NYC Tastes

I was out in Sheepshead Bay the other day and pizza was on the brain. I had planned on getting a Roast Beef sandwich from Brennan & Carr but I just didn’t feel like a big meat sandwich any more. I wandered across the street and wound up inside N&D pizzeria instead. I was surprised to see this run down pizza joint had a serious amount of specialty pies. Chicken & Broccoli, Eggplant and even a Mac and cheese pie that looked like it was straight out of the movie Half Baked. I wanted something a little lighter so I ordered a Sicilian slice with spinach. I was excited about this slice because it looked extra thin and crispy. Unfortunately once I bite inside the dough was undercooked and gave the whole pizza a much thicker and denser texture. The sauce and cheese tasted extremely fresh and I enjoyed the little burnt edges of the crust. However the spinach tasted like it had been sautéed in a ton of olive oil and it simply tasted like limp greens on the slice. Alth...

Mr. T and I spent a lazy Saturday relaxing at one of our favorite bars in the city- the Blind Tiger. I love the Tiger- they constantly rotate their taps and always have something on hand that I’ve never even heard of before. This week they had a bunch of drafts from the Kuhnhenn Brewery out of Michigan so we both tried a few. Oh my goodness this may be my new favorite beer- this is their Crème Brulee Java Stout. My first whiff of this beer was amazing. It smelled exactly like an espresso and Baileys at the end of a fancy meal. Then I tasted it and was blown away. It was like having a wonderful dessert in a glass. Strong espresso and chocolate flavors with a lingering vanilla and caramel end. Although this would be a little too sweet to drink a lot of I enjoyed every last sip in my glass. After trying out a few more beers Mr. T and I decided to get some food and ordered a plate of their hot wings. Now these wings were no joke. They were actually a decent size and the ...

I love new openings. They promise so much but often fail to deliver the goods. Luckily here’s one opening that completely delivered in my book- Good Beer. This tiny store in the East Village is a beer lovers dream come true. First off it’s stocked to capacity with a wide range of beers from local micro brews to classic Belgian ales. On my first visit I picked up some Cigar City IPA and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. I love the fact that everything is available in single bottles. There’s nothing better than trying out a couple new beers without having to carry home caseloads of beer in order to do so! In addition to their wide bottle selection they went one step further and installed twelve taps inside as well! This is utterly fantastic for two reasons. One- you can take home growlers and two- you get to try out even more exciting beers! The first day I went inside I simply couldn’t resist. I saw the $8 flight sign and almost jumped for joy. Of course I’ll try out ...

After lunch, massages and cocktails us ladies met back up with the men at Ginger Man and then headed over to Keens for the big finale. Unfortunately my pictures from Keens didn’t quite come out. The lightening was pretty dim and I didn’t want to make a big deal of taking pictures while enjoying a special family meal so bear with me. However I will say this about the dinner- it was excellent. I loved the raw veggies and pickles as a starter. It doesn’t get much more old school than that. The décor was obviously fabulous. We sat in the Lambs Room where I could stare at that big tiger picture sprawling out the whole dinner. And the service was absolutely phenomenal. It was like night and day compared to the service we had earlier at Nougatine. My water was always filled, dishes eased in and out seamlessly and a fresh Manhattan seemed to magically appear only moments after being ordered. Obviously the main highlight here was the meat. I ordered the prime rib and Mr. T indulged in t...

After our lunch at Nougatine we walked across the street to the Mandarin Oriental for the next stop on our celebratory day the spa! I was actually a little nervous about this part. I have always had this phobia of other people touching me so I’ve avoided massages like the plague. However at this point in my life I figured I had to try it out…and you know what I was wonderful!!! For all of you massages lovers out there you know what I mean. I felt stress from years ago was unleashed on that table and I was a relaxed and happy woman at the end. We relaxed in the spa for a while after and enjoyed the beautiful views of the city. Then we decided it was time for some cocktails and went right out the lobby and into the MoBar where I ordered this lovely pink drink. The Bella Pesca which was Champagne, Elderflower Liquor, Grapefruit and Lychee juice topped with a splash of Chambord. I really enjoyed this cocktail. It was fun and bubbly up front, sweet going down and slightly tart and s...

I had the pleasure of spending a fabulous day with my Mother-in-Law to be and her two sisters last week. They all came into the city to take me out for a day of pre-martial celebrations. We started out with some shopping at Bergdorf Goodman near the Plaza. This store has always been my favorite for its Christmas windows but I had never actually been inside! It was quite a spectacular place- too expensive for me but a fun place to walk around. After some serious shopping we walked over to our first food spot of the day Jean George Nougatine. Located at the front of the Jean George restaurant the space inside was light and airy. We got a seat right near the open kitchen which is always fun to enjoy all the hustle and bustle inside. To begin I started with the Yuzu Cocktail. Sparkling wine, yuzu juice and a hint of sage; this was basically a Bellini that walked on the sour side of life. There are two options at lunchtime the a la carte or prix fix. Most of the options I wa...

Just looking at the picture of this marvelous cookie makes me drool a little bit. This is a Wanko cookie from Sigmund’s Pretzel Shop down in Alphabet city. Wanko you say? I’d go wanko for a gigantic peanut butter cookie stuffed with big chocolate chips and rounds of salty pretzel slices. I felt like I was eating an awesome cookie version of the Hershey’s Take Five bar. The cookie had been made hours before but the dough was still super soft and the chocolate chips retained a melty characteristic. This was a great cookie. My only suggestion would be more pretzel bits!!! The combination of peanut butter, salt and chocolate was amazing. Make sure we get that in each and every bite! Sigmund Pretzelshop

Mr. T and I used to love Dylan Prime. It was the first steakhouse we went to in the city and I have fond memories of their cheesy fondue and luscious meat dipping sauces. So when I saw Urban Daddy offering $20 certificates for a full brunch, cocktail and dessert included, I jumped on it. Mr. T and I arrived on Sunday right around 1:00 pm. Brunch at Dylan prime is served in their bar/lounge area, which was perfect for me because I wanted to watch some football. Our waiter was familiar with the Urban Daddy deal so he took our certificates right away and set us up with some Bloody Mary’s. Our choices for first course were Lobster Bisque or Mixed Green salad. I was feeling a little unhealthy from the my beer and meat fest Saturday night so I got the salad. The greens were simple, dressed in a Dijon dressing with teardrop tomoatoes. It was very tasty. Mt. T got the lobster bisque which was finished off with a brandy crème on top. Damn me for thinking healthy. This soup...

Mr. T and were out shopping in SOHO the other day when the cold winds started to get to me and hunger pains set in. When the weather starts to turn like this I immediately want a cozy Irish pub to settle into and relax. Puck Fair was just a block away so we walked over and got a seat at the bar. I felt like my bones needed some immediate warming up so I started off with a bowl Seafood Chowder. The first thing I noticed was the consistency. The broth was much thinner than most chowders and the soup was packed full with potatoes and clams. Being that I enjoy the creamy broth of chowder the most I was disappointed. There was to much stuff going on and not enough flavor. In fact all it tasted like to me was bacon and pepper. Kind of disappointing. For entrees we split two dishes the classic Fish and Chips and a Grilled Shrimp Cesar Salad. The Fish and Chips came out with about six big pieces on the plate and an enormous mound of fries. The dish was pretty good. The fries were crisp...

Almond is one of those restaurants I seem to always forget about. It’s only one block away from my apartment yet I’ve only eaten there once. After having one of their sandwiches from the Madison Square market it was back on my radar. I stopped in the other day to check out lunch. Almond has an a la carte menu and a special prix fix lunch. For $20 you get an appetizer, entrée and a glass of wine. This seemed like a pretty good deal so I went that route. I should have taken a closer look at the wine that was offered. It ended up being a White Merlot. Let’s just say I won’t be buying a bottle of that anytime soon! My meal began with a Field Greens Salad with Goat Cheese and Dijon vinaigrette. This was a pretty ample portion for a first course! I really enjoyed the vinaigrette on the salad but the goat cheese was a downer. It was quite dry and almost stuck to the roof of my mouth. I ended up leaving it to the side and just eating the greens. For my entrée I had the C...

It's official!! After a random drawing from our contest voters for a beautiful Fruit Basket from Manhattan Fruitier- big congrats go out to kathyarnold. Let's hope no one eating her soup is lactose intolerant! Thanks to everyone who participated and let's hear it for our runners today!! Go NYC Marathon!

What can I say about this glorious little sandwich? I was apprehensive at first. I thought it was simply going to be fried chicken on a bun- simple. However when I watched it being made I saw them slather on some red sauce I became concerned. It looked and smelled exactly like Frank’s Red Hot sauce! Luckily looks can be deceiving because the sauce was excellent. It was slightly spicy like Franks but more sweet and light. I was also amazed how moist the chicken was inside. Somehow the buttermilk batter retained all those juices and this was possibly the best chicken sandwich I have ever had! Seriously! I’m so sad I got it the last day of the Madison Square market. I would have been there every day if I had known before. Luckily the original is out in Williamsburg and I am definitely making the trip out there. Pie’s and thighs here I come. Pies and Thighs

I had the day off last week and spent the morning getting some much needed sleep and cleaning the apartment. Once I felt somewhat accomplished I decided to head out and wander the city. I started out in Midtown East, trekked across into the park, stopped by the TWC for a few minutes and finally ended up walking into the Upper West Side for some lunch. It was a beautiful day- nature was giving us one more warm one so I wanted to spend it outdoors. I did a quick map check of what was nearby and saw Ocean Grill. It had outdoor seating, prix fix lunch and was the sister restaurant to Blue Water Grill- perfect! I was seated right away at a nice sidewalk table overlooking the park and decided upon the prix-fix lunch menu. I put my menu down and waited. I don’t hang out in the UWS much and I was struck by how quiet it was. Maybe a little too quiet for my tastes. After about 10 minutes at my eerie quiet table I began to get annoyed. No one had brought me water, a waiter behind me had bumped ...

It’s my favorite time of year and to celebrate the last week of waking up in the dark before the clocks turn back we’ve decided to do a contest. NYC Tastes has teamed up with Manhattan Fruitier to give away one of their beautiful and delicious Cortland Hamper baskets. Manhattan Fruitier is actually right near my apartment and their popular baskets contain everything from fresh cut flowers, chocolates and nuts to exotic fruits platters. You can check out some more of their Fruit Baskets . For this contest we’re going to keep it simple. Autumn is my favorite time of year for many reasons. I love the gorgeous orange and red leaves, the feeling of crisp cool air in my lungs and snuggling into a cozy sweatshirt. But hey- this blog is about food! And autumn is also my favorite time for food! So I want to hear about your favorite autumn dishes- whether it be store/ restaurant bought or homemade. I will always remember my Mom picking up perfectly ripe apples and cider doughnuts from th...