3.5
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April Bloomfield’s Salvation Taco
Having eaten a whole suckling pig at Chef April Bloomfield’s The Breslin a couple of years ago, I was excited to see what she could do with one of my comfort foods: tacos. What made Salvation Taco even more appealing to me is that it’s on 39th Street, just south of my boyfriend’s apartment, in this part of the Murray Hill neighborhood that’s mostly filled with highrises and Irish pubs meant to attract the after-work crowd. (It was ridiculously dark in the restaurant, so please excuse my heavily-lightened pictures.) 5 Island Rum, coconut horchata, cold-brewed coffee, Fernet Vallet, cinnamon and vanilla I’ve secretly loved the totally-Americanized horchatas I’ve had with…
- 3.5, brunch, cafe, cheap eats, restaurant reviews, upper east side, vegetarian-friendly, weekend brunch
Alice’s Tea Cup is Pretty Tea-y but Not So Alice-y
My friend Kim online-introduced me to her hometown-friend-with-a-blog Katie Qué (pronounced kay) a few months ago, telling me that she’s a much more interesting blogger than I am and that I’d love her posts about “Game of Thrones” and her many and varied photos of her much-personalitied cat. Within days, we had created a House Katie sigil and motto. (Sorry if that means nothing to you. Wait, no, I’m NOT sorry. Watch “Game of Thrones”. And also “Girls”. Mostly “Girls”, actually.) Katie Qué came to visit her friend Patrick last weekend and was kind enough to invite me to be a part of her wallet-emptying/belly-filling/Alice-in-Wonderland-obsessing odyssey. My portion of the…
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DBGB – French/American – East Village
When my friend Kim saw a four-person dinner at DBGB pop up on GiltCity for $150, the first thing she thought was, “SUNDAE!!” And the second thing she thought was, “Can I eat four sundaes by myself?” And the third thing she thought was, “Guess I have to invite Katie.” I’d had a very so-so experience the first time around at DBGB, but my subsequent tasting menu at Chef Boulud’s flagship restaurant, Daniel, was so outstanding it changed the way I rate all other restaurants; naturally, I was interested in a second try at DBGB. So Dr. Boyfriend and I met Kim and her friend Kelly on Friday night to…
- 3.5, american (new), celebrity chef, good for groups, great for dates, kips bay, restaurant reviews, worthwhile views
Riverpark is Only Worth It for the Views – American (New) – Kips Bay
For the longest time, I was saying that the best meal I’ve ever had was at Tom Colicchio’s Craft. And maybe it still is the best meal I’ve ever had. It was my first tasting menu, my first meal over $100, my first time eating bay scallops and sturgeon and cocoa nib. Since then, I’ve had meals that have blown my mind more, but there’s sure a lot to be said for almost being made to cry over some Brussels sprouts for the first time. Since then, I’ve had pretty stellar experiences at Craftbar and Colicchio & Sons, so my boyfriend and I were pleased to get to try Chef…
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Michael Jordan’s The Steak House N.Y.C. – Steak – Midtown East
If you can get past the fact that it’s owned by Michael Jordan and is called Michael Jordan’s The Steak House N.Y.C. (what?), this place is actually a decent steakhouse with atmosphere that beats the usual Harvard-crimson carpeting and gold-lacquered everything. My boyfriend and I talked casually about visiting The Steak House every time we spotted it overlooking Grand Central Terminal, but it took seeing Chef Michael Vignola on an episode of The Food Network’s “Chopped” to make us seriously consider a reservation. On the show, the chef was super-creative–quite the opposite of what we expect from someone just cooking steaks and lobster all day–and we were excited to see…
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Aquavit – Scandinavian – Midtown East
Two days after Marcus Samuelsson won the second season of “Top Chef: Masters”, my dining companions and I settled in at the bistro of his restaurant Aquavit and prepared to be wowed. Instead, we were merely contented. matjes herring (mild salt herring), roasted yellow beets, scallions, sour cream herring sampler, boiled potatoes, Vasterbotten cheese cherry and wild boar salad sage-roasted Penobscot (Maine?) chicken breast, broccoli rabe, Swiss chard, snap peas, spring onion crème Undersalted! Bland! Only slightly saved by the delicious sauce! smörgåsbord! cold-poached salmon, red quinoa, wax beans, chervil hollandaise Nik and Kamran Jack and Anthony (they’re single and like good food, ladies!) chocolate pot de crème cardamom pound…
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The Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges – French – Upper East Side
My boyfriend and I went to The Mark because the Times called it “unambitious” and the whole blogosphere was seemingly up in arms over the two-star rating they gave it despite that. I was prepared to be blown away, anyway, and to give it the many-doughnutted review it deserved. homemade cherry yuzu and ginger ale sodas ($5) These sodas were sort of an afterthought, and they turned out to easily be the best part of the meal for me. Ever since the major ginger ale brand in the U.S. started advertising that they use real ginger, I’ve become way more interested in the stuff; I don’t know what I thought…
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Fig & Olive – Mediterranean – Midtown East
Dr. Boyfriend and I were trying to decide where to book a dinner reservation last week and saw that Fig & Olive has nearly 700 reviews on OpenTable, which is more than everything else we saw by a long shot. After going there on Friday night, I understand why. The place is just plain meant to appeal to a lot of people. The menu is interesting but not adventurous, the prices are high enough to keep out the riffraff but low enough that you wouldn’t feel bad about taking a date here even knowing she wasn’t going to put out, the lighting is low, the furniture is plush, the service…
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Buttermilk Channel – American (New) – Carroll Gardens
I have so many old food photos in my queue that I’m drowning, so please excuse me while I just plop some of these pictures of my meal at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn with my friend Beth down without much explanation. maple- and bacon-roasted almonds These are still on the menu seven months later, because they’re so crunchy, sweet, and bacony that you kind of just want to keep ordering them and forget about the rest of the meal. See the way the sugar is cracking off of them in some places? COME ON! It’s almost unfair. sweet potato and goat cheese croquettes scallops duck meatloaf, creamy parsnips, onion ring…