Chez Lucienne

My first post of 2012 and it’s #400! Wowee! It’s only right that such a milestone is about my meal with my PIC and Mr. R.   The traveled far and though I wasn’t their final destination, it was nice to serve as a resting place.  Since Mr. R is a fan of French (but not expensive French) I figured Chez Lucienne in my ‘hood would be a great place to dine.  It’s been open for a couple of years, but I’ve never managed to make it there. The décor is uninteresting, aside from the semi open kitchen. I always like taking a peek at what’s going on back there.  We started with a few appetizers.  PIC ordered the Saucisson en croute.

A roasted pork sausage wrapped in a pastry shell, served with lentil salad. Leave it to him to order something I can’t eat.   He enjoyed it and tied to stop himself from finishing it so he could save room for his entrée.  Mr. R and I shared two appetizers.  The Escargots De Bourgogne Paysanne arrived first.

Lovely little snails cooked in garlic and butter with a mix of spinach and tomatoes served on a toasted baguette. It was heavenly!! The flavors were incredibly rich and the addition of spinach added a nice weight to each bite.  We also ordered the Mussels Hot Hot Hot.

They were fantastic! It reminded me of my trip to The Mussel Pot. Now I can get delicious spicy mussels without leaving my neighborhood!  The appetizers were definitely a win.  Unfortunately, the rest of the meal was less so.  Mr. R ordered the Bavette a l'echalotte.

It didn’t quite live up to his expectations. He described the Grilled herb marinated skirt steak as pedestrian at best.  He wasn’t the only one left disappointed.  PIC ordered Coq Au Vin.

PIC was very disappointed.  He noted that it was not very good and leaves a lot to be desired.  The only thing that he though acceptable were the pearled onions.  After tasting it, I must say I agree with him.  Since Thursdays are Fish Night, I ordered the Truite Arc-en-ciel.

The Seared Butterfly Rainbow Trout was served with a salad. The beauty of fish night is you get to pick which sauce you want them to serve your fish with.  I chose Provencale.  What was supposed to be a blend of tomato, basil and olive ended up tasting like tomato paste.  I used just a little bit before I gave up on using the sauce.  The fish tasted good, but nothing special about it.  Perhaps it would be better with a different sauce.

I will certainly return to Chez Lucienne, but will probably stick to the appetizers and mussels.  The entrees were lacking. By no means were our entrées bad, the appetizers just overshadowed them.  Perhaps it’s because we ordered as the kitchen was getting ready to close, but I suspect they just do a better job with some dishes than others.  I look forward to returning on fish night for $12.95 mussels!

Hungry yet?

Smorgasburg!!

Where do I even begin?! Last year was the first time I heard about Smorgasburg. I’m not sure what prevented me from making it to Williamsburg last summer, but this year I’ve already been to Smorgasburg THREE times and I’m pretty sure I can get one more visit in before it ends in November. Smorgasburg is a delightful food market on the Williamsburg Waterfront. It happens every Saturday on the Williamsburg waterfront between North 6th and North 7th St., at the East River, from 10am to 5pm. There is also a Greenmarket with 5-10 farmers.  Part of the reason I went so many times is because of an amazing Gilt City deal that gave me access to more food than I probably should have consumed each day.  Lucky for me each time I was accompanied by fantastic friends that also had an appetite.  We tried a variety of items each time and I was left wanting more. By far my favorite each time was the Lobster Roll at Red Hook Lobster Pound.

That is the Maine style served cold with mayonnaise and perfectly seasoned. It costs $16! Thankfully my Gilt City tickets helped me out. $16 is pretty steep but I must say they pack it with LOTS of lobster so it might actually be worth it.

The Connecticut style served hot with butter was also delicious, but IMHO not as good.  Bite Size Kitchen also provided some exquisite eats.

Grilled Chicken Wings with Red Curry Sauce.  The chicken was tender and the spiciness was perfect. They also had pork buns, which I was told were good but a little salty.

The meatballs got rave reviews.  Juicy and well seasoned.

My first trip, I didn’t make it to Asia Dog, but Ms. O and Mr. M did.  Asia Dog had a lot of great selections.

Ms. O and Mr. M ordered the Mel & Steve and The Vinh.  

They were very satisfied with their purchase.  On another trip, I ordered The Mash.

It was so good, I ordered it twice!  The chips were a great crunch on my chicken hot dog and the combination of spicy ketchup and jalapeno mustard was perfect!  Bestie ordered The Ginny.

She loved every bite! I was especially pleased with Asia Dog because they offered so many different types of hot dogs.  As a non-beef eater, it was great to have the chicken option! Ms. O and Mr. M also stopped by the Brooklyn Oyster Party.  They were able to sample 3 delightful treats. 

Cooks Cove from Malpeque Bay, P.E.I., Canada, Beau Soleil from New Brunswick, Canada and Malpeque from Prince Edward Island, Canada.  Apparently the taste was just like the description. 

We also stopped by Kumquat Cupcakery for a quick cupcake break.  There was a wonderful display of delicious treats.

I couldn’t help myself and quickly devoured a couple of Red Velvet Cupcakes. 

I stayed away from the Bacon cupcakes, but I’m sure others would be interested.  By far the most disappointing thing I ate was the Fish Taco at Choncho’s Tacos.

It was dry and flavorless.  The best part of it was the cilantro. The corn tortilla was dryer than usual the fish was lacking…quite frankly it just plain sucked. I thought maybe the fried cod was just a bad choice, but Bestie tried the grilled salmon.  It was so dry that the salmon was almost brown – not a hint of pink. She choked on it!! It was quite frightening to see her struggling. I couldn’t believe how terrible it was.  Thankfully Salud! provided delicious smoothies and eventually washed away the painful experience. One of the best parts of Smorgasburg was Dough.  

When we walked into the gated area, there was a long line forming by Dough’s stand.  Ms. A had warned me before hand and also told me this was a must have. 

Based on this display, there was no way I could leave without getting my mouth on a donut. I devoured the Lemon Poppyseed, but also enjoyed the Cinnamon Sugar donut holes.  

Ms. O also let me sample her Blood Orange.  

The donuts were fantastic! Everything I hoped for and more.  Sweet but not overwhelming.  The second time around, I was too stuffed to eat it so I ended up having it for breakfast the next morning.  Awesome, much?

Smorgasburg is AMAZING! I highly recommend you head over to Williamsburg before they close up for this year.  For more pictures of the various treats, check out the facebook page.

Hungry yet?

b.e.d. Miami

Months before our trip to South Beach, Ms. M was kind enough to make reservations for dinner at b.e.d. (beverage.entertainment.dining.) I was definitely curious about how exactly it would work. I mean how do you enjoy your meal when your table is your seat? Well thankfully they knew to serve our meals on personalized trays. Upon reviewing the menu I was surprised by how many items I actually wanted to order. Then I narrowed it down to the ceviche and the stuffed lobster tail. The nerve of the waitress to tell me neither item was available! Apparently they had a busy Friday night. I was extremely unhappy. She did tell me they could still make the lobster tail but sans crab meat. I reluctantly agreed and started by ordering the Crab Cake appetizer. Serves them right that I forgot my camera so these are the best images I have.

It was really different than the crab cakes I usually eat. This one was in phyllo dough which was wildly good. The crab chunks were huge and really tasty. The other appetizers also looked great. Ms. K ordered the Shrimp and Grits.

It was made with cheddar and sprinkled with bacon. She loved it and it inspired the elder Ms. K to order one too! Ms. S ordered the Seared Scallops.

It was served with a chorizo corn medley and a creamy BBQ sauce. She was loving it so much that Ms. M ordered it too - sans chorizo. Eventually our entrees started to arrive. Ms. S ordered the Grilled Sesame Tuna.

That was one good looking tuna. It also tasted amazing! The seasoning was perfect. I usually expect sesame tuna to have a strictly Asian taste but this had some Caribbean flavors. The elder Ms. K ordered the Australian Rack of Lamb.

Wowed quite the presentation. It was served with Parmesan regiano risotto sautéed mushrooms and a cognac thyme Demi glace. It looked amazing and according to her it tasted even better than it looked.  The popular item that evening was the Chilean Sea Bass.

Both Ms. K and Ms. M were delighted to order this dish. It was served with haricot vert white truffle and Yukon mashed with vermouth cream sauce. I had a bite and it was very rich - almost overwhelming but just under that level. That dish was creamy goodness at it's best. I compromised on my desire and accepted a different version of the Lobster stuffed with crab meat.

When I dug in, I realized it was actually stuffed with crab meat which is not what the waitress said so that was a pleasant surprise. The penne was not an adequate substitute for the black fettuccine.   Shrimp scampi just should not be served with tubular pasta! Luckily the flavor was right so I wasn't terribly offended.

We finished our delicious meal with the Cloud 9 souffle. When I saw souffle I mistakenly assumed it would be chocolate. Imagine my surprise when an inflated pot of Dulce de Leche arrived! Don't get me wrong this dessert was heavenly. I just wasn't ready for it. It is definitely made for sharing. Incredibly rich and sweet there's no reason one wouldn't love this! I certainly did.

We finished our meal at b.e.d. and decided to stick around for the rest of the night. It turned out to be quite a marvelous one. Congratulations Ms. K - I'll never look at Miami the same.

Hungry yet?

ZIngerman's Roadhouse

It feels like eons ago when I first met Ms. H her freshman year of college. After some dillydallying after undergrad, she made her way to law school. Although I had promised to visit her in Ann Arbor, three years flew by and I never made it! So when her graduation rolled around I had no choice but to attend. My first night there we had an amazing dinner but I forgot my camera so it's as though that meal never happened.

Luckily, I was well equipped for the main event. A graduation dinner for Ms. H and a few co-graduates at Zingerman's Roadhouse. This one started out right because one of or appetizers was Sweet potato fries.

These are the biggest fries I've ever seen. They looked like the potatoes were cut into quarters, lightly fried (to the point that I was starting to think they might have been baked) and sprinkled with salt. I had to resist the urge to claim the shared basket as my own. I had a harder time digging into Ari's Pimento Cheese.

I mean you know how I feel about white stuff. This actually turned out to be pretty tasty. It was best when eaten with a combination of the celery and bread. after the graduates and their families arrived, it was time to place our orders. Some of the diners ordered the Cheddar & Ale Soup.

Beats me why anyone would order soup but they all loved it. Apparently the creamy goodness won them over. For my first course, I selected the Roadhouse Garden Salad.

It was pretty standard served with cider balsamico dressing. I was fine without it because I knew what the future held. Buttermilk Fried Chicken!!!

Spectacular! Whenever anything comes in a bowl or basket, I'm automatically excited. This hunkering basket of Amish free-range chicken was dipped in  buttermilk batter then deep fried. It was incredibly hot when they served it and I almost burned myself because I was so impatient. It was juicy and tender I couldn't contain myself. I did manage to take a few breaks so I could eat the mashed potatoes. 

They were fluffy and delicious. I was quite happy with my meal and I'm not sure why anyone would have ordered anything else, but quite a few did. Mr. N was very excited about the Pit-Smoked Spare Ribs.

From our table we could see the smoker where the Neiman Ranch pork ribs were cooked for 9 hours. He tore it up so I'm assuming it was delicious. Mrs. H ordered the Cornman Farms' BBQ beef.

The pasture raised beef was served with Alex's Red Rage Tomato BBQ sauce and a side of mashed potatoes and bacon-braised greens. Apparently the BBQ sauce was amazing and the greens had that extra happy flavor that only bacon can bring. The other Ms. H, my partner in fun for the weekend ordered the Pacific Gulf Red Fish.

It was sautéed and served with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. The fish was excellent. It tasted very fresh and the light seasoning was delicious. After stuffing myself silly and being unable to finish my chicken, my eyes got really big at the sight of cake...and my stomach made room! 

The carrot cake wasn't what I was after, though it did look good.

The chocolate cake and I were one by the end of the meal.

I mean look at it! Wouldn't you be in love too? It was fluffy and filing chocolate goodness. What's not to love?

It was such a pleasure to celebrate Ms. H's graduation with such a grand and delicious meal. The cake made it's way back to her apartment and we reacquainted ourselves again in the morning. Zingerman's you were wonderful. I didn't make it to the deli but if it's anything like the Roadhouse you can sign me up for next time! Hopefully my blazer will make it back, if not I'll be back in Ann Arbor sooner than I expected.

Hungry yet?

Cafeteria

It’s been ages since I’ve seen LG. I miss her so much! So when she told me that she and her husband would be in NYC for a couple of days, I had to take advantage of it.  The last time we saw each other was in JFK while she was waiting for a connecting flight! I gave her a few options in terms of restaurants and she selected Cafeteria.  I have only been to their former location in Miami so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  It was live in there but the music was a little too loud for my liking.  The place is open 24/7 which is a plus.  The menu had a lot of options but for whatever reason there was nothing that really called out to me.   The complimentary biscuits were incredible.  Pillowy and airy with just the right amount of salt to really bring out the flavors.  Those kept me occupied for some time.

LG ordered the meatloaf.  It was def a heaping loaf of meat topped with an oven roasted tomato relish.  According to LG, the garlic mashed potatoes were amazing.  

Her hubs ordered the Crispy Braised Pork Tacos.

They certainly looked interesting and based on how well he cleaned the plate, it’s safe to say they tasted great.  The Tacos were Sweet Potato Puree, Spicy Jicama Salsa and Shoestring Sweet Potatoes. If not for the pork, I would have definitely ordered them.  I had a nightmare trying to place an order.  I couldn’t decide what to get and unfortunately I think I ordered the worst item on the menu, the Fish and Chips.  To make matters worse, I thought I was improving my meal by ordering the truffle oil parmesan fries, but in the end nothing good came of it.

That’s the best picture I have of my meal.  The fish was three unmanageable pieces deep fried and frankly quite disgusting.  I was definitely disappointed in this meal.  Yet once again, dessert came to the rescue.  LG and her hubs ordered the Deep Fried Oreos which were served with Espresso Chip Ice Cream and a Coffee Shake Shot.

I couldn’t bring myself to try an oreo but I did have a bit of the Coffee Shake Shot. WHOA. Definitely will wake you up right away.  I ordered the Warm Fallen Chocolate Cake with Passion Fruit Drizzle and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  The cake was amazingly rich and the ice cream was the perfect way to complement the chocolate.  The passion fruit drizzle was lost on me. I thought it was an unnecessary distraction.

Overall, Cafeteria was uneven.  The biscuits were a high point and my entree was definitely a low point.  Perhaps if I was a little more decisive I could have selected a better entree. The desserts were well executed but also had an air of excess, but I guess that’s what dessert is all about.  I suppose I would go back but only if I was in the mood for a particular item on the menu.

Hungry yet?