Bring Your Own To Houston's

Don't let the new menu and name fool you, Houston's (aka Hillstone - even though I will never call it that) is a staple chain restaurant you can always count on. There are two in the city, one in Midtown near my office and the other in Murray Hill near my apartment - coincidence? I think not. There are always waits for lunch and dinner and the menu stays the same throughout the day. Why is it so good you may ask? I don't have the answer for you, but it could be that they inject thousands of calories into each of their menu items to make them delicious. That's why they changed their name to Hillstone in the first place. They didn't want to abide by the new NYC rule of calorie posting on the menu. While it doesn't stop me from eating a 270 calorie serving of McDonald's french fries, or a 500 calorie Crumbs cupcake, I'm sure some people with more restraint have really changed their eating habits.

I went to Houston's last night to meet an old friend of mine (and new reader of my blog!) because not only do they have a new name and menu - they have a new BYO policy! That is - there isn't one. Bring your own bottle of wine or two and there is NO corkage fee. Sounds pretty incredible for a restaurant like Houston's right? BYO is one of the best things about a restaurant but usually the food is just okay and perfect for a night out, but now you can have great food with your own bottle of great wine too!

It doesn't make your meal that much cheaper - beware. Houston's is pretty pricey compared to it's New Orleans or Atlanta counterparts down south. Where the veggie burger is $14 dollars in NYC, it's only around $10 elsewhere. And I was pretty shocked when I saw their amazing spinach dip with the 13 dollar price tag. Even though I'm a Houston's frequent visitor, I have to admit that it usually goes on the company credit card.

They've also changed the menu quite a bit! They no longer have the original seared tuna salad and have changed it to a vegetable medley with tuna on the side. And they've added a ton of sushi to the menu and changed up the sides. I can't complain that much because they do still have the fall off the bone ribs, the chicken salad with peanut dressing, the veggie burger and their amazing skinny fries and honey mustard dressing. With their new BYO policy, I'll still be waiting at the bar for my spinach and artichoke dip and more.

Musical Chairs

Last Thursday was a golden birthday celebration -- 25th birthday on the 25th! The birthday girl chose the new restaurant/bar in the Meatpacking district called The Collective. Opening just that week in the spot that used to be One in the Gansevoort hotel, it was receiving a lot of hype. Everything in the huge restaurant space is used and/or recycled. There is not one chair that's the same, and I wouldn't even call all of them chairs. People were sitting on scales, ottomans, stools, patio furniture and even bathtubs cut in half. Almost all the tables were different too - picture an ironing board in the bar area. The decor is used also -- poles decorated in bottle caps and necklaces, and even a pill bottle chandelier.

Walking into this place I definitely stood there for a minute taking it all in. While the place wasn't packed like I imagined it would be, there were a lot of filled tables and one of the two bars was crowded. Brittany had an area in the bar section that worked out perfectly because people were coming and going throughout the night. The service was great. A waiter came up to me the second I walked over so I could order my $15 dollar dirty martini. I know we're in the Meatpacking, but I still think that was kind of steep. The manager had already brought over some desserts for the group, which was also extremely nice.

We decided to order some food to go along with our cocktails and got the roasted chicken salad, the salmon crudo and a side of ratatouille. I know it was a strange combination but I had already tried the mac&cheese from another friend and had heard the burger with truffle wasn't truffely enough so it wasn't worth it. The food came out fast and we dug in.

Salad - a great portion to share for 3 people and and an entree size for 1. I didn't think there was enough dressing but my two other sharers disagreed. The chicken wasn't dry and there was a ton in the serving.

Salmon Crudo - Simple, light and refreshing. It was thinly sliced salmon with a frisee salad on top and a light sauce

Ratatouille - While I don't know what ratatouille usually tastes like (I've only seen the Disney movie), this was more like grilled vegetables. It was my favorite thing we had out of the three but it wasn't anything special.

The night turned out to be longer than expected and we ended up ordering some blue cheese tater tots late into the evening. These were the best thing I ate all night and something that I've never had before. If you don't like blue cheese - stay away because they're potent. They taste exactly how they sound - potato and melted blue cheese in a fried case. They came out steaming and the dipping sauce was really good but I can't remember what it was!!

I would go to the Collective for the fun bar scene, good music, interesting cocktail menu, attentive service and the decor. However, the food needs to step it's game up. If you hear the burger isn't worth getting - I think that's a bad sign.

Heaven is a Place on Earth

Tuesday night I entered into food blogger heaven. The Third Annual Choice Eats sponsored by the Village Voice at the Armory is one of the biggest New York City tasting events. It featured restaurants from all five boroughs in one location with wine, beer and liquor pairings. After finding out about this event, tickets were bought immediately and a count down ensued. The restaurant list was amazing. There were places that I've been dying to try and places that I've already been to all in one place - like I said Heaven.

Doors opened to the common folk (non VIP) at 6:30 but the line started avenues away way earlier than that. My lovely sister got there before me and was almost at the front when I arrived so I jumped right in. My apologies for all the people that I cut, but you gotta do what you gotta do in the name of good food.

I don't know how I've never noticed the Armory before. Located on 26th and Lex, I probably pass it at least once a week and it's HUGE! I was extremely over whelmed when I got inside after seeing 4 long rows and hundreds of people fighting for their tastes. We started at the first row we saw and worked our way to the right, down the back row and finished at the last row on the left. There was no strategy but it worked out well. It turns out the last row didn't have that many great items, but two of the ones I wanted to try - Cheeky and Spot dessert bar - were sold out and packed up.

The hits of the night are as followed:

Max - meat lasagna. While it could have been a little hotter, it was delicious with the right amount of sauce, meat ratio. I've been to both Max locations in the city and its a great local Italian eatery that's low key. The prices are great, but they are cash only.

Mercadito- shrimp mini taco. I've actually never been to either locations of Mercadito and was excited to try what they had to offer. They were making mini shrimp tacos at the station and they were so good. Not too spicy and they put a whole slice of avocado on the top. The mini tortilla was the perfect size for this type of event because it didn't fill you up as much as a bigger one would. Mercadito is still on my list but it moved up higher after Tuesday night.

Dirt Candy - tofu crostini with butternut squash. Don't worry I'm not converting to vegetarianism any time soon, and probably won't visit this establishment in the near future, but I'm glad I got to try what they had to offer. Tofu is never my first choice unless it comes with hot and sour soup but the combination of the tofu with the crostini and pieces of butternut squash was great. I definitely didn't hate it!

Despana - gazpacho. I had never heard of this restaurant until the other night and I don't know why! Their gazpacho was awesome. A little on the creamy side which isn't typical for original gazpacho and no chunks of vegetables, but it was smooth and comforting. They offered two versions, one normal and one with bacon shavings on it - an added touch.

The most popular table the whole night and a line that was way over 20 minutes was BaoHaus.

The chef, Eddie Huang, was just featured on Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown for his signature skirt steak Bao (a mini steamed bun). I knew I had to try this place. Once I got closer to the front, I could see why the line was taking so long. They were literally steaming the buns table side and making each Bao perfectly. When it was finally my turn, I got one of each - a skirt steak and pork belly. They both are served with crushed peanuts, cilantro, relish and a Taiwanese red sugar. The buns had come right out of the steamer so I couldn't taste them right away and I was really scared someone was going to bump into me and my Boas would fall to the floor. I was safe though and my first bite into the pork belly bao was amazing. The bun was warm and fluffy and much better than Momofuku - sorry David Chang! I liked the skirt steak better than the pork but it could have been that I had wayyyy too much pork that evening. The steak just had more flavor. It was the best thing I ate all night and I definitely need to go the the LES restaurant to experience it again. Eddie was there the whole night making his baos personally which was also great to see.

There were so many other great things that I ate but unfortunately, I can't remember where they were from. There was an amazing Thai cold noodle dish, a bbq pork, a Swedish meatball with mashed potatoes, a corn, cheese and creme arepa, tres leches cake and a shrimp roll from Luke's Lobster. There were a lot of pork dishes, some good some bad, not enough dessert items and a great wine selection. I 100 percent got my moneys worth and will be returning next year with a new strategy:

1. Take more time to try all the places

2. Share more so I don't fill up too fast

3. Get the VIP ticket. It allows you to enter at 5:30 instead of 6:30 so you have more time to try everything before the masses arrive.

Spring has Sprung on the Bowery

Even the rain today can't put a damper on the fabulous weekend we had in NYC. Not a cloud in the sky and temps running from 65-75 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was a great first official Spring weekend. Anticipating the warm weather on Saturday, Lindsey and I made brunch plans with the newly named "The Brunch Crew" at Gemma where the outside seating is abundant. They don't take reservations for brunch, lunch or dinner unless you're staying at the Bowery Hotel, but if you have connections like we do, a reservation was easy. Maybe it was because we went at 11:30, but I like to think that we're moving our way up in the world.

I really didn't know what to expect at Gemma because their brunch menu is MIA. It's not on menupages, chowhound, yelp, anywhere!! But I had faith that it was going to be good because their dinner is delicious -- (get the branzino and any pasta in their spicy tomato sauce).

We all started out with a morning cocktail, I got a blood orange mimosa, and the banana bread they serve. It was soft and moist and could have been even better with some chocolate chips like my mom does it. The menu is big with a lot of egg dishes, fritattas, pizzas and other lunch options. Linds, Britt and I did a three way share with the baked eggs that comes with avocado, prosciutto in a light tomato sauce, the french toast and the egg, truffle mushroom pizza. We didn't know what to expect with the pizza but it was pretty much a full size pie with mushrooms, cheese, truffle oil and a cooked sunny side egg on top. Definitely different from your average eggs Benedict or pancake item, but it was really good. You can get it with prosciutto on top as well, but we decided against it. The baked eggs were my favorite, mostly because I'm a sucker for avocado and tomato sauce (usually not together but in this case it worked). They even brought you a side of bread to dip into the sauce - a huge plus. The french toast was basic but still fluffly, served with a berry compote.

All in all, a great brunch experience with great company and even better weather. While some reviews are harsh on Gemma, I have had great service for dinner and now brunch and would definitely return for both. Sitting inside is just as good as outside if the weather isn't that great. There's melted candelabras throughout and has a Gothic castle vibe to me. It's still an East Village hot spot so put it on your check off list asap!

You Don't Know Smac

Happy St. Patty's day all! I celebrated last night by not wearing green and drinking normal colored beer at a non-Irish bar. However, it did have an outside patio that was perfect for the spring weather we've been having - so all else is forgiven.

Since we were celebrating the leprechaun for so long, my friends and I totally forgot to eat dinner! We realized we were in walking distance to the newish mac and cheese joint connected to Delicatessen in Soho so we followed our google maps the 4 blocks over. MacBar is all the rage lately because mac and cheese is all the rage lately. There is truffled mac and cheese at Waverly Inn for almost $100, the mac and cheese sampler at Cafeteria and possibly every other restaurant in New York will feature a variation of mac and cheese.

The "restaurant" itself is minimal and cute. Everything is yellow and in the shape of a noodle - even the restaurant! There is only seating for about 10 lining the side of the restaurant. You order your choice of mac and cheese at the counter in a small, medium or large and then wait until your name gets called. If you don't like mac and cheese, or you're lactose intolerant - don't visit MacBar. There is only mac and cheese, soft drinks, water and a couple bags of chips offered.

Robin and I decided to share two smalls to make sure we tried more than one. We went with the mac 'shroom which had "magic" mushrooms, cheese and truffle (you know I can't say no to truffle) and the cheeseburger mac that had ground beef with American and cheddar cheese. Both came out extremely hot in to-go containers in case we weren't staying. I can't decide which one I liked better but I'm leaning more towards the mushroom mac. It wasn't as heavy and the truffle oil made it. The cheeseburger was also good but not my favorite - even though they say it's a best seller. Both could have used breadcrumbs on top for that extra touch.

Tim got a medium size of the Mayan chipolte which definitely had a kick to it and came with chicken, cheese and green onions. It was a lot better than the cheeseburger in my opinion. I love anything with a little spice as ya'll know and the chicken and noodle was an interesting combination. The medium size mac and cheese comes in a cute noodle shaped container which is very creative in my opinion but also makes it awkward to take it home if you're doing take-out.

Jenna and Petey also got the cheeseburger and they tried the four cheese which they said was way too cheesy (which is hard to believe I know). The Gouda was a little too strong. Another twosome got a medium of the best seller mac lobsta' and there was just something off about this one. They didn't like it so I tried it just to make sure they weren't being crazy and they were right. It wasn't good at all. It could have been the lobster being over cooked, or mascarpone not being the right cheese but it was returned to the kitchen and exchanged for another cheeseburger.

The pros about MacBar is that it's open late: 11pm on weeknights and 2am on the weekends. It's also reasonably priced - around 7-10 dollars for a small of any kind of mac. It's in a good location service was fast and accommodating.

However, if you're really in the mood for mac and cheese, I would take you to the first mac and cheese only establishment - S'Mac in the East Village. When this place first opened, there were lines around the block. They are more choices at S'Mac, more tables and the food is just better. I love the Mediterranean that comes with garlic, goat cheese and olives and the napoletana that tastes like a slice of pizza and mac and cheese combined. They also offer gluten free mac and cheese and family style portions for your next office party, football party, or if you just really like mac and cheese.

Food is Love

Check out my new addition to the blog on the right! A list of all the places I've blogged about so far with a direct link to the post!

New Favorite Condiment: Sweet Chili Sauce

To finish up a great weekend full of visitors, eating and drinking we decided to go to Kingswood for brunch. Not really sure when they started serving brunch, but it's a good thing they do. It has a completely different feel from dinner, I almost thought I was at a different restaurant. It was bright and sunny and not as loud as it is for dinner when you can barely hear yourself talk because the bar area is so crowded full of gorgeous people drinking martinis.
It was almost a spring day on Sunday, I even got to wear my sunglasses, so the West Village was the perfect brunch spot.

The six of us got seated at one of the communal tables in the middle of the restaurant. I was on the end so I'm not sure if it was weird to sit so close to another group of diners but there was a chair in between the parties.

The menu is definitely not your typical brunch place, no pancakes or waffles but a good amount of egg dishes. We had heard the fried egg sandwich was great and the burger sounded amazing with french fries and truffle mayo. Three of us got the burger and the other three got the egg sandwich.. it's no wonder we're all such good friends.

The burger was huge served with cheddar cheese and sweet chili sauce which I learned is very Australian. I forgot to say that Kingswood is an Australian restaurant. Not sure what that means exactly but three girls studied abroad there and noticed some key Australian dishes. I've never been to Australia but do like sweet chili sauce and Nutella so I think I would survive just fine.

I loved the sweet chili sauce with the burger, it was a great touch and made it different than the usual hamburger that I eat with ketchup and mustard. The fries were also delicious with the truffle mayo. I actually hate mayo but when it's combined with truffle oil, how can I refuse? I didn't eat the bun (not because I'm healthy but because it was too messy and greasy) so I can't comment on that but I heard no complaints at my table.

The fried egg sandwich didn't look like one I would have imagined. It was an open faced sandwich with two eggs that looked sunny side up to me. It came with a pesto sauce and a spinach salad and usually has prosciutto but my friends opted out. The reviews weren't great and it didn't come with fries which probably would have made it better. The crowd favorite was for sure the Ruby's Bronte Burger and it's on the dinner menu also if you can't make it for brunch.