What and where I ate in the month of May, it was a doozy!
My best foodie-friend Carolyn scored us a last minute reservation at Le CouCou the night after they won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant! We tried all the classics: pike quenelle with lobster sauce, asparagus with tuna sashimi, “tout le lapin” and the duck breast. For dessert, we doubled down on the poached rhubarb tart and the pave au chocolat. While I enjoyed our meal, in a certainly beautiful space, I have to say I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. I thought everything was “good enough” but the service was spotty at best (maybe everyone was just hungover from celebrating the win the night before) and I felt the food just didn’t warrant the prices.
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| The restaurant is visually stunning, especially at dusk with that “golden hour” light shining in. |
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| My favorites of the night were the tuna, the rabbit, and honestly the bread service (whipped black pepper lardo!!). |
Breakfast at Buvette is always a treat. Actually…..any meal at Buvette really is perfection. I started and ended my birthday with meals sitting at my favorite bar in all of NY. The setting immediately transports me to Paris, the food is all outstanding and feels like such a better bang for your buck vs. Le CouCou.
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| Is there a better way to start off a birthday? I think not! |
My Buvette menu musts: “Pearls of Prosciutto” on toast, steak tartar, whatever vegetable is in season, and lots of wine!
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| The cutest little lobster pot pies! |
I checked out the latest addition to the ABC empire, abcV is the all vegan restaurant located in the ABC store in Flatiron. While everything was beautiful, the food was underwhelming. I much prefer the original abcKitchen.
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| Whole roasted cauliflower, shallot and herb labneh (my favorite dish), and beet carpaccio. |
A special treat this month was dinner at the NoMad. We splurged (both $ and calorically) for the roast chicken for two, and it was SO worth it. One of the best dishes I’ve had this year (if ever).
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| Gorgeous and delicious cocktails! |
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| Tableside presentation of our bird |
Another highlight of dinner at NoMad were the desserts. I chose the rhubarb crumble, my dining companions chose the coffee granita, and our wonderful server James insisted we try the milk & honey (a play on the famous milk & honey dessert at EMP). All were winners but the milk & honey is famous for a reason, it totally blew me away!
Later that week I tried Made Nice, the new “fast casual” spot from the NoMad/EMP team. I had the smoked salmon salad and tried their version of milk & honey – milk soft serve with honey brittle and shortbread, good but a little too sweet.
I finally checked out the new Perla Cafe, I hadn’t been since they relocated, but I was a fan of the old spot! I’m happy to report it was just as good as before. We shared the artichokes, chicories, cacio e pepe and the cod. The service was outstanding, although the real highlight was the dessert.
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| Chocolate ganache tarte – one of the best restaurant desserts I’ve ever had. |
To celebrate my main man’s new job, we dined with friends at Keens Steakhouse, a classic NY institution. I had the mutton, because that’s what you get there, and it was delicious! The martini was disappointing (weird olives) but it felt celebratory!
And finally, to celebrate Jared’s birthday, I surprised him with the large format fried chicken dinner (and a few friends to help us finish the two whole birds) at Momofuku Noodle Bar.
Before / After – we did good!
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