Sweeter than sweet at Kyotofu

Okay, I admit it: I went back to Kyotofu. Despite my love-hate relationship with their service, their soymilk soft serve is just so darn tempting. And this past week, they had Vanilla-Strawberry as one of their flavors... well, game over.

First, I tried the swirl of Vanilla-Strawberry and Matcha (green tea). It was pretty much as gross as it sounds. The Matcha is super, super bitter, almost surprisingly so, and it didn't do anything for the Vanilla-Strawberry. I really wished they had chosen chocolate as the partner for V-S that week!

So I ended up with a small cup of the Vanilla-Strawberry with mixed berry compote. In retrospect, the compote was probably not the wisest choice with the V-S, since it made the concoction incredibly sweet. The whole effect was one powerful punch of sweet, with sugary compote layering onto the sweet berry flavor of the soft serve. For its part, the soft serve was quite good, with a blushing pink color reminiscent of rose wine and an incredibly airy, whipped texture that made it bizarrely fun to eat. I'd return for this flavor again, but next time I'll go with a different topping... caramel, anyone?

Looks like Mister Softee!

Kyotofu

705 Ninth Avenue, between 48th and 49th Streets
212-974-601

Pleasant surprises at Perilla

Saturday, KS and I met at Perilla in Greenwich Village for brunch. Perilla, Top Cheffer Harold Dieterle's baby, was surprisingly empty-- but that meant it was reasonably quiet and relaxing for a catch-up brunch.

Perilla is an attractive restaurant, comfortable and classy in an understated way. The space itself is long and narrow, and the striking striped-wood tables make for agreeable visual accents. Beware the bathrooms, which are well-appointed and visually clean but (at least on my visit) not the sweetest-smelling of locations.

But what about the food, you ask? Easy, now. Brunch started with two complimentary lemon pound cake bites. Cake? Yes please. I took a small bite of one of these and it was, in a word, "great." Yep: buttery, appealing crisp edge, lemony zing, all there. Addictive, to say the least.

They look small, but they pack a buttery punch

And then came the real food. KS ordered "two eggs any style"--poached, please-- along with a side of grilled toast and homemade jam. The eggs actually emerged as the "Poached organic eggs" entree (with smoked salmon, english muffins, the works), but they only charged her for the plain poached eggs. The toast was hearty, and the "grilled" part was a creative touch. Overall, a success-- and a lot of food for $8 total!

Eggs with the works

Bread on the grill

Butter 'n' jam

I ordered the "fresh fruit." Again, at $5, this is one of the better bargains in the city, since what emerged was a substantial bowl of plum sections, blackberries, strawberries, grapes, and pineapple. All were fresh and high quality, and the lack of "filler" fruit (grapefruit, rock-hard honeydew, etc.) was very much appreciated.

Fresh fruit extravaganza!

And that was that. For a very low-key, upscale, incredibly enjoyable brunch, Perilla was perfect. And the reasonable pricing and generous portions make it a candidate for one of the best value brunches in the city. On that basis, it earns four Offset Spatulas and a hearty LWF&D recommendation.

Perilla
9 Jones Street, between Bleecker and W. 4th
212-929-6868

A little this, a little that at Ceci Cela

Last weekend, AC and I got together at Ceci Cela in Soho to catch up. I'd actually had one of their fruit tarts (courtesy of the very same AC.... :-) ) a while back, but I'd never been to the cafe to sit and eat. Turns out there's a very cute, very French, and very small little cafe in the back of the space, behind the pastry cases in front. Music plays, ceiling fans whir, and it actually feels as though you're on the streets of Paris.

While I sipped a small Perrier (only $1.50-- not bad for dine-in prices!), AC got an iced latte (delicious) and a croque-monsieur. This came with a big handful of mesclun and some vinaigrette. There was some ham sandwiched between two slices of thick, soft, golden bread, and the whole thing was smothered in a blanked of melted cheese. AC truly enjoyed it. And I'll admit, I was a little jealous.

Refreshing!

...and Cheesy!

It was hard to pass up the tempting treats at the front counter on the way out, but with a thunderstorm bearing down on us, we dashed out to get to our next destinations before the deluge. If you're ever in Soho and are searching for a peaceful place to rest your legs, give Ceci Cela a thought-- there's some reasonably-priced savory food, a whole lot of tempting sweets, and a cute little area that lets you feel-- momentarily, at least-- very far away.

Ceci Cela
55 Spring Street
212-274-9179

Marvelous mussels at City Hall

Last Thursday, AS and I embarked on another dinner-finding mission in Tribeca. It was 8PM, and we had no reservations. Would this end well? We'll see.

After a bit of walking, we chanced upon a decent-looking option. It seemed nice inside, and there were some patio tables hosting a few enthusiastic diners. A glance at the menu revealed that this was City Hall-- and the options looked pretty good. We were sold.

A short chat with the convivial host later, we were seated at a table outside. Our unceasingly upselling waitress made her first appearance ("Can I start you off with some San Pellegrino or Fiji water?" Uh, no.). A few moments of deliberations passed, and we placed our order. Out came City Hall's version of the bread basket: a small boat of crudites with the occasional olive and pickle thrown in.

Lots of crunch!

The rest of our food arrived a relatively short time later. In a slight deviation from the Green Soup theme, AS pounced on their daily special-- white bean soup. Since there were a few sprinkles of green on top, I hereby appoint this soup Honorary Green Soup Chapter 3.

Green soup

AS's other dish that evening was the Prince Edward Island mussels, served in a white wine and garlic broth. Surprisingly, AS pronounced these mussels the best he's ever had, even including the very PEI mussels consumed in their home province. Well done, City Hall! From my perspective, the enormous bread baton served alongside the mussels seemed pretty appealing, for what it's worth (very little).

Superlative

My choice was the Warm Goat Cheese and Beet salad, served with shaved fennel and asparagus. In retrospect, I don't think this salad actually had asparagus in it. But there was some lettuce, and the large puck of goat cheese was quite tasty. There were thickly sliced beets at the bottom, which were sweet and tender, and the shaved fennel added some crunch and not much else. Overall, it was a decent salad, one that probably would have been enhanced quite a bit with the addition of asparagus. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Pretty

We were both pleasantly surprised by City Hall. The atmosphere was quite nice, and in general the food was high quality. Sitting outside on a quiet Tribeca side street on a beautiful evening with some good food and a gradual sunset... not too shabby in my book.

City Hall
131 Duane Street
212-227-7777

Second time's the charm at Dafni

Last Saturday, I met JR for dinner at Dafni Greek Taverna, a restaurant I'd been to once before with mixed success. It was ah-kay, but given how glowing the reviews were, I was kind of disappointed. This time around, however, I was fully on the Dafni train.

Make no mistake-- this restaurant is still on the most miserable stretch of block in NYC, a desolate area of 42nd Street across from the Port Authority. But inside, it's warm and welcoming, if still a little loud. You know what was also warm and welcoming? The basket of warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven pita that landed on our table after we placed our orders. I only wished the accompanying olive oil had a bit more of a peppery bite, but as it was, this was some gooood pita.

Yum

Both JR and I went for salads. He had chosen the Greek Salad with Salmon, which epitomizes one of the things I like most about Dafni: the prices are right and the portions don't skimp. All the ingredients in this large salad were fresh (including the included stuffed grape leaves, which is a nice bonus!), and the salmon was well-cooked and tasty. Thumbs up.

A salad that will fill you up

My choice once again was the Nisiotiki salad, which came with mixed greens, grilled fennel, dried figs, and and the key-- grilled haloumi. This time around the haloumi was fresh off the grill, warm and pliable and savory and not rubbery at all. The fennel was tasty, if a bit oily, and the dried figs were as loveable as ever. Truly a hearty and enjoyable salad.

Excellent

We skipped out on Dafni's limited desserts for some ice cream a few blocks away. This time around, I'd say Dafni actually earns an extra spatula-- for the price, this is actually one of the better four Offset Spatula meals you'll get around town. Check it out, especially if you're looking for an off-the-beaten-path pre-theater option.

Dafni Greek Taverna
352 W. 42nd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues
212-315-1010

Salt & zest at the Odeon

Last Thursday, around 7:30, AS and I wandered around Tribeca looking for something to eat. We stopped into Terroir, which was pretty packed. We wandered. We stopped into "Marc Forgione" (f.k.a. Forge), and despite about half a house's worth of empty tables, we were told it would be about a 30-40 minute wait for a table. More wandering. Finally, we ended up at the Odeon, one of those downtown landmarks I've never been to. The host-- let's call him "Mr. Bean" because he looked exactly like Mr. Bean-- led us to a table.

The vibe at Odeon is cool, very "bustling brasserie." There's white butcher paper on the table, the ceilings are high, and the bread is good crusty french bread with a dish of butter. Yum.

Bread.

To start, AS embarked on Chapter 2 of the Green Soup Chronicles with the asparagus soup. A dollop of creme fraiche melted across the top, adding extra richness to an already rich and tasty soup.

There were no bursting goat cheese dollops, but we can't win 'em all

My entree was the warm goat cheese salad with pine nuts. It came as a good tangle of mixed greens, dusted with a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts and accompanied by a round of goat cheese on a thin, crunchy toast. The goat cheese was topped with something-- creamy? melted?-- that could have been more goat cheese, but the jury's out on that one. Oh, and one more thing: there was salt. Lots of salt. The whole salad packed one powerful punch of salt. I think it was the dressing, actually, that was somewhat oversalted-- and this comes from someone who has a very potent salt-tooth. (Huh?) It was still edible, though, and the saltiness actually enhanced the glass of sauvignon blanc I had on the side, but with a touch less salt it would have been a great salad. About an hour after dinner I was desperately, desperately thirsty.

You can't see the salt. But it's THERE.

AS went with the Satur Farms heirloom tomato salad, one of the daily specials. This was very prettily plated, and one taste revealed a hearty kick of orange zest-- actually something of a surprising taste when biting into a tomato. I think this salad could have used one extra ingredient (some sort of cheese, maybe), to truly balance it out, but I'm also not a chef, so take that with a grain of salt (ha! Get it?).

OrangAtos

Neither of us had been that full to begin with, so we skipped dessert for a nice early-evening stroll through the streets of Tribeca. The overall take on Odeon? Despite a few (salty) hiccups here and there, I actually liked it, and I'd easily return. That means a solid three Offset Spatulas in my book.

The Odeon
145 West Broadway
212-233-0507

Catching up at Cafe Lalo

Last weekend, I met an old friend I hadn't seen in years for coffee. She had just moved to the UWS, so I picked Cafe Lalo as our mutual meeting place.

If you've ever seen You've Got Mail, you'll know the place-- the cute cafe where Tom Hanks finds out Meg Ryan is the love of his life. The real Cafe Lalo is a bit louder and a bit less romantic but a bit more packed with delicious sweet treats. The restaurant is dominated by a huge case packed full of cakes, pies, and other delectables, all displayed alluringly and ready to tempt the taste buds. The music was on pretty loudly and the tables are packed together. But ignore all that and you can have something good to eat.

The menu is actually pretty extensive, and since we were there mid-afternoon on the weekend, we were able to choose from the brunch offerings. NS went for a frozen coffee, which came out as thick and delicious as a milkshake.

Anything that comes with a long spoon is just fine in my book

I went for a large tropical fruit salad. This concoction had some strawberries, grapes, papaya, mango, melon, and pineapple, all a little bit over-ripe but still tasty. My one gripe-- and apparently this is common around town, given my experience at Cookshop as well-- is that they serve this fruit salad piled precariously in a rounded cup with the fruit teetering out of the top. WHY? How is it possible to eat this without spilling fruit everywhere? You have to put pressure on the pile of fruit to spear anything with your fork, which inevitably dislodges the key piece of fruit holding everything together and sends the top layer tumbling to the table. Given that this fruit salad was about $7, that's at least a dollar's worth gone off the bat. Okay, rant over, but please, restaurants, serve your fruit salad in a reasonable vessel, mmkay?

Jengaaaaaaa

That's all. All in all, I liked Cafe Lalo as a place to catch up, and I'd like to return for some desserts. If you're in the neighborhood, give it a try for brunch or another quick bite. Just ask for an extra plate with your fruit salad.

Cafe Lalo
201 W. 83rd Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam
212-496-6031