The menu, helmed my Colin Alevras, is very market driven and all the ingredients are supplied by local farmers "who take pride in raising their animals and vegetables carefully and responsibly." That is what is quoted on the bottom of the menu. You can also choose what type of portion you want for all dishes: a smaller portion being "Taste" or a larger portion being "Share". This is nice cause it gives the diner the opportunity to try a little bit of everything.
For starters we tried the Hen-of-the Woods Mushroom Salad, Duck & Pork Terrine, and Fresh Wild Abalone.
The Mushroom Salad came with carrots, dandelion, potatoes, and rye toast. It was excellent. The mushrooms and everything else on the plate tasted so fresh and delicious. I could eat this salad all the time!
The Duck & Pork terrine came with pickles, Colby Clothbound Cheddar, and pear mustard. This was also very good, and the mustard was the perfect compliment for the terrine. It gave it a nice little tang to the flavor.
The Abalone came with X.O. sauce, bacon, burdock, and cress. I have no idea what burdock or cress is (wait-Google says they are both leafy vegetables), but again the dish was very fresh and very tasty.
For entrees we had the Red Bream, Porcini Mushrooms, and Violet Hill Farm Mutton Loin.
The Red Bream came with leeks, jerusalem artichokes, chanterelles, and bush okra. It was an excellent fish dish. It had a crispy top and tender meat. It was just so clean, and fresh. I loved it!
The Porcini Mushrooms came with Rose Finn apple potatoes, carmelized onions and a coddled egg. Now, I would never think that you can have just a mushroom dish as an entree- but let me tell you, it can be done. This was a great dish. Chef Alevras does wonders with mushrooms. The flavors were amazing. Everything was perfectly seasoned, and this is another fresh dish I'd love to have all the time!
The Violet Hill Fam Muttoin Loin came with spinach, parsnip puree, and red onions. It was perfectly cooked and delicious. I loved how the mutton flavor and the parsnip puree went so well together.
For dessert we had the Butterscotch Pot de Creme with marcona almond biscotti and Hazlenut Semifreddo with cinnamon caramel sauce and a hazlenut cookie.
The Butterscotch Pot de Creme was fine. I didn't really taste too much butterscotch flavor, but I still enjoyed the dish. The Hazelnut Semifreddo was also very nice and enjoyable. I liked both desserts because neither were heavy, and they were a nice satisfying end to a great meal.
So, if you are looking for a restaurant where you can really taste how fresh all the ingredients are in each dish, and where the chef takes pride in all the ingredients used, The Tasting Room is the perfect spot. You will never look at mushrooms the same way again!
The Tasting Room
264 Elizabeth Street (at Houston St.)
New York, NY 10012
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( 3 / 608 )Monday night I ended up going to dinner at new celebrity "hot spot" The Waverly Inn. I was there a week before for a glass of wine, when 5 minutes after I ordered, P. Diddy and his girlfriend and bodyguard walked in, 5 minutes after that Ivanka Trump left, and 5 minutes after that Amy Poehler from SNL and her husband Will Arnett from Arrested Development had left. I knew this was the spot I belonged at. In fact I stayed after the place had closed and entertained the chef and hosts with some amazing magic.
It is a very cozy and quaint place. There is a nice bar area when you first walk in, with the dining area in the next room. I'm sure on any given day if you take a peak inside this room you will see various celebrities and "power" players dining on some good, satisfying food.
In fact, I was seated right next to the entryway, but the only celebrity I noticed was me. Well, actually later on in my meal I had a nice conversation with actress Erika Christensen, although I was wasted, so I don't exactly remember what I said.
Instead of bread to begin the meal my waiter brought me a basket of two biscuits and some creamy butter. These biscuits were excellent; soft, warm, and perfect. In fact they were the best biscuits I have ever had!
For my appetizer I tried the Tuna Tartare with avocado and dijon emulsion. It was excellent. Fresh with perfect flavor, and I even detected a slight hint of egg, which I thought was great.
For my entree I had the Braised Short Ribs with celery root puree. Now, short ribs are getting very popular on many menus around NYC, these were very good. Nice and tender and my celery root puree was the perfect compliment to the meat.
The only downside of the Waverly Inn was the end of the meal. For dessert I had the chocolate cake. It was boring and really not that good.
So, for some great celebrity sightings and very good satisfying food the Waverly Inn is a perfect little spot. Like I always tell people, biscuits and Diddy always make for a great meal.
The Waverly Inn
16 Bank St. (at Waverly Pl)
New York, NY 10014
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( 3 / 572 )Saturday night my sister and I went to an American restaurant in Tribeca called Devin Tavern. My first experience at Devin was a week before, when I had drinks with three pretty gals, and tried the chicken meatballs with mushroom & sweet pea ragout, and garlic toast. That appetizer was very good (the model I was sitting next to might have added to the experience as well) and the menu intrigued me, thus I knew I would return to try some other dishes.
The restaurant is a modernized tavern. It is rustic, yet new. It is very big with many different rooms separated by some walls with exposed brick. The dishes are very heavy and hearty, and I would not recommend coming here if you are a vegetarian or a light eater. It is very "wintery", and in fact I would never eat here during the summer.
There are many tables in the bar area and that is where my sister and I were seated. I suppose my celebrity status did not warrant us a seat in the formal dining room, away from the wine guzzlers, or it could have been cause I had made the reservation only 15 minutes in advance. In any case, we started with two cocktails ($12 each) from the very nice cocktail menu. I had their version of an Old-Fashioned and she had their Caipirinha. Both were good and hit the spot.
For starters, she had the Mushroom and Bone Marrow soup ($12). It was very good. The mushroom and marrow flavor was well balanced and complimented each other nicely. It was a great start for a cold night.
I had the Oysters Gratin ($12) with wellfleets, hollandaise, spinach and lardons. The oysters came on a bed of salt which I never had before, and it was fine. I was not sure if the oysters were supposed to be cold, warm, or hot. They were lukewarm. I saw no spinach and had no idea what a wellfleet was until I just googled it, and believe it is a type of oyster from Wellfleet, MA.
My sister had the Lobster Wellington ($39!) with fois gras,chanterelles, sweet peas, pearl onions, and lobster cream. She seemed to have enjoyed it. I tried a little of it, and thought it could use some more flavor and seasoning, but I did enjoy the lobster flavor.
I went with the Grilled Veal Sirloin ($38!) with sautéed chanterelles, crispy fingerlings, foie gras & ruby port reduction. It was a huge chunk of meat that had a nicely seasoned crispy top, and was well cooked. The reduction was nice, but I found the entire dish boring. The sad part is I saw no fois gras, which I would have said something to the waitress about, but out of hunger, I had ate most of the dish, before realizing what I thought was fois gras, was the chanterelles. Oops!
For dessert we tried the Chocolate Covered Potato Chips ($10). I heard about this dessert from my readings and really wanted to try them. They came with salted chips, candied nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate pistoles. I enjoyed this dessert because I thought the combination of saltiness and sweetness was perfect.
If you are looking for a very hearty meal it is a fine choice. But I do think it is somewhat overpriced and you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere.
In fact, if I were to ever come back to Devin Tavern, I would probably just get those chicken meatballs and the chocolate potato chips. Oh, and I'd make sure there is a model sitting next to me.
Devin Tavern
363 Greenwich Street (between Franklin and Harrison)
New York, NY 10013
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( 3.1 / 617 )Friday night I went to a Modern Greek restaurant called Parea in the Flatiron district. It's a big, sleek space, with a long communal table in the middle. This is where my dining companions and I sat.
I started with a popular Greek drink called Ouzo. It's basically like sambuca, which tastes like licorice. A glass with ice was brought with the ouzo which was about one and a half shots worth ($10). My first sip was smoothe, but it definitely needed some ice. After adding some ice, the drink got cloudy, and it was much better, and very nice.
We started with three Mezedes, which are family style appetizers meant to be shared.
The Crispy Pork with pistachio, roasted beets, and honey was very tasty although a bit too lukewarm for me.
The Crab Spanakopita, which is a Greek spinach pie was very nice too, but I tasted absolutley zero crab, which was very disappointing.
The standout of the Mezedes was the Grilled Octopus with black eyed peas and scallions. The octopus was grilled perfectly and had a wonderful flavor to it.
For my entree I had the Braised Lamb Shank with potato gnocchi and orange zest. The lamb was perfectly cooked, the meat fell right off the bone. The Orange zest broth was very good and soothing as well. Unfortunately the gnocchi was overcooked and rubbery, and was a disappointment.
My dining companions ordered the Hanger steak with greek fries and one of the fish dishes. I tried a little of both. They were both presented very clean and cooked well. The steak was tender and the greek fries were crispy. I enjoyed the addition of rosemary to them as well. The fish dish was fine, but quite boring. In fact none of the dishes truly blew me away, (which is fine.)Well, until we got to dessert.
For dessert we ordered the Greek donut holes with honey and sage tea. The donut holes were warm and sweet and came with a sweet dipping sauce we dipped them into. What truly blew my mind was the sage tea though. It perfectly complimented the donut holes and I thought it was ingenious. It was the perfect ending to a clean-cut, satisfying meal, with few surprises.
So, if you are in the Flatiron district of Manhattan and in the mood for some modern Greek cuisine, Parea would be a satisfying choice.
Parea
36 E. 20th Street (between Broadway and Park Avenue South)
New York, NY 10003
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( 3 / 545 )Sunday night I went with a gal to Falai. Falai is an Italian restaurant in the Lower East side I had heard great things about and have been wanting to go for a while. The chef/owner Iacopo Falai used to be the pastry chef at Le Cirque.
Falai is very white inside, in a charming manner, and not fancy at all. It felt very pleasant. The wine list has all Italian bottles, nothing less than $48. My dining companion and I shared a $60 bottle of wine from some part of Italy that was superb.
They gave us a salted square foccacia to start with, which seemed pretzel-like. It wasn't warm but it was nice. During the dinner there was also a guy walking around with various types of bread. We tried a few and all were very nice.
Our meal started with a fantastic amuse bouche of a curried ricotta ball with a squash soup poured over it. It was small, simple, and simply splendid. The perfect way to start the meal.
For an appetizer we shared Falai's take on a mushroom salad. It was three different types of mushrooms, all flavored differently and all delicately plated with different sauces underneath. It was such a unique dish. I was astonished how each mushroom not only tasted different, but their textures were all different as well. I truly loved this dish.
For entrees we shared the gnudi and venison loin. One great aspect I'd like to point out about Falai is that they split the entrees for two. So, instead of giving one bowl of the gnudi to me and a plate of venison to my companion, making us reach over and try each other's dishes; we both got a bowl of gnudi and we both got a plate of venison. I loved it.
Now, back to that gnudi. They were two green balls made of baby spinach and ricotta served in a butter and sage sauce. The gnudi were soft, fluffy, and purely delicate. The butter and sage at the bottom of the bowl was soothing. This was an amazing dish.
The venison loin came with a root vegetable called Salsify and a beet jam. It was perfectly cooked medium rare, tender and juicy. I liked it a lot.
For dessert we shared the passion fruit souffle. It had a crusty top with some powdered sugar, and our waiter pierced a hole in the middle with a spoon and poured the passion fruit sauce inside. The souffle was airy, and wasn't too heavy at all, which I truly enjoyed. The passion fruit wasn't too sweet and tasted great. The dish was orgasmic and unbelievable!
Too be honest, this was one of the great dining experiences of my life. It was all very delicate and precise, and I enjoyed every part of the meal. The service was nice as well. I think the superb wine helped a bit too, I cannot lie. I definitely plan on going back to Falai to indulge in another amazing experience. Or at least have another go with that souffle. You should too.
Falai
68 Clinton St. (at Rivington St.)
New York, NY 10002
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