When I'm away from New York for a while, I start to forget all the reasons why I adore that city so much. But being back in the hustle and bustle for a few days quickly reminds me what I'm missing (and also why I couldn't sustain the lifestyle for very long without either having a heart attack, going broke, or both).This past trip coincided with Restaurant Week and while NYC is always home to lots of great eats, Restaurant Week usually encourages chefs to include new items on the week's special menu and to bundle items into a prix fixe structure that is often a pretty good deal.
I was lucky enough to dine at a number of fantastic restaurants on this trip:
-- Sakagura: A Japanese eatery and sake bar hidden away in the basement of a midtown office building. Excellent menu of mostly non-sushi items (loved the fluke and the mashed potatoes coated in donut batter (yes!) in particular) and a sake list boasting over 200 varieties. (Finally, some sake that I actually liked!)
-- Blue Ribbon Brasserie: Located on Sullivan street in SoHo, this is a member of the family of restaurants that also boasts Blue Ribbon Sushi. Very small and quaint place, with a menu of both American and international items, all with a bit of an eclectic twist. Erika and I split paella and salmon dishes and both were excellent.
-- Quality Meats: Another midtown classic, I've been before for dinner, but had lunch there this time instead. Sacrilege I know, but I opted for a salad instead of steak because I'd had two big, rich meals the two nights prior and my body was screaming for something simple and ideally, vegetarian. The Restaurant Week menu did boast sorbet, however, so I definitely had to partake in that. Kate and I both ordered the Orange Creamsicle Dream and it came in a perfect little take-away container as if they already knew we wouldn't be able to finish the whole thing.
-- Hudson Cafeteria: I've also been here before and the food has been good (not great), but it is a kind of fun place to hang out with some friends, so this was my Friday night outing. I ordered lobster mac & cheese and could not finish it (even with the help of four friends) because it was so rich. Everyone actually really enjoyed their meals, but the fact that we had to send our bill back three times because they had over-charged us for drinks kind of put a damper on the experience.
-- 11 Madison Park: Just one word: heaven. This has got to be the absolute best dining experience I've ever had. From the servers who seemingly pop out of nowhere to help you out of your chair when you get up to the elegant decor to the perfectly choreographed delivery of every single course, this is what all "dining out" should aspire to. Aside from the items that we actually ordered, chef Daniel Humm also sent us a number of amuse-bouche treats throughout the evening, a bottle of Cognac at the end of the meal and sent the ladies home with a tiny box of sugared fruit candies.
It was a few days chock-full of fantastic restaurant experiences, but I had to come home and detox with salads, water and plain old grilled chicken. Coincidentally, during the trip I was reading Ruth Riechl's book "Garlic and Sapphires" which chronicles her tenure as the food critic at The New York Times and I just can't imagine how anyone in her role is able to eat that much [rich food] that often and not be a walking advert for Lipitor.
After just five days, I was saying "poke a fork in me, I'm done!" (But I'll definitely be back for more!)
No comments:
Post a Comment