NYC Part 1

My culinary adventures have taken me to NYC to visit my sister for memorial day weekend. I am going to keep it nice and short, highlighting the restaurants and any memorable bits and pieces.

riday

Lunch at Morimoto's near chelsea market, we saw MORIMOTO in the kitchen!!!!!

deliciously overpriced sushi however, the interior design was phenomenal and the bathrooms...well let's just say that there is more than just a flush button

Plate score: 8

Dinner at Megu

Dessert was a 25 layer green tea crepe cake, with a light layer of green tea mouse between each of the 25 layers and green tea sauce. Ingenius!

Plate score: 8

Lola and Black Pearl

Two above average meals in 2 days to celebrate the end of year 3 of teaching. Tuesday night I dined at Lola, the contemporary mexican restaurant in the lower highlands. A large group of us feasted on mojitos, beer and wine and an order of the freshly prepared guacamole and chips which was prepared table side while concurrently deciding on our entrees.

I decided on the 4 course tasting menu, a weekly tuesday special for $25.

The menu consisted of a fancy cesar salad, roasted tomato soup with a goat cheese creme fraiche, grilled flank steak served with asparagus and hominy and a dessert of brownie and cardamon/cinnamon ice cream. All this for $25, quite the steal considering most entrees are between $18-$25. Even the $9 merlot was wonderful.

Plate score: 8

Black pearl located across the street from Izakaya has always boasted best brunch in America by Bon Appetit magazine. Too bad that magazine discontinued it's service last year, but i was still determined to give it my own review for dinner. The open air dining room was perfect, with temps in the low 70s and a light breeze. I went with the grilled cesar salad, the smokey char on the romaine leaves added an extra depth of flavor not usually seen on a traditional cesar. My roommate ordered the "tuna napolean" which was beautifully presented. A ring mold was used to create a circular stack of chopped avocado, fresh tuna and cucumber served with a large chili spiced tortilla chip. We both agreed that it could have used a little bit more acid, but was nevertheless quite happy with the delivered product. For our main courses, i went with the pan seared sea bass, curried israeli cous cous and steamed bok choy. The dish was amazing, i can't remember the last time I had a truly hot and delicious meal. The fish was flaky and the flavors of curry, coconut and lemongrass were delicately infused into the al dente cous cous. I was worried that the curry would be overwhelming but rather it was a nice balance to the fish. My roommate went with the risotto cake trio, 3 crisp cakes filled with mushroom, leek and asparagus risotto served atop a bed of spicy arugula.

Plate score: 9.5

We ended the night at little man ice cream: Mocha Chocolate chip. Enough said :)

Adagio Bakery

When i heard that 5280 had named the breakfast sandwich from Adagio bakery one of the best, i was pretty excited to try for it myself. Sadly, i was beyond disappointed. The small cafe in the Park hill neighborhood had a display of pastries, muffins and breakfast calzones. Their menu included all the usual lunch time sandwichs, espresso drinks and dazbog coffee. I noticed they had 10 flavors of Boba tea, something highly unusual but then i quickly noticed the 3 asian women in the back chopping and cooking away in the back kitchen. But i was here for the breakfast sandwich, veggies, egg and chedder served on a challah roll. It was not the usual sandwich size, but rather a slider size. The flavor was bland to the point i had to add salt and pepper, the roll was slightly stale and the veggies were plain diced mushrooms, spinach and onions, no where near spectacular. I don't know what 5280 was thinking....I split a cinnamon roll with Jess with hopes that it would redeem this little cafe, but unfortunately, it too was pretty terrible, the dough was stiff, and glaze hardened. What a waste of $6.00, i will stick to Masterpiece Deli for my breakfast sandwichs.

Plate score: 2

Devil's Food Bakery

On a beautiful saturday afternoon, i ventured to Devil's food bakery on South Gaylord east of Wash Park. I had never been to this area before and was greeted by more than a dozen restaurants (including Max Gill and Grill, Tavern, Washington Park Grille) and boutiques on this one block. They have a large display of mouth watering pastries, muffins and tarts near the entrance which many individuals took advantage of while they waited to be seated. It was almost 2pm before we were seated in a small dining area with about a dozen or so tables. The crowd was eclectic from Wash park yuppies to an elderly group enjoying afternoon tea and pastries.

I ordered a half order of the salmon benedict. The salmon was shallot cured and served on toasted challah bread with 1 poached egg and dill hollandaise. The side salad tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette had a surprising mix of berries. Additionally I split a pineapple and almond buttermilk pancake which was served with a bright pink strawberry butter and maple syrup. I skipped the pink butter but the pancake was crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. I was stuffed and ready for a nap....

Plate score: 9

Where am I?

Ignore the buffalo patty to the right, double fisting with 2 ginger mules and a hearty portion of carrot potato gnocchi

Pinkberry's first outpost in Denver will be located on Colorado Blvd by the Barnes and Nobles. The frozen yogurt favorite from the west coast opens May 27th, needless to say, it's going to be chaotic but great way to start the summer

Also there is a new frozen yogurt place in the cherry creek mall....rumor has it that it's just mediocre, kuulture by larimer square has it beat.

Star kitchen

Dim sum at star kitchen off federal and mississippi was AMAZING as usual, assorted steamed dumplings, buns, tripe, lotus leaf rice....delicious. I left full and happy for less than $13 including tip

Plate score: 10!

Crepes n Crepes

Across the street from the cheesecake factory on the 16th street mall, I had a savory crepe filled with ratatouille (veggie mix of eggplant, tomatoes, onions, squash). The ratatouille was chunky but nothing spectacular, but the real star was definitely the wheat crepe. The texture was slightly chewy reminiscent of a thinner naan bread that held up nicely to the liquid from the ratatouille. Overall a satisfying meal for just under $10.

Plate score: 7

Frasca Food and Wine

Spent my $100 opentable gift certificate at Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder 2 weeks ago. It was good, but i probably won't return for a $68 four course prix fixe menu. It was good but nothing blew me away, some dishes were perhaps a bit too salty for my palate. Perhaps I was expecting too much from the sole James Beard Foundation Award winner of the state?

Plate score: 7