finding comfort in the uncomfortable at vinyl

There are a few restaurants in the city that are traditions. The go-to spot in a particular neighborhood for special occasions or maybe late night drinks or the all-important catch up with the ladies. Vynl’s been one of those spots for me – fabulous for catching up and I’ve even been known to drag wonderful friends there for a late night meal after my trapeze show – no better way to celebrate. The danger though of being one of those spots? People have their favorites and they cling to them fiercely.

My friend JB and I hadn’t been here in ages. This past Saturday seemed like a perfect time for a return. A lemongrass chicken wrap – cause I’ve yet to find it anywhere else – with a skinny margarita. And if we’re lucky, chocolate peanut butter pie. Oh yes. Doesn’t get any better than all of the above.

We arrived to find the menu hadn’t undergone a facelift. Oh no. They’d opted for Michael Jackson style reconstruction. The only thing that stayed the same seemed to be the restaurant’s name. When the server came over to ask how we were doing, neither of us were too good at hiding our displeasure. “Fair,” we responded, pointing to the menu and expressing our displeasure.

And here’s where Vinyl got it right.

“We’ve been closed the last week, perfecting the new menu items. We’ve tried them all as well. We’re trying to make the food here a little more upscale. I understand your frustration – I tell you what. I’ll send out a couple of my favorite starters for you to try so you can see yourself. And then take a look at the menu. I’ll be back to talk with you both and we’ll see what we can do there.”

Hard to argue with that, along with his willingness to make the drinks we were craving even though they were not on the menu.

Crispy Tofu & Little Madam Hens - Vynl

He brought me the Little Madam Hams – small toasted brioche squares with American ham, a gruyere bechamel sauce, topped with quail eggs. I’m not a huge fan of eggs with a runny center, but I found the quail eggs better. The flavor in the dish was amazing. I could eat the gruyere bechamel sauce every day and not grow tired of it. Since my friend doesn’t eat meat, they sent her the crispy tofu. I was intrigued to try it, seeing as our server said he traditionally hated tofu and this made him a believer. The tofu squares were lightly fried, paired with persimmons, radishes and a scallion chili dressing. It didn’t even taste like tofu. Delicious! And there was a nice kick to the scallion chili dressing that helped add a lot to the dish.

Kung Pao Shrimp Tacos - Vynl

We finally decided to go with an order of the Kung Pao shrimp tacos, which were served with a cabbage-bell pepper slaw, honey peanuts, and a spicy lime creme sauce. There was a pronounced spicy flavor to the tacos which worked well with the sauce for the tofu. We also got sides of brussels sprouts and green beans, which worked well for sharing.

You've Got the Munchies - Vynl

We were torn as to what to choose for dessert. Thankfully, we did not have to – as our server sent one out to us! He did tell us we could choose otherwise if we wanted, but I think we both agree that letting him choose worked out just fine. He sent us a dish they call “You Have the Munchies” – which is vanilla cake, chocolate frosting, potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn. It is fantastic – the perfect combination of salty and sweet. I joked it’s the perfect date dessert since it should please everyone! There are other things on the dessert menu I can’t wait to try – the Vynl ring dings (dark chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream) or the PBJ creme brulee with concord grape compote (so unique – I must try).

Overall, my hat’s off to the team at Vinyl. Way to be prepared for the situation and work with your customers. Refreshing to see, for sure. [And if you're wondering, why yes. The Elvis bathroom is still there, in all it's glory.]

Anyone else been since the big redesign?

Vinyl – 754 9th Avenue (at 51 Street) – 212.974.2003
No Reservations

 

fondue and meats at jakewalk

Jakewalk is one of my favorite spots for catching up with girlfriends. If the tables are full or you’re just not in the mood for sitting at a table, their bar area is nicely done. You don’t feel cramped. In fact, it’s a little too easy to feel content in sitting there and watching the time fly right on by – not that I’m complaining in the least. They have a nice happy hour special that runs Monday through Friday. It’s $2 off all drinks or $10 off bottles of wine. They don’t take reservations, so the special is nice incentive to get there early and find a spot.

Jakewalk - Carroll Gardens

My friend and I decided to order the fondue for two. The cheese is a blend of a five year cheddar and cave-aged Swiss accompanied by apples, salami and bread. The cheese had just the right amount of flavor – enough to be noticeable but not so much as to detract when paired with the accompanying items.

Fondue - Jakewalk

They are generous with the cheese portion, so it worked perfectly that we also ordered three additional meats (priced at $5 per meat). The selection included sopressata, chorizo, Beef Cervelat (a Schaller & Weber beef sausage), Saucisson a l’Ail (a garlic pork sausage), and Molinari Toscano (a Tuscan-style salami). We went with the sopressata, chorizo, and the garlic pork sausage. All were flavorful and though not intended to be paired with it I’m sure, worked nicely with the fondue.

Charcuterie - Jakewalk

Jakewalk – 282 Smith Street (at Sackett), Brooklyn – 347.599.0294
No Reservations

 

lemony chicken with artichoke hearts

One of my eternal New Year’s resolutions seems to involve the kitchen. Deciding we can be more than casual acquaintances. Daresay maybe even working towards being good friends? Last week, I was excited to see this recipe pop up in my inbox. Lemony chicken. Yum. Artichoke hearts? Upgrade. The one odd thing in this recipe to me was vermouth. I’ve never cooked with it, but I guess fringe benefit is I’m ready to roll if anyone stops by and wants a martini.

Getting started simmering

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup vermouth
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

After adding the cornstarch. Thickening and almost ready.

I pretty much followed this recipe exactly, with the exception of chicken breast halves. I instead used halved chicken breasts, which I liked. The artichokes ended up very tender and the liquid portion made the chicken moist. I paired this with couscous, which tasted even better topped by the excess juice from the dish. Very easy and flavorful.

 

southern brunch at seersucker

I’d been dying to try Seersucker and figured it was a perfect time when two of my Southern friends were in town back in November.We instantly noticed that the wood pieces along the wall, mounted at a set interval, were intended to align to the ridges in seersucker fabric. Nicely done.

Seersucker - Carroll Gardens

We had a plate of their biscuits – $10 for 4. They were served with three different types of spreads and preserves.

Biscuits with Homemade Preserves and Molasses Spread - Seersucker

I really enjoyed my blackened catfish tacos (I was a bit antsy about doing that for brunch – but they worked well with the other items we ordered). They were prepared with cabbage, radish, lime, and hoppin’ john. Next time I’d probably do the buttermilk pancakes with salted molasses butter and bacon. Mmmmm bacon. Service was very attentive as well. Portion sizes were generous but not ridiculous. Just right.

Blackened Catfish Tacos - Seersucker

The verdict on the pork hash was that it was good, though a little lacking on flavor. Gorgeous presentation though, as you can see below.

Pork Hash - Seersucker

Probably the most surprising dish out of our party was the … vegetable salad? Yes, that’s right. Comprised of only vegetables from the local market. Not your usual salad, as there was no lettuce in this salad. Colorful and fresh, it looked like fall on a plate. Now that it’s winter, it seems to have rotated off of the menu. Here’s hoping for a return of this concept except with a spring twist come March.

Vegetable Salad - Seersucker

Brunch Crew @ Seersucker

Seersucker – 329 Smith Street, Brooklyn – 718.422.0444
Reservations Suggested – Note: Brunch Sunday Only

 

return to rayuela

Always love to see a place deliver the same level of service and quality each time I return as I experienced on my first visit. Last night I went with a friend of mine and her boyfriend back to Rayuela. We started with their ceviche special – seven types of seafood, including grilled octopus, shrimp, and lobster. It was prepared with coconut milk and was deliciously fresh.

Rayuela, LES - before the crowd arrived

This time for my main course I went with the Cochinillo en Tamarindo, a tamarind-seasoned baby pork chop, ginger pumpkin purée, spicy sausage, apple pear escabeche, with Oaxaca mole. So many strong flavors that mixed together into one wonderful dish.

Cochinillo en Tamarindo - Rayuela

Paella de Concha - Rayuela

Rayuela – 165 Allen Street (b/t Rivington & Stanton) – 212.253.8840
Reservations Recommended

 

2011, you were a winner

I really do think I end up thinking each year is better than the last when I look back, but I do think that 2011 took the cake, even more so than 2010. Many big changes and in the best possible ways. If 2012 even comes close to 2011, I’ll be super happy to be so blessed.

2011 was also a year of big changes in, well, just about every major possible category. After 10 years of corporate HR work, I switched over to working in Social Media in March – a wonderful change I thought I’d never see be a reality. I’ve spent the rest of the year learning a whole slew of marketing acronyms I’d all but forgotten along with a list of a bunch of new ones. And in February I went to celebratory drinks after I got the big job offer, a night which lead to a wonderful relationship – one of the biggest surprises in 2011, something which really shaped the remainder of the year for the better and made the time frame around Valentine’s Day seem less arbitrary of a reason to celebrate. I made one of the biggest switches a Manhattanite can make – equated by many as crossing to the dark side – and decided to move in October to Brooklyn. In June, I chopped off all my hair because I figured why not?

It was quite the musical year. I started the year with seeing the Dance Party and Charlotte Martin in January with my MeeGee friends (read: fellow Tori Amos lovers). I went with Ms JB to see her man, Bon Jovi, at Madison Square Garden. I was lucky enough to see Tori Amos three times in December during her recent Night of Hunters tour, getting to snag another photo and get in my first ever request, Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You. Still glowing. I was also lucky enough to get to accompany my friend to the 300th Guinness Book of World Record breaking show of the 30 Seconds to Mars tour (“Mars 300″), where I learned that I am not a crowded rock concert kinda girl and where I ran out of the theater to come face to face with Jared Leto – literally. Why hello Jordan Catalano. I lucked into winning some tickets to see the taping of Florence + the Machine Unplugged. Amazing night.

It was also a year of so many fun events. I went to see the PeeWee Herman Show be filmed for an HBO special in January as a part of a Foursquare promotion. I finally saw Swan Lake in February at Lincoln Center. In March, I made my first trip to SxSW, and learned all about the beauty of the breakfast burrito, how much of a luxury sleep can be sometimes, and how to properly fit yourself in cowboy boots. In April, we went to the Bootlegger Vodka Launch party, held in Andy Warhol’s former townhouse, which was transformed into a prohibition era style jazz club for the evening. There were several fun events on Governors Island – the Polo Match put on by Veuve Clicquot and the Jazz Age Party – both in June. In June, we also got all dolled up for the Webutante Ball. I was so happy I got to see Zarkana just before it closed its run at Radio City, an evening paired with the amazing tasting menu at Respite.

And, as always, I spent one night a week flying through the air. It was the year of bigger tricks and seemingly smaller progress. This though was my attempt to get back to the fun stuff and de-stress for a bit – and it work. (Note, I’ve since caught this – just haven’t had the chance to upload video yet).

And, of course, there were many food events. I enjoyed more homemade elk sausage from Montana thanks to my friend Andrea. I attended another one of Artisinal’s excellent wine and cheese classes. I went to Village Voice Choice Eats in March, learning the best way to enjoy the ‘feast” was to map out your game plan in advance. I went to this year’s Hudson Valley Food and Wine Festival in September, finally making it to sample many of the prominent Hudson Valley wineries. Eventually I’ll make it out to try them in person.

There were lots of fabulous food events affiliated with GooglePlaces – such as the Nacho bus in August, Miracle Fruit tasting party in October (where I learned my taste buds are super stubborn) and the pizza bus in December (post to follow shortly). I won tickets to Zagat Presents: Chef Akira Back’s Meal of Memories – an amazing eight course paired meal. A bit later and just before Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough to also win tickets to Zagat Presents: A Taste of Long Island on the East River, at the Water Club. It was a really gross night, but the food more than made up for the sideways wind and rain.

I entered a food competition for the first time ever for this year’s Seventh Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party in October. I baked cupcakes again for this year’s 140Sweets, benefiting the American Cancer Society’s DetermiNation Program. This time, I did peanut butter cookie cupcakes.

As always, 2011 was a year of visits and a but of travel, mostly with friends. My friend JP came up to visit in July. My Bama girls came to visit in November, cheering on a heartbreaking Alabama/LSU game. My friend A came up to go to the Tori Amos shows with me in December and embraced exploring my new hood in Brooklyn over going back into Manhattan the whole weekend. Nice. For the first time, I went on a trip over my birthday week with my family and my boyfriend. We rented a lovely house (belonged to the captain back in the day) in Woods Hole, MA and relaxed in Cape Cod. I’d never been to Cape Cod and it was a welcomed change of pace from the bustle of the city. Perfect.

I also am proud to have conquered some fears this year. During the month of November, I accomplished one of my biggest goals for the year – participating and finish NaNoWriMo while doing fiction. To keep myself honest, I opted in to be interviewed by the Huffington Post throughout the process, one of the things which I credit with helping me cross that finish line. I also took a day long fiction writing class to prepare me for round next in 2012 – tackling my next idea for a writing project. In October, I had the tremendous honor of photographing a friend’s wedding – simultaneously terrifying and exciting. In June, I also survived live band karaoke. So much fun, though a whole new level in comparison to traditional, that’s for sure! (Especially when it’s rock/punk karaoke…)

Only 365 little days, but what a year. Can’t wait to see what adventures 2012 holds.

Happy New Year!

 

conquering homemade pasta

The one productive thing I planned on doing in Alabama (aside from editing my good friend’s wedding photos) was making homemade pasta. I’ve never done it and seeing as I do not currently have a KitchenAid mixer (oh someday, someday), I planned to take advantage of my mom’s  as well as her ginormous kitchen – well, when compared to mine (even when considering the new larger one I’m utilizing in Brooklyn). The recipe we worked off is this one from Food.com.

We used the flat pasta maker attachment, which ended up making two long strips of pasta and one shameful looking tail we couldn’t tell if belonged in the other two or was just meant to look sad.

The strips were mostly super thick, and of an irregular length. My mom and sister had done this before, but I was the newbie. We decided to cut the thicker strips down into thinner widths to make for sort of a fettuccine style noodle. We made the full recipe and it made a ton of noodles. We had wax paper dusted with flour all up and down my parent’s long kitchen counter.

It seemed the dough would never run out. We just kept feeding it through the pasta attachment, repeating the process what seemed to be hundreds of times. Everything else we made – focaccia bread rounds and the spicy tomato sauce to accompany the pasta – were done and ready to go and the pasta just kept on coming. Supposedly you can do this solo, but our three (wo)man operation made it much more manageable. I’d like to learn how to make it all line up solo.

As they boiled, the noodles plumped up even more. They were thicker than standard fettuccine and far better, as you’d expect, than the prepackaged variety. The only thing we’d do differently next time would be to let the noodles dry more before boiling. We were ready to finish up and so we rushed a bit through that. It still tasted fine, but it did mean that the noodles clumped up a bit during the boiling process and, ultimately, in the plating.

Homemade Fettuccine with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Did you make anything tasty over the holidays?

 

chocolate bars and cocktails at fatty crab

Sometimes, you go to a restaurant you’ve been wanting to try and, as luck would have it, you end up there at a time where you can’t really indulge in a full meal. I finally made it to Fatty Crab with some friends after the second of the two recent Tori Amos shows at the Beacon Theater for dessert and drinks. Their only dessert items are two chocolate bars. I thought they were being “nice restaurant” cute in their naming of the dish, but oh no, they are actually just that – chocolate bars. With a $6 price tag.

Dark Chocolate "Fatty Bar"

There’s the milk chocolate – ginger, puffed rice, & crisped rice. There’s also the dark chocolate – roasted almonds, chili, & Maldon sea salt. The milk chocolate was ok – the ginger was too subtle to almost notice it was there. The dark chocolate was far better, with the chili adding a pronounced punch.

Dark & Mik Chocolate Bars - Fatty Crab

Perhaps I chose to do myself in with my drink selection – the Chupacabra, which was chili-infused tequila blanco, fresh watermelon juice, and ginger liqueur. A little spicy to pair, but excellent as well. I’d like to go back and try the food. Anyone been there?

And more interested to know, what’s the most expensive candy bar you’ve ever eaten?

Fatty Crab – 2170 Broadway – (between 76th and 77th) – 212.496.2722
Reservations Suggested

 

thankful, indeed

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all had a great one, offset by some power cardio shopping (if that’s your thing). I’ve been off the radar a bit (even mostly silent on Twitter) busy being surrounded by fabulous friends, amazing food (check out this Peking turkey below – so good), and an occasional Dance Central dance battle.

I have some great recipes and lots of pending posts to put up shortly. I’ve been a bit MIA as of late. Spent a lot of time a few days back prepping my holiday contributions – sausage balls, pumpkin cream cheese loaf, and pumpkin empanadas. All turned out tasty.

And since ’tis the season, I’ve been typing away in hopes of 50k for NaNoWriMo. I’m shamefully behind, but not ready to throw in the towel yet. I haven’t been putting much up over here, but wanted to share some other places I’ve been popping up lately. I’ve been doing a series of checking in with HuffPostBooks for NaNoWriMo – I thought it’d keep me up on my word count. It’s only sort of kept me in it…

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

Gobble, gobble from Dixie

And I put together a photo essay over on Zagat’s Google+ page as a review of the fabulous dinner I won – Zagat Presents Akira Back. What an amazing night of fabulous food. Seeing as I’ve never truly been to Vegas (I don’t give myself credit for sleeping on the floor in the airport and sacrificing $2-$3 in quarters to their lame airport slot machines), it was nice that for one night, they brought Chef Back and many of his creations typically only available at Yellowtail to Manhattan.

How was your holiday?

 

sitting kitchen-side at colonie

I’m used to hearing people talking about restaurant – recommending their recent tries or current staple faves. However, I’ve long lost count of the number of people who specifically mentioned one restaurant – Colonie. Now that I’ve made the big burrough move, I am particularly interested in trying out new Brooklyn spots since I’ve been focused on Manhattan for so long. A friend of mine lives nearby and had been there several times. Knowing she tends to have a discerning pallate, I couldn’t pass it up. 

Cocktails at Colonie

We arrived at 9PM and found the restaurant still bustling. Our approximate wait time was to have been an hour – a bit long at that hour as we were both quite hungry (no way to have avoided, as they only take reservations for larger parties). Not only did we want a table though, we wanted to be seated at the kitchen. As opposed to many restaurants where this benefit is included with something like the Chef’s Table or special tasting menus, these seats are accessible to any patron – sometimes, though, requiring an even longer wait. We decided to go all-in thoguh, deciding this was ok seeing as their cocktails are also fabulous and not to be missed. I recommend the Cool Hand Cuke – cucumber vodka, elderflower liqueur, fresh cucumber juice, mint syrup, and lime. Delicious and who cares that it’s no longer summer?

Crostini - Colonie

It worked out well as many sign in and do not leave a number or respond to the call that their table is ready. I highly recommend just waiting in the bar area. Our one hour wait ended up being more like 15-20 minutes, and that was even to be seated along the kitchen area. The seat ended up being amazing. We spent the entire dinner watching all of the dishes being prepared. Unlike some kitchen areas, it was not uncomfortably warm. Highly recommend giving it a try. We chose to go with an assortment of plates so we could try more of the menu – a process which was aided by her prior visits. Just to note some of the menu items are seasonal and therefore switch up. She was heartbroken to find her favorite dishes had been replaced, but after eating their replacements, she was pleased.

Spaghetti Squash - Colonie

We began with tring two of their crostinis. The duck rillete is amazing and was served with pickled shallots. We also tried the Black Mission fig. This was great as well, and was paired with marscapone and thyme. Only thing missing though was a dash of salt. After adding that, the flavor it had was totally different. Out of the small plates, we tried the octopus, which was outstanding. It’s grilled and nicely done. The chorizo broth it’s served with makes the dish. I also really enjoyed the spaghetti squash, which is served with bacon and a parmesan foam. Maybe it’s my bacon-heavy tendencies, but still think this could have used a touch more bacon. I really liked the parmesean foam as I thought it added a strong flavor to contrast to the softness of the spaghetti squash. My friend though thought the exact opposite – that it was distracting and overpowered the dish.

Skirt Steak - Colonie

For our one main dish, we went with the skirt steak, which was serves with fries, roast garlic aioli, and watercress. We ordered our steak medium, but it came out more medium rare. We both noted it was a fair amount pinker than what we’re usually a fan of, but we were likely able to notice more of the rich flavor of the meat for it. It was nicely done so we were both content to let it slide. I’m not a mayo fan, usually fairly fine though with letting aioli slide. However this was so good, that I”ll admit we were doing everything we could to put any remaining drop to use. If you don’t like mayo, I wouldn’t let that detract you from this dish in the least bit.

Fresh Doughnuts - Colonie

My friend was most disappointed to see the foie gras doughnuts had disappeared from the menu as a part of a relatively recent change in chefs. Instead, we decided to try out the fresh doughnuts, which were filled with salty caramel custard. They were tasty enough, but didn’t quite have the flavor and complexity of the rest of the meal. I was especially intrigued to try their sticky date cake with salted creme fraiche ice cream. That might just have to be dessert on my next visit. All of the food (so minus the drinks) came to around $35 for each of us – not bad for all we got to try. Highly recommend giving this spot a visit.

Colonie – 127 Atlantic Avenue (at Henry Street), Brooklyn – 718.855.7500
Reservations for parties of 5 or more only