The Food Hall Awakens

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The Food Hall Awakens

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but there's been a massive resurgence of the food hall in the Northeast. As I child, I remember going to the mall with my mother and other doting relatives and the only place I wanted to go was the food court. What an extraordinary concept to have all types of food sold in one place! Imagine being six years old and having pizza (!!!), ice cream, hot dogs and chicken fingers at your fingertips. It sounds divine, doesn't it? Now I'm thirty one and you can only imagine how ecstatic I am to have the grown up version of this in almost every neighborhood in New York City.

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La Birrrrrrrrreria

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La Birrrrrrrrreria

Hello again! After another long hiatus, this time due to bronchitis, a virus and guests packed in between, I am here with another post. Two of my friends from college came to visit last weekend while I had, what I know was, bronchitis. Despite my evolving illness and the frigid winds of Joaquin I finally got to Eataly's La Birreria. I was hoping for a better forecast to visit the rooftop locale but let me tell you, those temps but the brrrr in birreria. I've experienced the marketplace before but it's such a delightful sensory experience that I love any excuse to walk through. My eyes widen at the aisles (plural) of pasta, clattering utensils and the sizzle of oil in a pan excite my eardrums, and the olfactory glands are reeled in by the faint yet pleasing aroma of freshly baked bread. Besides the weather, what's not to love?

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With a Grain of Salt

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With a Grain of Salt

Lately I find myself doing something I hardly ever do: adding more salt to my meals. More specifically, flavored salts. Usually the food doesn't even need it but I'm obsessed with adding a dash to almost anything I can. For a long time I never understood the fuss. In fact, I was a bit of brat over the whole concept. What's wrong with regular table salt? What do I even put flavored salt on? My bottomless blue pillar of Trader Joe's Sea Salt has been a fine way to top off meals for the last thirty years, why change now? Because I found The Filling Station, that's why.

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May The Eats Be With You

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May The Eats Be With You

Greetings all! Mid-April to Mid-May has been a blur. Work has been busy, extra curricular activities are packed in tighter than a rush hour 6 train, and in the middle of it all was my birthday.

My thirtieth birthday. 

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Frohe Weihnachten!

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Welcome everyone! I've spent most of the last week putting final touches on Christmas decorations and writing out holiday cards, which means I can stop licking envelopes and start licking my fingers/plate/spatulas. Christmas is celebrated differently throughout the world and every culture has its own variation of Christmas eats. East coast to West, arctic to tropical, I'm a fan of global Christmas cuisine. I am particularly fond of German Christmas sweets and traditions (Krampus, now that's a tradition) If you have a hankering for some German Christmas specialties, well then you barked up the right Tannenbaum. I'm not sure how or why I became so interested in German food and holiday traditions but I'm going to attribute it to having a German best friend for the last twenty two years. Thankfully, the Upper East Side of the city still continues to host a smattering of German shops where I can find some near authentic items, including some Christmas specialties. My first stop was Schaller und Weber with the hopes of picking up some fine condiments and sausages but I was a tad a late in getting there, alas, I was locked out. I'll be back for you, wurst.

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DBGB: OMG It's a Whole H-O-G

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Bustling crowds, glittering light displays, soul warming comfort foods. No, it's not Christmas in the city just yet but with temperatures hovering around freezing it may as well be. One of my best friends/college roommate was in New York this weekend so we had a very chic, albeit cold, day about the city on Saturday. Since I anticipated quite a bit of walking in our future I gave in and begrudgingly put on the hat/scarf/glove ensemble. I wasn't wrong; between our shopping and eating we covered a significant amount of ground: Bloomie's for some bargains, Maison Kayser (again) for the best French onion soup ever,Laduree to sample some outrageous macaroons, and the gist of our post and my favorite Boulud institution, DBGB. There's something about this place that has captured my heart (and stomach). The full name is DBGB Kitchen and Bar. not restaurant. Not bistro. Not cafe. Kitchen and Bar; a sentiment that echoes from the open kitchen to the dimly light corners of the dining room and is infused into every dish. And what dishes they serve. The food is superb and the combinations are creative and intriguing. Really though, wait until you see what I had for dessert.

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From Paris With Love

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This has been a fairly exciting weekend; two good friends got married and I went to Paris! Well, almost.

I went to Maison Kayser with Steph for an impromptu lunch and it was the most elegant recovery food I could have asked for. I say "recovery" because, let's be honest, on this side of twenty five "hangover" is just vulgar. Maison Kayser is the creation of Eric Kayser; a renowned baker who now has a handful of locations in the city. Judging by online comments and reviews I am not the only one who seems to have been whisked away to Paris for a couple of hours. I've actually never been to Paris but I imagine a bakeshop there looking something like this Third Avenue location. The clean lines and neutral color palette keep it chic yet warm. The servers are in stripes and suspenders but it's natural, not forced. And then there's the food.

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Good Things Come On Really Small Plates

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Good Things Come On Really Small Plates

Good morning everyone! To my friends that are celebrating, Happy New Year! So, guys, last night I finally went to Bobby Flay's Gato. I didn't have a reservation but that's what the bar is for, right? Even if I tried, all of the ideal times between now and Columbus Day weekend are booked. I popped in around 6 on a Wednesday and it was already bustling. Dark wood, exposed pipes and brilliant light fixtures give off an industrial chic (read: East Village) vibe. Aesthetically it's a bit different from Flay's other establishments that I've been to but that's a good thing. 

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Birthday Fun the NYC Way

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Birthday Fun the NYC Way

Hi friends! I don’t know about you but I recently had one of the best weekends in a long time. It was the birthday weekend of a good college friend so a gaggle of New Englanders descended on my apartment and the city. This birthday happened to be a thirtieth birthday so naturally there was only one course of action: dinner at The Plaza and brunch at The Smith. 

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Holy lunch menu, Batman!

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Holy lunch menu, Batman!

Happy July! Today's post will focus on some delicious delights from my own backyard... Upon returning from my Mid-West jaunt I went on a self-imposed BluePrint beverage cleanse for a few days-

OK, a day.

I had been eager to check out the Gotham West Market since reading about it in Bon Appetit a few months back so I grabbed my first partner in culinary crime and oldest best friend, Stephanie, for some day drinking and global eats

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