Dining at Dovetail

I have a very good reason for not blogging recently: my parents were in town!!!  Not sure if you know this, but my parents are incredibly cool, so when they're here, they receive every ounce of my attention.  We pretty much did everything there was to do, so let me start at the beginning. 

Friday began with the mandatory Ess-a-Bagel breakfast and then it was off to Hoboken so my Daddy could check out the Carlo's Bakery (as featured on TLC's The Cake Boss, his new obsession).  The baked goods were yummy and cheap.  Thumbs up to both the bakery and Hoboken itself, which I had no idea was such a cool area.  After scarfing down our conolis, we hopped back on the Path for a stroll around Chelsea and a quick bite at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar.  Some may say this place is overrated, but I'm a big fan.  There are 7 different dumplings to choose from, each paired with a dipping sauce.  For less than $9, you get an order of dumplings (6 come to an order) and your choice of salad (about 5 different dressings) or soup (4 or 5 choices).  It was just enough food to tide us over until our Socarrat Paella feast later that night.  The wait was long but worth it, as always.  I have now tried 4 of the 8 paellas and determined the best are the carne (which I tried the first time) and the pescado y mariscos, a new fave from this trip that was full of formerly sea-dwelling creatures like fish, shrimp, clams, mussels, squid.  After talking up Socarrat Paella so much, I was nervous no one would find it as amazing as I do.  Thankfully, everyone loved it and my restaurant rep remained in tact. 

We worked up an appetite after checking out the King Tut exhibit at the Discovery Times Square.  Before I go any further, I urge you to go see it.  the artifacts look like they were made yesterday and the Egyptian culture is so interesting.  You may feel like a tourist walking around Times Square, but that should be no reason to miss out on this exhibit.  These antiquities have not been in New York for 30 years, which means this is kind of a big deal. 

Anyway, back to the food.  I felt the need to maintain the awesome restaurant streak so I made sure to line up a winner on Saturday night.  Dovetail proved to be exactly that (and not just because it was so close to the Lincoln Center theater we were heading to afterward).  I have wanted to try this restaurant for quite some time.  I have heard it described as the restaurant that catapaulted the fine dining scene in the Upper West Side when it opened about two and a half years ago.  The small portions arrived with large price tags, but it was worth it for such innovative flavor combinations.  Daddy got the six course chef's tasting menu, which included a fois gras that was seared to perfection and served atop a graham cracker purée and huckleberry gelé.  Mommy ordered the crab salad and halibut and Dave got the ravioli and sirloin with beef cheek lasagna.  Theirs looked good, but I can attest that mine tasted great.  I started with an onion velouté (velvety chilled soup) that was heavy on the cucumber (one of my favorite flavors) and had slivers of grapes and onions at the bottom.  For my entrée, I chose the pistachio crusted duck with beets and a sweet bacony side.  It was amazing.  So much flavor.  The desserts were not to be forgotten.  We had an Irish cream trifle, a strawberry dish with white chocolate soup, and a banana bread pudding.  Dovetail easily met my expectations and convinced my parents that we may need to spend a little more time in the UWS.

So I may be leaving out a few details from the long weekend, but that's because I'm still reeling from the amazing time that was had by all.  Eating amazing food with my amazing parents is second to none.  My only regret is that I didn't take any food pics for the blog.  I guess that just means I'll have to go back and enjoy the meals all over again!  Now I just need to start planning the restaurants when they come back to visit in September!