Sophie Takes Manhattan

Hooray!  Sophie is finally here in NYC to see the sights and take the city by storm.

We met up with her at Grand Central Station...

and took a quick stroll to Times Square to see the spot where the New Year's Eve ball will drop very soon.

Then after a good night's sleep we indulged in a day of tourism.

First, Don Pedro's for a yummy prix fixe brunch with bottomless sangria!  For the record, they really mean it when they say "bottomless."  Unlike some places that wait for you to ask for refills on unlimited brunch drinks, the waiters were very diligent in making sure our glasses were never less than half full.  Nice!

For apps, Sophie tried the chicken soup (very tender, juicy chicken)...

and Mel and DJ went for the empanadas (meat-filling spiced to perfection).

Then for the main course, Sophie tried the stewed chicken (great sauce)...

DJ got adventurous with a huge pork chop (tasty, but he later wished he had gotten the fried pork chunks instead)...

and Mel had the shrimp salad with avocado (fab dressing).

Last but not least, DJ and Sophie chose the flan for dessert while Mel went for the tres leches cake (yummy, but not as good as Hirut's!).

With full and happy tummies, we headed out in the cold rainy/snowy day to see the spots at the top of Sophie's list:

Central Park

5th Avenue Shops

Radio City Music Hall 

(where her parents had their first date!)

Rockefeller Center

The Guggenheim Museum

for the Picasso exhibit

 

While we were out and about, our Crock Pot was slow-cooking some BBQ ribs which we enjoyed with roasted vegetables to warm us up after the chilly walk.  

 (For slow-cooker afficianadoes, this might be the easiest recipe ever:  throw one chopped onion, spare ribs, and a jar of BBQ sauce in the pot; set for 7.5 hours; come back to ribs falling off the bone!)

Before she headed back to CT the next day, we hit up a few more city spots so she could see beyond Midtown.  :)

lots of subway rides!

South Street Seaport

with a great view of the bridge

 requisite Empire State Building shot

on way back to Grand Central

So glad you could visit, Sophie!  Hope you'll be back soon!

Commemorating City Hall Ceremony

One year ago, we went to City Hall and signed all the legal paperwork to have our marriage recognized by New York State.  Afterward, we went out for a crepe brunch at Cafe Un Deux Trois.  So DJ and I decided to celebrate our City Hall anniversary each year by going to a French restaurant.  First one:  JoJo!

After a lot of careful research, DJ discovered JoJo which is a Jean-Georges restaurant on the Upper East Side.  We fell in love with it the moment we walked in thanks to the decor.  They kept just enough of the old townhouse feel to make it cozy, but added a little flair to push it up a notch.  Absolutely love the huge bay windows.

The service was extremely prompt and friendly; our waiter was at our table within a minute of getting settled.  We started off our lunch with a ginger margarita for DJ, a glass of wine for Mel, and delightful warm French bread.

For our appetizer, we shared the Peekytoe Crab Cake.  The chef recommend layering the mustard, mango and crab onto the cracker to get the full flavor profile.  Absolutely delectable!

For our main course, DJ tried the blackened sea bass (seasoned absolutely perfectly)...

and Mel splurged on the lobster with lemon risotto (a fabulous pairing with amazingly succulent lobster meat).

And since it's an anniversary of course we had dessert!  Molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream never disappoints.  :)

Overall, we absolutely loved JoJo.  A great treat if you're in the mood for ze fancy French.

Local Lunch: Don Pedro

WE MADE IT!!  After a stressful couple of weeks at work for both of us, we are officially on our holiday vacations.  We decided to check out another local spot to celebrate:  Don Pedro.

Though this place is a bit off the beaten path, it was quite bumpin' in the middle of a Friday afternoon!  Fun music in the background, prompt and friendly service, and a lovely decor helped us forget work and get into vacation mode almost as soon as we walked in the door.

To kick off our celebrating properly, we ordered the spicy mojitos.  A-MAH-zing.  DJ said they were the best mojitos he's had since his trip to Puerto Rico.  Cheers to the holidays!

 

As for food, they started us off with a basket of bread, popcorn and plantain chips with paprika oil for dipping.  Tasty!  

 

But we didn't really have much of it because we wanted to try an appetizer.  They all sounded so good, we had a hard time choosing!  We ultimately went with the calamar a la parrilla, and were so glad we did.  The calamari was grilled beautifully with delicious seasoning and a lovely slaw salad to add a bit of citrusy zip.  Could have made a meal of this one.

Then DJ feasted on the picadillo (cuban style ground beef with seasoning very similar to pepper steak), and Mel tried the masitas de cerdo asadas (fried pork with salad).  This dish usually comes with sweet plantains, but Mel asked if she could try the yucca fries instead.  She has been on a mission to find yucca fries as good as the ones they used to have at Beso, a lovely Brooklyn restaurant.  

 

Beso still takes the prize for their fries (they slice them thinner and season them generously), but the Don Pedro pork is worthy of a prize itself.

We are so glad we finally checked this place out because we will definitely be visiting whenever we have a hankering for some Latin flavors.

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Addendum:  Remembering the amazing flavors of the spicy mojito, we returned to the bar of Don Pedro one chilly January night just for a drink.  The mojitos were good, but not quite as good as the ones from just a few weeks prior.

We asked about the bartender who had served us during our first visit (ironically named Pedro) to find out his hours so we could be sure to return when he was making the drinks.  But sadly, it appears he left!  So... we won't hold it against the restaurant, but we won't necessarily return there just for drinks.  We realized the time might be better spent figuring out how to make them ourselves.

Thanks for the spicy mojito that day though, Pedro!  You were our magic mixologist to kick off the holiday season.

Pre-Holiday Home Cooking

We've been having lots of yummy home cooked meals during this pre-holiday week as we brace ourselves for the inevitable feasting that will occur around Christmas.

Over the weekend, we had Ibee and Uncle Stan over for lunch and made a healthy combo of our favorite "red chicken" (we named it that; the original recipe came from a Rachael Ray magazine), sweet potatoes and steamed string beans.

Then for our weeknights at home we decided to take a break from meat and go vegetarian with a Mexican-style lasagna.  The recipe calls for spinach, cilantro and scallion, but Mel threw in some kale for good measure.  Layered with salsa, pinto beans, and pepper jack cheese within whole wheat tortillas, this is a healthy take on lasagna that we will definitely make again!

Perilla with Pals

Scott and Katie thought it would be fun to grab brunch with us and Ghislaine again after our Top Chef adventure at Talde.  In continuing with the theme, we tried another Top Chef's restaurant: Perilla.

We started off with the duck fat popcorn and some awesome winter drinks (including a strong brewsky).  

 

Then...

Scott, DJ, and Ghislaine tried the duck burger (so delicious it didn't need ketchup!)...

 

Katie tried the hash and eggs...

 

and Mel tried the fried calamari salad (which was a bit out of the ordinary/unexpected; instead of just the calamari being fried, the entire salad was fried; tasty at first, but then just too greasy to finish).

 

A great time was had by all, especially Ghislaine's little man who was quite the delightful flirt as he was passed around the table.  :)

Steak and a Song

Recently Mel realized that she'd like to start playing the piano again.  Her mom was so pleased with this idea, she offered to give Mel a very generous birthday/holiday/everyday gift of an apartment-friendly keyboard!  So a few weeks ago, we all visited Sam Ash to pick one out.

It's beautiful!  And... big.  lol  So big that only 2 people can ride in the car with it at the same time.  So, Toots and Toto held on to it and brought it over a week later.  The 88 keys have a home!

And as a thank you for all their help, we made them a steak lunch.  Grill Master DJ perfectly seasoned and grilled skirt steaks for all of us,

and Mel made side dishes of roasted butternut squash and kale chips.  Yum!

 

Cheers to a lovely lunch and the gift of music!

Local Dinner: Zebu Grill

Our exploration of the neighborhood continues!  This weekend we had a date night at Zebu Grill, a Brazilian restaurant off the beaten path.

According to all the rave reviews, Zebu is a fabulous local spot because the food is always delicious, the service always friendly, and the dining room always cozy but not crowded.  After our first visit, we couldn't agree more!

We went in knowing exactly what we wanted to order:  the "knockout caipirinhas" and "flavorful" churrasco for two (quotes courtesy of Zagat).  As we sat sipping on our delicious cocktails, we couldn't help but admire the rustic decor.  We even started chatting with folks at neighboring tables, a couple of whom seemed to be regulars.  

We were pretty much sold on coming back to Zebu just based on the ambiance and drinks, and then the sizzling churrasco arrived and sealed the deal that this will become one of our favorite places.  Absolutely delicious and perfect for two people to share!!

Dessert wasn't necessarily at the forefront of our minds, but DJ noticed that all the options were labeled "homemade" so we couldn't resist at least trying one.  We went for the molten chocolate cake, and fell in love at first bite.  

Cheers to Zebu!  We shall be back.

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ADDENDUM:

We did indeed return to Zebu with the Conde Crew for a Saturday evening hang out several weeks later.

The caipirinhas alone were worth returning for; strong and tasty!

As for food, this time around we shared a few things with the group just to get a sampling:

Salada Zebu - with everything but the kitchen sink
(indeed it had lots of fun ingredients, including fresh corn!)

Enroladinhos
(great crunch, delicious dipping sauce, and awesome meat filling) 

Pastel
(excellent pastry dough with a generous amount of filling) 

Engrossado de Milho - Corn soup with collard greens and diced chicken
(such fresh ingredients; a great way to warm up on a cold winter night) 

Looks like the choices on their appetizer menu are just as fabulous as the entrees.  Another home run, Zebu!