I also saw a play!
Friday night at the Bam Harvey Theater we saw the Sam Mendes (American Beauty) directed production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Great cast, great direction, and utterly enjoyable. Also a great value at $35 a seat.
A brisk walk after the show led us to the always reliable and stylish Clinton Hill Latin restaurant, Luz. We shared the empanadas - I've been told that my baked turkey empanadas are just as good :-) - and ceviche appetizers, and the roasted pork and rotisserie chicken entrees. The pork was tasty but a touch dry, however, everything else was spot on and delicious. The only let down in my meal was the beer I ordered, a Kasteel Cru. A French beer brewed using champagne yeast for a fine, crisp lager with a sparkling finish. Not much flavor or sparkle if you ask me, however, considering this bottle often sells for $10-$12 in Manhattan restaurants, the $7 I paid was a bargain. Dinner as described above with two drinks (including the Cru) came to $62 before tip. Luz is located at 177 Vanderbilt between Myrtle and Willoughby.
Saturday we headed to Petite Crevette for dinner. This French inspired seafood restaurant is highly regarded and BYOB - a real bonus during these dark economic times. We brought an inexpensive unoaked New Zealand Chardonnay - kind of got what we paid for on that one. Petite Crevette doesn't normally take reservations so we were surprised when asked if we had one. Reservations, we learned, are accepted/required on holidays and special occasions. Fortunately, and I mean damn fortunately, there was an empty table when we arrived and we were immediately seated. Within minutes a swell of would be diners, all like us, unaware of the special occasion reservation rule, crowded the door of this tiny bistro. Though the full menu appeared to be available, we were directed to the price fix menu ($49), an acceptable trade off for having snagged the last free table we'd see for the next hour and a half or so. For the appetizer course we chose the crab cake, and the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad. For our entrees we choose the Bouillabaisse, and the roasted Cod. For desert we chose the apple tart, and the poached pear. The owner and chef is quite the character and because his tiny kitchen is in the tiny front dining room where we sat, you could say his "colorful" personality was the final ingredient in our meal. Not a bad bite all night. Dinner for two came to $98 before tip. Petite Crevette is located at 144 Hicks Street on the corner of Union Street in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn. Cash only.
Motivated by last week's successful Jamaican style ox tail stew, we decided to try our hands at jerk chicken. We marinated our chicken overnight and were actually concerned that it might be too hot as a result. Wrong! Though flavorful in its own right, our chicken was as jerked as George Bush is scholarly. The jalapeños we used in lieu of scotch bonnets had no fire. None. I knew jalapeños weren't as hot as scotch bonnets, but I didn't realize how much milder they are; scotch bonnets are 15-40 times hotter than the average jalapeño. Oh well, dinner was still tasty. We finished with some incomparable Teuscher Champaign Truffles and a bottle of Lindemans Framboise.
We decided to finish the long weekend on a strong note so we headed into the city for what I was told - by someone who knows! - is the top Ramen Noodle in town, Ippudo. Unfortunately, the place was packed. Despite the temptation of the rarely sighted Yebisu beer, having not eaten since breakfast we couldn't justify the hour wait so we headed to the nearby Menkui Tei. We ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen and a miso based pork ramen, the Mabo Tofu, and washed it down with a 33.8 oz Asahi (which came with a spicy shrimp appetizer for a budget pleasing $12!!!). Filling, delicious, and the perfect way to finish a weekend full of great eats. Dinner came to $37 before tip. Menkui Tei is located at 63 Cooper Sq., between 7th St. and Astor. Cash only.
Friday night at the Bam Harvey Theater we saw the Sam Mendes (American Beauty) directed production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Great cast, great direction, and utterly enjoyable. Also a great value at $35 a seat.
A brisk walk after the show led us to the always reliable and stylish Clinton Hill Latin restaurant, Luz. We shared the empanadas - I've been told that my baked turkey empanadas are just as good :-) - and ceviche appetizers, and the roasted pork and rotisserie chicken entrees. The pork was tasty but a touch dry, however, everything else was spot on and delicious. The only let down in my meal was the beer I ordered, a Kasteel Cru. A French beer brewed using champagne yeast for a fine, crisp lager with a sparkling finish. Not much flavor or sparkle if you ask me, however, considering this bottle often sells for $10-$12 in Manhattan restaurants, the $7 I paid was a bargain. Dinner as described above with two drinks (including the Cru) came to $62 before tip. Luz is located at 177 Vanderbilt between Myrtle and Willoughby.
Saturday we headed to Petite Crevette for dinner. This French inspired seafood restaurant is highly regarded and BYOB - a real bonus during these dark economic times. We brought an inexpensive unoaked New Zealand Chardonnay - kind of got what we paid for on that one. Petite Crevette doesn't normally take reservations so we were surprised when asked if we had one. Reservations, we learned, are accepted/required on holidays and special occasions. Fortunately, and I mean damn fortunately, there was an empty table when we arrived and we were immediately seated. Within minutes a swell of would be diners, all like us, unaware of the special occasion reservation rule, crowded the door of this tiny bistro. Though the full menu appeared to be available, we were directed to the price fix menu ($49), an acceptable trade off for having snagged the last free table we'd see for the next hour and a half or so. For the appetizer course we chose the crab cake, and the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad. For our entrees we choose the Bouillabaisse, and the roasted Cod. For desert we chose the apple tart, and the poached pear. The owner and chef is quite the character and because his tiny kitchen is in the tiny front dining room where we sat, you could say his "colorful" personality was the final ingredient in our meal. Not a bad bite all night. Dinner for two came to $98 before tip. Petite Crevette is located at 144 Hicks Street on the corner of Union Street in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn. Cash only.
Motivated by last week's successful Jamaican style ox tail stew, we decided to try our hands at jerk chicken. We marinated our chicken overnight and were actually concerned that it might be too hot as a result. Wrong! Though flavorful in its own right, our chicken was as jerked as George Bush is scholarly. The jalapeños we used in lieu of scotch bonnets had no fire. None. I knew jalapeños weren't as hot as scotch bonnets, but I didn't realize how much milder they are; scotch bonnets are 15-40 times hotter than the average jalapeño. Oh well, dinner was still tasty. We finished with some incomparable Teuscher Champaign Truffles and a bottle of Lindemans Framboise.
We decided to finish the long weekend on a strong note so we headed into the city for what I was told - by someone who knows! - is the top Ramen Noodle in town, Ippudo. Unfortunately, the place was packed. Despite the temptation of the rarely sighted Yebisu beer, having not eaten since breakfast we couldn't justify the hour wait so we headed to the nearby Menkui Tei. We ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen and a miso based pork ramen, the Mabo Tofu, and washed it down with a 33.8 oz Asahi (which came with a spicy shrimp appetizer for a budget pleasing $12!!!). Filling, delicious, and the perfect way to finish a weekend full of great eats. Dinner came to $37 before tip. Menkui Tei is located at 63 Cooper Sq., between 7th St. and Astor. Cash only.
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2 comments:
Barring any significant lottery victory, it'll be roughly 2012 before I'm able to eat out a whole lot so if the Mayan end of world prediction proves true I'll be an extremely angry - though surely not lonely - camper but nonetheless thankful to Big D for at the very least describing these wonderful meals.
Eat on, bro-ham, eat on.
Thanks, Bart. Actually, though this post suggests otherwise, I've cut back a ton. The long weekend, Valentines Day, etc., all contributed to a splurging weekend. Back to home meals for a while!
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