Cheap Eats in the City

This past weekend, I was once again in New York.  We were there to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also to do a few other things.  Charlie was not as fabulous as I had hoped, but I still haven't decided what I didn't like about it, so I won't be writing about it quite yet.  And the fleet week fun we had planned to have down at Pier 86 also didn't exactly work out as planned. So I won't be writing about that either.

What I will say is that we had the cheapest, and one of the best meals I've ever had in the city, thanks to one tiny discovery.  I'm not sure why I never realized this, but on 46th street between 8th and 9th Avenues, lies Restaurant Row.  The block is chock full of all types of restaurants. There's even a big light-up sign that says Restaurant Row, so I've decided I've been fairly blind this whole time.

Anyway, after ruling out Italian - thought I'll be back for Becco soon, we decided to have Dim Sum.  Now I love the idea of Dim Sum, but I've never found a place near me that had it. After chatting with the waitress, we ordered everything she told us too.  Honestly, I'm still not sure what we ate, but every last piece - other than the thing that may or may not have been tofu - was positively delicious!  The only embarassing part was that I needed to use a fork unlike my friends who were capable of using chopsticks.  Once I got razzed about that, I enjoyed the rest of the meal fully.

On top of this amazing meal, when we received the check, we were told that it was happy hour, which meant everything we ordered, including the beer one friend drank, was half price.  For 3 of us to stuff ourselves on dumplings was a grand total of $33! How great is that!?  The moral of the story is branching out of the comfort zone can be delicious and opening your eyes a little more can be quite helpful!

Absolutely Amazing Arancini

Arancini the size of eggs - so what do they use for packaging?  Egg cartons - Genius!

I just may have a new favorite food in New York City.  Aside from the theatre, the best part of going to Manhattan is trying all sorts of new and wonderful restaurants that serve all sorts of yummy food.  I have this thing for finding a new restaurant or snack shop - it's like finding buried treasure.  It's just as exciting and so much more rewarding, since you can eat what you find.  New food is much more delicious than eating gold coins...

Anyway, last month I found myself in Bryant Park on opening weekend.  They always have some great snack choices. Up until this year, my favorites were the dumplings (that are sadly no longer there), Woops! macarons and La Sonrisa Empanadas.  However, after discovering Arancini Bros, my heart now belongs to the gentleman that make these delicious pieces of magic.  

An Arancini is an Italian snack.  It's basically a ball of rice, stuffed with meat or veggies, then breaded and deep fried.  Super healthy, right?  Just avoid that part and focus on the deliciousness.  Anyway, they're often huge, heavy and just not that great.  However, Arancini Bros have taken them to a new level.  First off, theirs are smaller - about the size of an egg. They're not super heavy - the coating they use is super light and very crunchy.  

And lastly, they put all sorts of wonderful things inside.  None of that plain jane meat and veggies for these dudes.  Some are filled with fresh mozzarella and basil.  Others are filled with pesto sauce or a Turkey and stuffing dinner.  They even had a dessert Arancini filled with nutella and dredged in cinnamon sugar.  They have an ever changing selection, so on any given day you could try something completely different.

I tried the Mozzarella and basil, the pesto, the Nutella and one filled with mac and cheese instead of rice.  I'm not sure which one was my favorite because every ball was more delicious than the last.  I am currently craving them terribly.  I only wish I didn't have to wait until next month to be back up there.  This is a time when living in NYC would really help matters.

Anyway, if you find yourself in Bryant Park before Christmas, I highly recommend trying Arancini Bros in the food section.  And make sure you order some of their tomato sauce for dipping.  That stuff makes a good snack, even more heavenly.  I promise you won't be sorry!

City Life

There's just something about New York - and now I sound like a broken record.  But it's so darn true.  The energy of the city is enough to make anyone love it.  And this weekend was no different.  One day trips are fine, but 2 day trips are just so much better!

This month's 2 day trip was sort of planned and sort of not, so we had a chance to try some new things.  For the most part, all of the food was planned.  First up was Carnegie Deli, since they'll be closing at the end of the year.  It was as good as usual, but bittersweet seeing as it would probably be the last time we ate there.  I have no idea why they're closing - the food was still the same and the lines were still out the door.  I'm still hoping they change their mind at the last minute, but I'm glad we had the chance to go just in case.

For dinner on Saturday it was a German place in Midtown.  All of the Yelp reviews were lovely yet none of the food actually was.  We should have known when we entered and the entire restaurant was cheering on a sausage eating contest.  Definitely not a great dinner.  Sunday was so much better.

Breakfast was at Sullivan Street Bakery - once again, so darn delicious!  I only wish I could figure out how to make their eggs because I'd make them every week!  And then dinner was at Carmines on 44th.  In my opinion, they are by far the best Italian restaurant in New York. All of the food is served family style so the portions are enormous.  And the food is all homemade and to die for.  We had the penne ala vodka and the chicken parmesan.  And if I hadn't have eaten so much already, I would have eaten every last bite.  Let's just say, I'm a big fan!

When we weren't eating, we were discovering.  Thankfully, this past weekend was the very first day of the Bryant Park shops being open.  These little glass shops in the park selling all sorts of homemade wares are a favorite of mine every year.  Add the shopping to an ice rink, a cafe, some awesome snack shops and a Christmas tree (not yet, but it'll be there) and you have the perfect place to spend a few hours - in our case it was a few hours on Saturday and a few hours on Sunday.  Also, this year there's a Strand pop-up shop so you know I couldn't resist that.

On Sunday, we tried a new area of town, which never really works out well.  I desperately need to research things ahead of time to save me from getting incredibly lost.  But this was spur of the moment, and I definitely got lost - big surprise.  However, SoHo really is lovely.  The 85 degree weather made getting lost a little more bearable than had it been 20 degrees, but not really my cup of tea either way.  Some of the reasoning behind going down there was to see Dominique Ansel, Blick Art Supplies, Jack's Wife Frieda, and Magnolia Bakery - none of which we ever actually found. I did find La Duree though and had a yummy cannel so I suppose there's that.  

As you can see, it was once again a fabulous time. Even after 10 trips this year, I'm still not tired of it.  In fact I can't wait to start my once a month track record again next year thanks to awesome trips like this past weekend.  New York just keeps fueling my fire. And I'm super happy about it!

Maryland Eats - Hickory Ridge Grill

If you're ever in the area of Columbia Maryland, you really must try Hickory Ridge Grill.  A few months ago we happened upon it thanks to Yelp, and today we traveled back to celebrate someone's birthday.  And again it was super delicious!  

What makes this restaurant great, aside from the fabulous food, is the atmosphere and the service.  The owner is always around to chat with diners or answer any questions.  He seems like a super nice guy, and he's got a great sense of style - always in peppered chef's pants. : ) The wait staff are really sweet too and always ready to help.  

And there's the food - Delicious!  Their menu includes Italian, Greek, Burgers and Sandwiches - at least 10 or so of each.  The first time I went I had a yummy Chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes and garlic aioli with shoestring french fries.  I'm a sucker for shoe string fries so I was pretty happy with my decision.  This time around, I chose the same because I was craving shoestring fries.  My only complaint is that sometime between the last time I was there and this time, they changed out their fries.  No more shoestring - booo!  But the ones I did get were pretty good too, so I can't complain.

They also have an amazing dessert menu - most of which are HUGE slices of cake.  This week's special was Red Velvet which I couldn't pass up.  Enormous, chocolatey, and delicious!  All in all, Hickory Ridge Grill is the whole package.  A great restaurant with fantastic food, lovely people and laid-back atmosphere.  I highly recommend it!

Dinner Under the Stars

As we all know, one of my favorite places to go in the summer is Annapolis.  And it's mostly because they decide to do fun things like shut down an entire street so all the restaurants can have open-air seating in the evening.  That's what Dinner Under the Stars is and that's why Annapolis is awesome!

Each Wednesday for the next two months, a block of West Street in downtown Annapolis will be closed to cars so that people can come sit outside and enjoy their meals in the beautiful late summer weather.  There's a band playing and people are dancing.  There are fairy lights strewn all over the place, and tons of people laughing and eating and drinking.  

After attending this evening, I've decided it's now my goal to try every restaurant on the street before this program ends.  Tonight's dinner - our first and definitely not our last - for my friend and I was from Luna Blu - an Italian restaurant with a huge selection of yumminess.  They were offering a 4 course menu for $38 which was a great deal when you think about how much food we had - Antipasti (Burata Crostini with tomatoes and speck), Salad (Caesar), Pasta (Penne Vesuviana), and Dessert (Chocolate Mousse.)  On top of all that, we could have purchased half-price bottles of wine too, but we chose to go with iced tea.  

All in all, I had a fantastic time and I can't wait to go back again!

A Mighty Fine Bakery

A few months ago, while looking for a new breakfast restaurant (because breakfast is the best meal of the day!) to try during a weekend trip to New York, I happened upon Sullivan Street Bakery on Yelp.  I blogged a little about the restaurant at the time, but I wanted to share more because the place is just that wonderful! 

Our first trip to the bakery's Chelsea location was back in May, when ordinarily it would have been in the 70s outside, but it was actually about 40 degrees.  When you're quite chilly and in dire need of something warm, stepping into a warm cozy bakery is pretty much the best feeling.  We were even lucky enough to grab a table in the tiny space.

(Helpful hint: Be prepared to wait a bit if you want to grab a table.  There aren't many, and because the space is so cozy, people tend to lounge with their drinks and snacks for a bit.) 

The three of us after some hemming and hawing over all the yumminess at the counter decided on Panini D'Uovo, with warm coffee and tea all around.  Our paninis came with soft cooked eggs, prosciutto, demi-sec tomatoes and basil.  The sandwiches are freshly made to order and come out warm and quite possibly perfect. The eggs are hard to describe - a cross between egg salad and scrambled eggs.  I'm still trying to figure out how they're made.  And I'm not exaggerating when I say that it might be the best egg sandwich I've ever had!

Of course, when you're surrounded by sweets and you've just had a delicious savory, you must order dessert too.  Every breakfast deserves a good dessert in my opinion.  I had read on Yelp that their Bombolonis (Italian filled donuts) were quite delicious so we tried the vanilla and the chocolate cream.  Now I'm usually a chocolate girl, but the vanilla in this case was much better - it tasted just like vanilla custard. 

That brings us to yesterday when I was back in the city, looking for a place to have a quick lunch.  This time we decided to try the Hell's Kitchen location.  I missed the part of the Yelp review that said this location was the size of a mouse hole and that they don't warm anything over for you.  However, those eggs that I just spent a paragraph on? They're still to die for at room-temperature served on a brioche roll with some crispy prosciutto.  If it wasn't 332 degrees yesterday, and I wasn't eating my lunch outside (due to the lack of inside seating) I could have eaten at least 3 more!  

This time around, since I had already had the Bombolonis, I chose to go for the pastry with chocolate and crumble for dessert. Forgive me but I have no idea what it was called.  I pointed and the nice baker handed it over.  Super sweet but I enjoyed it much more than the Bomboloni.

So, what's the verdict?
If ever you find yourself in New York City, craving an out of this world egg sandwich, I highly recommend you make it over to Hells Kitchen or Chelsea, and enjoy what the Sullivan Street Bakery has to offer.  Even if you're not an egg sandwich fan, you'll find something else to strike your fancy!

Sullivan Street Bakery | 533 West 47th Street & 236 9th Avenue, New York, NY |Website

Foodie vs. Food-Lover

A few weeks ago, I read an article about the decline of the word "foodie."  Since everyone and their brother were now foodies, did that word really mean anything these days?  Couldn't people just say they loved food?  I thought it was fairly ridiculous at the time.  I mean, I got what they were saying, but just let people call themselves what they want to be called.

Cut to this weekend.  I was eating dinner with my friends at a new restaurant, and doing my food-happy dance - as you do - and I said at the time that there were about 7 things in the world that made me truly happy.  Food being one of them.  But it was more than that, it was yummy food.  Not something bizarre just for the heck of it.  Not something so crazy, that I just had to try it.  It's really good food full of delicious ingredients that makes me the happiest.

That's when I figured it out.  Maybe I'm not a foodie - though I strive to be one since being brave is on the list of to-dos - but I'm most definitely a food-lover.  And I'm 100% ok with that.  Some people just don't get excited about new restaurants or new menu items to try.  But I do!  I probably won't be guest hosting for Anthony Bourdain or judging on Top Chef any time soon.  But what I'm going to do is eat delicious food, try new places and new things, and keep reading about food and the food industry.  That is what makes me happiest. (Though I do wish - only sometimes - that exercise and dieting made me happiest... : )

A Restaurant Comedy of Errors

I really, really like finding and trying out new restaurants.  I'd much rather play Restaurant Go than Pokemon Go.  If there were points for that, I'd be all over that game.  So when I read about Cooper's Hawk Winery in Annapolis, I was very, very happy.  Annapolis is easy peasy to get to - also, it's one of my favorite places in Maryland - and the review mentioned Banofee Pie, which you usually don't find outside of the UK.  Add to it, it was a Friday night and there would be a band playing and CHW had an outdoor patio from which to listen to it.  All the trappings of a great evening...Right?  Wrong.

Before I get into the bads, I'd like to say the food was very, very good.  I'm super sad there were so many bads, because the food was outstanding - which one could argue is the most important part of any restaurant. 

The evening started out a bit rough with an hour wait for a table - hour and a half if we wanted to wait for a seat on that lovely patio overlooking the concert.  We opted for inside and were able to go shopping while we waited.  So far so good.  The beginnings of the bad was the wait for a waitress to actually take our order.  After finally placing our appetizer order we were left waiting for another 10-15 minutes to place our main order.  Not fun, but not terrible.  Here's where it gets weird.

My food finally came after a bit of a wait, but not my friend's.  After about 5 minutes of still no food for her, we finally found our waitress who's response to "she doesn't have her food yet" was "Oh you don't?"  Could she not see the table was empty in front of her?  After a few more minutes, we were told her pasta was over cooked and was being remade, and would be out in a few more minutes.  Luckily my friend is  a lot better at asking for managers than I am so she called him over and had a chat.  

The Piece de Resistance was dessert.  Remember that Banoffee Pie I was so excited about? Yep, they were out of it.  I'd like the record to reflect, it was the NUMBER ONE reason I wanted to try the darn restaurant in the first place.  After disregarding dessert, we finally got the check, where we learned the manager came through and comped everything but the appetizer.

All in all, it could have been much worse.  But it was a very long evening.  The food, like I said was delicious, and I'd like to go back to try more of the items on the menu - most especially the pie! - but maybe not for a few months.  I think I'll let them get their service kinks out first before I waste yet another gorgeous evening.

New Food

I very much like to eat.  It's a thing - let's move on, shall we?  Anyway, because of this, finding new restaurants is one of my most favorite things to do.  This weekend, we found not one but 2 fabulous places to eat - one in Virginia and one in Maryland.

First up was FireWorks Pizza in Leesburg.  It's a brick-fire pizza joint in a super-cute hipster area of Leesburg.  There are about 5 other restaurants in the area that I also want to go back and try too.  Because it's a hipster area of town, everything was organic and very fresh.  We started with garlic cheesy ciabatta and it was delicious.  I decided on a flat-bread with garlic and fresh marinara dipping sauce. Also, quite yummy!  The best part was sitting outside on their deck - it was such a beautiful day! There was supposed to be a bakery around, but we could not find it anywhere.  Other than that, it was the perfect lunch!

Then after a few hours - when lunch had worn off - we had dinner back in Maryland, at Volt's Family Meal.  Now technically this wasn't new for me, since I had eaten at the Family Meal in Baltimore.  However, since it was the first time I had eaten at the one in Frederick, I'm calling it new. This time was better than the time in Baltimore too, because we sat at the counter.  It wasn't my first choice at all, but after getting the chance I've decided it's pretty darn fun.  We were able to chat with the bar-tenders and watch all the hustle and bustle of food and drinks coming out of the kitchen.

And the food, oh my goodness, it was delicious!  For appetizers, we had deviled eggs - not my favorite (because deviled eggs in general are not my favorite) - and Chicken Pot Pie Fritters, which are just as to die for as they sound.  Dinner was fried chicken and a biscuit and catfish.  And dessert were chocolate earl grey donuts - so delish!  Though, I'm pretty excited to get back there again, and try the giant plain donuts that were being made for today's brunch.  

New food days are just so much fun!

Secret Supper Redux

A few months ago, my friend Jennifer and I went to the Baltimore Secret Supper.  The premise is this - you pay ahead for a 4 course dinner with wine pairings, then you don't actually find out what restaurant you'll be eating in until the night of the dinner.  The last time we fortunate enough to get to try Aggio by Bryan Voltaggio.  While the entire meal wasn't perfect, there were definitely some highs about it.  

Tonight's dinner was held at Cunningham's in Towson, which was already a bit of a downer because Towson is so much farther than downtown Baltimore. I'd like to say the meal made up for it, but it really didn't.  Nothing seemed to go together at all.  And while I'm sure others enjoyed the food, I wasn't a fan of the mish-mash menu filled with ingredients that weren't my cup of tea.  Also, seeing as I wasn't drinking the wine, I really wasn't getting anything out of the evening at all.  Even the service wasn't up to par with Aggio.  

It was a huge restaurant so I can understand being a little slow, but after sitting down at 7:15 we didn't receive the first course until after 8:00. That meant we didn't get to finish the dessert course until well after 9:00.  At Aggio I was home by 9:00. In the end, Jennifer and I had a nice evening chatting, but the next time we've decided to just try a restaurant we've been wanting to try instead of waiting to win the foodie bingo.

* As you can see, clearly I'm no foodie photographer.

24 Hours in the City that Never Sleeps

A few months ago, I was messing around online and noticed that the cast of Something Rotten would be appearing at 54 Below on April 25, and there was exactly one ticket left.  It was fate really.  So I purchased the ticket and booked the bus and hotel for my very first solo adventure to New York.  I didn't have a problem with the idea of traveling alone.  It's just that I'd never had the opportunity to actually do it.  Now was my chance.  While most of my friends and family thought the idea was a bit nutty, I wasn't worried at all.  I've never been nervous or afraid in New York - DC yes, Baltimore yes, but never New York.

So, you ask,  what did I learn in my little adventure? I learned that traveling in NYC alone, is basically awesome.  Ok, I say awesome.  When you hear exactly what I did, you may think I have a slightly skewed definition of the term, but hey, I had fun. That's all that counts.  It was great to be back in the city again, as it always is and it was even better to be there in the gorgeous weather.  It's been winter for so long, I'd forgotten what New York looked like in the sun and warmth. And thank goodness for the lovely weather, because most of my plans involved wandering which is not nearly as fun when it's cold and rainy.

For transportation - because no one in their right mind actually drives into the city if they don't have to - I took the MegaBus, which is not usually my favorite form of travel, but it's cheap and easy.  And this time around, it was completely fine. Unfortunately though, MegaBus drops you off at 27th street, a bit outside of Midtown (17 blocks to be precise). And while I would normally cab it, I was feeling very "I am woman, hear me roar" so I walked to my hotel - The Row.  This was my first time staying there and I will gladly recommend it to everyone.  It was really affordable and had a cool vibe.  At this point, it was past lunchtime, so I decided I needed to eat (and when don't I decide that, really?)  

My original plan was to walk down to the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle because it was supposed to be raining and I wanted to have something inside to do that I hadn't done before. It wasn't in fact raining, but I just went along with it, because it was on the list and lists are meant to be followed.  Time Warner Center is sort of a high end mall, so if you like that sort of thing, you'll like this place.  But I'm not rolling in the dough, so I just chose to grab a quick sandwich at Bouchon Bakery and move along.  At this point, I had about 2.5 hours until I needed to be back to the hotel.  Something you may not know about me: when I plan a trip, I always estimate things are going to take WAY longer than they actually do.  So I always wind up with WAY too much time on my hands. 

Since I had nothing else planned for my first day, I chose to raid the plans for the next day, which were Lincoln Center and Levain Bakery - home of the best cookies in Manhattan. So I meandered my way up Broadway and happened upon Lincoln Center.  In my head I knew the complex was large but I don't think I realized it was that large.  It's a huge area filled with gorgeous buildings and sculptures.  And on a Monday afternoon, not a lot of people so there were great picture taking opportunities to be had. From there I continued upward and found the bakery of my dreams - along with 25 hipsters waiting in line for the cookies they had dreamed of as well. For once my ridiculous over-estimations worked in my favor and I had plenty of time to wait with them.  

I'm not sure the cookies were life-changing like the articles I had read said they were, but they were pretty darn delicious.  I could only eat half of my Double Chocolate Chip, so I saved it for a midnight snack.  (Helpful hint: One can only assume the cookies are full of all sorts of sugar that makes them delicious.  Therefore, they may not be the perfect midnight snack unless you want to toss and turn for the next 3 hours like I did...Now you get why my post title is clever, right?)  After Levain, I should have walked the 30 blocks back to my hotel to get rid of some of the calories I had just ingested but instead I wanted to try the subway to prove that I could do it and not get lost.  So I hopped the downtown train on 72nd street and after only 2 missteps - Don't text and walk down stairs, you may end up almost breaking your ankle and the 1 train may work, but hopping off to catch the 2 train just in the knick of time is a better idea - I managed to get back to 42nd street and then to my hotel quite easily. 

In the madness of the day, I realized some things can only happen in New York which is why I happen to love it so much.  At Lincoln Center, I missed by a matter of minutes (I saw the news van setting up) a press conference with a famous opera singer.  On 44th Street I walked through a hoard of screaming tweens who were super excited about someone (still not sure who it was) walking into the MTV studio and then walked by Sardi's wherein a movie was filming.  How often has any of that happened to you in your own city?  Never in mine!

And that's just the first day.  I still had a lovely evening and a great tomorrow ahead of me which you'll hear about soon, if you can handle any more of my gushing.

Shh! It's a Secret

One thing I do love about Baltimore is its thriving food scene.  We have tons of great restaurants and loads of fun food events like the Emporiyum or the Food Truck Gatherings. This year yet another awesome event has been added to the roster: Baltimore Secret Supper. Sponsored by the Baltimore Sun, diners reserve a seat and pay a set price.  Then on the very morning of the event, diners will finally find out where the dinner will be held.  And not until you're actually at the restaurant, will you find out what you'll be eating. It's a risky concept if you're picky, but my friend and I were up to the challenge.

We were quite lucky to find out that the supper we would be attending this evening was being held at Aggio (also known as one of the restaurants in Bryan Voltaggio's fleet of restaurants, and the one I've been dying to try!)  When we first arrived we were given a signature cocktail (something with carbonation, vodka and mint - not my thing) and shown to a communal table.  From there, we were served the best food of the night.  And these were just the appetizers. The Parmesan funnel cake and the foccacia with whipped burrata and mortadella mousse were out of this world. I literally could have been content to eat nothing else but more of the same for the rest of the night.  But there were 4 more courses with wine pairings to come.  Well not wine pairings for me, I stuck with iced tea (as usual...)

First up was fluke marinated in beet juice, with chile, lime juice and wasabi burrata.  I was willing to go with them on the fluke but the beet juice and wasabi were just a little too much for me. 

Then it was on to more beets - roasted this time with burrata, grape leaves, and pistachios.  Way too many beets for me - in that the entire dish was one big warm beet.  When did beets become the next big ingredient?

Finally the pasta dish - now you're speaking my language.  This dish was handmade pasta boiled in red wine (instead of water) with chicken sausage and a 63 degree egg.  My favorite of the evening.  Runny eggs just make everything that much richer and more delicious!

Last up was a dessert of pannetone, pistachios and gelato.  Good, but where's the chocolate?  Every dessert needs chocolate in my opinion.

Even though I wasn't crazy about the menu, I have to admit it was quite fun getting a chance to try these fancy schmancy dishes.  I never would have ordered them myself but I loved getting a chance to see how beautifully plated and conceived they all were.  All in all, a great event and I'm anxiously awaiting the next to see where it will take us.