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.

 

Inspiration Station: Friends with Benefits

One of my New Years Resolutions was to revive this monthly feature...so here we go!

The Dish: A take on street meat.  There is a string of scenes where Mila Kunis' character is trying to convince JT's character to move to NYC by showing him all the amazing things about the city, ranging from a great view to a flash mob.  It is during this time that Mila Kunis cements herself into every man's fantasy as the ultimate cool girl.  She doesn't mind rolling on the ground in her business casual attire and she has no qualms about eating a greasy, messy gyro from a Halal cart.  The character disappears and everyone watching the movie seemed to believe that Mila herself is an easy going gal who can curse like a sailor and doesn't care about calories.  In real life, no one could maintain that figure on a regular diet of street meat and the scene is merely acting.  But I don't want to completely shatter the image so here's a recipe for a healthy street meat inspired meal at home so you can eat a dirty and delicious sandwich, just like those easy going girls.

I started with this recipe, but omitted the allspice because I didn't have it.  I piled the chicken into some flatbread and topped it with chopped tomato, cucumber, and Greek yogurt with feta mixed in.  If you eat it in the flatbread, I recommend wrapping the whole thing in tin foil.  That will help you avoid the mess, plus you'll really get the street meat feel.  Or ditch the flatbread altogether and get after it like a burrito bowl.

The Doodads:

1. As Mila Kunis' character gets dressed after her romp in the sheets with JT (so jelly), she pulls her tshirt down over a lacy bra.  I remembered thinking this type of undergarment, while sexy in a prudish way, would probably be impractical.  It doesn't seem to offer much support but dang does it look cute.  This camilla lace bralette from Urban Outfitters is lined so you don't feel like you're walking around naked while still giving off that girlishly seductive vibe.
2. Just before she's unceremoniously dumped by Bryan Greenberg's character, Mila runs out to get coffee for the two of them on the street corner.  I've always thought that some of the best coffee in NYC is from the street vendors and I love when they still use the iconic Greek-style cups.  You can get your own ceramic version at Uncommon Goods to last forever.
3. Throughout the movie the Jamie character (Mila) wears a lightning bolt necklace and Dylan (Justin Timberlake) has a lightning bolt tattoo.  Follow the trend yourself by donning some lightning of your own; this time, as a double finger ring.
4. In an effort to cheer Jamie up, Dylan performs all of Kris Kross' "Jump."  I couldn't think of anything but the backwards overalls those boys wore in the 1992 music video.  Not sure that I could pull them off in 2014 but overalls are attempting a comeback.  Somehow they don't look terrible when they're styled like this.  

Stix

I think they nailed it in "There's Something About Mary" when they marvel at how there should be more food on sticks.  Food on a stick is portable and fun to eat and shouldn't be limited to corn dogs.  Stick food doesn't have to mean ballpark, as exemplified by Stix, a restaurant that focuses on - you guessed it - food on stix.

Even when the cuisine isn't All-American, I still think of stick food as fast food.  After all, it's meant for speedy eating when you don't have to slow down to use a knife and fork.  Stix goes the Mediterranean route and though the food may be eaten on the go, the food is fresher and the flavors more complex than the street cart or gyro place in the mall you typically go to for Mediterranean fast food.  I went with the chefs special, which is a meatball of sorts made with ground lamb and beef, red wine, cumin, and garlic.  I ordered it as a Stix Plus meal which comes with two sticks, a chopped Greek salad, roasted potatoes with rosemary, tzatziki, and pita bread.  The pita bread was a little oily but everything else was great.  The tzatziki was flavorful and perfect as a dipping sauce for the potatoes.  The salad was meant to be there, not some after thought of day old tomatoes and cucumbers thrown together with onions and feta.

Other than the pita being greasy, the only thing I didn't really like was the cheese spread.  It looked like pimento cheese so I got all excited, but the feta it was made with was just too salty.  No matter, my Stix Plus meal provided an ample portion so I didn't really need the cheese spread anyway.  Plus, the cheese spread isn't on a stick so I'm not sure it deserves a home at Stix anyway.

I like when you're able to order a meal and it comes as a meal.  You have the protein, a starch, and a salad/veggie.  So often when I order food, especially delivery food, I get one item.  A sandwich is just a sandwich, no side dish.  This lady needs sides to feel satisfied.  The food also held up well throughout delivery, which is nice.  No sogginess here.

 

Greek Orzo Salad

My plan for book club was to make one of my Mom's pies. I got the recipe and was all ready to go...until I couldn't find the main ingredient in the grocery store. So there I was, standing in D'Ag at 8:45 PM the night before, no idea what I was going to make.

I was struck by inspiration when I looked in the deli case and saw some pre-made food items. Of course, those pasta and potato salads had been sitting out all day and by late evening did not look all that appetizing. I figured I could do a better version so I gathered some Greek-ish ingredients and went home. 

I woke up a little early the next morning to put everything together. This salad doesn't require much so the whole thing can be done in about 20 minutes. First, start cooking your orzo (about 3/4 lb). While that's going, chop your vegetables. I used one package of grape tomatoes (halved), one cucumber (chopped), 1/2 cup chopped scallions, and 1/2 cup dill. Once the orzo is done, mix it all (minus the cucumber) together and immediately toss in some fresh spinach so the heat wilts it a bit. Next, mix in 1/2 cup olive oil and the juice of one lemon. Once it all cools down a bit, add in the cucumber and one package of crumbled feta. You don't want to add these when it's piping hot because then the feta could melt too much and the cucumber will lose it's great crunch. Stick the whole thing in the fridge and you're ready for potluck time. This dish is perfect cold or room temp so it holds up great to bring to a gathering.