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 It’s true. I rarely venture downtown much anymore unless I’m meeting someone or I have a gig. Well, luckily for me today the friend I was meeting suggested this great lower east side brunch spot. I read up online a bit, and it was clear that I may as well get my long run in early to offset the amount of carbs I was about to consume. The french toast was reviewed glowingly by so many people that I was sure it’s what I’d be ordering.
We were seated immediately and ordered lattes that turned out to be really excellent and beautiful. We shared the beets and avocado appetizer which was quite tasty, but not terribly exciting.  The French toast, on the other hand, was definitely noteworthy. Wow. Dare I say the BEST French toast I’ve ever had? Why yes, I do dare. Freshly made with bread from Grandaisy bakery did not leave anything else to be desired. Perfectly crisp on the outside and decadently eggy and sweet on the inside. A light maple syrup and a dusting of confectioner’s sugar finished it beautifully, as did the few pieces of fruit who’s purpose was clearly to ease the indulgent guilt of eating sugary bread for a meal. I was completely stuffed to the brim after only one piece and am rather excited to have the other half for a midnight snack tonight or for breakfast tomorrow.
I surprised even myself by being too full to order my own dessert, but of course I DID manage to find enough room to taste my friend’s red-wine prunes and marscapone, a dessert that really wouldn’t have appealed to me at all (what with the absence of chocolate), but was surprisingly good. The creamy marscapone was so buttery and rich that the wine-soaked prunes actually cut it with their rich, juicy, sweet flavor. Overall, Frankie’s 17 was definitely worth the bus ride down and I would strongly recommend it if you are in the area.

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 My mom and I were walking in the area so we went in to have lunch. She had an omelet that came with a small fields greens salad. I had a shrimp salad with field greens. We both had a lemonade. My mom had a cup of coffee. Not a latte, not a cappuccino, a simple cup of coffee that was FIVE BUCKS. Ridic. With tip, our grand total was $70. Ummm what you ask? Did I read that right? Yes you did. I said SEVENTY DOLLARS! I find that completely and totally appalling. We could have gone for a prix fix lunch at a fancy restaurant for the same cost. Seriously E.A.T? You are basically a casual diner-type place in a semi-fancy area so you think you are justified for this kind of pricing? REALLY? Wow. I guess a lot of the folks who live in the area don’t even bother looking at the check before they pay it, which is the only
                          explanation I have for the fact that this place is always busy. As far as I’m concerned, I will never go in again.
Don’t get me wrong, the food was tasty. The service was attentive and fast. But the price? Ohhhhh the price. Unforgivable. It’s places like this that give Upper East Siders like me a bad name and I do not appreciate it. Boooo E.A.T. Boooooo. You get one star. I kind of wish the food wasn’t good so I could give you zero.

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When V-note first opened in my neighborhood and I found out that it was the same owners as Blossom Cafe on the
UWS, I wasn’t really all that interested in trying it. (See my review of Cafe Blossom Here: http://careysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2010/04/cafe-blossom-466-columbus-ave-new-york.html)
When I saw a Groupon for $30 worth of food for $15, I decided that maybe it was worth a try after all. The decor was totally appealing with sexy black lacquer walls, white leather banquettes and modern throw pillows. I pass by frequently and often see good crowds dining there late in the evening.
My friend and I headed over for a late lunch today and were 1 of 2 full tables which ended up meaning really attentive service. Our waiter was friendly and made some great recommendations for us. Even though I didn’t adore the burger at Blossom, I decided to give it another try here since it’s still the most popular dish. Well, I am so glad that I have my ‘try everything twice rule’ because this time, I was completely blown away. The soy cheese was crispy on the outside, but gooey and melty inside. The soy burger and soy bacon were both hearty, earthy, and really delicious. The bacon had a shockingly ‘real’ crispness to it and could hardly tell the difference. How do they do that? The caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms and chipotle aioli topped it off beautifully and even though I was stuffed after half, I managed to find room for another few bites. My friend got the sweet potato fries and I got the side salad and both were perfect accompaniments to the burger.
For dessert I just had to try the chocolate ganache cake with peanut butter. It was ridiculous. (Ridiculously good) I couldn’t believe that something dairy free could be this rich. If I could afford to eat out everyday, I think I could really do the vegan thing after all. I’m so glad I gave this place a try and I will definitely be back with my veggie friends!

>My CD of original music called Blurt is officially released and available for sale on Cdbaby.com today! It will be up on Itunes and other digital download sites in a couple of days.
Buy it here!
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/careyyaruss2
Thanks for your support.
The more I sell, the more great restaurants I can afford to blog about!
What a win win situation.
😉

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My mom used to make something like this for me when I was a kid and It’s still one of my favorite go-to dinners. Loaded with veggies, it’s a great way to get a ton of nutrients in one meal. It’s grown up slightly, with whole wheat penne and chopped peperoncini, but for the most part it’s still a comfort food for me. This version is super healthy; using cooking spray instead of oil, way more veggies than pasta and just a finishing sprinkle of Parmesan. You can feel free to vary the veggies, but this is my favorite combo.
Prep all of your ingredients first. Cook the pasta while you do the following.
Spray a pan with cooking spray and saute some minced fresh garlic and shallots. Add mushrooms, carrots, brussels sprouts and yellow squash and continue sauteing, add in shredded radicchio and toss a couple of times. Stir in chopped sun-dried tomatos and chopped peperoncinis. Add 1/4 cup of white wine and half a cup of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally as the liquid evaporates. When the brussels sprouts are tender, add the drained pasta and toss. Top with shredded Parmesan and enjoy!

>Fresh Direct was having a great sale on fresh mussels so I ordered some to make for dinner tonight. They came out perfectly. Light but very flavorful, super easy and fast to cook.  Here’s the concept:
Scrub a lb of mussels and throw away any opened ones that don’t close when you tap them. Heat up a little olive oil in a big cast iron skillet. Add some whole cloves of garlic (I used 6 cloves). Add some chopped grape tomatoes. Add some fresh or dried oregano. Saute that for a few minutes and then deglaze with a few tablespoons of lemon juice. Add about a cup of chicken broth and a half cup of white wine. Bring it to a boil, back down to a simmer and then cover with a lid for 5 minutes or
until the mussels are all opened.
I happened to have some sweet potato fries that I made a while ago in my freezer so I had those on the side with a lovely salad. It was pretty much a PERFECT dinner, and thanks to the sale at Fresh Direct, the whole thing cost me about $3.

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I bought a ‘Pay $25 for $50 worth of food/drinks’ coupon online for this restaurant and asked my dining pal to meet me for lunch. When I arrived, there was literally no one there except 2 people eating sandwiches. No one at the bar. No one at the hostess stand. No one. I waited for about 5 minutes and eventually the adorable bartender came out to seat me. After finding out how bad he is at his job, his adorableness faded pretty quickly. Harsh? Yes, but also true. He offered me a taste of red wine while I waited for my friend, which I accepted happily. That was pretty much the end of his attentiveness. For the rest of the meal, we had to constantly remind him that we’d ordered a glass of wine, a cocktail, an appetizer or a cappuccino. He hung out behind the bar ignoring us and the 2 other tables that now had people at them, texting on his iphone like a 16 year old at the diner table.
It quickly became clear that this restaurant probably offered the 50% off coupon because they are in grave danger of going out of business. They were out of about 6 items on the menu and apparently, as our waiter informed us, that’s very common.  We decided to share the sliders and the spinach/artichoke dip. The dip was actually surprisingly good, with big chunks of artichoke and not too much goo. The pita was fresh and warm and perfect to stuff with the dip. The sliders were ‘eh’. Fine, but certainly not worth any real praise. When we asked about dessert, we were told all they had was apple pie which we passed up, but 5 minutes later the next table over had a chocolate mousse. Hmmm. Weird. Anyway, the best part of our meal was actually the cappuccino at the end. Maybe because it was really a good one, but more likely it was because it signified the end of a not very good meal. Without the coupon and plus tip, this would have cost us about $55. Given the whole experience however, it wasn’t even worth the 50%.