Tag Archives: restaurant

L’Apicio in the LES

I am a bit embarrassed to admit how behind I am on posting this — but, better late than never! 2012 flew by so fast AND I have a feeling that 2013 is going to be an amazing year in so many ways! So, what was my final dinner of 2012? ITALIAN, of course!

So here we go … my final meal of 2012 was a great one! My boyfriend and I headed downtown to the Lower East Side for dinner at L’Apicio — the sister restaurant to L’Artusi. It opened only a couple of months ago and we have been excited to head on down to the LES to get a taste of the menu.

L’Apicio’s menu is set up the same way as L’Artusi’s — reasonable sized plates that you share with those you are dining with. Italian cuisine and tapas style… what could be better than this?

When it comes to tapas, I will admit that I go a bit crazy ordering. It first usually starts out with the two of us looking over the menu, eying down what we have to have then we come together to share our choices, we narrow it down to a handful of plates then we confuse ourselves by asking the server what he/she prefers on the menu. Usually we end up picking a plate or two that the server prefers, I pick a plate, my boyfriend picks a plate then we decide on one final dish that looks good. Every once in a while I see something that I know I would love to eat but I know my boyfriend is going to be difficult about trying something new; and I am totally guilty of giving a specific look to my server when I say “so, how is the Mezzalune? I bet it’s delicious — right?!” My non-verbal communication through my wicked eye-glare will tell any waiter that he/she needs to respond “Oh yes, it’s fantastic, and a popular dish ordered by many!” All it takes is for my boyfriend to hear a rave review by the server and he’ll order the dish. A girl has gotta do what a girl has gotta do … for delicious food ;-)

We started with a delicious cheese plate — my guess is the restaurant changes this cheese menu based on what they are able to order / what is fresh. I would suggest ordering 2-4 different types of cheese to start. They go beautifully with wine as well!

hamachi

Then, we ordered a couple of appetizers — but there is one specific plate I have to rave about. The Hamachi was out of this world! Hamachi is also called yellowtail (click here for more info). This dish was made with apple, jalapeno, and chives. All of these ingredients made each bite full of fresh and vivid flavors. The funny part about ordering the Hamachi is that I was hesitant about eating it — I wasn’t too sure about the description on the menu but boy am I happy I gave it a try! It might be my new raw obsession!

cauliflower ravioli

Another dinner favorite was the Mezzalune — ravioli stuffed with cauliflower and topped with pinenuts and capers. The capers added the perfect amount of salt, the pinenuts made the ravioli texture unique and the cauliflower made me feel like I was eating something healthy! The plate was small and something I wish I could have devoured all on my own. If I went back and had to order only one plate — this would be it! Who would have thought how flavorful a cauliflower ravioli would be!?

beefy gnocchi

Another great order — the Osso Bucco Ragu Gnocchi. Gnocchi is already a very filling food, and paired with hearty meat you are bound for a food-coma. It’s also very easy to screw up cooking gnocchi and the chef at L’Apicio cooked this plate perfectly.

maple squash

And, last but not least, the perfect side dish — the Delicata Squash. The squash was made with hazelnuts, sage and maple. All of these sweet flavors made the vegetable taste like candy. It’s the perfect side dish to order when you are eating such savory main dishes. This is also an inspirational side dish that I would like to recreate at home!

We also ordered polenta but it was not something we enjoyed. I believe the consistency of polenta is either loved or hated — and in a nutshell, it’s something I really don’t like. But, if you do like polenta, the restaurant gives you a few beautiful options to choose from!
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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.

Mercer Kitchen in Soho

I’ve heard a lot about Mercer Kitchen — I’ve heard how fantastic the brunch is and how unbelievable the dinner is. The only problem is, I can’t see myself eating brunch in a basement… especially on a gorgeous saturday afternoon! But I can see myself getting cozy in one of the booths on a cold winter evening.

The ambiance in Mercer Kitchen is relaxing even though the restaurant itself is a busy, crowded, trendy sort of joint. The menu though was a bit problematic to me — I honestly could have ordered one of everything!

We ordered several appetizers including the butternut squash soup with black trumpet mushrooms, salmon with crispy sushi rice with chipotle mayo and ponzu, and the crab cake with avocado, cucumber, lime and crystallized ginger. The butternut squash soup was incredible! There’s something about butternut squash this time of year that really hits the spot. I loved the crab cake — the meat was very moist and very flavorful with splashes of lime in every bite. The avocado also added interesting texture in addition to the moist crab meat and the crunchy exterior. And I was shocked when I tried the salmon with crispy sushi rice with chiptole may and ponzu. I honestly hate salmon, I can’t even stand the smell of it. But I have never had raw salmon before and of course there is a first time for everything. The chipotle mayo added a nice kick to the salmon too! I was pleasantly surprised and now I can say I enjoy raw salmon.

For my main course I ordered the Mercer Burger that comes with pepperjack cheese, avocado, crunchy red onions, russian dressing, and french fries. I was surprised when the burger arrived because it is rather small. But for me, it was perfect. I laughed when I noticed that the ingredients were “upside down” (you’ll see what I mean in the photo). I loved the textures of the moist beef and the crunch red onions. The bun was such a basic hamburger bun too — which I was shocked. It wasn’t on a brioche, it was more like a potato roll — at least the texture was. The french fries though, were more like McDonald’s fries — except less greasy.

The experience at Mercer Kitchen was amazing — and I can’t wait to go back for dinner again. I need to be sure to order the second half of the menu!