05.26.09
Posted in American, Latin, Midtown West, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5, small plates at 20:59 by Dominique
321 W.51st St. & 8th/9th Aves., 212-957-9338
Great for: sharing lots of interesting dishes, American food with a Latin twist, pre- or post-theatre
The Marketer knows the owners here and thought I might be able to give them some nice publicity. (I don’t think he understands the point of this blog. This is for straightforward reviews, without exception.) The eponymous Emily was indeed a sweet lady and I’m happy I can honestly recommend her restaurant. M and I had dinner plans elsewhere so we just had several small plates, but we tried a decently varied cross-section of the menu.
The Prince Edward Island mussels with tasso ham in tequila broth were very good. I’m not even a huge mussels fan. The broth doesn’t taste much of tequila, and there was lots of lovely diced ham, onions and small tomatoes as well as a generous number of mussels. The roasted jalapeño cheese poppers with creamy herb dip were great. There was just the right balance of everything, so that each popper was delicate and creamy without overpowering the peppers. The bacon mac and cheese croquette with smoky, spicy tomato dip was also terrific. It managed to be light and not too cheesy with nice big bacon crumbles.
We decided to leave room for our next dinner but couldn’t resist some dessert. M’s warm apple cake with caramel sauce and whipped cream turned out to be awesome despite its appleness. I wouldn’t order it myself, as I don’t really like apple desserts, but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who does. My baked cheesecake empanada with strawberry sauce and more whipped cream was great. I found the cake a little spongy but the combination of ingredients was lovely.
The waiters are really nice and seem happy to be there. There are two dining rooms, although they’re not always both open, so it’s probably a good idea for large parties and walking in. I enjoyed the lights and décor, which made the place look inviting and upscale at the same time.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $45 (3 apps, 2 desserts)
Noise level: quiet
Chance of walking in: pretty good.
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05.17.09
Posted in food-related musings at 03:37 by Dominique
Because I’m not busy enough, clearly. I just keep seeing recipes online and thinking that they look yummy. I kind of figure, since I’m injured and can’t exercise, if I have to cook my dinner instead of just ordering it I might burn more calories that way. Also, I really enjoy multitasking and being organized, which seems to be a very important part of cooking well. And of all the neighborhoods I could live in, Chinatown definitely has the cheapest groceries and makes it easier to experiment. Last week I tried my hand at Chinese rice cakes – the little oval ones – with pork and veggies. It was pretty tedious chopping up the big hunk of pork with my dull knife but overall it was as soothing as people always say cooking is. And the dish turned out quite well! My mom still makes it better but that was my most ambitious attempt at anything to date. I’m not sure what to make next; maybe this interesting broccoli sauce pasta.
Update: have now made several more dishes and they’ve all turned out very well, although so far only I have eaten them. The hardest part I find is the chopping. I can be fairly clumsy around knives – I accidentally stabbed myself last year with a prop sword (yes! a prop! in my defense, with a ridiculously sharp tip) so, desiring to keep all my fingers, I chop quite slowly. I’ve found that playing poker online while cooking forces me to speed up, though. Otherwise I have to bet with the knife handle or wet hands and the mouse area doesn’t always recognize that.
Another update: other people love my cooking too, yay!
Sites I’ve found helpful so far (thanks @TroyOrleans for foodgawker!):
foodgawker.com
amandascookin.blogspot.com
chaosinthekitchen.com
bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com
epicurious.com
myrecipes.com
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05.14.09
Posted in Chelsea, Italian, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5, West Village at 05:14 by Dominique
202 W.14th St. & 7th Ave., 212-255-2060
Great for: large parties and dates, carbonara, hearty good food for very little money
It used to be Osteria Primitivo, but the pressure of the recession inspired the owners (who also run several other Italian restaurants in New York) to replace it with an incredibly wallet-friendly place. Every dish is less than $15! Plus, each one is good! It’s so rare to find both characteristics in the same place. How lucky that we settled on it for girls’ night out.
We managed to get a table for six on Friday at 8:30 when I called the day before, which was a little surprising to me but less so when I saw how effectively they’d utilized the mid-sized space. Our table was right in the middle of the room, great for people-watching. We didn’t have much time for that after the food came, though. The traditional oven-baked eggplant appetizer with tomato, mozzarella and basil was “sloppy but yummy,” R said. L and D found the steamed black mussels in a white wine and black pepper broth garlicky and delicious. K loved her tomato carpaccio special with mozzarella and chili oil. The spaghetti alla carbonara with very fatty pancetta, eggs and pecorino romano cheese was definitely worth naming the restaurant after. Shredded basil leaves scattered on top helped counteract the heavy deliciousness and I was kind of happy I hadn’t eaten all day so that I had room for it and a main course.
K was observing Lent so they made her a gnocchi special with just asparagus and no speck. The tagliatelle with shrimp, arugula and cherry tomatoes was also delightful, as was the pan-seared salmon in an herbed crust with lentil salad and lemon dill sauce. (These girlfriends are great, they always make sure to let me try a little bit of everything.) My own main course of baccalà codfish with Gaeta olives, oregano and parsley in a spicy tomato broth was great; spicy and garlicky with nice crisp fish. I loved the long strings of onions and the giant soft onion on top. It is a very salty dish though, and the fish was a tad dry.
The portions are quite generous. It was just the right amount of food for me, but then I hadn’t had anything all day. Everyone cleaned their plates or tried to. The wine is priced as reasonably as the food. We got two bottles of the shiraz Mandra Rossa from Sicily for $23 each. It was all right – I found it a bit watery. Our servers got confused and brought out two main courses with apps but were quick about straightening that out. Though a little abrupt sometimes, they were nice overall.
I liked the inviting and well-lit room with a good mix of candles and recessed ceiling lighting. The music was a little odd sometimes, but not too loud, thankfully. The dining room is pretty large and there’s a small private alcove too. Rustic wooden furniture completed the homey look. I’ll definitely be back soon to try more of the menu.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $215 for 6 ppl (2 bottles of $23 shiraz)
Noise level: pretty noisy but less than you’d expect; conversation isn’t too difficult
Chance of walking in: it’s new so you should call ahead.
Oh fun! La Carbonara liked this review enough to link to it. I’m happy to support a deserving restaurant.
Went back in November 2010 and they are still terrific. What a great addition to Chelsea.
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05.10.09
Posted in Meatpacking District, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5, small plates, Spanish at 00:32 by Dominique
405 W.14th St. & 9th/10th Aves., 212-366-1640
Great for: tapas, red snapper chicharrón, cocktails, people watching
Software Guy thoughtfully picked a restaurant I haven’t reviewed for our date. He also proved himself to be really thoughtful later when some jackass stole my phone and he helped me get it back even though it took 15 hours. (No, I’m not kidding.) Happily, the night started out well.
The almejas villa clara, littleneck clams in Hoegaarden beer and saffron broth with cilantro and garlic, were pretty good. I preferred the giant papitas rellenas filled with ground sirloin. Their accompanying tomato sauce was sour in a good way. The generous amount of chorizo in hot oil was also satisfying. The empanadillas with sautéed spinach and Manchego cheese are small and heavy, a good dish in small doses.
The lovely calamari were on a different level. Large but tender, they were also easy to bite through. The best was definitely the chicharrón de pargo, lightly breaded red snapper with tartar sauce. It came in nice big flaky chunks and I had a hard time not scooping up every last piece.
We tried several of the cocktails, all of which I can recommend. I think the guava jalapeño martini and bellito were the best. Our waiters were pretty attentive and it’s a fun place. It’s quite large, but I’ve never see it less than packed all the years it’s been open. Side note: we saw Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman filming their new movie outside on our way out!
Rating: 7 / 10
Our cost: $195
Noise level: loud
Chance of walking in: you should probably reserve.
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05.07.09
Posted in New York City Reviews at 18:26 by Dominique
So I cracked my laptop screen last week – unfortunate incident involving forgetfulness and a pen on the keyboard – and the shop replaced it. Cost me nearly $300, but they did it in three days so I was pretty happy. But when I get it back and open the start menu, almost all my programs are gone. Somehow they are in Program Files and usable, but refuse to show up in the start menu. Plus, I have to click “show images” in every single gmail I get all over again. Weird and annoying.
I finally get around to hiking back over there (Clinton Street is far) so they can fix it, and the technician putters around halfheartedly. He doesn’t even try everything I already tried, and I’m hardly a tech. The manager now comes out to yell at me. He says that since all they did was replace the screen, there is no way they did anything to cause these problems. It must be me or someone at my house. I said it is just me at home, I couldn’t do anything with the screen cracked except press the sleep button. He basically told me I was stupid and didn’t “understand” when he insisted that they hadn’t done anything. What I understand is, it was fine operationally when I gave it to them and now it’s not. If you have any suggestions, please feel free. And don’t go to the Little Laptop Shop!
Update: Now Outlook won’t open and the gmail problem hasn’t gone away. I am seriously considering having Amex stop payment to them – this is ridiculous.
Response to TLLS comment: I never “admitted” anything they did, how on earth would I know how they fucked it up? I asked them to fix problems they caused. I had a perfectly fine OS with a cracked screen when I dropped it off. I had a new screen and messed-up OS when I got it back. As I said above, after I cracked the screen I could only press the sleep button, so I certainly didn’t screw up the programs or move the files and all of that. A technician tried half-heartedly to get things working for a few minutes and then said “I dunno, um…” He explained nothing. I got mad at that point because they didn’t fix it, the manager yelled at me, and I still have a messed-up computer that they insist had nothing to do with them, but can only logically be a result of their actions. It’s not the inconvenience of the laptop not working totally correctly that I mind. It’s the “Hey stupid bitch it’s your fault, fuck off” attitude. It of course makes no sense that they’d screw it up on purpose. I hope it was an accident. I know Windows has tons of glitches. But I expect for a business to at least be courteous and fix things when they realize a mistake has happened, entirely on their watch.
[And no, the start-up area does not allow me to add the programs back in. I've tried that several times.]
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