NYC Tastes

Okay Okay...If you're sick of hearing everyone talk about the new Pizza Joint Artichoke then please skip this post. But if you want to see some pictures of some amazing delicious pizza please read on. Ever since the slice place on St. Mark's closed years ago to become a Chickpea, I have had a severe pizza void. SEVERE I TELL YOU! Now that void has been filled:) Look at these slices of pizza! Can you say pure pieces of bliss! If only you could smell the aroma...omg. I barely made it in the door before diving into the box. Artichoke offers a few different types of pizza. First your classic slice. This had an excellent sauce that is thicker in texture than a normal pizza sauce with a slight tangy flavor. This slice was cooked a little bit too much for me but the cheese was awesome! Maybe a blend of mozzarella, Parmesan and Pecorino? Good stuff. The next piece is their signature Artichoke pizza. Which is seriously bigger than my head. I honestly wasn't sure about this pizza at

So there were two points this past weekend where I was eating something and literally had to stop and take a moment because the food was that good. First up is the Cubano Sandwich from the Spotted Pig. Oh my goodness this is the best sandwich I have ever tasted in my life. For starters the bread has an excellent crunch and the insides are toasted and buttered with maybe a little garlic. Next is the amazing healthy serving of gruyere cheese which comes just oozing out of the sides of the sandwich. But oh wait...there is so much more. The slow roasted pork is incredibly mosit and melty, proababy due to the fact that it's cooked in duck and pork fat! Topped with pickled jalapeno peppers and an amazing Prosciutto de Parma it has all elements of a kick ass sandwich. It came with an arugla salad on the side which really helped to lighten the rich flavor of the pork although I would have enjoyed my sandwich either way! The other amazing thing I ate was the Beef Short Rib at the new BBQ jo

Yama is a tiny little sushi joint that sits just below 17th street. The inside has 2 small rooms with about 5 tables each and a tiny sushi bar in between. The place is very minimalist with little to no decoration which is just fine, since the sushi would steal the show anyway. This is their Sushi Entree no Shellfish. This came with 2 pieces of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, mackerel and a tuna roll. As you can see their pieces are HUGE!! They come on a huge wooden slab that's kind of intimidating once they put it down in front of you. I have trouble fitting a regular piece of sushi in my mouth all at once...here it was impossible! The pieces weren't only big in size but big in flavor. All of the pieces we ordered were super fresh and full of flavor. The Sushi Entree also came with your choice of soup or salad. We didn't realize the pieces of sushi were going to be so big so we had ordered some more food along with the platter. I got a piece of Toro and Mr. T got a piece of Unagi

So we swung by Loreley the other day for one of my favorite things in life- German Beer!!! I love almost every single kind of beer Germany has to offer: Wiezens, Schwarzbier, Dunkels, Bocks. You name it I've probably already had it. Luckily there are a couple German places in the city where I can get my fill and one of my top favs is Lorely. Loreley sits almost in the middle of the East Village Lower East Side and SOHO. It has a great outdoor patio in the back and long wooden tables inside. It was a nice day so we sat by the open windows up front to watch the baseball game and enjoy the warm breeze. It was such a hot day I really wanted something refreshing, so I got a crisp Warsteiner beer and we ordered up some food. I went for the classic Bratwurst mit Brot. Basically a brat with bread and mustard. The brat was really good. I think it was a little bigger than the ones they usually serve at Zum Schneider and came with some great spicy mustard and a little side salad. For $5 you c

We had some last minute house guests on Saturday night which was nice. Why so nice? Well first of all because it was one of my best friends but also because this friend loves something just as much as I do- brunch!!! Mr T hates brunch. He literally despises it for no reason. So the only time I get to enjoy this meal is when we have company. I was excited to go and eat some Croques at one of our favorite brunch spots Resto but I called and it was all booked up. I had heard that The Smith had been getting some good brunch reviews so we headed down there instead. We got to there right around 12:15 and squeaked in before the big brunch crowd and were seated right away. The Smith offers a free cockail wth each meal and had a bigger selection than just your avaerage bloody mary. I decided to order a bellini while the rest of the table got the blood orange mimosa's I have to say I was a little jealous when the mimosa'a came out. They looked so good with that fuzzy red orange color.

So I was really excited to check out a new place that just opened nearby Bar Milano. It was started by the same two brothers that opened 'ino, Inoeca and Lupa. Given the success of these places you can imaginethe hype for Bar Milan has been big. I decided to swing by late Sunday morning for some caffeine. I was greeted warmly by the hostess station as I came in and was lead to a seat at the bar. There were about 10 people enjoying breakfast in the bar room and one at the bar. The bar room at Milano has windows all around looking out onto 3rd avenue. The space is sleek and bright. The bar itself was very comfortable. There are only about 8 seats and each one is very roomy. A long narrow table runs down the middle for people to stand at when there are no stools left and tables line the walls. The wall on the right side even had newspapers hanging from a rack so you could catch up the morning news without leaving your seat. I took a seat at the bar and ordered up a macchiato. My

It was such a gorgeous day on Thursday I called up Mr T to see if he wanted to grab some dinner outside. We knew everyone in the city had the same idea and most outdoor places would be packed. We decided to go for a neighborhood standby where we can almost always get a table- Mumbles. Mumbles is really the definition of a corner bistro. It's located on the corner of 3rd and 17th street and serves a pretty wide variety of food. Mumbles has some good staple dishes on their menu but their specials are almost always fantastic. They also have drink specials every night where they lower the price of a few select wines and beers. That night Blue Moon was $3.50 a pint- not to bad. We placed our order and they brought over a basket of bread. I usually forgo the bread basket but I was starving so I grabbed a piece of cornbread. Wow! It was really buttery and rich. The first bite was heaven compared to that dry crumbly stuff you get at some places. Now since it was before 7:00 we got the earl

We decided to go do some shopping the other day at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. Mr T needed some new work clothes and I was in desperate need of a new pair of shoes. Trekking around the city so much really puts a toll on your feet. My current pair of shoes actually has holes in the bottom from walking so much! I almost always head to Fika when I'm uptown but I felt like I needed to try someplace new so we stopped into Zibetto, about a block away. Zibetto was very tiny inside with a long skinny counter and standing room only. Everyone in the place from baristas to patrons were European. That's a good sign I believe. Europeans know their coffee. I ordered up a cappuccino and Mr T got a macchiato. My cappuccino came out smooth and creamy. I usually ask for a little sugar but this drink didn't need it at all. If I worked up in midtown I would have a hard time choosing between Zibetto's and Fika's coffee every day! After our drinks we walked over and did ab

Holy S**T! I couldn’t believe it! Ko!!! We had both been trying every ten minutes it seemed over the past 2 weeks with no luck. But Monday night!! Could this be possible. I was so excited I felt like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory getting the Golden Ticket. I was practically running down the street on the way there. I had avoided reading reviews since it opened so I would be surprised. I couldn’t wait to see what was in store. In case you don't know, Momofuku Ko is run by Chef David Chang who was Food & Wine's best new chef in 2006. If you think winning best new chef means Chang has relaxed a little, you don't know David Chang. He has since opened Ssam bar and now Ko, which is his newest venture. The restuarant has 12 seats and serves only dinner. Getting a reservation here is like winning some sick sort of foodie lottery. That's why I was so excited. We got to Ko right at 8:45 and had to wait for about 10 minutes until our seats at the bar were availabl

Okay so that isn’t really true. I found the love of my life 10 years ago and then last night he scored a last minute dinner reservation where I meet the second love of my life, the Pork Fat English Muffin. But I have to start at the beginning. What was supposed to be another ho-hum Monday turned into a fantastic culinary day. I woke up Monday morning and decided I needed a day off so I called in and did a little work from home in the morning. Mr. T called around 11:00 asking if I wanted to meet up for lunch and catch the first half of the Yankee game with him. So I jumped on the train and headed up near his office. I told him I would look around at some of the bars up there and see what looked alright. As I was dodging the pellets of rain I literally ran into a place I’ve always heard about, but never been to, P.J. Clark’s. In case you didn’t know PJ Clarks is old school New York. The building dates back to 1868 and it really still feels like an old saloon inside. It’s alw