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Showing posts from March, 2011

The Mermaid Inn

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Mr. T and I enjoyed an early dinner the other day at the Mermaid Inn and made use of a fantastic Blackboard Eats coupon as well. For only $1 I bought a coupon that entitled us to 30% off our meal and a free drink for each of us. Score! The drinks were limited to one red or white wine or a Sea breeze and both of us chose the latter. Then we each started out with the Cesar Salad. Looking at this picture you can see there is a TON of Parmesan cheese on top. The amount was definitely a little ridiculous but is was seriously good and so satisfying. Both of us completely finished our plates which is big for Mr. T who isn’t exactly a salad fan. For my main course I ordered the Seared Montauk Skate with organic root vegetables, caper berry and soy brown butter sauce. I thought this dish was executed perfectly. The skate was moist and the addition of soy to the brown butter sauce gave it a nice salty flair that I really enjoyed. Mr. T. ordered the Grilled Alaskan King Salmon

The Blue Monk in Buffalo

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I was only in Buffalo a total of 28 hours and my flight was delayed for 3 of those of course. Luckily my friend Kristin drove me to the airport and it gave us some time to stop and have an early dinner before I left. First we tried to go to Seabar but it was right between the 2 hour window that they close between lunch and dinner. Drat! Instead we veered off course and returned to the Blue Monk which I had tested out in the summer before they started serving food. Blue Monk is known best for having one of the most extensive beer lists in the Western NY area. Immediately I noticed a new Dogfish Head I’d never had before the Namaste. It was basically a light, hefeweizen style of beer that wasn’t too exciting but certainly tasty. Since it was really early in the evening we weren’t feeling a full on dinner so we ordered two appetizers instead. First up- Blue Balls. Yes only in Buffalo would you find something called Blue Balls on the menu. However these large German meatba

Todd English at JFK

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Four days after we returned from Mexico and I was still completely out of whack. Mr. T and I had both caught a terrible cold and being back in the nasty March weather was pretty miserable. Work was even crazier than it was before I had left which seemed impossible but is true. Then I got some very sad news about my friend’s father passing away. I basically grew up with this family- my friend and I spending equal amounts of time at each others homes, so it was upsetting to say the least. I obviously wasn’t in the best shape, terrible cold, Mexico hangover, and tons of work to do; but I needed to be there for my friend so I booked a flight to Buffalo the next day. I put in a half day of work and then rushed to the airport only to find Terminal 2 pretty deserted. I was through the security in a matter of seconds and had plenty of time to actually have a proper lunch. Todd English’s Bonfire was right next to my gate so it seemed like an obvious choice. I put in an order for a Cesar Salad

El Camion and the Tale of Two Pina’s

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So I had no residual effects from an eight day drinking and eating binge in Mexico except for one thing. A serious addiction to Pina Colada’s. I had actually joked about this while we were there. It was common practice to get up, have some breakfast and then be drinking a frozen cocktail by 10:00 AM. Hey we were all on vacation! So Saturday morning I wake up and I have this insane craving for a Pina Colada. I mean seriously insane- it’s all I can think about. I do some chores around the house, go to the Duane Reade for some supplies, but it’s still there, nagging and taunting me to get a drink. Finally Mr. T says- why don’t you just go get one? So go I did. Now it’s still winter so most places aren’t exactly whipping up frozen cocktails left and right so I head to the one place that always has vacation type drinks- the South Street Seaport. I travel all the way downtown and end up at the Latin restaurant Cabana. It was about 2:00 pm at this point and while the restaurant w

Solo Lunch at Tocqueville

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I have my Mexico post all ready to go but I really want to use my photographers pics because they're awesome but I haven't gotten them all yet so I'll come back to that post. We flew back from Mexico Tuesday night and then spent Wednesday basically at home recovering. I thought I would be excited to get back into city mode but after an espresso at Eataly I just felt like coming home and doing nothing. I woke up on Thursday so incredibly tired and with some serious stomach pains so I called in sick. After going back to sleep for a few hours I woke up and surprisingly felt better. Maybe it was just the thought of work that was bringing me down. I had cancelled a fancy lunch the day before and decided to reschedule it. So right around 1:00 I walked down to Union Square for my reservation at Tocqueville. I’ve always heard great things about this restaurant and walking inside I was immediately struck by the room. The high ceilings and small bright room was extremely calm and c

March Madness with Momofuku and Beer

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It's the most wonderful time of year again! No not Christmas- March Madness!! The next few weeks are all about basketball and beer people. I swung by Momofuku the other day and picked up some game day rations. Pretzel cake truffle with malted pretzel crumbs. Sound pretty crazy right? Crazy awesome that is!! They almost taste like a savory Graham Cracker with a hint of molasses and a long salty finish. This kind of treat begs for something more refreshing than a glass of milk. This calls for a nice cold beer. So after getting the truffles I walked over to my new favorite beer store, Good Beer and picked up a few delicious new brews to enjoy. They had just gotten some Breckenridge beers in the day before and I was psyched to try out this brewery I had heard so much about. Once home I cracked open the Amber which poured a very minimal head with slight lacing on the glass. The taste was light with some toasty notes and a bit of cherry on the end. A very drinkable beer a

Monday in Mexico

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So Monday morning Mr. T and I flew out of NYC (during the last snowstorm of the winter) and down to Puerto Vallarta. We had a somewhat sad layover in Chicago where Shamrock Shake signs were everywhere only to find out the machine was broken. Boo :( However we arrived safe and sound and settled into our hotel that would soon be filled with 38 of our closest friends and family. This was a very small resort called Playa Fiesta and we had the entire place to ourselves. How awesome is that! Our first order of business Monday was selecting a welcome and wedding cocktail for our guests. This meant we had to spend Monday night doing a cocktail tasting! Above are three of the at least 20 cocktails our bartender Eamonn so wonderfully concocted for us. Miami Vice’s, Banana Pina Coladas (my suggestion), Mango Mojitos…everything! I would have paid about $100 for a tasting like that in the city. Then Tuesday morning we awoke to a fantastic spread for breakfast. Look at all this food! This was just m

Legal Seafoods

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So I’ve almost caught up to Mexico. Saturday morning I woke up knowing I only had two more days to get things accomplished. The night before Mr. T and I realized we had bought nothing for ourselves yet. I mean sandals, sunglasses, clothing, nothing. Somehow we forgot in all of the craziness. I had a mini breakdown because of this and about a hundred other things and after I calmed down Mr. T suggested we take a trip to the Westchester Mall. Well that ended up being the best idea ever. I actually ended up buying nothing but Mr. T found everything he needed and it was a nice escape from the city. After the Westchester we walked down in the freezing cold winds to Legal Seafood’s. Now I know this is a chain restaurant but it was pretty damn good. To start we had the Blackened Raw Tuna Sashimi with sesame chili vinaigrette, seaweed salad and wasabi. The tuna itself was very good. It had been pan seared so the outside was a little crisp and the inside was perfectly rare. Unf

Ponty Bistro

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Ponty Bistro quietly opened up in my neighborhood sometime last year and although it never looks very busy it seems to draw a good crowd from the Yelp reviews I’ve seen. I had worked through lunch the other day so I could take a half day for some serious shopping and right around 3:30 I was close to home and hunger pains were starting to get serious. I walked right by Ponty bistro and noticed a sign outside for a two course lunch for $14.95. A quick check of the menu showed Cesar Salad and a Lobster Club Sandwich as options. Just like that my decision was made and I walked inside the empty restaurant and got a seat among the comfortable but fitting African Sculptures and throw pillows. Ponty describes its’ cuisine as African Fusion. There wasn’t too much fusion going on in my Cesar Salad. Nice big pieces of Parmesan cheese, creamy dressing and light on the salt and pepper. Thank goodness- I hate when my Cesar’s are over seasoned. The Black Olives gave just a little twist o

A Much Needed Day of Bubbly

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I will definitely talk about the wedding but I truly have to go back a little. A lot of nervous eating happened the week prior and it deserves some attention. One week before leaving for Mexico Mr. T and I just needed a break from life. Work was mayham, planning was making me panic and a good day relaxing in order. So Friday we took the day off and had a lovely little rendezvous in the city. First we met up with my friend David, who I've known since I was two years old. He was my next door neighbor growing up but he moved to Atlanta when we were about eight. Our families stayed in touch and lo and behold- he moved to Brooklyn and we reconnected. Mr. T and I started out our day catching up with him and celebrating forthcoming nuptials over a bottle of Moet at Edwards in Tribeca. That champagne seemed to do the trick so after leaving David we walked up to Balthazar and decided to have some more! After all those early morning bubbles (it was only 1:00 pm at this point) some food wa

Peanut Butter Pop Up!

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Got nothing to do this weekend? Want some culture that will make your mouth water and is for a good cause? Head down to the Peanut Butter Pop Up Museum in Soho. I stopped by today and had a great time at the tiny little space. Who doesn't love art inspired by peanut butter? Especially when it's one of my favorites the Elvis Sandwich. Mmmmm... The event is free to attend and you get an awesome jar of peanut butter just for attending. Put your name on the wall and another jar of peanut butter is donated to The Food Bank of NYC in your name. Wait...cool art, free delicious nutty goodness and all for a good cause? Why aren't you there already! Enjoy! Happy Weekend!

I'm Back! With the Little Cupcake Bake Shop

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Mr. T and I are back from Mexico and slowly recovering from our fantastic trip. I'm still trying to get all of our photos in order but suffice it to say we had an absolute blast. I'll try to have a trip report up and running in the next day or two but first here's a little something I enjoyed right before the trip- The Little Cupcake Bake Shop. This little bakery has grown to be one of my favorites for its’ bright cheery atmosphere, intoxicating smells and wonderful array of all things sweet and delicious. It reminds of a bakery I would love as a little kid. There’s a ton of crazy colors, huge layer cakes and whimsical things that you never see anymore. Case in point- the classic ice box cake. I haven’t had one of these in years! Here they have the original and also this- a pistachio ice box cake. Look at all those lovely layers! The creamy pistachio filling and softened shortbread cookies truly brought me right back to my youth. It was like I was 10 years old aga