uws brunch at regional

Regional - UWS

I went with a group of friends to Regional for brunch a few weeks back. They had been wanting to go there for their brunch special. Essentially, if you buy a mimosa or a bloody mary for $6, they will continually refill it so long as you are at brunch. Note though, apparently they only offer the bloody mary special on Saturdays. Sundays it is mimosas only. This particular Saturday, they were fairly busy, though I’ve walked by other times and it’s been a more manageable crowd. They do take reservations, so I recommend going that route if possible, just to avoid any issues. And, as is the norm for most, that all of your party is present prior to requesting to be seated.

Complimentary Bread Basket

Their menu is pretty varied for brunch. All of your more standard brunch categories are nicely represented – what I refer to as eggy and sweet carbs. They have a wide variety of egg options, all served with potatoes and ranging from $9-$11. Some of the more creative options include the grilled pizza with bechamel, pancetta, onion and pecorino romano topped with a fried egg and the spaghetti fritatta, which is filled with a Bolognese ragu and parmesean. Their sweet options range from $9-$10 and include pancakes (blueberry or plain), French toast, and granola with yogurt and fresh fruit.

 

district-style brunch at founding farmers

Mel's Hot Donuts & Coffee

I recently made a trip to DC where for the first time since leaving the area, I spent most of my time there on the other side of the river in Virginia. However as I was making my way back into the city to catch my bus, my friend thought it might make sense to let me experience a relatively new arrival onto the brunch scene in DC – Founding Farmers. Ironically, it’s located diagonally from my old office building! The restaurant focuses on promoting sustainable agriculture and the ways of the American family farmer. They make a concerted effort to make eco-friendly choices in all sourcing of products as well as all aspects of the daily operation of the restaurant itself (down to the materials for producing their menus). Sadly we were unable to procure a reservation (note – good to plan ahead for this one as they’re on OpenTable) but decided to give it a try anyhow seeing as it was pouring outside. There’s a fair amount of seating – a decent number of tables surround the bar area downstairs and there’s a large second floor as well full of tables. We ended up only having to wait about 15 minutes before we were seated upstairs.

 

tree-hugger chocolate chip cookies

Back in February at Dixie’s annual birthday brunch, a friend brought vegan chocolate chip cookies. I was skeptical. I take my sweets seriously and while I’ve had vegan baked goods several times at Sticky Fingers in DC, I’ve yet to embrace the idea that I can make something in my kitchen that’s remotely edible when you eliminate everything you’ve gotta for a vegan recipe. Oh dairy! While I’m very anti-milk, I do take milk chocolate seriously. However, I was totally blown away by these cookies. I couldn’t stop eating them, even though there was this glorious king cake, homemade donuts, baked brie, you name it to fight with them for prized stomach space.

I finally asked for the recipe to try them myself. I’ve baked something vegan once before (these vegan protein bars). While I definitely do not follow a vegan diet, I’m not opposed to trying out new things and, having tasted these first-hand, I knew they were worth the new ingredients for my fridge. So my vegan friends, the “tree hugger” in the title of this post is definitely filled with love. I figured my trapeze class last night was a perfect time to try them out. It made enough for an army, so I brought the leftovers into work – where they’ve been met by rave reviews. My friend got the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking and it requires only a few ingredients you may not have in your kitchen (of course in case you happen to be vegan!).

 

burger garage – open for lunch in lic

Burgers in Process - Burger Garage

Last week, Burger Garage, a new burger restaurant in Long Island City, finally opened up for lunch. Before that, they’d been serving only dinners as they prepared to serve the significantly larger lunch crowd. Let’s face it. The area close to Court Square hasn’t been a huge hot bed of restaurants – but this seems to be changing little by little. The restaurant has a retro feel to it – it makes me think of the restaurant growing up we’d go to which was 50′s themed, and my girlfriends and I would wear our poodle skirts, too infatuated with an era we didn’t know to find it cheesy. Perhaps it’s that which has caused retro-diners, or that feel, to be one of the exceptions to my food-over-catchy-set-up rule. From the moment I walked in, I knew that this was a place I’d be back to based on feel alone.

 

garlic shopping in manhattan

Cheese Display - Todaro Brothers

One of the things I loved most about New York when I moved here was all of the specialty shops. Cooking something requiring the most authentic of Greek ingredients? It might take a bit longer to get there, but there are plenty of specialized Greek grocery stores ready to stock up your shelves. Decide you want to have a very specific diet? Vegan? Gluten-free? Organic only? Even on my block, there are stores such as Health Nuts which are more than capable of meeting those needs (they even have my favorite – Almond Breeze’s unsweetened chocolate almond milk – oh yes).

More often than not, I fall prey to the easy option. Click, click, click on the keyboard as I scroll through FreshDirect.com. Today though as I left the theater after seeing Eat, Pray, Love (really enjoyed it – oh how it makes me want to travel right now), I decided to stop by a small upscale market to fill in my FreshDirect “holes”. You have to buy herbs in insanely large quantities. Same with garlic. I might love my garlic, but I don’t quite need enough for an army.

 

unexpected restaurant week dinner at apiary

Chilled Corn Veloute - Apiary

A friend and I recently booked a dinner reservation at Apiary before we even realized that Summer Restaurant Week had been extended. Since we went on a Monday, we had our choice of either BYOB (no corkage fee – their usual Monday special) or the Restaurant Week menu. We had to go with the Restaurant Week menu. To start, the appetizer selections included two different salads. One was the Apiary Green Salad, comprised of herbs, shallots, and a red wine vinaigrette. The other was a baby romaine salad, with grilled garlic croutons, anchovies, whole grain mustard, and parmesean. We both had to go with the chilled corn veloute, which was gulf shrimp, tomato, and basil oil. It was a thick corn soup, which was cold like a gazpacho. Creamy like a chowder yet chilly, I was surprised how much I liked this appetizer. Perfect for a humid summer day!

 

brieremere farms: a day in the life of a blueberry cream pie

Please be sure to refrigerate your pie within an hour. – The Management

When I recently made a day trip (which turned into a weekend trip) to Montauk, my friend and I had different “must do” items we added to the agenda. She was really wanting to see the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Me? I wanted to make a trip to Brieremere Farms in Riverhead, NY. Yes, it was a bit out of the way, but we were renting a car and since I’ve been obsessed with getting another one of these pies since I became acquainted with them on July 5th, it was my main request.

We actually picked it up as our first stop after picking up our car in Southampton. It took us a bit to get there and then BAM. We dead-ended into Brieremere. Heaven. Fresh produce. So many pies. And the wall of preserves and jams. And then the pie. The pie. I said “blueberry cream”. They said “regular blueberry cream” or “fresh blueberry cream”. “Huh?” I said, before pulling up the picture on my phone. See, taking photos of your food all of the time does pay off. Turns out it was the regular blueberry cream ($19) rather than the fresh blueberry cream pie ($28). My photos just saved me $9! 

12:15PM - Saturday, July 24th - Between Riverhead and Southampton, NY

As we pulled away, with the pie in my lap, Dixie looked on, clearly wanting to dive in as well.

 

restaurant week round deux at steak frites

The day following dinner at Rocking Horse Cafe, a friend and I had reservations for our next Summer Restaurant Week dinner – this time at Steak Frites. Steak Frites is just slightly west of Union Square, tucked just past Union Square Cafe. The hostess stand greets you at the door, with a bar area extending directly behind and the dining area surrounding the length of the bar and beyond. I was initially a bit taken back to see there were two large TVs on either side of the bar. Not exactly in line with a nicer steak restaurant.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake - Steak Frites

To start, my friend chose their shrimp cocktail, and I went with their jumbo lump crab cake. The crab cake was pretty good – lightly fried and I liked the pairing with the corn salad. Nice mix of flavors. I thought it was a generous portion for an appetizer, much more so than the shrimp cocktail serving. They had some other options with the Restaurant Week menu – a salad (frisse aux lardon et roquefort), chilled regional oysters on the half shell, and icy blue P. E. I. mussels, prepared with white wine, pastis, shallots, tomato, fennel and herbs de provence.

 

summer fondue specials at the bourgeois pig

Seemingly just a few steps west on East 7th from another recent fondue fave, you’ll find my original go-to fondue location in Manhattan – the Bourgeois Pig. I’ve been here several times, the time prior being to take advantage of their special at the time (half priced bottles of wine from 5-7PM on Sundays). This time there was a new reason for returning – the promise of frozen fondue.

Cheese Fondue - Bourgeois Pig

We arrived as they opened at 6PM, which is my favorite time to go. The seating is cozy and if you arrive later, it can feel like you’re being squeezed in (if you’re lucky to find a seat at all). I’ve learned this is the best way to maximize your experience here. While it straddles the restaurant/lounge line, the atmosphere of the Bourgeois Pig is definitely more on the lounge side. The lighting grows dim as the hours wear on and the set up affords you the opportunity, if you are so lucky, of even dining up in their small elevated faux second tier in plush seating. All they need is a fire-place and it would be the perfect place to hole up come winter.

We started with their seasonally appropriate watermelon sangria. It was ceylon infused white wine, fresh watermelon, and cumin syrup. The combination made for a crisp light blend between fruit juice and wine, a nice occasional variation from the heavier brandy-based sangrias. We went with their Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan And Romano cheese fondue, which was prepared with rosemary, thyme, and oregano served with toasted bread, herbed potatoes, and a variety of vegetables (squash, red pepper, brussels sprouts, carrots) and fruits (grapes, strawberries, apple slices). The portion size was more than sufficient for a party of two and their herbed potatoes, naturally combined with the cheese fondue, is spot-on.

 

restaurant week round 1 at rocking horse cafe

Public service announcement as many restaurants in NYC have extended Summer Restaurant Week, Rocking Horse Cafe might to date be the best buy I’ve seen… Here’s the scoop…

Frozen Watermelon Margaritas - Rocking Horse Cafe

Last week, I went for my first of three Summer Restaurant Week dinners at Rocking Horse Cafe in Chelsea. Both of us had been meaning to try the restaurant for some time and had never seemed to make it there for dinner. I’d already spoken a couple of times with the restaurant to set up the reservation and unlike most calls to restaurants, they had so much personality. I felt like it had to be a good sign.

Once we were seated, we were greeted by a basket of chips and salsa. The chips have to be the largest chips I’ve yet to encounter in a Mexican restaurant (no, I’m not complaining) and they were very fresh. The salsa was somewhat smokey and most importantly, dining in Manhattan has led me to greatly appreciate Mexican restaurants which do not charge you for chips and salsa, so (D) all of the above means this is a big plus for Rocking Horse. And unlike any other restaurant I’ve yet to encounter in my many restaurant weeks, they actually include a drink in the prix fixe special – and it’s good. You get one of their frozen watermelon margaritas, made with Herradura Silver tequila, triple sec and lime. When you consider their drinks on the dinner menu all start at $10, that’s a huge bonus to Restaurant Week-ing here.