Lucia's Profile
Suggestions near Mt. Sinai Hospital
I just had that sandwich last night. This place is great, and the same owners now have a bigger place, ABV, around the corner (which I haven't tried).
Need Best Chocolate Cake in Chelsea/Mid-town Area - Where please?
Amy's Bread or Billy's
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Billy's Bakery
184 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Amy's Bread
75 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Looking for a good quality not break the bank meal near the TIme Warner Center
Agree. I had a very nice lunch there yesterday.
Soccarat Nolita -- yummy
It is yummy, and the paella is very good, but I think the pay-per-person policy on paella is disappointing. I went w/another person and they refused to sell us a paella for one, so we paid for a paella for 2 ($20+ each), which was huge, and left us little room to try a variety of tapas.
FAIRWAY UPPER EAST opens this Wed the 20th at 11am!!!
Yes. It's up and running and very crowded. I did a run through but didn't shop b/c it was a bit overwhelming with the crowds. It's the same quality stuff at lower prices than other stores in the neighborhood. I'm so happy to have it in the neighborhood!
Question about Ippudo
Agreed that the noodles were poor. I was not impressed and neither were others--it was empty and there was a wait at Minca
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Minca
536 E 5th St, New York, NY 10009
Few Dinner choices, Peasant - Recette - Maiaino
I haven't been to Scarpetta. I love Peasant most of the others--I've gone many times and have never been disappointed.
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Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Food dissapoints at Cafe Boulud, but I got to meet Daniel Boulud
I had a similar lackluster experience for brunch at Cafe Boulud. I haven't been for lunch or dinner, but from the reviews of the main meals, I'm wondering if brunch is just an afterthought that the restaurant doesn't puch much focus/resources into.
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Cafe Boulud
20 East 76th St., New York, NY 10021
Brunch at Colicchio & Sons
I had a really disappointing experience at brunch today. I'd been to dinner in the Tap Room and loved the food, so it seemed a perfect setting to take my mom on a rare visit to the city. Unfortunately, the experience was marred by a really weird and uncomfortable service experience and inconsistent food. Before placing our meal orders, we pre-ordered a pastry basket and food. 30 minutes later, no pastry basket, so I followed up with our server, and the pastry basket came out about 5-10 mins later. (As an aside, there were plenty of empty tables during our brunch). About a minute after the pastries were dropped (pretty good, but nothing to write home about), a woman came by and, without introducing herself, said "We can't hold your food for you any longer." I was so confused b/c I hadn't asked for anything to be held. I said we'd just gotten the pastries and she asked when they were ordered. I said that it was before our order and that I had had to follow up. At that point, she obviously realized she made a mistake and walked away to talk to the chefs in the open kitchen. I'm not sure what was said, but it was another 20 mins or so until we got the food. So, when all was said and done, we didn't end up getting the food until an hour after we were all seated. During our wait between the pastries and food, the woman came by again, and I told her that her behavior had been really surprising and rude, and she said she was sorry and there was a misunderstanding, period. I told her she should have apologized on her own rather than wait for me to say something.
Food: I had a taste of everything. The ricotta & spring veg frittata was very good, and I liked the grits, roasted vegetables, and roasted potatoes. The crab omelette I tried, on the other hand, had a weird, cold, congealed sauce on it. The real problem was my dish, which was, well no real word for it except gross. I had the baked eggs in mushroom ragu. Eggs were perfectly cooked--a little runny and not overdone like some baked eggs. I was hungry, so I did end up choking down the eggs and some of the mushrooms. The problem was that the dish was just the worst conceived dish I've seen--2 eggs in a sauce the consistency of broth and the color of teriyaki sauce (or greasy dish water). It was so salty that I couldn't taste any mushrooms (or even the eggs), just salty broth. I really couldn't believe that this dish was sent out, and when I offered a taste, no one took me up on it.
We left a 20% tip b/c the server was very friendly, as was the host, who seated me and my mom before the rest of our party arrived and 15 minutes early. But, I was still frustrated by the earlier behavior and service glitches and the fact that nothing was done to rectify (in the form of a spontaneous apology or comp, etc., that you'd expect at a restaurant of this caliber). I told our hostess that our server was great but I had a very bad experience with an employee who was rude. She said she'd call out the manager, and the same woman who had been rude before came out at the same time. It wasn't until then that I found out the woman was the manager! She apologized (not very sincerely but with lots of arm patting) and said that she had meant to say something on our way out and that the pastry basket had been comped, which no one had told us and we hadn't noticed since there were so many dishes on the tab. If there was a comp, shouldn't she have come by to say sorry and the pastries are on us? The whole experience was just bizarre.
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Colicchio & Sons
85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Paris Trip in July--Feedback on Choices Please!
Thank you for your quick feedback. I'm glad I'm on the right track!
Paris Trip in July--Feedback on Choices Please!
There will be 3 of us coming to Paris Sunday July 11-Sunday July 18. We're originally European and very adventurous foodwise, but 2 of us are on a budget, so we'll probably going to be limiting ourselves to 1 big meal a day (probably dinner with mainly snacks and some pastry sampling during the day) and would like to stay in the 35euro/person on food or under category (although a few splurges wouldn't hurt). One night is reserved at La Fermette Marbeuf because the 2 I'm traveling with loved it on the last go-round. I haven't seen any talk of it here. Any feedback?
For the other nights, I've done some research and am thinking of:
L'Agrume (high on my list)
Le Marcab
Rino
Chez L'Ami Jean
Claude Colliot
Chez Grenouille
L'Assiette et Le Bouchon
Les Papilles
Carte Blanche
Le Comptoire du Relais
L'Aromatik (thinking of this for Monday night).
Le Gaigne
Ze Kitchen Galerie
I'd appreciate your help in narrowing down my list and am looking especially for a choice for Sunday (hopefully near our hotel http://www.paris-hotel-senlis.com/pages/situation.html as we'll have spent a sleepless night the night before) and Bastille Day (are restaurants open?). I'm also interested in knowing if all of these restaurants require reservations. I think the other members of my party would prefer not to overschedule, so we'd likely gravitate to some of the places that don't require reservations.
Finally, I'm thinking of doing a wine tour in the Loire valley or a champagne tour in Champagne. I'd appreciate any recommendations of good, affordable tours or your honest feedback on whether a tour is a bad idea.
Thank you in advance! And, p.s. I didn't list Frenchie because I'm assuming that at this date and it being a busy week in July that reservations would be impossible.
best cupcakes in Manhattan?
Two Little Red Hens & Billy's are favorites. Agree that Magnolia is not worth a try. Either is Crumbs.
Disappointed in brunch at Cafe Boulud
I took a friend to celebrate her birthday today and felt really ripped off and disappointed at the end of the experience. Brunch is $39 for 2 courses ($49 if you add dessert). For the type/quality of food, this price is a huge rip off. We both started with a mushroom barley soup. I love mushroom barley soup, but this was a completely ordinary preparation. And, besides the mushrooms, full of cheap ingredients that couldn't justify the price tag. My friend was in the mood for eggs, so she ordered the eggs en cocotte w/potatoes and bacon. They looked ordinary, but she seemed to at least enjoy the dish. $39 for mushroom barley soup, 2 eggs, and potatoes, though? I had the crab benedict as my main because they had run out of cod (besides ravioli, the only "lunch-y" item on the menu). It was described as a crab cake with a poached egg on top. Little did I know that my crab cake would be deep fried with a thick, dry crust that the tiny egg on top could not penetrate. Too bad because the interior of the crust was all stringy, dry, fairly flavor-less crab (no lumps!), and it could have used some added flavor and moisture. There were not even canapes or migniardises to justify the price tag. With 2 glasses of wine and 2 cups of coffee, the whole mediocre experience was $120 before tip. To make matters worse, about the most I could say about service was that it was efficient--there was not a hint of warmth to be found. By efficient, I also mean that a runner came out w/the soup 2 minutes after we ordered. Luckily, our server intercepted him before he got to the table so she could set down some spoons and make sure we had our wine before we got the soup. When I checked in, I'd also given my credit card to the hostess and asked that the bill not be brought to the table so my friend couldn't haggle w/me over paying. Needless to say, I got the check w/o my card in it and had to haggle w/my friend while I tried to flag down a server and explain they already had my card.
Sorry for the rant, I just don't know where Cafe Boulud gets off charging what it does for what it serves at brunch. I guess the only explanation is that they do it because they can--it is the UES after all.
French for a Francophile
La Mangeoire. I went for brunch this weekend, and it was good. Granted, this was brunch, but based on their acquisition of new chef Delouvrir and a good dinner review I saw lately, I'd give it a try.
Great Italian restaurant similar to Crispo in food, atmosphere, price??
My parents didn't enjoy Otto b/c it was too loud. Giorgio's I wouldn't necessarily consider very Italian. I've taken my parents to Peasant, and they love it (and ask to go back even though they very infrequently come here).
Casual quiet dinner in E 80's area
I like Cafe D'Alsace, but I wouldn't say it was quiet at all. Lots of hard surfaces make it pretty loud when it fills up.
Maialino - Anyone been?
I went yesterday. I had reservations, but there were plenty of tables available. I had the uova al contadino. The brussel sprouts were great, but the poached eggs were pretty bland and the whites were puckered. My friend enjoyed his spaghetti carbonara, and I loved his citrus scone. Our server was very friendly and helpful, but I experienced the same lengthy waits others did at dinner. Coffee took 10 minutes from ordering. The meal took 45 minutes to reach the table, and we only got an update from our server literally seconds before the food finally came out. Dishes took a while to clear. But, on the plus side, they let us order a second round of drinks and linger after our meal since they weren't busy.
best liverwurst sandwich
I haven't experimented much with liverwurst in the city, but I can vouch for the deliciousness of the sandwich at Sabarsky.
Anyone eaten at The Wright (at the Guggenheim) yet?
I went for lunch on Sunday and it was good--definitely a step above regular museum food--but not great. Portions are just right, I'd say. My cod was about 6 oz. and was properly seared. The broth was a little watery, though. My friend's lobster salad had a good portion of lobster in it, although the rest of the dish looked like it was almost all lettuce. We also split some brussel sprouts and bacon (an OK, too lightly seasoned version) and finished with the pumpkin and chocolate cake, which was quite good (not so much the ice cream on the side). We were able to linger, and the servers/managers were very concerned to make sure we were having a good time.
Breslin
I assume yes because everything else is so similar (style, care of preparation, types of ingredients), but I have nothing to back that up.
