Gastronomie

Eating My Way Through Manhattan

Yea, I know, I know. So much for New Years Resolutions and all that crap. But I've really been ridiculously busy, and traveling, and sick, and other stuff, and more other stuff. And so now, I finally sit down to write something and realize that I'm drawing a total blank on half the things I ate. (Which speaks less about the quality of the food than the quantity of the food... and maybe wine. Whatever).

But there are a few awesome meals that stand out, a few exemplary dishes, and several with awesome company. Without further ado...

Gramercy Tavern ... why did it take me so long to get here? This was my birthday dinner, and it was exquisite. There were three of us, so we ordered two Winter Tastings and one Vegetarian Tasting for the table. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time, paired with a bottle of Movia.

Papillon is one of those great bar-slash-bistros that serves  lovely food and has a mind-boggling selection of scotches and awesome Irish bartenders who have those adorably lilting brogues. Tasted a 1987 Glenmorangie Margaux Cask Finish that was, for lack of a better word ethereal. The stuff goes for $500 a bottle. One pour was $50, and utterly worth it.

No visit to Manhattan is complete without the ubiquitous old-school-Italian restaurant, and on this visit it was to be a meal at Il Tinello on the upper East Side. Truly and honestly the best Caesar salad I've ever eaten, Zuni be damned. Prepared tableside with whole anchovies, an egg yolk, olive oil, vinegar, fresh Parmeggiano, and other good things... awesome.

Also had a great meal with a very special someone's very special sister at Prune. I love these itty bitty restaurants in NYC - maybe 10 tables, most of which are 2-tops (there must be hundreds of them) - though I haven't quite figured out how they stay in business. We had a milk-bathed dish of chestnuts that is perhaps the sexiest, warmest thing I've eaten in months - the food equivalent of cuddling with your lover in front of a raging fireplace.

Oh, and there was that incredible steak tartare at The Odeon. All future versions of this dish will be held to Odeon's standard. Sadly, the rest of the meal was generally lackluster. But oh, that richly silken beef, cut with the acid of mustard and capers and all kinds of deliciousness.

And finally, FINALLY, I made it to Serendipity. Yea, it's a tourist trap, for sure. But even on a cold night, I sucked down that frozen hot chocolate like it was sweltering outside. Deeeeelish. The people-watching didn't suck, either, nor did the fun novelties up front.

So, yea. My travel that week didn't suck at all. But you see, I literally haven't been home on a weekday since I left for that trip.

If I can get my act together, I'll really try to pull together a couple of good reviews -- one of Perbacco in San Francisco and another of CityZen in Washington DC, which was exceptionally good.

Thanks for sticking with me, guys!

Tags: Food, Food and Wine, Restaurants, New York, Manhattan, San Francisco, Blogs, Blogging

A New Love Affair...

Caught your attention with that one, didn't I? But it's nothing inappropriate, considering. Actually, it's a new love affair with the Web.

I'm completely enamored of Stumble Upon, a neat little plug-in for Firefox (and Explorer) that essentially allows "channel-surfing" of the internet.

The premise is simple: "past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior". As you peruse your favorite sites, you rate and provide a snippet of information about each. The more sites you rate, the better your recommendations become (not so different from the Amazon algorithm). And, the toolbar has some other nifty widgets, too, like Wikipedia page "stumbles" -- something that gives this trivia-loving geek the chills.

Check it out...

Tags: Widgets, Stumble, Stumbleupon.com, Internet, Blogging, Blogs, Wikipedia

Sweet & Sparkly

I don't know about you, but making grand plans for New Year's Eve always seems to leave me a bit, well, limp. I hate spending a ton of money for mediocre meals and service from surly waiters who are pissed to be working that night. I hate trying to find cabs, and waiting in line trying to get a drink at whatever party I spent a mint to get in to, and most of all hate the melodrama that invariably plays out three feet away from me.

So for the past three years, I've been holding a late-starting party with lots of sweet treats, bubbly and cocktails. It's great because people can have dinner at their favorite restaurant and still make it over in time to "Auld Lang Syne" with friends and really, what more could you ask for?

Since I've been such a ('scuse my language) slack-ass when it comes to recipes lately, I thought I'd share one for a Coffee-Caramel Trifle that has made it into the annual rotation. However, despite the pleas I'm sure to get in that there comments section, I will NOT share the recipe for my Fleur de Sel brownies (aka "crack brownies", as Alder called them). Some things are just not meant for sharing