The meal I've been waiting for at Eleven Madison Park

Last night was a night I've been waiting for for a long time. Ever since I lived in NYC while interning the summer after my junior year of college, I've loved Eleven Madison Park to a somewhat irrational degree. I've been there a few times, just to sit at the bar, meet friends, and soak up the atmosphere (i.e., watch the dishes emerge from the spotless white kitchen)-- but I've never eaten a real meal in the dining room. That all changed when I received a gift certificate to EMP from my parents for my birthday. And last night, I took my brother for the meal of a lifetime.

If you've read my post on Gotham Bar and Grill, you'll know that in my world, there are some restaurants that just exude "niceness." That when you step inside, you are instantly at ease and at peace-- that inside the chamber of the restaurant, nothing could go wrong. For me, EMP is the quintessential exemplar of that phenomenon. You walk through the heavy revolving doors into the cavernous space and... just-- wow. It's my happy place.

We were led to a table in a small enclave in the far corner of the dining room. It was a smallish room set apart from the enormous main dining room, so it felt rather private. Our table was quite large-- in any restaurant it would be a four-top, but it sat only the two of us. Though there are a lot of tables in EMP, there's so much space between the tables that you never feel crowded.

When we were seated, we were brought the wine and cocktail lists. The sommelier came over shortly after to answer any questions we might have. We were pretty simple: we decided to go with a half-bottle of Domaine de Chatenoy Sauvignon Blanc from France. It was quite reasonably priced, and it was great that EMP had so many half-bottles on offer, in addition to lots of wines by the glass and a veritable tome describing the bottle selections (they also have quite the cocktail service: the sommelier wheeled a whole cart over to the table next to us to make the lady there a martini, in the manner of tableside Caesar salad, or "guacamole!" as she exclaimed). Despite our meager choice, the sommelier was very solicitous the entire night, pouring our wine and not once pressuring us to order more.

Once our wine selection was done, our waiter returned with menus. I had noted when I made my Opentable reservation that I was a vegetarian, and he discussed at length the vegetarian options they could provide. We looked over the menu, went for the $82 three-course prix-fixe, and placed our order with a few recommendations from our waiter. They graciously accommodated my request for two appetizers instead of an appetizer and an entree.

Almost instantly, two different plates of complimentary "appetizers" appeared at our table. These were flights of bite-sized hors d'oeuvres, a different set for the bro and for me (because mine were all vegetarian while his were meatalicious). There were so many elements of this meal that I'm having a bit of trouble remembering everything, but here's a yeoman's effort: mine were a cucumber bite, a salty fennel-and-tomato concoction, another cucumber tower, something with beets, and a tiny little fingerling potato. The bro's were an adorable rabbit cornet, a foie-gras square, some sort of little tartlet, a hamachi tuna roll, and a cheese-and-tomato thing. These were all so elaborate and incredible; we ate them thoughtfully, chewing the little bites and thinking about how wonderful they were.

The meatless version

The meaty version

The appetizers were also accompanied by a small dish of gruyere gougeres. These were pretty good, although they could have been warmer. (Disclosure: I myself make a mean gougere, so I'm hyper-critical of restaurant versions).

Small gougere tower

When we were finished, the plates were whisked away gracefully, as plates for every course were for the entire night. Fresh on the heels of the appetizers were the amuse bouches. Two small white bowls arrived on our table, with a small still life of watermelon, canteloupe, and honeydew with tiny little basil leaves in a small pool of olive oil at the bottom of the bowl. Our waiter then whipped out a small teapot and poured tomato gazpacho around the melon. The presentation was beautiful, and the gazpacho was delicious. I didn't think I'd like the combination of melon and tomatoes, but it was really delicious. Not that I should be surprised-- everything there was delicious.

Beautiful amuse bouche

When the amuse was finished, the bread course made its appearance. We were each given a mini french baguette and a picholine olive roll, individually doled out off a silver platter with silver tongs. The bread was warm and crusty and perfect. But that wasn't even the best part of the bread course. The bread arrived with TWO BUTTERS. Yes, two butters. One was a starkly white salted goat's milk butter from California, and the other was an unsalted cow's milk butter from Vermont (as our waiter informed us). There was a small dish of sea salt placed between the butters to salt our bread and butter as we wished. And of course the butters were room-temperature and perfect spreading consistency. I loved getting the chance to try goat's milk butter, which was delicious and mild. Exceptional.

The blank canvases...

...and the paint: Goat's milk butter...

...and cow's milk butter

Finally, the "official" part of the meal began: our selected appetizers arrived at the table. The bro had chosen the Big Eye tuna tartare with avocado cream, spring radishes, and bok choy greens. It was absolutely beautiful to look at, and he said it was delicious. He noted that the avocado cream was even better than the tuna itself.

Such elaborate plating

My appetizer was a salad of Satur Farms lettuces. It was a lightly dressed salad of the freshest baby lettuces, which included the odd fresh mint leaf. The interesting part of this salad was a swirl of some sort of creamy dressing lining the plate (in addition to the white balsamic vinaigrette), which was delicious. This was a light and fresh prelude to the rest of the meal.

Rakish lettuce with flavor swirl

There had already been so much food at this point, and we hadn't even gotten to the entrees. But eventually they did arrive. Upon the recommendation of our waiter, the bro ordered the Colorado lamb with Artichoke Barigoule and petite Silvetta arugula. He was debating between this and the dry aged Angus beef, and I think he wished that he had gone with the beef. Not that this was bad, but-- I think he might have liked the beef better. The lamb arrived as a roll in a shallow bowl, and similar to the gazpacho amuse, the waiter poured the sauce around the roll from a small teapot. The best part of this dish was that it came with a side of whipped potatoes, which were intensely rich and creamy. I can't even imagine how much butter went into them... and I probably shouldn't try.

Lamb roll

Whipped butter with a dash of potato

For my entree, I got the heirloom beets appetizer. It usually comes with a chevre panna cotta, but the waiter pointed out that the panna cotta has gelatin in it, so they could make it just with fresh chevre for me. So incredibly thoughtful... and the outcome was delicious. There were red beets, candy-cane beets, and golden beets, and they were roasted to perfection. The goat cheese was creamy and pungent, and the garnishes of nasturtium leaves and nasturtium leaf dust (!!!) were interesting. A truly awesome dish.

A beet tableau

Phew. So once we were finished, our table was completely cleared (bye bye, selection of butters), and we were on to dessert. Now, you all know how important dessert is to me, and by no means did EMP disappoint. We were given the dessert menus and made our selections. A short time later, the desserts arrived.

The bro went with the chocolate and peanut butter dish. It was a long and thin sandwich of cookie, peanut butter, and chocolate, all covered with chocolate ganache. There was a garnish of caramel popcorn and a side of popcorn ice cream. The dessert tasted like a peanut butter Twix and was absolutely delicious.

An upscale Twix, that is.

My dessert was a bing cherry and pistachio millefeuille. I'm not the hugest fan of pistachios, but for some reason this dessert appealed at the moment. It was a log of light pistachio cream (really delicious), flanked by pistachio florentine brittle (the best part of the dish) and topped with brandied cherries (actually didn't add much to the equation). There was a scoop of mascarpone ice cream on the side and two swipes of sauce (one cherry, one creamy). This was an incredibly well-composed and tasty dessert, and it was just perfect.

Almost too beautiful to eat. ALMOST.

So that's it... but wait! There's more! Before we settled the bill, the waiter returned one more time with a platter of mignardises-- essentially little pastries that are works of art all in themselves. We were allowed to have as many as we wanted, and against the bro's protestations, we took two of each. The offerings were a light lemon sandwich cookie with lemon cream (verrrrry good); a passion fruit and chocolate bon bon (passionfruity and delightful); some sort of berry financier (not that great); a raspberry and chocolate macaron (superlative); an olive oil gelee (tasted like the olive oil gelato at Otto... interesting); a cream puff (the best of the bunch); and a chocolate and peanut butter tart (very strong and peanutbuttery). Needless to say, a few moments later, our plate was empty.

So... much...dessert

Eleven Madison Park was the meal of a lifetime. It was everything I had hoped for and more-- each course blew me away more than the last. The service was exactly what you'd expect from a Danny Meyer restaurant: Perfect, from the smiles and greetings to the runner ironing the tabletop after resetting the table next to us (seriously). When the server was doling out our mignardises one by one using the silver tongs, he accidentally broke one of the chocolate tarts, and when I told him we'd gladly take the broken one, he refused to serve it to us ("Don't worry, we have plenty!"). Although the meal certainly wasn't cheap (the two three-course prix fixes, one half-bottle of wine, and tip came to $250), it was well worth every penny. They give you so many extra courses that you end up with a lot more food than you anticipate, which makes it feel like a good value, even when you're paying $82 for the base meal. I don't think anybody could have had higher expectations entering a meal than I did for EMP, and it's a testament to the ridiculousness of this establishment that not only was I not disappointed but my expectations were actually exceeded. There is not question in my mind that EMP is a five- Offset Spatula restaurant. I can't wait to go back.

Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Avenue
212-889-0905

A Belgian Blowout at Markt

On Thursday evening I convened with one of my teams from work at Markt, a Belgian place in the heart of Chelsea. We were there for lots of food, lots of beer, and lots of bonding, and we got all three.

As always, I planned the event, which meant I got to work with the lovely managers at Markt, who were exceedingly accommodating and flexible throughout the whole process of planning the dinner. As a group of 9, we had a $45-per-person set menu with a range of choices for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. They also created beer pairing options with each course, which was really cool.

We started with large quantities of their French bread and butter. They kept baskets of this coming throughout the meal, which was awesome. The bread was addictive-- highly chewy with no hint of a crackly crust, but delicious nonetheless. I ate a lot of this bread.

The remnants of one of many loaves we packed away

On to the appetizers. We had a choice between the lobster bisque; country pate with toast, dijon mustard, red onion relish, and cornichons; and their mixed greens salad. The lobster bisque was pronounced good but exceedingly hot and very rich.

Hot bisque, comin' through

A couple of my teammates chose the pate, but they were at the other end of the long table, so I didn't get the download on that. It looked like a large portion, for what it's worth.

So much pate.

I got the mixed greens salad (as did most of the other members of our party). Since there weren't that many appealing veggie entree selections, I asked for a double portion of the salad, which they provided. I also asked for the dressing on the side, which they didn't do, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt-- it's always tough serving a large party. The salad had a light dressing and came with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts scattered across the top, and large rounds of goat cheese on toasted baguettes drizzled with honey. The flavors in this salad were certainly strong and interesting. It's not my favorite combination of ingredients (although I do like goat cheese), but it was certainly a welcome departure from the normal mixed greens.

At first I thought those were hard boiled eggs on the side

Then came the entrees. Their house specialty is mussels in a white wine sauce, and many people at the table got them. They came in large black pots accompanied by yummy fries (of which I consumed several). The fries were good-- is any fry ever truly bad?-- but could have been a little hotter. The consensus with the mussels was that they were good at the top of the container, but once the eater got down to the ones at the bottom of the pot, the wine sauce was overpowering. Too much wine, I guess, if that's even possible.

Check out the beautiful steam action

Crispy, golden frites

My friend JW got the steak frites, which came with a small side salad. He let me eat the salad, which was basically an extension of my main salad.

It's like a rosemary epee

Up close on tiny endive salad

There were also partakers in the poached salmon, but again those were at the other end of the table, so I did not get a picture.

And, of course, all along there was beer (or, for me, wine. I just can't stomach beer).

Special glasses and everything

Finally, after much beer and many frites, we made it to dessert. The popular choice was the Dame Blanche, which was vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cookie. I had my friend SG's cookie and whipped cream, and they were delicious.

Odd angle, but good dessert

Other people got the Belgian chocolate mousse, which was deemed delicious (albeit small), and the apple tartlet with vanilla ice cream (also pronounced very good).

As the partner on our team declared when this arrived in front of him, "Did anyone order a shot?"

Lovely pastry

Unfortunately, I chose to go with the mixed berries with a hoegaarden sabayon. It was truly disgusting. The sauce tasted like beer (duh, you're saying, it's hoegaarden). I know it's beer, and I know I don't like beer, but I figured it would be a light hoppy flavor-- not like dousing a bunch of berries in beer. Which it was. I tried to wipe the sabayon off the berries but was largely unsuccessful. Seriously, seriously gross.

It looked like hollandaise and tasted worse

All in all, despite the disastrous beery berries, we had a really good time at Markt. The service was outstanding, and they dealt with our large group like pros. The room was a little loud for conversation, but it lent the outing a boisterous and upbeat feel. I'd definitely recommend Markt for a group, a date, or just a night out. Like BXL, it's a solid three Offset Spatula joint: a fun place for food and a good vibe. Oh, and did I mention the beer?

Markt Restaurant
676 Sixth Avenue, at 21st Street
212-727-3314

NYC Icy: News and Nutella

It was a long and trying week at work. I was one of the last people left in the office this evening, as everyone else was able to go home early. I came home and my toilet was clogged and I realized I was in a miserable mood. Nowhere else to go but NYC Icy.

"Icy Tea" now on offer

I tried two new flavors this time. The first was "Shazzam" (why? why Shazzam???), which was black raspberry with white and dark chocolate chunks. It was actually pretty good-- mild but tasty black raspberry, and my sample had a good chocolate chunk in it-- but a pretty unappealing faded gray color. I considered getting a full cup, but then I tasted my second sample: Nutella. Ohhhhhhh yes.

The masterpiece

I love Nutella and most Nutella-flavored things (see the frozen nutella at Gotham Bar and Grill), and this really hit the spot. It was light and creamy with a potent nutella flavor, equal parts hazelnut and chocolate and pure deliciousness. It was better than their hazelnut chip flavor, which, incidentally, costs an extra $1 per cup.

Ohh-- and a bit of NYC Icy news-- they've added both a few extra garish plastic chairs for a makeshift seating area and a stand-alone freezer, which as of this evening was empty. I asked if that meant that they were preparing to sell packed pints, and I got the affirmative. Yesssssssss.

In the meantime...

I've been pretty MIA recently, readers, and for that I apologize-- I was away last weekend and have had a very busy and difficult week at work. I will get back to regularly scheduled programming soon (particularly a VERY special destination this weekend), but in the meantime, check out my new-ish post on veggieplaces.co.uk:

http://www.vegetarian.co.uk/blogs/janine.html

Till soon,

Janine

Good Greek by Grand Central at Ammos Estiatorio

My mom was in town this evening, so we decided to meet up for an early dinner. I chose Ammos Estiatorio, a place I had spotted a couple weeks ago when wandering around that was also convenient to both our locations.

We arrived absurdly early in the dinner hour-- towards 5PM-- to a not-surprisingly empty dining room. We were seated in a corner table in the lovely, warm, yet sophisticated dining room and were given the dinner menu. Since my mom wasn't really hungry, it took us a while to find our footing menu-wise, but after a few false starts (and several questions answered adequately by the server), our order was placed.

A runner brought over a basket of bread and a small plate of olives. The basket held flatbread, breadsticks, sesame bread, and what looked like rosemary-onion rolls. I tried a bit of the flatbread, which was utterly flavorless and nearly textureless as well (don't even know how that's POSSIBLE), and a tiny bit of the hard and chewy sesame roll. The lackluster bread was made up for by the delicious olives-- a mixture of fresh, tangy, and savory green, dark brown, and kalamata olives. The kalamatas were especially soft and fabulous. About halfway through our bread course, another runner came over with another basket of bread, stopped awkwardly, and then put some extra plates on the table and gave us his dish of olives. Upside: we got more olives.

Not the best I've had...

...but oh, so much better!

As my mother had ordered a whole grilled fish, which takes a while, the first part of my meal arrived first. It was the lahanika xidata, a selection of four mezes presented in a clear ice-cube-like tray. From left to right were pickled cucumbers (like the lightest, most gentle yet delectable pickles you've ever had); carrots in some sort of sauce (nothing special); chickpeas with a pepper and parsley mixture (very good, but even a bad chickpea is good for me); and beets (which tasted like bacon. Hmmm).

They're not REALLY floating there, it's just an optical illusion

Close up: cucumbers and carrots

Close up: yummy chickpeas and bacony beets

While I was having a little solo meze party, a surprise arrived at our table: an appetizer of kolokithokeftedes, or fried zucchini balls, "compliments of the chef." Not sure why this came (perhaps they spotted my liberal use of the camera?), but we were happy to have it. The little fried spheres were surprisingly soft and were filled with a mixture of fried zucchini and a touch of ricotta-like cheese. There was a welcome puddle of tzaziki in the middle (yummmm), and a few of those cucumber pickles. This was a delightful and delicious addition to our meal.

Free, fried, and delicious

After this appetizer extravaganza came the entrees. My "entree" was a side of grilled broccoli rabe with lemon. It was mercifully un-oily, as requested, but it was pretty bitter and lacked much flavor. I remarked to my mom that it could use some salt, and all of a sudden a dish of salt flakes and a pepper grinder appeared at my side. Well done, eavesdroppers!

Greenery

My mom had ordered the Rhode Island Black Sea Bass. It came as a whole fish (head on, which my mom balked at and which was quickly removed), seasoned with herbs and a bit of olive oil and sauce. My mom thought it was very good, and it was flavored with a lot of spices she had never encountered before.

Pretty... yet fishy

We were both full and I had a lot of things to do this evening, so we skipped dessert and paid our bill. All in all, our experience at Ammos was a little odd. There were certainly service foibles, especially at the beginning... After we placed our order our waiter returned to bring back the menu and ask if my mom wanted a side dish with her fish (um, no); and then he took the wine list, then returned shortly after to bring back the wine list and ask if we wanted wine (um, no). But at some point I suspect they got wise to the whole blogging thing and began to dote on us... which wasn't too difficult, because we were one of the few patrons in the restaurant, even at the end of our meal. In any case, it's hard to judge service accurately at a really off-peak time, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here. The food was really good, creative, and well-prepared (well, except for the bread basket, I guess), and the prices are not cheap but are certainly reasonable, especially for a rather nice restaurant. Would I recommend Ammos? Definitely, especially if you're in the vicinity of Grand Central. While I'm pretty sure Ammos would be a three-and-a-half Offset Spatula restaurant if I had half offset spatulas (I'm waiting, nycfoodguy...), I think this time I'm going to have to round up to four OSes. Go and check it out for yourself-- and let me know if you disagree.

Ammos Estiatorio
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, between 44th and 45th Streets
212-922-9999

South African disappointment at Braai

This evening, the bro and I ventured to Braai, the new South African BBQ restaurant from the owners of Xai Xai. Since I like Xai Xai a lot and any new restaurant in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood is intriguing, I checked out the menu online and there seemed to be some interesting vegetarian selections. So early in the dinner hour, the two of us arrived at the almost painfully empty restaurant.

Needless to say, we were seated immediately-- and were given a somewhat awkwardly comprehensive choice of tables, which resulted in a table near the open floor-to-ceiling window/wall. The restaurant itself is very pretty-- long and thin, partially subterranean, and decorated in a browns and tans. The ceiling is thatched with straw, a nice effect.

The well-decorated interior

We looked over the menu, which was divided into sections with untranslated titles I didn't understand ("Istatah"; "Mini-Sosaties"). There was an interesting selection of salads and quite a few meat dishes. We settled on our food choices and decided to skip wine. N.B.: In a somewhat bizarre turn of events, especially since the owners own a wine bar a few doors down, the wine list is very short and offered in either half or full bottles. The only wines by the glass were two "special" house wines recited verbally. This seems like a bad move to me... not only because wines by the glass are often some of the highest-margin wines but because it would be a good opportunity to allow diners to sample some new, interesting South African wines, which maybe they'd continue to drink should they visit Xai Xai. Hmmm...

Anyway, we placed our order, and soon the bread basket arrived. It was a cone of entirely unremarkable thinly-sliced white bread with a small bowl of olive oil and a bowl of some sort of nut/spice mixture. The mixture, which was mainly sesame seeds, was tasty, but neither the bro nor I could figure out why it was served with the bread. You couldn't really dip the bread in it... if you sprinkled it on top, it would fall through the bread's holes... In the end, I resorted to eating it straight with my fingers. Not sure if that was the intent.

Bread with weird stuff

Soon the appetizers arrived. The bro had ordered Mutton-Wors, or lamb sausage with roasted sweet potato and baby bok choy with a yogurt-guava sauce. It arrived in a cute little pot with a skewered, coiled sausage on top and as such was exceedingly difficult to eat. How do you cut the one intact head of baby bok choy in the deep, almost spherical hot pot? How do you incorporate the sausage without the sauce splattering everywhere? No idea. Overall, the bro said that while no sausage is going to taste BAD (it's like pizza in that respect), he's had plenty of sausages that were lots more flavorful. He said he wouldn't recommend the dish or get it again himself.

Cute but impractical... like Manolos

I ordered the mushroom and three bean salad (and that only... and it was brought out with my brother's appetizer. I didn't specify otherwise, but they didn't ask, either). I requested the tasty peri-peri cilantro dressing on the side, and the first version arrived with the dressing on it (they quickly took it back and made a new one). The main salient point about this $11 salad is that it was tiny. Like, pitifully small. There were about a half-dozen beans (of the string bean variety... a disappointment as I was expecting the kidney-bean-esque family of beans) and a few shreds of something fried and crunchy on top. The highlight of the salad were the roasted shittake mushrooms, but unfortunately there were only about three silver-dollar-sized mushrooms in the entire salad. All I can say is, come ON people-- if you're going to charge eleven dollars for a salad, make it substantial. At least throw an extra handful of mixed greens in there to give the impression of volume.

Extra points if you can spot the salad

Once we were done (I ate verrrry slowly to make the salad last), the bro's entree arrived. He had ordered the Venison, which was a grilled venison steak accompanied by roasted sweet potato, eggplant, caramelized onions, and mushrooms. They hadn't asked how he wanted the venison cooked, and it arrived on the well side of medium. I ate a bunch of the veggie garnishes after the bro was done, and they were definitely flavorful; he pointed out that the venison itself was too peppery. While this was certainly the best of the three dishes we ordered, as the bro put it, it wasn't something he'd ever crave.

Crowned by a lychee... interesting

So all in all, we were pretty disappointed. The place is nice to look at and certainly uncrowded, and the food is okay, but it's definitely overpriced. The service wasn't spectacular, and they didn't execute the one special request we threw at them (dressing on the side, at that). We wouldn't return For the money, there is an infinite number of better places to spend your appetite. Or-- for that matter-- just make your way down the block to Xai Xai. It far surpasses its two-Offset-Spatula upstart sibling.

Braii
329 W. 51st Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues
212-315-3315

Bar roundup part II: Irish bars, alphabet themes, and sweaty crowds

Since I returned from New Zealand, I've visited a number of bars, some new, some I'd been to before. I'm always looking to help out my readers, so here is the second installment of my random-bar-thoughts, in case you're looking for a place to go this weekend:

PS 450, 450 Park Ave South between 30th and 31st Streets: I was here for a friend's birthday party, and my first thought is that it was insanely, absurdly crowded. It's pretty much the only bar in the neighborhood (think random, deserted stretch of Park Ave South), so everyone who was out around there was at this bar. That, of course, meant we had to wait about a half hour to get past the velvet rope, something I despise (I only exceeded my 30-second waiting limit because of the birthday party inside). Also, something I noticed that night that was confirmed the next day by my Indian friends: it seemed to have a large South Asian crowd-- apparently it's known as an Indian hot spot. In any case, I found it to be overcrowded and nothing special. Good music, though.

R Bar, 218 Bowery, between Prince and Spring Streets: R Bar was also incredibly crowded, but in a more fun way. When we arrived, there was a huge line outside snaking towards Spring Street, but my friend and I were coming from the direction of Prince, so we just went up to the bouncer facing in our direction. The following exchange ensued:
Bouncer: "What private party are you with?"
Us: "We're not with a private party, we're just meeting friends."
Bouncer: "Okay... [stamps our hands]... but your friends might have a hard time getting in because it's getting busy." [Lets us in.]
Uhhh, okay. Basically, we bypassed the "regular person" line, got in through the no-wait private party line despite telling him directly we weren't with a private party, and not only that but the stamp he gave us was the "private party" stamp that allowed us entry to the reserved back room. Right. Anway, the back room was fun, loud and crowded but definitely rockin'. There are stripper poles that people dance on (by "people" read "not me"). Music was good; a fun time was had by all.

B Bar, 40 E. 4th Street at Bowery: Not to be confused with R bar, B bar is a combination huge bar/restaurant with several bar areas. We went relatively early in the night and spent a lot of time chilling at their outdoor bar, which was decorated with a kitchy mexican-ish theme. It was really nice just to be outside, frankly. B bar is a little bit hipster/pretentious/douchebaggy for my taste, but it's not aggressively so, so it's tolerable. One caveat: the mojitos were terrible. Stick with beer.

Galway Hooker, 7 East 36 Street between 5th Ave and Madison: We came here after B Bar. It's a random bar in a random location; it wasn't packed, which was nice, and there was a huge screen showing the Yankees game. The vibe was definitely chill/low-key, and there were open booths and lots of room to move around. An eclectic group came and went throughout the night: there was the group of preppy 20-somethings, with the girls dancing drunkenly and the guys trying to get drunk enough to dance with them; there was the requisite bachelorette party; there was the group of nerds trying to get with some cougars at the bar. So let's just say Galway Hooker welcomes all walks of life, and apparently they don't mind if you do the Saltine challenge (6 saltines in a minute... it's not possible) in one of their booths. We tested that theory. Random Note: Galway Hooker seems like a good place to go for after-work drinks if you work in the area.

La Caverna, 122-124 Rivington Street, at Essex: This is a somewhat cool, somewhat creepy underground space that is basically a cave-themed bar (don't look up... the sharp stalactites look sort of threatening after a few drinks). There is a DJ later in the night, before which the place plays thumping house music. Drinks are good and on the cheaper side, which is much appreciated. This is the type of place that would be lots of fun if you were with a large group of drunk friends. If you're not, then it's just sort of weird.

Sidebar, E. 15th Street at Irving Place: On the outskirts of Union Square, this bar is a relatively large, somewhat upscale bar-slash-lounge. Once again, I was there for a friend's birthday celebration. In the hour or so I was there, it went from pleasantly populated to unbearably crowded, to the point where people are bumping into you so often that you just start hating everyone there. It seemed to be a magnet for all the people in Union Square who fancy themselves too good for the typical NYU bars. Drink notes: they didn't have any milk, so my Bailey's and milk ended up Bailey's on the rocks, which is justlame. Moral of the story: I could barely get out of there before being crushed to death. I've never been so happy to see the sidewalk.

Forum, 127 4th Ave between 12th and 13th Streets: Once we escaped from Sidebar, we made our way to Forum. I've been to Forum a number of times, and it's a reliably good bar/lounge just south of Union Square. There's always good music and a large area for dancing in the back. It's a good place to meet up with a group of friends, large or small (the group, not the friends), and either chill or dance or both. It can get a bit hot in the dance area, but you can cool off up front, where the AC is powerful. One warning: beware the bathroom attendants-- they'll charge you $1 for EACH of the candies on the sink. That is, $1 per Blow Pop. Seriously.

Well, that's all for now. Those are my thoughts, such as they are. Happy drinking!

Mashed chick peas and tiny desserts at Landmarc

On Tuesday night, I had a celebratory dinner with a different one of my work teams at Landmarc in Tribeca. Magically, all nine of us arrived at 8PM on the dot, so we were able to comply with Landmarc's draconian reservations regulations (won't seat incomplete parties, will only hold the table for 15 minutes).

We were led to a large round table on the second floor of the small but tastefully decorated restaurant. First up: the wine. We decided to do a bottle of red and a bottle of white; I chose the white, a Sauvignon Blanc from Cloudy Bay in New Zealand. The partner on our team, GdT, chose the red-- first a Malbec that they had run out of, and finally a Cab as a replacement. I only drank the white, which was refreshing and delicious.

While we were in the process of ordering, the bread arrived. This was a standout bread course. Chunky slices of white peasant bread with a chewy crust and a stretchy interior were expertly complemented by the sweet butter with--get this-- a salted top. That's right; the ramekin of butter came with little flakes of sea salt on top. I also tried the bread with some of the olive oil on the table, which was very high quality and redolent of rosemary. Yes, I just used the word "redolent."

Delicious bread, and you can sort of see the salt flakes on the butter

We were well occupied with the bread, but our appetizers emerged promptly. It was hard to get pictures of all the food of nine people, so here's what I managed to get:

The foie gras appetizer-- JL enjoyed this dish

GdT ordered the goat cheese profiteroles. These looked very interesting, and he said they were quite good.

BS ordered the Caesar salad. He was too far away for me to get the full download, but he only ate part of the salad, so I assume it wasn't irresistibly spectacular.

Other people in our crew ordered the calimari, which was pronounced "not that great." Apparently, the calimari at the Olive Garden is better (eek!). We also had one order of onion soup, which was thoroughly enjoyed.

After the apps came the entrees. We had a large amount of food descend on our table at once. The summary:

JL had the steak, deemed very good. I tried a fry or two, and they were excellent.

The burger-- one of Landmarc's signatures. RT said it was good but not the best he's had.

The salmon, on a bed of what looks like ratatouille. GdT polished this off and gave it enthusiastic approval.

My own dish-- a chopped salad with hearts of palm, beets, cucumbers, and frisee. I opted out of the celery here (a recurring theme), attempting to substitute asparagus but coming up short once again. This was the dinner portion, and it was HUGE. I tried to eat as much as I could, but I left a large pile of cucumbers behind. It was a high-quality and very good salad.

Several people ordered the lamb chops-- a huge portion, garnering unanimous raves.

The pork chop. Didn't hear how this was, but I also didn't hear any complaints, if that counts.

A side: mashed chick peas, which were warm (somewhat surprising, for some reason). They tasted just like mashed chick peas, which is a good thing, if you like chick peas. And I do.

A side of creamed spinach (very creamy). There was also some sauteed spinach, which I didn't try.

We were all stuffed at this point, but Landmarc has some special desserts, so we pressed on. We ordered two dessert samplers for the table, which brought us two of each of their signature desserts, presented as follows:

From front to back: Creme brulee, chocolate mousse with whipped cream, lemon tart with whipped cream, tiramisu, nutella eclair, blueberry crumble.

Landmarc offers all these desserts in the small sizes seen here, each for $4, or you can get the sampler for $16. Overall, I was really impressed with these-- not only because of the innovative small sizes. The creme brulee was seriously good-- I had a good chunk of the delicious caramelized crust. The chocolate mousse was okay. The tiramisu was slightly disappointing; it tasted very refrigerated and was a bit crusted and sticky rather than creamy, if you know what I mean. The nutella eclair was really good, but the filling was very mild-- more chocolately than nutella-y. I didn't get a chance to taste the blueberry crumble before it disappeared, as it was one of the first to go. The lemon tart was the surprise standout of the bunch-- tart, sweet, smooth, and delicious.

If you go to Landmarc, definitely get the desserts. And the sides. And the food. Everything was good, and I left completely overstuffed. It should be noted that the service was really professional as well-- very friendly and competent, and they didn't rush us or make us feel unwelcome even after we lingered far longer than all the other tables in the restaurant. Landmarc is definitely a solid four Offset Spatula place.


Landmarc Tribeca (there's also a location in the Time Warner Center)
179 W. Broadway, between Leonard and Worth streets
212-343-3883

A rereview extravaganza: Five Napkin Burger gets another chance

I had the opportunity to have lunch with my team from work today, and as always, I got to choose the place. I had been struggling with the task, but walking to work this morning, I had a momentary flash of inspiration: Five Napkin Burger. I had always vowed to go back, and I they did have some (somewhat expensive) salads that seemed to be able to be altered vegetarianly... it was the perfect recipe for a work lunch.

We rolled up at noon and were led to a booth near the window. Everything went smoothly: we placed our orders and waited a reasonable time for the food to arrive. No bread was offered, which was a minor blip, but maybe that's just standard for lunch? I'm sure if we had asked they would have brought some over.

I was grateful to two of my colleagues, both of whom ordered burgers-- on this second review, I wanted to make sure I at least got an up-close glimpse of the burger. CS ordered the standard Five Napkin burger. It was a very thick burger with caramelized onions and, it seemed, two slices (possibly different types?) of cheese. It came on a large, glossy, sturdy bun, with a side of shoestring fries. CS ate about a third of the burger and gave up-- she said it was good but just enormous. I tried a couple of fries, and they were tasty-- well cooked, although they could have been a little hotter. I also like my fries just a teensy bit thicker, but these were definitely good fries.

The namesake burger, in the flesh (har har har)

JW also ordered a burger, this time the bacon-cheddar burger. This burger was equally as thick and smothered with yellow cheddar, topped with some relatively thick and crispy bacon. JW managed to put away about 3/5 of this burger before fatigue set in-- I repeat, these burgers are quite large. He also neglected to eat his garnishes, so I took care of the lettuce and thickly-sliced tomato. I will note that these were especially good, for some reason. The tomato was very fresh and tasty. But I'm not sure Five Napkin Burger can guarantee that same level of top-quality garnish every visit (that's probably not their focus), so if you're going to come there for the garnishes... well... I guess I can say is you're someone after my own heart.

Just look at that big, juicy... tomato

My boss LF ordered the steak salad. It had sliced steak artfully arranged on the side of the plate, accompanied by a chopped salad of tomatoes, peppers, cheese, avocado, pumpkin seeds... and some other things. She enjoyed this salad, which was nicely portioned for lunch.

Artistic and delicious

I ordered the Szechuan Chicken salad, sans chicken. I also attempted to substitute artichokes for the celery, which I don't particularly like, but the kitchen was not amenable to this change, so I sucked it up and went with the celery. The salad had chopped greens, cherry tomatoes, apples, radish, cucumbers, carrots, celery, and crushed peanuts, and probably some other things in there that don't really matter because you can't taste much when everything is chopped up very finely. Except deliciousness, that is. You taste deliciousness. This salad was really good, and it came with two sauces-- a mayo-based sauce in a boat to the side, and the asian dressing, also on the side. The chef had also liberally seasoned the salad with salt and pepper, which always makes a salad good eatin'. I was very pleased with my choice here-- and it made Five Napkin Burger a place I'd go back to.

Tasty and delicious, with mysterious sauce

It's a bit expensive for what it is, but FNB is definitely now on my list of work-lunch spots. I'm glad I found something more satisfying than their Vietnamese summer roll, which was what I had tried during my first review. FNB is a solid neighborhood joint-- and for that I'll award it a much-awaited rating of three Offset Spatulas.


Five Napkin Burger
630 Ninth Ave, between 44th and 45th Streets
212-757-2277

Tofu and s'mores at Gyu-Kaku

Last week, I went to Gyu-Kaku, a Korean BBQ joint in the East Village, with a group of people from work. Since this wasn't a typical meal (with individual dishes, a progression of courses, etc.), I can't really do a typical review, so I'll do more of a random collection of my thoughts (and I won't spatula this place... it doesn't seem quite right). Overall, Gyu-Kaku is a really fun restaurant to go to with a huge group-- the food is delicious and high quality, and the experience of cooking it yourself on the grill at the table is a lot of fun. So here goes:

The grill at our table... ready and waiting for ingredients to arrive

We started with a few orders of standard, salted edamame

This was an order of Namuru, a kimchi-like mixed vegetable dish. These veggies were incredibly tasty. Even though it's not in the spirit of the grill-it-yourself conceit, I thought this dish was the best of the night.

A tofu platter and a mixed vegetable platter in the background... Broccoli in the packet on the grill

Close-up of tofu (very good, especially the little tofu nubbins on the side) and standard mixed veggies

Putting some tofu and eggplant on the grill. The eggplant was too thin...by the time it got cooked, it was leathery. The main family of veggies missing from these photos is the mushrooms we had-- I'd definitely recommend getting mushrooms, especially enoki, if you go.

Okay, there was SOME meat. This was some kobe beef... our table also had another kind of beef and a chicken dish with basil marinade.

This was a chicken hot pot rice. It didn't go over that well with our table... people thought it tasted weird. We also ordered some plain white rice (standard) and some garlic noodles. The garlic noodles were definitely the standout-- really delicious.

Dessert is fun at Gyu-Kaku-- we ordered s'mores, with the mushrooms toasting over the grill. My only gripe with the smores is the orders are paltry. That's two orders right there! Shameful.

This was an order of mille crepes, banana flavored, with green tea ice cream. I took a taste; it was okay. My main dessert was just a dish of vanilla ice cream. About as standard as it gets.

So that's it. We had a really great time; Korean BBQ is definitely a fun dining experience. We were at the East Village location, but there's also a Midtown outpost. If you're ever looking for a place to take a group of people-- whether it's for a birthday party, a corporate outing, or another festive occasion-- Gyu-Kaku will definitely come through. I'll leave you with a picture of my friend Sahil (he gave up his anonymity by deliberately posing for this picture). This is at the end of the meal, and look how happy he is!

Gyu-Kaku gets two thumbs up!

Gyu-Kaku
East Village Location: 34 Cooper Square
212-475-2989

Midtown Location: 805 3rd Ave, 2nd floor
212-702-8816

Sweet wine and sweeter desserts: An Aroma rereview

Reader warning: I will state up front that this post is far from impartial. After my first review of Aroma Kitchen and Wine Bar, in which I expressed my displeasure at the dessert offerings, the proprietors contacted me to let me know that they had recently hired a pastry chef and would have a new and improved dessert menu shortly. They invited me to come back and check out the desserts, and so this past weekend, the faithful dining triumvirate made its way back to Aroma for some wine, food, and--yes--desserts.

When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by the staff and owners and showed to our table. We sat right in the front of the restaurant at a high table in the corner, up against the windows open to the cool and blissfully un-humid breezes. Since my back was resting against a protruding metal bar and my feet were dangling approximately 24 inches away from touching the ground, I wished for either a back cushion or a bar to rest my feet on... or both... but the lovely cross-breezes made up for any discomfort.

We looked at the wine list, which was as amusing as ever, and debated between an off-menu dry gewurtzraminer recommended by Vito, one of the owners, and a sweeter moscato giallo on the menu. Wine rubes that we are, we ultimately chose the moscato, which was delightful, fruity, and sweet.

After hearing the specials, we placed our orders. Bread arrived shortly after: the same good bread, with a chewy crust and stretchy interior, accompanied by a dish of olives doused in olive oil. The complimentary olives were a really nice touch, and the bread course was one of the highlights of the meal.

Crusty and rustic

J and the bro had ordered an appetizer of arancini to start. The fried risotto balls came with scallops in the middle, all on top of a swish of pesto coating the plate. The order was a little small, and the bro said they were good but he wouldn't necessarily order them again. J said he'd love it if there were a Bagel Bite version of this dish. I'm not even really sure what that means. I tried the pesto, which was really good, and sopped up a little bit with some of the bread.

Spheres of cheesey, scallopy, risottoey goodness

After the arancini were gone, the entrees made their appearance. The bro had ordered the bolognese, which usually comes with green fettuccini but this time came with standard linguine upon request. This dish, again a moderate portion, was consumed with gusto and approval and looked fresh and homemade.

Simple but delicious pasta

J had chosen one of the specials, artichoke and cheese ravioli with asparagus in a butter sauce. Apparently, this is one of their frequent specials, and it was quite a delicious dish. J thoroughly enjoyed it, and I snuck a couple bites. The pasta was silken and the filling was mild but flavorful. The tiny pieces of asparagus garnishing the pasta were a nice touch as well.

Truly spring-like and delicious

I ordered the mesclun salad, dressing on the side. The salad is really standard-- mesclun lettuce, a few radish coins, and a couple of chunks of beets all crowned with a shaving or two of ricotta salata. The beets were very sweet and well-cooked-- I only wished there were more. The dressing, also, seemed to be entirely oil-- I'm not sure what spices were in there. I wish Aroma had more of a salad selection, or at least an interesting, hearty salad for a primarily salad-eater like me. But one positive of our collective entree courses was that it left room for the true test this time around: the desserts.

The ricotta salata is a good idea and a nice touch

We looked at the dessert menu, which is short but well-chosen. A couple desserts remained from last time-- the gianduja panna cotta and the bread pudding-- and a few new ones had appeared. We chose three different desserts, steering clear of the bread pudding (so awful last time), and waited eagerly.

Soon, they arrived. My brother had ordered the gianduja panna cotta, which is what I had had last time. The plating had changed; it was much more creative and graceful this time. And while this dessert was certainly the best of the bunch the last time around, it still had been improved. The panna cotta was silken and well-flavored; the hazelnut gelato was delicious; and the bro especially liked the pirouette cookie garnish.

Artful and hazelnutty

J had ordered the molten chocolate cake, which came with a scoop of vanilla gelato on top. This was a powerful, very chocolately chocolate cake. It was thoroughly delicious, and I couldn't resist scooping up the remaining chocolate sauce J left on his plate.

It looks like something that belongs in MoMA

I had the citrus shortcake with chocolate canolli cream and frutti di bosco. The cake part of this was really good-- sort of like a sugar-encrusted puff pastry, although I didn't sense much citrus (which was fine with me). The frutti di bosco, which was sweetened stewed berries, was also delicious. The chocolate canolli cream was definitely a minor player in this dessert, but it contributed a bit of heartiness and creaminess, which was nice. Overall, the dessert was good if not spectacular.

Garnished with a stripe of mintiness

But even as we were digging into the much improved desserts, we were surprised by a new entrant into the mix. A waiter arrived with a dish of their new bread pudding, on the house. I was a bit ambivalent, because it had been so unpalatable last time...but I took a bite, and boy, had this dish done a 180. The cinnamon raisin bread pudding was light but still creamy and filling, the scoop of straciatella gelato on top was the perfect complement, and the cinnamon creme anglaise put the dessert over the top. Congrats to the new pastry chef for transforming the Aroma bread pudding from the worst on their list to the best dessert in the house.

Crowned with candied citrus garnishes

We were treated very, very well at Aroma, and while there was certainly an element of special treatment in the mix, I'll stress the fact that friendly, attentive, caring service is the norm there. Even if they don't know you, they'll great you as though they do, and they'll treat you like an honored guest even if you're just there for a glass of wine at the bar. Much improved desserts aside, that's really why I like Aroma. It's clearly a place where the owners truly care-- about food, which shows careful construction and thoughtful preparation; about wine, which clearly brings them delight that they are happy to share with all diners; and about the customers themselves--and that's something that's missing from the vast majority of restaurants in this city. It makes every meal there a special and heartwarming event. I would encourage all of you to stop by Aroma, for food, for wine, or (now I can say with no hesitation) for dessert. It's a little place that will bring a big smile to your face. For that, I reaffirm my earlier rating of four enthusiastic Offset Spatulas.

Aroma
36 E. 4th Street, between Lafayette and Bowery
212-375-0100

A bread extravaganza at La Lanterna

On Sunday evening, the girls and I convened at La Lanterna, in the West Village, to celebrate S’s birthday. Unfortunately, she was fighting food poisoning from earlier in the weekend, so I think the rest of us enjoyed the outing more than she did. Nonetheless, the food must be eaten, so here’s the account of our lovely evening:

We were seated in the back garden area, which is quite atmospheric. My only gripes with the surroundings were that the furniture was, well, garden-style—i.e., patterned iron. That meant the chairs were not very comfortable (cushions might have helped) and the table was far, far too small for the food we ordered.

Something magical about eating outside in the city...

I arrived first, and after ignoring me for a while, the waiter finally came over and brought some water. I requested a few pieces of bread, as I was starving, which he brought relatively quickly. The bread itself was very standard white bread, and it came on one tiny plate… no individual bread plates or anything, despite the fact that the accompaniment was olive oil and not butter. To accommodate the pool of olive oil, I balanced the other pieces of bread around the edges of the tiny plate so they wouldn’t get soggy. Oh well. I was ravenous.

Bread. We finally got a few extra plates later.

When the others arrived, we set to work ordering a large variety of food. A and SL started with the cheese plate, selecting Stracchino, Fontina, Piave, and one other hard cheese (pecorino?). The cheese plate arrived with the standout item of the dinner: a basket of their freshly-baked focaccia crisps. These were crunchy and salty and olive oil-y—so, so addictive and good. I’d recommend La Taverna just on the basis of these crisps (they come with the cheese plate but can also be ordered separately for $4.50). The cheese plate itself provided a relatively generous portion of each of the cheeses, and the fact that the soft cheeses came in gelato cups amused me unendingly throughout the meal.

Mind-bending angle of awesome foccaccia crisps

It's cheese. And gelato. No! Just kidding!

Along with the cheese, A and SL split the arugula and parmesan salad, which I had for my entrée. I ordered mine with the lemon dressing on the side. The dressing was surprisingly good—very flavorful and not too oily. And the arugula was tiny and fresh, nicely complemented by the salty parmesan. A very good salad, certainly.

Parmesan duvets. And more bread. So many carbs...

For entrees, which arrived after the salads and cheese were gone, A and SL ordered pizzas. A got the arribiata with the addition of mushrooms. SL went with the white pesto pizza. Both were enjoyed thoroughly and were quite large portions for an individual to tackle.

Angry pizza... with mushrooms

Initially I thought the olives were meatballs. Nope.

S gamely ordered the caprese salad. The mozzarella looked very fresh and creamy, and the tomatoes were vibrantly red. S said the salad was good but not as incredible as it looked. Oh well; a good caprese is a good caprese.

So very, very red...

We were all pretty stuffed full of carbs by the end of the entrée round, so we decided to forgo dessert. Overall, the food and atmosphere at La Taverna are definitely praiseworthy—on a beautiful night, nothing beats sitting outside in a secluded garden, eating delicious Italian food with your good friends. The service was thoroughly “meh”— our server was pleasant enough, but I think throughout the course of the meal we asked for water a total of 5 or 6 times (the water glasses are tiny and there is nobody responsible for filling them except your waiter). Also worth noting is the fact that they include the tip in your bill, so if you go watch out so you don’t overtip. On balance, I’d say La Taverna deserves a high three Offset Spatulas—for good food, very reasonable prices, pleasant not-too-upscale ambiance, and distracted service.

N.B. La Lanterna has a downstairs bar where there is live jazz every night. It would be a great place to take a date, but if you don’t want to pay the $10 cover, be sure to visit the bathrooms for a free listen.


La Lanterna Caffe
129 MacDougal Street at W. 3rd St.
212-529-5945

NYC ICY: More more more

After dinner at Rachel's, J and I skipped dessert and headed over to NYC Icy (he hadn't been before so I HAD to take him, right?). Since it was after dinner, the flavor selection seemed a bit thin:

N.B.: they've starting charging an extra dollar for some of their flavors with premium ingredients, like pistachio and hazelnut. That is a trend I do not like.

But there were some interesting selections. I tasted the chocolate chocolate chip icy (that is, chocolate sorbet). It was surprisingly chocolatey for a non-milk-based frozen dessert, and the chocolate chips were nice. J ended up getting a medium cup of this for his selection.

It looks freezer-burned, but it's not, I promise.

My other taste, which was my ultimate choice, was mixed berries and chips. It was a smooth and creamy strawberry-tasting cream icy with large chocolate chips. This tasted the most like standard sherbet than any of their other flavors. It was good, but definitely not their best-- I wouldn't get it again, especially if standouts like white chocolate chip are on the menu.

Blushingly pink

And that's it for this broadcast. Mmmm, icy.

Cheap but dry veggies at Rachel's

Saturday evening I met up with my good friend J for dinner at Rachel's, a cozy American restaurant on 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. The place has a large selection of salads and vegetarian options, so I've wanted to come here for a while.

J arrived first and was seated right away at a small table for two, despite a minor glitch with the reservation. By the time I rolled up, there was already bread on the table. After a colorful and enthusiastic recitation of the specials, we placed our order and tucked into the bread. The offering was a large, somewhat dry, glossy-topped and exceptionally flaky roll. The bread itself was not all that noteworthy, but it came with a flavorful sun-dried-tomato spread that tasted vibrantly of garlic. The spread was definitely a nice touch.

The spread looks like chocolate but, sadly, wasn't.

The bread took us a while to pack away, giving the kitchen ample time to prepare our dishes. Soon, they arrived at the table with a flourish. J had ordered the mac & cheese (also known, on the menu, as "Mac Cheese and Mac"). It was billed as mac & cheese with aged Vermont cheddar, aged parmesan, and a "macadamia panko crust." In reality, the dish was really just good mac & cheese--piping hot, it must be noted-- but, to be honest, minus the crust. There were a few bread crumbs scattered on top, but I didn't detect any macadamia, and the quantity of bread crumbs was definitely not enough to constitute a "crust." A little disappointing, especially given such prominent billing.

Still hot and gooey and yummy. It was mac & cheese, after all.

I had ordered a small grilled vegetable plate, easy on the oil. The veggie plate that arrived was indeed small, but I was surprised to see the cook had done it entirely dry (and had thoughtfully provided a small dish of oil on the side). The plate had red peppers, zucchini, squash, eggplant, and two spears of asparagus. Sadly, and this is pretty much my own fault for ordering it light on the oil, these veggies were pretty dry and tasteless. It required a liberal use of the salt shaker for add any flavor at all. I think I should have gone with a salad.

Colorful. But dry.

Overall, Rachel's was okay. Seriously, just okay. It was really cheap, which was nice, but the food was pretty average. There are definitely better options in the neighborhood-- Zuni Cafe, just on the next block, is one similar competitor that springs to mind--so I'd pretty much never see a need to return to Rachel's (although their homemade-looking desserts were quite appealing...). If there were half-spatulas, this would definitely be a two-and-a-halfer, but as it is I'm going to have to settle for two Offset Spatulas.


Rachel's
608 9th Ave, between 43rd and 44th Streets
212-957-9050

I'm branching out...

Dearest readers,

In addition to my tireless work on LWF&D, I am now also a blogger on the UK-based vegetarian site Veggieplaces.co.uk. Check me out-- not surprisingly, I'm on the "blogs" page (http://www.vegetarian.co.uk/blogs/).

Janine

Check out my photostream on Flickr!

I recently created a food-photo Hall of Fame gallery on Flickr. I figured I needed a repository for all my best photos so far... yes, "needed." So here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29193147@N06/sets/72157606488412748/

Check it out!