The first time I ever tried Chicken and Waffles was at Ressie Mae’s when they opened a midtown location last year. Never having tried the combo of chicken and waffles, I eagerly rushed over one day after reading Zach’s post on Midtown Lunch. Unfortunately, the experience was a bomb (soggy chicken and waffles), and I never went back. Ressie Mae’s closed a few months later.
Last Sunday, almost one year later, I was on the search for a new brunch spot with something other than eggs benedict, and I came upon Back Forty’s menu featuring Chicken and Waffles. I was jonesing for some fried chicken anyway (although I can’t say there is a time when I’m not), so I grabbed David and we were off. MORE »
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I live about two blocks away from ‘inoteca, so I used to go quite often two years ago. But then I got distracted by all the shiny new restaurants opening up in NY, and I forgot about it. A shame, really, because the food at ‘inoteca is just delicious and perfect with a nice glass of wine (or in my case, a bottle). Fortunately, though, in the last two weeks, I got reacquainted with my old friend, and I’m glad I did.
The first time back, I met Ellie for a few glasses of wine at ‘inoteca. We happened to be standing outside of ‘inoteca when we were deciding where to go, and since she wanted to drink wine rather than beer, we ended up at ‘inoteca. The wine list, which is actually a thick book that lists a total of six hundred different wines, is bit daunting; so I always do the safest thing and ask the waiter what he recommends. I usually like a medium body red wine with fruit undertones, and Ellie prefers a more drier wine, so we ended up ordering the 2004 Concarosso, Poderi Foglia ($45) which was a combination of both. It started off fruity and ended on a dry tannin note. We loved it, especially Ellie who took the cork home so she could remember the name of the wine. This especially came in handy when I texted her at one in the morning to ask her if she remembered the name of the wine. Um, yeah, I have a problem, but luckily my friends seem to understand or at least tolerate my crazy behavior. MORE »
Do you have bizarre cravings when you’re sick? I do. As I mentioned in my Bo Ky post two weeks ago, while I was sick I had an unrelenting desire to eat a Burger King Whopper. Burger cravings aren’t so odd for most people, but for me it is, because in general, I’m never burger crazy. The prospect of a new UWS Shake Shack is pretty meaningless to me (Danny who?). Sure, burgers are tasty, but in terms of fast food, I rather eat a hot dog, or better yet, a slice of pizza any day. So this is why I found it surprising two weeks ago when thoughts of juicy burgers bombarded my every drug addled thought, and rather than resist, that following Saturday, I decided to give in. MORE »
Two weeks ago I had a very satisfying Croque Madame at Epicerie Cafe Charbon. (In case you don’t know, a Croque Madame is basically a glorified ham sandwich with a poached egg on top. A Croque Madame minus an egg is a Croque Monsieur.) Prior to that, I had been avoiding brunch places, just because I was sick of the same-ole same ole. I mean how many Eggs Benedicts can you eat in a lifetime? Also, David is now scared of hollandaise sauce after reading Kitchen Confidential. For those who haven’t read the book, Anthony Bourdain writes that hollandaise sauce is a “petri-dish of biohazards” since it needs to be kept at a low temperature (to prevent cooking the eggs in the sauce) and it is never made-to-order. So basically, at a restaurant, a vat of lukewarm hollandaise sauce sits in the back of the kitchen throughout brunch service, breeding germs and bacteria as the day progresses. Personally, this doesnt’t scare me that much. I mean, I’ve never gotten sick from an Eggs Benedict, and because of the high turn-around at New York restaurants, I feel most places will be making more than one batch of hollandaise sauce a day. Someone, correct me if I am wrong. Maybe I trust restaurants too much, but my feeling is, you can’t live your life in fear. I mean puh-leez, I have more things in life to be worried about.
In any case, the Croque Madame at Charbon was delicious and since then I’ve been constantly craving the cheesey ham goodness of a Croque Madame. So last Saturday, as soon as I woke up, I looked online to see where they have the best Croque Madame in NYC. The people over at CHOW recommended Bar Six and Pastis, but being the lazy bastard that I am on Saturday mornings, we made our way over to Jacques in NoLita instead. MORE »