LUNCH @DEL POSTO

This year's Fine Dining Christmas present to ourselves was lunch @Del Posto.  The magnificent darling of the famous trio of Lidia Bastianich; Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali!  


We decided on this venue after reading about the wonderful Prix Fixe Lunch they serve for $29.00!  Yes, you read that right: $29.00!


It's a choice of Antipasto; Primi or Secundo; and Dolce. See the menu here.
They also offer a 6 course tasting menu with or without wine pairings, it's listed at the bottom of the menu.


Of course it was a big question if we would even make it there Wednesday, as we had a lovely snowstorm overnight!  We went to bed resolved that we'd wake up and make the decision if we would trek in or cancel and reschedule.  We woke up and saw that traffic was moving and planned our trip via subway and foot.  We left our warm apartment around 11 a.m. and traversed the worst part of our trip, walking down our hill to the subway.  Due to a construction project, that just started last month and will last 2 years, we had to walk a block out of our way to get to a different subway entrance, as the one we've used for 33 years is closed as part of the reconstruction of the overpass of Queens Boulevard.  


Once in the city, the streets and most of the sidewalks were perfectly cleared, even the slushy corners weren't as bad as we expected.  We had booted up to protect our feet so while not elegant we were at least dry!


Upon arrival we were greeted by the coat check in the vestibule of the grand restaurant.  We gladly gave her our coats, hats and scarves.  Next we moved into the wonderful space. I grabbed these pictures from the restaurant's Google Place Page, they don't do it justice, in a word the space is gorgeous.

We were seated on a leather banquette with beautiful throw pillows!  Actually in the picture there are three tables ours was at the top of the section. Our table was a corner of the banquette so we sat adjacent to each other vs across from or next to each other.


Water was the first offering, we chose tap, as we do most often now that I'm limiting my intake of carbonation.  Next drinks or wine list was offered, wine list was requested.  Having not decided on what to eat we chose to have a glass of VERMENTINO by Terenzuola Fosso di Corsano  2008 from  Toscana.  We had enjoyed a similar one before and selected it based on it's refreshing qualities.  It's a full-bodied dry White and was a perfect foil to our first food.

Now comes the menu.  The choices were all very interesting and inviting.


Before we could decide along came an amuse bouche!  There was a trio of delicious looking bites.  First a shot of an Italian version of Egg Drop Soup, a salty broth that warmed us nicely. Next were gourgeres-like morsels filled with Mortadella which reminded us of deviled ham, only sooooo much better!  And finally crispy rice crusted mozzarella balls.   Unbelievably delicious!  


For our antipasto we chose:

Roasted Winter Vegetables w/Robiola Sformato & Truffled Hazelnuts

and

Warm Cotechino w/Umbrian Lentil Vinaigrette & Dried Fruit Mostarda

  
 

We each ate half and switched plates.  The Cotechino was a beautiful pink color and perfectly prepared.  The Lentils were tiny and cooked al dente and the dried Fruit Mostarda had just the right amount of heat to brighten your taste buds.   The roasted vegetables were tiny morsels of winter root veggies and pears.  Each crunchy bite was better than the last.

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For Entrées we ordered:

Grilled Pork ode to Emilia-Romagna with Sunchoke Crema

 & Aceto Conserva

 and

Slow Baked Lamb alla Puttanesca & Garlic Tatsoi

Prior to receiving our entrées we consulted with the Captain about selecting glasses of red wine to compliment our meal.  He asked what our entree choices were and suggested two different wines.  For Nana's Pork he recommended Valpolicella Superiore Marion 2004 from the Vento a very fruity red wine with medium body. And for my Lamb Dish he suggested AGLIANICO DEL VULTURE Laluce Zimberno 2006 from  Basilicata also a medium bodied smooth palate pleasing wine.  We enjoyed them immensely.  His recommendations were based on being from regions close to where the style of the dishes we were enjoying them with were created.

The Lamb was three good sized morsels topped with the Tatsoi and draped with the Puttanesca.  So in each bite you got a mouth explosion of flavors.  It was truly the tenderest chunks of lamb you could imagine.  The sauce was rich and full of flavor but didn't taste overcooked, the olives and capers and tomatoes had distinct texture and nowhere near mushy.

The Pork was a lovely piece of meat, also very tender and yet held together with just the right amount of chewiness.  The Sunchoke Crema was impossibly perfect.  The only disappointment would be that it wasn't a bowlful serving! And what dish isn't elevated by garnishing it with the Balsamic reduction. 

Both of us were over the moon with these choices and how well the wines complimented the meal. We truly thought it couldn't get any better!  But...read on my friends!

Next: onto dessert.  

We knew we would be pleased, but wait there's more! There were no bad choices to eliminate easily but finally we selected:

Chocolate Ricotta Tortino Toasted Sicilian Pistachios 

& Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gelato

Butterscotch Semifreddo Melon Agrumata, Crumbled Sbrisolona 

& Milk Jam

I can't even begin to describe how delicious and beautifully presented these desserts were!  I had the Chocolate Ricotta Tortino especially since I am a fan of Olive Oil Gelato, ever since I had it @OTTO!    Nana loves all things Semifreddo so the Butterscotch version sounded incredible.

Along with our desserts, coffee. and tea came a surprise.  On a cheese grater embedded in a wooden box with a drawer came two mini Bombolinis and yes, we could have devoured a plate of these! Perfectly cooked, sugared and filled with a cream filling to die for! Also on the grater were two Nut Crusted Chocolate Lollipops with more Olive Oil Gelato centers!  


Then, Voila! Open the drawer and find four more awesome bites, two small mini-citrusy tarts, smaller than a vanilla wafer, and two of the most decadent cocoa powdered truffles! Yummmmmmmmmmm!

Satisfied would be an understatement. We were there for 2 1/2 hours enjoying our experience.  It's pretty obvious to me, that the whole concept is to entice you to rejoin them for dinner, which of course would be a bit more then $29!  But what an awesome meal we had and we certainly are saving our pennies for a return trip.  Our glasses of wines comprised 50% of the meal, but that was our expectation.  They were neither the least expensive nor the dearest glasses on the menu! The bill is presented on Letter Head, what a novel idea!  Two could dine here for an elegant leisurely paced lunch for less than $90 with no problem.  

The service was impeccable and never intruding.  We sat in a very comfortable banquette where we had ample room for a jacket and bags.  We observed that at the freestanding tables they provided an ottoman for the diners to place their handbags on.  Now that's classy!  Every person who came to our table smiled and politely asked to clear or pour water or crumb the table, when asked where the restroom is, they do not tell you or point, they take you to the restroom alcove which is located behind this staircase.  We also took a quick look downstairs at the private dining rooms and seemingly endless walls of cellared wines!  

Del Posto, never change, we had such a wonderful lunch and truly want to enjoy another meal there very soon!  I truly recommend Del Posto for a great dining experience!

Catching up!

Wow, where does the time go, it's been too long since I sat down and wrote and so much to write about!


First we had a wonderful breakfast two weeks ago at Danny Meyer's Maialino located in the Gramercy Park Hotel. We started with Donuts and Cream and Toffee Glazed Brioche.  Both were heavenly pastry beginnings!  Next we enjoyed Ricotta Pancakes with Peach Compote and Maple Syrup and Baked Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce & Guanciale, both of us chose roasted potatoes with rosemary for our side dish.  The food was amazing, the room is bright and open with huge windows overlooking Gramercy Park.  Service was relaxed and sufficient.  All in all a very good experience.  Want to return for Dinner soon!!


From there we browsed through Fishes Eddy, on of all time favorite places, to stroll the displays of dishes we don't need!  If you've never been go, or visit online it's always tempting!


After Fishes Eddy we went to Paragon Sports to do some sneaker shopping.  Got a new pair of high top Nikes.  Haven't even had a chance to break them in! 


Now we trek up to 23rd and Fifth to check out the newly opened Eataly.  It literally had opened the previous afternoon @4 p.m.  First impression: WOW!  You can read the details in an article from EATER, NY here. It is truly a sensory overload!  Of course it was busy, and we arrived a little after 11.  We marvelled at all the food counters and amazed and the fresh products then strolled the "grocery aisles" filled with wonderful imported Italian products from dried mushrooms, to dried pasta, to the Olive Oils and Vinegars!  By 12 the place was jammed with lunch-goers snapping up tables and ordering from the various venues! 


We walked around in awe and decided to take it all in this trip and come back prepared to shop in the near future!  We did succumb to temptation in the wine store and brought home two bottles of Bastianich wines, one a Rose, that we weren't overly impressed with. We drink Roses in the summer a lot and this year discovered some awesome Spanish versions to join our usual French favorites.  But the Bastianich was weak in comparison.  Have higher hopes for the white we brought home.  Will report on it after we've drunk it.


Nana got to shake Joe B's hand, that was the only sighting we had, Mario and Lidia were not there or at least not visibly.  It's a very exciting market and we all hope they do very well.  Already planning to add it to our out of towners lists of must dos on their next visits.


Here are some random pictures and you can see more in the article referenced above.

Drooling for our return trip!  More "cathcing up" to come, stay tuned!

Road Trip: Farmstands in Old Brookville, NY

We drove out to Old Brookville on Long Island's "Gold Coast" on Saturday to visit two farms that we love.  Purchased lots of goodies.  The first one is Rottkamps on McCouns Lane see here: 


 
View Larger Map





Here we bought wonderful Tomatoes, yellow, green and red heirlooms; three colors of Eggplant: lavender, white and graffiti;. Yellow and Green Zucchini; Pale Yellow Hungarian Bell Peppers; Corn; Basil and Yellow Melon; Peaches and Nectarines.

Next we went to Young's Farm on Hegeman's Lane here: 



View Larger Map



At Young's we bought Blueberries, Blackberries and Red Onions in the produce section and in the Annex we got a delicious Dark Cherry Pie, Tangerine Shortbread Cookies and a jar of Tart Cherry Jam.

On Sunday I got busy cooking these wonderful finds.  First I made a gratin inspired by Claire Robinson on the Food Network show: 5 Ingredient Fix. Her recipe was with Green Tomatoes & Caramelized Onions with a Breadcrumb & Bacon Topping that you can find here.

In my version I cooked two strips of Bacon, removed them for later, caramelized a sliced Red Onion in the Bacon Fat and drizzled them with Balsamic Vinegar.  Placed them in the bottom of a glass deep-dish pie pan and layered thinly sliced Green and Yellow Zucchini on top.

Then I sprinkled with Dried Oregano, Olive Oil, Kosher Salt and shredded Parmesan Cheese. 

Next I sliced the Green Tomatoes and seasoned them with Kosher Salt, Dried Basil, Olive Oil and placed them atop the squash layer.

I toasted Bread Crumbs with a chopped Garlic Clove in the remaining little bit of Bacon Fat and added the crumbled bacon.

I placed this on top of the tomatoes and put it into the oven for 40 minutes and then topped with shredded Parmesan Cheese and baked for another 5 minutes.  The aromas were incredible! 



While cleaning up I went to pour the remaining bread crumb mixture into a ziploc bag for storage and had a slight mishap as  you can see here:

My beautiful breadcrumbs literally down the drain!

This was dinner along with a salad of Roasted Yellow Beets, Crumbled Goat Cheese, toasted Marcona Almonds and Arugula. My vinaigrette was Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar, dry mustard, chopped shallot, sugar, olive oil.  It was very tasty and good pairing with the cheese and Arugula.  Found some frozen Sun-dried Tomato Foccacia in the freezer and heated it up and served it with a dollop of basil pesto sans Parmesan!  Another highly flavorful summery meal! 

                 

I also made roasted vegetables using the Lavender and Graffiti Eggplants, Green & Yellow Zucchini, the Yellow Pepper, Red Onion, and Garlic.  Will use these as side dishes and on top of grilled Polenta Squares as an accompaniment to the Sun-dried Tomato Sausage and Diced Tomato Saute I cooked up. 

Used the Basil for a batch of Pesto most of which I froze without the Parmesan Cheese added. This way it's more versatile when used in the future. 

Need to cook the Corn tomorrow, still considering what I want to make with it, am leaning towards a Corn, Red Pepper Risotto!  Sounds interesting!  Or maybe a corn puree like we had @The Mermaid Inn on Friday night! It was under Grilled Scallops with cubed Bacon and Fava Beans!  Awesome dish!

Although, honestly, I have been really craving old fashioned Corn Relish!  Stay tuned, I'm sure it'll be interesting!

 

BUTTERMILK CHANNEL

This restaurant in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, has been on my list to try for quite some time!  So last Friday, after an impromptu trip to DUMBO to surprise Nana with a Chocolate shopping spree @ Jacques Torres, we decided to explore some more neighborhoods in Brooklyn. When I crossed Court Street I remembered that I've been thinking about checking out a lot of restaurants nearby, so we drove up Court Street and located a few on the way then found Buttermilk Channel.

From the outside our impression was that it would be an enjoyable place to dine, ambiance-wise, and if the food was as good as it's been touted to be. that would be a great bonus.  Kept on driving discussing the reviews and dreaming about a day when we would go prepared to eat there. 

Now neither of us is hungry so we do the IKEA shopping experience: (strolling the showroom and then hitting the marketplace) purchased one package of lime green cocktail napkins!  I've never, ever, left Ikea having spent less than $3.00!  Unless I was only there to measure and design!

At this point it's a little after 7 and the thought of going all the way back to Queens in Summertime Friday City-exiting traffic and then to start dinner was not a happy one.  So we drove around Red Hook for awhile and found the Red Hook Lobster Pound, perfect! A Lobster Roll is just what the Doctor ordered!  Whipped the car around to see that they were locking up....they close @7 p.m.   Arghhhhhh!

Now we figure we're dressed OK for an outdoor cafe and we'll head back to Carroll Gardens and find something casual on Court Street or a side street.

As fate always plays it's hand at the most opportune times, I drove up Huntington Street to Court forgetting that Court is one-way! At the light of  Huntington and Court we notice that we're at Buttermilk Channel--AND--there are empty tables outside--and better yet an EMPTY parking space directly across Court Street.  I say--let's go for it! Nana agrees and I make a rather illegal maneuver with the car to snag the parking spot and we are now justifiably excited for dinner!

Buttermilk Channel is named after a tidal strait between Brooklyn and Governor's Island you can read the legends here.  And a great interview with Doug Crowell, owner here; and of course one with Chef Ryan Angula here.

The biggest buzz about this restaurant is the Fried Chicken w/Cheddar Waffles and Savory Slaw. And all that Buzz is deserving! This is picture from their site: 

We started with Grilled Flatbread with House-Made Buttermilk Ricotta, Squash Blossoms & Lemon Oil.  It was a slice of heaven on our plates. The Creamy Ricotta had just enough body to keep the Flatbread crispy underneath the generous bed of cheese! And Squash Blossoms and Lemon Oil were the perfect bonuses!  Score two points! Pictures are not great as they are from my Blackberry and photog I'm not!

Nana ordered the Caputo's Fresh Linguini with Sweet Corn, Roasted Mushrooms, Brown Butter & Pecorino and she loved it!  It was a very healthy portion and provided her with enough for lunch!

I was really torn-the Duck Meatloaf was calling my name but ultimately I had to try the Fried Chicken. I was pretty sure that was the way to go but I still asked the advice of our waiter.  He pointed out that we were dining outdoors in 90º weather and what better way to enjoy Fried Chicken and save the meatloaf for when we dined indoors or in the fall!  And really, honestly, truly I was a very happy "picnicker"  The chicken was crunchy on the outside and perfectly cooked, moist and tender on the inside.  The waffle was a great foil for the chicken and the slaw just enough to ensure you ate your vegetables! Good thing Buttermilk Channel isn't on the corner of our block! 

We drank a wonderful bottle of Vino Bianco from Channing Daugthers Winery from the Hamptons on Long Island. This blended table white wine as perfect for a hot day, very sippable al fresco, and excellent with our food choices. It's made up of: The 2007 version is made up of 32% Tocai Friulano, 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 17% Pinot Grigio, 9% Chardonnay (Dijon clone 96) and 17% Chardonnay (“Musque” clone).  Crisp and golden in color, lots of tropical fruit flavors and a very slight hint of oakiness.  Good thing, cause I'm not a big fan of any Chardonnay that is very Oaky.

We topped off our meal with one scoop of Van Leeuwan pistachio ice cream!  Couldn't pass it up on a hot night.  The perfect end of a great meal...another impromptu adventure and part of Nana's extended birthday celebration!

Our server, Doug, was quick, bright, efficient, friendly and just chatty enough to make our experience enjoyable beyond the setting and great food. Everyone we had contact with here were professional and friendly.  We observed the hostess telling many people about the wait for tables inside and she always smiled and maintained her excellent demeanor while some of the potential guests expressed their frustration at least with visual facial expressions! Kudos to all for providing us with a great evening.

Throughout our time dining outdoors we watched the sky darken with clouds and become a bit threatening.  Eventually, by dessert, there were some lightening flashes in the dark sky and we had joked with our waiter that we'd be grabbing and running inside if it started to rain. We asked for our check and it was brought with promptness. The second it was signed the first of many large drops of rain fell onto us. Nana grabbed the check and ran inside to return it to our waiter and thank him again, while I dashed across the street and got the umbrella out of the car.  I went back to the restaurant and got Nana to the car in a dry state (for the most part).  By the time we were a block away the downpour had lightened up to a drizzle.  Listening to the radio on the ride back to Queens we heard all the reports of wind damage, rain-caused accidents AND that Manhattan had been under a tornado watch much of the time we were dining outdoors in Brooklyn!  They also said the storm hit the Bronx, Queens and Long Island the hardest and seemed to barely skim over Brooklyn!  Chalk that up to the same fate that provided us with a parking space and empty table at our new Favorite Brooklyn restaurant: Buttermilk Channel!

We'll be returning to Buttermilk Channel soon!

Saturday in the City

We trekked into the city on Saturday afternoon, in the heat!  Our theory was that Sunday was promised to be hotter and more crowded!  Nana wanted to head to Central Park to snap some pictures of Victorian Gardens so we strolled through the park, something we haven't done in a very long time.  After the gardens we hit the Carousel; The Mall with many performing street acts; Naumbung Bandshell; Bethesda Terrace and Fountain; the Lake and checked out the menu at the Loeb Boathouse; and finally on to the Conservatory Water pool where they sail model sail boats and we rested near the Alice in Wonderland statue.  It was a great time revisiting sights we remember seeing for the first time 40 years ago and then showing them to our kids 20 years ago.

We exited the park at 76th Street and caught a bus down 5th Avenue to the Plaza Hotel.  Walked to 57th window shopping in Bergdorf's  and across to 6th Avenue.  Our destination was Rue 57 Brasserie Parisienne et Sushi Bar.  We had stopped here a few years ago after a Saturday Matinee on Broadway for drinks and ended up having a few appetizers at the bar.  This time we were going to have a proper meal and a bottle of wine. We sat on the Sixth Avenue side in the open window just one table from the sidewalk cafe portion. Thus taking advantage of the airconditioning but enjoying the ambiance of alfresco dining!

The restaurant bills itself as: The city's only brasserie-sushi bar! Not sure why they went with the combo, but it seems to work.  They offer a good amount of seafoods in addition to the sushi.  As we are much more into Francophile favorites we chose to stick with the Brasserie side of the menu.

We shared the  BUTTER LETTUCE SALADE sliced pear, sundried tomatoes, parmesan, house vinaigrette.  The vinegar pronounced dressing complimented the sundried tomatoes and sparked up the butter lettuce and pear slices. A very good choice on such a hot day. The wine of choice was a Californian Fume Blanc with just the right amount of crispness to be cooling and refreshing.

Nana's entree was the Plat Du Jour: SEA SCALLOPS with truffle mashed potato, spinach and asparagus and crispy onion garnish. She said it was great, I tasted the truffle mashed potatoes and could have made a meal of them!

My dish of choice was: POTATO CRUSTED SALMON with melted leeks, crimini mushroom ragoût and barolo sauce.  It was really very good. The Barolo sauce was perfectly reduced to that just before syrup stage and added a nice depth to the dish.

While this is no 5 star establishment, we found the food tasty, well cooked and beautifully presented. Our server was friendly and attentive and plates were cleared by staff efficiently and only when we both had completed our courses.

We skipped dessert and decided to walk over to the Time Warner Center for some retail therapy.  Our two favorite spots there are of course Williams-Sonoma and Borders.  No purchases this time, just loads of drooling! 

From there we trekked home on the subway, air-conditioned thankfully!  It was about an 8 hour visit to the city starting around 2:30 and returning home just after 10:30.  We always enjoy our holiday treks, seems like so many depart the city and we invade it! 

Friday Roundup

This week went by too quickly!  Cooking highlights were a new Rabbit recipe.  Used an English recipe for Rabbit and Leek Pie, but only made the stewed Rabbit with Leeks and added lemon zest & juice for the sauce.  It was very yummy! The rabbit was boneless, the first time I've dealt with boneless rabbit!  Most of the other dishes were repeats. 

At home we had the Veal Rolls! Double Yum and Nana asked for a Mario Batali dish she saw him produce on Rachel Ray's Show: Stuffed Manicotti with Beef.  I made a basic tomato sauce for it then prepared the beef ragu.  We cooled these and stored them overnight. Nana finished the recipe the next day for our dinner.  It was really good, I can't wait to make the Ragu again, so tasty.
I'm posting the cleaned up version of the recipe here.  There were a few issues with the recipe on the site, some typos and one major issue was that it told you to make the stuffing while you were heating the water for the pasta, meanwhile the stuffing needs to cook for 1 1 /2 hours!  So I rearranged the directions just a bit! Here's two pics of the process and plated:

On Friday we lunched in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with our Daughter @Dumont Burger we sat outside as it was a gloriously beautiful day, a tad warm but not scorching.  It was a great meal, Nana had the Mini Burger w/Fries; Tiff had the Chickpea Burger with Onion Rings and I had the Turkey Burger with Salad.  All were delicious. But the real star was the Fried Pickles we enjoyed for an appetizer:

After a walk of the neighborhood and a bit of shopping, we found our way to the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck!  Diets beware!  We tried three flavors-Mint Chip--Chocolate--Pistachio. All were perfect and refreshing! We had them in cups and no one spilled any on their clothes, therefore enjoying every last drop! Triple YUM!  It's just a good thing the truck doesn't come to our neighborhood, we'd embarrassingly be chasing it down the block!!

While I was at the Queens Health Food Emporium on Thursday, shopping for ingredients for my client, I saw the most gorgeous English Peas.  So on Friday Nana and I went back and bought a bunch along with Ricotta Cheese.  Came home and made Farfalle with Pea/Ricotta/Mint puree tossed with sauteed shallots and extra peas.  Served this as a side dish along side of grilled boneless chicken breast.  Here's the yummy picture:

Not a bad week for Foodies eh?

SONO BAKING COMPANY & CAFE

Traveled to East Providence Rhode Island, on Friday, to attend the celebrations of the 5 year old grandson's birth!  We started out a bit later than usual and immediately joined the millions of trucks on the road and crawled across the Throg's Neck Bridge into the Bronx.  Finally on I-95 in Westchester County we were able to travel at the speed limit. Then, as usual, we slowed down in Connecticut.  So, since Nana was driving I pulled out the Blackberry and did a search for something to eat in the Norwalk area. 

Suddenly, I remembered SONO Baking Company and Cafe.  Got onto the GPS and let it navigate us to the Bakery in SONO (South Norwalk).  We had attended the Martha Stewart show on the day they taped the episode where John Barricelli brought out his new book entitled: The Sono Baking Company Cookbook, and as audience members we received two copies! 

The book is great, I really enjoyed reading it and will start testing some of the sweet recipes soon!  In the book he talks about the Cafe and the breakfast and lunch menus, they sounded interesting, so we set out to see what it was all about!  You can sit inside with picture window views of the staff working in the bakery preparing pastries and baking breads.  Or there are a few umbrellaed tables outside to dine al fresco.  

Meanwhile we enjoyed our lunch at the cafe!  Nana had the Club sandwich with Turkey, Ham, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado with Horseradish Mayo!  I had the special salad with Grilled Salmon, Romaine, Tomatoes and Blueberry/Balsamic Vinaigrette.  We also bought a loaf of Seeded Semolina bread for our planned Spaghetti & Meatball dinner and two Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies for the car!  The cookies were awesome and the bread was perfect.

Of course now we're trying to figure out how early we have to leave RI on Monday to make it back for lunch on the way home!!!

Field Trip: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

As Sunday was a beautiful day we decided to head back over to Williamsburg to check out two points of interest.  Meat Hook a store within a store.  Meat Hook is a wonderful butcher shop inside the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs' new digs at 100 Frost Street right under the BQE.  We had been to The Brooklyn Kitchen's original store on Lorimer but have been hearing great things about the new location, so we went to check it out.  Great space, they have two working kitchen labs where they conduct classes, and are available to be rented, and of course the awesome Meat Hook butcher shop in addition to a very culled array of kitchen necessities.

Perusing the meat cases we thought the handmade sausages looked amazing and we'll be returning to make a few test purchases! Some awesome looking aged beef, lots of hams, pork tenderloins & chops; some lamb and chickens and rabbits were in the meat cases as well.  They also carry a variety of frozen homemade stocks that I bet are amazing!  A few dairy products and a handful of produce like purple and pink radishes! All products are from local farms.

Next we went to Marlow & Daughters @95 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This butcher shop is located right down the street from the Famous Peter Luger Steak House. Another block away are Marlow & Sons and Diner Restaurants owned by the proprietors of Marlow & Daughters. Here also, were amazing looking cuts of meat and some special cheeses, along with some pantry stables, selected produce, bread and dairy products.  As it was now getting late and we needed to get something for dinner we opted to purchase the Lamb and Black Olive Sausage for dinner Sunday night and a chicken to roast with lemons and olives from Alex's Day Off. The recipe is here.  Picked up some ramps, baby carrots and asparagus to go with the roast chicken.  Got the olives we needed and a chunk of sourdough artisan bread!  Once we were home, I browned the sausage and braised it with onions, fennel and cabbage, using a grainy dijon mustard and white wine.  Served it with simple parsley new potatoes.  Another great meal.

Philly Phood!

Here's the rundown of our culinary adventures in Philadelphia. We spent the first weekend in May in Philly to belatedly celebrate our 40th Anniversary with my Sister and Brother-in-Law.  We had a great time, warm weather and a need to return to our diets!

READING TERMINAL MARKET

PEARL'S OYSTER BAR

On Friday we arrived around noon, checked in and walked over to Reading Terminal Market a few short blocks from our Hotel! This Market is definitely a Food Sensory Overload! After 5 minutes I was convinced it could take a few weeks to eat and savor the tastes available here! With four people all with unique ideas as to what lunch should be we finally decided to go to Pearl's Oyster bar. We secured a great table next to a window looking out onto the street. It is located on the perimeter in a corner of the building and would become the area from where we launched our search for everything food! Three of us enjoyed fried oyster platters and one had the Deviled Crab platter! The oysters were huge and well breaded and not greasy at all! Delish! Strolled through the entire market not missing a single booth, made some purchases of jarred items, like green tomato pickles and pickled brussels sprouts, jams and homemade ginger snaps for dessert!

PARC RESTAURANT

Our choice for dinner was Parc located across from Rittenhouse Square a beautiful metropolitan green space. Parc is a French Brasserie and as such has all the typical Brasserie dishes. (And as an amateur Francophile I couldn't fault that!) We enjoyed the following: Kir Royale or Stella Artois. I had Pissaladiere and Skate Grenobloise and for dessert Apple Tarte Tatin. Kathy had Tomato Tarte and Beef Bourguignon; Debra enjoyed Escargot and Bouillabaisse and Profiteroles; Fred tried Steak Tartare and Braised Lamb Shank. Felt like we were in Paris! Food was outstanding and the atmosphere was perfect, large open doors to the outdoors, very busy bustling dining rooms and friendly, warm service! What more could you ask for? Just a great night out.

CARLUCCHIO'S

On Saturday we hit the Italian Market after riding the ducks sightseeing tour. First stop was Fante's Kitchen supplies, shopped till we were starving, on recommendation of one of the managers we seeked out Carlucchio's a small Italian restaurant one block south of the Italian Market--where else should you eat a wonderful Italian meal if you couldn't get to the south of Italy? Kathy had the most amazing Asparagus Risotto, Debra Chcken Parm Sandwich, Fred Rib Eye Cheesesteak Sandwich w/sweet peppers and I had a Chicken Cutlet Panino with Broccoli Rabe! SOOOOOOOOOOO Good! The restaurant is new in 2010, only 26 seats and is BYOB!

LA BOURSE

A beautiful respite of a Lobby Bar in the Sofitel hotel for drinks before dinner! White Sangria or Sauvignon Blanc, all very refreshing.

TINTO

Saturday night's choice was Jose Garces' restaurant off Rittenhouse Square for Spanish style small plates. We enjoyed this experience as well! The food is over the top, each dish was better than the last and the only thing we decided was just great not over the top was one they put on the table that didn't belong to us: Crab Crostini! Nothing wrong with it, just wasn't up to the par of everything else. I'll just list the many things we had:

Mixto Charcuterie and Mixto Cheese Platters

Rodaballo a la Plantxa (Turbot, sauce pastis, baby fennel, citrus

Diver Scallops, cider demi-glace, benton's bacon, shaved apple

Duck Confit, serrano ham, black cherry, la peral spread

Kobe Beef, pisto lilbaina, romesco

Asparagus, smoked tomato compote, mahon espuma

Wild Mushrooms, roasted potato, shallt, parsley

Organic Chicken, truffled whipped mash, brussels sprouts, smoked bacon

Reveuelto De Cangreho, soft scrambled egg, jumbo lump crab, benton's bacon, english peas, herbed toast

No room for dessert! Wonderful Tempranillo wine! Talk about sensory overload!

AMIS

We were unable to return to our first choice for brunch on Sunday due to an MS Run taking over Broad Street preventing us from getting across town. So we went to Mark Vetry's newest restaurant and Roman version of small plates. Kathy had Artichoke Alla Giudia and Frico (montasio cheese and potato tart) and assorted marmalades. Debra: Homemade Italian Cornetti with marmellata and Warm Belgian Waffles with maple syrup. I had Escarole Salad with apples and radish and Polenta Pasticciata with fennel sausage and provolone and Fred had: Warm Belgian Waffles with maple syrup and Frico (montasio cheese and potato tart) and assorted marmalades. While the food was very good and unusual it wasn't what we'd been expecting to eat @Parc.

RIDE HOME IN MR. GRAY

From Whole Foods on South Street: Apricot Ginger Muffin, Orange Cranberry Scone, Fruit salad, Bottled Water!

We truly enjoyed our Culinary Adventures in Philadelphia, can't wait to return!