Sunday dinner

Since we were totally craving some of our nyc meals, we tried re-creating one of them tonight. Instead of hangar steak, we used ribeye.
For the ribeye-
put the steak on a plate with a generous amount of salt and pepper and canola oil (or olive oil)and let sit for about 15-30 minutes to get the chill off. Meanwhile, get a grill really hot. Cook on each side for about 5 minutes for medium rare. Let sit after cooking for another 10-15 minutes before slicing.
For the sauce-
melt two tablespoons of butter. Once melted, add one tablespoon of flour and whisk in. Add 1/4 cup of marsala wine. Then add 1 cup of beef broth/stock. Keep whisking until fully incoporate. Season to taste and add 1 teaspoon dried thyme. Right before serving, add 1/4 cup cream or 1/2 and 1/2.
For the aspargus-
drizzle with oil and add salt/pepper. Grill for about 5 minutes, or until slightly charred. Add more oil, salt/pepper if desired.
For the potatoes-
Using a madoline, slice yukon gold potatoes 1/4 inch thick. We used 2 pounds of potaotes. Place in a baking dish. Toss with garlic salt, pepper, and olive oil, making sure it is all mixed in. Cover dish with aluminum foil (heavy duty) and bake in a 375 degree oven for one hour. Once fully cooked, add freshy grated parmesan cheese to the potatoes and enjoy!

It wasn't quite up to par with Odeon, but it was darn tasty! And easy enough to make, I had time to get a couple more dinners/lunches ready for the week. Hope everyone has a great week!!

I heart NY

I thought I liked New York City before, but after this trip, I have a whole other appreciation for this city. We went with the mentality of getting away from it all. Work has been really stressful on both of us this year, and we really needed a break. This vacation was so perfect! Even the rainy, cold weather couldn't dampen our spirits. We had so much fun in fact, we are thinking of changing of going back over the summer! Thanks again to our wonderful family for letting us stay with them :)

tenjune

We had fun going to tenjune and pretending for an hour like we were part of the "scene"...but it was too much work and we couldn't relax! It is a fun place, but next time I'd go with more people and dress up more! Not that we weren't dressy, but I guess suits and mini-dresses is more the style there. Of all the bars and clubs in the Meatpacking district, I'm not sure tenjune is worth a return visit. Although if you are a single guy, it's a great place to look at models.

Magnolia bakery...worth the hype??

Yes! They were so good! Normally cupcakes are only good for the icing, but these puppies were good head-to-toe! So go...get some!

Oysters and Chowder

We couldn't leave New York without going to Grand Central Station (every time I say or write that, I can't help but think of the Lady Gaga/Beyonce song). We took the subway there and parked ourselves at the Grand Central Oyster Bar. I had a dozen bluepoints and Ryan had a bowl of clam chowder. Both things were good, but not worth the ridiculous cost!

Last day...lunch in China Town

Thanks to another great tip from Uncle Don, we went to the Golden Unicorn for dim sum for lunch. After stumbling into an entirely different world (were we still in nyc?), we got to the Golden Dragon. We only had to wait a few minutes to get seated. Once we did, the food arrived faster than our waters. Cart after cart rolled by with interesting and fascinating dishes. The smell of onions, pork, garlic, and seafood permeated the restaurant. We immediately started choosing our dishes (by pointing, since neither of our Mandarin skills are up to par). Everything we got was superb. Before we knew it, we were totally stuffed and had to throw in the towel. The best part was the price, we ate and ate and ate, and we spent less than $20. Great place!

Spotted Pig...go there

The number one place I would return to in NYC is the Spotted Pig. It's located in the West Village and is really a unique, but terrific place. The atmosphere is great and the food is even better. They had organic, local hard cider (yum) and an eclectic without trying too hard menu. We had champ (something we make all the time at home now...basically mashed potatoes with thinly sliced green onions), roasted pork served with a rustic olive tapenade, and gnudi made from ricotta cheese. It was all comforting and new at the same time. We highly recommend this place. They even have their own "chive whisperer" (we watched while their sous chef took 45 minutes to cut chives to make sure they were all the same size, it was weirdly captivating). The only downside of the Spotted Pig were their t-shirts for sale...$40 a pop, um no thanks!

http://thespottedpig.com/index.php

Super fancy, shmancy cocktails at Pegu

The review of Pegu in Soho sounded great. Good music, good people, and one-of-a-kind gourmet cocktails. For us, foodie-wannabes, it sounded like a great fit. Well...it wasn't. The cocktails were fancy (and $17!!!!), but they didn't taste that great! We had a champagne mojito and a hard cider ginger drink. The mojito was okay, but weird tasting! Avoid! The pictures are our drinks there...don't be fooled by how pretty they are!

Gelato!!

We were determined to have really good gelato while we were in New York. We ended up going to L'arte de gelato. It was pretty good...I still think Cafe Classico (RIP) in Sarasota was the best, but maybe that's just for nostalgic reasons. I had olive oil gelato (really good!) and meyer lemon sorbet. Ryan had chocolate and vanilla gelato. FYI, if you go there...they only take cash. We were a few dollars short, but they gave it to us anyway.

http://www.lartedelgelato.com/

Still hungry?? For pizza, of course!

Well we had our fancy meal, we had bagels, and we had a burger...the only thing left was pizza! We kind of stumbled into Bleeker Pizza by accident on a search for a gelato place, but we were sure glad we found it! It was the best pizza I've ever had! The crust was flavorful and crunchy and the cheese actually tasted real. Why can't pizza places down here make decent pizza! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

http://bleeckerstreetpizza.com/

Next stop, happy hour!

We had a lovely surprise on the afternoon of the 30th...NYC has happy hour! And a good happy hour! We went to Pampano in midtown and enjoyed a warm seat at the bar and enjoyed even more happy hour margaritas and snacks! I had a delicious hibiscus margarita on the rocks, ceviche, and guacamole. Ryan had pork and filet mignon tacos. And we split a second order of the filet tacos, they were that good. All the drinks and appetizers were only $5! The upstairs dining room of the restaurant was a little stuffy, but the downstairs bar/lounge was really nice. The hibiscus margarita(s) were so good, it made me forget my pact to not drink the rest of the trip (after maybe a little too much fun at Bubble Lounge)...but heck, it's vacation!

Pictures- entry way into Pampano; pork & filet tacos and my super amazing drink

http://www.modernmexican.com/pampano/

Taking a break from eating- Museum and shopping

Yes, we actually managed to got a full 3 hours without eating...we occupied our time by going to my favorite museum in the city (I know, I'm supposed to say it's the Met or the MoMa)- the American Museum of Natural History (http://www.amnh.org/). We had a great time. After the museum we attempted to take a romantic stroll through Central Park, but mother nature had other plans, like torrential downpour! It was raining so hard, that it completely soaked my shoes. What's a girl to do in New York City with ruined shoes....oh I know, buy new ones! And that's exactly what I did. I googled the nearest shoe store and marched in and bought a cute pair of rain boots (1/2 off I might add...).

The quest for the best burger...

March 30th...lunch. Alright, I must confess...we went a little overboard with the food this day. A couple different lunches and dinners...but heck, we can always diet when we're home right?? So first was Zucker's...then it was Brgr. We looked up a bunch of burger places and this sounded like a winner. Was it? Well...it wasn't exactly the best burger of my life, but it was still tasty. I had the rainforest burger with gruyere, avocado, and an herb mayo and Ryan had a standard cheeseburger. We split a vanilla shake that was really good. It was a pretty crowded spot, right across from the fashion institute.

http://brgr.us/

Breakfast- every day! Zucker's

At the suggestion of my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Don, we tried Zucker's bagels...wow they were good. Despite the heckling Ryan got for trying to order an egg bagel, the bagels we did get (Ryan- plain with cream cheese, Madeline- sesame with cream cheese and lox) were absolutely delicious. So good in fact, we went back every day for the rest of our trip!

http://www.zuckersbagels.com/

Mar 29th- Bubble Lounge

Ryan taking his first sip of Dom Perignon

<3

The Dom

So what happens when two teachers go to a bar that specializes in champagne and sparkling wine? Well, they act and spend like they're not teachers!! There are fewer things in this world that Ryan and I love more than champagne (Sadie is one of those things). So we were in high heaven when we went to the Bubble Lounge in Tribeca. It was a cool place, although a little dead (supposedly because of Passover and Easter Week).

We totally splurged and split a glass of Dom Perignon. Wow. Wow. We restrained ourselves by only having 1 glass and switched to a bottle of Iron Horse (a really good sparkling wine from Sonoma). Here are some pictures of our fun night at Bubble Lounge. (after Bubble Lounge we ended up at a private party in SoHo, but that's a whole other story!)

Mar 29th- Dinner, Back at Cercle Rouge

kumamoto oysters

escargot

enjoying our cozy spot at the bar

Told ya, we'd be back! We went and sat at the bar at this Tribeca bistro. We had the nicest bartender too (I think she was from the Ukraine or someplace like that). Great place to check out!

We split a couple different things and enjoyed some nice wine and cocktails. To eat, we had kumamoto oysters, escargot, and hangar steak with bone marrow sauce and gratin potatoes. Everything was delicious. I was surprised and proud that Ryan tried (and liked) the escargot. The fact that they were oozing in butter and garlic helped!

More Le Bernardin Pictures

passion fruit birthday dessert

vanilla, basil, and blueberry dessert

chocolate and peanut butter dessert

crispy black bass (they did a thing about this on "Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network)

March 29th- The meal of the century...Le Bernardin

http://www.le-bernardin.com/

Whatever you're doing...take 2 minutes and look at Le Bernardin's website. Once you've done that, start saving for the plane ticket to get to New York and the cost of the meal. This is, without a doubt, the best meal of my life. I've been to some really good restaurants before (Bartalotta, Craftsteak, etc.), but this is so beyond even those. It isn't even fair to comprare any other restaurant to Le Bernardin. It really is in a category all of it's own. The food, service, atmosphere, even the flowers are incomparable. I will try to do my best to describe our meal there, but it really is hard to put into words.

Quick side note, we had a crazy morning before our 12:30 lunch reservation. When we were getting dressed, Ryan noticed that his trusty sportscoat had lost a button. Now if this were any other restaurant, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal...but this was Le Bernardin! Jackets required! (or should I say "le jacket"?) So we got onto the subway as fast as we could (it's pouring rain), and went to Macy's. Now I realize this is the shopping mecca of the world, but hey I had a 20% star rewards coupon that I wasn't about to go unused! So after running around the 30 floors of the men's department, we finally settled on a grey pinstripe Tommy suit. Now we were off!!

Well, one last hitch. The cab let us off one block away to avoid traffic. No problem...except we walked in the wrong direction and ended up getting almost lost. Thank god for the navigation of Ryan's droid (btw, that phone paid for itself this trip!). Well we finally got turned in the right direction and made it to Le Bernardin, only 2 minutes late. We checked our coats and were seated at a beautiful romantic table.

I could go on and on at how beautiful the restaurant was and how great the service was, but let's get to the important stuff: the food! We ordered a bottle of Iron Horse champagne and were brought a smoked salmon dip as an appetizer (I'm sure it had a much fancier word than dip...but hey, I'm a southern girl at heart!). Madeline's dining- appetizer: tuna tartar on a foie gras baguette garnished with extra virgin olive oil and chives; entree: crispy seared black bass with mini pork buns; dessert: vanilla yogurt with basil ice cream and blueberries. Ryan's dining- appetizer: tuna pancetta with pickled vegetables; entree: baked lobster with truffles; dessert: chocolate and peanut butter. We were also brought a complimentary passion fruit dessert because for my belated birthday and little almond and pistachio cookies (which normally I hate nuts in cookies, but these were so good we asked for seconds!). Everything was so good. I think my favorite part was my appetizer.

Pictures: Ryan's entree, Madeline enjoying Iron Horse, Ryan in his new suit in the cab, Ryan's appetizer, Madeline's appetizer.

More pictures coming up!

March 28th Dinner at Odeon

The Odeon quickly became our favorite place in nyc. The food is simple but deliciously prepared and the staff is really friendly (side note: every waiter and bartender we had while in nyc was so friendly and a great resource for fun stuff to do!). Even weeks later, we still get cravings for our meal there. On the 28th we dined with Don, Kathy, Willa, & Kate...and it was so delicious, we returned for our last night too! We had the same meal. I had the hangar steak that was served with potatoes and asparagus. Ryan had short rib ragu rigatoni. Everything was so good! Mmm....how much is it for a flight back??

http://www.theodeonrestaurant.com/

Pictures- short rib ragu, hangar steak, us, and the outside of Odeon

March 28th Pre-Dinner drinks at Cercle Rougehttp://www.cerclerougeresto.com/

Great little neighborhood bistro. Reminds me of being in Paris! We just have a glass of wine and a beer, but we were intrigued by the menu and would return later...

NYC Update

So we've been back from vacation for a few weeks...and I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to write about all the delicious food and drinks we had while in the Big Apple! Ryan and I had such a wonderful time. We are so thankful to Don & Kathy for letting us stay with them in their awesome Tribeca apt! We are already planning our next trip :)

For the foodie updates from our trip, I'm going to post by day, meal, and restaurant (there's a lot...)

Picture; Ryan with Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser.