Anniversary Dinner for Young Couple

I couldn't find a website for Degustation, but I found a NYTimes article, and at the bottom it said they were open only from Monday - Saturday.

So you don't think keeping it sunday will limit our options that much?

tjb9z in Manhattan

Anniversary Dinner for Young Couple

Sugar and jake,

Thanks for your input. I did some googling and degustation sounds like it might work pretty well for what I was hoping for.

One problem though, originally we decided we wanted to go out on a Sunday night, so it wouldn't be so crazy and packed everywhere, but would this limit our options too much? Are there any good places open on Sundays?

Tim

tjb9z in Manhattan

Anniversary Dinner for Young Couple

Hello all,

My name is Tim and I have a dilemma. I just graduated college in May, and have been living in the city since August. My girlfriend currently lives in Richmond, so I don't get to see her too often, but she'll be coming up for new year's and January is the month of our anniversary, so we figured we'd go out and celebrate it (a few days early).

We are thinking of going out on Sunday night (Dec 30th) for dinner somewhere, but I don't really know where to take her. I tried looking through the boards, but usually when people talk about anniversaries or special occasion dinners in the city it seems like they're spending several hundred dollars. I just graduated, so I'm not making that kind of money yet.

So, what I was hoping to get some help on was finding a place that serves great food, has an atmosphere appropriate for an anniversary, and could pull this off while spending less than $200 total (closer to 150 would be better). This price would include appetizers, entree, (maybe a shared dessert), and drinks (dont know if it'd be cocktails, wines by the glass, or bottle).

If money wasn't a factor, I think the tasting menu at Boulet would be among my top choices (so if there's a more affordable but still yummy tasting menu somewhere else, that could be an option).

I'm much into meat (beef, lamb) and she's much into seafood and pasta. French, Italian, or Spanish I think would be best (she's doesn't have a super adventurous palette - I'm working on it, but not too much experimentation for our anniversary dinner). Tapas / small courses could be interesting.

As far as our personalities go, I'm a corporate sellout by day and a contemporary art/indie rock appreciator by night. She majored in poetry and media studies and wants to be an English professor and has the same interests as me (outside of profession). On a typical weekend together, we would much rather go to a good bar with a good selection of beers and live music than to a ritzy club where Jay Z supposedly might stop by.

Alright, I tried to give as much information as possible (thank you to anybody still reading) to help you help me (thank you in advance).

Thanks,
Tim

tjb9z in Manhattan

Ikea

I haven't used it, but I remember reading a Cook's Illustrated article about enamelled cast iron dutch ovens and the Chefmate brand available at Target ranked 3rd (beaten by All-Clad and Le Creuset). IKEA wasn't in the test, but if you're looking for a dutch oven, the Chefmate at target sells for about $40 as opposed to several hundred for the two that beat it.

tjb9z in Cookware