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This is a beautiful gourmet grocery store that has recently upgraded and expanded their cafe, even adding outdoor seating. I shop here once in a while, mostly for the rubbing-elbows-with-upper-east-siders-experience and excellent customer service- but not for the outrageously high prices or crowded aisles. I sometimes go in for produce, some cheese and a piece of fresh fish, and walk out $50 later wondering where my money went.
The cafe however, seems to be from another world. The prices are totally reasonable, the service is super fast, and you can always get a seat inside or at the new outside tables. My lunch today was a delicious prosciutto, mozzarella, roasted red pepper, arugula sandwich on amazingly fresh baguette with a balsamic vinaigrette. The ratios of meat to cheese to bread were spot-on and the quality of the ingredients were superb. I had a peach ice tea to drink that was SO fruitylicious- not a chemically note to be found (like some other mainstream brands). This lovely lunch cost me around $8 and was worth every fairly-priced cent. I will definitely stop in more often now that I know what a perfect meal I can get there when time is an issue. It’s only about 2 blocks from my apartment which makes it even better. Almost all of the seats are up against windows which makes for an excellent people watching vantage point. See ya there!

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Yorkville Creperie is exactly halfway between my friend’s apartment and mine, so it made a great meeting spot for Sunday brunch. Added to the fact that I recently bought a “Pay $10 for $20 worth of food” coupon, it was the obvious choice.
It’s a cute little place, and although it was fairly busy, we were seated right away. The waitress took our order, but wasn’t particularly welcoming or friendly- and maybe even slightly put off. She did, however, agree to combine 2 crepe descriptions with no problem to let me order what I really wanted.
The menu was pretty simple, but had plenty to choose from. There were salads and panini that also appealed, but to go to a crepe place and not order crepes would just be silly. I choice strawberry/lemon/confectioner sugar and was pleased. Light and fresh, nice consistency, with just the right amount of sugar sprinkled on top. My friend also enjoyed his crepes with berries and whipped cream. We both cleaned our plates and left feeling comfortably satisfied, not overstuffed, as is often the case with the crepe’s heavier cousin the pancake. I will plan to go back again when I want a special treat- the nutella and chocolate filled crepes sounded great and the other dishes that we saw on our neighboring table looked tasty. It’s not like it’s the most incredible food around, but super convenient and very fairly priced. Glad I finally tried it!

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My mother and I decided to go out for a ladies’ lunch today. We chose Cafe Sabarsky based on it’s highly-rated desserts, great reputation and a convenient location. We shared 2 salads and had cappuccinos and a piece of cake for dessert. The salads were presented simply, but elegantly. Everything tasted quite good, but to be honest, for the cost, they were pretty tiny portions. We asked for a basket of bread, which helped to turn our appetizer sized salads into a more complete meal. The bread was wonderful, and without it, we would have been left hungry. (which, after a $50 lunch seems a bit unforgivable) The beets with pines nuts and goat cheese were just that. No bed of lettuce to bulk things up. The cheese was of wonderful quality, but again, not much of it. The crab meat salad included a few slices  of radish and cucumber and half an avocado. The crab was light and delicious, but doused in too much mayo. The basil vinaigrette was wonderful and I wouldn’t have turned down a bottle to go home with- but they didn’t sell it. The best part, without question, was the chocolate apricot cake with fresh whipped cream. The waiter told us that was the most popular choice on the (very appealing) dessert menu and that made a difficult decision much easier. It was not dense and heavy- although it looked that way. It had a decedent chocolate ganache layer on top, but underneath was a relatively light chocolate cake. The apricot was almost undetectable…but once every few bites I would get a little aftertaste of it- very nice. The homemade whipped cream on the side hit the spot. The setting is pretty casual but comfortable. Make sure you sit facing the windows for the best vantage point. Overall, I’d totally suggest stopping in for a coffee drink and some dessert, but skip the overpriced, under portioned lunch.

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Two friends were here visiting from the burbs today and we wanted an easy place to go have lunch…the requirements were: nearby, a/c, beer, sandwiches and salads. Easy enough. Copperfields is just a few blocks from my apartment and since I’d never been in before we thought it sounded perfect for what we wanted.
My first reaction walking in was to turn around. There was one person at the bar and 2 people sitting in a booth in the restaurant. I worried that this was a bad indication, but my friend pointed out that it *was* 3:15pm on a Tuesday and what did I expect? So, okay. We sat down.
Typical bar food menu, with a pretty extensive beer selection. I had a grilled portobello with swiss and onion rings, my friends had a chicken sandwich and a santa fe salad. Everything was fine. Nothing was remarkable. The onion rings, while hot, crunchy and with nice thick rings of onion (not chopped up mush) were so super greasy that napkins between bites were necessary. The roll on my sandwich was very eh, and could have easily upgraded the meal if it was replaced with a fresher, tastier one.
The service was friendly but very slow. By the time we left (an hour and half later), there were 3 full booths and about 6 people at the bar…and in her defense, she was the only one on the floor…maybe they should have a waitress AND a bartender instead of making her do the job of 2 people. That said, we were pretty happy to have a leisurely escape from the humidity and 90 degree weather outside.
Will I go back? Probably not. Would I tell you to avoid it? No, it’s fine- especially if you like beer.

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I ordered in from Wasabi Lobby last night on the recommendation of a friend who loves it. Well, sorry friend but really? When I opened the bag up, I was very optimistic, a few nice findings included a salad that actually had mesclun lettuce and some jicama instead of the normal iceberg pathetic-ness that most sushi places serve. I was also pleasantly surprised to find some watermelon included free of charge. Nice touch Wasabi Lobby! Other than that, wow, it was pretty bad. Some people might like overstuffed rolls, but for me, they were just ridiculous. Two full bites from each one, and a total mess. The spicy salmon and tuna were mushed up instead of chopped the way they should be, and this resulted in a squishy, unappealing presentation. The texture was a lot like uni, the one sushi item that I don’t like because of its consistency. The quality of the fish was poor. I couldn’t finish my dinner, which is shocking since I can pretty much eat my weight in sushi…but that’s only when it actually tastes good. Sorry Wasabi Lobby, your attractive looks were deceiving. As a friend of mine would say, good from afar, but far from good.

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I really wanted to be impressed. Four different friends of mine who ALL have palates I respect strongly recommended this place. Guys, ya let me down. Except for the excellent value ( I will get 3 meals out of this $20 order) I was not happy with any of my choices. The chicken itself was dry and heavily over-seasoned. The skin was crunchy, but so greasy that I took it all off. The green sauce was fine, but not nearly as flavorful or spicy as my beloved Pio Pio’s (which I really feel this restaurant is just a blatant rip-off of). The tostones were the biggest disappointment. First of all, they didn’t come with a separate sauce like they do at Pio Pio. They were overcooked and hard as cardboard. They actually had a stale consistency which made me wonder if they were cooked earlier and reheated. My jaw was literally tired after eating a few of them. The plantains inside of way too much batter were cut too thin, so they completely lost their texture. They had SO SO SO much salt on them that I could actually brush some of it off each one- but it had already sunken in so far that I eventually gave up and threw them away. The salad was not really even worth commenting on. Walk a few blocks north and go to Pio Pio instead. The bummer is, despite my strong preference for Pio Pio, I am out of their delivery zone. I may be tempted to order from here again purely because they will deliver to me…but more likely I’ll order in from Eastside poultry instead.

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For those of you who don’t know, NYC restaurant week is a wonderful time of year when about 100 restaurants offer a $35, 3 course prix fixe dinner (half or even less than half of what it would normally cost).  It’s a great way to try places that you wouldn’t necessarily try otherwise. It’s a perfect opportunity for restaurants to lure new customers in and give them a great reason to return. Or not. The problem with this approach is that a lot of the time, the prix fixe choices become sort of half-assed representations of what the restaurant is capable of…and don’t always showcase the best of their abilities. This was the location for my 2nd annual random Facebook friends restaurant week dinner party- so a group of 8 people who didn’t know each other and I met here for dinner tonight. Well, I’ll start with the positive. The company was fantastic. It’s amazing how much fun a group of strangers can have, and regardless of our meals- we had a blast. The service was fine. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either. (although they did forget to take a coffee order until someone finally asked about it) Our meals were fine. Nothing was bad, but nothing was so fabulous that any of us will be chomping at the bit to go back. I started with a homemade mozzarella and tomato salad. The tomatoes were unbelievable and I was happy to find out that they were from the Union Square Farmer’s market. They were probably my favorite part of the whole meal. The cheese was fresh and had a nice flavor, but was a bit dense and stringy for what should have been a creamy consistency. The one small basil leaf left something to be desired and I felt a little gypped. My entree was a linguine with pesto and fresh crab. It was incredibly over-salted and had way too much garlic- even for a garlic lover like myself. The pesto itself was so strong and overpowering that I completely lost the crab taste altogether when it really should have been the star of the dish. The pasta was quite good actually, but I think I would have appreciated that a lot more if the sauce wasn’t so strong. For dessert I had the chocolate option, because is there really any other option if chocolate is one of them? I think not. It was pretty tasty. It’s pretty hard to disappoint me if there is chocolate and ice cream in the same dish. That said, it was good but forgettable, generic, and the presentation was eh. All in all, this was a fine choice for a great deal, but there are better options out there. I should mention that some of the other dishes on the table were far superior to what I ordered, so it might warrant another try with different choices. Then again, we live in a city with 20,000 dining options so for me, it’s on to the next.

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For NYC restaurant week meal #3, I met my brother, his girlfriend, my mother and my grandma here for lunch today. I will be full for a week. I walked the 30 blocks home in 95 degree heat to try to burn off some of it, but alas, my dress still feels a lot tighter than it did this morning. All that taken into consideration, it was worth every single delectable calorie.
Before we ordered, we were treated to a lovely amuse-bouche of a guava, strawberry, mango sorbet. Lovely, refreshing and served in a frosty shot glass, it was a great preview of the dishes that followed. Our appetizers were a mango/papaya/brown butter/cinnamon crepe (which my bro had, but I tasted and loved it) and a ring of fresh fruit. Both were delicious and presented beautifully. The watermelon ring was a really cute touch and prompted some table-wide oohs and ahs when it was placed on the table.
For my entree, I indulged in macaroni and cheese with lobster. Wow. Not quite the kind of food one pictures eating in the dead of summer, but amazing nonetheless. I would never have thought to pair these 2 totally different foods, but was so pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I polished off the whole bowl (hence the “I will be full for a week” statement) in about 4 minutes.
But wait, there’s more. I will always find room for dessert. (Or, I won’t find room and will thusly be completely overstuffed, but happy…as in today’s situation.) Dessert was Valhrona chocolate french toast with pistachios and strawberries. Now that is just ridiculous. That really could have been the whole meal it was so rich and dense. Somehow or other, I managed to eat about 75% of it, and tastier it could not have been. Why haven’t I thought to do this before? It’s really quite brilliant.
Thanks to our great server Luis, our meal was perfectly timed, and we were well taken care of. I strongly recommend Norma’s for a marvelous brunch, but be forewarned, they close at 3pm.

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This is one of the best people watching corners in NY as far as I’m concerned. An awesomely diverse mix of artsy, hip, creative types and young families. Laid-back, casual atmosphere complete with cute pillows made of rice sacks make this a great spot for a late afternoon lunch. My friend and I loved the airy, melt-in-your-mouth rice crackers they brought out for us to nosh on while they prepared our meals. There was a sweet/spicy sauce that sat perfectly in the crevasses of the crackers and we polished off the whole bowl of them in about 45 seconds. I ordered Thai coconut chicken curry with Thai black rice that was steamed in coconut milk. Delicious and really cool looking to boot. My friend ordered the Vietnamese chicken salad with Japanese rice which was equally flavorful, fresh and scrumptious. We shared some chocolate and espresso flavored Ciao Bella gelato for dessert which was the perfect way to end a meal on such a hot day. I would strongly recommend stopping into one of the 4 locations for a meal someday, you will not be disappointed.

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What could be better than catching up with a great friend over a wonderful meal during restaurant week? (aka: at an incredible value. $35 for appetizer, entree and dessert) We began our evening with cocktails. Mine was a refreshing Olives’ signature drink with vodka, pineapple and ginger over ice with a sugar rim. I’m really not a drinker, this was my first drink in about 6 weeks, but it totally hit the spot on this 95 degree day. The bread basket, tapenade and olives were an excellent snack alongside of our drinks. Specifically, the caramelized onion focaccia was especially tasty. We shared both appetizer offerings. One was a light, summery squash carpaccio with Parmesan and a little tempura’d squash blossom stuffed with cheese. MMmmmMMMmm. This was my favorite dish of the night. It tasted just like summer should. The other was a sweet corn and ricotta flatbread with leeks. Savory, sweet and salty with a great crunchy crust. I’m being especially picky by mentioning that I would have liked more corn and leek piled on top, it was mostly bread and cheese. It was still perfectly delicious the way it was though.  My duck entree was slightly more cooked than medium, but If I remember right, I think I just told the waiter to have the chef prepare it as he/she saw fit. Though I didn’t love the lentils which were a bit salty, I thought the figs and the duck married beautifully and were a luxurious tasting duo.   Desserts are something I always save room for. It is by far my favorite course of any meal. Tonight they were a total disappointment. We shared both of the restaurant week choices and were surprised to see how similar they were. Both were a gelatinous pudding-like substance with a sauce and some cereal thrown on top. The chocolate one, simply because it was chocolate, was the better one. It came with a lovely strawberry ice on the side atop a chocolate fudgy thing. That part was great. The rest? Not so much. The other one tasted like cheesecake flavored jello. On top was a handful of kix. Cute, but really? The blueberry sauce was the best part and I kind of wished I had something else to put it on.
All in all, despite the dessert bummer, Olives was a top of the line choice. Beautiful setting, super convenient location, charming service (thanks Nathan!) and hip, creative ingredients and pairings. I will definitely put this one on my plan-to-return list.