Dinner at Gramercy Tavern - The Tavern Room

Gramercy Tavern is a restaurant that I have been meaning to go to for quite some time; I absolutely adore Danny Meyer's burgers at Shake Shack, so it was high time that I tried some of his more distinguished fare at his Michelin-starred restaurant.

Gramercy Tavern has two dining areas.  One is the restaurant side which is more formal, requires difficult-to-obtain-reservations and features a 6 course tasting menu for $116; the other is the tavern side, more casual in dress, serves walk-ins only and offers a 3 course tasting menu for $38.

On a whim in light of my birthday (guh, I am so old), Thanan and I decided to take advantage of the very reasonably priced tasting meal at the Tavern side to celebrate.

We noshed on thick squares of cold wheat bread slathered with the disc of creamy butter while we waited for our meals.   Man, I love butter.

 On the Tavern tasting menu, there are three options for both appetizer and entree.  Somehow Thanan and I were too stubborn to budge from our initial choice and both ordered the fried oyster salad.

I really just ordered this for the oysters, as you can tell from the way I scooted the spinach leaves aside.  Although crunchy, the oysters were a bit too bready for my liking and lacked the usual brininess that I love so much.  They were still fine though and paired well with the lightly dressed spinach leaves.  The pickled daikon and carrots (a.k.a. banh mi toppings) at the bottom of the plate were good by themselves but otherwise detracted from the flavor of the oysters.

For entrees, Thanan ordered the hangar steak, served in a kale and bourbon sauce, with fingerling potatoes.  He had a disaster of hangar steak at L'Ecole during Restaurant Week 2010, but Gramercy's rendition was far better and more tender.  Thanan's plate was so clean after.

I selected the trout, which sounded potentially boring, but I was quite surprised how good it was.

Blanketed with tiny bits of shitake and savory breadcrumbs, the topping was a terrific combination of earthy mushroom and crunch.  Slivers of turnip and broccoli were also on the plate, but it was all about the topping for me. 

For dessert, we were presented with the regular dessert menu with 9 different options ranging from rhubarb crisp to a cookie platter.  

Thanan's ricotta cheesecake arrived as a cube of cheesecake sitting atop a fudge brownie and wearing an almond toffee hat.  It was accompanied by a quennelle of cassis sorbet.

At the waitress's glowing recommendation, I ordered the chocolate blackout cake; the slice looked so dark and beautiful with rich round Hershey kisses of icing atop.  Thanan asked, "Did you get an egg with yours?"  Almost.  The cake was served with a perfect quenelle of sour cream ice cream nestled on top of salted hazelnut crumbs.

While the dessert was solid, and sufficiently chocolatey as you would expect, it was not groundbreaking / unusual / swoonworthy.  It was just good (shrug).

Overall, for the price, the quality of food was great, the service impeccable, and the dining room is nicely decorated and comfortable.  I'd be open to visiting again and trying a different seasonal menu, but I am not quite ready to rush back to this one just yet.

Gramercy Tavern

42 E 20th St

New York, NY 10003

(212) 477-0777

Boston! Breakfast Fancy & Banana Sandwiches at Mike & Patty

We are going to do some ogling in this post.  Yes.  You.  And me.  Let's do it.

Mike & Patty's is a tiny little Boston-based eatery dishing out tasty breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

The place seats about 6-7 people max with a communal table situated at front of the space.  The rest of the space is filled by the griddle flattop to the left and the cash register to the right.  

WIth such limited space, the restaurant packs fast, with the overflow of customers cupping their sandwiches on nearby curbs and steps.

The chalkboards mounted above the dining table list their menu offering - the breakfast fancy is their signature morning item featuring bacon and egg, avocado and cheese served on wheat toast.

So naturally, we got the breakfast fancy.  You just have to order any item that is called a fancy!

Indeed, this fancy is exactly that, the sandwich was thick with crispy bacon, bright fresh avocado and beloved egg.  The avocado just melds into the sandwich beautifully.

I couldn't tell from Diana's swoony faces which sandwich she liked better, but I definitely preferred (with my mouth full of sweet teeth) the grilled banana sandwich we shared.

Oozing with cinnamon honey butter and served on pain de mie, the sandwich, overflowing with hot, soft bananas, was pure heaven in my mouth.

Words cannot describe enough how amazing that sandwich is.  It is pure ridiculous cinnamon buttery decadence, and I wish I could eat it everyday.  I love you, Mike & Patty, whoever you may be.

Mike & Patty's

12 Church Street

Boston, MA 02116

(617) 423-3447

California ! The Griddle Cafe in Los Angeles

The second best thing Greeshma and I ate during our California trip had to be the pancakes at the Griddle Cafe.  The cute West Hollywood breakfast spot with warm brick walls and vinyl booths and seats is a favorite among celebrities like Jessica Alba and Megan Fox.  If they could look that good eating pancakes, then we can too!

In addition to perfectly cooked eggs and lovely fresh fruit, there are two notable things at the Griddle Cafe:

1. The namesake Griddle potatoes.

A near-footlong slab of hot griddled potatoes, the inside soft and mashed with chopped sweet onions and crisped to perfection.  Hash brown meet mashed potato meet pure awesomeness.

2. Quite most importantly, the pancakes.  Duhhhzzz.

My eyes could not even comprehend the size of these three gargantuan flapjacks.

The pancakes come in thick stacks of three in a variety of fashions and flavors including red velvet (with cream cheese frosting - yah huh!), Oreos, S'mores, caramelized bananas and more.  

Here's a shot of the pancakes in front of Greeshma for size relation.  

Greeshma and I chose the "Teacher's Pet," featuring their classic buttermilk pancake cooked with baked cinnamon apples inside.  The warm, tender apple slices were plentiful throughout the pancakes.  "There must be at least two whole apples in here!" Greeshma marveled.  Indeed there were - it was entirely dreamy especially doused with melty butter and pure Vermont maple syrup.

Places like The Griddle Cafe make me sad that my stomach isn't large enough to eat three different varieties of their pancakes in one sitting or that the restaurant isn't closer to home, but hopefully other people will be able to try this spot to experience the beautiful joy of good ol' fashioned oversized pancakes.

The Griddle Cafe

7916 W. Sunset Blvd., LA, CA

323-874-0377

Tabare: Uruguyan Cuisine in Williamsburg !

(Note: This is my first post with pictures from my DSLR; I still have quite a bit of learning to do with it :)

Nick is a friend who is moving to San Diego at the end of this month.  As expected, he has been on a most glorious eating rampage to take in as much of New York's finest before his departure to the West Coast.  I recently lured him out to my neck of the woods to try a charming little Uruguayan restaurant called Tabare.

The restaurant was delightfully small, warm and intimate with an adorable outdoor dining space attached at the rear. 

The small menu offers empanadas, grilled octopus, mussels and chorizo as appetizers and heartier plates like grass-fed steak steak and homemade vegetarian lasagna.  There is something for just about everyone, vegetarians, omnivores and carnivores alike.

And they also have happy hour from 5p-7p with $3 beers and $5 glasses of wine.  We ordered a bottle of Uruguayan beer because when in pseudo-Uruguay...

We were greeted with a warm airy loaf of bread, delivered to the table with a small bowl of olive-infused olive oil.

We ended up requesting another loaf of bread.  It was just too warm and crusty and soft to not order another one !

After plundering the bread, we ordered two handmade empanadas to share.

One was filled with caramelized onions, fontina and gruyere cheeses, with great emphasis on the cheese.  It oozed out like hot lava - spectacular!  

The second (not pictured) was tight with Spanish tuna and minced black olives.  It was uniquely flavorful and surprisingly quite tasty.

The caserola de pulpo, octopus casserole, was a complete charmer in its shallow cast iron pot.  Thick juicy cuts of octopus were covered with fat lima beans, sprinkled generously with paprika and topped with a whollop of lemon aioli sauce.

I particularly enjoyed how the paprika was encrusted on each fat bean.  I don't think I've ever given lima beans their proper due - I am quite a fan after this dish!

But enough about beans - the grilled octopus was especially killer - so soft and tender.  Such a terrific little appetizer of flavors and textures.

Nick and I shared the chivito completo entree plate because it defined everything that should possibly be included in a sandwich: grass-fed filet mignon with bacon, mozzerella, onions and a fried egg.  Yes please to everything.  Yes to those home fried potatoes, too, whatever they are.  Yes to those extra napkins that you recommended to our sloppy selves.

Home fried potatoes turn out to be super thin cut fries by the way.

Nick was tasked with halving our sandwich to share.  It might have been the outdoor seating or the intense stress of the matter, but he broke a little sweat.

The sandwich was very good - a juicy, goopy egg on tender meat is always perfection.  Add in some thick cut bacon...whooee, it's a winner.  I ended up eating it as an open faced sandwich though because it was a bit too much my hands (and my mouth) could handle, but I'm sure Thanan with his giant mouth could easily handle this monster.

I am delighted to find such a gem in my neighborhood so fairly priced, charming and simply delicious.  Those empanadas have seriously captured my heart.

Tabare

221 South 1st Street

Brooklyn, NY 11211

Stellar Brunch in Long Island City at M. Wells

(The pics for this post are from my iPhone.  I was kind of lazy about sending the S95 in for repairs, but it should be back sometime in the next two weeks! :)

From the first look of the metal hot dog diner from the outside, it was love at first sight with M Wells.

The metal tin emerges a bit out of nowhere, in an almost deserted part of town in Long Island City, right off the convenient Vernon 7 stop.  The rectangular space has a handful of booths and several stools along the long counter, but the place fills up quick, and there is nowhere to wait but outside.

Our wait was about 25 minutes at 12:30p on Sunday.  Not bad!  We were seated along the counter, which had a great view of the most appetizing bread basket.  If I had been sitting with Diana, she might not have been able to control herself.  However, I was sitting with Thanan who doesn't partake in such bread-stealing shenanigans (he's super mature).

Although the look and feel of M. Wells is all diner, the menu is hardly but.  Gourmet items like Peking duck (that must be pre-ordered in advance), salmon tartare and foie gras are among the regular offerings for brunch and dinner.  We watched one kitchen member shuck dozens of freshly steamed mussels that I longingly wanted to eat.  

Thanan and I shared one of M. Wells' most popular appetizers: bone marrow and escargot.  The marrow was dressed with thinly sliced shallots, red wine and plento herbs.  Chunks of escargot were nestled atop the marrow.

We plunged our knives into the fatty marrow, pulled out a thick chunk to smear on the crostini.  The pairing of fat and escargot was surprisingly delicious; the escargot had perfect chew.  After all the marrow and escargot were done for, I took whatever crumbs were left of my crostini to soak up the herbaceous oil - so flavorful!  It's a small appetizer to share, but one that probably should as it's seriously rich.

For his entree, Thanan opted for the soup of the day which was a corn and bacon soup.  For an additional ten dollars, you could also have foie gras added, which Thanan was all about, and which would explain that mysterious fatty center oozing from the soup bowl below.

The soup was very light, with bits of fresh corn and thick, savory chunks of bacon.  The whopping portion of foie gras in the soup was impressive, and Thanan took great care to chew the rich fat so that it coated his lips with a nice sheen of fat gloss.

I ordered the bacon and potato hash.  A beautifully poached egg was balanced atop strands of griddled beans, with a thick slab of a golden potato cake anchoring the whole dish.

The bacon at M. Wells is nothing short of decadent - super thick cubes of pure pork fat that melt in your mouth.  Divine.  The whole dish together was magic.  So rich, so gratuitously fatty (bacon-grease to the max) but so amazingly delicious.

Impressed with everything thus far, Thanan and I went for the gold and ordered pies for dessert.  Thanan ordered the maple pie, which essentially has the same consistency as Momofuku's crack pie, but  tastes so much better.  And I am not saying this because I love hating on David Chang (because I totally do in every way), but because it just is - the pie is served warm, which always amps up anything's tasty factor, and the pie itself is lighter, with the maple flavoring adding a nice bit of oomph.

I ordered the banana cream pie; the fat slice was delivered with glorious stripes of airy whipped cream.

The banana pudding was not too sweet and perfectly smooth.  The crust was terrific - flaky, buttery, awesome.

The casual atmosphere coupled with such unique and well-executed menu options, where every bite is as good as the last, ranks M. Wells up there among my new favorite restaurants.  Located just one subway stop out of Manhattan on the 7 train, Manhattanites should break their borough-centric habits and make an exception to try this spot out.  And if they don't, less wait for me! :)

I cannot wait to come back and try their sausage and egg sandwich where the patty is as thick as a hamburger.  Of course, eating here does have its consequences - I was in a serious food coma for nearly two hours afterwards, but that's what lazy Sundays are all about, right?

M. Wells

21-17 49th Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101