Love Lane with ABF

ABF & I celebrated Valentine's Day a little early. He called to tell me he'd made reservations at Love Lane Kitchen (which we'd visited earlier with Jen & Alex) for Sunday night. I was very much looking forward to it, and ABF was, too.

We got there ahead of time and popped into the Love Lane Cheese Shop (post here), then walked around the block and took in the scenery. We made friends with a sweet, friendly tabby cat. Isn't she pretty?

Someone drove by and explained that she lived behind the Cheese Shop and did have a home, so I felt better. I was seriously considering getting a 3rd (?!) cat up to that point. FriendlyTabby then followed ABF and me as we made our way to Love Lane. When she couldn't follow us through the front door, she went around the corner and tried to come in the side door.

She almost broke my heart with her meows! Thankfully she has lots of free cheese and other goodies in which to drown her sorrows.

We each started with a glass of locally-produced wine: Wolffer Estate Chardonnay for ABF and Lenz Merlot for me. We've yet to visit or try Lenz wines, but one taste of this smoky, ruby-colored wine was enough to convince us we must.

We've both had the Wolffer Chardonnay at a tasting, and it was good, too, but I think a visit to Lenz is in order now!

The homemade rolls are absolutely worth eating. Normally rolls are meh for me--but these are buttery and fluffy and rich and soooo good.

ABF ordered the black bean soup, which was smoky, chunky, and lick-the-bowl good. He was expecting more of a puree, but I thought this was perfect.

I started with the beet and goat cheese salad. DIVINE. ABF might have had a rare case of order envy this time! I wanted to lick my plate.

I wish Love Lane and I were closer--I'd pop back just to have a cup of that soup and this salad. Talk about fresh and fabulous!

On to our mains: I ordered the Duck Tagine ($26) which came with orange segments and couscous. This was dramatically presented in a burnt-red tagine, but I didn't have time to take a photo before it got unveiled. There were so many wonderful flavors in this it was almost overwhelming--sweet, savory, tangy, tart, smoky...wow. This was a complex and seriously hearty dish. I couldn't finish it by a long shot.

ABF ordered the rib eye Alhambra, tender chunks of meat wrapped in bacon (!) and skewered with onions and peppers, all on a bed of asparagus risotto. The steak was insanely moist and the bacon sent it to spiraling heights of yum. The risotto cooled off while we were focused on the steak--if you get this, don't let it sit there too long! I think it's much better while it's still hot.

Somehow we decided we'd still get dessert. What? Yes. Red. Velvet. Cake. A monster-sized piece, no less, with a significantly awesome amount of real whipped cream on the side. This was denser to me than what I expected, and the icing wasn't as tangy as I expect with RVC.

ABF says it reminds him of the 1-2-3 Cake his grandmother used to make (mental note: attempt this recipe soon!). It was well-made, satisfying, and we ate every bite of it. Oof. Worth it.

Once again, dinner at Love Lane Kitchen is like eating at a good friend's kitchen. The food tastes like the best homemade dishes prepared with love and expertise, the service is warm and inviting, and you feel afterwards like you've had a delicious mini-vacation. Thanks Love Lane Kitchen Staff!

Love Lane Kitchen
240 Love Lane
Mattituck, NY 11952
(631) 298-8989

Sex & Candy

That Sara of NYCNomNom got invited to attend a party at NYC's Museum of Sex, and she invited me! It was billed as a night of firefighters, decadent desserts, and possibly something else, but I was already in at that point!

I arrived shortly after the event began, and I noticed it wasn't half as full as I thought it would be. Free chocolate AND NYC firefighters? This place should be filled to capacity! Oh well, it made it all the easier to get to the truffles.

Hello, deliciousness! Those are red velvet cake truffles on the left and spiced chai truffles on the right. The red velvet were moist and decadent and quite wonderful, but they were immediately out-awesomed by the spiced chai.

The ladies of Mimi Truffle made these addicting bites of dessert heaven, and while they mostly do catering and special orders, oh man, I think they could build an empire just on the chai truffles.

On the adjoining table was a mini-cupcake tower from Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery. These chocolate cupcakes had wasabi-cream cheese icing and crushed wasabi peas on top. This was good, but not as amazing as I'd hoped. I like the burn from wasabi, but I know not everyone does. I would have liked a little more heat and a little more sweet, but these were still well made. The cake was perfect--light, airy, and not at all heavy.

We also sampled the chocolate explosion or bomb (I couldn't read the sign that well--handwritten on an index card and tough to decipher)--chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, and chocolate whipped cream. I liked this way more than Sara did. Was it an explosion of flavors? No, but it was a whole messa chocolatey goodness. YUMTASTIC.

Sandwiched between the truffles and the cupcakes was a display from Michael Allen desserts.

I enjoyed the texture of the macarons, though the ones billed as raspberry tasted a lot more like strawberry.

The cream cheese were a bit bland.

The raspberry truffles (the ones in white) were tasty, the chocolate were okay, but my oh my, the mini canelés, however, were custardy, burnt-sugary cylinders of confectionery triumph.

I wasn't expecting much from these so I didn't even really focus my camera too much on them, but they were perfection! These are not easy to make, and they did a stellar job of it!

There was no one directing this event, it seemed, no one greeting people and explaining what to do, so we pretty much just fended for ourselves. After milling about and enjoying some sweets, Sara & I headed down to the restroom to 'powder our noses.' I noticed Sara was taking longer than usual in the one-stall room, and hoped it wasn't from bad food! She came out with an impish grin and I soon saw the reason: you can write on the chalkboard in the bathroom. Which we both promptly did. You're welcome, Mom :)

Then we made our way carefully out of the dark bathroom and into the also dark, but much warmer, wine bar. Called , it features a lot of different add-ins, flavors, and whatnot that purportedly contribute to feelings of love (and other things ahem).

I'm pretty sure that's all bunk, but it's done in a spirit of fun.

Sara & I opted instead for a glass of their red wine (and I said no to the brownies!)

The wine was fine--nothing amazing, not terrible. I probably wouldn't bring a bottle home, but it was perfectly suited for sitting in the cafe and catching up with a friend.

Overall, the event seemed a bit disorganized--all that finger food and no plates?!?--it could have used more order and a clear leader, but we still had a great time. NYC Firefighters and there WASN'T a line out the door? Notice how there are no photos of firefighters!?! How can this be! They should have had a photo staging area! It would have been good press for everyone! However, it was a unique and tasty way to spend a random Thursday night, that's for sure!

Museum of Sex
233 Fifth Avenue
NY NY 10016
(212) 689-6337

Happy Nutella Day!

Did you know February 5th is World Nutella Day? What did you make? I just added a crazyeasydeliciousawesome treat to my repetoire: Nutella bites. Three ingredients, maybe four, and unlimited possibilities!

I Heart Clovis Point: Wine & Cheese Tasting

I bought a LivingSocial deal a while ago for Clovis Point Vineyards (stay tuned! The owner tells me there's another one coming in the Spring!) and that's honestly the first time I'd heard of them--ABF & I tended to stick to the ones we already knew: DuckWalk, Pindar, etc. But it's always good to try new things, no?

We finally made it out a few weeks ago and were ready for the whole package: sitting down, relaxing, and enjoying several cheeses with our wine: Brie, Cheddar, and a firm goat's cheese.

This time Heather and Brian were our guides, and as always, their usual welcoming and friendly selves.

The 2008 Chardonnay is still our shared favorite. It's so light, crisp, refreshing, and not at all oaky thanks to stainless steel fermenting (instead of wooden barrels). This has a touch of gewurztraminer in it (another of my favorites!)

The Artifact blend (88% merlot) is still one of my favorites--soooo good! IIt's very perfumey to me, but not sweet-tasting, and it smelled like wet leather to me (a good thing).

ABF's favorite was the Cabernet Franc, a grape Brian describes as a 'cousin' to Cabernet Sauvignon, and an early-ripener. This one was slightly smoky (but not too much--too smoky is not my thing) and it smells divine. I liked this even better with the cheese.

There honestly wasn't a wine we didn't like, and though we differed on which reds we preferred, we definitely both agree the Chardonnay is the must-try. In fact, we made plans to bring Jen A and Tom in a few weeks (post coming!)

This visit we had plenty of time to savor the wines, ask questions, and nibble away on a serious serving of cheeses. Thanks to this tasting, ABF is now a fan of Brie (yay!), and we are still ever fans of Clovis Point!

On the way out, we stopped for a few more shots of the slightly-snow-covered vines...aren't they stunning?

Clovis Point
1935 Main Road
Jamesport, NY 11947
(631) 722-4222