As we were in Florida for Thanksgiving, we got to go to The Coop in Winter Park for lunch. This casual place serves Southern specialties with of course chicken, fried chicken in fact, in various ways: fried, roasted or even in dumplings. And if you do not like chicken, you can opt for shrimp and grits, fried catfish or meatloaf.

As we were going to Florida to visit our friends Pam and Pat for Thanksgiving, we decided to spend a couple of days at Disney, especially to visit their new Star Wars Park that opened last August and that is located in Magic Kingdom, as well as eat at some of the international restaurants in Epcot (reservation needed for sure). Before I talk about the food there, let me tell you few things about the park: it was very crowded with some of the attractions having long lines (2 hours for the Millenium Falcon ride that…

Taking its name from a region in Italy, Apulia in Hoboken is a true find. I admit that I prefer lunch over dinner, the place being quieter, especially in the winter when you have no other choice than eating inside.

Menu wise, they offer pasta (not homemade) as well as succulent Neapolitan pizza that has a fantastic crust that is puffed up on the outside and very thin in the center, nicely…

It’s been a while since I wanted to try Sweet Chick, a popular restaurant that started years ago in Williamsburg and has now expanded with several locations in New York, one of them being in Long Island City. It is the one we visited on a Saturday morning, going early as, each time we passed in front of it, it was packed. We got lucky as there were only few tables available at 11:30am and got sit between to groups who unfortunately were a bit loud.

Long Island City will never cease to amaze me. Often mistaken for Long Island, this small city in Queens, right next to Astoria has great restaurants, but many New Yorkers who would be ok to go to Brooklyn for a meal, think that it is too far. Well between the 7 or E lines to name the main ones, it takes as much time to go there than going fron the UWS to Chelsea once at Port Authority. I mentioned M Wells Steakhouse that is one of the best, but now, I am totally excited about Maiella, an Italian restaurant located right behind the iconic Pepsi Cola sign on the waterfront.

We were craving Indian food on a Saturday for dinner and looked up for places Midtown when we stumbled upon Chola, a place that was on my list of restaurants to try. We were there at the time they opened, our brunch that day being quite early as I wanted to try another spot downtown. Taking its name from a Tamil dynasty in southern India, Chola is not new: it opened in 1998. Elegant, with a very courteous staff, it was for sure not crowded at that time and I liked it: less people equal less noise and they gracefully gave us a corner table that is normally for four people, allowing me to side sit as Larry David would say.

We were near Union Square for some errands one Saturday morning when I remembered that Tsurutontan, the Japanese noodle place was around and thought it would be a good idea to go when they open as we passed few times in front of it and there were always people waiting. After checking on Google Maps, we showed up before the published opening time of 11:30am, feeling victorious that we were the first ones there. Unfortunately, we quickly discovered that the opening time was in fact 12pm and…

So we are back at Narcissa! After trying their brunch few weeks ago, we were curious to see how the dinner would be. And we were not disappointed except with the desserts that are too fussy unfortunately.

When we arrived, I was surprised to see that this place was not crowded for a Friday evening, thinking that maybe people focused on places that proposed a Restaurant Week menu, Narcissa not being one of them. I am not going to complain though as the lesser the diners, the lower the noise level.

It’s been a while since we went to Basta Pasta, a couple of blocks from Union Square and, as we had to be in that area, we decided to go back there for dinner. I could not believe how packed this place was, from the beginning to the moment when we left, several people waiting near the entrance for a table at 9pm. For sure, the kitchen was a bit backed up, a large table not helping, but our waiter did a good job keeping us posted as to when our dishes would come.

After a first visit at Kellari Taverna, a Greek restaurant located two blocks from Bryant Park, I decided to have dinner there again with Jodi on a Friday evening. The first time I went (no photo, sorry), I was really excited as their fish (they serve fresh sustainable fish that is on a beautiful display) was very good: I first was going for the barbounia aka rouget aka red mullet, but that day they did not have any. So I had the filet of sole that they deboned for me perfectly and was the star, not smothered with any sauce So you could really get its delicious taste.

We passed so many times in front of La Bonbonniere in the West Village that we were curious to know what this place was, the restaurant having a French name meaning the candy box. So we decided to go for an early brunch on a Saturday as each time we saw that place, there were people waiting outside.

There is a new bakery in Hoboken, but this time, a Taiwanese bakery with European influences: SunMerry. Not their first location is the US though as they have few in California as well as New Jersey, and I even passed by a store under renovation in New York that should be opening soon. So we decided to check it out for breakfast. I admit that I was a bit disappointed to see that they do not have anywhere to sit, and so it is a grab and go kind of place. Hopefully they will have outside seating when the weather is nice so you can relax with a coffee (no espresso though) or tea and some treats.

It’s been a while since we had Prato Bakery on Washington street in Hoboken in our sights and we finally decided to try this place two weekends in a row. Prato Bakery is small with only few seats inside, but fortunately outside seating during the warmer days.

When Taiwanese fried chicken meets bubble tea, it gives you an interesting fast food mix: this is what TKK Fried Chicken and Kung Fu’s Tea did this year in a location few steps from Madison Square Park. I love fried chicken, discovering it while living in Paris, at KFC! Yes, I know, it might not have been the best fried chicken but still, it is a good memory, similar to when I first tried chicken wings at...Pizza Hut! But, when I moved to New York many years back, I not only got introduced to its Southern roots, especially accompanied with a waffle, but also got my first Korean fried chicken that I adore even more. But Taiwanese?

I had Narcissa on my long list of restaurants to visit for a while now and it is finally when Jodi’s cousin Rebecca proposed to go there for brunch that we ended up at the New American restaurant of Chef John Fraser (Nix, The Terrace and The Outdoor Gardens) at the Standard Hotel in the East Village. Of course, as usual, we had an early meal that is often my favorite way of enjoying restaurants, the crowd not only increasing drastically the noise level but also often slowing down the kitchen.

It has been so long that we wanted to go for dinner at L’Amico, the restaurant from Chef Laurent Tourondel where we had a great brunch last year. So, we finally decided to go there on a Friday evening. I am not sure it was a good move: it was packed, extremely loud and the service was disappointing, to the point that we asked one of the managers if somebody would take our order! Well, he could have been more gracious about it and at least apologize instead of giving us the feeling he was annoyed by our request. It was thanks to him in fact that my cocktail, ordered 25 minutes before, came to the table. It was the Brooklyn Bound, made with Smooth Ambler Contradiction whiskey, …