Located Midtown Manhattan, Blue Willow is a true find. Serving Chinese cuisine from Hunan and Szechuan, it has an extensive menu that made me think about the regretted Blue China. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian diners would surely find dishes to try with various levels of spiciness.
The dining room is beautiful, although a bit dark, with these nice…
The Law of Donutgeering also known as LODG is a donut shop in Jersey City that opened in March 2020, few days before the you know what hit the fan with COVID-19. When we visited them a couple of months go, they were still standing, glad to have made it through and determined to continue on that path. The owners, Edward Alfonso and Flavia Carballo are respectively from…
I was curious to try Charlie Palmer Steak in Times Square, the location being unusual for a steakhouse where usually more affordable options are available. This is your typical steakhouse: there is the raw bar, with its seafood platters, its appetizers and salads (yes, there is a wedge salad) and then the steaks that you can top with foie gras or lobster and accompany with sauces or classic sides. Missing in action are things that I always look forward to see on a menu: crab cakes and a…
Bin 14 is one of my favorite places in Hoboken for brunch and dinner. Their small menu changes often and there is always something that will excite you and want to go back. The place is cozy and warm, with a patio in the back that is much quieter than the outdoor setting, where a band comes to play music for Sunday brunch….
Sitting on a TriBeCa corner, L’Angolo (means angle in Italian) is a popular Italian restaurant that I discovered few years ago. As we were in the area on a Saturday afternoon, we decided to stop by and see if we could get a table. With their outside setup, it was not a problem, and I was even surprised to see people eating inside in a…
Being back at Le Relais de Venise was a great feeling: this place, although less crowded than usual, survived, still serving their delicious steak frites with a secret sauce that kept its mystery after more than 60 years. It’s French but refers to Venice in its name and decor; well, there is a good…
It has been a while since we had Thai food in the city and we kind of were craving it. So we decided to find a place for a Saturday lunch and stumbled upon Thai Villa, near Union Square. I did not expect to find such place. Not only is the decor incredible (the dining room is on two floors, the second being more like a mezzanine that they created, taking advantage of the very high ceilings), with its lamps that make you feel you just entered a dream that started with the serenity of the…
It’s been a very long time since we have gone to La Palapa, a Mexican restaurant located in the East Village. In fact, the last time we went was when our friends Jeannine, Brett and their kids were in New York, for a memorable dinner. Brunch was really what we wanted to get there as their French toast was always on top of our list: eggy, slightly crunchy…
Root beer has a very long history, that even started at the time when native Americans were making sassafras root beverages for medicinal purposes. It was even called at some point root tea, but the first pharmacist to successfully market a root beer brand, Charles Elmer Hires, decided to call it root beer instead of root tea to appeal to coal miners. It was 150 years ago approximately. There are many brands out there with different price points, and my…
Philadelphia has great Italian restaurants, so, for our last day there, we decided to go to Branzino, in Rittenhouse Square, a place that got its name from their specialty dish: a whole branzino. Well, I can already tell you that it is not what I ate…
This is a big place, with an old feel, and an outdoor patio that would have been perfect if it did not start to rain. In fact, the people eating outside…
It’s always nice to see that people are excited to give you a good address when traveling to a city. I had no idea what Green Eggs Café was until one of my coworkers mentioned it, although we were wondering with Jodi if it was not a place we went to many years ago, before the blog.
So we decided to go for lunch. It was a weekday, so we easily got…
I do not understand why Beard Papa, a French style bakery that started in Japan in 1999 that specializes in cream puffs or choux à la crème is not more popular. We went back after some time, not going often to the Upper West Side (they have opened other locations since the last time we went so I will have to check them out), and the place was still there, but remodeled, smaller, with the beaded man they…
It has been years since we went to Persepolis, a restaurant located on the Upper East Side that serves Persian cuisine. When I met Jodi,I this was her destination for her birthday and this is how I got to try for the first time this kind of cuisine. So, as we were visiting our old neighborhood, we decided to stop by. It did not change much if not for all the things they did for COVID: from the outdoor seating to the plexiglass…
It was not the first time we were dining at Vetri in Philadelphia: we went two or three times already, and decided to go back for our wedding anniversary. This place is incredible and we were glad to see that they were still there. We learned, talking to our waiter, that the restaurant closed for several months and the owners decided to pay for the medical coverage of their employees until business could restart. This is a nice gesture that certainly brought…
Ah, donuts! Who does not love this fried dough that can be a yeast or cake donut, with many combinations that show the inventiveness of their creator. From the day I set foot in this country, I loved them, remembering the six Krispy Kreme donuts I used to have for breakfast in the hotel I stayed in at that time, to the discovery of the fancier donuts the Doughnut Plant or Doughnut Project crafted. I still love a simple glazed donut from a street cart though, unless day old of course that…
If you are in Philadelphia and are non vegetarian, there is one thing that you must have: a Philly cheesesteak. This sandwich made with meat, cheese (including cream cheese) and all sorts of things from onions to mushrooms without forgetting peppers, in a soft Italian bread is to die for. There are variations, so if you do not like beef, you can have chicken. If you are vegetarian, you can get some impossible meat (although they probably use the same grill to…
On our first day to Philadelphia, I wanted to surprise Jodi by making a reservation at Vedge, a vegan restaurant where Chefs Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby crafted a plant based menu that, even for a non-vegetarian, is mouth watering. I love this kind of place: located in a townhouse, you get the impression you are dining at a friend’s place, except for the bill that comes at the end…The service was…
