Category Archives: New York City Manhattan

Sep5

Cake Boss Cafe (The Discovery Museum) 226 W. 44th. New York, NY

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When I heard that Buddy Valastro had opened up ‘Cake Boss Cafe’ in the Discovery Times Square Museum, I got even more excited to go see the Pompeii Exhibit that I’d been looking forward to for so long. Gabriel and I bought a ‘Living Social’ deal online for admission for 2 to the museum that conveniently came with a $10 coupon to the Cafe. Perfect!

After a couple of hours exploring the fascinating exhibit, we headed downstairs for some sweet treats. As you can see from this drool-worthy photo, we had reason to expect happy taste buds. Sadly, as you’ll soon read, looks can be deceiving. A long line of tourists wasn’t enough to stop us from our anticipated indulgence and neither were dirty tables and floors or a grumpy, unhelpful cashier. When we asked him if the desserts came in fresh every day, he simply muttered, “I don’t know, sometimes.” Umm, thanks.

$11.50 bought us 3 rainbow cakes (one of my all-time favorite baked goods) a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie. Pretty overpriced when we realized how totally gross everything was. $11.50 at the best bakery in Brooklyn can buy you a pound of amazing cookies and pastries, and would seriously have been money MUCH better spent…even when you consider that this was essentially free for us with our coupon.

I have a dear friend with outstanding taste who bought her wedding cake from Buddy’s Hoboken bakery, which is called Carlo’s Bake Shop. I do not doubt for one nanosecond that her cake was incredible. This is a woman who knows good food and definitely does her research. She would not, in a million years, buy a cake from someone other than the best.

That said, since I was going in with high expectations, this was a MAJOR disappointment. I do not think that Buddy, The ‘Cake Boss’ would want his name on this cafe at all if he knew how awfully he was being represented here.

I would have strongly preferred busting open a box of Entenmann’s, or even <shudder> Chips Ahoy, over this miserable excuse for a chocolate chip cookie. Under-cooked, and not in the good doughy way, this was just a total waste of calories. The rainbow cakes were so stale and dry that I could literally peel the ‘jelly’ layer off in one rubbery strip. I’ve had better at bad Bar Mitzvah dessert buffets. The brownie was crumbly, dry, and chemically. It honestly couldn’t hold a torch to a brownie sold at an elementary school bake sale that was made three nights before from a Duncan Hines mix by a couple of 8 year olds.

If I wasn’t so totally let down by this experience, I’d hop the next PATH train over to Hoboken just to see what Buddy’s fresh baked treats are really like. I think he does deserve a second chance given the rave reviews from my friend as well as because I really do enjoy his TLC reality show. I, however, just can’t fathom putting that much effort in. After all, it IS in New Jersey and that is quite a trek considering this pitiful experience. I worry that I’ll spend all that time on the train just for another crappy cookie and I simply can’t handle that. I am sorry to say that I take baked goods far too seriously to give the benefit of the doubt this time. Next time, I will just stick to the exhibit and take a little walk for my favorite chocolate cupcake instead at nearby Kyotofu. I highly suggest that you do the same. (Please see https://bigforkinmouth.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/kyotofu-705-9th-ave-new-york-ny/)

Photo courtesy of Gabriel Sanders: http://www.magicsandbox.com

Sep4

Ca Va Brasserie: 310 W. 44th st. New York, NY

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I had theater tickets for Friday night to go see Hair on Broadway with Gabriel, and decided to look around for a place nearby to have dinner. Since restaurant week was extended this summer, it was easy to find lots of options. As soon as I saw one of Todd English’s places within a block from the theater, the choice was made. I love all of his other restaurants and was excited to try this one.

When we got there we took in the large, open, modern setting, cool, dimly-lit, art-deco, light fixtures, a large fireplace and chic, upscale decor. We were seated right away at a small table on the side of restaurant and drink orders were taken. As we sipped our cocktails and looked over the menu, we saw that the restaurant week menu was not the same as the one posted on the website. We weren’t really thrilled about the options on it and decided instead to share 2 appetizers, 2 sides and a dessert. It was the perfect choice to make, still plenty of food, slightly less expensive and exactly what we wanted to eat.

First, a large loaf of crusty French bread and butter was brought out in a brown paper, bakery sleeve. Still warm from the oven, with a fluffy inside, it was wonderful and hard to not polish off in 10 seconds flat. When all 4 dishes came out very soon after, we were delighted with our varied choices and the fact that we’d ordered the perfect amount to make a dinner out of. My favorite dish was the grilled octopus. It was slightly caramelized and served over cannellini beans, patty pan squash and herbs. SO delicious. The texture of the octopus was a little chewy, as it should be, and the flavor really came through since it was so simply grilled. The fried oysters were prepared escargot style- and although they were drowning in a herb butter, they somehow had a lightness about them. They were served with a grilled piece of garlic bread that was so wonderful to mop the sauce up with. We decided to ask for more regular bread so that we could continue sopping it up until the plate was dry. The haricot vert with wax beans and roasted shallots was prepared simply, cooked al dente and served it’s purpose as the one vegetable on the table. Light, clean and crunchy, it was excellent alongside of the heavy other choices we’d made. The last side was the mac and cheese with truffles. This was the only one I was not impressed with, and by looking around at the tables around us, we could see it was one of the most popular items to order. The truffle flavor seemingly came from a powder, there were no slivered truffles to speak of, and the pasta itself tasted over-cooked and mushy to me. Although the cheese was gooey and stretchy, it didn’t add much flavor. Frankly, for a dish this indulgent, it simply wasn’t worth the fat and carbs to me.  It was much more impressive in it’s presentation- served in a small crock with a crusty, golden-browned top, than in it’s taste.

For dessert we ordered the milk chocolate gateau with caramel sauce and peanuts. Wow. This was amazing. Admittedly, I am a total sucker for chocolate desserts but this one was definitely a winner. With a glossy ganache, a chocolate cookie crust, a mousse-y interior, a topping of caramelized peanuts, a swirl of caramel around the outside and a scoop of the most perfect vanilla bean ice cream, this left nothing to want. I sipped my pink chamomile tea with honey and was pretty much transported to heaven.

Overall, this is another top-notch Todd English winner in my book. I would be happy to go back- especially given the hit-or-miss nature of dining options in the theater district. Bravo! Encore!

 *photos courtesy of Gabriel Sanders. http://www.magicsandbox.com
Aug8

Fulton: 205 E. 75th. New York, NY

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My dear friend Jamie will be looking after my pets when I go away in a few weeks. To thank him, I offered to treat him to a special ‘restaurant week’ dinner. We chose Fultons, a seafood restaurant on the Upper East Side near where we both live that I’ve been wanting to try for a while. For me, it’s really too cost prohibitive to go to without a great deal like the ‘restaurant week’ menu but this special enabled us to have 3 courses for $35- a wonderful way to experience a fantastic meal.

We started with dirty martinis (with extra olives for me), and some delicious bread and olive oil for dipping while we looked over the menu and decided what to order. Everything looked so good that we asked our waiter if they’d be willing to split plates for us so that we could try more dishes, and he was more than happy to accomodate. That made our choice much easier and we picked 2, 3 course meals to share and were able to order everything on the menu that we wanted. I LOVE when restaurants are willing to do this, as I’d always rather have more to taste in smaller portions rather than big plates of fewer choices.

Our 2 starters were both summer-y, light and farmer’s-market fresh. The chilled pea soup was topped with creme fraiche, pea shoots and lobster and was truly refreshing and bright. The arugula salad with pine nuts, fennel and shaved manchego was, for something so simple, absolutely wonderful and I wished I had more than my half of that dish.

For our entrees we had the striped bass with black eyed peas and fennel and the salmon with lentils and turnips. Both of the pieces of fish were cooked to perfection, seasoned minimally and accompanied by healthy, clean sides. These are the kind of dishes that fill you up, but leave you feeling comfortably satisfied, not weighed down. I was very impressed with both.

Our desserts were incredible. Although doughnuts have become a bit trite as the super-trendy dessert of the last couple of years, these were really special. Little cinnamon-y doughnut holes with 4 dipping sauces: raspberry, bavarian creme, chocolate chile, and espresso. Each sauce was even more wonderful than the next, my personal favorites being the espresso and the raspberry. The  chocolate pretzel cake was a flourless chocolate cake with a pretzel crust that melted in my mouth, served alongside a small scoop of exquisite peanut butter ice cream and a few candied peanuts. Wow. Both of these desserts were really outstanding and a beautiful final touch to an all-around impeccable meal.

As someone who dines out a lot, I would be comfortable saying that this was a stand-out meal as of late, and I’d absolutely recommend a visit if you’re looking to impress guests, parents, a date, or a friend. PLUS as we were leaving we were handed 2 small cookies wrapped up to go by the hostess. What a lovely finishing touch. Definite bonus points in my book. Bravo.

Aug6

Toscano’s: 1544 Second Ave. New York, NY

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I picked up a Groupon for $15 that was supposed to be good for a free large pizza, a salad (caesar or house) and 2 beverages for take out, dine in or delivery. When we arrived and showed the coupon to our waiter, we were informed that it was a mistake on Groupon’s part and was only supposed to be good for delivery. We expressed our aggravation and the waiter went to see what he and the manager could do about it. While he was checking, the best table in the restaurant (in the corner, by the open front window/walls) opened up and we re-seated ourselves there to wait for the verdict.

He came back a few minutes later with what we thought was pretty darn awesome news. They apparently don’t do large pizzas in-house, which was why the coupon was a problem, so instead they offered us a salad, a small pizza, 2 beverages AND an appetizer! Wow! To us, getting to try an extra dish was a total bonus, and we ended up really psyched about the mistake.

We started with some lovely foccacia, brought out in a basket with excellent olive oil and a swirl of balsamic vinegar. We also ordered 2 iced teas which were remarkably good- especially when the waiter took the extra time to hunt down some honey for us at our request. For our salad option we chose the house, which was mixed mesclun lettuce, grape tomatoes and red onions with a light balsamic vinaigrette. A nice first course to start out with; a fresh, clean, light beginning to the carb-y meal ahead.

Next, we ordered the special baked gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce for our appetizer. It came served atop some leafy greens that really helped to cut the heavy, richness of the dish. It was quite a treat, and tasted a lot more like fried cheese than gnocchi to me. Although it was baked, not fried, it had a crisp breaded crust on the outside that added a great consistency to the creamy inside. The sauce on top was creamy and decadent, and by the time we finished this and our salad we weren’t sure how much of our pizza we’d be able to eat.

I should mention that during each course, our extremely friendly, charismatic and attentive waiter stopped by to check on us, chat about how we were liking our meal, and make sure we had everything we needed. We soon found out that Chris is also a local realtor (which I will definitely keep in mind if I ever decide to leave my current apartment) as well as an opera singer. He’s not only a great server, but also a really fun and interesting guy- and if you’re lucky enough to sit at one of his tables, I’d highly suggest getting to know him a bit.

Our pizza arrived hot, melty and with a perfectly golden brown crust. The mozzarella, as Chris informed us, is handmade by the father of the owner with their old family recipe, and you can truly taste the love that goes into it. I adore family owned and operated businesses for the integrity and pride that is so clear in their service and food, and this was no exception. The pizza was delicious, not at all greasy or over-seasoned. It was made just right, with fresh tomato sauce, arugula and grilled chicken and of course, the wonderful mozzarella. Even though we’d predicted we’d surely be taking some home, we cleaned the plate and felt happily full and satisfied afterwards. We did not have that over-stuffed feeling you get when you’ve just polished off a typical NY Pizza. No, this was not grab & fold pizza at all, this was real food.

At the end of our meal when Chris came to check on us a final time, I introduced myself to him and gave him my Carey’s Culinary Adventures card. They’ve only been open for a month or so, and I figured they’d appreciate knowing that I’d be putting some nice words up about them. As a gesture of gratitude, Chris brought over 2 glasses of Chianti for Gabriel and I to sip, and I thought it was a very sweet way to end a great experience. Thanks Chris! There is no question that I’ll be back to try more of their offerings. They had quite an extensive and appealing menu and are apparently adding more to it over the next few weeks. Although we had a fantastic coupon this time, and felt like we’d just polished off about $75 worth of food and drinks for a mere $15, I would be more than happy to pay full price for food this good and service this entertaining. Welcome to the neighborhood Toscano’s!

 *photos courtesy of Gabriel Sanders. http://www.magicsandbox.com/enter/Magic_Sandbox.html
Aug2

City Crab & Seafood Company: 235 Park Ave S. New York, NY

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After a walk on the Highline, (if you haven’t done that yet, I strongly recommend checking it out.) Gabriel and I decided that we were hungry for some seafood. We’d been meaning to go to City Crab for a while as it’s one of his favorites, and tonight was a great opportunity to wander over there for a late night dinner. We arrived around 9:30 on a Monday night and it was pretty close to empty with just a few other tables of patrons. We were seated at a booth towards the back, and fresh bread/butter and water was brought out right away.

After looking over the menu, we chose 3 appetizers to share so that we could get a little sampling of what they had to offer. The steamers were in a light garlic-y broth, fresh, hot and quite delicious. The buffalo shrimp were huge, spicy, with a side of tangy blue cheese dressing and a few carrot sticks and celery stalks. Although buffalo isn’t my favorite flavor, these were actually pretty tasty. The sloppiness of eating them however, made me leave the tails on the plate rather than trying to excavate through the mess to get to the remaining meat in there, but Gabriel was more than happy to finish mine. The iceberg wedge was covered in awesome bits of crumbly blue cheese, perfectly juicy and ripe tomatoes and crisp pieces of smoky bacon. With a side of a creamy balsamic vinegar dressing, this was a perfect summer salad, albeit a bit unoriginal, and I really enjoyed it.

For dessert, even though we were really perfectly full and didn’t really *need* anything else, we opted to split the Oreo ice cream cake and I was glad we did. I didn’t love the strawberry sauce drizzled over it, but the cake itself was that great, slightly-soggy consistency that Oreos get when dunked in milk. Yum! The ice cream was creamy and refreshing, and the crumbles on top were crunchy and chocolate-y. This was a great ending to a really nice meal.

Although it wasn’t the best seafood I’ve had in the city, I really loved the super casual atmosphere, low-key vibe and fast service. The prices seemed kind of high to me, but the whole menu was appealing and for that reason I will most likely go back.

 

 *photos courtesy of Gabriel Sanders. http://www.magicsandbox.com/enter/Magic_Sandbox.html
Jul21

Lure Fishbar: 142 Mercer St. New York, NY

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After my CD release gig at the Bitter End (shameless plug: http://www.cdbaby.com/careyyaruss2) Gabriel and I decided to go celebrate with a cocktail and some seafood at Lure. I’d been there a few times for their $1 oyster happy hour, but never for anything else. We arrived to a full restaurant and were seated in a quiet, corner booth relatively quickly- just as soon as they could clear and re-set the table for us. No one gave us weirdo looks when we decided to sit on the same side next to each other. I often prefer ‘next to’ instead of ‘across from’, and I appreciated that they had actually set the table that way for us.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that they were participating in restaurant week- my favorite NYC ‘holiday’ (which has apparently been extended into restaurant SUMMER and is continuing through the beginning of September!!! OH HAPPY NEWS!) where 3 course lunches are $25 and 3 course dinners are $35 at a ton of the city’s restaurants. Since it was late and we didn’t want to stuff ourselves, we decided to order drinks, one prix fixe meal to share and a side of garlic spinach.

I had a strawberry/basil martini and it was STRONG. Then again, I was drinking on a mostly empty stomach. I intended to wait until I’d eaten a little bit before having a second sip. It was so delicious though, that I continued sipping on it before the food arrived. I can safely say that one cocktail was plenty for me.

We started with a raw bar sampler which included 2 each of shrimp, blue point oysters and kumamoto oysters. All were succulent and with a squeeze of lemon hardly needed any of the vinaigrette or cocktail sauce that sat next to them on the platter. There was also a tartar sauce flavored with lemon and horseradish that was tasty, but I skipped it so as to taste the purity of the fresh seafood. Our main course was the sushi sampler, 8 pieces of sushi and one salmon/avocado roll. I have to comment on the awesome ginger that came with this. It wasn’t the standard ginger, but a little bit thicker cut, fresher, and much more flavorful than most. We finished all of it before we even finished the sushi- which was also excellent. The spinach was a great accompaniment to our meal- even though It didn’t really go with it. We wanted a little something green and it was garlickylicious and cooked perfectly- not at all soggy or buttery, just fresh and wonderful.

For dessert we had the warm chocolate cake with salted caramel ice cream and popcorn brittle. Now I personally don’t care at all that little, plain, round, warm, melty, chocolate cakes are no longer considered hip or cool enough to be at fine restaurants. Apparently, they are oh-so 90’s ,but as far as I’m concerned, that is just snobby bullshit. It’s a perfectly delicious piece of heaven. How can that possibly go out of style? I guess they add the trendy salted caramel ice cream as a more current touch, and it certainly was tasty- but as far as I’m concerned, warm, melty, chocolate things are always fine by me, with or without of-the-moment ice creams. Aside our cake sat the most decadent piece of dark chocolate, with ‘congratulations’ written on the top. Our waitress was rather awesome and sweet- giving me a big, heart-felt congratulations and asking me about my music. I was really touched that she was interested. How thoughtful is my awesome boyfriend to have mentioned to the waitress that it was a special night for me? Very very sweet. Just like my yummy dessert.

 *photos courtesy of Gabriel Sanders. http://www.magicsandbox.com/enter/Magic_Sandbox.html (except for 
the one of both of us that our lovely waitress took)
Jul18

Momofuku Milk Bar: 251 E. 13th St. New York, NY

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I read a few rave reviews about Momofuku Milk Bar a couple of years ago and up until today, it seemed like every single time I passed by it, I had *just* finished eating and was too full to try anything. Today was different, having come from a running coaching session, and I was excited to have a cookie and a little taste of the cereal milk soft serve I’d heard such good things about.

I have to say, as someone who is almost always thrilled with any sugary tastings, I was less than impressed today. The cereal milk ice cream, while it WAS nice and cold on a very hot day, and it DID really bring me back to the days of savoring that delicious leftover milk in the bowl after breakfast, was only eh. More icy than creamy, and a little too sweet- even for me. I’m guessing this one is much better if you’re a local NYU stoner than a 34 year old without a munchees-induced palette. The cookie was also only eh. This blueberries & cream cookie was suggested by the baker on site as her favorite one. The dried blueberries had a nice chewy consistency, and the small pieces of white chocolate were pretty good in their slightly caramelized state, the cookie itself was the perfect stage of just barely finished baking, with a soft inside and a slightly crisp outer edge, but overall it really didn’t blow me away for some reason. Maybe it was simply because white chocolate never seems quite as wonderful as dark or milk chocolate to me. Maybe because before I asked for a suggestion, I was really more drawn to trying the marshmallow and chocolate one. Or maybe just because it was only an okay cookie.

Oh well, sometimes I guess when you wait long enough and hear so much hype about a place, it’s only natural that there might be a little disappointment.

Jul11

EATS on Lexington: 1055 Lexington Ave. NY, NY

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Another ‘Scoop St.’ deal bought, and this one was a real winner! This is in a location that had been empty for a long time and I’d walked past a few times since it opened a couple of months ago. It’s right near the 77th st. subway which makes it a super convenient meeting spot. Although we had reservations, it was fairly quiet for a Saturday night and we got the best table in the place with no problem. I suppose that opening a restaurant on the Upper East Side (where a lot of the locals vanish to the Hamptons) in the middle of the summer makes it very tough to gain a new following, and they were really smart to use Scoop St. to try to bring new people in.

I have to take a second to rave about our server. Laisla (I’m probably spelling that wrong) was truly outstanding and seriously enhanced our experience. She clearly likes working here and had no problem getting genuinely excited telling us about her favorite dishes. Super friendly and charismatic, even if the food HADN’T been great, I’d almost consider going back just to be entertained by her again…but the bonus is, the food WAS great!

We had a deal where we got a martini, a burger, fries, and 6 oysters each for $22. SCORE. (normally double that price) The oysters were our choice of 2 east coast selections and they were freshly shucked and fantastic. The only thing I didn’t love was that each one sat on a bed of salt instead of the usual bed of ice. This added a salty slurp to each one that was unnecessary and a bit overpowering. The burger was AWESOME with caramelized onions and american cheese. I would have liked some other fancier cheese options- maybe gruyere or blue, but it was really excellent just the way it was…except maybe a little closer to medium-well than the medium I’d ordered. The fries, which were perfectly crispy when they came out well-done as requested, were impossible to not finish. The martini pretty much got me drunkity drunk drunk after 3 sips and the extra olives were super enjoyable once they’d soaked up the vodka.

The only disappoint was our dessert, the homemade marshmallow s’mores. Although the marshmallow looked beautiful, it was not hot and melty. The chocolate component was really more of a liquidy sauce than a melted chocolate bar. The one piece of graham cracker was store-bought, not made fresh. I would have been happier with a hershey bar and jet puffs…In her defense though, Laisla had not recommended this one- she gushed about the tres leches cheesecake, and had we not already been stuffed, we would have listened to her. Next time Laisla, next time.

 

*photos courtesy of Gabriel Sanders. http://www.magicsandbox.com/enter/Magic_Sandbox.html

Jul11

Maui Tacos: 330 5th ave. NY NY

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This was a pretty good choice for a snack for my boyfriend and I in a touristy, crowded area. It was empty, air conditioned, and relatively cheap, which at the time was pretty much enough to make me happy. When we saw the salsa bar with tons of choices (including a pineapple one that I especially liked) AND fresh cilantro (my favorite herb) I was sold. I ordered the marinated fish tacos and I have to say, they were better than I expected. This is a order-at-the-counter place, but it was a nice touch that they actually bring your tray of food over when it’s ready. I went over to the salsa bar and enjoyed filling many little cups with the various sauces and toppings. The white fish was grilled, not fried and shared the soft taco shell with fresh cabbage, cilantro and a mayo-y sauce that I could have gone without. It sat on top of some soggy yellow rice (not worth it) and black beans (a little salty but okay). This ended up being a lot more filling than a little snack, and was actually a pretty decent lunch. If I’m in the area, I ‘d probably return there.

 

*photos courtesy of Gabriel Sanders. http://www.magicsandbox.com/enter/Magic_Sandbox.html

Jun30

Wild Edibles, 535 3rd ave, NY, NY

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My dear friend and I bought a $60-of-food/drink-for-$30 deal on yelp.com and were really excited to go eat oysters to our hearts content. We had discussed buying 2 of the deals, but settled on one. Looking back, we should have gone for both…It was rather easy to eat and drink $120 worth there. We did notice a sign saying that from 12-6 every day they have $1 oysters at the bar and we made a mental note to return for that sometime.

When we arrived, we took in the bare-bones seafood market atmosphere, with tables so close together that they were essentially all connected and had to be pulled out to allow a person to squeeze into the wall-side seats. Nothing fancy here, but the freshest, most outstanding seafood and casual, friendly service. I love this kind of vibe in a restaurant. Nothing pretentious, no frills, no hype, just quality food.

We each had a glass of wine and some of the delicious bread while we figured out what to order. We decided to start with an array of 2 each of 6 different types of east coast oysters. Both of us prefer the sweet, juicy types over the briny (as Betsy would say “the-I-just-swallowed-a huge-mouthful-of-ocean-water type) so we stuck to those that had descriptions of lettuce-y, light , mild, clean, flavors. They arrived on the classic bed of shaved ice and with lemon, cocktail sauce and a vinaigrette. We slurped those babies down so fast that it surprised even me, and we went right ahead and ordered 12 more. This time we stuck to our 6 each of our 2 favs from the previous platter: the Blue Points and the Beau Soleils. The funny thing about oysters is that they fill a platter, but in reality they are really kinda small and not filling, so even after we’d each polished off a dozen, we were still hungry. We shared a field green salad that was kinda boring, but at least something green. Then we ordered the calamari- which was really fantastic with a light, crunchy batter and 2 kicky sauces. If our bill wasn’t already creeping up toward the roof, I think we could have easily ordered another dozen oysters but alas, you have to stop at some point.

I’ll be back for sure! Most likely to try some of the other offerings…the tables next to ours were enjoying their tuna tartare, grilled fish, mussels, lobster rolls and pasta dishes immensely and I got the feeling that you can’t really go wrong with anything on the menu. As we chatted with our waiter we learned that  they are the distributors for over 500 restaurants in the NYC area, and it’s no wonder why. Really top-notch seafood. Give them a shot.