B BAR AND GRILL

Formerly called the Bowery Bar and Grill, I realized that I have never eaten in this 80's iconic restaurant. The restaurant is very large and located on the corner of East 4th. Street and Cooper Square. It was fairly empty at lunch and I was seated immediately at a plush booth with a garden view- bingo! The dining room is decorated with black and beige banguettes, a wood beamed ceiling and a palm tree in the center of the room with lots of light making for an uber cool space. I started with mint lemonade which even though it was not homemade, it was minty and refreshing. I ordered the quesadilla with shrimp and also asked for wild mushroom which I was not charged extra for and cost $9. The tortilla was on the thick side with a strange tasting red sauce and crema squirted on the top and served with a small side salad. There is a vast lunch menu with sandwiches and paninis all under $15 like yellowfin tuna, or bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato for $10 which are served with a side salad. Overall, the food was fine, but the view and and chill vibe was exceptional.
Go!

THE ODEON

Oh, the Odeon, debaucherous late night 80's hotspot for the NY artworld and local celebrities. Now an art deco landmark with wood wainscotting, mirrors, maroon colored banguettes and deco lighting. The food is secondary with the deco decor being the star of the show and of course you! Myself and a Tribecca friend were there for lunch on Friday, where we were seated at a larger table with a slightly obstructed view. First comes the warm rolls with the Odeon labeled butter, lovely. My beet salad with shaved fennel, mandarin slices and aged goat cheese for $12 was tiny. The balance of the lovely red and yellow beets with the fennel was tasty though standard goat cheese would have been the preferred option. My lunch companion's eggs benedict was slightly runny with a slight smattering of hollandaise and the small bits of the end of the french fry batch as an accompaniment. The bus boy informed us that pictures are a no-no, oh well too late. Other than the dining room, the bathroom is one of my all time NY favorites, it is downstairs with a large outer area with two wooden phone booths(remember those) and an antique scale. In the jane with more deco tile and black doors on the stalls and a separate powder room with make-up mirrors and stools, and a pic of Jean-Michel Basquait no doubt an early patron.
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Highline

Firstly, I love this place. Food, design, and service Highline rocks. With it's white couches instead of the useal banguettes, white cushiony chairs, black slate floors, 70's style amber hanging lights and a small waterfall this place is uber modern and cool. I have eaten here a few times and ate here for lunch on Thursday and loved my food. The lunch menu offers several options ranging from vegetarian for $8 up to seafood for $10. I choose the choose the N.E. steak for $9 which is grilled Thai marinated steak with steamed seasonal greens. For a starter(included, I choose the terriyaki grilled shrimp over a mushroom medley. The carmelized shrimp was served over different mushroom varieties like portobello and shitake and was tangy and tasty. My steak was a huge amount of slightly spiced beef in a reddish, brown sauce with perfectly steamed veggies(asparagus, broccoli and green beans) and rice. The spice of the meat was well balanced by the greens and rice. A dimly lit Feng Shui bathroom with an unusual sink on the same floor. I am sure Highline rocks at night.
Must Go!

Otto's Pizzeria and Enoteca and ice-cream

Mario Batali's Restaurant is famous for their pizza and extensive and I mean extensive wine list, but they also make a mean gelati and that is what I was there for today at the bar. Three flavors are $7 which is not bad for housemade gelati which comes in about 9 flavors. I choose salty caramel, spiced chocolate and strawberry balsamic. The accompanying warm chocolate sauce served in a shot glass for an extra $2 was decadent. The ice-cream was dense, fresh and mostly divine. The salty caramel was very true in flavor as was the strawberry balsamic(hmmmmmmm), the spiced chocolate was slightly underspiced unlike Il Laboratorio's chile spiced chocolate. The warm chocolate sauce was perfection and all together simply delish.
GO!

Happy 4th. of July

New Amsterdam Food Market

This outdoor market is ground breaking in that not only does it feature farm fresh ingredients from NYS growers, but also New York City purveyors of fine foods are featured here under one highway sort of. Well the outdoor space is behind the parking spaces and adjacent to the South St. Seaport. Sunday's market offered food in categories like the Bread Pavillion, Milk and Honey, Pastured Meats, Producers and Purveyors. At the Bread Pavillion my personal fave, there was Daniel restaurant who normally only bakes bread for it's 4 restaurants offering their incredible darkly baked peasanty loves and samples as well. Also present and baking was the Bakehouse(NJ), Balthazar, Bouchon and Pan D'Avigon from Long Island City which is reputed to offer one of the best baguettes in town and judging by samples it is at the top along with Daniel. Other standouts included homemade ice-cream offered by Marlow and Sons from Williamsburg with their chocolate cherry ice-cream(divine). Lot's of goodies to try including a ceviche like concoction from Peasant Restaurant on a razor clam and a bean soup made from organic beans from upstate New York. This market was a complete surprise and many local foodies would be ecstatic for New Amsterdam to be permanent come the fall.

Horizons Store

Cute, colorful Horizons is accross from my favorite bakery Cheeks on Metroplitan Ave.at number 377. The hot pink, peach color drew me in to this vintagey shop. For a smallish shop the clothes seem handpicked with lots of better pieces to pick from and few to sift through. I bought a long pink cotton sleeveless top, with a Euro feel for $40. Great designer shoes like Ferragamo, Bruno Magli, Joan and David and more were available and all super cute and reasonably priced. Very nice owner and enjoyable shopping experience.
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Rabbithole Cafe

Like the nearby Dressler restaurant, Rabbithole is a designed to feel like old New York. When you walk into through the original wood door and peer down at the wood plank floor and then gaze up at the tin ceiling, vintage chandellier and mirrors you are transported. The long shop boasts a garden in rear with tables near the garden or in the front with a view of Bedford Ave. so all tables have a nice vantage point. The guy behind the counter was very accomodating and I am always wary of eating in a cafe though the pastries looked enticing more on those later. There are salads, paninis and bagel combos to eat. Options like a hummus plate are $7. Bagel combos with coffee and tea are $6.80 with cutie names like the Cliff which icludes bacon, red onion and swiss or the Gooey which is tuna, tomato and melted swiss. The salads are about $6-$8 and I ordered the big Bad Wolf which contained greens, bacon avocado, swiss and homemade vinegarette which was very good and a chocolate chip cookie for $1.50. The cookie looked like I like them to look darly baked and rustic and was a perfect example of a homemade classic chocolate chip cookie. Other pastry options include raspberry chocolate chip rolled scone and apricot walnut rolled scone etc. which all looked yummy. Other goodies recently include homemade banana bread and a rustic apple cake.
Must Go!

Brooklyn Diner

I have eaten at Brooklyn Diner numerous times and always leave feeling unsatisfied, mainly because the cost of items at this upscale diner is so inflated. Some of the items I have eaten here are quite good like the Greek salad which you can add fried chicken to and is super tasty. My last meal pictured above was the cheeseburger deluxe which was rated as NY Mags best burger in '07 and a chocolate egg cream. The egg cream at $5.(ouch)was recommended by my dear friend and egg cream expert is one of the few authentically made egg creams and was perfect. The burger on the other hand looked great smothered in onion rings with cheese and applewood smoked bacon. When I tasted the burger, first thing I noticed was that it was overcooked, as was my dining companions, the bun was toasted and undistinguishable and the fries tasteless. Later, I realized that coleslaw was not included in the mix and at $16.75 for a pre-theatre lunch this mama was not happy. The space is very spiffy with an art decoish design though the use of the small space is a tad awkward. Nice john in the rear. No bang for the buck here.
Slow go!

Blue Marble Ice Cream

Farm fresh,organic ice-cream created in small batches in an upstate creamery is the Blue Marble credo. Their second location opened a few weeks ago on Underhill Ave. and Sterling in Prospect Heights. A cute picket fence lined shop is reminicent of the country. Flavors are plentiful with the usual suspects of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and coffee as well as changing flavors and sorbets. I opted for the consientious chip and chocolate chip. Both were super creamy and fresh tasting for $5.50. Their ice-cream is quite good, though seems to lack the same intensity as others that are created on premises. The store also serves freshly baked goods from the bakery, Baked in Red Hook as well as loose teas from in Pursuit of Tea. There is a toilet in the rear of the kiddie area in the back of the store and a garden with kids toys connected to the kiddie playground. Super kid friendly.
Go!

Saigon Grill

Today was my second visit to Saigon Grill and I can't manage to tear myself away from the grilled porkchops which is on the lunch special for $8.75 pictured above and served with jasmine rice and pickeled cucumbers, cabbage and carrots with a tangy sauce and hot spices if you can tolerate it. The pork chops are marinated in a mix of honey and spices and grilled. This being a grill, the pork chops are succulent, sweet and carmelized at the edges. The meat paired with the pickeled salad and jasmine rice offers a great balance of flavors and textures. The space at Saigon Grill is soaring and sumptuous and the lunch specials are almost all under $10. At lunch the restaurant is moderately busy, though I have seen a wait outside at dinnertime where the prices are about 30% higher. I would recommend lunchtime for the real value. Bathroom is multi-stalled, new and unremarkable.
GO!

Chiles & Chocolate oaxacan kitchen

Oaxacan kitchens are famous for their moles utilizing the ingredients of chilies and chocolates and this busy little north slope spot offers several. Chiles and Chocolate offeres an extensive menu as well as a $12 brunch special that is special because the food is made to order and authentic. The space at 52 7th. Ave is narrow with photos of Oaxacans on one side and Mexican mirrors on the other that create a feeling of extra space. There is a tented area out back which was full on a Sunday. I ordered the chilaquiles and spicy hot chocolate(chilies y chocolate)for $12 and side orders of guacamole and elotes del zocalo(spicy corn on the cob). The meal was a taste fest of flavor. The chilaquiles are a casserole of chips soaked in a spicy salsa, grilled chicken and mexican rice and beans. The fire roasted corn on the cob which I spied cooking up fresh on the way to the bathroom before brunch was one of the best I've ever had. Served on a plate with romaine, radish and pickled red onion with cheese, chipotle and chocolate on the corn. The guacamole was fresh with lots of cilantro and citrus flavor. The only dissappointment was the hot chocolate which was not chocolately or spicy enough to taste. The toilet is tiny in the back of the narrow open kitchen which churns up Oaxacan treats and according to their menu this is not a Mexican Restaurant.
Must Go!