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Healthy and Divine: Pure Food and Wine

27 Jan

For a lot of people, the idea of eating vegetarian may conjure up bad childhood memories of being forced to eat brussel sprouts… but now that you’re all grown up (some of you, anyway), it’s time to put aside these silly veggie prejudices and give greens a chance. Here to prove, in 5 simple steps, that eating your vegetables can be healthy AND delicious is Gramercy’s Pure Food & Wine (Irving Pl btwn 17th/18th Sts).

Step one: cocktail yourselves. The drinks are well mixed + thought out creations that incorporate ginger, açaí berry, green tea and other anti-oxidant rich goodies. The White Light Tini is an infusion of lemongrass, ginger, green tea and unfiltered sake – I’d go back for that alone! Get one!

Step two: appetize. We actually opted to split an entrée as a starter. The deconstructed Spanikopita featured almond feta and cucumber “yogurt” (it’s actually vegan). I don’t know how they do it, but it was one of the most amazing things I’ve tasted in ages. The cauliflower and grapes complimented the dish but, my goodness, those sauces! Wow. Wow.

Step three: wine time. Grab a glass of wine to drink with your meal – their list includes bottles that are vegan, organic, sustainable, biodiverse and all taste really great too. I had a glass of the 2001 Crianza Tempranillo and after a good healthy “breathe”, it was spicy in the front and smooth in the back. Did I just describe a Wine Mullet? Moving along…

Step four: the main event. I honestly could’ve skipped to step 5, but in the interest of research, we opted to have an entrée and a small app as well. The lasagna was made with basil pistachio pesto, sun-dried tomato marinara and macadamia pumpkin seed ricotta layered Jenga-style between slices of zucchini + tomato. ‘Twas a little salty for my taste, but that didn’t stop us from cleaning the plate. We also had the mushrooms which were on a bed of pureed root veggies and topped with aerated thyme foam. VERY different!

Step five: dessert. Do it, this place has amazing desserts. We had the pumpkin cheesecake parfait with maple syrup glaze and candied pecans. Are you kidding me? Effin awesome.  Pure Food & Wine is a sexy spot where you can get adventurous, change up your routine and perhaps even surprise yourself at how good veggie-fiends have it after all; you, too, can indulge and still feel healthy!

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Bloody Mary Throwdown: Double Crown

24 Jan

Visit the Bloody Bar!

If you’re a fan of Bloody Marys, you’re going to LOVE the do-it-yourself Bloody Mary bar at Double Crown.  The NoHo (Bowery/2nd St) hot spot offers up several prix fixe brunch options that will have you challenging your friends to a Bloody Throwdown of epic proportions.  Oh, and they serve brunch food too!

Double Crown is a British fusion resto with a really interesting menu that incorporates Asian influences into both the food and décor.  It’s a really large space that is upscale and swanky – the crowd is rather attractive too, might I add!  There wasn’t a wait (although the place was pretty full), which is a big plus.  The brunch at DC is offered either a la carte or with 2 prix fixe choices – for $20 you’ll get an entrée + 1 cocktail or for $32 you’ve got yourself as many drinks as you can imbibe – heck yes.  Get creative with the Bloody bar’s accoutrements – the pickled vegetables (unexpectedly) stole the show for me.

Yummy in My Tummy

The food was good, but a little salt bumped it up to great.  I had the Old English Breakfast – the beans were SO good and the bread was delicious (I may even opt for the French Toast next time).  My brunch partner du jour went with the Grilled Sambal Prawns & Scrambled Eggs – the avocado + tomato salad served with it was legit.  Also, word on the street is that the Crispy Pork Belly on steamed rice with chili caramel, mint and fried egg is amazing.

Fawn Over Prawn

While the unlimited option is a little pricey, you definitely are getting your money’s worth.  Go with a large group and make a day out of it – use the initial Bloody to hone your skills then go head to head with your friends for the Throwdown title of Best Bloody.  Bobby Flay would be proud.  Oh, and if you want to try dinner, book through Savored to get 25% off your total bill Monday-Wednesday.  Get down with Double Crown!

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Brunch Away Your Saturday: Sunburnt Cow

18 Jan

Sunburnt Menu

Sunburnt Cow is something of a brunch institution in the East Village (Ave C btwn 8th/9th Sts) – just ask anyone who’s waited up to 2 hours to get in on the boozey brunch action they have going on there.  Walking into the dimly lit tavern is like walking into the perfect meet market.  The crowd is young, hip + good looking, the staff members are all friendly Aussies, and there’s something about the day drinking atmosphere that makes being approached by randos less “stranger danger” than your run-of-the-mill evening out at the bar.

I must admit, when I swung by the Cow this weekend, the wait time was much longer than I’ve ever been subjected to (~1 hr, 45 mins).  However, after letting the bartender know we planned on dining with the bottomless brunch, he gave us free drinks and kept them coming for the next 2 hours or so, which made it more than worth it.  Just to note: we were a party of 3 and we got there at prime brunch time (1:15pm) which did make it tough to seat us – they only take reservations for parties of 6+, so we were at the bottom of a long list.

Aussie Brunch Fare

Eventually, we grabbed a prime table in the back and got to work on brunch – it’s a pretty small yet standard menu.  My brunch mates had the burger (piled high w/ Aussie fixin faves such as beets, pineapple, tomato, lettuce and a fried egg) and the Bush Benedict which was Australian for your standard eggs benedict.  I had egg whites, which our waiter informed me was very boring, but hey – a girl’s gotta leave room for cocktails!  Sides included are salad greens and/or fries and the grub’s actually pretty good, but we’re not really here for the gourmet food, are we kids?!  The main feature is clearly the party atmosphere and the unlimited drinks.  For $18, you’re getting an entrée and hours of inhibition-robbing cocktails (the special includes bloodies, greyhounds, screwdrivers, mimosas and Fosters) – c’mon, that’s a stellar deal.

RR hearts the Cow

A few tips for the best Sunburnt Cow experience: ideally, grab 5 friends and go as a group of 6 – you can snag a rezzie and bypass the wait.  If you want to do a smaller party, I’d make sure you get there by 12pm – after that, the wait grows exponentially – or you can even eat at the bar!  Brunch is always cash only, so make sure you’ve got moola on hand.  LOVE the cow?  Give a visit outside brunch hours – they always offer the option of a 2-hour open bar for 20 bucks (hello, pregame!).

I’m not one to mess around with brunch, folks… get to the Sunburnt Cow STAT!

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French with a Flair: The Affaire

14 Jan

Cocktail Dreams

When the owner of The Affaire, the resto/soon-to-be burlesque joint/lounge (that used to be home to China 1) contacted me to come in opening week, I was skeptical of the once-trendy bar’s ability to reinvent itself as a decent restaurant. Well, boy was I wrong – and I’m not afraid to admit it. This is not your average “bar-gone-wrong-so-let’s-salvage-it-as-a-restaurant”. Affaire in the East Village/LES (Avenue B btwn 3rd/4th Sts) is truly its own unique entity; the sexy restaurant/drink den features a menu of delicious french nouveau cuisine that is actually playfully american in its execution.

I was lucky enough to dine in January while there is still a 3 course $19 prix fixe – for vegetarians they doubled up on the apps – but the important part is that I got to try SO much! As far as starters go, the endive salad with walnuts and pear was yum, the roasted beet with roasted goat cheese and almonds was DELISH but teeny, and the mini pizzette provençal with goat cheese, tomato, peppers & herbs was nice to share. The #1 stand out of the apps was the TRUFFLED Mac & Cheese, which was actually RIDIC – penne with so many different cheeses, topped with bread crumbs and truffle oil, then baked to perfection. We ordered 2, we finished 2 – it’s amazing, go get some – NOW.

Truffled Macs Where its At

As far as entrees go, we had a plethora of veggies for moi and my dining partners had the duck leg confit which, I’m told, was amazing. We also had several sides to complement our main dishes. The haricots verts were pretty standard beans in my book, and the spinach was pretty good too, but the brussel sprouts with bacon were RAVED about.

Before dessert, I got the full tour of the space from Andrew, the owner. While there’s a similar setup, the resto/lounge has been updated since the days of China 1 and I certainly hope that the renovations will breathe new life into the amazingly large and diverse spot. I’m especially excited about talk of brunch, which I’m told will include a DJ and some sort of multiple cocktail option (you can expect a review, once it’s fully rolled out). After our tour, we got to taste dessert! The profiteroles were like little yum eclairs, but the true star was the warm chocolate cake which was served a la mode and made for a warm/cold chocolate nirvana.

All in the Cocktails Details

I should add that the bartenders made it a point to ask questions so as to make your drinks exactly as you want them and the wait staff (esp the most wonderful, Nicole) were all attentive and helpful. Restaurateurs, take note: this is how a restaurant’s roll-out should be. Foodies, take note: this is a new and notable worth trying.  I would particularly recommend going for a late weekend dinner that would easily segue into cocktails downstairs… Whenever you go, visit The Affaire, where it’s perfectly acceptable to be having one (with food, of course). Book through Savored for 30% off your total dinner bill most evenings or check their website for daily specials!

They do excellent private events as well – to book your very own secret society dinner, email PreferredDiners@gmail.com

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Much Ado About Fondue: Taureau

10 Jan

As soon as I heard about Taureau, the new-ish East Village (7th St btwn 1st and A) BYOB Fondue resto, I knew I was going to have to check it out.  Need me to back up?  Yes, I’m talking about a restaurant that is BYOB – with no plans of changing that status, and serves Fondue – with every intention of changing your life with its cheesy goodness.  Like what you hear? Good, let’s proceed…

Taureau’s an intimate dining experience whose seating arrangement has diners packed in at close proximity and whose cheeses pack in a major punch of flavor.  The small tables are all equipped with a heated top to keep your bowl of melted cheesy goodness at optimal temperature for dipping whatever you order from the menu – be it animal, vegetable, or mineral breadable.  Each order includes a very basic green salad, as well as an unlimited order of croutons.  Speaking of unlimited, EVERYTHING you order to dip in your vat of cheese is bottomless – as in, eat as much as you want and another order will miraculously appear on your table.

Delicious Dishes

The star of the evening was The Soprano fondue – Parmesan aged 18 months and blended expertly with White American.  The flavors of these 2 very different cheeses blended quite nicely and made for a very versatile dipping sauce.  For our veggies, we had cauliflower which was steamed to perfection, sweet potatoes (which were just OK – but could be great with a different variety of cheese) and my personal fave, the mushrooms – there were a ton of perfect bite-sized pieces and they complimented the fondue oh-so well.  As for meat, there is the option of having raw, marinated meats brought out that you cook in oil on the table, but due to my veggie status, we didn’t opt for any of those carnivorous options.  My guest researcher did have the Salami and Chorizo from the cured meats section of the menu – the Salami was apparently very good, or so I’m told.

While the cramped cozy seating would lend itself easily to multiple posts on “Overheard in NY”, the delicious situation happening in my mouth made it easy to tune out our next-door neighbors.  Couple that with servers that were helpful, plus the attentive hostess, and you’ve got a slam dunk of a resto in my book.  And hopefully, that dunk is straight into a bowl of delicious cheese at Taureau.

Know before you go: Taureau is cash only, now taking reservations for dinner (highly recommended) – call 212.228.2222. Bring your fave bottle of wine and be prepared to have your socks knocked off – our bill clocked in at under $60.  All I’ve got to say is next time, I’m leaving room for dessert…

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