Veritas

Occasion: Pre-movie (Alice in Wonderland) dinner with James
Location: Veritas on 20th between B'way and Park Ave S (veritas-nyc.com)
Edibles: so many yummy things - described in detail below

Musings: Been on my To Do list for ages, and it did not disappoint. Dinner here is an Event.

The wine list, the restaurant's proudest achievement, is a daunting volume filled with hundreds of choices. It was mostly wasted on me. I was very happy to abdicate the choice of wine to James, and found our bottle of medium-bodied red tasty enough.

The food... now that, I did appreciate.

Amuse bouche: An artistically-presented trio of crab wrapped in cucumber with mango sauce, cucumber cream with shrimp and mango, and cucumber sorbet. Dainty and delicious, though obviously designed for warmer weather than we had that dreary day. I guess the chef is longing for spring just like the rest of us!

Appetizer: On the waiter's recommendation, I made a last minute switch from the scallop salad to the lobster nage. (Thanks to him for the great advice!) The lobster sauce was so incredibly rich and savory - like the essence of a thousand lobsters distilled into a few spoonfuls of liquid bliss. Fantastic! James was kind enough to share one of his crispy frog legs with me. I was as happy to eat it as I usually am to eat things that are deep-fried, but I thought the flavor of the meat got lost in the crunch and the oiliness.

Main: The veal chop, medium rare. It's a Flintstonian-looking chop, but thankfully carved down to a few perfectly pink slices for each of us. The meat was so unbelievably tender that it actually creased where one slice lay against another. Best veal I've ever had, full stop. On the side was a whimiscal truffled pastina.

Pre-dessert: a tiny rhubarb tart and a diminutive strawberry shortcake

Dessert: A slightly weaker course. I had the honey tangerine panna cotta. The flavor was good but the panna cotta was tough from too much gelatin, and the tuile cookie tasted stale. Maybe the cheese plate would have been a better choice.

All in all, I was very impressed. The chef demonstrated real mastery of his craft.

Stonehome Wine Bar, part II

Occasion: Drinks with Liz, Jana and Olivia
Location: Stonehome Wine Bar on Lafayette Ave between Elliot Place and Portland Ave in Brooklyn (stonehomewinebar.com)
Edibles: gingerbread cake

Musings: Another brief encounter with Stonehome. We were looking for a mellow place to have some wine and chat, and Stonehome really fit the bill - bustling but not loud or crowded, with nice glowy indirect lighting. The bar was full, but we managed to finagle a table after some negotiations with the waitress. A fortunate happenstance, since I wouldn't have ordered dessert otherwise. AMAZING gingerbread cake.

Boca Chica

Occasion: Liz in town from Brussels!
Location: Boca Chica on the corner of 1st and 1st (a.k.a. the nexus of the universe)
Edibles: avocado salad and skirt steak chimichurri for me (didn't really taste anyone else's food since I was enjoying my own so much)

Musings: We ended up here after Lil' Frankie's got pissy about the logistics of our large party (I mean, come on. It's New York - people are always coming late or leaving early.)

I was completely frazzled from dashing all over town on errands and traversing nearly the entire length of Manhattan to get to dinner (yes, I was one of the guilty late ones!) so the prompt service on my passionfruit margarita was a good start. They also had tasty thick-cut plantain chips on the table to munch on instead of the usual stale tortilla chips.

The $5 avocado salad was nothing special - basically half an avocado, sliced and fanned out, dunked in vinaigrette and plopped on a little side plate with some pickled onions. Either the price or the presentation could use some rethinking. They were redeemed by the skirt steak, which was tender, flavorful and perfectly cooked. The chimichurri was fresh and bold, if a bit overloaded with garlic. The enormous plate with sides of rice, beans, and a delightful coleslaw-like salad of cabbage with cilantro and tomatoes, was a very reasonable $17.50. Plenty for two to share, even by my meat-tooth standards.

I remember Jana liked her dish (something porky?) and Shana and her husband were pleased with their food, while Liz was indifferent on her sandwich (the Cubano?). If I had to choose, I'd probably give the edge to nearby Molé's superb carnitas tacos. But if Molé's tiny dining room is full (or Lil' Frankie's is giving you attitude), Boca Chica is a great fall-back.

Almond

Occasion: Brunch with James, pre-opera matinee (Madama Butterfly)
Location: Almond on 22nd between B'way and Park Ave S, the site of the old Borough Food and Drink (almondnyc.com) [Note: sister restaurant to Almond in Bridgehampton]
Edibles: I had the duck hash with poached egg; James had the Nutella waffles and a side of bacon

Musings: Not as close or as cosy as Penelope, but Almond gets added to the list of decent brunch places in the neighborhood.

The hash was SPECTACULAR. Gourmet but not fussy, it was a generous lumberjack plateful of fried potatoes with delicious shreds of duck and crispy nuggets of crackling, presided over by a silky poached egg. If you would normally dismiss this dish because you think duck is too heavy for brunch, I urge you to reconsider. It's heaven!

James' waffle was good too, though a little too dessert-y for my personal brunch tastes. The bacon, always horribly, inexplicably expensive at brunch, tasted like it had been cooked in the deep fryer - a slight ding for that.

Another slight ding for the stingy cup of coffee, which the waiter was asked to refill but forgot, and cold milk, which made my drink lukewarm from the get-go. (If you're thinking, "She's asking a lot - hot milk for coffee," I clarify that I asked for my coffee to be filled just three-quarters of the way to leave room for a lot of milk. A smart waiter would have figured it out.)

I'll be back for the hash, for sure. May bring my own mug next time.

Sorella

Occasion: Dinner with Elizabeth
Location: Sorella on Allen between Delancey and Broome (sorellanyc.com)
Edibles: shared apps of argula salad with pears and roasted brussels sprouts with apples; I had the agnolotti stuffed with beef with sage butter sauce for my main; Elizabeth had the beet risotto

Musings: They were booked up in the main dining room so we ate at the bar. I loved the vibe at Sorella - dim and casually chic, not too loud. I also really liked their quirky music selection and was bopping along to it most of the night.

The food... The salad was lovely and surprisingly substantial. The brussels sprouts (really a side vegetable) were nicely roasted and flavorful, if somewhat bogged down by the heavy sauce on top, something like a Russian dressing. Elizabeth's risotto was tasty, once you got past the disconcerting bright magenta color. My main was the weakest dish of the night. The pasta was hard and gritty and the butter sauce was a poor choice to accompany - too oily and heavy.

Although it wasn't the most impressive meal, I did really like the atmosphere and there were glimmers of greatness in the food. If the opportunity arose I would definitely come again, try some different things on the menu.

Sakagura

Occasion: Post-theatre (Glass Menagerie) bite with Michael
Location: Sakagura on 42nd between 2nd and 3rd (sakagura.com)
Edibles: gyu miso nikomi shredded beef back rib stewed in miso with grated daikon; tsukune chicken meatballs; surumeika yaki grilled squid; a seared scallop special

Musings: After wandering aimlessly around midtown for 20 minutes after the show, my brain finally clicked on Sakagura. In the culinary wasteland of midtown, Sakagura is a welcome oasis and it's one of the very best options in the area for late-night. Food is served until midnight on weekdays, until 1am Fridays and Saturdays.

I'm always tickled by their location. You go into a regular-looking office building, down some fire stairs, and enter into a little pocket of Tokyo. The main room has a warm, relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. There's a nice long bar and lots of tables and little booths. They also have very cute bathrooms, built into giant barrels.

It was really more of a snack than a proper dinner, but it was exactly what I wanted at that moment. Everything we had was delicious, very delicately and thoughtfully made. The scallop dish was a highlight and the beef rib was my favorite, absolute perfection in texture and flavor. Four dishes, a round of draft beers, tip and tax came to about $25 a person.

I haven't been here enough times or eaten enough of the menu is give Sakagura Hall of Fame status... yet. But tonight's dishes were just exquisite and it's definitely headed in that direction.

Shun Lee

Occasion: Jill's birthday!
Location: Shun Lee on 65th between W Central Park and B'way (shunleewest.com) [Note: there's another location on the east side, but they don't seem to be very closely affiliated and their menus are quite different]
Edibles: a mixed appetizer plate with a xiao long bao, cold sesame noodles, a fried shrimp ball and a pork (I think) and veggie lettuce cup; a mixed main course plate with orange beef, stir-fried prawns, some kind of chicken and a bowl of fried rice with Chinese sausage

Musings: First, happy birthday Jill! I'm glad we got to see you to celebrate before you jetted off for your beach vacay!

As for the restaurant... My impressions of Shun Lee previous to this visit were that it was a moderately nice Chinese restaurant, if slightly overpriced. They used to have a very good tea-smoked duck (not on their menu anymore) that I would occasionally treat myself to if I was in the neighborhood.

Tonight, I think they took advantage of our group inertia to play fast and loose with a "prix fixe" menu. What we should have done was: A) ordered wine by the bottle; B) each picked one entree (ranging from about $18 - $30) and eaten family-style. Instead, for the okay meal they picked out for us, the bill was an absolutely ASTRONOMICAL $80 per person. I felt especially bad for our one vegetarian, who had a plate of tofu stir-fry and paid the same as the rest of us.

This is decidedly not the economic environment to be pulling this kind of stunt, Shun Lee - shame on you. I will not be back.

Bar Jamón

Occasion: A drink and a snack with Elizabeth
Location: Bar Jamón on 17th and Irving, just around the corner from Casa Mono (barjamonnyc.com)
Edibles: tortilla española and cured tuna with gazpacho salad

Musings: A great place to hang out - if can you can get in. It's a little dark cubby of a bar, seating about fifteen. It was blessedly not too crowded tonight. I believe it was originally intended as a sort of waiting room for Casa Mono, but I come to Bar Jamón all the time, completely unrelated to Casa Mono.

Elizabeth and I did some catching up over quartinos of wine. Wine-wise, the selection is not very broad but I'm pretty easygoing - give me a decent white that's not Chardonnay and I'll call it a day.

She'd already eaten so I had the food all to myself. The tortilla was a generous enough portion for $7. Good, but a little bit dense and dry. The tuna dish was a great concept and was seasoned perfectly with just the right amount of acid; unfortunately the tuna itself was a little rubbery - either cured way too long, or cooked through first and then marinated. I would have gone with more of a ceviche style.

Minor critiques aside, it was a nice, light dinner and a great way to decompress after a busy day. I'm sure I'll be back soon.

Mmmm... Oscar party snacks

Occasion: My annual Oscar party (Go Kathryn Bigelow and Hurt Locker!)
Edibles: chicken satay and crudités; chow mein with bok choi

Satay Dip
(based on Ina's more complicated recipe which you can find here; her product pictured below)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dark sesame oil (it's pretty strong)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

½ cup smooth peanut butter

In a large bowl, dissolve the brown sugar in the vinegar and soy sauce. Whisk in all the other ingredients. Can also make in a food processor.

For the chicken, I just pan-fried boneless, skinless chicken thighs in some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and splash in a little white wine. When cooled, slice and put on bamboo skewers.

Chow Mein with Bok Choi

⅓ cup Chinese barbeque sauce (the Niu Tou "Cow Head" brand is best)
1 package of fresh pasta, cooked and drained (can substitute dried pasta)
2 lbs of baby bok choi, the ones with the green stems, washed and chopped
a splash of soy sauce
[optional: 1 steak, sliced]

In a wok or large sauté pan, give the bbq sauce a bit of a toast until it's fragrant. [If you're using the steak, put it in here and give it a quick fry.] Throw in the bok choi and stir-fry until mostly cooked - don't overdo it, it's nice to still have a little snap to them. (If you're up for it, put in the stems first - they take longer to cook. But it'll be just fine if you dump in the leaves at the same time.)

Add the cooked pasta, splash in a little soy sauce and toss everything together. Done!

This chow mein has very few ingredients, cooks up quickly and is great for a crowd. If you have leftovers, just stick it in the microwave the next day - the greens will not be as crisp [and the beef will be slightly tougher] but it'll still be good.