Balthazar (#71)

Balthazar is one of those places that when you admit to people you have never been, you are usually looked at the same way when you tell someone you are no longer married. The ubiquitous head tilt, the shoulder pat and the "oh you poor thing" smirk. Well I had never been, until recently. I have been to every other restaurant in Keith McNally's empire but never to Balthazar. Not for lack of want but for lack of opportunity. Because I had been to Pastis, Lucky Strike, Morandi and Schillers (Keith McNally's other restaurants) I knew that Balthazar was the white table cloth version of the aforementioned and I am not a fancy dining kind of gal. I'm just not. I belch without abandon, I pick my teeth when there is food in them, I snort when I laugh. You get the idea. So when faced with the challenge of having dinner at the kind of place where the servers wear floor length aprons with ties and they employ tall, handsome Maitre d's in tailor-made suits and the clientele all look like they just stepped out of an Architectural Digest cover I knew I had to take my friend Dawn with me. Dawn is a little like me with a little more finesse. She is the casual girl who always look flawless in her designer jeans and name brand heels but is not afraid to burp with the best of us. So armed with my equally awkward friend, I stepped into Balthazar. The space is beautiful, it feels like you stepped back in time. If you have seen Midnight in Paris, imagine Owen Wilson's character having dinner here with Ernest Hemingway. Dawn and I were sat immediately at a small round table in the corner of the deep red banquette a little too close to other diners. I was scared to go the bathroom the entire meal for fear of knocking every glass off the table next to us with my large rear end. 


We started the meal with an appetizer to share, Seafood Ceviche which was a mix of rock shrimp, calamari rings, diced red onion, tomato and peppers served on a bed of red cabbage. The dish was good but definitely not worth the $18 price tag. For $18 I want a bowl full of U-10 shrimp and avocado and......just more WOW!!! Like I said I thought it was a good ceviche and Dawn and I definitely ate every last bite of it, but there was nothing special or unique about it. For our entrees Dawn had the pan-roasted chicken with beet greens, chanterelle mushrooms, potato gnocchi and tomato confit. She LOVED her dish which was quite tasty. The chicken was cooked perfectly, the bed of vegetables it sat on was succulent and overall it was just a well-balanced dish. Mine on the other hand was tasteless. I had the grilled brook trout over warm spinach, lentil and walnut salad. The fish was dry, the spinach salad was limp with no flavor to it and there were maybe 15 lentils, total, in the dish. I ate about I40% of it while I watched Dawn devour her plate.  I was looking forward to dessert since I had the room for it so we decided to share the profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce which was poured over the profiteroles table-side and the caramelized banana ricotta tart with banana ice cream. These were definitely the star of the whole meal. Dawn and I ate every morsel and were even tempted to lick the plates clean, but as I mentioned before, Balthazar is NOT the place to do that.  The tart was creamy from the ricotta with just the right amount of sweet from the caramelization.  The profiteroles were light filled with a vanilla bean ice cream and topped with a silky smooth chocolate sauce.  


THEN WE GOT THE BILL!!!! For the 2 of us who shared 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, 2 desserts and a cocktail each, our bill came to $250 including tip. Normally I don't mind spending that kind of money if the meal is memorable and worth it, this was not. I am happy I finally got the chance to eat there but now know that I will never go back, unless someone else is paying! Even then I would probably go for some good wine and oysters, and of course dessert. 




"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."- Aesop

ABC Kitchen (#16) and Minetta Tavern (#14)

This review is a double header because I was lucky enough to try 2 restaurants off the list in one day. I had lunch at ABC Kitchen, which was phenomenal and dinner at Minetta Tavern which was equally superb. What I learned by having 2 meals out is how vastly different 2 places can be yet still manage to wow you.

Let me start with ABC Kitchen. So I met my friend Edit here for lunch at 1pm. I missed the front entrance to the restaurant and ended up entering through ABC Carpet which was a very pleasant way to start the experience, even though I can't even afford a bar of soap here. The dining room is only concrete and wood and almost minimally decorated but they have somehow managed to create a room that is not only pleasing to the eye but also comfortable to be in. Everything that decorates the room can be found, for sale, at ABC Carpet from the lighting fixtures to the tiny bud vases on the tables. Edit and I each ordered a drink. I, a Yuzu C which was a combination of fresh orange, grapefruit, pineapple and yuzu juices. Edit had a lemonade spiked with vodka which was almost too pretty to drink. The glass arrived ice cold with a sugar rim and 3 visible lemon wedges tucked between what looked like hand-cut blocks of ice. It took us about 20 minutes to order because everything looked so delicious. We ended up sharing 3 items. We started with the tuna sashimi marinated with ginger and mint. The tuna was so fresh I kept expecting it to walk off the plate. We had to ask for bread to sop up all the gingery goodness at the bottom of the plate. For the second course we shared a kasha and bowtie pasta with veal meatballs. The kitchen was kind enough to split the dish for us so we each got our own helping. It is such a small, but important detail, to know that our server paid attention when we said we were going to share and was kind enough to pass that information on the kitchen who made sharing dishes easier. The pasta was almost orgasmic. There was just enough kasha to add a little bit of texture to the dish. The meatballs were tender and full of flavor. I could have eaten an entire trough of this. For our final course we shared the crispy shrimp salad with carrot-sesame vinaigrette and a side of brussel sprouts with rosemary and garlic. Again, the salad came to the table on 2 plates so that we each got our own serving. Brussel sprouts are my favorite vegetable hands down and these made me want to cry. They were mainly baby sprouts but they were fork tender, the garlic was roasted to the point of crispiness and there was enough rosemary to taste without being too overwhelming. The shrimp salad was also delicious. The dressing was the same dressing you get on house salads at every Japanese restaurant you have ever eaten at. It was creamy, salty and tangy all at the same time. The shrimp were fried with a light batter but were not heavy or greasy.  I found myself checking Edit's plate to see if she had eaten everything so that I could sneak an extra bite off of her plate. We both decided to skip dessert ( I know I know what a shame) because we were too full but Edit did order an espresso which arrived in an antique gold gilded espresso cup which was the icing on the cake. I have already made dinner reservations here for Mother's Day because I enjoyed it so much and want to bring my mother.

Now for Minetta Tavern. Came here for dinner with my friend Jaime who knows both the manager and bartender which definitely helped us secure a reservation on such short notice. Our reservation was for 7:30pm so I got there about 7pm with the intention of having a glass of wine with my friend Elsi while I waited. Unfortunately there was not enough room at the bar for us so Elsi and I went around the corner, at the suggestion of Nigel the front door guy, to Perla a newly opened restaurant. Perla is from the same guys who own Fedora (next up on my list) and Joseph Leonard. Very cute space with some amazing wines courtesy of Jen Sgobbo. Have been on a hunt to find the bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse I had there to no avail. Anyway, I digress. So I waited at Perla for Jaime who ended up being close to half an hour late. Needless to say, Minetta Tavern gave our table away. Which we were anticipating so we decided to eat at the bar which was an experience all itself. Jaime, who is a firecracker walked in and commanded the attention of every man, woman and child within earshot of her without even realizing it. We sat book-ended by 2 lone male diners who we each, separately struck up a conversation with. The diner to my right whom I will affectionately call Arrogant bastard, name of his beer not his disposition, who suggested I order the Black Label burger he was having because he thought it was superb. I listened and am so happy I did. the burger was out of this world, served with fries that weren't too crispy or too soggy. As an appetizer I had the bone marrow with toast and shallot confit. I am, and always will be, a huge fan of bone marrow. My mother thinks it is an absolute absurdity to pay for food that was thrown away by butchers when she was younger and I sort of agree but it is so damn tasty. I even made Arrogant Bastard taste the bone marrow because it was not to be missed. The desserts were a bit of a miss for me and I am a dessert girl. We ordered 3, yes 3. We had the coconut cake, the chocolate mousse bombe and an apple tarte flambe with creme fraiche. I could have done without any of them. I was underwhelmed. Still, the whole experience made me want to return, between the easy conversation with perfect strangers to the bartender who could not get enough of my friend Jaime, to the drunk couple next to us who got into a fight and the girl stormed out. It was almost like dinner theater that you got to play a starring role in.


So ABC Kitchen is someplace I will be returning to for quiet, special events for phenomenal food and beautiful decor while Minetta Tavern will be that place I will go to for a friends 40th birthday or to forget about the bad date I had over the weekend.



"Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable."-Ina Garten,

Osteria Morini (#49)

Out of every restaurant I have tried so far, this has to be one of my favorites. I went for lunch courtesy of my friend Elsi on a Friday afternoon. I had made a reservation earlier in the week with no problems. I walked in and Elsi was already seated at the bar waiting for me. Elsi was having a nice glass of wine and the bar stools were comfortable (i.e. backs on the chairs and foot rests) so we opted to stay and have our lunch there instead of at our reserved table. The bar fills up the entire front of the restaurant with an El shaped curve by the front door which allows for a nice view of the entire restaurant so I could people watch which I love to do. A favorite past time of mine is sitting and watching strangers pass and trying to guess, or make up my own scenario, as to what the relationship is of the group or couple who has walked by.  Anyway, Osteria Morini was filled without being packed and the crowd was a nice diverse crowd of people. I actually ran into a regular customer of mine who was also sitting having lunch at the bar. 

Elsi and I ordered from the restaurant week menu, which some might argue is not a fair test of a restaurants true talents but I disagree. If a chef is a good chef everything and anything you order should be fantastic and flavorful which I found to be true of what we ordered. Elsi and I both ordered the Erbazzone Reggiano (spinach filled pastry, smoked ham, parmigiano) which was like a cross between a quiche and a spinach pie. It was delicious!!! The saltiness of the ham combined with the creaminess of the cheese all inside a flaky pastry crust was enough to make you want a whole pie to yourself. For our second course I had the Gramigna with sausage ragu and parmigiano. Elsi had the Pollo Cacciatore (chicken, tomato, mushrooms, peppers, onions and pancetta). Again, both items were amazing. My pasta was the right balance of sauce to pasta with both being standouts. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the ragu was seasoned well. Elsi, who is a notoriously picky eater (sorry Elsi, but you know I am right) was very happy with her chicken. The dish was a lovely stew of chicken, mushrooms and onions all on top of creamy polenta. For our dessert we ordered the tiramisu and the Italian hot chocolate. The tiramisu was an individual ramekin serving and again was delightful. The lady fingers weren't soggy and the whole dish wasn't too sweet and I devoured the whole thing without any guilt. The Italian hot chocolate was something I still dream about. The drink, which was not a drink at all but a thick and creamy chocolate soup served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and some biscuits, was other-worldly. 

Osteria Morini is one of those restaurants that will now be on my list of places to recommend to people or suggest when I am having dinner with friends. That is what has become so much fun about this project, going to restaurants I probably would not have gone to otherwise and finding a gem.

"Esse nufesso qui dice male di macaruni -- Who speaks badly of Macaroni is a fool."-Italian proverb

Red Rooster Harlem (#66)

         I finally got to eat at Red Rooster Harlem, Marcus Samuelsson's newest restaurant. I called around noon to secure a reservation for that same evening and was told the earliest time they had available was 10pm but that they did accept walk-ins. So at 7:45pm, ready to wait an hour or more, I met my friend Derek at the bar.The front bar area is separated from the dining room by a beautifully back-lit bar that reached the ceiling. There is a DJ tucked away in the corner spinning tunes from all eras but is there more for ambiance then to create some sort of club feel and it works. Blink and you could even miss him there in the corner of the room. I was the first to arrive and went straight to the hostess to leave my name and see how long the wait was gonna be. The hostess informed me that unless both people in the party were there she could not give me a wait time. So I left my name and waited for Derek at the bar. When he arrived, 5 minutes later, he let the hostess know that both people in the party were there. As I mentioned earlier, I was prepared to wait at least an hour for a table so I was surprised when only half an hour passed and we were sat at the communal Chef's table. A table situated in front of the open kitchen.
        The first thing I noticed about the space is how jovial and electric the energy in the room is. Every person sitting at the bar was dressed up. Not dressed up the way one does when dining at a place like Le Cirque or Le Bernardin where it is required but dressed up like dining at Red Rooster was an affair. It felt like New York circa 1919 when Prohibition was still only a rumor and the Cotton Club was a place where you laughed in the face of those rumors. I was impressed that Mr Samuelsson was able to achieve that kind of feel. Not because I didn't think him capable but because no one has been able to. Where dinner is an event to be shared with the entire room. Where people say hello to one another from opposite sides of the dining room. Where Mr Samuelsson works the room stopping to say hi to every table seated in his dining room not cuddled in some corner booth with a pseudo-celebrity as I have seen too often.

            Derek and I sat at the end of our table with 2 couples next to us. Our server came to our table about 3 minutes after we sat down, not to introduce himself or ask if we wanted a cocktail but to immediately go into his very rehearsed diatribe about the 2 entrees meant to be shared. We heard him give the same exact spiel, verbatim, to the other diners at our table. Granted he was just doing his job but for a place so jovial it felt impersonal.
         To start we ordered the dirty rice with shrimp, the jalapeno corn bread with honey butter and the crab cakes as per our servers suggestion. All 3 items came out about 5 minutes after ordering them. The dirty rice and shrimp was served in a small skillet which should have been piping hot, but was lukewarm when tasted, in fact all of our food was served tepid. The crab cakes were good but had little too much going on. The plate came with 2 smallish crab cakes with a spiced mayo on the plate and were topped with grapefruit sections, arugula and pomegranate seeds. For our entrees we had the fried yard bird with mashed potatoes and gravy and the meatballs with lingonberries and dill stewed potatoes. As I mentioned before all of the flavor was there it was just served at the wrong temperature. My meatballs could have been amazing, you can't go wrong ordering a traditional Swedish dish at a place with a Swedish chef I just wish it was served hot. The dessert we had isn't even worth mentioning because I found it to be lackluster. We shared the chocolate tart with red velvet ice cream and peanut brittle. Boring, not sweet enough and not memorable.
     All in all the atmosphere is definitely something worth going back for and I would eat here again too and just hope the food was hot this time.
       

"It seems to me that trying to live without friends is like milking a bear to get cream for your morning coffee. It is a whole lot of trouble, and then not worth much after you get it."-Zora Neale Hurston

Momofuku Noodle Bar (#38)

My journey to eat at the other 94 restaurants Adam Platt had selected as NYC's best of 2011 began on Sunday, January 15. I had always wanted to go to Momofuku Noodle Bar (#38)but had never had the opportunity, so it was a no-brainer that this was my first stop. I called my friend Daphne and asked her if she wanted to join me. She said yes. So I checked out their website and saw that they do not accept reservations.  I called Daphne back and asked her if she minded having dinner at 6:30pm because who other than the elderly or people with kids has dinner at that time? Apparently most of New York has dinner at 6:30pm on Sundays because I walked into a packed dining room and waiting area. There were literally about 30 people waiting to be sat so I shimmied my way to the front to leave my name. I waited patiently behind a gentleman who was giving his name and when it was my turn I asked the hostess, who was about as pleasant as a pap-smear, how long the wait for 2 would be. She pointed to the gentleman who had just given her his name and asked if we were together. The problem was the way she asked me, as though I had just asked her to walk my dog. She was so put out by this so I told her that I was not with him.  She told me the wait would be about 40 minutes, so I gave her my name, Cassandra. I got to Cassan.....when she turned from me and said to the herd of people waiting for a table "can everyone move back". I wanted to make sure she got my name since she had cut me off and you can only imagine how annoyed she was. Not only had I asked her how long the wait was but now I was trying to give her my name....again!!!!. So I walked to the front door so as not to annoy the hostess anymore than I apparently had. I saw a couple waiting at the end of the communal table who were also waiting to be sat so I went and stood by them. They eventually sat at the end of the table, which was completely empty, with their Red Stripes. The hostess, wearing the same annoyed expression, told them they could not sit there. They replied that the gentleman behind the bar said it would be OK, the hostess rolled her eyes and said "you can't sit there". So the couple, and I, moved and we got into a conversation about this particular experience. They went on to tell me that she was rude to them as well when they walked in. It made me feel a little better that it was not personal, this woman just hated her job and could not hide it. Luckily the rest of my experience made up for the hostess' lack of personality and professionalism.

Daphne and I were sat about 30 minutes later at the bar. I asked our server what the must have dishes were and then ordered her recommendations. Daphne and I shared a jar of kimchi, which is honestly the best I have ever had. We also shared the pork bun and we each had the Momofuku Ramen which was a large bowl of ramen noodles with pork belly, pork shoulder and topped with a poached egg. Everything was amazing. The pork belly in both the bun and the ramen had the perfect ratio of fat-to-meat. The egg on top of the soup was perfectly cooked. The kimchi had the right amount of spice and garlic and the cabbage was not too pickled. For dessert I had the soft serve pretzel ice cream and Daphne had the soft serve pumpkin ale. We both loved each flavor. The pretzel tasted a little like salted caramel with a nice balance of sweet and salty. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals...until later that evening.  It may have been a combination of having spicy and fatty dishes but we both had stomachaches that night.

Overall I would definitely go back and just hope that the same hostess is not there.

 The belly rules the mind.  ~Spanish Proverb

WELCOME TO MY DINING ADVENTURE!!!!

I am an avid New York Magazine reader and have been since my mother got her weekly subscription while I was in High School (1992). I would rush home from school on Monday in hopes of getting the mail first so I could fill in the crossword puzzle before she did.Then I would faithfully read the magazine from back to front. Since I have moved away from home I no longer receive the magazine weekly but am able to read it when "borrowed" from my mother or when my landlord/employer/friend is kind enough to leave her back copies for me on my hallway landing. Although I still read the entire magazine from back to front,  I can honestly say the best part, for me at least, is the Grub Street reviews.

Recently, when the cover story was a compilation of Adam Platt's selection of the 101 best Restaurants of NYC  (click here for complete list)   I could not resist immediately surveying his selections. What I realized after reading through the list was that I had only been to 7 (see below for the 7) of the 101 restaurants and this was over the course of 12 years. How could I, a 33 year old native New Yorker who has been in the hospitality industry since I was 18 years old, have only been to 7????  I was the girl who was always put in charge of planning birthdays and dinner dates for my friends and peers because everyone always assumed I was in the know and this list proved the exact opposite. I was apparently a day late and dollar short when it came to the what the city had to offer, at least in Mr Platt's eyes. Embarrassed could not even begin to describe how I felt. I was mortified, humiliated...determined. 

So begins my journey... to eat at the 94 restaurants I had never been to over the course of 365 days. My journey began on Sunday, January 15, 2012 and it will end on January 14, 2013.  I will try to be as diligent as possible about keeping everyone up to date about my dining adventures. I will not necessarily be reviewing each of these restaurants but rather letting you know about MY experience at each establishment, whether good or bad.

Please join me on my dining adventure, and maybe one day we can dine together!

The 7 I have previously dined at are:

The Four Seasons 2000

The Standard 2011

The Waverly Inn 2006

Otto 2004

Sushi Gari 2011

The Dutch 2011

Franny's 2004, 2008

-The journey is part of the experience - an expression of the seriousness of one's intent. One doesn't take the A train to Mecca.”  Anthony Bourdain