Frankie's Ristorante Italiano

After our wonderful spa treatments, Mama Bear and I went to dinner in Lenox. I thought I wanted French food but ultimately decided on Italian. I picked Frankie's Ristorante Italiano because the menu looked delicious.

We drove a few minutes to Frankie's. It looked like we were walking into someone's house. The front part had a few tables and the bar. On the bridge between the back and front there are a few booths which looked great so we chose to sit there. Unfortunately that was a bad decision. Some members of the staff stomped while walking  over that part and one even fell. It was way too noisy!

We started with the Calamari, which was served with their house made aioli. The calamari was perfect. Light and crisp batter that was not greasy. Unfortunately the aioli – which was basically mayonnaise – was disgusting. It did nothing but distract from the wonderful taste of the calamari. 

We put in our entree order and I couldn't wait for it to arrive. Unfortunately, wait is exactly what we did. It took 25 minutes!!! I was horrified at the extremely slow service. Our server only stopped by once during that time. What a shame. After all that time I imagined I was about to eat the most amazing meal ever. Womp womp. The Shrimp and Lobster ravioli came out and I was very excited.

The ravioli did taste great. As I've noted before I don't love creamy sauces, but this creamy shallot sauce was quite good. The only problem is the food wasn't very hot.

See? The sauce was already congealing. It must have been sitting under the lamp for several of those 25 minutes. I got tired of eating the ravioli after a few minutes because it wasn't delicious at room temperature. Luckily, Mama Bear's food was amazing!

Fresh Salmon with a pesto sauce, Green Beans and Spaghetti. It was delicious! The salmon tasted like it just got out of the water and it was cooked to perfection! The spaghetti was also really good. Even though it was dry pasta, it still tasted great!

We had been at Frankie's so long that all I wanted to do was leave so dessert wasn't in the cards. Because of the disparity in the quality of our dishes, I have a hard time giving Frankie's a fair assessment. I really think my meal mainly suffered due to the service or maybe some poor timing in the kitchen. The flavors were right and it actually had me thinking it might be time for me to make my own ravioli...stay tuned.

Hungry yet?

Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club in the Massachusetts Berkshires

I love my Mama Bear more than words can express and while I find ways to say it, sometimes I express it through experiences. A few weekends ago BH (Before Hotel living) I decided that we needed a Mother-Daughter trip and Cranwell Spa, Resort and Golf Club was the place to make that happen. 

Tucked on a luscious green estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, it was the perfect location for our weekend chillin'. Less than a three-hour drive from NYC, the Berkshires are an excellent location for weekend getaways. I’ve been to the Berkshires a few times before, most recently last summer. We drove up on a Saturday morning and of course our first meal was at Haven Cafe. We then drove to the Cranwell. Although it was still a little damp from the rainy day, it was beautiful.  We stopped at the main house to check in and were given our keys to Beecher Cottage.

The room was enormous. 

We spent some time lounging on the arm-chairs which felt chaise like because of the foot stool. 

We then took a complimentary shuttle to the spa building. Woweee! Luxury like I've never experienced it before. The building is beautiful. It includes an indoor pool, a gym, sauna, Jacuzzi and so much more. The locker room is fantastic and includes wonderful seating areas.

We went into the waiting room which included a fireplace and comfy chairs for some mother-daughter chatting. The massage treatment was phenomenal and it was clear that my therapist was well trained.

After the session Mama Bear and I walked back to Beecher. We relaxed for sometime before heading to dinner (more on that tomorrow). The next day was beautiful and we spent some time in the gym and walking around the estate.

It was a wonderful weekend escape and a perfect place to get lost. I love my Mama Bear and was thrilled to be able to share that time with her...even if it was a few weeks before the holiday. Happy Mother's Day!

Hungry yet?

RED

One of my absolute favorite parts of warm NY days is outdoor dining! I also love the way warmth garners spontaneity. So last weekend while the sun was shining bright, I sat around in Union Square reading. Since I was already that far downtown, I figured why not go see my favs who live WTFDT (hehe). Mr. M was on his way out but Ms. O was on her way in so I hustled to their apartment and saw them both!  Then Ms. O and I headed out to the Seaport in search of some good eats.  We decided on RED because the menu had enough items on there that sounded tempting.  Our eyes both zoomed in on the Fiery Chicken Wings so I was thrilled that they soon appeared on our table.

They were awesome! They were definitely marinated in a delicious sauce which for some reason I thought had hints of buttermilk but turns out it was bleu cheese - close enough. We were very happy with the flavor and the fieriness of the wings.   Ms. O ordered a salad.

She was pleased with the dressing but the server definitely lied about the size of the salad.  I ordered Chicken Tacos.

I was very excited about the tacos, but sadly they did not meet my expectations.  The chicken was pretty well seasoned but a little bit of salt would have gone a long way. Generally, corn tortillas don’t do it for me – these were mad worse by the dry cold cheese that fell across them. The suuuper runny guacamole didn't help the plate either. The rice and beans were tasty though.

Refried beans are awesome and every time I eat them, it takes me back to my days at UMD and the delicious burritos at Jalapeno Grill. YUM!

RED was not the best Mexican food I’ve had. The service was subpar and at one point our regular water was replaced with flat seltzer. I don’t know who goes around carrying a pitcher of seltzer but something definitely went wrong there.  The wings were delicious and had we stuck to our original plan of appetizers we would have definitely won. Alas, my eyes are too big and when I see food I can’t help but want to eat it. I recommend the wings but not much else.

Hungry yet?

Melba's - Harlem

I’m still sans kitchen and bathroom and am currently living in a hotel. Yup, it’s true. I will review the hotel once I return to my space and I’m hoping that an end is near.  My lack of kitchen means many more out of home dining experiences. While I normally take great pleasure in dining out, I must say that I am sooo over it and just want my kitchen back!!  During my first week at the hotel – that’s right I’ve been here more than a week – I was able to catch up with Ms. R and Ms. S for dinner at Melba’s.  I’ve been meaning to try it so I’m glad I finally got the chance.

I was quite shocked at how tiny the restaurant is – it probably seats about 40 people.  Our server was an Amber Rose lookalike who apparently has been working there for a few years.  It took quite some time before she brought water to our table so she immediately received demerits from me.  I was famished so ordering was not a problem.  Ms. R was kind enough to suggest that we order the Catfish Strips with Chipotle mayo as our appetizer.

The strips were excellent. Lightly battered in a well-seasoned mix it didn’t taste greasy. I could have done without the chipotle mayo though.  Absolutely nothing special about it and it actually took away from the deliciousness of the strip.  The appetizer was just a warm up to my Catfish Dinner.

I ordered it with a side of collard greens and mashed potatoes.  The Catfish tasted just as good in large form as it did in strip form.  The collard greens were salty! Pfft. Amy Ruth’s definitely wins that battle. The mashed potatoes were flavorless which was unfortunate because I was really looking forward to them. They didn’t taste like instant potatoes thankfully, but they also were not delightful.  Ms. S ordered the Pecan Crusted Tilapia.

Upon its arrival I immediately had food envy. Her bright green spinach was better looking than my lifeless over salted collard greens, but alas it was undercooked! The stems tasted as though they belonged in a salad. Another 45 seconds and these would have been excellent.  Her side of mashed potatoes was equally tasteless. The tilapia on the other hand was marvelous.  Light and flaky on the inside yet it really took well to the pecan crust – though I didn’t really notice the pecan flavor. It was topped with what tasted like a mango salsa but something was slightly off so perhaps I'm mistaken. I will definitely be recreating this dish once I get my kitchen back! I was glad Ms. R ordered the Chicken Dinner because after the collard greens I decided I was keeping score between Melba’s and Amy Ruth’s. 

The chicken was very moist and really really flavorful. IMHO it slightly edges out Amy Ruth’s.  The mac n cheese was good enough for me to go in for a second scoop – and I don’t really get down with mac n cheese.  The yams were diabetes inducing. Just way too sweet! I mean sheesh it’s a side dish not a dessert!

Overall I was pleased with the meal at Melba’s. I love dining with friends, especially when they order things that I can sample. I’d go to Melba’s just to say you did it, but don’t expect to be knocked out by the entire experience. There are some highlights but there are definitely lowlights. I would have loved to try the dessert but nothing really appealed to me.  I’ll likely go back at some point, but with all these options in the area, it’s not likely it’ll happen too soon.

Hungry yet?

Lupe Fiasco @ Roseland Ballroom

About 6 weeks ago, I received an alert that Lupe Fiasco was coming to town. I was uber excited and quickly bought two tickets for his concert at Roseland Ballroom. I've of course been listening to LASERS on repeat since the album dropped and couldn't wait to hear him perform live.  So this past Monday, Ms. A and I joined the thousands of screaming fans to hear Lupe throw it down.  Tinie Tempah opened the show, but unfortunately we entered late enough that we only saw him perform one song.  He looked like he was having fun though.

After waiting 40 minutes or so after Tinie Tempah got off the stage, Lupe graced us with his presence. The man is a ROCKSTAR.  

No, seriously. He is.

He put on quite the show with some of his earlier hits, most notably Kick & Push, Daydreamin and Hip Hop Has Saved My Life.  He was supported by a pretty lively band: Matthew Nelson on Keyboards, Eric Hammer on Guitar, Sarah Green on Vocals and Big Baby Bam on drums.  I’m not sure if it’s because they were tired since it was night two at Roseland or if that’s just how they sound...the instruments were great but the vocals were barely audible. Ms. Green spent far too much time shouting into the microphone and by the time she was put on the spot to sing acapella, her throat was hoarse and Big Baby Bam did a much better job than she did. Shameful.

By far the best part of the show was when they performed I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now.  Aside from the song conveying my general attitude these days, the performance was enhanced by the open bottles of water that they recklessly threw into the audience.

Yup. They didn’t care.  Lupe did a great job of being energetic and bouncing all around the stage. I was definitely thrilled that I finally got to see him perform – especially the songs off LASERS. If you don’t have the album, you should get it.  Here is a full version of I Don't Wanna Care Right Now.  Hopefully you can resist the urge to throw something.

The whole album is filled with excellent tracks. The man is talented and I’m glad LASERS isn’t the L.U.P.End.

Hungry yet?