Author: eatwellslivewells

May 19, 2009

Lurker W made some pretty good whoopie pies on Sunday. If you’re lucky enough to find his Whoopie Truck around Manhattan, buy a dozen. You won’t be disappointed.

Lunch – Pizzeria Mozza – tricolore salad, sausage pizza and homemade gelato (mint chip, mixed berries and espresso)

Dinner: The Whisper Lounge

Day 3.

Lunch: Kiriko – Omakase – red snapper, blue fin tuna, smoked salmon with caviar, seared golden eye snapper, fresh scallop, Spanish makerel, sea eel, bonito, seared fatty tuna, and blue crab hand roll.

Dinner: AOC – prosciutto americano la quercia; beets burrata, local walnunts and balsamic salad; arroz negro with squid and saffron aïoli; cheese plate with tomme d’aydius pyrennees france (goat) ; der scharffe maxx hefenhofen switzerland (cow) and bleu des causses midi-pyrenees france (blue).- also tasted skirt steak with roquefort butter and crispy onions; cauliflower curry and red vinegar and crushed fingerlings with crème fraîche.

Day 2.

Lunch: Pizzeria Mozza – Asparagus al forno ; Bianca pizza

Dinner: The Grill on the Alley – Roasted Sea Bass ; mountain of fried onions and potatoes

Day 1.

Lunch : In-N-Out Burger – Double Animal with fries

Dinner: Jar (For Mozzarella Monday ) – mozzarella & prosciutto sandwich; buratta and roasted asparagus, spicy fired egg.

April 25, 2009

We went to Spumoni Gardens on Saturday. The Brooklyn institution is located on 86th Street, between Stillwell and Avenue U, in the Bensonhurst / Gravesend neighborhoods. After pizza and of course spumoni ice cream, we made a quick stop at Alba pastry shop on 18th Avenue for a lobster tail. Fuggedaboutit.

April 4, 2009

A quick walking tour of the East Village:

1. fresh tacos at Zaragoza
2. Ruben’s Empanadas
3. Dumpling Man

Barcelona Trip Report – Day 1

Ciutat Comdal Cerveseria – Ramblas de Catalunya 18

Feeling the effects of my flight, I stay close to my hotel for dinner. I come across Ciutat Comdal Cerveseria which I have read about as I researced restaurants. The place is lively, full and just as billed. I order a Pilsner Urquell as I look through the menu. I decide on a montadito of serrano ham, calamares romana, sepietes planxa and esparagos trigueros. I enjoy the baby squid with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and the crunchy grilled green asparagus. I will have to remember that that anything cooked “romana” will be fried. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.

Barcelona Trip Report – Day 1
Taller de Tapas – Ramblas de Catalunya 49-51

My first day in Barcelona and following a trip to La Sagrada Familia I head to an outpost of the heralded tapas joint Taller de Tapas on the Ramblas de Catalunya for a late lunch. I start with an order of pa amb tomaquet (tomato bread) and pernil serra (serrano ham). The ham is a good accompaniment to the tomato pulp, olive oil and sea salt covered grilled bread. I follow up with bunyols bacalla (salt cod fritters) and sepietes planxa (squid). The fritters were perfectly fried and quite delicious. I washed everything down with a few San Miguel beers. All in all a perfect start to my culinary excursion.

March 26, 2009
Boca Muse is one whacky place. Formerly an English-style pub, its now part pub, part restaurant, part cafe, part lounge. Apparently many of the employees of the nearby restaurants have made it their regular hang out. The wine list was actually a collection of reviews, some with ‘suggested retail prices’ but none of the actual retail prices. Instead of selecting a wine from the list, we were asked to just tell the waitress what were looking for and she would make some suggestions. We just looked in their wine refrigerator and finally found a reasonably priced 2006 Sancerre. After being told everything was on the menu, including the ‘too big for one’ empanadas, we found out they were in fact out of empanadas. Despite all the whackiness, we found the food to be pretty good. We had ‘mac-n-cheese’ (this was OK but nothing special); quesadillas, a small tomato basil pizza, grilled cheeses with pesto, a blt sandwich on multigrain bread, fish tacos, and a delicious crab cake. For dessert, we had a ‘smores cheese cake. A real good time was had by all.