NYC Tastes

It’s that time of year again when I look back on all the food and drink consumed over the past year and remember some of the highlights. Best Fish Dish- Marea The Red Snapper with marinated salsify, brussel sprouts, fresh pancetta and soba is by far the best fish dish of this year and maybe best fish dish ever! The Snapper was cooked so perfect and had such bold flavor it was simply wonderful. Runner up- Bohemian The Grilled Branzino with seasonal vegetables was moist, succulent and absolutely enormous. This dish could feed two to three people very happily. Best New Take on Foie Gras- John Michaels One word- foiejitas. Silky, sweet hand held appetizer that completely changed the way I look at foie gras. Best Surprise Dining Experience- Two Toms It wasn’t fancy and there were definitely some misses (antipasto plate) but the whole experience was simply a blast. I loved grabbing my own drinks from the fridge in back and that Eggplant Rollatini dish is something dreams ar...

Ahhh…Sitting next to the fireplace, sipping a frothy dark beer and enjoying a warm melty sandwich. Does life get any better than this? Not really- it’s another day at the Blind Tiger. After several amazing winter beers we decided it was time for some meat. The Bloody Beast is a roast beef sandwich with cheddar cheese, red onions and horseradish sauce sandwiched inside a toasty roll and grilled. The sweet red onions really played off the heat of the horseradish and the bloody mary sauce on the side gave it an extra spicy kick. This sandwich is the perfect compliment to a tasty brew on a chilly winter’s day. Can the Tiger ever do me wrong? I don't think so. See you on New Years Eve my Tiger! The Blind Tiger

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and celebrates with some special treats! I celebrated a little earlier this week over at the Hester Street Holiday market. How can you resist when you see a beautiful platter filled with all kinds of delicious looking cakes. I certainly couldn’t. This is the Elvis from Robicelli’s Cupcakes. What goes into an Elvis- why his favorite things of course. Banana cake bottom, peanut butter ganache frosting and some candied bacon on top. Wow this was an awesome cupcake. The banana bottom was insanely moist with a great natural banana flavor. The peanut butter ganache was super fluffy and the candied bacon was done perfectly giving each bite a little bit of salt without overpowering the cake. Yum!! So here’s to everyone having a little something sweet and a great holiday! Robicelli's Cupcakes

To round out the end of Sunday night we all decided dessert was in order. We had just finished at Eataly so we wandered down to Gramercy Tavern for my favorite German Chocolate cake in the city. Unfortunately the Tavern was packed (damn you holidays) so we made an audible and walked up to Maialino instead. One of Danny Meyer’s other restaurants, Maialino was also busy but the front bar area was wide open. We grabbed a table near the window and decided to continue on our kick of wine. We ordered a bottle of Cesanese di Olevano Romano and hunkered down with the dessert menu. I didn’t really even have to look. I knew my order before even walking inside- one of my favorite Italian specialties an Affogato. I love, love, love gelato and I like espresso just as much so putting these two together was just simply divine. I left Maialino completely satisfied and happy. So there you have it. After an incredibly rough morning, Sunday turned out to be quite a success after all. Maialino

Although I love everything Eataly has to offer, I would have to say the enoteca in the middle if probably my favorite part. I love the tall marble tables and how every other section intersects here in the middle. It’s just always got a lively, bustling vibe that’s almost electric. After Motorino Sunday night we stopped back in for a bottle of wine and some snacks. For wine we ordered a bottle of Morellino Di Scansano, one of the first red wines Batali really turned me onto during a visit to Otto. It’s just a light, easy drinking red that works well with multiple kinds of food. And I just happen to love the bottle. What’s wine without some meat and cheese? For a snack we ordered the fresh made Mozzarella with San Daniele Prosciutto. I absolutely love this type of prosciutto. It’s slightly sweeter and saltier than the Parma and really gets a boost from a little olive oil and cheese. The mozzarella was tasty but I really wish they would begin selling Burrata as well. The turnover ...

After a beer filled and raucous Saturday night (no we were not at Sanatacon but still managed to get a little crazy) we were all struggling on Sunday. I barely moved my poor body out to the couch for football watching and after the 1:00 games were over we all collectively decided to take a nap. Around 5:30 pm, the sun had gone down and I rolled back out of bed feeling better. It was my friend’s last night in the city and we had some more serious eating and drinking to accomplish. Luckily everyone was feeling much better after their own naps and just one hour later we were out the door and heading for my friends last request- pizza. I had planned for us to eat at Posto actually but there was a 30 minute wait when we arrived! I wasn’t in a waiting mood, that’s for sure, so instead we walked down to Motorino where only about half the tiny space was filled. Our first pizza of the night was Motorino’s Margherita with tomato, mozzarella and basil. The first thing you’ll notice about th...

My friend from Buffalo was visiting this past weekend and after having a pretty chilled out Friday night we woke up Saturday ready to rock and roll. There were a ton of food and drinking items on the agenda and after a quick tour of Eataly we walked over to our first pit stop Gramercy Tavern. We had talked about having lunch at the Tavern, but Mr. T was still getting himself ready so we just stopped in for an early afternoon drink instead. I decided to have a glass of the Franciacorta Rose Brut to start my day. The crisp bubbly had some strong raspberry and cherry flavors but was very balanced. My friend went for the Orange Blossom. A blend of sparkling wine, Elderflower liquor and orange bitters made this an excellent early afternoon drink. Kind of like a mimosa with a little twist. After our drinks were finished we walked down to Union Square and shopped around the holiday markets. I picked up an absolutely amazing Vietnamese Coffee and Chocolate cookie from the Rubyzaar boot...