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How sad is it that I’m eating a pretty awful Lean Cuisine microwaved pizza for dinner as I’m writing about my amazing lunch at Mario Batali’s casual restaurant, Otto? So sad I could almost cry about it. The food was so incredible that not once did I find my mind wandering to Mario’s horrible trademark orange Crocs and gnarly hair!
My dear friend had been raving about this restaurant for months and I finally had the chance to join her there for lunch today. She affectionately calls it her second home and now I totally understand why she’d want to return twice or more per week. It really is a great choice for dining alone; with friends, with clients or even with a large group. There are so many wonderful dishes that are perfect for sharing that I bet it’s really great to go with a party of 4-6. They also have a ridiculously long wine list that would impress the most selective connoisseur.
I let C choose for us since she has tried pretty much everything they offer. There was SO much on the menu that I wanted to eat. I think I may require at least few more visits for the meats, the pasta and the pizzas…not to mention the myriad flavors of gelato. The bread that came out right away was crusty and chewy and moist and ooooohhhhhhh. Yes, please. We shared 3 unbelievable cheese selections that were served with OMG the most outstanding dipping sauces. I wanted a straw. Or an I.V. catheter. Honey with truffles, brandied cherries and apricots. WOW. As if melty, creamy, velvety cheeses even need a dip…but oh, once you try it you realize that of COURSE they do and the bread does too! Wow. I’m truly almost speechless about how much I loved those incredible cheeses. We also had a few antipasti: corn with fregola- autumnal amazingness; octopus, celery and lovage-light, summery and wonderful; and  a small green salad of romaine and red onions over a thin slice of excellent provolone, which was fine but kind of on the boring side with just a simple vinaigrette. When we finished everything in front of us, I was comfortably full, but not overstuffed. I also wanted to re-order everything for a second round just to have a few more precious moments with all of those wonderful tastes.

For dessert we each had a delicious cappuccino and shared the Olive Oil Coppeta. What an interesting dessert! Olive Oil gelato has gotten very trendy around here lately and I was looking forward to trying it. As a true chocoholic, I’m can be a fairly tough crowd with non-choco desserts, but It was VERY good. I was surprised at how much I loved the olive oil flavor. It wasn’t at all ‘oily’ which was what I was worried about. It was served with lime curd, basil syrup, raspberries and little anisette crumbles on top. Although I do NOT like the flavor of anise, I did really surprisingly enjoy the slightly bitter contrast to the sweetness of the berries. Overall, this was not my favorite sugary indulgence in the world, but very unique, unusual and refreshing.
Strong recommendations to visit Otto if you are in the area…or even if it’s a little out of your way. It’s definitely worth the trip.

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I saw an online deal (kbgdeals.com) this morning to get 6 cupcakes for $8 and since this is a new bakery near me with a cute name and an even cuter logo, I figured I’d give it a shot. Normally, those same 6 would have cost a whopping $16.50.

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I am SO lucky to have a friend who continually buys coupon deals for great restaurants and then realizes that they are about to expire. Being the friend of hers who works at night and is usually free for lunch, I seem to keep benefiting from these purchases with lovely lunches and great company.
Today we went to Gustorganics near Union Square. I looked up the reviews online to find a very mixed bag- some great and some horrible. Lucky for us, we had a great experience.
The atmosphere is bright, sunny, clean, modern and springy. We loved the ‘living wall’ behind the bar filled with beautiful growing plants. The tables and menus were woody/grainy organic-ness that coordinated so nicely with the whole feel. Grass green cushions on the benches and chairs felt earthy too, and were surprisingly comfortable.  Displays of stones and moss were tasteful and carefully placed in thoughtful stacks. Even the bathroom was cool- with a long wooden sink and open feel.
The menu was very reasonably priced for organic food- and really for NY food in general. Plenty of sandwiches, salads, pizzas and more to choose from for under $10. I sipped my tasty 1/2 iced tea,1/2 lemonade while we figured out what we wanted to order. We decided to share two entrees and a dessert. The flatbread pizza was delicious, covered in caramelized onions and fat, juicy mushrooms. The thin crust made it perfectly chewy without being too filling. The sandwich was grilled veggies and cheese on a folded tortilla with a small side mesclun salad. Again, it was all very tasty and fresh. Healthy, but satisfying.
At the suggestion of our waitress, we shared 2 cookies for dessert. Shortbread filled with dulche de leche cream. One was dipped in dark chocolate and the other was rolled in coconut. Both were rather enjoyable and different from any cookies I’ve had before. I would definitely recommend Gustorganics if you’re nearby and like clean, healthy, organic food. Though I’m not a big drinker, I plan to go back for cocktails someday because the drink menu was extremely appealing with only organic wines and liquors. Great find!

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I always look forward to attending the U.S. Open each fall. I’m not a huge tennis fan, I don’t know all the top players names and at best I’m only a semi-decent player myself, but there is something about the thrill of watching incredible sports played live and the buzz of the excited crowd.
The kind of people who go to watch tennis are so different than the type of people who go to see football or baseball, and the plethora of options in the food court reflect that. You’ll only see a tiny of handful of people with hot dogs and beer here, these folk tend to gravitate more towards things like grey goose cocktails and sushi.
Following suit, my mother and I decided to share the lobster and shrimp salad and the salmon sandwich. Considering the generous amount of seafood in the salad, I actually thought that $18.75 was fairly reasonable for it. (The $4.50 soda was the real rip off- available in only one size which was medium-ish. If you wanted a bigger one, you had to buy the $6.50 souvenir cup which was ridiculous) The shrimp and lobster were totally delicious although there was a lot of mayo in there which neither my mom or I am a big fan of. Large pieces and cooked the right amount, the seafood was a pleasant surprise when we really expected to get just a tiny bit on top of greens. The salad was very lightly dressed with just a tiny bit of lemon juice, and it was a fantastic lunch on a hot summer day. The salmon sandwich wasn’t quite as good, but it was fine- simply prepared with tarter sauce, lettuce and one really minuscule piece of under-ripe tomato. The roll was kinda crumbly and not that fresh….but still, MUCH better options than the expected hot dogs and beer.

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My friend bought an online deal to this restaurant and I was thrilled to get to try it out with her. They have a very pretty little outdoor seating area in front, but it was too hot to stay outside so we opted for in. It’s a  pretty setting with lovely flower arrangements, but it was mostly empty except for a few tables. The service, considering that there was hardly anyone else to wait on, was polite but very slow and not particularly attentive.
On a hot summer day cheesy macaroni with truffles isn’t exactly the first thing I’d normally gravitate to on a menu. Since the offering was an appetizer, and my friend really wanted to share it, we went for it and it was a good decision. So creamy and delicious with pieces of truffle big enough to see and taste. It was by FAR the best thing we ordered for lunch today.
To offset our ridiculous saturated fat indulgence, we both chose salads for entrees. My friend had the chopped chicken salad and I had the shrimp Cobb. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t one of the key elements in a Cobb salad the bleu cheese? Well, pictured below our mac & cheese is the ONE tiny piece of bleu cheese that came with my salad. Ummm. Really? Did this one crumb fall off of another salad or was it deliberately placed there? If the latter, wow that’s pretty f-ing ridiculous. If not, maybe the chef needs to brush up on her key cobb salad ingredients list. By the time the waitress came back to check on us, I had already eaten half the salad and was too full to bother sending it back. She asked if I wanted a side of bleu cheese- but I was already pretty ‘over it’. It was otherwise a pretty poor salad anyway. The dressing was completely boring and not even a little bit original or creative- I’m pretty sure it was just olive oil and lemon. The shrimp were fresh and grilled nicely, but almost inedible they were so over-salted. The tomatoes, given the fact that this is the prime time of year for awesome tomatoes, were very so-so. The bacon was just bad. Chewy thick chunks. Ew. I barely finished half of my entree and was pretty glad we decided to have the appetizer and the yummy bread and butter than came first. So, aside from the fact that my evening run is going to be carb-fueled as if I’m running a marathon and not just a few miles, this lunch was a pretty huge waste of time and money. (Although It was a real pleasure to catch up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while) All in all, it was such a disappointment that I didn’t even bother considering dessert…and for me and my sweet tooth, that says a lot.

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A few friends and I stopped here for impromptu drinks and apps after a lovely walk on the highline (http://www.thehighline.org/) which, by the way, I HIGHLY suggest if you’ve never been.
We chose this spot because it was close and had outdoor seating with great people-watching tables. It was the most beautiful day and we couldn’t have picked a better place to sit for an hour. I had a deliciously minty mojito and shared 3 appetizers. The chick pea bruschetta was filling but wonderful, it had a slight lemony flavor, a hint of garlic and a great consistency. The oysters were outstanding- pretty tiny (which I personally prefer over huge slippery mouthfuls) super sweet, extremely fresh and not at all fishy tasting. I loved topping them with the light shallot vinaigrette sauce that came with them to contrast the salty sweetness of the oysters. The cocktail sauce that came with them was also fine, but not particularly interesting. We also had the most incredible raw scallops with zucchini and squash and it was really amazing. I was not expecting to love it so much, but on a hot summer day, the cool sweet scallops were refreshing and succulent, not at all filling, and they totally satiated my curious palette. I was expecting ceviche and the lemon/lime citrus of it, but this really was not ceviche. It was much purer tasting and the integrity of fresh scallops were enough to make it an exciting dish.
What a great find this was. Isn’t is the BEST when you stumble onto something by accident that turns out to be fantastic? I think so. Go check it out and see if you agree.

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Just another disappointing chicken cutlet. (see my review of Lenny’s for a similarly disheartening experience)

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When you walk into a restaurant that is empty except for one other person and the waitress, you may worry a little. I wasn’t concerned because a) It was 3:30 on a rainy weekday and b )I’ve ordered in delivery from here a bunch of times and have always been happy with it. I think they mostly do their business via take-out and delivery since every time I walk by you can practically hear crickets chirping. Since I’d never actually gone in to eat, I picked it as a place to meet a fellow sushi-loving friend. This particular friend and I almost exclusively pick sushi places to meet, and we almost always order the maki roll lunch special. We’ve now been to about 10 different restaurants like this and Fujiyama did not disappoint. It’s the standard lunch special: 2 maki rolls, salad and miso soup for around $10. The salad was made with mesclun lettuce (yay for NOT being iceberg) and the dressing was exactly what it should be. The soup was piping hot and belly-warming. I ordered spicy salmon and shrimp tempura for my rolls, and asked for seaweed on the outside, a request that was granted without batting an eye as some places do. Incidentally, when did inside-out become the norm, and why? I love the snap of seaweed and you really lose that when rice is outside. Anyway, everything was fresh, prepared well and served quickly. Fujiyama is reliable and consistent if not earth-shatteringly original and I will definitely continue to order in from there. I may visit again, considering that it’s a 5 minute walk from my apartment and I KNOW I will always get a table without waiting.

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My friend- a fellow foodie, chose this restaurant for us to meet up for lunch on a rainy Sunday. It was pretty empty except for 2 other tables, probably because of the weather, and we really didn’t need the reservation I’d made.
The atmosphere is awesome: bright, cheery, bold primary colors, paper lanterns hang from the ceiling and Picasso style art decorates the walls. The walls of glass doors were all open, allowing us to enjoy the sound and sight of rain falling without getting at all wet. On a nice day, the outdoor eating area is quite large, and makes for great people watching. Even on a not-so-nice day, the awning over the outdoor section offers enough shelter to sit there, though we opted for inside since it was really coming down.
The restaurant is in the same group as Per Lei, which I reviewed a few weeks ago, and judging by these two, I have a lot of respect for their endeavors. I’ll have to plan to visit the other two soon.

I ordered an iced cappuccino- delicious and rather pretty, and the Insalata Baraonda: chopped mesclun salad with heart of palm, avocado, peppers, radish, celery & corn. What a perfect summer meal! The dressing was creamy but light, and the flavors of the garden-fresh ingredients complemented each other beautifully. With a side of bread and a sun-dried tomato spread, my lunch totally hit the spot without filling me up too much.
Our waiter was charming and attentive (and definitely took a liking to my friend, even feeding her a bit of her salad at one point, much to my amusement) and didn’t seem at all annoyed that we stayed and chatted for hours.
Overall, I was pleased with another gem in the neighborhood and would be interested in going back to try other dishes.

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I’d been meaning to try Flex Mussels for a year or so, having walked past it a number of times. It looks really cool as you pass by with it’s sleek, hip bar entry. A friend and I decided on an impromptu dinner around 9:30 on a Friday night, and the place was totally packed.
It’s a hopping scene with a young, hip looking crowd. It has more of a village-y feel than uptight-uptown, which is a good thing. We were lucky enough to score an outdoor table and were seated quickly. Bright green chairs at pressed tin tables extended the feel of the modern bar area to the small outdoor section. There is, by the way, a pretty good sized seating section in the back, which you don’t realize when you are at the narrow bar. It’s a bit odd though, the decor feels like a different place altogether. Still pretty and welcoming, just strangely different.
We were offered flat or sparkling water free of charge, which I thought was a nice touch.  The menu is exhausting, but in a very good way. There must be about 25 different sauces/broths/stews to choose from and almost all them sounded appealing. Good thing we both like to share plates. Our waitress, Carly, was awesome. She knew the menu cold, and was more than happy to engage in conversations discussing it. We went for the south pacific first- a very light summery broth with flavors of lime, lemongrass, cilantro. A piping hot pot was placed before us and steam came pouring out when the lid was removed. Really, an impressive presentation.  While it was not as bold of a flavor as we expected, and actually needed a little salt, it was the perfect first course where we could really just taste the freshness of the mussels without them being overpowered by a heavy sauce. It tasted stronger toward the end of the pot, which makes me think maybe we should have let it sit for a little bit while we ate our salad. The spicy salad was incredible, and I’m terribly sorry that I forgot to take a picture of it. Arugula, fennel, awesome quality very razor thin slices of Parmesan and a peppercorn vinaigrette. We also shared a side of hand cut fries and they were just the way I like them, very thin, with the skin on, hot and crispy. We were still hungry and decided to order a second pot of mussels. We decided we wanted a bolder flavor and on Carly’s suggestion opted for the lobster bisque. It was rather exciting to see the many larges chunks of lobster on top of the mussels when the lid was removed this time. This was maybe the best pot of mussels I’ve ever had. The sauce was much broth-ier than I expected with just a touch of cream- not at all heavy.  The lobster pieces were generous, and cooked perfectly. The flavor that seeped into the mussels was seriously delicious and I think I might have to go back for more soon since here it is, only 24 hours later and I’m already craving them.
And now, for the dessert portion of our evening. I could write a whole entry just about this dessert it was so amazing. I did a double take when it was placed on the table. The picture really doesn’t do it justice so I will do my best to explain. The bottom layer is graham cracker cake, above that is frozen key lime filling with whipped white chocolate. On top are 8 flawless blueberries sprinkled with gold dust. The whole dish sits in a shallow pool of raspberry sauce. Now I am normally an ‘if-there’s-chocolate-on-the-dessert-menu-that’s-what-I’m-getting’ kind of woman, but this was a wonderful time to stray from that rule. To enhance the experience even further, right before my first bite I happened to overhear the pastry chef who was hanging outside with some friends, say he’d conceived the dish. Apparently, this charismatic young chef Zac Young, will be on Top Chef Desserts next season and based on this sample, I’m SURE he’ll be a tough one to beat. Keep an eye out for him.

As an adorable final touch, we were given a couple of Swedish Fish with our check. There is no question in my mind that I will be coming back with friends and making this one of my neighborhood favs. Now that I know there is a $20 all you can eat mussels special from 5-7pm, I’m guessing I’ll be back sooner than later.