East Village Jewel

Well my birthday has come and gone but the celebrations keep on coming. Last night my sister took me to dinner at Jewel Bako - the sushi restaurant of Jack and Grace Lamb who also own Jack's Oyster Bar and Degustation. I haven't heard one bad thing about this place except for the expensive bill at the end of the meal. However, 25 years of age deserves a special dinner right?

We arrived promptly at 7:30 for fear that they would give away or reservation, but there was only one couple seated in the tiny restaurant, and barely anyone at the usually packed sushi bar. That was a whole different story 30 minutes later, when the restaurant was at capacity.

We started with a drink from their speciality cocktail menu, I got the sojou martini with lychee and my sister got the sparkling plum sake. Sojou is just a Japanese vodka, but they either use a lot more alcohol is their martinis or sojou is much stronger than vodka because the drink was strong.

Then we ordered edamame to hold us over until the main event - the roll tasting and a sashimi tasting. The presentation was beautiful and the fish was so fresh. I didn't know what to expect of the roll tasting, but it was one piece of each of the 9 makimono rolls they have on the menu. The base of each roll is the same, just a cucumber roll, and the top is all different. There was a scallop with yuzu and avocado, eel with tobiko, snow crab with avocado, salmon with tempura flakes and other assorted fish with their special sauce on top.

We were deciding between the sushi tasting or the sashimi and I'm glad we chose the sashimi. It might not look like a lot of food, but it was really filling and the rice from the sushi pieces would have been too much. They served us almost two kinds of each fish. Two kinds of tuna, snapper, yellow tail and amber jack. And there was also salmon, octopus, fluke, sweet shrimp and clam. I tried everything and liked almost everything. The sweet shrimp was a little too mushy for my taste and I think I'm going to stick to my octopus fried from now on. But the two kinds of tuna and yellow tail were amazing, not fishy and didn't need soy sauce or wasabi at all.

We finished everything and they brought us two free desserts for my birthday. It wasn't the chocolate cake like my sister was hoping for but it was a green tea ice cream sandwich. You have to be a green tea ice cream lover to like it, but it was a refreshing end to a great birthday meal. Everyone working at Jewel Bako was extremely friendly and accommodating. It wasn't that hard to get a reservation, probably because it's been around for some years now and definitely worth a visit if you're a sushi lover like me.

I'm starting a omakase fund and donations are greatly appreciated. Sasabune and Sushi Yasuda are next on the tasting tour.

The 7th Street Food Tour

If you're indecisive about what you're in the mood to eat, walk down East 7th street in the East Village. Start on Second Avenue and go until Avenue A and you'll walk by every type of restaurant, big, small, loud and quiet and they all look delish. I met my friend Meghan on 7th between First and A in hopes of eating at Pylos, a greek restaurant I've been wanting to try. Unfortunately, we didn't have a reservation and they couldn't seat us. So we walked up the block searching for the next best option. Caracas Arepa Bar won the menu toss off and we were seated right away beating the crowd that came in minutes later. I have to admit, I'm an arepa novice but they do look and smell amazing every time I see them at street fairs.

Meghan is a vegetarian and I'm definitely not, so we decided to get a salad with avocado and hearts of palm and then three arepas. One with beef for me and two other vegetarian ones for both of us to share. They came out fast and hot and smelled amazing. They didn't look like the ones from the street fair (those are flat and only filled with cheese). Instead imagine a pita stuffed with goodness inside, but instead of pita its a corn and flour tortilla. The beef one (La de Pabellón), was filled with bbq beef, black beans, fried plantains and sprinkeled with cheese. It was so good! The mixture of the barbecue tasting beef with the sweet plantains was awesome. I finished that one first and slowly moved onto the others. Next I tried the La Mulata which was filled with black beans, jalapenos, plantains and grilled white cheese. My first bite went directly into a jalapeno and my mouth lit on fire, but in a good way. The last one we got was another vegetarian one, La Jardinera, which had eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, caramelized onions and melted cheese. That was my second favorite because of my resumed love of eggplant and it wasn't as spicy as the second one.

I was too full to finish all three arepas (I suggest 1 per person if you get an appetizer) and we had to save room for the second part of my evening, Butter Lane Cupcakes. The bakery is known for their $1 icing shots and they have around 10 different flavors. I don't like icing as much as the cake, so I didn't try them. But I have heard amazing things. Instead, I was intrigued by the fact that you can choose your own cake and icing to make your own cupcake! They offer three different kinds of cake, vanilla, chocolate and banana and the 10 same icings as above. They have the most popular ones listed for you so I got one of those, the banana cake with cream cheese icing. And then I got a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination ever created by the way.

As much as I wanted to like the chocolate and peanut butter one, the cake was too dry and the top was hard. I'm sure it would have been a lot better if the cake was fresher. However, the icing was great. The banana and cream cheese was so much better. The cake was moist and tasted exactly like banana and the cream cheese icing was above par. At $3 a cupcake, it was worth to try two and I would definitely go back to try other combos. Meghan got a banana with peanut butter icing with couldn't have been bad, and then another one with pistachio icing as well.

You could eat your way through 7th street if you had the time and stomach. Next stops are Pylos with a reservation, Luke's Lobster Bar and Porchetta.

Sidewalk Supper

Lindsey and I fell in love with Nolita this week. The tiny area in between Little Italy and Houston is filled with small cafe type restaurants on every block and pretty people walking the streets. We met a friend who recently moved to the area to see what it's like to live below 14th street.


It was a nice night so we met at Cafe Gitane and got a table outside for prime people watching. The place is small and minimal but it's so popular, they recently opened another location in the Jane Hotel. We luckily didn't have to wait for a table, but usually the waits are long.

Looking at the menu during work on Tuesday, so many things looked good. Steph, being the pro, suggested what she liked and we got some of that and tried some new things also.

We started with the avocado and chili flakes on seven grain bread and the marinated beets with cinnamon in a vinaigrette sauce. Both were light and good for sharing. The chili flakes weren't spicy but I wish the bread was a little crunchier. The beets were a little on the hard side but still tasted great with the vinaigrette. I didn't taste the cinnamon at all and didn't realize it was part of the dish until I looked at the menu again.

Next, we shared the tuna ceviche with glass noodles and mango, the Moroccan couscous and the baked eggplant. The ceviche wasn't really a ceviche because the tuna was cooked, but the dish was great. It was kind of like a soup bowl with the glass noddles in a soy ginger dressing and huge slices of mango. The Moroccan couscous was my favorite and knew we were getting it days before we went. The dish was definitely picture worthy, as it comes as a tower with a dollop of hummus on top. We got it with chicken, but you can get it without or with sausage and there's also raisins, eggplant and red peppers. I would go back and just get this dish and leave happy. The baked eggplant was also great and totally different than I expected. It came with three pieces of eggplant and then each one was topped with something different. One was topped with an olive tapenade, one with goat cheese and a pesto. I ate some by itself and others with pieces of french bread and it was delicious.
















We opted for no dessert and finished the night with some pinkberry (now with unlimited toppings) and some rice to riches (for Lindsey - not me).

Make a point to try some restaurants in Nolita and you won't be disappointed. It's easy to find, walk away from the crowds of Soho until you find people sitting outside enjoying their nights in Nolita.

East to West-Ville

When my friend Rachel said she was craving comfort food on rainy Friday, the first place that popped into my mind was Westville. There are two locations, one in the East Village (Westville-East) and the original in the West Village. Both are tiny restaurants, but the East Village one is slightly bigger so I've only been to that one.

My favorite part of Westville is that everything is so fresh and there are tons of vegetables on the menu and a whole specials page dedicated just to them. I feel like I don't eat enough fruits and vegetables in the city because they go bad so fast. You can order just a side of one of the vegetables or get a plate of four. We definitely got the plate of four and it was such a hard decision to just choose that many. We decided on the Brussels sprouts with honey dijon, roasted butternut squash, green beans with almonds and the artichoke hearts with parmesan.

We also got the mac and cheese and the veggie burger to share. The veggie burger is home made and comes on a fluffy english muffin and a special spicy sauce. It's one of the best veggie burgers that I've had and a close second to Penelope.

I had never tried the mac and cheese before and it was delicious and perfect for the cold rainy Friday night we were experiencing. The noodles were curly which was different than the normal elbow pasta most places use and the toasted breadcrumbs on top were a plus. It has a distinct smoky flavor so beware if that's not your thing and you can get it with or without the bacon. We pretty much licked the plate.

Everything is so good and cheap here, it's no wonder that there is usually a wait no less than 30 minutes anytime of day.There are plenty of other delicious and fresh things on the menu and tons of specials each night in addition to the vegetables. There's also a new location opening up in Chelsea soon! Hopefully they chose a bigger place to accommodate all the Westville lovers out there.

Plenty of Paella

Could you ever imagine a restaurant dedicated to only Paella? Well in New York they have restaurants dedicated to everything. French fries, mac and cheese, pizza cones, doughnuts and I'm sure plenty others. Socarrat is a semi-new joint in the heart of Chelsea that basically runs on serving huge amounts of paella. Of course they have other Spanish inspired tapas but it's the paella you go for.

The restaurant is known for its long waits and tiny establishment. There is only one long table in the middle of the restaurant and it's kind of like a puzzle to determine how long your party is going to wait. Fortunately for my group of 5 and other hungry patrons, the wine bar next to Socarrat now serves the whole menu and not only a few selected tapas like it used to.

I was the last to show up and was so happy when we had our own table in the wine bar and a glass of sangria at my seat. I was extremely nervous that we were going to be told that we had to wait at least an hour. Our waitress was straight out of Spain and recommended we get around 4 tapas to share and two different paellas. You have to order at least paella for 2 people and we heard the portions were huge so we stuck with two paellas each for two people.

We started out with the beef empanadas, chicken croquettes, almonds and olives, the sauteed vegetables with melted manchego cheese on top and last but not least the braised pork belly the waitress convinced us to get. She explained that it was braised for at least 24 hours and that its the best thing on the menu. How can you say no to that?

All the tapas were delicious. I can't taste a difference between an empanada and a croquette except for the filling but they were both good and fried and I liked the empanada better.

The pork belly was worth noting for sure. It didn't have a heavy pork taste and it reminded me of something that I still can't put my name on. The marinate was light and not overpowering also. It came with roasted potatoes underneath, but I didn't get to taste those.

Then out came the biggest skillets I've ever seen with our paella. We got one with meat and one with seafood to satisfy everyone at the table. Turns out that the skillets might be huge, but the actual paella only comes up to about half of an inch, so it was the perfect amount of food. We definitely had leftovers, but couldn't have had just one for five people.

I loved them both and realized that this was the first time I actually have had paella. I could only have one serving of the meat one because the pieces were a little much for me. There were huge chunks of pork rib and rabbit -- two kinds I rarely eat. But the rice was crispier and darker in that dish and I liked that better. The seafood dish was more up my alley, filled with mussels, scallops and calamari. It wasn't as heavy but the rice wasn't as crispy either.

If only they had one with the rice from the meat dish combined with the seafood from the other dish. However, after discussing with my culinary friend Ali, we decided that one of the main reasons the meat paella was so much crispier was because of the fat from the meat cooking the rice more.

We left too full even for churros and chocolate sauce but incredibly satisfied and impressed. My friends were all from South Florida also and they know their Spanish foods and flavor. Good thing it was a nice night out so we could walk all the way home.

Free Spirits

The April birthday celebrations have officially started! Mine is about 12 days away but whose counting? To celebrate Jenna's 25th, a group of us channeled our hipster selves and went down to Freemans for dinner last night. It's been on my list for quite a while now but their no reservations scare me away time and time again.

I got there early to put our name down and was amazed at my skills that I actually found the place! Located in the back of an alley off of Rivington street, you would never know this place existed. That is unless you read US Weekly, NYmag or any other magazine that talks about food or celebrities. Rob Pattinson is a frequent diner of this spot as well as many others. As I'm sure y'all know, NYC doesn't have that many alleys, especially not in the middle of the LES where cool hipsters hang out all the time. Hopstop doesn't even pick up on Freeman Alley so it's a good thing I found it.

I got a seat at the bar right away and ordered the Freeman's cocktails because my cousin is obsessed with them. Not a huge lover of whiskey, I trusted her recommendation anyway and was pleasantly surprised. The bartender was meticulous in making my cocktail, I felt like she was counting how many times she stirred and shook the drink in the shaker. And to top it all of, she lit a toothpick and lit an orange peel on fire before topping the drink off with it! The drink was incredibly strong, and couldn't imagine what would happen if I had another, so I stuck with water the rest of the night. I wanted to remember what I ate of course!

We were seated right away after the rest of the group arrived right in front of the door for prime people watching. We were definitely out of place at Freeman's in our J.crew tops and cardigans. Everyone here is extreme hipster and they all pull it off.

We ordered some appetizers asap, the grilled cheddar toasts, artichoke dip and mixed greens salad with caramelized onions and goat cheese. The cheddar toasts were a hit or miss. I really liked them but Jenna didn't. The cheese was really strong and there seemed to be a hint of horseradish in it. The artichoke dip was the best out of the three and I think it's one of their most popular items. Someone next to us was eating that as his main meal. Can you say stomach ache ready to happen? It comes with toasted pieces of french bread and it's a great appetizer to share for the table.

Next we ordered the mac and cheese - another recommendation from my cousin-- even though we would have ordered it anyway. I was once on a mission to try every mac and cheese in the city. The trout with thyme, garlic and lemon and the roasted chicken with home made ranch dressing. The mac and cheese was just the right amount of creaminess, the kind where you can eat a lot and not feel like it's too much. I couldn't eat it as a whole meal to myself, but a couple of spoonfuls was just right. The trout came already de-boned but had the head on it which almost made me lose my appetite. A quick covering with the lemon and we were ready to move on. The fish was light without a strong hint of garlic and really good. The chicken was a little small to share for four people, so we all got a little taste. But it was far from dry and my brother in law would have loved it. They sided it with a stock of romaine lettuce on the side that had been grilled for a couple of minutes covered in the ranch dressing and that was a great addition.

Last but not least, we ordered the sticky toffee cake for dessert. I was in the mood for the warm chocolate brownie but I guess you can get that anywhere. It was a good choice and we finished every last bite.

For drinks, dinner or brunch - make sure you go to Freemans at least once when you're in NYC. The atmosphere makes the food taste even better (or maybe that was the Freeman Cocktail) and the prices aren't crazy. If you can't find the alley, then you're not cool enough to go in the first place.

Pasta Galore

I think everyone has the same problem as I do when you're looking for a restaurant to go to before or after a Broadway show. You need to be close enough to walk from/to the theatre and you need it to be quick and good all at the same time. There just aren't that many choices out there for a person like me who doesn't like to go to the same place twice. But Saturday night I discovered a new one to add to my list - Becco.

Located on restaurant row (46th street bw 8 and 9) this Italian eatery was PACKED at 6:00 pm. Turns out it's more popular than I thought and also one of the most popular restaurants on the Zagat list as well. How I didn't know about it boggles my mind.

There are two great things about this place:

1. They have a huge wine list on the back of their menu with only $25.00 bottles of wine

Even my step-dad, the wine spectator god, was impressed with the selection and ordered 2 from the list. They also have another wine list with pricier wines, but why even look at that?

2. The all you can eat pasta special for $23.00. Sounds heavenly right? If you're a pasta lover like me, this is your go-to dish. Served with a Caesar salad or mixed vegetables before - it's enough food for an army and it just keeps on coming. The restaurant chooses 3 different pastas and the choices change nightly. On Saturday it was a mushroom ravioli, a spaghetti in a spicy tomato sauce with fried shrimp, and a penne in a pesto sauce. Waiters walk around the two floor restaurant with huge plates of each pasta ready to re-fill your plate on command. Each pasta was surprisingly good even though they mass produce it way before you order and the spicy tomato sauce one was my favorite.

They do have other items on the menu including other pastas if the all you can eat isn't up your alley. My mom got a swordfish that was grilled to perfection, my brother in law got a steak dish and said it was amazing and my brother got the biggest piece of veal parm you've ever seen. The veal was served with the bone and three of my friends could have easily shared it, but Richard finished it all.

Go to Becco before or after a Broadway show (highly recommend Jersey Boys and Rock of Ages - my two new favs) or for just your normal pasta craving. Make a reservation way in advance because the crowds are huge and there isn't much room to wait around if it's cold outside. Zagat hasn't failed me yet and they were right on target with this place!

Crostinis and more at Corsino

Delayed planes ruined my dinner plans for the evening last night. So instead of sitting on my couch watching TV in my sauna of an apartment, I crashed Lindsey's dinner at Corsino Cantina in the West Village. It was a gorgeous night and the restaurant had most of their windows opened which allowed the spring breeze to come in.

We ordered a bottle of rose (which I learned is just chilled red wine-- perfect for those hot summer nights) and navigated through the menu.

As usual, we decided to share a bunch of things so we could try as many items as possible. The crostinis stood out amongst the rest so we ordered 6 of them for the three of us. The ricotta with honey was my favorite so we got 2 of those. The peas and pecorino was intriguing so we got one of those as well, along with a bean and artichoke, mushroom and tellegio (a type of cheese for the unfamiliar) and a radicchio and goat cheese. They all cut up perfectly into three sections so we got a bite of each. I know the peas and pecorino sounds gross, but it was one of my favorites. I did used to eat peas and carrots when I was a baby a ton, so maybe that's why.

We also got two other appetizers the waiter suggested. The risotto croquette, which was tasty but also very salty and the asparagus and sunchokes salad. The salad had a peppery taste to it, but I liked it and it was something different. I've only had a sunchoke fried before so never really got to taste them. They look like cut up radishes and don't have a ton of flavor but they seem to take on any other flavor in the dish.

Then we moved on to the entrees which we shared also. We got one pasta - the orecchiette with rabe and sun dried tomatoes and the meatballs. Three meatballs came in a serving and they were delicious. A little melted cheese on the top in a great tomato sauce with pieces of tomato also. As an entree, the dish could have been a little small, but it was perfect for us. The pasta was good too, another recommendation from our waiter. Little ear shaped pasta with a light butter sauce and the serving was a great size - we didn't even finish it.
There were other pastas that caught my eye, like the tagliatelle with lamb ragu, but we were already getting the meatballs so we picked something else.

It was the perfect amount of food for the three of us. I left satisfied and not overly full and the final bill was very reasonable. Although the room was a little loud, it was a good choice by Lindsey and although I couldn't see my parents last night, this was a fabulous alternative!

Pretty Standard

Easter weekend was filled with sun, bagels, shopping and drinking. Nevermind that it was Passover and I was not supposed to be eating anything good - carbs are my life and I refuse to give them up.

I had a great friend in town who deserved a great brunch in New York City so I made a reservation at the Standard Grill. The menu looked good and very reasonably priced for such a hot spot these days and I was shocked they had a reservation available on Easter Sunday.

We got there on time and the place was super crowded. I noticed they had outside seating so we requested that we sit outside and we only had to wait an extra 15 minutes - not bad! The table was perfect for people watching and had ample sun so one of my arms got burned and the other didn't - fabulous.

The three of us chose all different things, 2 egg dishes and one sweet so we could all share. And we got a side of the herb roasted potatoes for the table. I got the baked eggs Florentine and they were great. Eggs Florentine is one of my favorite egg dishes because spinach with your poached eggs is always better than ham. I usually get the hollandaise sauce on the side also, so this dish was perfect for me. Even though the eggs were baked and not poached, it was still wonderful. The spinach was more like spinach dip with melted cheese throughout and the eggs were runny and went perfect with my toasted sourdough bread.

Lindsey got the other baked eggs dish on the menu even though our waiter said it was one of the weirdest things on the menu. Her baked eggs came with sausage and chickpeas in a tomato sauce. I tried it with a bite of her flatbread and it was definitely interesting but good at the same time. I'm a fan of tomato sauce all the time so combined with the eggs was good in my book. The chickpeas was an unique addition, but it didn't make or break the dish.

And last but not least, Erin got the brioche french toast with bananas and walnuts. Two pieces came in a serving and we cleaned the whole plate. The crust was crunchy and the middle was soft and sweet. A perfectly made french toast.

We had a great brunch at the Standard. Even though it was extremely crowded, the service was great and everyone was extremely accommodating. We even had our own celeb sighting -- Tori Spelling, her husband Dean, the 2 cute kids, and PR celeb Jonathan Cheban! All looking great in their Easter best.

Side note: I heard through the foodie grapevine, that the Standard Grill for dinner isn't that great, so wait for a nice day, get a table outside and go there for brunch and a day of drinking in their beergaren under the Highline!