Spring

When I looked at the menu for Spring, I began to regret allowing Shawn to take the lead in setting up our pre-Yom Kippur fast meal.  Pretty much everything on the menu was tagged as either vegan or gluten free...and in some cases, both.  I don't usually actively do "healthy" food.  I think of eating healthy as a bonus.  "Oh hey!  I made a delish meal and it just happened to be good for me.  Sweet!"  But in my mind anything that tries to be healthy is bound to taste bad.  But I have seen the light.  Food that is intentionally healthy can also taste good.  I finally understand what people mean when they say a restaurant serves "clean" food.

We started with edamame, tuna tartare, and spring rolls for the table.  The menu is very fish and veggie heavy so half the people at the table ordered salmon and the other half ordered the stir fry (which included hearty veggies like cauliflower).  I ordered the poached salmon and lentil salad.  I expected a true salad, but this was served compartmentalized, as a regular entree would with beets, lentils, and salmon, each in their own areas.  The beets were perfect on their own and the lentils were seasoned with dill and a lemon vinaigrette.  I also ordered a side of wasabi mashed potatoes (huge portion - great to share).  I would not have expected potatoes without a ton of butter or cream to be so flavorful, but the wasabi added dimention without a ton of extra calories.  I left the restaurant feeling full not fat.

Rathbones

In all the times I had been to Rathbones, it was only ever for drinks.  I actually always wondered who would possibly ever eat there - the food can't be that good.  This is a place where softball teams gather after a game and fans go to watch sports on the many tvs.  It's neighborhoody, a little divey, and looks just like the local watering hole it started as 30 years ago.  Turns out, they do actually have great food.  And really amazing deals.

Tuesdays are 2 for 1, not just on the drinks but on the burgers and sandwiches as well.  Considering nothing is all that expensive to begin with, this is a steal.  Nothing was going to stop me from ordering the burger.  I didn't even need to look at the menu.  Albert has been pushing to add Rathbones' burger to the list as a contender ever since we started scoping out the best burgers in the city so it was absolutely necessary for me to try it.  That said, when someone suggested getting a large order of wings for the group to share, there was no arguing from my end of the table.

Many burgers have a gimmick, and in this case it was the bun.  Instead of a regular bun, they used an English muffin.  I thought it was a great change of pace.  It's just a bit sour and its pockmarks soak up the burger juice nicely.  The wings were also very good, especially if you request them extra crispy like we did.  The large comes with 16 wings and is only $9.95.  Can't beat that...except you can.  On Tuesday they do $0.35 wings.  Do you understand how many wings that'll get you?  All the wings.

 

22 Square

A few years ago, Savannah started doing restaurant week and, more than anything, it motivates my parents to get out of the house and spend a night out, dining at a fun place.  Since restaurant week was happening while I was home, I got to crash their date night.  When it came to choosing from the list of participating restaurants, it was a unanimous vote.  Not only had none of us been to 22 Square, it also had the most extensive restaurant week menu (six options for each of the three courses).

They call it "farm to fork," but let's not get any more pretentious than the farm to table concept already is.  There is no difference between farm to table and farm to fork.  22 Square's version just utilizes alliteration.  Cute.  I'm overlooking how hard they're trying to make themselves stand out with that phrase because the food was wonderful and, to be honest, sourcing all the ingredients locally did seem to make a difference.  That difference started with the bread basket.  Sure you can have sourdough french bread, but even better is the bread right next to it.  It looks really similar but is actually made with beer from Moon River, the brewery around the block.  Down at the bottom of the basket is a flatbread, sort of like a fluffy crust pizza without the cheese, made with heirloom tomatoes, and it is not to be missed.

For my appetizer I went with the pickled vegetables, ham, and egg.  This dish was so much more than what the menu listed.  First of all, the egg was deviled.  I didn't know what type of egg I was going to get when I ordered it and figured I would like it no matter what.  But I was only kidding myself by not admitting deviled is the best way to eat an egg.  It truly was a mixed bag of pickled veggies, including cauliflower, green beens, and cucumbers, each in different brines.  Then the ham was like a thick prosciutto and wrapped crispy greens and a piece of cheese.  Nowhere on the menu did it describe that preparation.  If it had, I wouldn't have debated between that and another app - it would have been this all the way.  For my entree I ordered the duck with zucchini hash and a peach elderflower reduction.  It wasn't overly sweet and everything from the hash to the texture of the duck breast was buttery.  We all thought three of the desserts looked particularly good so we got one of each and put them in the middle of the table to share.  I never would have thought to serve peach halves with a bit of honey, walnuts, and basil (of all things!), but it worked and was certainly refreshing.  The blackberry cobbler was not a cobbler.  At first that was disappointing, but then you realize it was just an issue of mislabeling.  Once we realized it just should have been called a bread pudding, all was good.  My father's favorite was clearly the chocolate mousse.  My Mom and I were more focused on the other two desserts and when we looked up, he had polished off the mousse on his own.  They didn't even need to wash the bowl after he was done with it.

This was the first time I have ever eaten a restaurant week menu and didn't feel like it was restaurant week.  Nothing about this menu was "less than."  Every dish was thoughtfully prepared in a way to make the local ingredients shine.  

Cohen's Retreat

My father does NOT like to eat the same thing two times in a row.  He is decidedly anti leftovers.  So I was surprised when he wanted to take me to lunch at Cohen's Retreat my first day home when he had just had supper there two nights before.  If he is not only willing to go back but is actually the one suggesting it, it must be good.

The restaurant occupies a building I have passed nearly every day of my life but never noticed.  It's on a stretch of road with little more than a church or two and lots of droopy Spanish moss.  The building never jumped out at me because it had nothing to do with my life.  Until it was converted to a restaurant, it served as an old age home for men.  Even now, there is no actual signage for the restaurant, only the original "Cohen's Retreat" letters built into the facade and the property's gate (the gate still calls it a men's home).  Not just a restaurant, Cohen's retreat uses the back buildings as artists' cottages.  These artists are producing the beautiful artwork that covers the restaurants walls and is all for sale.  The main building has about 12 rooms.  Three of these are dining rooms.  One is large and more formal, another is more like and airy café, and the third has a private feel.  Then there are about eight small rooms displaying knick knacks like picture frames and pillows (though the items are much nicer than my description as "knick knacks" would imply).  Each room is organized by color scheme.  Naturally, I gravitated towards the green and blue rooms.  The final room is an event space and I can hardly think of a better place to throw a party.

With such a unique concept for the building I am just happy to be there, but it helps that the food is delicious as well.  I ordered shrimp tacos with corn and crema.  There's a little cilantro but not too much, which means my father (anti leftovers and also anti cilantro) would try a bite...if I had let him.  Sorry, all mine.

5 Spot

5 Spot feels like a cross between a cafe and a regular restaurant.  To me that means it has the low key, neighborhood-y, artsy-ish feel of a café but with a more substantial menu.  There is definitely something for everyone here.  In addition to the large plates, the menu has 14 sandwiches, 8 burgers, 5 quesadillas, and 6 salads to choose from.  Almost all of these items are under $10 and come with a side.  I ordered the po boy with fried shirmp and spicy slaw along with a side of collards.  The sandwich was huge and the shrimp were not overbattered.  The collards had such a great smoky flavor, like they were sitting on the smoker while bbq was being prepared.

Without a ton of restaurants right next to the Ardsley Park neighborhood, 5 Spot is a nice addition, particularly since it features a bar (which, now that I think about it, hasn't really existed in the immediate neighborhood before).

Isabella's

When we made plans with friends for a Monday night supper, they suggested their neighborhood since we rarely go there and restaurant week as a way to up the ante without throwing out too much money...and then we all ordered off the regular menu instead of the restaurant week one.  Best laid plans, right?

Isabella's labels itself a Mediterranean restaurant, and I can kind of see it with the artichokes and calamari starters, but I would really classify this as Continental with enough items like crab and meat hash, a cheeseburger, and cod on the menu.  I, myself, went the more Continental route by ordering a wedge salad (thankfully not drenched in dressing) and the sweet pea ravioli.  There wasn't much sauce so I felt the plate didn't quite match the menu's description, but I was still very pleased with what was in front of me.  I prefer my ravioli to have very little sauce because I actually want to taste the filling.  And don't even try to give me ravioli that's not packed with filling.  They are supposed to be like plump pillows - the kind that make you sleep like a baby, not the kind that give you a crick in the neck.  I was pleased with the amount of filling here so all was good.

The restaurant felt very Uptown.  And by that I mean we were easily the rowdiest Monday night crowd they've seen.  Most of the clientele looked established: sport coats, shift dresses, and scarves around the shoulders.  Still, it had a neighborhood vibe so we didn't feel out of place.  Also, I was wearing Lily Pulitzer so I blended right in.

Tip: don't feel like you have to do the restaurant week menu.  Sure, it sounds like a great deal: $38 for 3 courses - wow!  (nevermind that it used to be $34...) But if you're not a dessert person or if the smaller special menu doesn't really call to you, just order off the regular menu.  Two really good courses is always going to leave you more satisfied than three meh courses.  We were way happier with our selections this way and my whole meal came to $27 instead of $38.  This is a noteable difference when you're also tacking on alcohol as my group is wont to do.

Hill and Bay

I was so excited when I saw the Hill and Bay construction in my neighborhood.  I was so not excited when it looked like it would be a little overpriced.  It looked cute but not cute enough to warrant what looked to be a very limited and slightly overpriced menu.  I mean, as much as we want to be cool, us Murray Hillians are never going to be East or West Villagers.  We crave unique, independent restaurants, but we know our place.  We don't need anything fancy before heading across the street to see the latest X-Men movie at that giant theater.  What we do need is something with good food that's a step or two up from a dive bar.

Hill and Bay got the message because when I walked past recently it looked like they added some items to the menu, thereby expanding the price range.  The large plates still average $23, but I would just stick to the starters.  They may still seem expensive, but when you realize they're actually large enough to fill you up, the price is justified.  I would have been happy to pick one off the apps and eaten it as my entree, but we were hot (rosé to cool off was necessary) and very hungry, so our group of three shared several of the starters.  We got the buttermilk fried boneless chicken (good, but just call a spade a spade - it's chicken fingers, just like my brother loved to eat when he was 6), meatballs (a good amount of fresh shaved parm), some creamy mac and cheese, fish tacos, and the kale caesar (a good salad but the dressing was a vinaigrette that took it away from caesar-land).  They may have fancified the names, but most of these dishes are just good plain comfort food and that's exactly what I want to eat when I leave the movie theater.

Union Square Pavilion

When my Mom visits we like to just...walk.  We don't usually make a strict plan ahead of time and we stop whenever we see something interesting, whether that's a restaurant or boutique.  On the first day of her vistit we made "village" our general destination.  We didn't even specify East or West so we started by walking from my apartment to Union Square, which is right in between the two.  It's also a great place to start because it is a bustle of activity with the market vendors proudly displaying everything from flowers to maple candy.  We thought we would stroll around the green market and then forge our way further downtown for lunch, but then we realized the best option was to make the green market, itself, our lunch.

It took years, but the renovation of the eponymous square was finally completed and the central restaurant, Union Square Pavilion opened in May.  The menu is constructed around the best the green market has to offer, so you can expect lots of fresh veggies.  That's exactly what we were in the mood for so we made sure our orders were farm fresh.  My mom went with the goat cheese and tomato tart (with lavendar - so fragrant and lovely...reminds me to buy a new sachet for my underwear drawer - is that TMI?) and I ordered the kale salad with salmon.  I also think everything tasted better because of the pavilion's open walls.  Your salad is bound to taste delicious when you can see the market stall that provided the lettuce.  You're somehow both inside the safe walls of the square while also being out in the open.  My Mom commented that it looked just like the places featured in rom coms where the two friends meet for lunch to talk about how frustrating boys can be.  That means we felt like celebs while we were dining.

Chicken, Bacon, Avocado, & Roasted Asparagus Salad

This recipe for chicken bacon avocado salad jumped out at me as a great salad-as-a-meal option.  The addition of asparagus makes it feel even heartier so you essentially feel like you're eating a full meal in one bowl rather than spread out in different sections on a plate.  I mean, separating your meal's components is just so predictable, am I right?

I made a couple of tweaks: I used lemon/zest + pepper instead of lemon pepper on the asparagus.  I also roasted the asparagus instead of sauteing because I think it gives it a deeper flavor.  I also used rotisserie chicken instead of sliced deli chicken because I prefer the texture.

This guy is actually not too bad for you.  The spinach base is just about the healthiest lettuce you can use (antioxidents, baby!) and, sure, there's bacon (and only about 2 slices - it won't kill ya), but that's a fair trade since you're eliminating the dressing you'd usually pair with a salad like this.  And a little bacon goes a long way.  You could use turkey bacon to make it even better for you...but I just don't do turkey bacon.  There are only so many sacrifices I'm willing to make.  You won't need ranch dressing when you have all the flavors of creamy avocado, zingy lemon, and fresh basil.  If I didn't know the basil was in there, I probably wouldn't have been able to pick it out, but it definitely added something.  It was like a sneaky, undercover flavor agent.

Ampersand

A new restaurant recently opened in Savannah which means I had to check it out on my first night back at home.  I had no doubt it would be good because Ampersand is the latest venture from Brian Torres, the man behind Form and Form II Table (check those out on your next Savannah trip and thank me later).  Brian makes the best cheesecake you will ever eat.  The best.  I leave zero room for debate here.  On this trip, I tried a maple bourbon bacon variety and wooo baby.  I don't even like cheesecake.  Or, at least, I thought I didn't.  I know I haven't yet told you about the appetizers and entrees, but like it says on many an embroidered pillow, "Life's uncertain; eat dessert first."

How does Brian make such wonderful cheesecake?  Because he's Brooklyn born and bred.  Aha!  Now it all makes sense.  Naturally, I would love any restaurant that combines the flavors and vibe of the Lowcountry and NYC.  My entire adult life has been spent straddling those two areas so of course I would love seeing them combine in one place.  The menu pulls inspiration from both areas, whether it's the pernil to reflect Brian's Puerto Rican heritage or the pulled pork over gruyere cheese grits to pay homage to the South.  Mark and Allison insisted we start with the yuca and chorizo since they had tried [and loved] it before.  I, too, was a fan and found the yuca to be sufficiently fried but still light enough to pop pop pop in my mouth.  My preferred starter, however, was the Spanish rice eggrolls.  It was so simple: just an eggroll stuffed with red rice and served with an aioli but there was plenty of flavor and I loved the crunch of the eggroll skin giving way to thick, fluffy rice.  I had been snacking all day so for my main course I just had the stuffed avoacado.  The avocado was filled with a mound of chopped onions and tomatoes that spent a full day marinating in a citrus dressing, ceviche style.  It was nothing fancy but perfectly done and refreshing a midst the Savannah humidity.  That pulled pork and grits I mentioned earlier?  I tried a bite and loved it.  The grits were so rich and creamy it was like eating mac and cheese.  I also tasted a scallop special that was served with a pineapple curry potato (or yuca?) mash.  I don't know how to explain that flavor.  I'm sure it's not for everyone (curry never is), but if you like island flavors like I do it's a very good dish.

This is some New York level food but at Savannah prices.  None of the entrees go above $18 and the cocktails (which incorporate ingredients like mezcal, ginger, and agave nectar) are around $8 or $9.  I had a very similar drink in New York the day before I left the city and it set me back $14.  When I can get virtually the same thing in Savannah for $9 it means I can order two.  And we all know a tipsy Tess is a happy Tess.

I guess Brian and I did a little foreign exchange student switcharoo when I moved to NYC and he went to Savannah.  Now that they have these restaurants, I'm pretty sure the people of Savannah will tell you they got the better end of the trade.

  

Five Points

What's better than an evening at the spa?  An evening at the spa followed by a really good meal.

Five Points has farm fresh food with a menu that updates with the seasons.  For my meal, I munched on a lot of smaller items like the wood oven baked king oyster mushrooms.  This falls under the starter menu which insinuates it can be shared.  But don't do it.  Sharing means you get to eat less and that would be awful.  These meaty shrooms are covered in several types of cheese and herbs.  The top of the cheese is crusty while the middle is stringy.  I tried to make it last and savored every bite.  My beet and ramp soup was veggie-tastic without feeling like you're in a juice bar thanks to the addition of yogurt and chickpeas (who knew chickpeas could be such a good soup ingredient?).  We also shared the Brussels sprouts with pimentón vinaigrette (super roasty like I like em with a flavor that was something other than bacon) and the radishes with butter to appease the Francophile in me.  Had I not been observing Passover, I would have gone nuts for the potato pizza with truffle oil and fontina like everyone else at our table.  Guess it just means I'll have to go back.

Estela

My friend Wendy is a fabulous foodie who also knows her way around a kitchen.  If she says a restaurant is good, you can probably take her word for it.  I reached out to her for suggestions for Jen's visit because Jen wanted to be sure to check out the hottest spot on the NYC restaurant scene and Wendy would likely know exactly what that would be.  Estela received her highest recommendation so we booked it right away.

Inspiration comes from all over the place, but I would say the small plates skew Italian/Mediterranean.  Everything we had was fabulous, including the "throwaway" items you order just so you have something to snack on while you wait for the real food to arrive.  Case in point: the olives.  If you at all like olives, order these.  Even if you're not an olive fan, try to find someone at the table who is because the olive oil they are sitting in is truly amazing.  They infuse it with orange, fennel seeds, clove, and who knows what else.  Just make sure you order it and request some bread for dipping.  We also ordered the salami which arrived in olive oil and a little salt instead of just being piled on a plate.  I plan to serve my charcuterie like this in the future.  The oil and salt helped bring out the flavor of the meat.

I have to first stop and compliment Estela on the sharability of their menu items.  If you bill yourself as a small plates restaurant, don't make it difficult to have a communal dining experience.  I can't stand when small plates come out with three pieces when most people dine in groups of four.  The portions were large enough for everyone to feel like they got a real taste of each dish.

I'm a sucker for grilled octopus and loved how creamy the accompanying potatoes were, but it was the pimentón that really set it off.  The meat on the lamb ribs fell off the bone as I picked it up and it had a great crust.  There are a couple of plates that are just a bit larger and are priced as full entrées, like the pork with wheat berries, pear, and onion.  This is where the portion felt a little small, but the pork was cooked so perfectly that I forgot about it.  My absolute favorite dish of the evening was the mussels escabeche on toast.  The mussels were basically pickled and the toast was sitting in a pool of green oil that the chef likes to incorporate into many of his dishes.  The toast soaked up the herbacious oil but still maintained its structure.  I've never had anything like it.  I need to have it again.  For dessert we got a coffee and chocolate panna cotta that was a bit unforgettable and a parsnip ice cream that was sort of like a reverse baked alaska.  The ice cream surrounded a chocolate caramel and when you took a bite you got a mix of temperatures and textures that got me - in a good way.

 

Tiny Fork

We ended up at Tiny Fork when the wait at our original restaurant choice was too long but the discovery ended up saving us money in addition to time.  The LES spot has all the food you want from a seafood shack (oysters, fish and chips, corn on the cob) but in the low-lit, Odeon type of bar where you want to start your more sophisticated drinking for the night.  Thankfully, the prices skewed slightly more toward the oceanside shack levels.  True, the portions were not huge, but getting a kale caesar salad with jumbo shrimp for only $14 is a great deal.

The Breslin

I was a big fan of The Spotted Pig so I walked into The Breslin expecting a good meal.  A good meal is just what I got.  Don't you just hate when things turn out just as you'd hoped?  

I liked the vibe from the moment I walked inside.  Even though it's located in the swanky Ace Hotel (a trendy hotel that thrives in a less than trendy neighborhood), The Breslin is anything but modern in appearance.  The paint on the tall ceilings is almost all chipped off and an old armoire has been re-purposed as the bar.  Though I'm sure every one of those details has been well planned, it seems off the cuff like they're not trying too hard.  The same goes for the food.  I understand the feeling because I, too, am awesome.  I was born that way.

As with The Spotted Pig, I had heard a lot about The Breslin's burger.  Though they already have an established recipe that draws people to The Spotted Pig daily, they challenged themselves to do the same thing but with a completely different flavor profile.  Instead of beef and roquefort, The Breslin's burger is made with lamb and feta.  It is fabulous.  It's served with plump fries and cumin mayo.  Eating it was truly a delightful experience.  We also tried the scotch egg, which was as good as I expected knowing chef April Bloomfield's skew toward fatty and fried foods.  I liked the flavor of the bombay mix snack but didn't like that it was basically fish food in terms of size and shape.  Not easy to eat.  I would skip it, though I think it would be nice to have it at home to sprinkle on top of salad or mashed potatoes.  You may see caesar salads everywhere, but I strongly recommend eating this one.  It has fried herbs and anchovy croutons.  It was probably the best caesar salad I've ever had.  We also tried the burrata salad and though I love burrata I would still go with the caesar.  Not that it was a bad salad, but the caesar can't be missed.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Since we went out on Friday night and were waking up very early (7:30 AM) on Sunday to start watching/celebrating the half marathon, Albert and I decided to make Saturday night date night.  We lined up some quality tv programming and I cooked a meal.  Albert can be tough to cook for.  I wouldn't exactly call him picky, he's just more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  Funky sauces: not his his thing.  He'll at least try anything, but I know I have some limitations.  It has become my personal challenge to find meals that play within his preferences while still allowing me to try new things.  Through Pinterest I discovered this recipe for chicken cordon bleu casserole and thought it would be a great place to experiment.

The basic flavors of this dish are chicken, ham, and cheese so I figured Albert would be happy.  I, on the other hand, would enjoy teaching myself a new technique with the sauce.  The sauce is a bechemel, also known as the mother of all French sauces.  It is a cream sauce made by melting butter, adding flour to form a roux, and then whisking in milk, stirring until the whole thing thickens.  I had tried making a roux before and let's just say it did not go well.  So not well, in fact, that I had to throw the whole thing away.  A sauce like this needs to be coddled.  You need to whisk it constantly, never taking your eye away for a moment.  Though I failed miserably last time, I actually mastered it this time.  Just like anything else, once you do it properly the first time, you realize it was never that hard to begin with and will be able to successfully produce the same result again and again.  I pretty much leaped for joy once it worked out for me.  Like a little leprechaun.  

Traditionally, chicken cordon bleu is chicken stuffed with ham and swiss cheese that is then breaded and pan fried.  This casserole takes away the trouble of stuffing and watching the pan by having the ingredients layered in a dish.  Though chicken cordon bleu is a pretty European meal, turning it into a casserole makes it feel very Middle America.  A thick creamy sauce makes this comfort food to the max.  Speaking of that sauce, I recommend using about half of what the recipe calls for.  After pouring half the sauce over the casserole it seemed like any more would be too much for anyone to handle and poured the rest down the drain.  I like rich foods but more sauce than that would put me over the edge.  If you do use all the sauce and like it, I may have an idea where this country's obesity epidemic is coming from.  Also, I didn't have white pepper or dried parsley and it still tasted amazing.  Leaving out the dijon mustard, on the other hand, would be a mistake.

This dish was the perfect one to please both Albert and myself.  For the first time since I've started using him as a guinea pig cooking for him like a caring girlfriend, he fully cleared his plate.  I also got to perfect my technique when it came to the scary roux.  Everyone was full and happy, and we were able to be in bed at a reasonable hour so our early wake up call wasn't so bad.  

Parker & Quinn

When I realized my parents would be staying right by Albert's new office, I thought it would be a great opportunity to check out the bar/restaurant he discovered during his first week on the job.  Parker and Quinn is a gastropub which basically means it's elevated bar food with fancier drinks.  The vibe is a tad more upscale, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it swanky.  The place is divided into a bar area and restaurant area, but the bar itself is in a circle so half of the bar is in the restaurant space.  The setup made the place feel more communal...which is exactly why I would steer your attention towards the many share-able items on the menu.

The octopus was good, but I thought the pimento cheese was the real winner.  Another cheese based dish, the broc and cheese (mac and cheese with broccoli) was also very nice.  My caesar salad was good (nice and crunchy, good amount of dressing) but I thought the scallops were a little flat (physically - as in squished down) and a bit over-seasoned.  I saw some pizzas (flatbread style) pass by and thought they looked pretty tasty.  It's exactly the kind of food and drink you want when it's time to unwind after work.  The kind where you can nibble and share but still feel like you ate something real (I don't get that feeling from potato skins...do you?).

The Dardanella cocktail

Craft

The mushrooms!  Oh, the mushrooms!  That's all I have heard for years as people have told me time and again how great Craft is.  I think people are just so delighted that a restaurant known for meat prepares a vegetarian dish so well.  I agree, the mushrooms were delicious, as were the simply roasted butterball potatoes.  Neither are items that should jump off the menu, but they were both elegant in their simplicity.  That said, the meat is as good as should be expected of a meat-centric restaurant.

I went to craft with a group of six for a work event so we took down a large chunk of the menu.  I did not realize the dishes were meant to be served family style, but once the waitress told us so, we decided our family's style was to try as much as possible.  For starters we had some oysters, scallops, the pork trotter with farm egg, and crispy bacon with yogurt.  The bacon and yogurt was my favorite of the bunch.  I was concerned it would be Greek yogurt topped with bacon bits but was happy to have pork belly with a creamy sauce.  For the main courses we had the striped bass, duck, short ribs, bacon wrapped venison (my favorite - if I could eat that once a week, my demeanor would likely improve immensely).  In addition to the mushrooms and potatoes, we also had the cauliflower, kale, and garlic risotto.  I found the risotto, so creamy and rich, to be the perfect complement to the meat entrées.  We ended the meal with the doughnuts, which came with a fudge and a coffee sauce.  The waiter pushed us to get two orders and when we saw the size of the dessert we were upset.  We had warned him we were already full and just wanted a bite of something sweet but he seemed to just want us to spend spend spend.  After complaining around the table that he sold us more than we needed, we ate both desserts in full.  I tip my hat to you, dear waiter, you recognized the pigs in us.

As we were leaving, the hostess handed us a chocolate chip scone for tomorrow's breakfast.  It's a touch I rarely see but one I love.  The food managed to be different without being revolutionary, all perfectly executed.  When I'm going for meat, I don't want anything crazy, I just want it to be cooked really really well.  There were a few unique touches (like the yogurt with the pork belly), but for the most part, the food was basic but rich.

The Corner

I took my weekend getaway to Philly as an opportunity to catch up with an old friend.  Brooke and I haven't really seen each other in a few years, but after living in a sorority house together you kinda bond with a chick.  We decided to meet for dinner which of course really just means gossiping about our sorority sisters while people served us food.  I haven't had a real trash talking sesh in a while due to the fact that I'm trying to behave like a mature adult...but it was nice to feel like a gossipy college girl again.

The Corner was the perfect restaurant for us to re-connect.  The food was great and by sitting at the chef's bar, we had a first look at the food so we knew just what to order.  Plus, it kind of felt like we were sitting around the kitchen table, which is where all good gossip sessions take place and reminded us of when we used to sneak into the sorority house kitchen after hours to steal food.

I started with the mushroom soup and was happy to see that not only was the bowl large, it came with ricotta toast points.  The toast wasn't just topped with a light layer of ricotta, it was given the NYC bagel shmear treatment.  Going heavy on the ricotta was fine because the soup had been strained to a thinner consistency.  I also ordered the kale caesar.  I know it appears on many menus nowadays so it's not exactly special, but I thought it was prepared well.  It was too much food for me and yet the whole meal came to $14.  This is the kind of restaurant you would find in SoHo or the West Village...except all the food would be double the price.  Even the cocktails were $2-$4 less than they would have been in the city.  Those prices reeeeally make me like Philly.

Knickerbocker's

Instead of really doing anything for Valentine's Day, Albert and I made plans to go out on the 15th with a couple of friends.  It's pretty much what we would do on a regular Saturday night, but being Valentine's weekend gave us the excuse to indulge a bit.  Also, going out on the 15th instead of the 14th meant we were able to bypass all the prix fixe menus and overly sappy couples that come out of the woodwork on the romantic holiday.

Our "go big" meal was a steak bonanza at Knickerbocker's.  Though there is an extensive menu, we went straight for the steak because they have an amazing T-bone deal.  If you get the steak for four it comes to $41 per person and is served with creamed spinach or broccoli and your choice of potatoes.  Of course it's still expensive, but that's easily saving $5-$10 per person when compared to any other steakhouse.  The plate of meat arrives looking like a dinosaur and we attacked it like the carnivorous beasts we are.  We also tried a couple of apps with our meal; while the scallops were meh, the crab cake stood out.  Pretty much zero filler.

We ate our food with some nice live jazz accompaniment.  The whole thing was very 1960s.  That's one of the great things about New York.  In a city that has seen so many generations, if you look for it, it's not that hard to step into another time.

Ichabod's

Ichabod's is small, but size doesn't always matter.  Not when a bottomless brunch is offered, at least.  Just $15 gets you two hours of mimosas or bloodies, which go great with the country breakfast (two eggs, potatoes, and bacon or sausage).  The food was solid, the vibe intimate, and the location just off Union Square is convenient for anyone living in NYC.  That light streaming into the photo just makes the brunch experience so much nicer.