NYC Tastes

Almost every weekend is a good beer weekend in our household but this is especially awesome... Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout, Maine Brewing Company Lunch and one of my favs Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast.  I'm so ready for the weekend...

Since I moved into the neighborhood over 10 years ago we have had some sort of below average fast food type place across the street, everything from Yoshinoya to Anna Marie Pizza.  So when we saw the shiny new facade of STIX finally emerge last week both Mr. T and I were excited for something better.  And better it certainly is... The Chicken STIX is my current favorite.   The poultry is marinated in a honey mustard sauce which keeps the chicken incredibly moist while the outside has a nice char from the grill.  The Chef's Special STIX is actually his Mom's recipe made from ground lamb and beef, red wine, cumin garlic and served with a fresh tomato sauce.   This comes shaped more like a corn dog than I had imagined a skewer looking with a nice piece of pita on the side.  The tomato sauce was tasty with the lamb but I thought the Tzatziki was a better pairing. This was ordered as a side and I enjoyed the thickness and gener...

This month is filled with all sorts of dinner parties and holiday gatherings where gifts and food go hand in hand.  Usually I'm incredibly late on the gift end so when I'm in charge of dessert I skip the baking and head right down to Black Hound.  They always have their standard cakes such as the Triple Chocolate Mousse and Busy Bee. But around holiday time they dress up the decorations and also add a couple special flavors.  This year the Poinsettia Cake with pecan butter, spiced buttercream and caramel looked amazing as did the Gingerbread Cake filled with poached pears and apples. But in the end it was the Eggnog Cake that had me swooning.  Three layers of hazelnut cake soaked in bourbon and rum, covered in eggnog buttercream and crushed hazelnut shavings.  Beware this cake has a bite from the liquor so unless you want some tipsy coworkers save it for the family party instead. Black Hound Bakery

If you feel like checking out a new spot for info on everything that's happening in NYC now head over to  On Deck With Lucy . Lucy focuses on the 3 T's of NYC; The Trends, The Tastes and The Talent. This month we are "The Tastes" and talk about the dining scene in the city with a particular focus on the holiday season.  Enjoy!

We had a concert over in Williamsburg last week and decided to make a night of it with some beers at Brooklyn Brewery and a stop into Brooklyn Bowl for some Fried Chicken. I'm a big fan of the Fried Chicken at Blue Ribbon so I was psyched to try out their Brooklyn cooking.  It didn't have quite the salty, crunchy exterior as the West Village location but the chicken was still incredibly moist with a delicious side of Bacon, Honey Collard Greens. We had even more bacon on the awesome Wedge Salad complete with big orbs of funky blue cheese...and even more chicken with an order of the Smoked BBQ Wings. Mr. T was absolutely in love with the smoky, sweet wings.  He even said they may be his new favorite wing in the city.  There was some great live music going on behind us as we ate so we actually got a pre-show before our concert.  Fried Chicken, live music, beers and bowling all in one place.  What'...

I was trekking around the Lower East Side last Saturday when I stumbled across this little place called Dudley's.  I had never seen nor heard of it before but the menu looked enticing so I walked inside. I loved everything about the space immediately.  There was a cozy curved bar, big windows for people watching and they were rocking some incredibly great music.  I felt so relaxed I decided to make it a true brunch experience and ordered a mimosa. They had some great sounding Egg Sandwiches but I was intrigued by the Messy Grits. A perfectly poached egg sat atop a mixture of corn and grits.  It was tasty but I wish the grits had a little more flavor and texture.  It was a little on the thin side for grits.  The table next to me ordered a fantastic looking egg sandwich and the next table had a slice of Banoffee Chocolate Pie that looked utterly amazing.  So with those two snapshots in mind...

Time for a delicious drink from my favorite little cocktail den Pravda. The Gogol is comprised of Horseradish Vodka, Dill and a Pickled Quail Egg.  If your a horseradish lover as I am this drinks for you... Pravda