Birthday Dinner: Union Square Cafe

It's that time of year: my birthday! This year ABF took me to Union Square Café: a Danny Meyer joint we both had yet to visit.

We both ordered a Keynote peach, made with dark rum, orgeat (which I LOVE), Lillet, fresh peaches, ginger, and bitters. This came with damn near half a real peach in it, and it was LOVELY! Not too sweet, a lovely departure from my usual wine.

We got a table on the upstairs level, tucked away in the corner, perfect for us.

The breadbasket comes with several toppings: a dukkah dip (Egyptian spice/herb mixture with olive oil), luscious purple olives dusted with orange zest, and butter sprinkled lightly with salt. I can't wait to put orange zest on my next batch of olives!

My starter: heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese, red onions, & basil chiffonade. This was so quintessentially summer. Juicy, flavorful tomatoes, soft, creamy, tangy goat cheese, and strips of fresh basil in every bite.

In a rare moment, ABF (Awesome Boyfriend) actually had a little bit of order envy-- normally I'm coveting whatever HE ordered! This was a very generous serving, so I shared several bites with him.

ABF's starter was the scallop crudo-- raw scallops in a spicy cucumber broth with crunchy quinoa. The scallops were fishier than I expected-- while I love a good seared scallop, I don't think I care for them in crudo form.

My entrée: the pan-seared Berkshire pork chop with roasted peach & corn salsa and a few house-made onion rings on the side. Um, YES. This was a HUGE pork chop, brilliantly, perfectly cooked and juicy. The corn was so fresh and crunchy I'd swear they waited to take it off the cob until the very last second. And the onion rings? Best I've ever had-- and I've had quite a few in my lifetime! The breading was soft, chewy, and flavorful without overpowering the onions. I gave ABF quite a few bites of this.

Sweet, savory, crunchy, so so so so good. Birthday-dinner-worthy!

ABF's meal was the NY strip steak with chicory salad (sorry for the blurriness). The steak was also perfectly cooked (medium), but we both thought the chicory was too bitter for us. Nice balance to the rich steak, but too bitter for our pansy palates.

We also got two sides: a creamy polenta with gorgonzola cheese and walnuts, and a potato gratin with Gruyère (one of my favorite cheeses!). ABF loves polenta, I'm fairly lukewarm on it (I don't normally care for the texture). However, this polenta was so creamy that I actually liked it, and I think ABF would have preferred the mealier version.

The potato gratin was sublime, however. Perfectly creamy, tangy, and putting comfort food at an all new level. Had I been at home, I would have scraped every last morsel off the plate.

At this point, I ordered another cocktail-- the Mai Tai (sticking with the rum-based options). This was nice, but was much sweeter than the Keynote Peach. If I had it to do over again, I'd go for another Keynote Peach. Liquid summer!

We could have stopped there. We probably should have stopped there. But it was my birthday, dammit! And birthdays call for- nay-- demand-- dessert!

There were lots of intriguing options, but I finally settled on the blueberry pie with sour cream ice cream. ABF's not a fan of sour cream (what? I know!), but he shared the dish with me. The ice cream was very tart, but creamy. The crust was flawless and the berries were tasty, but there was a whole lotta lemon in this pie, a bit too much for me. I'm kind of a Maine blueberry pie purist. A hint of citrus is good, but more than that and you lose me. Don't get me wrong-- I still cleaned the plate, but if I go back, I'm going to try something different.

Service was refereshingly friendly, the food was top-notch, and there were so many other interesting items on the menu that we may not be able to wait for another birthday to return!

Union Square Café
21 E 16th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 243-4020

Jackson Diner in NYC

Kwame & I were on a quest one sunny Sunday for some Indian food. I took him to Cafe Spice, only to find it was now an outpost for Jackson Diner, one of the most-lauded Indian spots in Jackson Heights, Queens. Their new spot in NYC boasted a 9.95 all-you-can-eat buffet. Not a bad price! I pushed aside my disappointment that the amazing chicken Korma Carlota & I once shared was gone, and we stepped in for lunch.

The buffet offers a fair split of vegetarian and non-veggie items. The traditional lentil and veggie dishes are there, the ever-popular chicken tikka masala, a curried goat, and a fresh, vibrant salad at the end.

It was hot as Hades that day, so I opted for water, water, and more water, though I saw other people ordered Lassis, and they do still have a full bar. We were also happy to see a basket of naan bread arrive almost magically--no extra charge (even more magical)!!

I grabbed a bit of almost everything (not the goat): tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, some fried peppers, fluffy rice, lentils, and more. Not a bad spread! Everything was good, but the tandoori chicken was EXCELLENT--tender, juicy, and finger-licking-good (is that still copyrighted? Hope not)

I had some green salad with oil & vinegar as well. I grabbed a few too many cucumbers, but I did the best I could.

There was a serving dish full of rice pudding, and Kwame & I made a trip for some of that. He didn't care for the texture, but I loved it. It was almost more like a thickened rice soup instead of a more cohesive pudding. This had wonderful almond flavor to it, and plenty of cashews. I don't normally dig the desserts at Indian places, but I ate every bite of this!

This is definitely worth a trip back. All-you-can-eat is a rarity in NYC, and even more rare is tasty AYCE! I only made one trip, but I got to sample a little bit of everything. I would have even gone for a second bite of tandoori chicken if I hadn't consumed a pitcher's worth of water during my first plate! 9.95 for all that is more than a bargain! It's also a nice, roomy spot with lots of light and the staff doesn't rush you on your way. Two forks up for this spot!

Jackson Diner
72 University Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 466-0820

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Savoring the Summer

An hour or two before the Scotch tasting, I meandered through a favorite place: the Union Square Greenmarket. Doing my best to avoid the INORDINATE number of bees (people were actually getting stung while shopping for grapes!), I found myself drawn to a colorful display of cherry tomatoes. They had samples out, and I figured these had to be the ones Sara had raved about a few weeks ago. They were supposed to be 3 dollars a pint, but I realized they actually charged me 4--oh well. Still worth it.

Cheery, sunny, delicious bites of summery goodness--so worth it. I know summer's in the rearview mirror, but you wouldn't know it from taking a bite of these babies. They never even made it into a salad--I just kept popping them all day long as a snack. DELISH!

Olives New York

A favorite friend (and fellow foodie) of mine was free for lunch today (you can see her review here!), when I had a rare afternoon show off (meaning I could eat lunch at a normal hour in a RESTAURANT, not hunched over a keyboard!), so we met at Olives New York, a Todd English establishment, to take advantage of Restaurant Week lunch specials. Restaurant Week is a great time to try places you might not otherwise hit--while they offer a limited menu and often slightly smaller portions, it's still usually a good representation of the food and a chance to try it without spending too much money.

Mmm...bread.

A basket of bread and a colorful dish of olive tapenade appeared as soon as we sat down at our table. The bread had lovely caramelized onions baked into the chunks, and the tapenade had some juicy and delicious olives of all colors.

The tapenades were both delicious, but I found myself going back again and again for the salty, tangy black olive version. I am crazy about this stuff--I need to hunt down a good recipe to make at home. This stuff is WONDERFUL slathered onto a sandwich instead of mayo!

I knew the second I saw it that the beet salad would be mine, oh yes, it would be mine. It was beautiful and absolutely lovely. Tender, roasted beets, a creamy sauce, and crunchy, salty pistachios.

Aren't they gorgeous?? Pretty, pretty, colorful deliciousness.

Sara ordered a glass of Chenin Blanc, while I opted for the "Olives Up," with vodka infused with pineapple and ginger, with a sugar rim that was just sweet enough. This was good, but not amazing. I'm not sure what Sara thought of her wine, but my drink was just okay.

Sara is allergic to peppers of all kind: red, green, chili, jalapeno, you name it. Is it a pepper? Then don't feed it to her. She immediately told the server and he was very diligent, checking on the dish and reporting that there was jalapeno juice in the trout dish we both wanted for our entrée. Great news for me (I love spicy things), bad news for her. The quail dish also had pepper elements to it, so she was left to the third and final option, Peas & Ravioli. She said that generally, pasta at Olive's is really good, so she wasn't too, too disappointed.

It was a lovely-looking dish. She was kind enough to share a bite, and I found it yummy. The cheese filling was more layered than I expected, in a very good way.

My trout dish was a beauty. It came beautifully resting atop a bed of spicy beans, and sprinkled with fresh, fresh, cherries. The trout was perfectly cooked, super moist, and absolutely delicious. Some of the beans weren't cooked as evenly as others, but guess what? I ate them all anyway. The jalapeno juice was a nice addition--it gave it heat without searing the tastebuds.

I dug a little underneath the fish and saw... BACON! Thick, chewy, salty, slightly sweet BACON! Oh my, this was tasty. I ate it slowly, savoring each chewy mouthful of saltastic flavor.

We couldn't decide between the two panna cottas for dessert: blueberry and chocolate--so we got both and shared them. I'm so happy to have friends who don't mind sharing food. :)

These were just lovely. They could have easily been a throwaway dish, but they came just as thoughtfully presented as our other dishes, and each one was great in its own right. The chocolate was rich, creamy, and intense, and the watermelon sorbet was OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD. I'd go back just for a chance to sit down and eat more of this sorbet.

The blueberry version was delicious, too, with Maine blueberries in the sauce. The crunchy things tasted an awful lot like Kix cereal to me (and the chocolate ones, which I liked better, tasted Cocoa-Puffy to me).

From start to finish, this meal was a delight. Our server was great, attentive but not smothering, he actually listened to Sara's allergy info, and our food was spot on. At 27 dollars for all 3 courses, it was beyond worth it. I'll definitely go back to Olives!

Dos Caminos

It's embarrassing how long ago this meal happened, but life (aka work) has gotten in the way of blogging far too much this year. Allow me to catch up by bringing you one of my more delicious food experiences! I hit up Dos Caminos on Park Avenue South, just steps from Union Square, for a networking lunch months ago. My small group opted to get a pitcher of the red wine sangria for the table...a very tasty move, indeed. It's sweet without being too sweet, the wine flavor still comes through, and there was a delightful assortment of fruit to finish off once the delicious drink was gone.

The guacamole at Dos Caminos is a must-eat for sure. We ordered a medium bowl for the table, and while we requested medium (or spicy, but definitely NOT mild), this was actually quite mild. Still yummy, but didn't have the kick I was hoping to taste. Their cilantro is cut in chiffonades, thin ribbon-like strips, which greatly increases the odds of having a big green piece stuck in your teeth--be warned!

I make pretty damn good quesadillas myself, but the mention of chipotle in Dos Caminos' version hooked me in immediately. Oh my goodness were these delicious. Dripping in butter, too, but tasty as all get-out. I barely ate half, and shared some with my tablemates. No way was I finishing this baby, but I gave it a good effort. Soooo tasty. Not as good as mine, mind you, but pretty freaking close. ;)

My dining companions got the shrimp pizza, which was also tasty. I had a small bite, and it was good, but I was super happy with my dish and went back to taking on the 'dilla!

This was a tastebud-pleasing, belly-filling meal that left me longing for a siesta, but it definitely wasn't cheap. Worth the occasional splurge, but a little too pricey for me to make it a regular stop. Back when my old roommate Anapalooza worked at DC (Houston St. branch) it was a little more affordable, and way more fun, but it's still a good place for a delicious, well-put together meal--just bring your dinero and prepare to spend it!

Dos Caminos
373 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016-8805
(212) 294-1000