Search results for "dining reviews"

nyc dining: saul restaurant

So, I’m really late on writing this post. Several weeks late, actually.

but since there’s no time like the present to type this baby out, here we go!

To celebrate Eric submitting almost all of his business school applications + our dating relationship hitting the one year mark, Eric and I devised a plan to spend an entire day in Brooklyn. We were going to start with Brooklyn Flea, then head to the Brooklyn Brewery. FINALLY, we were going to head to dinner somewhere fun.

The day of said planned trip, Eric shows up at my apartment sick. After I finish getting ready, I walk into my living room to find a sleeping Eric on my sofa. Since he’d been battling a cold for a few days, I decided to let him sleep a bit.

and there went our plans to visit Brooklyn Flea….

About an hour into Eric’s nap, I start feeling really strange. It takes me about 30 more minutes to realize what’s happening: a migraine.

bye bye, Brooklyn Brewery plans….

So around 4:30pm, Eric and I decide to pull a massive rally. We forced ourselves out the door to Brooklyn, and forty-five minutes later, we found ourselves sitting in a cozy little space called Saul Restaurant.

and that’s when the fun began…

nyc dining: lupa

You like Italian food? Great. Then you’ll L-O-V-E Lupa.

Lupa, owned by the famous Mario Batali, is one of Greenwich Village’s hidden gems. The food is delicious, the menu is edited (but provides a great selection), there are TONS of daily dishes, and it won’t break your wallet. This restaurant is rapidly becoming one of my favorite places to eat in NYC as a whole…admittedly, Eric and I have been there twice in the last three months. And that’s saying a lot for a foodie like Eric. ha.

Personally, I love Lupa because 1) I can actually see it from my bedroom window, and 2) it’s not ridiculously hard to get a table. AND, if you go early enough, and your party is small, you won’t even need a reservation.

The decor is warm, sophisticated and super cosy. I always get the feeling that I’m sitting in a family owned restaurant, given the look and feel of the furniture + the dimmed lighting. There’s also a long table for large parties…if that doesn’t scream family style, I don’t know what does.

NYC Dining: Morimoto

Good, solid, tasty food. Exactly what we wanted, exactly what we got.

After a crazy yet relaxing trip down to the South (family visits, beach, etc.), all Eric and I wanted last Sunday evening was food. I had no energy to cook, Eric didn’t want to order in, so we scoured our favorite restaurant search sites as we traveled on Sunday. We finally decided on Morimoto, a place neither of us had been.

Guys, this Chelsea restaurant interior is beautiful/amazing/incredible. I was so glad I slipped on some jeans right before I walked out the door….the design just has an element of easy “class,” if you know what I mean. Shorts would NOT have cut it.

The most beautiful decorative installation in the restaurant is the wall featured below: so freaking pretty.

Surprisingly, Eric hadn’t done any research on the menu (aka, we made the decision too late in the game for him to sit at home and read reviews….), so we had to rely on the server for suggestions.

NYC Dining: chef’s table @ brooklyn fare

This past Saturday, Eric and I (and two other friends) went to a fantastic dinner at Brooklyn’s hottest restaurant: Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare.

Guys, this dinner was so incredibly awesome. I wish I could tell you the number of courses we had, but I can’t remember. I was way too busy admiring the beauty of every plate placed in front of me. The first ten courses are single bites, and we had everything from soup in a shot glass to salmon with pesto.

The coolest part about this dinner is that you are there with only 18 other people, which truly makes for an intimate couple of hours. We had to make the reservation six weeks in advance (five people calling non-stop for 45 minutes….let me tell you, THAT was crazy….and it kind of made me second guess why we were trying to get this reservation!). BUT, I was so so so wrong.

Restaurant Credentials: 2 Michelin Stars and a 3 Star Review from the New York Times. Chef’s Table is Brooklyn’s ONLY 2 Michelin Star restaurant.

Chef’s Credentials: César Ramirez, worked under David Bouley @ Bouley and Danube.

If allowed, I would have taken pictures of every single dish. The staff is way ahead of this thought though, and has prohibited cell phones and cameras. A quick internet search only resulted in a hand-full of good pictures, but hardly any of the dishes we ate on Saturday. I was, however, able to find one of the dishes we enjoyed:

Overall, if you can fight and score a reservation, YOU MUST GO. Don’t worry that it’s BYOB and kind of expensive….this is one of those true NYC-once-in-a-lifetime things that you must do. (and that’s coming from a budget conscious, bargain shopping 20-something)