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Showing posts from April, 2010

Defonte's- Another Sandwich Winner

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Have I ever mentioned how much I love having Defonte's in my neighborhood now? In case I haven't...I LOVE having Defonte's in my neighborhood! Man those guys have really brought the level of sandwich awesomeness (is that even a word?) to a whole new level. I love their Roast Beef sandwich so much it's hard not to order it every time I stop in. Somehow I managed to pry my eyes way from that luscious roast and order their Hot Turkey instead. They slice off some thin layers of roasted turkey which has been stewing in juices, through on some delicious swiss cheese, the classic fried eggplant and then pour some hot au jus on a smushy white roll. That's it. Nothing flashy, nothing crazy just some great sandwich goodness. I sill have yet to find a sandwich here I don't absolutely love. It's just sandwich perfection. Oh and Nicky still has the Bill's hat on. That's what I'm talking about.

Whoopie Cookie

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I was walking around midtown Sunday and just happened to walk by their branch of Magnolia Bakery. Never passing up an opportunity to indulge in some sweets I went inside and tried out something new. This is Magnolia's Whoopie Cookie. Two brown sugar cookies are held together by a thick, rich layer of maple butter cream icing. If you are a fan of super sweet this is just for you. The cookies were extremely fresh with a slight chew in the middle and the frosting was ridiculously sweet. Although I really enjoyed the whoopie the maple buttercream was a little bit too much for me. I think I would have enjoyed a simple vanilla instead. The brown sugar and maple were almost a flavor overload. Luckily I also purchased a cupcake as well so all of my sweet needs were meet!

Treats at Corrado Corrado Bakery

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After an evening of hopping around the West Village I was in serious need of an espresso and some sugar. Luckily Corrado bakery happens to be right near Kettle of Fish and those dreamy sweets in the window were calling my name. I ordered a double espresso, some macaroons and threw in a cupcake at the end just for good measure. The espresso was excellent but I’m still a little on the fence about the sweets. The Red Velvet cupcake was good. The frosting was more of a butter cream than the usual cream cheese and the cake was tasty. However the cupcake was cold. It was almost as if the pastries had been sitting in a chilled display case. The coldness made the cake very dense and the true flavors really were numbed by the temperature. The same was true for the macaroons. These too were much to cold to enjoy the usual flaky texture of the treat. I found the Pistachio and Strawberry fillings to be overly sweet but the Coffee Macaroon was spot on. So the final verdict is mix

Carl's at Yankee Stadium

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So we made it to Yankee Stadium for the second home game this year. I love getting in a game early. I just can’t truly get into a new season until I’ve felt the sun shine on my face and smelled the glorious stadium odors of hot dogs, peanuts and frothy beer. Of course I come to watch the Yankees play as well- I just get excited about the food. The first thing I saw new this year was a stand with a good variety of beers on tap and in bottle that was NOT Beers of the World. Look at that- Goose Island IPA! On Draft!! I was so excited we tried to grab one right before the start of the game but lo and behold they were sold out! Sold out of your draft beer already! On the second day of play before the game even began! That’s just crazy. Did they only order one keg for the season? Ridiculous. I had to settle for a Goose Island Honkers Ale. Still good but no IPA. For food I decided to try out Carl’s Cheese steaks. The original Carl’s is right by my apartment so I’ve had it a bunch of t

S'Mac Mac and Cheese

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Remember S’Mac? I mentioned it briefly during my review of quite possibly the most gluttonous day of my life here . Well there was so much food eating going on that day I never gave it a proper review and it truly deserves one. S’Mac is located in the East Village right on a 12th street near 1st avenue. It’s quite a cute and cozy little restaurant that most people enjoy dining at. However they go a little too far for me with the whole mac and cheese décor. I really don’t enjoy the color orange too much and this place is covered in it! Walls, chairs, food- Orange! Ugh. Luckily I live close enough to get S’Mac delivered right to my door. See how I compensate for my insane orange phobia :) The other night we ordered two pans- the all America and the Alpine. Let’s start with the All America. This is probably along the lines of what you would picture when someone mentions mac and cheese. Tons of cooked elbow macaroni topped with a blend of American and cheddar cheeses.

Live Bait

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Yeah that’s right- that’s a picture of a young Jim Kelly. Why am I posting this here on my food blog? Because his picture hangs inside the bar Live Bait which has a pretty rocking happy hour special. $5 will get you a ¼ pound of peel and eat shrimp, a basket of extra crunchy fried hush puppies or some big meaty honey bbq wings which I wrote about here . That’s just some of the special food items at Live Bait. And a nice side of Jim Kelly.

Getting that Summer Time Itch Yet?

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I sure am. And it started all last week when gorgeous weather prompted a trip to the Frying Pan. That's right- it's not fully open until May 1st but when the temperature hits 70 degrees they open the gate and it's time for drinking on the water. Look at this great summer spread. Since it's not fully open until May this is about all the food options you'll get right now. My awesome Cesar salad was unavailable, as well as some of the usual beer choices, but if your down for a bucket of Coronas and some classic grilling fare- why wait. Get on over and enjoy every second of the sun on the Hudson River.

Some Damn Fine Doughnuts at Peter Pan.

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It was cool and crisp last Saturday- a great day for putting in a nice long walk around the city. We decided to take the train out to Greenpoint and explore the neighborhood. Greenpoint is the northern most neighborhood in Brooklyn. We explored here about two years ago and I fell in love with the beautiful river views, the abundance of Polish speaking locals and cute little bars and restaurants. Last time I had somehow walked past maybe one of the best bakeries in the borough- Peter Pan. How could I have walked past this place! Big fluffy doughnuts, custard oozing cakes and sugary cinnamon turnovers fill the front window practically screaming at passersby to stop in for a treat. There were so many options but we still had a big day of eating ahead so I limited myself to only two. First up was their take on the classic Boston Creme. Just looking at this doughnut you can see there is waaaaay more custardy goodness than you find in most doughnuts. Score one for me! The dou

Easter Brunch at Zum!

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I love Easter Sunday. Growing up it was always such a fun day filled with Easter egg hunts, good food and lots of family. Unfortunately Mr. T and I were all alone this year but we still wanted to do something a little special so walked down to Zum Schneider for a lovely Easter Brunch Zum was in the festive spirit with Easter Egg trees on the bar, Easter candy stashed in the potted trees and Easter Egg baskets on each table. We ordered up a couple tasty liters of beer and then perused their specials menu for the day. They were doing two Easter dishes for the holiday- one ham and one lamb. I was conflicted. I grew up having ham on Easter but in my older years I’ve been gravitating to the lamb on Easter. It was a tough choice. After much heming and hawing from me (and frustrated hungry aggravation from Mr. T) we settled on splitting the Easter Lamb. Zum Schneider has never been known to give anything smaller than a massive portion of food and this Easter dish was no dif

Whiskey Tavern

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Mr. T and I found ourselves wandering around Chinatown the other day enjoying the nice spring weather. Unfortunately the basketball games were going to start soon so we had to abandon the beautiful weather and head to a bar stat to watch the action. Since we were already in Chinatown we decided to head over to an old favorite- Whiskey Tavern. We came to this bar quite a bit when they first opened about a year or so ago. It’s not very big inside but has a great TV set up and a nice patio in the back perfect for outdoor drinking in the summertime. One of the best things about this place is the friendly bartenders. They always seem to remember your name and always add simple little touches like cozies for your beer. We were already planning to have quite a few beers, so why not go all out and be extra unhealthy with an order of tater tots covered in cheese. That’s right- cheese covered tots. This is what drinking a lot of beers does to you. Suddenly flash frozen potato

Buffalo Chicken Pizza?

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I was in Monty’s the other day out in Brooklyn for lunch. I was heading towards my usual salad line when something caught my eye. Pizza. Not just any pizza but a new special Buffalo Chicken pizza. I have to admit I found the combination both disgusting and intriguing at the same time. It just looked so weird. I had to have a slice. I ordered one up and added on a regular slice as well -not because I’m a pig but just in case the Buffalo didn’t go well (yeah right). The Buffalo pizza was interesting. Big chunks of chicken were plopped on top of the cheese and instead of tomato sauce it was covered in hot wing sauce. The first bite I absolutely hated. Something about the texture and combination just really revolted me. Then I tried a few more bites and found myself kind of enjoying the flavor of the sauce. Then about halfway through it just got to be too much. The pizza was way too thick and the mozzarella and hot wing sauce just didn’t go together. The best part about

Happy Dyngus Day!!!

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Hopefully everyone had a nice Easter and can take some time today to enjoy the lovely weather and have a cocktail or two in honor of this holiday. I recommend heading to Angel's Share tonight for one of their signature drinks. Mr. T always orders the same thing- The Groovy. It's actually not listed on their menu anymore but they'll whip one up if you ask. Shiso leaves and yuzu make for quite the crisp refreshing cocktail. I usually order a lychee based drink, Serenity, but they had a list of new spring cocktails so I decided to try one out. This is the Spring Swing. To be honest I'm not sure exactly what was in it but it was awesome. Smooth enough to go down easy but with enough bite at the end to know you better watch yourself. So enjoy this lovely day and grab some pussy whillows somewhere for your significant other. Happy Dyngus Day!!

A quick slice at the “Original” Rays Pizza

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There’s Rays Pizza, Famous Rays, Original Rays, Famous Original Rays, etc. Who knows which one is truly the first Rays pizza. Supposedly it’s the Ray’s on Prince Street, where I found myself walking by early Saturday afternoon. I had just eaten breakfast about an hour before but I didn’t feel like I could pass up this monumental opportunity. I mean come on. I’ve lived in NYC for almost 10 years now and I still haven’t the first Ray’s! What’s wrong with me! Ray’s Pizza has one side with tables and waiter service and one side that’s pick up only. I got into the service line and waited as the pizza guy shouted orders and threw up slices of pizza in a frenzied but efficient manner. Within about 5 minutes I was standing outside slice of pizza in hand. Upon first glance ray’s pizza doesn’t look very different than any of the other Ray’s pizzas I’ve had in my life. And you know what- it doesn’t taste much different either. The crust was nice and crisp with a good slightly ch