NYC Tastes

I don't spend nearly enough time at my little corner Spanish spot off of Gramercy Park.  The open kitchen and gorgeous bottles of wine are so inviting...the briny bowl of olives swimming in oil don't hurt either. Casa Mono serves all small plates...perfect for sharing a few bites with friends but also an excellent choice for a solo quick meal.  I stopped in one evening for a bite of Quail and Cockscomb with black garlic and wild mushrooms. The quail was cooked perfect with strong elements of both sweet and savory from the abundance of black garlic coating the bird and an assortment of mushrooms of all shapes and sizes.  I chatted with the chef as he prepared through the open kitchen..one of the perks of dining at the bar.  Plus I just found out they will be participating in Restaurant Week this year!  What a perfect excuse to enjoy this neighborhood staple all over again.                ...

We returned from our trip to Florida on Wednesday and were beyond tired out. Mr. Trekker did the correct thing and took the rest of the week off from work. I went in on Thursday & Friday and of course had two of the most stressful and hectic days ever. Luckily I get out of work early on Friday's and was home by 3:30. Since Mr. T was home as well and neither of us had had lunch yet (since he was just waking up), we decided to grab a late lunch at Casa Mono. Casa Mono has been in our neighborhood for years now and always gets rave reviews. Unfortunately the place is super small and seating is a little cramped. It is also filled to the brim for dinner at night with at least an hour waiting list. The nice thing about the place though is that they serve their menu all day! So we figured it being an off hour we might be able to have the place to ourselves. It was a really rainy and gross day so we hurried into the place and found it almost empty. There were 2 couples dining at th...