ristorante cotto caffe

new york, ny

CLOSED

derek and i don't make it out to alphabet city very often. i admit it, we're lazy. east of 1st ave is no man's land. well, smack in the middle of no man's land is a lovely little italian restaurant. a friend had chosen the restaurant for his birthday party, so derek and i were forced to venture to the far east. excellent food, excellent atmosphere, and amazing desserts. there were some issues with the wine - a few bottles had to be sent back when they tasted like vinegar. but the waiters cheerfully replaced them with a different wine.

the atmosphere is very cozy - almost like you're eating in someone's home. handmade pasta. homemade desserts. chatting with the waiter, with the owner, and with the cook ("italian food made by an italian!") for dessert, they brought out 3 platters each with selections of their homemade desserts. one platter had candles in the cakes. they turned off all the lights in the restaurant and sang happy birthday to our friend. even though the pasta was delicious, i think my favorite part was the dessert platter - homemade tiramisu, cheesecake, chocolate cake, and panna cotta pie. definitely worth the trek.

churrascaria plataforma

w bway (franklin/white)

website

the price of their prix fixe dinner has increased significantly since i took ryan and cindy here on their nyc vacation a few years ago. the price is understandable because it is all-you-can-eat, but i simply don't eat enough to justify the cost. i'm saddened because i like this place - great food and lots of fun. at the beginning of the meal, everyone gets a disc that is green on one side, red on the other. if you leave the red side up, you are free to go to the "salad" bar, which includes sushi, cheese, risotto, salads, various antipasti, and the BEST chicken salad i've ever tasted. i would be completely satisfied with a meal that consisted entirely of the "salad" bar.

but wait, there's more. flip your disc to the green side and that gives the waiters the green light to start bringing you giant slabs of meat. the meat is often carried by the waiter on a spear. if you would like a piece of a particular cut of meat, the waiter slices off a piece for you. there are all different kinds and cuts - duck, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, chicken, sausage, prime rib, sirloin, beef rib, pork rib - even octopus and salmon. my favorite was the sirloin - fatty and juicy with crispy charred spots. amazing. derek has mastered the art of staring down waiters who are carrying his desired cut of meat. it's quite impressive - he spots them as they walk out of the kitchen and stares at them until they walk to our table. with the price, however, this is a restaurant to save for special occasions - maybe the next time will be when cindy and ryan visit the big apple again!

almond

new york, ny

website

despite the fact that it is just a stone's throw away from our apt building, derek and i had only eaten at almond once before i started this blog. it was over-priced and just okay. given that this particular restaurant location was notorious for failed restaurants (See rocco dispirito's union pacific), we didn't bother trying it again. but a bar is a bar, so when michelle asked us to meet up with her for drinks at almond, we happily joined her. the house cocktails are a little too sweet for my tastes, but the bartenders are friendly and attentive. michelle agreed that almond's dinner menu is sub-par, but she suggested that we try their brunch.

i'm glad we gave this place another chance. derek absolutely loved the "almond hash" - duck confit, roasted onions, potatoes, duck cracklins, and poached egg. delicious, with juicy and crispy duck and served with crusty grilled bread that's been brushed with butter. still, almond has its misses - the coffee is terrible and my ricotta pancakes were just okay. but if you stick with the hash and iced tea, then this is an excellent brunch spot. great for kids too - the restaurant even has baby food on the menu! it's $3 so you probably want to bring your own anyway, but it's a nice touch.

charbonnel chocolate cafe

new york, ny

link to yelp

i love this secluded little spot on the 8th floor of saks fifth avenue. walking through any of the high-end department stores is a nice way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. and the chocolate cafe in saks is a nice way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the store. there's a fun conveyer belt where you can grab pastries as they pass by. there's also a constantly running chocolate fountain, but it's not within anyone's reach so i think it's just for decoration.

my favorite thing to get here is the "english tea" with english breakfast tea, a white chocolate-cranberry scone, served with clotted cream and jam. quite lovely. derek ordered the mocha - made with their excellent and decadent chocolate - which he really enjoyed. this is a hidden little gem in midtown manhattan.

houston's

new york, ny

website

this restaurant is a nationwide chain with two branches in new york. very solid food and a pretty good wine list. one branch is in the same building as my office and another branch is just a few blocks from my apartment. both spaces are very spacious and have comfortable booth seating. and if you're in a hurry, there's usually a few seats at the bar and you can order from the regular menu.

my favorites include the french dip (pictured) - buttery roll with roast beef, excellent au jus and delicious french fries, the california burger (though not as good as BLT burger), and the ribs - fall-off-the bone tender with good bbq sauce. yum. houston's (or hillstone or whatever it's called now) is a very dependable restaurant if you want some good american food and don't feel like squeezing into a tiny east village hole-in-the-wall.

rai rai ken

new york, ny

link to yelp

derek and i were wandering the east village on a friday night trying to find a place to eat that didn't have a long wait. redhead had an hour+ wait and there was no room to wait at the bar. momofuku noodle bar was so packed we didn't even bother asking. derek was craving ramen and i remembered a friend had told me about rai rai ken, so we decided to try it out.

derek loved that it reminded him of the ramen bars we visited in japan. corn might be one of my favorite foods and i love that it was an optional add-in at rai rai ken. although that's about all that this place has going for it. it's a good spot if you're in the neighborhood and you absolutely can't wait for momofuku or ippudo or are too lazy to walk to ramen setagaya.

koryodang

new york, ny

website

after eating spicy korean food, i like to indulge in a cool dessert. in k-town, there's not a whole lot of choices (unless you want frozen yogurt, ew). i've actually been to koryodang quite a few times. it's interesting because i'm pretty sure that the servers neither speak nor understand english. which is fine, because other than taking your order, they don't really pay any attention to you. also, this place is really expensive ($7 for a coffee). i know, i'm really talking it up. whatever - it's a lowkey and convenient place to get some post-dinner sweets.

jinny ordered a korean shaved ice dessert with fruit, red beans, and mochi that looked quite delicious. i saw that they served crepes and decided to order a plain crepe with powdered sugar. the server appeared to understand and acquiesce. however, when my dessert arrived, it was a gigantic crepe stuffed with a slice of cake soaked in liquer, piles of bananas, and whipped cream, then topped with chocolate sauce, almonds, and a ridiculous amount of powdered sugar. and a side of ice cream. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what i wanted. oh well, i'll be back anyway.

natural tofu

32nd (5th/bway)

link to yelp

despite the granola-sounding name, it's just a typical korean restaurant. located at 34 W. 32nd, you have to walk through an office lobby and go up the stairs toward the "seoul garden" sign to find the place. the ventilation isn't great and jinny was attacked by a giant bug. not good.

i ordered the tofu soup (mild) and jinny did the same (spicy). my tofu soup was alright, but i prefer smaller pieces of seafood and meat. the kalbi on the side was decent, but nothing special. and the ban chan was just okay. combine the just-okay food with the ventilation and infestation issues ... i think we'll try a different k-town spot next time.

sushi seki

new york, ny

link to yelp

this is my favorite sushi restaurant in the city and it is very difficult to get reservations. fortunately, i managed to snag a table for 3 at 8:30 pm on a wednesday night for myself, eric and jenny. if you're a sushi-eater, you have to get the special platter or the omakase. otherwise it's a waste of a reservation. (for non-sushi-eaters, i hear their other options are fantastic, though i have never tried them.) my first visit to sushi seki was in 2005 when the special platter was called the omakase, had huge pieces of fish, and cost around $30. a steal. it now costs $45 and has smaller pieces of fish. a separate omakase option now starts at $60. i'm sad that the price has increased so much, but i understand the economics of the decision.

derek and i once celebrated an anniversary here - we told the waiter how much we wanted to spend and chef seki sent out plate after plate of amazing sushi. it was one of the best meals i've ever had. since then, however, i've stuck to the special platter which includes most of my favorites from that meal. seki has unique sauces and preparations for each type of sushi. unlike the omakase menus at other restaurants, these special preparations generally stay the same every day. my favorites are the tuna topped with a creamy light tofu sauce, salmon served with onions and tomato, seared king salmon sauced with soy and sake, seared scallop. even the eggplant is melt-in-your-mouth good. definitely try this place if you've got some room in your budget for amazing sushi.

accademia di vino

new york, ny

website

i love the atmosphere of the downstairs portion of the restaurant. the upstairs portion is a wine bar and tends to be loud and crowded. the downstairs is spacious and quiet - it feels like we're dining inside a wine cellar. perfect for a girl's night out with jenny and vanita. note - a danger/benefit to the downstairs area is that there is no cell or blackberry service. it's quite nice to get away, but i did have a few urgent emails waiting for me when i emerged from the cellar.

vanita, as always, is our designated wine selector. she did a great job with the red she choose (recommended by the sommelier) - robust, full-bodied, and all those other words that you're supposed to use to describe wine. we started with an excellent cheese plate - a remarkable la tur, a not-very-aged aged gouda, and an unremarkable third cheese. i ordered the pasta tasting plate. it's unfair to compare accademia's pasta to del posto, but i believe that restaurant pasta should be del-posto-amazing, otherwise i might as well just make it at home with a jar of rao's. next time, i'll stick to the small plates on the menu instead.