Les Halles--Midtown

ABF & I visited Les Halles downtown sometime last year. I really enjoyed my mussels, and he enjoyed his steak frites, so we planned another return recently. We decided to walk over to the Park Avenue South location this time.

Yes, I realize Anthony Bourdain is not really affiliated with this place anymore, but he is one of the 'celebrity' chefs who first impressed me (even though we disagree on a few points, such as Abba's awesomeness--I heart them-- and the eating of offal--I just can't do it). His straight-shooting, often off-color musings always entertained and informed me. He is not delicate, he can be quite harsh, but you always know he means what he says, and you never wonder what he's really thinking! He's the reason I can't bring myself to eat swordfish anymore, and the reason I rarely order mussels outside of his place ;) The faint of stomach might not want to click on this link.

I ordered the same dish here as the one I got on our visit to the John Street location: Moules Marinieres, or mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce. Yum. These mussels were incredibly tender and delicious, and not a single grain of grit to be felt. I remember liking the sauce more at the John street location, but I was still impressed with this dish, too.

It turns out I can only eat so many mussels in one sitting, and I think I left a good dozen or more in my dish. Not really a doggie-bag type of order, you know? I ate enough to be happy, but they definitely give you a crazy amount of them.

ABF ordered his same dish as he did on John street: Steak Frites. Delicious. It was cooked to a perfect medium, juicy, well-seasoned and not too salty. The fries were perfect: crispy outside, just slightly soft on the inside. I don't think I like this dish enough to order the whole thing for myself, but it is very good.

We had room to share a dessert, so we split the profiteroles. They are ice-cream filled pastry puffs, drizzled with intensely rich chocolate sauce. Long after we'd eaten the pastries, we were scraping up this fantastic sauce. Soooooo good. I even took half a spoonful and mixed it into my café au lait (which was spot-on perfect!) Save room for this dessert...but personally, I'd rather stick with the John Street location.

Le Chat Noir

ABF & I have passed by this cute little spot in Rockville Centre (Long Island) many a time, but it had always been closed. We'd drive or walk by, and I'd look longingly inside at the cute place settings, decor, and overall adorableness. It all lined up for us this past weekend, though! We were halfway through a day full of errands when we decided to pull in for a late lunch (early dinner) around 3:30. There were 2 other people inside, but otherwise it was quiet and mostly empty.

I won't lie--they had me at 'Chat.' Anyone who knows me knows I have a soft spot for black cats (I have 2 right now, Mitzi May & Oliver Squish), and most of my cats have been black cats), and the famous black cat print hangs prominently in the restaurant. There were a few other black cat touches throughout that made me smile.

Did I already say adorable? It just is. It's cozy and comfortable--a lovely look with dark wood chairs (which were quite comfortable) paired with comfy sofas, wainscoting, textured ceilings, and a generally welcoming feel to the place. I just had such a lovely time there that afternoon!

We ordered drinks first. I opted for the small pot of Earl Grey tea ($4), and ABF got the iced tea ($3). We didn't realize it was flavored and sweetened (we both normally go for plain, unsweetened), but he took a sip and was pleasantly surprised. I took a sip, too, and we both thought it might be raspberry. The server, however, told us it was currant-flavored, with a splash of simple syrup. He says they try to feature a different iced tea flavor each day.

For the entrée, ABF ordered the beouf bourgignon ($11), which came over some garlicky, creamy mashed potatoes. Sacre bleu, this was magnifique! The red wine was very strong, but not in a puckery, alcohol-y way. Just earthy and tangy and delicious. The mushrooms, carrots, and pearl onions were all scrumptious and perfectly cooked, and the cubes of meat simply melted. This was so good!

I ordered the Croque Madame ($9), a vamped-up ham and cheese that came with a perfectly fried egg on top (without said egg it's a Croque Monsieur). The folks at Chat Noir a thin layer of Bechamel sauce under the ham and gruyere cheese. Melty, salty, yum. The brioche it came on was soft but just a little crunchy--oh so tasty!

The sandwich also came with a side salad, mixed greens tossed with a slightly-sweet vinaigrette (almost a little too sweet for me) and generously dotted with soft, creamy goat cheese crumbles. This was delicious, too.

As I mentioned earlier, I found this place absolutely adorable. I loved the French music playing there, the understated vibe, the calm atmosphere, and the lovely matching tea sets. Look at that adorable sugar spoon in the photo below! Thanks to ABF for snapping that photo for me :) He was quite the good sport as I snapped photo after photo of the adorable matching tea set with its cute saucers, creamer, sugar bowl, etc.

We learned the restaurant is just beginning to serve dinner. The owner apparently grew up in London, had French culinary training, and is taking her time branching out to make sure she gets all the dishes right. Our two dishes are down pat, I assure you. Chat Noir also offer a full tea service ($18), bringing you hot pots of tea and finger sandwiches and the like on those lovely tiered trays. A couple sitting near us ordered that, and from what I could see, it looked beautiful. They finished almost everything, so I assume it tasted good, too!

I don't think they offer dessert yet--as our server simply came up with our check and thanked us. He mentioned that the chef works a lot of pastries into savory dishes, so maybe the sweet stuff isn't a priority right now. I hope they do branch out into this area! Until then, I'll be happy to drink their tea and snack on their sandwiches! Bon Appetit!

A Slice Melts in Brooklyn

Pizza Wagon is one of the first places my old roomie & I hit when checking out Bay Ridge. We were living on the Upper East Side at the time, a great neighborhood, but we were broke as heck! Ann knew Kelli has a great apartment in this one building, so Kelli offered to give us a tour and take us around the neighborhood. Her apartment was ridiculously big and ridiculously cheap, so we were off to a hopeful start. Then we hit the pizza place. I took one bite and said 'Okay, we can move here.' As time went on, my roomie became less enamored with the pizza, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for their squares, aka Sicilian style pizza.

The pizza is always fresh and piping hot, and I love that they have garlic powder shakers on the table. YUM! I can't put enough of this on my pizza (along with a healthy helping of red pepper flakes). The crust is soft but not squishy, with a nice crispy crunch to it. It's 2.25 for each slice, but it's worth it to me! One square is plenty to fill me up and keep me going. One square with a serious layer of garlic powder, of course. Kel gets the plain slices for her 'usual.'

Pizza Wagon also has a walk-up window (in the right-hand side of the first photo) where you can order your slices or pies to go. I stopped by there many a time while dogsitting Fifi (my mom's late, great marvelous moppet). We could walk right up to the window and wait for our slice (no, I never shared--garlic is bad for dogs!) and people-watch.

I've been in this neighborhood for almost seven years (or is it 8? time flies), and this remains one of my few go-to, still as good as it was back when, spots. Mmm..pizza.

Cheesy Baby Peppers

Aren't these baby peppers just too cute? Giada (my girl!) featured them in an episode that I filed away in my DVR. I saw them at Trader Joe's last weekend and they looked super fresh and they were under 3 bucks! I decided now was the time to make a riff of this recipe.

I had some leftover thyme butter from Valentine's night dinner with ABF, and I sautéed the onions and shallots in it. Then I mixed it up with a few spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, added some fresh black pepper and some Parmesan cheese, and started filling those peppers! This was all by sight--kind of winging it after the spirit of Giada's recipe.

These take no work at all to put together. I placed them in a baking dish and popped them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

Mine did not look quite so beautiful as Giada's when they came out, but they still looked yummy. I waited a few minutes for them to cool and then tried them. They were pretty yummy, but they still need a little more zing. I might try the peas next time, but I'm thinking these need something a little more. Next time I'm going to try some tomato sauce swirled in there, too. They're definitely fun, easy, and cute enough to earn an appearance at my next party!

SriPraPhai

I've wanted to try the Thai at SriPraPhai for ages. Bloggers and magazine writers alike seem to sing its praises, and since it's also super cheap, I figured it would be worth a trip, someday. Then, serendipity! A friend of mine is getting married in May, and 2 of the bridesmaids (Heather & Laura) and Laura's mom and I met to put together the invitations...and the gal hosting us, Heather, just happens to live within walking distance of this restaurant. Well, you can't expect us to do something like that on an empty stomach, can you?

First of all, prepare to read. This menu is EXTENSIVE. Pages and pages and more overwhelming pages.

Heather is no stranger to this place, and she insisted that we try her favorite dish, the fried watercress salad. Now, watercress is something I normally pick out of my sandwiches, etc. I don't care for its bitter taste. Once it's fried, however, it completely transforms. Granted, I realize it also probably loses much of its healthy benefits, but let's focus, people, focus!! This dish was WONDERFUL. Bright, crunchy, tangy--and not really spicy, but well-seasoned. If I go back there, I'm getting this, no question.

I decided to get the fresh shredded papaya salad with fried catfish. The photo in the menu made it look like whole pieces of fried fish, but instead, the fish is super-shredded and shaped into a crunchy disc on the side. Odd, but interesting. I wasn't crazy about it, though. A few nibbles of the fishy-crunchy thing and I was moving on to other things. Like my INSANELY hot papaya salad. Heather warned me about the heat, but clearly I didn't fully realize that 'medium' spicy (my usual level) meant tongue-searing, sweet-mother-of-mercy-save-me HOT.

Sweet fancy Moses. I mean SERIOUSLY. This was out of control hot. I love a good spice, a nice smoky heat that builds and builds, but this was almost incapacitating at times. I don't mind if my nose runs just a little, or if a few beads of sweat break out on my forehead. But THIS? This was painful, unending, tears rolling down, flush-faced torture. This white girl has never been so pink. Jumpin Jehosephat.

I turned to sample a few other dishes to relieve my throbbing taste buds. I also had TWO Thai Iced Coffees (I figured the milk had to help). Laura's mom, who isn't a fan of spicy, ordered some non-spicy dishes (and probably saved my mouth from permanent injury). I tried half of a chive dumpling. The sauce was delicious, but the dumpling I got was a little gummy in the middle. Not my favorite--but I'd give them another shot if I go back. I love chives!

I tried Laura's mom's dish, the shrimp pad thai. This has to be one of the best pad thais I've ever tasted. It was clean, bright, fresh, and just outstanding. Well done. I think I kind of got burned out a few years ago on pad thai--I ordered it so often that I needed a break. This pad thai is worth a return.

Laura ordered another of my favorite dishes: Pad See Ew (wide egg noodles) with beef. It was much sweeter than I'm used to, but the beef was tender and perfectly cooked. Not a lot of noodles, but that's fine with me!

Someone also ordered shrimp rolls for the table. These were shrimp pulled perfectly straight and wrapped tightly in a crunchy coating. I thought they were YUM.

Heather ordered the green curry with noodles. I tried a spoonful of this and enjoyed it--I've never tried the green curry before. She and Laura both said it had a very hot and spicy finish, but I barely noticed it. I think the papaya salad did its damage already--anything after that was a cakewalk!

I'd read in reviews (and heard from people who ate there) that service is really bad, but I didn't have that experience. They definitely let us take our time to order, and sure, they don't pop by every five minutes, but whenever we needed something (like, say, a tongue-rescuing Thai iced coffee), I had no trouble getting their attention. They also filled our water glasses often, which Heather says NEVER happens normally. They probably saw me plotzing over the salad and figured they didn't need some chick having an episode--bad for business! They did take away a dish for the shrimp before Heather could dip her last roll in the sauce, but other than that, service was definitely better than any of us expected. The bill came to 21 per person, including a great tip--not bad for all that food (apps, drinks, etc!) The papaya salad was good, but not as amazing as the papaya salad at Pho. It's definitely worth a return visit for the pad thai and maybe a MILD papaya salad. :)

Thanks again, Heather, for hosting us!!!

Angelina's

After a busy Saturday, ABF & I were in Long Island and getting pretty hungry. He took me to a nearby Italian restaurant where he assured me they served fantastic vodka sauce. I'm a sucker for a good alla vodka sauce, but I was still reserving judgment/managing expectations until I tasted for myself. The restaurant, Angelina's, had parking nearby (Parking! What a luxury!) and is also right near a major road and the Long Island Rail Road stop. It was going full-tilt when we walked in around 8pm on Saturday. The noise was surprising at first--dozens of tables filled with families, including kids of all ages, but everyone seemed to be having a great time. This place is definitely buzzing with a fun, friendly energy.

I started with a glass of the house Cabernet, which was delicious AND affordable (5 dollars for a very generous pour!) Our server was super friendly (without being intrusive) and gave us plenty of time to make up our mind--it's a pretty big menu. We also had a basket of Italian bread and buttery, delicious focaccia to get us started.

Each entrée comes with a salad or pasta. I opted for the Caesar, which was easily big enough to share (and yes, I did). It was creamy, garlicky, with just enough dressing (don't you hate it when your lettuce is drowning?), and just plain scrumptious. I ate almost every bite of this. Crunchy, fresh, two forks up.

My entrée was the Chicken Semi-Freddo, which had been marinated in balsamic vinegar, grilled, and then topped with cubed tomatoes, red onion & basil. It sounded super bruschetta-y to me, but it didn't quite taste like it. The tomatoes were just okay (it IS still winter, after all), but the chicken was delicious. You could just barely taste the balsamic in the background, but the chicken itself was tender and delectable. Also, THREE pieces of chicken breast? They saw I'm just one person, right? This came home with us (along with the remaining meatball) and went to good use later for ABF's dinner later in the week.

ABF had tried the meatballs before, so he knew those were good. We got 4 of those on the side. The red sauce was delicious, and they were substantial and satisfying without being clunky and too heavy. They had a smoky, garlicky taste to them, and they were deeelicious. I ate one right away, and finished off another half of one later.

ABF ordered the Chicken Verde--lightly breaded chicken cutlets smothered in broccoli and mozzerella cheese. It came with a white wine/lemon sauce that was good, although I would have liked a bit more lemon myself. I had a bite and it was good, but for once in my dining experiences with ABF, I did not have order envy. Until......

Spaghetti with vodka sauce. Not just any vodka sauce. AMAZING vodka sauce. I can't quite figure out how theirs is different from just about every other I've tried. Is there a hint of Parmesan in there? Is it light on the oil? They are doing something different, and that something is noteworthy. This sauce is light, smooth, not at all greasy, with an incredible depth of flavor. It's cravetastic, and you can bet your bottom dollar I'm getting this and only this next time. This from the girl who hardly ever orders pasta when she eats out!

Overall, it was a delicious trip. You should check it out next time you're in the neighborhood. I'll be there, hunkered down in the corner, happily eating my vodka sauce (perhaps wiping away a single tear of happiness) and side of meatballs. Mmmmmm...