Tag Archives: olives

Kingswood — Big Menu Changes!

I have to admit, parts of today’s post is going to make me sound like a hater. But, please note that I will also say some fairly positive things as well.

When one of your favorite restaurants makes some big changes to the menu, you can’t help but be rather hesitant about finding new dishes to replace the old ones you loved so dearly. That’s exactly what I faced when we went to Kingswood for the first time in a few months. I used to pick Kingswood for dinner when I wanted a fun, West Village restaurant scene full of chic fashionistas and hipsters; and we always knew what we were going to order — at least, we knew what our main dishes were going to be. We always ordered their burger and their truffle mac & cheese. But, when I got a glimpse of the new dinner menu, I became distraught and thought that I missed these plates on the menu. Where the hell did they go? When something like this happens I rapidly scan the menu again to make sure I didn’t make a mistake and over look it. There have been times where I didn’t even look at the menu and I told the server, “I know what I want” and then they are the ones that have to break the sad sad sad news to me that my favorite plate is gone. Gone forever. 

With our favorite plates gone, I had to decide on what to order — or we had the option of going next door to get in line for a 3 hour wait (it was already 8 p.m. — that wasn’t going to happen).

Are you ready? Here we go… This is what was ordered:

The first order was of the mussels — a fabulous pick! You know the most important part of ordering mussels is how good the broth is — and the chef at Kingswood hit this one out of the park! Made up of shallots, white wine, parsley and chili, the broth was full of flavor and spice that add the perfect kick to this appetizer.

kingswood mussels

The next appetizer was mac & cheese. Note: this was NOT the original mac & cheese I was talking about. There was no truffle in this dish, and it was not prepared the same way the original Kingswood mac & cheese dish was.

I am a true believer that adding ketchup to food is out of this world disgusting. Eggs, mac & cheese, french fries… it’s so damn gross. The only time I put ketchup on something is when it tastes like crap. Ketchup is a tool to hide nauseating flavor, specifically for foods you don’t have a choice to eat. So, when I saw that this mac & cheese was served with a spicy tomato marmalade, I knew that it was just a fancier way of saying “this mac & cheese is going to suck, which is why we made a fancy homemade ketchup to go with it.” I know, that was kind of mean, but it’s true — this homemade ketchup was a replacement for the truffle and instead of just making normal mac and cheese it was deep fried and came out looking like a brick!

There are only a few times fried mac and cheese is okay — and this wasn’t one of them.

kingswood mac and cheese

What’s up next? I ordered the Maplebrook Burrata thinking that it would be a winner. My fault, it was a major fail. I was expecting a nice portion of creamy, savory cheese seasoned up perfectly all the while swimming in a pool of flavorful olive juice. The olive juice was there, not exactly the olives I would have picked as the perfect pair, but they were there. But, I was shocked that the portion size was so small and the consistency and taste was more like an average mozzarella. (I’m frowning behind my computer as I type this.)

burrata kingswood

Time to throw in some positivity…

I absolutely loved the Mushroom Risotto appetizer — made with yellowfoot chanterelle mushrooms, parmesan and chives, this plate was delish! All of us at the table knew that this might be the best appetizer we would come across, so naturally our forks entered a war…

I would order this dish again in a heart beat and it would be silly for them to take it off of the menu!

mushroom risotto

I did notice that their signature fries were still on the menu, so naturally we ordered them. I used to have these fries on the side of their fabulous burger that is now extinct.

They are super salty, perfectly cooked with enough crisp but still very potato-ey, and they are served with the best truffle dipping sauce. My guess is it’s a mayo sauce — and you can’t go wrong with dipping fries in mayo!

Don’t they look fabulous!?

truffle french fries

Next up was the broccoli rabe topped with homemade ricotta cheese and drizzled with honey. Overall the plate wasn’t lacking flavor but it was very difficult to chew. I had one bite of this plate and decided to pass because it was too much work to eat.

broccoli rabe

For our main plates we ordered the pancetta wrapped chicken breast truffle chicken nuggets, cauliflower puree and baby carrots. You all know I don’t eat pork, but I decided to eat it on this specific evening because it was hard not to. This plate was very good but the size almost categorized it as a large appetizer to me. We also ordered the day boat scallops which were also very tasty.

day boat scallops

kingswood nyc

Overall, the new Kingswood wasn’t horrible… But the reasoning to change the menu to the extent that they did didn’t make sense. Why take off your best selling dishes? Keep them on there and change the rest of the menu!

I did ask a manager about the changes and she said that they are now changing the menu at least twice a week now. Their reasoning behind all of this? I was told that they needed to keep up and evolve to keep people coming back. I find it odd that they feel this way because the restaurant used to be packed without a place to stand near the bar — and on this specific Friday evening there was plenty of space to stand, it felt rather empty in the bar area actually. So, I wonder how business is really doing if that’s the case?

The Standard Grill

I’ve been wanting to head to this restaurant for a while now, but unfortunately it’s one of those places that you need to call a month in advance in order to get a convenient reservation time — and obviously, that can get pretty difficult to do when you have a crazy schedule. But with out-of-town friends visiting, we were able to snag an 8 p.m. reservation. Unfortunately, we weren’t seated until 8:45! I was very worried that the long wait we were put through was going to be just the start to an ugly dinner.

Thank goodness… I was wrong!

Located in the heard of Meatpacking, The Standard Grill is a hot-spot and will probably be for a while. They have a beer garden located right next door, and it’s open year-round. Tucked underneath the Highline, the beer garden is open rain or shine and in the winter time walls are put up in order to keep the heat in. When you arrive at the beer garden you will need to purchase beer tickets (if beer is what you want to drink) in order to get your drinks at the bar. It’s a great place to start your night out at.

Inside the restaurant there is a back room/ main dining room that I strongly suggest you request to sit in — the room is filled with stylish New Yorkers that not only came for the scene, but came for the food. While some of the booths are made from plush red leather, others are made from what looks like park benches — and they are perfect for large groups! Even though we had a rough start to our evening, our waiter ended up being unbelievable — he really knew the menu well and he was full of energy and was very attentive.

We started with a few appetizers — the calamari, yellowtail, and shrimp cocktail. The Standard Grill has a great raw bar selection in case anyone is looking for cocktails and raw bar as a start to their night out.

For a long time I had such a hard time with shrimp cocktail, to me biting into shrimp cocktail felt like I was biting through flesh (or something gross like that). Thank goodness I was able to get past that because I now love chowing down on these fabulous hors d’oeuvres.

Yellowtail on the other hand has always been easy for me to eat. This fish is full of flavor and paired with castelvetrano olives, uni and golden raisins tastes unbelievable! I loved scooping up all of these flavors onto my fork — the yellowtail is a must order if you eat out at The Standard Grill!

Everyone at the table really enjoyed the Charred Spanish Octopus that was served with sweet potato and chilies. The octopus was grilled to perfection and that charred taste was perfectly infused into every bite. I also really enjoyed the extra sweetness from the potatoes and they complimented the rich charred flavoring. Next Christmas when my family makes squid I will be sure to bake-up some cubes of sweet potatoes to serve with the fish!

For my main course I ordered the scallops that were cooked with sesame seeds on top. I had to show you all this photo at a larger size because I wanted you to see how beautiful the seeds look on the scallops. They also tasted incredible! They were served with what to me tasted like a pureed avocado dip that really livened up the scallops’ flavoring.

My boyfriend ordered the duck which was also a great pick off of the menu. Thanks to the blood orange on the dish, the duck had a sweet taste to it’s rich flavoring. Lately, I have really been enjoying duck — I don’t know how I went so long without eating it!

I loved our dessert too! We ordered the plate called “The Deal-Closer” which is described on the menu as a bowl of bittersweet chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream. This is actually made for two people or more and it was the perfect way to end our meal. The presentation for this dessert was pretty cool — the dessert chef got very creative. Personally when I bake, my favorite part is licking the batter off of a spatula. Which is why I felt like a little kid when our bowl of mousse was brought to the table in a traditional glass mixing bowl with two rubber spatulas that were used to scoop up the dessert to put on our own individual plates… But the cutest part was licking the spatula. This got me thinking… Why not use this as a way to serve dessert at a dinner party? People might not think that it’s a “pretty” way to serve chocolate mousse, but it sure will have your guests feeling like little kids again.

Even though I was disappointed that we had to wait an extra 45 minutes even though we had a reservation, I overall really enjoyed my dinner. Plus, the service was impeccable. When can I go back next!?

Celebrating The Holidays

This year, I traveled home to Hershey, Pa. to visit with my mom, dad and sister for Christmas. It was such a short trip, but then again Christmas did fall on a weekend — so the holiday didn’t feel like a special day, rather it felt like any other Sunday.

When I got home on Friday night, I hurried over to a restaurant in downtown Hershey to see my friend, Stevie, she just recently got engaged! I’ve been waiting… for years … for her to get engaged! Her future hubby and her have been dating since High School! I’ll never forget the first time I met him — he was sitting on my friend’s bedroom floor watching tv. (It’s strange, the things you remember…) I am looking forward to their wedding day and I can’t wait to hear all about the wedding planning details over the course of the next several months!

The next day, it was already Christmas Eve Day! Both me and my mom were very excited when my friend Jesse stopped by the house to visit for a few hours. What I love most about my friends is we can keep in touch but not see each other for several months — but when we finally get together we pick up literally right where we left off. Jesse is a swim coach down at William & Mary… I’m so proud of him, he’s super smart and has already received his masters from Drexel and this past summer he had an internship with the United States Olympic swim coach! Jesse makes my resume look wimpy!


Jesse is a vegetarian, not a pescatarian. I clarified that because sometimes people say “I don’t eat meat, I’m a vegetarian… but I eat fish,” but what they are really meaning to say is that they are a pescatarian — meaning they eat fish but no red meat. But Jesse is a full blown vegetarian, and since we were cooking our fish dinner when he was visiting, I put out some tasty kalamata olives for him to snack on. This past September when my family and I went to Italy, I bought my dad an adorable hand painted olive dish in Capri — the dish spirals around, creating the perfect little plate to serve your olives on.

Speaking of fish dinner… We didn’t exactly have every single type of fish, but rather we made fish that would be perfect to snack on — calamari and shrimp. My parents love to shop for their meat and fish at a small neighborhood grocery store called Pronios located in downtown Hershey. The quality of their food is unbelievable, but I also think that my dad enjoys shopping there because it reminds him of the corner grocery store his father owned. My dad used to work out in “the store” helping my grandpa while he was growing up.


My mom prepared the fish by cleaning then soaking the fish in milk. A trick I never knew until this past weekend is to soak your calamari in milk to get rid of the fishy stench. It actually works! My mom covered the fish in a seasoned breadcrumb mix before lightly frying.


While we were cooking up the fish, the doorbell rang. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers was delivered to the house. Once unwrapped and admired, we opened the card to discover that the fantastic “Holiday Bouquet” was from my boyfriend! Sadly, he wasn’t able to join me and my family for the holiday, he was back in NYC hard at work! The flowers he sent us though were magnificent, and they were also a gorgeous addition to our dinner table… then to our living room table… then to the island in the kitchen. The flowers were loved by everyone, they managed to make their way to practically every table on the first floor of the house!

My mom also had decorated the house beautifully — which she does every year. I love going home to Hershey to see the house decorated for the Christmas holiday. The tree is covered in delicate ornaments my mother has collected over the years, the garlands are strung over every banister in the house, and every where you turn there are elegant and festive decor that spreads throughout the house.

Unfortunately, my dad wasn’t feeling well on Christmas Eve, so we decided to not attend Christmas Eve service so he could rest. We also chose to open up our holiday gifts in the evening since I needed to leave Christmas Day to go home to New York.

For months now, I have been itching to give my mom her Christmas present — two tickets to the Westminster Dog Show! I was so happy to see her smile when she opened the envelope that held the tickets. The show will be here in New York City in February 2012! So, I am very excited to be taking her to the show! It’s a two-day event, but I only got her tickets for one day, but it’s an all day event and we will be going on the second day so we’ll be there when they announce the winners!

I was shocked when my parents gave me my big gift… Just take a guess at what I got… Hint: it was on my Christmas Lust List a few weeks ago…

My mom and dad gave me a KitchenAid mixer! The moment I unwrapped it I couldn’t help but think, “what’s the first thing I am going to mix in my new KitchenAid?” And I have yet to decide! The mixer is so heavy I unfortunately couldn’t carry it home with me on the train… so my parents will be sending it to me some time over the next few weeks.

When I got home to New York City, I couldn’t help but look around at my kitchen. I probably had a silly expression on my face when I realized that I have no place to put my new monster of a mixer. With the holiday money my extended family gave me this year — I have decided to finally get an entry table that also has storage underneath. That way, I can store my Breville juicer and keep my mixer on my counter. All that’s left to do is purchase the entry table and put it together. I’ll be buying the table from Ikea, which means I will be spending hours assembling since Ikea furniture seems to be so difficult to put together.

How was everyone’s holiday!? I can’t believe how quickly Christmas came and went this year! I wish that the holiday could be in February, that way we could play holiday music over the course of several winter months!

The Union Sq. Holiday Market

Every year Union Square sets up a fantastic holiday market — local artists, bakers, you name it come to set up a booth to show both the locals and tourists what they have at their shops. While vendors come and go, some stay year after year and of course I look forward to seeing many of them! I will usually go once or twice in the month of December because it’s a lot of fun to see what everyone is selling, plus it’s a great place to take a friend who is visiting me in NYC. (I plan to take my friend Erica here when she comes on Sunday!!! I can’t wait, I know she’s going to love it.)

Naturally I flock to the food stands because 1. I am always hungry 2. You can’t shop on an empty stomach and 3. everything always smells so delicious! Last year I rushed over to the Waffles and Dinges truck, but this year after reading/browsing through photos of this year’s market on Serious Eats, I knew that there are a few new things I wanted to taste. Like, the Mighty Balls. When I arrived at the stand it was completely empty! And I surprised myself by doing something I never do… I ordered pork. One pork slider with the red sauce and some parmesan cheese. Looked good. Tasted great! What was the best part about it? The sauce! You can actually buy and take home jarred sauces from Might Balls! A perfect gift for a foodie. While buying jars of their sauces at Union Square is possible, when browsing their website you will notice they don’t typically sell online! So you have to be sure to grab some when you’re at the market.
Union Square Holiday Market

Time to describe the actual Might Balls’ pork slider. The bun’s quality was nothing but the best, lightly buttered and cooked to add a simple, not drastic, crunch to the bun. Having one slider was perfect! When I took my first bite, my teeth easily sunk through the warm, crisp bun down into the moist pork meatball covered with a semi-spicy red sauce. The thick slices of parmesan cheese on top of the meatball complimented the sauce but the sauce was so tasty the cheese actually isn’t necessary (I never thought I would see the day where I would tell you cheese isn’t necessary). Inhaled in about 45 seconds (I took my time). I would have happily gone for another one, but I know I’m going back on Sunday so I figured I wouldn’t pig out.

Next came the Sigmund’s Pretzels stand located right across from Mighty Balls. The gigantic pretzel loaded with huge salt crystals was what caught my eye. I love salty foods, and I love it when the salt crystals are so big you get to crunch down on them. But then out of the corner of my eye I saw the word “truffle.” Ohhh they had a Truffle Cheddar pretzel — SOLD! But then a friend of mine pointed out the Feta Olive option and I surprisingly decided to move away from the choice of truffle. I eat so much truffle and I’m afraid I might get sick of it sooner than later. The Feta Olive ended up being the perfect selection — it was nice and warm and the bread was fluffed to perfection. The subtle but at the same time very flavorful feta and olive “pretzel” impressed me. My boyfriend says that he hates olives — and to be honest, I don’t enjoy eating just olives, I love them in things. The olives in this bread could barely be tasted. If anything, the gentle flavors of an olive could be noticed. So even if you aren’t an olive lover I would recommend giving this a try!

Sigmund’s has their own bakery located at 29 Avenue B at 3rd Street and if you are a tourist and don’t plan to go to alphabet city, you can find the Sigmund cart at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 82nd Street and 5th Avenue.

Lunch in Venice, Italy

Venice was our last destination we visited in Italy. By the time we got there I think we were all pretty exhausted! We arrived in the late afternoon, had dinner in Venice, we then had a full day to explore the city, then the following day we flew home to the U.S.

While in Venice our meals were pretty simple just because we were getting so tired and because we really had no idea where to eat. So of course we ate the typical go-to foods: caprese salads, pizzas, and paninis.

During our full day the weather started out very chilly. I was actually wearing long pants, a sweater, and a scarf! Luckily the weather warmed up later in the day and we were able to sit comfortably in a small piazza to have lunch. We were so hungry we ordered right away and stuffed our faces! Here’s our late afternoon lunch in Venice: salami and cheese panini, cheese pizza, and a caprese salad…

Paninis in Venice

I told you, paninis are every where!

I actually grabbed this panini right after we watched a demonstration on how glass is blown out. I was starving because I ate a very light breakfast and I figured grabbing a panini would be quick, tasty, and filling. The signs in the cafe were in Italian and I had no clue what type of panini I was picking out. I went with the one that had color, cheese, and looked the best. (Can you tell I didn’t exactly have a strategy.)

It ended up being a cheese and olive panini … delish! The cheese was nice and hot and stringy and the olives were clearly freshly chopped. The crispy bread added the perfect texture to each and every bite!

I really wish I could order one of these in NYC… specifically at lunch time when I’m in a hurry!

Food (Pizza & Pasta) in Capri: Part III

There is something about Anacapri that has me obsessed with everything and anything Capri. It was interesting to learn that those working certain jobs in Capri are able to be working only because they were born and raised in Capri. For example, the guy that rowed our boat into the Blue Grotto had to have been born and raised in Capri otherwise they weren’t able to have that certain career. This is brilliant because it keeps the locals in business and the greedy money making, destroyers of all things authentic off and away from the Italian paradise.
While walking the streets of Anacapri in the early evening, my family and I had to pick a place for dinner. We came across this gorgeous square and the main part of the square was the church. Actually, after vacation I soon discovered the E! News host Giuliana Rancic got married in this exact church a few years ago… I am officially jealous of G! Right next to this square was a pizzeria/pasta restaurant and of course we thought the menu sound fabulous!
We sat outside, perfect for people watching. But when I peeked my head into the restaurant I saw a gorgeous pizza stove and an adorable little old man tossing pizzas. Naturally my mom and I immediately headed inside to take pictures of him making pizza, but before I knew it I was behind the counter top spreading dough myself! The pizzaman also ended up being the owner of the restaurant! He didn’t speak a lick of English, but he flirted with me as if he was a 25 year-old guy. He was just too cute, I couldn’t even get him to turn to face the camera for a picture, so I stared right back at him.
We sat down for dinner and had a few delicious dishes! My dad always goes right for the red sauce plates, for some reason, and he never really tries anything new. I guess what works for him is what he sticks with. I usually laugh on the inside because I feel like he’s missing out on some of the most delicious foods, but this time he was right on by ordering the spaghetti in a red sauce. I have never had a more delicious red sauced pasta dish before in my entire life! Italians cook their spaghetti just right, Al Dente = the best way to prepare pasta! The pizza was also delicious, it was filled with salami, mushrooms and olives! I was surprised to see that my pizza came with separations, the toppings weren’t all mixed together. I actually enjoyed this because the extra crusty separations added more texture and crispness.
Another aspect of Italian restaurants that I adore is how almost every restaurant I ate at has their own signature bottle of wine. Not just a wine that the restaurant thinks is the best, but they typically have their own label and possibly even their own vineyard. This is incredible because no restaurant is going to create a wine that tastes bad with their food!

food