  

It happened to be Hamptons Restaurant Week, so we made a few reservations to try the a few of the restaurants in the area. Our first stop was at the very highly recommended East by Northeast.  

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The restaurant is right on the water and in a beautiful location.  We found out that the restaurant ownership company, Fort Pond Bay Company, actually owns a Westchester restaurant that we frequent with Mike’s family in Dobbs Ferry, NY: Half Moon. It had a similar setup with a wall full of windows looking out on the water. 

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The Restaurant Week menu had a good selection of items, and dinner was just $24.50.

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I had a lovely cocktail that was nicely summery.

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We decided to start with something off the Restaurant Week menu: a selection of raw oysters. They put them down in front of us and we noticed something… do you know what it is?

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How well do you know your shellfish?  If you have identified these as clams, you would be exactly right.  The waitress was very confused and flustered, and soon recognized that yes, she had mistaken the oysters for the clams.

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Luckily, that meant free clams for us!  And then out came the oysters.  Even better since they were local.

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Mike chose to start with the Chopped Iceberg Salad with Red Wine Dressing. It was fine.

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I went with the miso mussels with dashi and garlic. These were also… fine.

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Mike went with a special addition to the Restaurant Week menu, a burger with an egg on top.  This was also… fine.

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My main course was Pork Tonkatsu with Coconut Risotto.  It was… fine.

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For dessert, Mike got 2 scoops of ice cream.  It was a bit of a strange concoction. Also… fine.

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I got the Chocolate Pots du Creme.  Which was… you guessed it… fine.

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Overall, our meal was… fine.  It was nothing special, nothing was good but nothing was bad. It was a very forgettable meal with some strange service problems throughout. Perhaps it was because it was the off-season or perhaps they weren’t giving it their all for Restaurant Week, but I was very surprised that a restaurant that came so well recommended was this blah. I’m glad we only paid $25 each for this meal, though our favorite part of the meal was definitely the oysters, which were off the RW menu.  I can’t recommend this place.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Michael White’s Ai Fiori for Valentine’s Day Part Deux

15 May

Michael White is one of those “celebrity” chefs that I have long heard about but never tried.  Enter Ai Fiori, Michael White’s newest restaurant, centered around pasta, that happens to be just a few blocks from the apartment (400 5th Avenue, between 36th and 37th Streets, in the Setai Hotel).  We were looking for another lovely dinner to surround Valentine’s Day to compliment our meal the weekend before at Annisa (since I was away on business on the actual day), and Ai Fiori couldn’t have been more perfect.

We went for an early dinner and found ourselves alone (but not for long) in the tastefully decorated 2nd floor restaurant.

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Even the table settings were quite lovely.  A waiter confused our table with the one next door and accidentally delivered us glasses of champagne.  I wasn’t sure if it was free (for Valentine’s Day) so there was some confusion.  We sent the champagne back to the table that ordered it, but our waiter wound up bringing us a glass each, on the house, for the confusion.  A lovely touch.

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The crusty, soft, warm bread came out with delicious salted butter and well flavored olive oil.

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Our amuse bouche was small shot of a fruity smoothie.  I cannot remember if this was mango or passion fruit, but it was a nice way to start the meal.

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We chose to do the prix fixe of 4 courses (cominciare / pasta or risotto / pesce or carne / dolce) for $89.

Mike chose to start with the Animelle which was crispy sweetbreads, pomme purée, truffle vinaigrette, and pancetta. It was delicious, delicate, and just the right amount of crisp. It was a $5 supplement charge, and well worth it.

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I chose the Mare e Monte (which, sadly, does not currently appear to be on the menu).  This had a $15 supplemental charge… but hey, it was Valentine’s Day!

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This was diver scallops, celery root, black truffles, bone marrow, and thyme.

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It was rich in all the right ways with complex flavors and sprigs of green to spring it up a bit.  It was decadent and fantastic.

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For our pasta/risotto course, Mike chose the risotto with riso acquarello, duck confit, and hen of the woods mushrooms. This was a perfect blend of flavors. Very rich but not at all heavy.

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I went with the Agnolotti, which was braised veal parcels, butternut squash, and black truffle sugo.

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These were just perfect.  Great meaty flavor inside and the pasta was just thin enough to hold it together.  The bay leaf on top was crisped and slightly sweetened, and tasted great when broken up into the pasta and squash puree. Mmmm mmmm.

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For our carne/pesce course, Mike chose the Agnello, which was rack of lamb en crepinette, panisse, romanesco, and parmesan.  This was simply perfect. The lamb was cooked as well as you can cook a lamb and each piece on this dish was simply delicious, especially the sauce on the lamb.

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I chose the Astice, which was butter poached Nova Scotia lobster, root vegetable fondant, and chateau chalon sauce.  I always struggle when deciding to order lobster, as no matter how good it is, I never find it as good as the lobster pounds in Maine (I’m spoiled rotten… I know), but this one was right up there. All the pieces that came with it just added to a fantastic dish.

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Onto dolce!  Mike chose the Tartaletta which was dark chocolate, red grape, caramelized sherry, and walnut gelato.  I loved this dish, and the grape tasted like a fantastic grape jelly.  It all went together perfectly.

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I chose to go with the Buddino di Limone with hazelnut praline, toasted meringue, espresso gelee, and cinnamon gelato. I was impressed by how architecturally it was belt, with a sheet of caramelized sugar balanced on top of the meringue peaks.

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This was a perfect dessert with great, original flavors.  Really impressive.

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And then out came the petite fours! They were stunningly beautiful…

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… and very, very tasty.  I especially liked this jelly thing… though I have no idea what it was. :)

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I knew we were in for a treat when we finally decided to try a Michael White restaurant, but this was out of this world.  I was so impressed by every bite at Ai Fiori, from start to finish.  It’s also very hard to find food this good, with a well-known chef, on a tasting menu with 4 courses for less than $100 (yes… I know that’s crazy…)  I really loved everything we tried and find it very hard to ignore the fact that this restaurant is so close to home. I just want to go again and again.  I definitely want to go back for breakfast, and also try White’s other restaurants (Marea, Alto, Convivio, Osteria Morini and recently expanding to Bernardsville, NJ and many other locations coming soon).

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

Gabrielle Hamilton’s Prune

11 May

I really love books written by chefs about their adventures in food. Anthony Bourdain was my first and made me fall in love with reading about the inner workings of restaurants and chefery.  I read somewhere that HIS favorite food book was Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton and I quickly made the purchase on my Nook (ps- I love that thing… never thought I’d want anything besides a real book, but I have read more in the 6 months I’ve had it than the entire last 3 years combined).

I absolutely loved the book, and was especially excited to read the section about her starting a restaurant in NYC.  A restaurant I had been meaning to go to for quite some time: Prune.

We were going to go for Valentine’s Day, but then I was called out to LA for a work meeting, so we had to cancel that reservation. A few weeks later, on an idle weekend with nothing to do, we made our way down to the East Village and put our names on the list for brunch.  They don’t take reservations for brunch, and I was expecting a long wait. We decided we would stroll the neighborhood for a bit, but when they told us it would be just 45 minutes, we made it a quick stroll.  We came back 20 minutes later and were seated less than 10 minutes after that.  Lovely!

What I first noticed was that Prune is SMALL.  Even smaller than what I imagined from what she described in the book.

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We started our brunch with cocktails.  While Prune is known for their Bloody Mary’s, I don’t drink vodka (long story) and I’m allergic to peppers… So that pretty much eliminates me from the Bloody pool.  I went with some refreshing, citrusy cocktail that I can’t remember a thing about, other than that I really enjoyed it.

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Mike, on the other hand, was all over trying one of these famous Bloodys.  The menu of Bloody Mary’s is quite big and quite original (scroll down to the bottom here to see).  Mike chose the Chicago Matchbox, with homemade lemon vodka, pickled brussels sprouts, baby white turnips, caperberries, green beans, and radishes.

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 It was beautiful, and he was a big fan. He never really drinks Bloody Mary’s, but after this one, he has been trying more and more.

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For noms, Mike got the steak and eggs, which was a 7 oz. prime newport steak, grilled with parsley shallot butter and 2 eggs (he went sunny-side up) witha toasted english muffin and potatoes rosti.  This was SO good. The steak alone could rival any of the best steak restaurants in the city. Everything was cooked perfectly.

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I chose the dutch style pancake.  It was one individual pancake cooked in the oven, with pears, served with canadian bacon and potatoes rosti.  This thing was DELICIOUS.  The pancake was super fluffy with a bit of crisp on the outside.  It was sweet, but not too sweet, and had great flavor with the batter and the pear.  I thoroughly enjoyed this… probably more than any other pancake I’ve ever had.

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We walked away from Prune incredibly impressed.  The atmosphere was great, the drinks were great, and the food was great.  I love brunch, but find a lot of times it’s all the same. Here, it was brunch anew.  I cannot wait to go back and try more!  

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

SD26: “Secret” Chef’s Table – Gilt City Deal

3 May

SD26 was a restaurant on the list for a while.  So when Gilt City featured a Five Course Chef’s Table Dinner at SD26 for $84, we bought it. (If you want to sign up, why not use my Gilt City Referral Sign Up Link so I can get a referral bonus?).  

It included:

  • Five-course tasting menu
  • One appetizer, pasta, fish, meat and dessert 
  • $10 Enomatic wine card for a future visit 
  • Meet-and-greet with Chef Matteo Bergamini and co-owners Tony May and Marisa May

It wasn’t valid on holidays, Saturdays, nor Sundays, so it was quite hard to find a day to go since we work far too much.  I got the reminder that the vouchers were expiring soon (I have missed 2 or 3 things I’ve purchased due to expiry dates… dammit!)  so we made a reservation to go one Thursday night.

We were immediately greeted by a warm receiving line of chefs and waiters and sat, literally, right in the kitchen.  I LOVE sitting in the kitchen. To me, there are few cooler things than watching how a kitchen works from the inside. It’s fascinating to see how the kitchen staff can operate so like a well-oiled machine, each making part of an order and somehow delivering each piece of each meal perfectly at the same time.

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There are 2 tables in the kitchen, and we were all alone for most of our meal, but a couple joined us later with the same voucher in hand.  

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The chef came over and introduced himself, then asked if there were any allergies (so I told him about my allergy to peppers and the unfortunate side effects) and if we didn’t like anything specific.  I told him that we eat everything (besides peppers) including the weirder things like organ meat.  His eyes lit up and he immediately said “Sweet breads!” and went into the kitchen.

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We were given an iPad that was dedicated to a wine list app. You could search by region, varietal, pairing, etc. When you would tap on wines, you could read more about them, or about their region, etc. It was an awesome app and we spent a good 20 minutes just flipping through it.  We eventually decided on a far too expensive Patz & Hall Chardonnay.  I have a problem that when something was paid a long time ago, it feels like it was free.  So I convinced myself that we could buy an expensive bottle of wine since we weren’t paying for the dinner.  I like my dream world… shut up.

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We started with some focaccia, which was just a little too good.

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And two large breadsticks, which were buttery and delicious.

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And then more bread… this time a fluffy brioche.  

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We watched them assemble perfect dishes of asparagus with roasted pepper and fish.

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And a giant fish cooked in a salt crush.

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Our first course came out: Veal sweet breads with mustard sauce and coffee. He may have also said parsnip, but I’m not postitive on that. These were perfectly cooked and filled with flavor.  The coffee was a great balance and even though I’m not a huge fan of mustard, this all went perfectly together and the flavor wasn’t dominated by mustard.

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Next, the chef came and presented us with homemade spaghetti with mussels and garlic… and chili. To which Mike and I said in chorus “Chili???”  He ate his while they remade mine.

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Which was the same but without chili.  This was okay.  I was hoping for more flavor (perhaps the chili rounded it out well), but it was nice overall.

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Our next course is something that SD26 is known for, and now we know why.  Raviolo (which I thought meant a big ravioli, but turns out it technically is just the singular form of ravioli) with ricotta and spinach and soft egg inside in a brown butter truffle sauce. Brown butter. Truffle sauce.  Nom Nom Nom.

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When you cut it open, the yolk spilled into the sauce and made for quite the scrumptious flavor. (Mike and I tried to make something like this once, but it was no where near this good.  Not to self: Brown Butter. Truffle sauce.)

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Our next dish was a variation on the asparagus/roasted peppers and fish dish we saw being made earlier, only with spinach instead of roasted peppers.  This was Striped Sea bass, asparagus, spinach, and spinach chlorophyl mayo.  (Chlorophyl? Fascinating!)

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It was tasty and the fish was well cooked. The mayo was really fantastic with great flavor.

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Our next course was a beef dish with porcini mushrooms and arugula. The mushrooms on this dish were so rich and flavorful.  I really enjoyed the combination of flavors.

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We had finished our (too expensive) bottle of wine by this point, so 2 glasses of chardonnay come on the house (Perhaps because of the allergy mix-up? Perhaps because I was taking pictures so they suspected I might be writing about them? Perhaps because we spent too much money on a bottle of wine already? Who knows! And who cares! It was good wine.)

I really enjoyed the view from our table, including the pastry area to the other side where they had their petit fours all ready and waiting to go for each table.

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The seemed to have a big party because they assembled huge sets of plates with identical dishes and desserts a few times. I enjoyed watching the setup of each of the pastry plates, and the pastry chef was very exact.

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When these chocolate cakes came out, the smell blew me over.  Holy chocolate batman!

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Our desserts came up next, starting with a pineapple banana shot with strawberries. Fresh and delicious. Great segue from dinner into dessert.

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Up next was some coconut whipped cream with cocoa on top.  My guys missed the mark on the cocoa a little bit, and the pastry chef gave him a quick glance that packed a punch.

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His next time on Mike’s was much better.

This was another really nice segue. Nicely flavored, small, and light.

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And then the chocolate cakes came out.

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The were topped with a nicely stamped SD26 chocolate piece.

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And oozed perfectly when cut into.  This was a great lava cake, definitely more on the bittersweet side, and rich as rich can be.

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We also had a 2nd dessert, which I completely missed the name of.  The pastry chef was fantastic (and, according to our waiter, recently fresh from Italy) but I just could not understand her accent (I’m a bad American… I know).  It was flake pastry with strawberries and some delicious cream. I think it had some caramel in it. Whatever it was… it was good.  We also ordered some moscato and it went great with this.

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Just when we thought we probably shouldn’t have another bite or another drink, they brought out 2 more glasses of moscato on the house and some petit fours.

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This was a hard, fudgy candy with white and bittersweet chocolate.

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And this was a lemon cookie of some sort.  Very, very good.

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This was such a fun adventure, eating in the kitchen and having the chef cook for us right there. It seems this is a secret of SD26, but you can reserve these tables in advanced (either for 2 or 4).  It’s an impressive date night and just plain foodie fun.  It definitely made me want to go back, soon, and try out their main dining room.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Anita Lo’s Annisa for Valentine’s Day

26 Apr

We had been wanting to try Anissa for a long time. We had watched Anita Lo on television (Top Chef Masters most notably) and she was one of the chefs that made my mouth water every time she presented a dish.  We went to Rickshaw Dumpling Bar (her more casual restaurant in NYC) and her dessert soup dumplings were unreal.  But her fine dining restaurant, Anissa, was really where I wanted to go.  Unfortunately, there was a fire at Anissa a few years ago and it closed down.  So when it reopened, it hit the “someday” list.  Valentine’s Day weekend 2012 was finally that “someday.”

My first impression was that this place was VERY small.  It was intimate without being on top of each other.  I’m pretty sure the restaurant seats less than 20 people at a time.

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It’s the little things about a restaurant for me, and these perfect butter ribbons were just delightful.

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We decided to go with the 7-course chef tasting with the wine pairings.

Our meal started with an amuse bouche of egg salad with cured salmon tartlet.  It was a nice bite and the shell was a perfect crisp.

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Course one was ceviche of fluke, black lime, and green daikon. It was paired with a Sauvignon Blanc: St. Bris Burgundy, France – 2010.

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This tasted perfectly fresh and citrusy. It has a small salty element. Totally delish.

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Course 2 was a Hudson valley duck foie gras with soup dumpling and balsamic. This was paired with Riesling Kabinett -Gunderloch, Rheinhessen, Germany – 2010.  This wine was PERFECT with this dish.

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I was nervous about my peppers allergy, but they defined this as “Sechuan” but I wound up being fine. Very slightly tingly, but worth it. This had great, deep, rich flavor.

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The flavors were so good, in fact, that I tipped my bowl into my spoon while no one was looking… just to get every last drop I could.

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Course 3 was a Miso Black Cod with crispy tofu and bonito broth (I think that’s what she said?)  This was paired with Wakatake Junmai Sake from Shizuoka, Japan.

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There was roe in the broth, which was a nice surprise.  The cod was awesome, and potentially the best I have ever had. I’m not a huge fan of tofu, but even that was great.  I have no idea what the green things in it were (see photo below) but they added great texture.  The tofu itself wasn’t at all crispy, but it was delicious.  Almost polenta-like in texture.

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Our next course came out, and while I wrote it down, it appears I forgot to take a picture of it (Whoops!)  It was grilled arctic char, dill, char mousse, cabbage leaf, and lemon something.  It was paired with Bourgogne Blanc, Domaine Amiot- Servelle from Burgundy, France 2008. This had multiple elements on the plate, so you could choose how much of each you wanted in each bite, or all of it.  Everyone went great together, especially the mix and match of the lemon and dill flavors.  The wine also went perfectly with it.  Awesome.

Course 5 was grilled wagyu, green garlic, chives, escargot, mushrooms with granache. It came with Bandol- Domaine Le Galantin- Provence, France, 2008.  Below the meat there was a piece of brioche that sucked up juices/sauce and made for such a flavorful bite.

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Our next course was a cheese course. It came with some great, nutty bread.

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And I dove in so fast to the cheese that, again, I forgot to take a picture. But I snagged one at the very end.  I took some very short-hand notes: “Chèvre de Argental: sheep, raw cow from Austria, raw cow from Vermont, goat cheese from France, cremesco from Italy, a blue from New York. It was paired with Churchhills White Port- Portugal.  White port is sooooo good with cheese.

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Course 7 was a coupling of 2 desserts, both of which came with Muscat de Beaumes-de Venise, Rhone, France 2009.

The first dessert was a pecan beignet with butter rum sorbet. The sorbet good but icy. The entire dessert was very messy, but tasted awesome.

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The second dessert was a poppy seed cake with Meyer lemon.

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It reminded me in flavor of lemon meringue.

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At the end, we were served Petit Fours: coconut popsicles, candied ginger, and piece of chocolate.

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The popsicles were especially fun and deliciously filled with coconut flavor.

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The whole meal was exceptionally well paced with very good service. Every dish was solid. I can’t say there was one that stood out as an awesome dish that topped all other awesome dishes, but the meal as a whole was incredibly good and memorable as a whole.  It certainly did not dissapoint. One of the tops of all time.

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

Hell’s Kitchen Restaurant

19 Apr

 In Hell’s Kitchen, there is a restaurant called Hell’s Kitchen (not to be confused with HK). It is a Mexican influenced restaurant that happens to have great grilled vegetables to satisfy my cousin’s vegan needs.  He says they are really fantastic veggies.

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I went with Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass with Grilled Chayote, Sweet Plantain Puree, and Salsa Verde (sans peppers).  It was incredibly well cooked and seasoned.  

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Mike chose the Grilled Tiger Shrimp with Sauteéd Vegetables, Sweet Plantain, Gucamole, and Serrano Sauce.  He said it was very enjoyable.

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I was impressed that a place I walked by about a hundred times turned out food this flavorful and fresh.  We all really enjoyed our meal and I look forward to going back, since it’s in the neighborhood.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

New Opening: Beer Authority

14 Apr

We have been long anticipating the new craft beer bar in the neighborhood, Beer Authority.  It’s a large craft beer bar right opposite Port Authority… not exactly a neighborhood with a wealth of good options.  

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You walk in to a small, intimate bar with a staircase up to the (large) maining dining room on the left and a fantastic elevator on the right. Why a fantastic elevator?

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Just check out these quotes…

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The elevator arrives in the main dining room with a fine looking logo on the door.

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The bar is spacious, well designed, and fastened with large, well positioned TVs. Sadly, their DirecTV choice means that no service makes it way there since it’s surrounded by so many tall buildings… so the channels that were on were all that came in. They made it sound like they were changing out the TVs soon.  Let’s hope!

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There are 90 taps, and quite friendly bar tenders ready to tell you all about them.  Well… that is the ones they have available.  I guess they got cleaned out last night (their first Friday) and the first 5 beers we asked for were all out. Poo.

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The space itself is quite large, but surprisingly not at all loud.  It was pretty full and games were on, but Mike and I didn’t find that we needed to scream our conversation like at most sports bars in the area.

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The walls are designed with the logos, emblems, and otherwise fun decorations of craft brews.

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Even the bathroom door handles get in on the fun with tap pull handles.

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The menu mentioned “Good Craic.”  I had no idea what this meant, but thanks to Wikipedia, I now know that it stands in for all around good cheer in the UK.

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They brag about 90 taps and 100 bottles (the bottles menu was not yet available) as well as many other features, with “occasional debauchery” being my favorite offering.

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We decided to split some food for dinner, and we started with the brisket sandwich, which was listed as braised “bourguignon  style” with smoked bacon, portobello mushrooms, sourdough bread, dipping jus, and baked potato fries.  This was fair.  Each piece tasted decent, but it was lacking in flavor depth.  It desperately needed salt, and the bacon just didn’t taste very smoked at all.  The brisket was luke warm, bordering on cold, and the fries were pretty bland as well.  This whole thing tasted reheated.

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But thankfully, we also tried the grilled flat bread, which came with duck confit, fennel, arugula, citrus marmalade, and goat cheese. This has serious depth of flavor, with each piece good on its own but really great in combination.  The flat bread was soft without being soggy and it had a nice crisp on the crunch.  The duck was really flavorful and the citrus marmalade was just perfect on it. 

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 This was as flavorful as the brisket was bland.  Opposite ends of the spectrum.

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But in the end, you’re really there for the beer.  The initial selection was admirable (despite being out of so much).  We tried a Sixpoint Brownstone (nutty but a little too bitter for my taste) and a Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine (which was a rich, tasty beer that went great with food).


Here is their full food menu (including a section on pairing beer with food).

Overall, for a place that just opened, it is obvious that they are still finding their sea legs but they have enough going right for them to prove that their concept is sound and sorely needed in the neighborhood.  I look forward to when they have all 190 beers listed so we can try some new stuff and I’m sure we’ll work our way through the menu to hopefully find some other gems.

 
It’s a bit hard to come up with a Nom Score since the brisket was so average and the flat bread so good.  The service was nice even with the missing beers and I see definite potential.  For now, I’ll average the average and look to the future.

 
 
Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sylvia’s- Harlem

12 Apr

Sometimes you just need some soul food.  So we took a pilgrimage up to Harlem to finally check out Sylvia’s.  

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We noticed that there was a beer on the menu from Harlem Brewing Company.  When in Rome…

It was quite good, especially with the rich food.

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The bread was old fashioned corn bread served with, what else, Fleichmann’s margarine. 

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And then the food started arriving…

Fried chicken with sweet potatoes and mac and cheese… OHHHH the mac and cheese.

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Chicken and waffles.

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Smothered pork chops with green beans and mac and cheese… OHHH the mac and cheese.

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More chicken and more waffles.

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And more mac and cheese… OHHH the mac and cheese.

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Everything was really delightful. The fried chicken had a great crisp to it and wasn’t greasy at all.  I had the chicken and waffles and the waffle was really fantastic. There is something quite spectacular about maple syrup on the waffles and chicken. 

But OH the mac and cheese.  It was heavenly.  Perfectly baked, perfectly cheesy, perfect perfect perfect. I consider myself a mac and cheese connoisseur and this, this was GREAT mac and cheese.  Up there with Blue Smoke (which is the best flavor but a little too saucy) and Chat ‘n Chew (which is #1 in my book, however, it’s inconsistent). 

We really wanted the peach cobbler for dessert, but they were out.

::pout::

So we got red velvet cake (which was good, but I’m not a red velvet cake fan).

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The strawberry bread pudding with bourbon sauce (really delicious).

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And the southern style banana pudding.  Also pretty good.

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I can’t say I LOVED the desserts, but the meal was great and that mac and cheese…. OH that mac and cheese.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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