manhattan cocktail classic weekend

*
i attended one of the events of the manhattan cocktail classic this past weekend: campari's 150th at the bowery hotel.

endless cocktails.

burlesque dancers. some singing. and apparently, (an unrecognizable) james franco.

i thought this article about the event from nymag was fitting. especially the last line.
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/05/james_francos_latest_avant-gar.html

tee-hee.

day 7: kyotofu

*

to end the 7 days: in hell's kitchen. @ kyotofu.

cold edamame and yuzu soup to start (yums!)

chicken & tofu burger

mac & cheese!

and a trio of desserts:

earl grey tea and chocolate almond soft serve

with matcha mochi!

strawberry shortcake

warm chocolate cupcake

and finish.

the spring desserts were disappointing :(...i only liked the earl grey tea soft serve. totally missing the warm sweet potato cake from the winter menu.

day 6: sandwich day

*
i haven't had time to get any groceries...so, i had to go out for lunch today. seeing that i was in midtown, the soft shell crab sandwich at certe was definitely calling my name.

*

dinner? at taim.

date lime banana smoothie

harissa pita sandwich

and to go along with the motto of "since we are in the neighbourhood anyway"...picked up a keylime cheesecake from the wv magnolia's.

i sort of already want another sandwich from taim. :P

day 5: locanda verde & nobu

*
sunday brunch spot: locanda verde.

cappuccino for me.

apparently a sign of a well made cappuccino...when the sugar you add doesn't sink thru the foam. like what occurred here.

focaccia to start

crispy garlic potatoes as side. so garlicky! and yummy.

soft scrambled farm egg crostino with leeks, mushrooms and speck

bucatini

no dish at locanda verde has disappointed thus far. it calls for an à bientôt return.

*

now, onto an entirely differently story....nobu.

alright, let's get things straight. i didn't even really want to go to nobu after reading the dismal reviews for it. but my dutch friend was curious to go and so we did. what a mistake.

squid "pasta"

eggplant with miso

tempura shrimp with cream spicy sauce

cod

the food was o-k, bordering on meh/blah... the best dish by far, the tempura shrimp. what i totally agreed with, in terms of reviews, was the horrible service X(. i usually don't give such scathing reviews, because peoples, i do love food. but wow, the service totally tanked this place. all those bad reviews for nobu? agreed, peoples, agreed.

and that's all i have to say about that.

day 4: the meatball shop (encore) & l'arte del gelato

*
went to woodbury commons this past weekend. look at this ridiculous line outside the coach outlet store.

seriously? i just don't get it.

anyways. back into the city, with another visit to the meatball shop.

weekly special

mushroom sauce on the side

pork meatball hero & greens

closer look at the hero. with spicy sauce and mozarella.

a walk to the west village post-meatballs. for gelato at l'arte del gelato, of course.

passion fruit sorbet & pistachio gelato en cone

and because i'm so fats...


a whole pint of olive oil gelato for my freezer!

day 3: matsugen

*
i've been planning to eat my way thru all of the jean-georges restaurants. first stop: matsugen, prix-fixe $38.

yuzu cocktail

fried soba and edamame

appetizer sampler: crispy shrimp, spinach gomae, yuba sashimi, uni with yuzu gelee

tuna zuke sushi

black cod with miso

chicken nanban

cold spicy sesame inaka

vanilla caramel pudding

all delicious and a great prix-fixe deal @ $38. winner.

day 2: trio in the east village

*
my most frequented restaurant in the city: ippudo.

steamed pork buns

(the usual) miso ramen

for dessert: the prix-fixe at chikalicious. and i don't remember all the components for each dessert :?

amuse

cheesecake

banana and chocolate

basil sorbet, pineapple brule...and ??

geez. memory is weak.

petits fours

and round 2 for dessert: wafels & dinges. for waffle, of course.

belgian waffle with spekuloos

and finish. ^-^