Apertif: Birthday Dinner 2012

This year's birthday was very low key, and lovely! I stayed in Long Island with ABF, and we went to a place near his home, Apertif. My friend CJ had a very nice first date there and spoke well of it, and I do love all zings Fraynch!

The decor was a favorite of mine--dark wood, rich red (without being brothel-y), images of Paris all over the place. Lovely!

They have an impressively interesting and delightfully affordable wine list. ABF ordered their house Merlot, which was delicious. I went with the Old World flight, which had reds from Spain (Garnacha grape), France (Grenache/Syrah blend) and Italy (Sangiovese/Cabernet/Merlot blend). These were a little... chewy..? for me...on their own. Got much more delicious with the food, but next time I think I'd start with a glass of a house red. I'm no wine aficionado--I think I was out of my league with this flight--but it was still fun to try different types.

I'd heard great things about the roasted beet salad. Those things were true. Succulent beets, tangy, soft goat cheese, and pine nuts for a little crunch amidst the arugula. Sensational. A drizzle of rich, 25-year aged balsamic vinegar was the perfect finish.

Shame on me for never making this at home!

ABF started with their special soup that day-- cream of wild mushroom, sprinkled with some shredded Gruyere cheese. This was impressive, even to me, She Who Fears Fungi!

My entrée: Fricasseed scallops over a butternut squash purée with leeks. I'm not a huge leeks fan, but the scallops were out of this world delicious...so perfectly cooked, a little savory crust on the outside. The cream sauce with the touch of truffle? NOMANOMNOM! So outrageously wonderful. Happy Birthday to my MOUTH!

ABF's dish: Poulet Farci (Persian Chicken)-- chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheese, set nicely on a sauce infused with Chardonnay and dates. This chicken was shut your mouth good. The mashed potatoes were just okay, but the chicken was supremely delicious and juicy.

There was a coffee creme brulée I really wanted to try for dessert, but we were both surprisingly stuffed--and happily so. Perhaps next time-- and I think we'll snag one of those cute small booths in the bar area. Excellent service, a wine list that wows, and fabulous food--let's go this weekend, ABF!

Apertif

242 Sunrise Highway

Rockville Centre, NY 11570

(516) 594-3404

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Dosas in SoHo: Hampton Chutney Company

I got caught up in commuting chaos yesterday, and once again, ABF came to my rescue. He met me halfway in SoHo as I went above ground (since the trains weren't going in OR out of Brooklyn anytime soon). He noticed that I was flagging a bit, so we walked a short block over to Hampton Chutney Company, right near the Prince street N/R subway stop. The 3-store company first started in Amangansett (in the Hamptons), and now has two locations in NYC, in Soho and the Upper West Side.

It had been years since I'd eaten here, but knowing ABF's penchant for Indian cuisine, I thought he'd get a kick out of it. HCC is famous for their dosas, a soft, crepe-like wrap made from rice (so it's gluten-free, FYI!) We snagged the bench seat in the front and I ordered 2 dosas, an iced chai for me, and a hot cardamom coffee for ABF.

I'd forgotten how big these things are-- we could easily have split one. Note for next time. I had the #10 dosa, with chicken, potato masala and spinach. Deeeelicious. I love those spicy potatoes!

Each one comes with a free chutney-- cilantro for ABF (we both love cilantro) and mango for me (I love mango, ABF not so much)

ABF had the #10 dosa with roasted peppers, onions & arugula. While he thought the sandwich was good, he loved the cilantro chutney most of all. The #10 was tasty, but we both much preferred the #8 (aka mine!) Has my order envy come to an end? Well, not completely. While I love the iced chai at HCC, ABF's cardamom coffee was out of this world. I'll have to try that on ice next time.

Those dosas can be tricky to handle, so I usually just go at them with a knife and fork. If you're wanting something more mainstream, you can also try their sandwiches and other entrées. Everything is fresh, light, won't weigh you down, and the extra-friendly, welcoming service is great, too! A big thank you again to my Awesome BoyFriend (ABF), for rescuing me from commuting chaos and helping me get back on track in mind, spirit, and stomach! I know this place won't replace his love for Chicken Korma and other heavier Indian dishes, but now we both have a new love for cardamom coffee, and I'm glad he's a good sport to try new things with me...and rescue me when the MTA seems bound & determined to make me cry. Yay, ABF, my hero! :)

Hampton Chutney Co

68 Prince Street

New York, NY

(212) 226-9996

(see their website for other locations/info)

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Bourbon & Brunch: Char No. 4

I met up in Brooklyn with Sara (of NYC Nom Nom) and her fiancé (that's right! Engaged! Congrats and Mazels all around!) Mike--after some wandering we stopped for lunch at Char No 4, recommended by one of Sara's friends. Char is in one of my favorite Brooklyn 'hoods, Cobble Hill. It's a great place to walk around, barhop, restaurant-stroll, you name it.

The entrance is a bit nondescript, but the wall of bourbons inside is most certainly not! Bourbon is a main claim to fame here, so we each tried a drink accordingly:

Sara had a Noreaster (on the right): Ginger beer, lime, maple syrup. Quite lovely! Mike had the bloody mary, which came with a slice of pickle and a hefty dose of heat, which tickled and prickled nicely long after your sip.

Mine was the Bourbon Bonnet, with fresh pineapple juice, habanero peppers, cherries, and a bit of brown sugar. YES. I wish I had another one of these right now-- sweet/sour and so refreshing!

I was also impressed, yes, I said it, with the ice cubes---they're pretty striking all on their own!

We shared an appetizer for the table: smoky, deep-fried pork nuggets. These were tasty on the first bite, but one was plenty for me. PS: That hot sauce is no JOKE, son.

I'd had some eggs already that morning, so I opted for a lunchier option: their pulled pork sandwich, which came with baked beans and pickled veggies on the side.

I don't know if I've ever had a more melt-in-your-mouth pulled pork. Wow.

The beans were also delicious, not sweet, and everything on that plate was even better that night (I had half the dish at lunch, half for dinner).

Mike's dish was impressive looking-- poached eggs over a giant biscuit that was more the size of a serious Belgian waffle. He generously let me try a bite and damn, that was a good biscuit.

Sara went for a breakfast sampler dish: it came with a poached egg, cornbread, ham, home fries, and cheese grits. I am not a grits person, but I had at LEAST 2 bites of these. Mmmm cheesy. The home fries were tasty, not greasy at all.

Everything was great. The food, the service, the prices. Our server went above and beyond in making sure none of the dishes contained peppers (Sara's allergic), and even made sure she knew Mike's & my drinks were spicy and she shouldn't sample them. I loved our experience at Char No 4 and will happily return for more bourbon & brunch!

Char No 4

196 Smith Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201

(718) 643-2106

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Hinsch's is Back!

I posted last fall (amidst my London/Amsterdam posts) that Bay Ridge favorite Hinsch's was closing. That was true, for the moment. Weeks later, the shop REOPENED (I do feel a little toyed with, I'll admit it) for a new and improved version-- not only does the new Hinsch's offer free wi-fi, but they are now open late for dinner!

First things first--how is breakfast? Well now they offer fancier 'brunchy' options, so I gave the Eggs Benedict a whirl. Very good, but one of my eggs was overcooked. Kel encouraged me to send it back, something I have done perhaps twice in my life. Normally I wouldn't say anything, but the manager came over at just the right moment and saw the hardboiled yolk. 2 minutes later, I had a second, perfectly-poached egg. Much better! The sauce was good, English muffins perfectly toasted, and the fruit kabob was a nice touch.

My dish also came with a free OJ. Granted, it's literally a shot glass worth, but that's about all I need anyway. It is definitely fresh-squeezed, too!

Kel got her usual-- 2 eggs over easy, cheese fries and crispy bacon. Everything was perfectly cooked and she was quite happy.

A few weeks later, we tried them out for dinner seeing as, up until now, the only meals we've ever tried were their breakfasts or their burgers (both delicious).

It was around 8:30, late dinner for us, so we were one of only a few tables that night. The dinner menu is even more expansive than the old menu, which is saying something. It took me a while to make up my mind, but I settled on the spinach salad with crispy bacon, hard-boiled egg, mushrooms, and a lemon vinaigrette. I added some grilled shrimp for extra protein.

It wasn't just good, it was GREAT. I ate almost every bite (except for those still-kinda-creepy mushrooms) and will be re-creating this lemon vinaigrette at home. Tart AND mellow at the same time, no sicky-sweetness to it. Excelsior!

Kel ordered the cheese quesadilla, which was impressively large (easily enough for 2-3 people to share as an app, 2 people for an entree). It came with pickled jalapenos, sour cream, and guac. Good, but not anywhere near my salad's awesomeness.

Of course we split a Hinsch's famous sundae for dessert. One scoop of vanilla ice cream, one scoop of chocolate, and marshmallow topping. So good!!

Hinsch's

8518 5th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11209

(718) 748-2854

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Woolworth Tower Kitchen

ABF & I met for a mid-week dinner recently, and we popped back into a place that makes its mark on the downtown skyline: The Woolworth Tower, which is also one of America's oldest skyscrapers.

Inside the famed Woolworth Tower building (pop in the lobby of the main building to get a look at the STUNNING marble ceiling) is this fabulous eatery, Woolworth Tower Kitchen, where dishes are well thought out, fresh, and fabulous.

We each started with a drink--the Malbec for me (lovely!) and a dry gin & tonic for ABF. Life in London definitely gave him a new fondness for that drink. Me, I just can't do gin so much.

ABF ordered their Chicken Paillard salad, which is one of their most popular dishes. Arugula, thinly-pounded chicken filets (buried under a pile of greens), sliced green apples, spicy candied pecans, and two lovely slices of brie topping it all. I think this is going to be something one of us orders every time we visit.

I opted for the Cobb salad with grilled chicken. They make it in the chopped style, which normally I don't care for, but these were manageable bites, and not pulverized pieces. The scallion ranch dressing was so good that I asked for an extra serving of it. Yeah, that's right! I don't think I'm ready to start saying I LIKE ranch dressing, but I think I like flavored ranch dressings (chipotle ranch, avocado ranch etc).

Our salads were both quite filling, but we still decided to get dessert. Our server told us that the chocolate mousse cake was really good, so we decided to share that, but we honestly weren't expecting it to be spectacular. And yet it WAS. Deep, rich, decadent chocolate, with a fluffy, almost spongecake-like base and velvety mousse filling--great googaly-moogaly!

Even if you're not in the financial district area, WTK is just a few steps from the R and the 2/3 train. It's the perfect spot for grabbing a bite before or after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (which is our plan once the weather gets nicer)!

(Note: WTK is closed on weekends)

Woolworth Tower Kitchen
The Woolworth Building
9 Barclay Street
New York, NY 10279
(212) 571-2930

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Foto Friday: My (Surprising?) Weakness!

I'm linking in to Foto Friday, featured on my friend Christy O's blog (visit her here!) Feel free to join in on the fun yourself--just leave a link to your post in my comments and visit the other links, too! And visits to my FB page are always welcome, too!

True, I live in NYC with a worrrrrrrrld of dessert options around me: painstakingly-prepared pastries, luscious layer cakes, cookies and puddings and custards and ice creams-- you name it. And true, I can even bake my OWN damn cake and THAT will be sublime! These treats are all tasty and I enjoy every bite, but when it comes to the plain old sheet cake at D'Agostino's (yes, the grocery store chain in NYC), I am powerless to resist. There is something about the fluffiness of the cake and the killer frosting that sucks me in and has me craving it randomly all year long.

A friend of mine shares this obsession and often has these cakes for her birthday parties. When we worked together, we did our best to make THESE the cakes at office parties (mwah ha haaa). I love this friend and would come to the party anyway, but I won't lie--I definitely put the cake at motivating factor #2!

Damn you, D'Agostino's...why are your cakes so TASTY!?!?!?

Is there a weird, not-homemade dessert or snack that makes you weak in the knees/tastebuds??? Follow @Lkpnyc

Guest Post: Polka Dot Cake!

**This is a guest post by my friend Holly P, who has been with me for many of life's moments--good and bad--over the past 8 years or so. She was so happy with the outcome of this dessert that she asked if she could share it on Stuff I Ate! The best part--you don't have to be a Super Baker to pull off this treat!**

Admission: I’m giving this to Lori over 4 months late. But in my defense, this isn’t just an Easter Recipe; it’s fun for ALL SEASONS!

Every year my boyfriend’s family asks me to bring the dessert to Easter dinner. Oh, the pressure! So I spent two weeks scouring blogs and websites for the perfect idea. My challenges:

1. Needed something that would travel well in a car ride for 4 hours.

2. Needed something that I could make two days in advance that wouldn’t dry out or need refrigeration or be difficult in any way.

3. I suck at baking. I love to cook, but baking has never been a strong suit of mine, so I needed something easy.

So, after much searching, I found the delicious answer here!

What could be more adorable? It seemed easy enough to adapt into a spring themed cake, all I needed to do was modify the colors. You could just as easily make a red white and blue cake, or a red and green Christmas cake.

I don’t actually own a cake pop maker, but I do own a mini muffin tin, so I figured I’d try it out. And it worked like a charm! And the end of the day, you don’t need absolutely perfect circles. I bought 2 boxes of cake mix from the store, and prepared just as directed. I poured some batter into 3 separate containers then added drops of food color. I filled the muffin tins just over ½ full and then baked for about 9 minutes (checking regularly w/ a toothpick).

Once they were done baking, let them sit for a minute or two before running a knife along the edge and popping the “muffins” out onto a cooling rack. I let them cool for about 10 minutes before assembling them into the remaining cake batter. In the original blog the chef had taken pains to cut the dots into halves and stick them to the sides and the like, but I didn’t really think it was going to make much of a difference, so I didn’t waste time.

What I found was, as the cake baked, the balls raised to the top. So in hindsight, I would actually try to “glue” some halved balls to the bottom of the pan prior to putting in the remaining batter. I ended up using all 24 cupcakes, and probably should have baked up about 12 more, as there was room for it and would have made it even more colorful.

I then baked my two 8” cake pans for about 20 minutes more, as per the directions on the box. Again, you have to check it with a toothpick to ensure it’s done. After it comes out of the oven, simply slice the tops off of both pans so your cake is nice and even. Flip it out onto a cooling rack and let it cool completely before attempting to frost.

Use your favorite frosting recipe and decorate for whatever holiday event you are celebrating. I guarantee once you cut into the cake, everyone will be impressed, and nobody will ever know that you aren’t a master baker!

This was simple, easy and actually a lot of fun to construct. Oh, and one last tip, if you aren’t skilled at decorating, you can do what I did and just but something cute like the “peeps” that I got from my local bakery, you don’t need to get all fancy with trying to pipe frosting.

Happy Holidays, whatever colors you use! ~ Holly

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Lunch at the Library (sort of)

It's Summer Restaurant Week in NYC! Want ideas on where to go for Restaurant Week? Visit the site, or check out some of my previous blog posts!

The New York Public Library has a FREE exhibit that opened this week--which is also the start of NYC's Summer Restaurant Week (this is the 20th year!)-- dedicated to the history of lunch in New York City. I got to take a tour of it last night thanks to a Gothamist invitation, and my coworker CJ came along with me.

From the very origin of the world 'lunch' itself (I'm such a word nerd) to establishment of the 'lunch hour,' yes, THE lunch hour, to inventing metal hot dog carts, NYC was at the head of it all.

Another example of word-nerdness that I enjoyed: this shot of diner slang/jargon!

You can see everything from a restored Automat (now filled with recipes instead of grab-and-go dishes) to an old-school luncheonette soup dispenser.

There's also a vintage Heinz soup machine. Apparently the server behind the counter would open up the can, pour it into the pitcher, and in 2 minutes flat, you had hot, delicious (turtle???) soup!

The exhibit was fascinating, full of historic bits and pieces of our country's story.. from menus touting 35 cent pork chops to an impressive display of old-school metal lunchboxes. You can even listen to immigrants from all over the world share how certain recipes bring a bit of home to you with one bite.

Want to listen to food-themed songs? There's a display for that. :)

(I'm listening to "Ham N Eggs" by A Tribe Called Quest.)

After my coworker CJ & I made our way through the displays, we sat in on a panel that featured (L-R) Zagat guide co-founder Tim Zagat, Andrew P. Haley, author of "Turning the Tables", Rebecca Federman, curator of the exhibit, and well-known chef David Burke. We enjoyed hearing everything from Burke's rise through NYC's restaurants, and how cuisine has changed over the decades to each panel member's memories of dining in NYC.

It's a great display and well worth a visit. Also, did I mention it's free? Who doesn't love free?? Go here for more info on the exhibit, which runs through February 2013..

Lunch Hour NYC

New York Public Library's Steven A. Schwarzman Building (Entrance at Fifth Avenue & 42nd Street)

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