NYC Tastes

I absolutely love Winter Restaurant Week.  It always starts at the end of January and completely saves me from my first "Sunday without football" blues. Okay I guess the Pro Bowl was on this past weekend but I don;t think I've ever watched that.  This year I decided to head uptown to Vaucluse, the beautiful French restaurant that took over the Park Avenue Winter space a few years back. I love the interior of this restaurant; everything is so comfortable and elegant with big fluffy white banquettes lining the walls and crisp linen cloths on each table.  I was dining solo so I opted to sit in the beautiful bar room to sip on my cocktail and listen to the jazz trio serenading the brunch crowd. 1st Course Lobster Bisque~ Three meaty chunks of lobster and crab enrobed in a silky lobster broth, poured table-side, with tarragon and creme fraiche.  This soup was phenomenal.  I could taste all the big, bold flavors of the ocean without that ...

The family week continued after Upland with a stop at the Arlo Rooftop for a bottle of rose and then onto an itzakya dinner at Sake Bar Hagi before the Book of Mormon.  Monday we decided to uptown to my fathers favorite place in the city for lunch Cafe Sabarsky.  This gorgeous restaurant is styled after the great Viennese Cafes from the turn of the century.  In addition to hearty platters of Bavarian Sausage and Wiener Schnitzel, Sabaraky is the perfect spot to indulge in some wonderful desserts. My father and I always get the same thing the beautiful Klimttorte, a chocolate and hazelnut layer cake studded with smooth chocolate ganache and a shiny gold leaf.  It's a rich, elegant dessert that pairs perfectly with one of their strong Viennese coffees. My Mom always gets the classic Apple Strudel while my brother tried out the Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, a light chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries.  I honestly don't think there's any dessert he...

Just steps from the crowds of Bloomingdale's sits Amali an elegant Mediterranean restaurant inspired by the food of Greece, Turkey and Italy.   With the UES address I was a little worried about a pretentious atmosphere but the low lit space was incredibly comfortable; much too easy in fact to settle in with a few bottles of wine and spend the entire night grazing on gorgeous Burrata drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. It's so satisfying to slice into this rich ball of cheese and watch all the beautiful cream and curds seep out.  Perfect with just a piece of thick rustic bread but also a great companion for hearty pasta like the Tagliatelle Bolognese. But if there's one dish you absolutely must order at Amali it's their famous Roasted Chicken "Under a Brick" with garlic mashed potatoes and jus.   The skin on this chicken was absolutely marvelous; golden brown, insanely crisp, full of fresh garlic, rosemary and pepper with an interior of meat that st...

Most people start off the New Year with resolution to get into shape, eat healthier and become a better person.  Mr. T and I did not go that route.  Instead we decided to kick off the new year by drinking some fantastic beers and gorging on Spare Ribs at Nancy Lee's Pig Heaven. I've never been a big fan of spare ribs...the ones that usually arrive from our neighborhood delivery joints are always tough, overcooked slabs of meat.  Here at Nancy Lee's they were a completely different story. This meat was soooooo tender with a caramelized BBQ shell on the outside that was both sweet and spicy.  These were completely unlike any spare ribs I've had before and I will never enjoy anything different going forward. Another big surprise hit were the Shumai with a paper thin outer casing and big white pieces of chicken inside and some delicious dumpling sauce for dipping.   One would assume this place could be found down in Chinatown but it's a...

I was wandering around the Upper East Side and stumbled across this incredibly cute new bakery called Padoca right on the corner of 68th Street.  They had a great mix of both sweet and savory items like fluffy Egg & Cheese Brioche, thick Brazilian French and cheese filled Empanada's.  Of course I went straight for something sweet their signature Rocky Road Cookie. The dough was super soft with slivers of milk chocolate and walnuts studding the inside and big fluffy orange marshmallows on top just for Halloween.  Cookie perfection! Padoca Bakery 359 East 68th Street New York, NY 10065

Every time I trek to the Upper East Side I make a quick stop at Payard for a treat or two. It's impossible to pass up the gorgeous Louvre Cake... ...chocolate and hazelnut mousse layered with hazelnut dacquoise, hazelnut wafer and enrobed in a shiny chocolate glaze.  It's one of my favorite desserts of all time. Mr. T always sticks with classic French pastries like the eclair. Payard's version is much more elegant than you find in most places.  The classic choux dough is baked to a gorgeous golden brown, stuffed with pastry creme then topped with a thick coffee fondant. This begs to be eaten slowly with a nice frothy macchiato on the side. Francois Payard Bakery 1293 3rd Avenue at 74th Street New York, NY 10021

I always try to eat somewhere new for Restaurant week but the one I must do every year is Cafe Boulud. Mr. T and I met up for a late lunch Friday and the place was absolutely packed.  Daniel himself was making the rounds and after about a 10 minute wait we were seated at a nice table in the back. After choosing a nice bottle of wine to we delved into the first course a Wild Arugula Salad  for him and Rock Shrimp Ceviche for me. This was a nice summery starter with sweet slices of peach, lots of crunchy marcona almonds and big flakes of Parmesan cheese. The ceviche was a nice play on spicy and sweet, dressed with a bright avocado foam and dotted with crispy fried chickpeas and jalapeno.  Onto entrees Mr. T ordered the Grilled leg of Lamb with pita bread, couscous and mint. The lamb was cooked perfect with a little char on the top and a bright red juicy center.  He stuffed most of the meat into the pita with the spicy couscous and made himself a ...