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My grandmother asked me to bring almond macaroons to our recent Passover dinner. This sent me in a tailspin searching high and low around Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, but much to my dismay, the only place I found them did NOT have kosher-for-passover ones. I personally love the coconut ones, but when Grandma asks for something specific, we do not argue. How funny is it that I finally wound up finding them oh, about 10 minutes away from my house. Why I didn’t check FIRST at this upper east side Jewish owned legendary bakery is beyond me. Apparently, I much prefer wild goose chases around the NYC boroughs. Anyway, (and we will just look away from the fact that they wound up costing me $28 for ONE lb of cookies) they were absolutely outstanding. Slightly chewy without actually sticking to your teeth. Deliciously and naturally flavored with almond paste. Yum yum yum. I made it a point to go back the following week to treat myself to their famous black & white cookies- which were every bit as wonderful as the reviews around here have built them up to be. It was then that I found out what I’ve been searching to discover for oh, about 3 years now. THIS is the bakery that supplies Agata & Valentina AND orwashers with the most amazing rainbow cookies/rainbow cakes I’ve ever had. I am ALWAYS on a mission to find the best ones in the world and will pretty much always buy one to try where ever I see them sold. (unless they have sprinkles on top, which automatically gets them black-listed in my book) Well, let me just start to explain why these are SO far above any others I’ve tried. In between each layer of colorful cake, there is a layer of jam- apricot and/or raspberry. The cookies are tops with thin layers of dark chocolate. So far, I have not told you why these are any different from anyone else’s….but here I go. THESE amazing rainbow cookies put an extra surprise layer of marzipan between each layer of cake and jam and OMG OMG OMG it takes them to a place that is out of this world incredible. Please go visit this awesome bakery, spend too much money on too much sugar and then send me a thank you note for making you drool. If you want, you can come running with me afterwards so that you don’t feel so guilty. That’s what I do.

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My mom and I had just finished an awful dinner a few doors up the street and decided to treat ourselves to some yummy after-dinner treats here. We had 30 minutes to kill before theater so we went in for dessert and cappuccinos. As soon as we saw profiteroles on the menu, we knew what we wanted. They were fantastic in every sense, if not maybe just a little on the small side. The pastry was puffed and light, and the gelato inside was a subtle coconut flavor. They had poured warm caramel and chocolate sauce over the top, which pretty much perfected the dish. Our cappuccinos came in cute mugs that fit perfectly in our palms and we enjoyed the extra frothy top quite a bit. The clientele was obviously of a much higher class than the tourist trap we mistakenly ate our dinner at. Oh well, lesson learned. Next time we will definitely come here to enjoy our dinner AND our dessert.

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You’d think that maybe the fact that we were at a Brazilian restaurant, but seeing things like caesar salad and risotto on the menu would have tipped us off that we could probably find somewhere better to eat, but sadly no. We went in. We did get the outdoor table we requested, seated next to an arrangement of dusty, tacky, pastel, fake flowers on a wire pushcart. The paper tablecloth on our table was marked with the drinks of the previous diners, but did that bother us, nahhhh. We had food on our minds and could overlook stuff like that for the time being. The walls were painted a horrific shade of salmon, but still, we kept our hopes high that perhaps we would be pleasantly surprised. After all, the place was packed- with a line of people outside waiting for tables to open up.
A basket of italian bread was left for us by our gruff waiter, who pretty much just walked away when we said we’d just stick with tap water. He came back to take our orders a little while later – a goat cheese salad to share, a glass of sangria (which, incidentally wound up being the ONE remotely Brazilian thing on our table) Pasta primavera for my mother and grilled tilapia with vegetables for me. Mysteriously, on the side of my fish sat a weird pile of chickpeas and alfafa sprouts. Is THAT supposed to be Brazilian? I’m so confused. So, okay, the food was boring, but not terrible. Definitely not Brazilian though. But wait! Is it perhaps Brazilian to add some chef’s hair to the broccoli? AH! That must be it! Actually. No. I don’t think ANYTHING can justify or explain that. It’s just F-ing GROSS. When I told the waiter about it, he simply took the plate away. No “I’m so sorry.” No “Is there possibly anything else that I can bring for you?” Nope. No words at all. He did however, not charge us for the hairy broccoli, so I guess that’s a plus.
Going to theater? Eat ANYWHERE else.

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I had dinner here a few nights ago with my mother and was very pleased. I had 6 delicious oysters and the iceberg wedge. Let’s face it. No one orders an iceberg wedge thinking that it’s a healthy salad option. This kind of lettuce is pretty much devoid of any nutritional benefits whatsoever, BUT it DOES serve as wonderful platform to put all kinds of unhealthy yet delicious foods atop. I was pretty much in heaven eating my crunchy, refreshing ‘salad’ topped with blue cheese, bacon crumbles and tomatos. Deeeeelicious. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have some romaine.

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I love getting fruit smoothie drinks here after a good run. The no fat no sugar muffins taste indulgent even though they aren’t even cheating.
The breakfast wrap with soy-cream cheese, dried fruit and granola on whole wheat is fantastic too. The hot food selection always looks healthy, and yummy.
The only negative is that the sitting area is tiny- and usually you have to wait for someone to get up if you want to sit down.

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I heard about this truck a few months ago and opted to sign up on their email notification list…Finally, today, for the very first time, my schedule put me a mere 3 blocks from where the truck was parked. OHboyohboyohboy. I knew I had built it up to a very unfair expectation status. INCREDIBLE. How was I to know that it would exceed even MY ridiculously set standards. Fantastic warm, fluffy, inviting baked goods, with a fantastic warm, fluffy , inviting owner/operator/baker entrepenuer. It’s true- she does give lots of free samples- and she does it happily. I think it truly pleases her to see people enjoying her creations. ..Well, it does work very well to keep people coming back and buying more and more too. I’ll be back for sure.
Go, enjoy!

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Not only are the people who work there unusually friendly and knowledgable, the pastries, soups and empanadas are fantastic. I especially like the mini-soup/empanada or soup/sandwich lunch special..Serious bang for the buck- and it feels a little bit like one of those treasures that only a few know about. I LOVE the cucumber/dill yogurt soup and a lemonade for lunch on a hot day. If you need a little something sweet after, you really can’t go wrong with any of the delicious cookies or cakes. The only tiny negative is that the empanadas get heated up in the microwave..They are much better if you get one to go and heat it up in your oven. Great little neighborhood spot.

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This is my favorite ‘healthy’ pizza place. They deliver so fast it makes you wonder if someone else called your order in before you did it yourself. I swear. It seems like my buzzer buzzes the second I hang up my phone to place an order. Try the clam pizza. Try the artichoke/chicken one. Try them all, they are fantabulous.
Oh, and the woman who answers the phone is so very pleasant which makes it even better.

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Tastes good, but it’s ridiculously overpriced for what it is…I had two slices and a small salad delivered, and including a tip, it came out to $19.00!!! Crazy, huh? Try Pintailes instead..Better pizza, still healthy and not greasy, better toppings, better salads and a much more reasonable price. They also are faster deliverers…It always seems like as soon as I hang up the phone, they buzz me with my dinner. Yum.

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The brunch here is excellent. If you come with a big appetite, you can definately get your money’s worth with the unlimited salad barrel. It’s not your typical salad bar at all. A huge array of all different salads, wings and other pretty things. Otherwise, it’s kinda overpriced. I had a great omelette with homefries and my friend had eggs benedict. We both had coffee and fresh juice (strawberry/orange!). They DO give you a lovely bread basket with delicious jam. The total was about $50 including a tip…kinda pricey for brunch in a very bare-bones factory setting. They were very patient though, and even though they were attentive with coffee and plate-clearing, they didn’t rush us at all and we stayed and chatted for almost an hour after we finished eating.