Taking its name from a region in Italy, Apulia in Hoboken is a true find. I admit that I prefer lunch over dinner, the place being quieter, especially in the winter when you have no other choice than eating inside.
Menu wise, they offer pasta (not homemade) as well as succulent Neapolitan pizza that has a fantastic crust that is puffed up on the outside and very thin in the center, nicely…
We spotted Ammos Estiatorio while dining at Urbanspace Vanderbilt, next to Grand Central Terminal and decided to go there for Valentine’s Day. Surprisingly, the place was not that crowded and they sat us at one of the tables upstairs, an area fairly quiet.
We ditched the Valentine’s Day menu that seemed pricey ($95 per person) and preferred ordering from the menu, sharing few appetizers. Here is what we had:
Alright: I admit that I thought that L.A. Burdick was the outpost of a chocolate store from Los Angeles. It is in fact the project of pastry Chef Larry A Burdick who decided to open his own venture back in 1987 after successfully working at Bouley for few years. And we only found recently his chocolate store located on Prince street, a day we were looking for a hot chocolate, the weather being perfect for it. The first time was a grab and go, but we came back a couple of weeks after to sit at one of the few tables.
It’s been a while since I wanted to try Sweet Chick, a popular restaurant that started years ago in Williamsburg and has now expanded with several locations in New York, one of them being in Long Island City. It is the one we visited on a Saturday morning, going early as, each time we passed in front of it, it was packed. We got lucky as there were only few tables available at 11:30am and got sit between to groups who unfortunately were a bit loud.
Long Island City will never cease to amaze me. Often mistaken for Long Island, this small city in Queens, right next to Astoria has great restaurants, but many New Yorkers who would be ok to go to Brooklyn for a meal, think that it is too far. Well between the 7 or E lines to name the main ones, it takes as much time to go there than going fron the UWS to Chelsea once at Port Authority. I mentioned M Wells Steakhouse that is one of the best, but now, I am totally excited about Maiella, an Italian restaurant located right behind the iconic Pepsi Cola sign on the waterfront.
We were craving Indian food on a Saturday for dinner and looked up for places Midtown when we stumbled upon Chola, a place that was on my list of restaurants to try. We were there at the time they opened, our brunch that day being quite early as I wanted to try another spot downtown. Taking its name from a Tamil dynasty in southern India, Chola is not new: it opened in 1998. Elegant, with a very courteous staff, it was for sure not crowded at that time and I liked it: less people equal less noise and they gracefully gave us a corner table that is normally for four people, allowing me to side sit as Larry David would say.
We were near Union Square for some errands one Saturday morning when I remembered that Tsurutontan, the Japanese noodle place was around and thought it would be a good idea to go when they open as we passed few times in front of it and there were always people waiting. After checking on Google Maps, we showed up before the published opening time of 11:30am, feeling victorious that we were the first ones there. Unfortunately, we quickly discovered that the opening time was in fact 12pm and…
So we are back at Narcissa! After trying their brunch few weeks ago, we were curious to see how the dinner would be. And we were not disappointed except with the desserts that are too fussy unfortunately.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see that this place was not crowded for a Friday evening, thinking that maybe people focused on places that proposed a Restaurant Week menu, Narcissa not being one of them. I am not going to complain though as the lesser the diners, the lower the noise level.
It’s been a while since we went to Basta Pasta, a couple of blocks from Union Square and, as we had to be in that area, we decided to go back there for dinner. I could not believe how packed this place was, from the beginning to the moment when we left, several people waiting near the entrance for a table at 9pm. For sure, the kitchen was a bit backed up, a large table not helping, but our waiter did a good job keeping us posted as to when our dishes would come.
After a first visit at Kellari Taverna, a Greek restaurant located two blocks from Bryant Park, I decided to have dinner there again with Jodi on a Friday evening. The first time I went (no photo, sorry), I was really excited as their fish (they serve fresh sustainable fish that is on a beautiful display) was very good: I first was going for the barbounia aka rouget aka red mullet, but that day they did not have any. So I had the filet of sole that they deboned for me perfectly and was the star, not smothered with any sauce So you could really get its delicious taste.
We passed so many times in front of La Bonbonniere in the West Village that we were curious to know what this place was, the restaurant having a French name meaning the candy box. So we decided to go for an early brunch on a Saturday as each time we saw that place, there were people waiting outside.
There is a new bakery in Hoboken, but this time, a Taiwanese bakery with European influences: SunMerry. Not their first location is the US though as they have few in California as well as New Jersey, and I even passed by a store under renovation in New York that should be opening soon. So we decided to check it out for breakfast. I admit that I was a bit disappointed to see that they do not have anywhere to sit, and so it is a grab and go kind of place. Hopefully they will have outside seating when the weather is nice so you can relax with a coffee (no espresso though) or tea and some treats.
When Taiwanese fried chicken meets bubble tea, it gives you an interesting fast food mix: this is what TKK Fried Chicken and Kung Fu’s Tea did this year in a location few steps from Madison Square Park. I love fried chicken, discovering it while living in Paris, at KFC! Yes, I know, it might not have been the best fried chicken but still, it is a good memory, similar to when I first tried chicken wings at...Pizza Hut! But, when I moved to New York many years back, I not only got introduced to its Southern roots, especially accompanied with a waffle, but also got my first Korean fried chicken that I adore even more. But Taiwanese?
I had Narcissa on my long list of restaurants to visit for a while now and it is finally when Jodi’s cousin Rebecca proposed to go there for brunch that we ended up at the New American restaurant of Chef John Fraser (Nix, The Terrace and The Outdoor Gardens) at the Standard Hotel in the East Village. Of course, as usual, we had an early meal that is often my favorite way of enjoying restaurants, the crowd not only increasing drastically the noise level but also often slowing down the kitchen.
It has been so long that we wanted to go for dinner at L’Amico, the restaurant from Chef Laurent Tourondel where we had a great brunch last year. So, we finally decided to go there on a Friday evening. I am not sure it was a good move: it was packed, extremely loud and the service was disappointing, to the point that we asked one of the managers if somebody would take our order! Well, he could have been more gracious about it and at least apologize instead of giving us the feeling he was annoyed by our request. It was thanks to him in fact that my cocktail, ordered 25 minutes before, came to the table. It was the Brooklyn Bound, made with Smooth Ambler Contradiction whiskey, …
I noticed Le Jardinier, a restaurant located Midtown East, when it got a Michelin Star in the 2020 New York Michelin Guide. Meaning The Gardener in French, Le Jardinier translates perfectly the concept from Chef Alain Verzeroli with a menu centered on vegetables complemented by sustainable fish and meat. And what a decor! Design by renowned French architect Joseph Dirand, it is as if you were dining in an elegant greenhouse.
Here is what we had:
There is a new deli in Hoboken, but not the classic ones the city already has. No, this time it is a Jewish style deli: Pastrami House Delicatessen. Located where Boardwalk Burgers and Fries used to be on Washington street, it opened on January 4th. Finally, as this spot has been unoccupied for a while since the burger joint closed, at some point being replaced by The Brooklyn Bagelry, before that company went bankrupt. So, we decided to check out Pastrami House on a Saturday and I admit that it was a bit hectic, mainly because of the customers who were literally blocking passage with their strollers or not going where they were supposed to go to order. So you could definitely see that the high flow of …
When I read the paper from Pete Wells in the New York Times about Benno, it made me laugh: it represents why when people call me a food critic I cringe. No, I am not a critic just somebody who loves to eat and share his experience. Critics are often too elitist and disconnected from what the masses like, expecting perfection from start to finish when what one may call a perfect meal can differ from my own appreciation. Here is an excerpt from Pete Wells, New York Times:
