Tag Archives: NYC restaurants

EATER Posts New York’s 12 Best New Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

12 Mar

 

EATER came out with this list of the city’s (and surrounding borough’s) twelve best new grilled cheese sandwiches on Friday.  I am sad to say I have only experienced ONE of these grilled cheeses personally (from Beecher’s when I was in Seattle).  I’m a bit disappointed in myself.  I like to think I’m on the cutting edge of cheesiness in New York – but oh well.  TASTING PROJECT for 2012!  Yet another thing to add to my list of 33 things to do while I’m 33!!

Meanwhile, here is their list along with photos and a little description of each.  All photos and descriptions come straight from EATER’s article:

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

#7:

#8:

#9:

#10:

#11:

#12:

May the cheese be with you.

Happy Monday.

Oh and PS… no baby yet.  Obviously.  I probably wouldn’t be writing about grilled cheese if I just had a baby.  Although – it is me we’re talking about.  :)

Birthday Lunch at Jean Georges… Utter Deliciousness.

5 Jan

Happy 2012 everyone!  I’ve got to say the year is off to a wonderful start!  It’s only January 5th and I’ve already had a sublime birthday, involving one of my top five best meals of all time (I’ll go into food detail in a moment) and our dear friends Brette and Ben got engaged!  SO EXCITED for them!  Meanwhile, I’ve been working on my list of thirty-three things I want to do while I’m thirty-three.  I’m not going to share the entire list here – but I’ll give you some highlights:

  • Get my Brooklyn Library card and get into the library system (in NY, you can apparently “hold” books online and then have them sent to your nearest library branch) – I’ve just been buying a lot of books and I need to really rediscover the library – especially with the arrival of the little one!
  • Make my own baby food – my friend Amie just got me this awesome book called Baby Gourmet by Jenny Carenco.
  • Work on a baby-themed photo project – I already have one in mind and am excited to get started!
  • Take amazing pictures from our baby’s early days and actually make albums/photo books out of them (instead of leaving them forever in my computer library!!)
  • Buy a new camera lens – probably a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
  • Start an Etsy shop for my photography and link it to nellsdish
  • Blog at least three times a week
  • Get a big cushy area rug for our apartment (preferably ivory/natural color and SHAG!) – I’ve been obsessing over this purchase for about a month now.
  • Read Eat to Live - my dad read this book and it has completely transformed him.  He has adopted amazingly healthy eating habits and feels fantastic.  It is inspiring to watch.  My only issue is that he told me that the book says cheese is pretty much the absolute worst food for you.  I don’t know if I can get behind that.  But at least I can read it! :)
  • Take a trip to St. John 
  • Get both Adam’s and my skin checked by a dermatologist (just an annual check-up of sorts – to be safe)

So that is a taste of my goals for thirty-three.  I’m not actually done with my list yet – but just mulling this stuff over and putting it in writing feels like a meaningful exercise and I’m sure it’ll help me focus on the things that are important to me in the year ahead.

Now onto the really good stuff… FOOD!

So – on my birthday, Adam surprised me with a lunch at Jean Georges – a restaurant on Central Park West owned and operated by world-famous chef and restauranteur Jean Georges Vongerichten and one of only seven three-Michelin Star restaurants in all of NYC (I’ve been to three of the seven… I think that is another goal to add to the list!).   As you can imagine… this was the perfect gift for me. Way to go hubby.

Now – I didn’t bring my camera along (with my extra pregnancy weight I’ve been less inclined to carry around my camera bag lately) – but we did take photos with Adam’s iPhone in order to share the dining experience with you.

Here is an interior shot of the dining room:

Jean Georges Interior

The lunch started with an amuse-bouche:

Amuse-bouche – Similar to but not to be confused with hors d’oeuvre. This is a tidbit, often tiny, served as a free extra to keep you happy while you are waiting for your first course to come. It gives you an idea of the chef’s approach to cooking and the restaurant’s attention to your appetite.

[From French, literally, "mouth amuser", from amuser (to amuse) + bouche (mouth).

In this case - we got three little amuse-bouches and they definitely did amuse our palates and get us excited for the meal to come:

A bite of Lightly Smoked Raw Salmon Wrapped Around Cucumber with a delightful Creme-Fraiche Topping, a Spring Roll filled with Truffled Goat Cheese and topped with Honey and a shot of Sweet Potato Soup with tart little Apple bits and Pumpernickel Croutons.  YUM.

Amuse Bouche

Then came the soup – one of the highlights for me (though everything was pretty much a highlight):

Parsnip Soup with Coconut, Lime and Mint

Parsnip Soup with Coconut, Lime and Mint

I love the way they served this soup.  The bowl came with just the Coconut froth and the the lime foam and then they poured the parsnip soup on top.  I tasted each element individually – the coconut froth was amazingly creamy and milky – I could have eaten it for dessert.  And the lime foam was super tart and sour – but when you blended the three together – total magic happened.  The smooth, creamy and silky texture of this divinely flavored soup completely rocked my world.  It was a food revelation.

Onto the next.

I ordered the Comte Risotto with Marinated Pear and Matsutake Mushrooms: 

Comte Risotto with Marinated Pear and Matsutake Mushrooms

Another completely rich, creamy and delectable dish… though I might have overdone it on the rich and creamy factor with this dish following that soup.  But I can’t imagine risotto being better than this.  EVER.

Adam ordered the Scallop Sashimi with Chipotle Mayo of Crispy Rice: 

Scallop Sashimi with Chipotle Mayo over Crispy Rice

Then came our mains… I’m sorry to report, we were so excited we forgot to take photos before we dove into these – so you’ll have to use your imagination on the visuals here.

I ordered the Red Snapper Crusted with Nuts and Seeds Served in a Sweet and Sour Jus.  This dish also blew my mind.  The fish was tender and luscious and the jus was mouthwateringly buttery and was filled with sour yellow and red grape tomatoes and chunks of potato.  I could have eaten that broth as a soup.  It was heavenly.

Adam ordered the Parmesan Crusted Confit Leg of Chicken with Artichoke, Basil and Lemon Butter.  He LOVED this… though I thought my fish dish was way yummier.

Then came dessert.  We ordered one dessert for the two of us to share – of course, it had two elements, so it was pretty much two desserts – A Cranberry Parfait with Walnut Nougatine Covered in Soft Vanilla Meringue and a Sweet Potato Souffle with Cranberries and Medjol Dates: 

Cranberry Parfait and Sweet Potato Souffle

Both of these were excellent… though the savory elements of the meal definitely out-shined the desserts in my mind.

Then they came out with a special birthday chocolate cake for me!  Oye vey.  We were totally busting at the seams full by this point… but I had to have a few bites!  It was so beautiful… the little gold leaf pieces were pretty much dancing and they looked so beautiful in the candlelight…  way to finish.

My birthday chocolate cake

The meal finished off with a server coming around and snipping off four homemade marshmallows (from one long marshmallow chain), which he pulled from a large glass jar and then four homemade chocolates (including a mind-blowing peanut butter and jelly-filled chocolate) and two mini macarons.  Too much.  But in the best of ways.

Here is us at the end of the meal:

Then we left, and I promptly fell asleep on the subway ride home – in my food-induced bliss/coma.

Best birthday EVER.

Oh – and just a note.  We’ve been to a few of these super high-end restaurants – but always for dinner.  This was our first lunch experience and I have to say… that is TOTALLY the way to go!  It was daylight when we left and we had hours to digest our food before bed.  It was also SO much cheaper than it would have been had we gone for dinner.  So we got to have this amazing food experience without the guilt involved in spending way too much money.  I’m definitely going to see if those other Michelin star restaurants serve lunch.  Thank you Amy Basset for the suggestion!

Now – I’m off to my OB for a checkup!  Saturday will be thirty weeks!  CRAZY!

Love to you all and may this year bring much happiness, inspiration and all things good.

xo

A New Cheese In Town…

30 Jun

Yes, that’s right.  New York City is the proud home of a brand new cheese palace called Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.  Beecher’s comes to our city from Seattle’s Pike Place Market, where it opened in 2003, becoming the first artisanal cheese maker in Seattle!  Now we’re lucky to have their second retail store in the Flatiron district of Manhattan.  The shop opened on Monday so of course I HAD to go check it out this week!

Beecher's Handmade Cheese on 20th and Broadway

As I walked in the door I was greeted with a sample of delicious fresh cheese curds made in house that day.  Cheese curds are super yummy – with a simple, mild cheesy flavor and a springy/rubbery texture.  They sort of squeak when you bite them!  I read that in the midwest, it is common to find fried cheese curds at carnivals and local food joints.  That sounds divine – like mini mozzarella sticks (yes, mozzarella sticks are my weakness from back in the day.  I was always a cheese lover – even before I had access to all these fancy cheese shops!).

Cheese curds made fresh in house!

Anyway, cheese curds only stay fresh for a matter of hours, which brings us to the coolest part of Beecher’s… they have a cheese-making facility right inside the store where they will be making their Flagship cheeses (but with fresh milk from Albany).  It’s awesome that cheese is now being made right in NYC!

The cheese-making facility inside the shop

Here’s a peek at the cheese-making room.  They weren’t making anything when I was there so I’ll have to go back for another visit soon.  In fact, they have little stools set up so you can grab a sandwich (or some cheese and crackers), plop down on an old milk container and watch them make cheese through the glass.  Sounds like an excellent way to spend an afternoon!

Pull up a milk container and watch the pros make cheese!

PS… I kind of want milk container stools in our new apartment.  Aren’t they cool?

Here are a couple more pictures of the very well designed retail space:

Cheese cases

Sweet chandelier

The Cellar - cheese lounge downstairs

Even more amazing… they have a little cheese lounge called “The Cellar” downstairs, where they serve a full menu along with wines and spirits.  They also use the “Cellar” to age their Flagship cheeses made upstairs in the cheese kitchen!  Awesome.

Ok – so I did my browsing… it was time to head over to the cheese counter and make a selection.

Nice little cheese bounty

Right away I told the cheese monger that I’m obsessed with Cabot Clothbound Cheddar (which they sell at Beecher’s along with a variety of cheeses produced all over the United States) – and I wanted to try Beecher’s Flagship cheddar to compare.  My monger, Emily, was a delight!  She put together a little Beecher’s tasting for me to allow me to taste the subtle differences between a few of their specialties.  I tasted:

  • Beecher’s Flagship – a semi-hard cow’s milk cheddar aged eighteen months with a delicious nutty flavor
  • Beecher’s Four-Year Aged Flagship – the same as the original – just aged longer – developing a richer, flavor with more depth
  • Beecher’s Flagship Reserve – made with the very best of the milk and wrapped in cloth to age, which results in the cheese losing about eighteen percent of it’s moisture and the flavor being even more concentrated!
  • Beecher’s Flagsheep - made in similar fashion as the Flagship but with the addition of sheep’s milk and then clothbound and aged to nutty, sweet perfection!
All of the cheeses were DELICIOUS … and all very different in flavor than the Cabot Clothbound.  I think I’ll just have to alternate. In the meantime, I brought home two cheeses:  The Four Year Aged Flagship and the Flagsheep.

Beecher's Flagsheep and Beecher's Flagship reserve cheddar aged four years

Mmmmmm.  I’m sitting here tasting bites as I write.  Here’s what comes to mind when I smell and taste each:
Four Year Aged Flagship – smelling it, I am brought back to the toasted cheese sandwiches they used to serve for school lunches… the best part, was when the cheese melted down the side of the bread and got extra toasty and sort of caramelized.  This smells like that.  Yum.  When I pop a piece in my mouth, I am overwhelmed with flavor.  The texture is firm but creamy with the little crunchies that I love.  It’s salty and tangy and nutty and rich.  Wicked tasty.
Flagsheep - this one has a milder, nutty, sheepy smell (not barnyard sheepy – but that lanolin kind of sheepy).  Tasting this one – it’s a little more subtle than the four-year Flagship.  I can taste the sheep’s milk – it’s still nutty and tangy (but less tangy) and the finish in my mouth is sweet – like the sweet taste in your mouth after you drink a glass of fresh milk.  Mmmmm.
Wow.  So excited to go back and try more!  And I can’t wait to go to the Cellar for dinner.  They have a super appealing menu with six varieties of mac & cheese, a whole mess of artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, veggies, salads, soups and main courses.  Anyone want to join me next week?
Finally – on a non-cheese note, Amie and I are doing the pillow shoot tomorrow, so I have no pictures to share today.  I got hired for another photography gig – shooting photos of an apartment for the broker who found us our place!  I did it today and had a lot of fun!  It was stress-free, I was able to get great results from the equipment I have and I love getting a sneak peek into new apartments!  Maybe I can turn this into a little side gig.  As for this fourth of July weekend… we are in pack/organize/purge mode! So enjoy the weekend and the fireworks everyone!  And goodbye June – hello July!

 

 

Off to Oregon!

1 Apr

I must be brief tonight.  We’re getting picked up at four-thirty in the morning to head to Newark airport.  Ew.  And of course we haven’t packed yet and we’re waiting for our dinner to be delivered and I’m tying up all kinds of loose ends before we leave.  We’re both a little strung out with tons going on… movie stuff, moving, taxes, work, etc.  But ahhhhh… by one-thirty tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be in Portland, OR – with a full week on the other side of the country providing (hopefully) a little headspace and some serious relaxation.  We’re bringing several fun lenses and I’m bringing my computer so I will be checking in throughout the week to dish on our trip and on the festivities at the Ashland Independent Film Festival!  And actually, now that I think about it, I think I’m going to be posting photo #365 out of 365 on Sunday, April 10th – the day we’re taking the red-eye home from Ashland!  Crazy.

So without further ado -

Photo 356 out of 365 – “Cornelia Street Cafe”

"Cornelia Street Cafe" - Settings: ISO 100, f/2.5, 1/250 sec, 50mm lens

My friend Jessica took me here yesterday for a delicious lunch.  The Cornelia Street Cafe is a “cultural landmark” in NYC – serving excellent food and promoting artists and musicians in the West Village since 1977.  I ate huevos rancheros and they rocked.  I’m a sucker for huevos rancheros.

Ok -off to pack now!  Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Basketball and Rooftop Photo Shoots

21 Mar

Happy Monday everyone – it’s nice and dreary outside in NYC today.  It seems to be sort of spitting from the sky… hence, I’m still in my PJ’s catching up on indoor kinds of things.  Taxes anyone?

Anyway, first off, I’d like to welcome any new readers to nellsdish!  Last week I noticed a spike in traffic and a bunch of new subscribers (from all over the world… amazing!) – and I discovered that nellsdish was picked up by a site called PopPressed.  I am now listed as a featured blogger on their site – the tagline being “The Freshest in Culture”.  Fantastic!!  Thanks PopPressed! I’m rather excited. :)

As for this weekend, we spent a lovely seventy degree Friday evening walking around our dream neighborhoods in Brooklyn – Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill - and then had dinner with some friends at a restaurant called Breuckelen in Cobble Hill.  It was a great dinner – nice atmosphere (definitely a bit upscale) with delicious eats.  In between our appetizers and our mains, the chef brought out a taste of one of his favorites…capellini with meyer lemon, AOK roof chilis (? – no idea… looked them up and don’t know what this is), parsley and cold-pressed olive oil.  This dish is a testament to the idea that quality ingredients prepared in the simplest of ways can create magic.  This was probably my favorite dish of the entire meal.

On our walk before dinner, we stumbled upon these adorable little girls jumping rope in an alley adjacent to Cobble Hill Park. A perfect scene for photo 343 right?

Photo 343 out of 365 – “Jumping Rope in Cobble Hill”

"Jumping Rope in Cobble Hill" - Settings: ISO 400, f/2.2, 1/400 sec, 50mm lens

On Saturday we watched a LOT of basketball and did a little spring cleaning.  We don’t normally watch basketball, but we filled out a March Madness bracket at Adam’s office, so we’re suddenly super into it.  The games have actually been really exciting.  These guys are so young and passionate and they want it so badly!  I actually jumped to my feet and screamed at the TV a few times… that’s how into it I’ve been.  Kind of hilarious.  Then Saturday night we celebrated our friend Mark’s birthday at a lovely little West Village restaurant called Palma.  The party was in the restaurant’s charming and cozy carriage house out back through the garden.  Here’s a picture of the birthday boy:

Photo 344 out of 365 – “Max Blows Out the Candle”

"Max Blows Out the Candle" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.2, 1/50 sec, 50mm lens)

On Sunday Adam was my model for a photo shoot I had to do for my portraiture class.  Now, this is the part of photography that still makes me the most uncomfortable.  I have this fear about being the director, being the one who creates the vision, the one who has to make decisions about the styling and the mood and the poses… I find it completely intimidating.  Adam was a great help to me in this regard. Since he himself is a director, he was good at coaching me through it.  We picked out some outfits for him and styled his hair and I did some research on poses and moods I wanted to create.  It was fun!  I definitely need more practice to chase those nerves away, but this was a good start and I’m really happy with the photos!  Here is photo 345 in addition to some of my other favorites from the shoot.  He’s such a stud! :)

Photo 345 out of 365 – “Adam”

"Adam" - Settings: ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, 10-22mm lens (18mm)

And a few more…

And finally, many of you have probably already seen this already, but I just saw this today on Laughing Squid and I think its absolutely hysterical!  It sort of made my day.  Enjoy!

I have a cold. Blech.

31 Jan

Ah… glorious cold season.  What started as a scratchy throat a couple days ago, has  now become a full fledged runny nose, sneezy, stuffy head, juicy cough cold.  Just peachy.  Last week my friend Susan had surgery on her toe and requested the comfort of some of my mom’s homemade chicken soup (which I’ve now adopted as my own).  I made a great big batch of it last Monday and I was planning to bring it to her out in Queens on Wednesday but then that huge snowstorm rolled around and I was left with a lot of soup on my hands.  So – Adam and I ate half of it – and I froze the rest.  However, when one has a cold and there’s a big thing of chicken soup in the freezer… the answer is obvious.   So what was Susan’s loss is now my gain because I ate every last ounce of that chicken soup today and I hope it’s healing me as we speak.   Thank you Susan!  I owe you one!

Now on to photos… it was a great weekend (until I got sick) – with lots of good food and good times with friends.  On Friday night we met up with Dave & Lucy and had dinner at the Mermaid Inn.  I had a Blackboard Eats coupon for 30% off so we saved over $50 on the meal AND got a serving of six delicious oysters on the house!  Love Blackboard Eats!  And love Mermaid Inn! The highlight of the meal for me (other than the oysters) were the baked sea scallops with escargot!  They were super fresh and delicious with a light taste of lemon.  I really enjoyed both the service and the meal!

After dinner we visited at our place for a while.  We had this old Elvis movie on – Blue Hawaii (super CHEESY!!!) and it got Dave all nostalgic for his childhood record collection.  He got all into the music and I took the opportunity to do a nice little photo shoot with my color filters and flash!   Here are a couple of the best shots:

Photo 294 out of 365 – “Foxy Dave”

“Foxy Dave” – Settings: ISO 6400, f/3.2, 1/25 sec, 50mm lens

Foxy Dave in Orange

Foxy Dave in Green

On Saturday night we had Kelly & Val and their sweet little puppy Lola over for some spaghetti (another great recipe from my mom) and Rummy 500.  Lola is simply the cutest pup ever.  They found her at a shelter and she has a very shy, quiet personality so far… but she got really cozy at our apartment and made herself totally at home.  It was super sweet.  Adam and I are definitely craving a little puppy of our own now, but at this point, I think we’ll settle for babysitting Lola.

Photo 295 out of 365 – “Lola”

"Lola" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, 50mm lens

Then yesterday we had a total chill day.  I started to feel sick so we just stayed at home all day, having a movie marathon and playing Risk.  Nerds. :)  We watched a great movie called Damned United, directed by Tom Hooper – the same guy who directed The King’s Speech, which we loved.  Just like The King’s Speech, I found this movie to be visually stunning and fascinating to me from a photographic standpoint.  And the story was great too.  I highly recommend it.  We also watched Precious, which was quite heavy, intense and disturbing… but good with great performances.  And then we watched half of Funny Girl with Barbara Streisand.  We’ll finish that one off tonight.

As I didn’t leave the apartment all day, the photo inspiration was lacking… but I managed to snap this one, while snickering to myself (and then sneezing):

Photo 296 out of 365 – “Breaking the Rules”

"Breaking the Rules" - Settings: ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/100 sec, 50mm lens

So wish me luck… hopefully that Jewish Penicillin theory is for real!

Brrrrr.

24 Jan

And… it’s Monday again.  My how the weeks are flying.  I’m happy to have Adam back after his week away working on a shoot in San Francisco.  Today is his birthday so we’re celebrating with a dinner at Strip House – his favorite steak joint in NYC.  Yum.

This past weekend was jam-packed… it started on Friday night with a birthday celebration for my friend Robbie:

Photo 287 out of 365 – “No Pictures”

"No Pictures" - Settings: ISO 3200, f/2.0, 1/30 sec, 50mm lens

Then on Saturday morning, my parents arrived to spend the day with me in the city.  We had lunch at a cute and cozy little spot on Bond Street called The Smile (yummy sandwiches).  We went to meet up with Pam, who was lunching there with a friend.  We’ve known Pam and her family since I was a baby, and last week she got engaged!  So we had to give her a big congrats and check out her brand new gorgeous engagement ring!

Then we did some shopping around Soho (mostly for Adam).  My dad was such a sport… he and Adam are close to the same size, so he tried on all the clothes and modeled them for my mom and me.  After some shopping success, we hit the Angelika to see the Mike Leigh film Another Year. We all thought the movie was quite good.  The story revolves around a healthy, lovely couple who have been happily married for many years and how they care for and support the mostly sad, lonely, dysfunctional and desperate people in their lives.  It was a bit of a downer… and definitely very slow-paced, but I thought it was honest and true and touching.

I didn’t take many photos during the day on Saturday, but on the walk from the movie to dinner, we passed this dive bar and there was a band playing inside with this very intense-looking woman screaming into the mic.  I thought she made an interesting subject for photo 288.

Photo 288 out of 365 – “Rock Through a Dive Bar Window”

"Rock Through a Dive Bar Window" - Settings: ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, 50mm lens

Then we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Frankie Spuntino.  It was truly a scrumptious meal. That restaurant is definitely becoming one of my favorites in the East Village/Lower East Side.  It’s super cozy and warm with delicious homemade Italian comfort food.  And though it’s not cheap, the prices are really pretty reasonable for NYC – doing it up with wine, cheese, appetizers, mains, coffee, dessert, etc. costs around $50 per person.  They put out a cookbook that I’m itching to get.  If I can make food like that at home, we may never leave the apartment again. :)

On Sunday morning I woke up really early and laid in bed with my mom while my dad went for his early morning run. I was planning on going back to sleep (I had a rather crappy-night’s sleep on the couch) – but my mom and I ended up having a major girl-talk session for almost three hours.  It was sweet.  When my dad buzzed up from downstairs after his run, he told me to get my camera ready for his arrival… I was intrigued.   I opened the door and he had little ice drops hanging from his eyelashes and frost in the shape of a smiley face on his head warmer from his breath.  Isn’t he cute?

Photo 289 out of 365 – “Morning Run in Winter”

"Morning Run in Winter" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, 50mm lens

Then my mom and I took off for a baby shower in New Jersey.  The shower was for Karen, who is one of the offspring of the “Brooklyn Boys” gang. It was a lovely afternoon with lots of good food – including an amazing cake with a layer of chocolate chip cannoli cream filling in the center – I had never heard of cannoli cream filling before and I’m not even much of a cake person… but that was some GOOOOOOOD cake!

Now it’s seventeen degrees outside and “feels like twelve” according to weather.com.  Just groovy.  I’m dreaming about somewhere warm to escape to… but for now… maybe some red wine and steak will do the trick. :)

 

Happy First Monday of 2011

3 Jan

“You will never find happiness if you do not conquer your own doubt.”

At least that is what it says on my tea bag this first Monday of 2011.

The doubt that looms over me most of the time is career-related of course… that I will never care about a professional pursuit enough to invest my time and myself fully, and that I will end up feeling like I’ve wasted my potential.  That being said,  I have to say, I’m feeling pretty damn happy these days!  So I don’t know tea bag… does anyone ever conquer all their doubts?   Isn’t that a major part of being human… questioning, striving for self-improvement, finding happiness within and learning how to sustain it? Just some deep thinking brought on by tea bag wisdom.  Forgive me.

Anyway – happy new year everyone!  We spent a wonderful new year’s eve in fantastic company at our friends home out in Redding, CT.  My cheese fondue featuring a mix of Comte and Challerhocker was a total hit – seriously, dipping yummy things in melted cheese is just heaven on earth!  We followed up the cheese fondue with a meat fondue – where we cooked a variety of meats and veggies in boiling broth, and then dipped them in an array of homemade dipping sauces.  Fondue is so FUN!  I think it has become a new year tradition for us (this is now two years in a row).

Photo 266 out of 365 – “New Year’s Fondue”

"New Year's Fondue" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/3.2, 1/80 sec, 24-70mm lens (40mm)

Saturday was a bit of a blur – sleeping late, enjoying Adam’s famous breakfast frittata then driving back to the city, already dark outside.  We had a couple hours to chill before heading out to Tribeca with Amie and Rob for dinner at a restaurant I’ve been excited to try called Locanda Verde.  I called for a reservation weeks ago, but the only time they had available was ten o’clock, which actually ended up working out perfectly as it gave us some time to recover from the night before.  The restaurant was warm and welcoming – with a delicious Italian-inspired menu.  Some of the highlights were:

  • Crostini served alongside sheep’s milk ricotta with sea salt and herbs
  • Lamb meatball sliders with caprino and cucumber
  • Spice-glazed duck with cavolo nero, farro piccolo and pomegranate
  • Gigantone pasta with pulled pork ragu and provolone piccante

I really enjoyed the dinner and I was so in love with the farro!  I’ve never cooked farro before, but I love the texture and chew, I’m planning on picking some up to try at home!

After dinner we hung out at Rob & Amie’s apartment, where I had some fun with one of my new birthday presents – these awesome color filters Adam got me from Photojojo.

Photo 267 out of 365 – “Rob is Green!”

"Rob is Green!" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/200 sec, 24-70mm lens (70mm)

Adam is blue!

Rob and Amie are red!

Fun right?

Then yesterday was the big 3-2!  I decided to cook up another batch of that bacon and black bean chili since it was so good the first time – and I invited some friends over to ‘chill and chili’ with me.  The chili was a success – though I must admit… I was a little over-ambitious with the whole cooking and entertaining thing in the aftermath of the prior two nights of drunken celebration.  My brain wasn’t really loving me.  And I could barely eat the chili myself (too much rich food!) … though everyone else seemed to enjoy it!  By the end of the evening, I realized I hadn’t really taken any photos so Yvonne and I snapped a photo of each other taking a photo.  She’s a fellow 365er and she baked me a red velvet birthday cake.   You rule Yvonne!

Photo 268 out of 365 – “Yvonne Through the Lens”

"Yvonne Through the Lens" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, 24-70mm lens (52mm)

Anyway – a fantastic start to the new year!  And now after all the eating and drinking and merriness, it’s time to get on with all that exercising and getting in shape stuff I listed as a resolution for 2011.  No more procrastinating.  It’s on baby.

Photo 194 out of 365 – “Tree With Autumn Sky”

21 Oct

"Tree With Autumn Sky" - Settings: ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

The sky was absolutely gorgeous when I left my apartment last night.  This is the first picture I took – I adjusted the color a little bit – but not much – it really was this beautiful.  I upped the contrast a little bit and brightened the lights a tad and I increased the saturation of the the purple and magenta – but only by 8 out of 100… just a wee little bit.  Beautiful right?  I love the sky.  I could do a whole series on the sky and clouds and sunsets… just majestic.

Anyway, I had a date with Adam last night.  Dinner and a movie.  We met at Baby Bo’s – my favorite Mexican spot on 2nd Ave between 34th and 35th.  I used to go there at least twice a week when I lived in Murray Hill and in Gramercy.  I have a special place in my heart for Baby Bo’s.  Although, last night… they sort of pissed me off a bit.  (Prepare for rant).  It was a total Seinfeld episode.  I walked in and there was only one table left for two – but it was smushed between two other tables and one of them had a toddler sitting at it.  Not really interested.  In the front of the restaurant there were five tables (two-tops) pushed together to make a table for ten and there were two other tables for four.  All empty!!

I asked the waitress if we could sit in one of the other empty tables but she said we couldn’t – in case a large party came in.  There was no reservation for a large party… just the potential.  So basically, the restaurant is mostly empty and she’s going to smush us into a table next to a toddler – just in case a party of ten decides to come in the next hour??  Annoying!

Just then, Adam came and I decided we should sit at the bar instead… but I was sort of fuming.  After a couple minutes of being preoccupied and pissed off – I had to let it go… as to not ruin our evening – but stuff like that drives me CRAZY!  I hate inflexibility!  In my opinion, it makes more sense to take care of real people, who are already in your restaurant instead of compromising their happiness for a potential (but unlikely) table of TEN that is currently non-existant.  Right?

Of course, a couple came in right after us and got the crappy table – they did not look very happy about it.  And then, a single guy came in for a table of one.  Since there were no more available two-tops, the same waitress separated the large table for ten and gave him one of those two-tops.  If I had only come ten minutes later – I would have had a nice table, exactly where I wanted it.  It just re-confirmed how stupid the whole rule was to begin with.   Grrr.

Anyway, then we ate delicious fajitas and drank a couple margaritas and all was forgotten (until now as I’m writing about it). And then we saw The Social Network.  I liked it – it was definitely entertaining and enlightening.  Fun date night. :)

Photo 157 out of 365 – “Me and My Canon”

15 Sep

"Me and my Canon" - Settings: ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/15 sec, 28-105mm lens (90mm)

This is the photo I took Monday night.  My self-portraits usually come from the fact that I haven’t taken any shots during the day so I’m left having to figure something out in the evening at home.  I decided to use a high contrast black and white look for this picture, which I did in Lightroom.  With the contrast crunched so much, the “Canon” logo on the front of the camera got totally blown out, so I used the local adjustment tool, painted over the logo and then reduced the contrast and increased the clarity just for the logo.  This local adjustment brush is a tool I’m starting to work with a lot more in Lightroom.  It’s great – but I still need to learn Photoshop… and I have a confession… I haven’t spent ANY time doing my lynda.com lessons in the last month!  I have been so busy… though I think I’m avoiding it a little because I’m totally intimidated by Photoshop!  I’ll get around to it though – in due time. :)

Meanwhile, yesterday I worked at a wine show all day with my friends Rob & Amie.  They work for a wine importer called Montecastelli and needed assistance pouring their amazing Italian wines at a portfolio show.  The event was held in a beautiful Latin/Asian fusion restaurant on 40th and 3rd called Zengo.  We set up at nine-thirty in the morning and the show continued until five o’clock in the evening and was followed by more wine and dinner catered by the folks at The Little Owl. Here are some shots from the day:

"Montecastelli Selections" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/3.5, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

"Col Vetoraz" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/2.5, 1/50 sec, 50mm lens

This is an amazing Prosecco with the lightest, finest, most beautiful little bubbles.  It’s a little sweet and super delicious.

"In the Kitchen" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/2.2, 1/200 sec, 50mm lens

I took this at the after party – the chef is cooking away in the kitchen as the dishwasher washes dishes.  I liked the lighting.

Oh – and though I didn’t take any pictures of the food (doh!)… I had several tasty bites throughout the day – both at Zengo and at the after party. Here is a list of my favorites:

From The Little Owl:

  • Fig with gorgonzola, almond and aged balsamic (I’m so making these for a party – simple, but a wonderful combination of flavors)
  • Mini gravy meatball sliders – veal, pork and beef meatballs with pecorino (Italian sheep’s milk cheese)

And from Zengo:

  • Corvina (saltwater fish from the Southeast Pacific) Ceviche: Aji Amarillo (Peruvian yellow chili pepper), red onion, cucumber, apple, tomato, and shiso (Japanese herb in the mint family)

Oh my god… I had no idea how good ceviche could be.  This was the best I’ve ever had – the apples gave it a tart crunch, the fish had a great chewy (not slimy) consistency, the aji amarillo pepper gave the liquid this intense bright spiciness, which was beautiful with the tangy citrus and then the shiso was the perfect refreshing finish.  Wow.  This little bite totally blew my mind and entertained my taste buds to the extreme!

Now I want to try making ceviche.

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