Mesa Grill, New york

After some interruptions I am moving back to our New York trip.
Enjoying Bobby Flay's cooking at the Food Network it was time to visit one of his restaurants. He has quite a few places in New York and we narrowed it down and decided to go to Mesa Grill because of the heavily south western influenced cuisine.

After being seated promptly we ordered drinks. My margarita was surprisingly average and really stiff, my husband's Mesa Fresca on the other hand was a big it. A very refreshing tequila drink with grape and lime juice and a splash of soda. Only last week I watched Boy Meets Grill at the Food Network to see Bobby Flay mix it up. I was very excited to get the recipe... Check it out here.
On to the first course. My husband had the Baby Romaine Salad with Chorizo and Cotija Cheese in a Roasted Garlic Dressing. He loved this relatively light dish with bold, spicy flavor from the excellent chorizo mellowed by the semi soft, milder Cotija cheese. I had the Shrimp and Grouper Ceviche with Tomatoes, Serrano Chiles and Lime Juice. Quite delicious. Fresh seafood with a nice spicy bite to it.
For entree he choose the Sixteen Spice Chicken with Garlic/Mango sauce and Blue Corn Tamale. It looked fantastic on the plate but biting in to it, despite of the sixteen spices, he found it surprisingly dull in flavor and slightly over cooked. My Ancho Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon with a Black Bean Sauce, Tomatillo Salsa and Jalapeno Crema was really good. The salmon was perfectly cooked, juicy and still opaque in the center. All the surrounding sauces adding a great melding of flavors.
We were stuffed at this point and could not bring ourselves to ordering dessert.

Service was friendly and prompt, but just that. The food met my expectations just at the mark, but my husband walked out of there a little disappointed.
Let me know what you think if you have dined here. I am curious to see what your experience have been!


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Del Posto, New York

Another chef's food I have been longing to try, while in New York, is Mario Batali's. He has a total of eight restaurants + one wine shop in New York (as far as I know). Choosing one was not easy but I ended up deciding to go to Del Posto. It is located next door to CraftSteak, were we had been the night before (I will review it later in another posting), at 85 Tenth Avenue.
The restaurant is very elegantly decorated but still welcoming with a lot of dark wood and warm colors in the textiles.

On to the dining. We were seated promptly and after being handed the menu and wine list a basket filled with a varietal of still warm bread arrived. The olive foccacia was my favorite...

After that four small plates with amuse bouche were presented, Shrimp "Puff" (awesome!), Green Tomato with Jalapeno Cream Sauce, Tuna and Artichoke Tea Sandwich, and a Vegetable Broth Soup with Fresh Herbs. All very good!
For starter we shared the Porcini Mushroom, Arugula Risotto. This risotto was one of the best ones I have had since our trip to Italy four years ago. The arugula was pureed, and colored the whole risotto in a vivid green and gave it a nice peppery note, while the fresh porcini gave it a great earthy taste. The rice perfectly creamy with the right al dente bite to it. Excellent start!
For main course I ordered the Turbot with Sweet Corn, Chantarelles and Sangiovese. The turbot was a little bit over cooked but the accompanying ingredients made the dish shine. This was not great but never the less very good. My husband had the Pork Chop. He thought that was a little bit over done as well, but as he got toward the center it was more juicy and full of flavor.
For dessert we shared the Chocolate Souffle with Brandied Cherries and Espresso Gelato. Could not go wrong with this one. Souffle was warm and still slightly liquid in the middle, and the gelato made the perfect pairing. And as if this was not enough a cart of sweet treats arrived at the end of the meal were I had to taste an "Italian" Oreo, dark caramel, and a divine dark ganache in a chocolate shell.
After a delicious, although not perfect, meal we left this well worth to visit restaurant.

The wine: Drinking mostly California and other new world wines we had the sommelier help us pick out a wine for dinner. He gave a few suggestions and among them a Barbaresco, Ada Nada 1999 Valeirano (made from the Nebbiolo grape) that we ended up deciding on. It turned out to be a delicious bottle that paired well with all courses of our meal.

One point I have to make is that the service was a little bit off. At all points during the meal the service was slow enough as to where it was just raising the question "where are they?", and right then they would show up with more water, the dessert menu, or whatever it might be... (Coffee was served a the last couple of bites of dessert, whereas I prefer to get it right before dessert is served). Nothing that can't be corrected with just a few adjustments...

We had a very good meal here, the highlight being the risotto. I can recommend this restaurant with one reservation, the service. It is just a little bit off, not very noticeable, but still there.

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Gordon Ramsay at The London, New York

We just spent a week in New York during US Open. While my husbands biggest pleasure during the trip is the tennis, mine is researching, selecting and finally eating at restaurants with (supposedly) fabulous food and wine.

This years trip we started with a night at Gordon Ramsay at The London. My cousin had dinner there earlier this spring and have been raving about the exceptional service, food, and ambiance. A must try for us after all the praise, plus the fact that we had not been to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant before.
Upon arrival we were sent to the bar as our table was not quite ready yet. 35 minutes later we were finally seated in a half empty dining room. The dining room is made up of one single rectangular room, elegantly decorated, and with high ceilings. It might seem intimate to some, having a limited number of tables, but to us it felt like we were at a wedding party. I like when a restaurant has something to break it up. Be it partition walls, pillars, or booths to create the feeling of separate areas.

After being presented with menu and wine list the first amuse bouche arrived. A fantastic Tuna Tartare and Avocado in a crunchy cone. The tuna tartare was short of amazing. One of the best I have had. Simply fresh tuna with just a few other, not over shadowing, ingredients to showcase its freshness and beauty.
After our order was taken a plate with small nibbles of Parmesan Crusted Cherry Tomato, a Veal Cube (of some kind), and Mushroom Filled Pastry Bread was brought to our table, all very tasty as well.

After this, bread and butter was placed at the table and a final amuse bouche to clean the palate before our ordered meal appeared. A Lemon Sorbet on top of Watermelon, Tomato and, if I remember correctly, Grapefruit. Refreshing and cleansing indeed.
My first course arrived shortly after this, Curried Scallop on a Cauliflower Puree. The scallop, lightly dusted with curry would have been perfect was it not for the fact that it was halved and therefore was a smidge overdone when being pan seared. Otherwise a lovely dish with great combination of flavors.
My husband has the Foie Gras on top of shaved plum and a green bean salad on the side. Good but not great was his verdict.
I had the Lamb with Truffle Dusted Potato, Zucchini and Tomato in Lamb Juice. This was a big disappointment. I ordered it to chef's recommendation (medium rare), and although it came out close to that specification, slightly overdone, the meat was rather tough and tasteless. I know lamb can be difficult, but nothing a five star restaurant can't handle...
My husband had the Suckling Pig Tenderloin and was only so impressed as well.
Time for dessert! Hoping things would get better I had the Vahlrona Chocolate Fondant with banana ice cream and a frothy vanilla drink, and my husband had the Chocolate Mousse with Ginger Ice cream. Both of them very good (mine was a step better). Satisfying enough for a chocoholic...

At the very end of the meal a cart of caramels, chocolates and other sweet treats was brought to our table for selecting a few pieces. We were all but hungry at this point but had to try a few of them of course. A nice end to the meal.

Overall this was a decent meal but we were disappointed with the overall impression we got from the promptness of seating, the food, the "ball room" setting, etc. The highlights of the meal were the tuna tartare and the wine we ordered, Vision Cellar Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir (a great pinot that I can not recall the vintage of). Other than that it was good but far from great...

Have you dined here? If so I would love to hear your thoughts because I am dying to hear that I am wrong and that we just had an "off night"...


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New York Dining

We usually spend a week in New York during US Open in September every year (my husband is a tennis freak). Going to New York there's a myriad of fantastic restaurant to try. It's hard to decide which ones to go to when there are only so many nights before you have to leave again.
This year we arrived a night earlier than planned and asked the concierge at our hotel (Ritz Carlton for the first night) to suggest a casual but great place. He got us a table just around the corner at Quality Meats. Great decor with a mix of contemporary and old butcher shop. The Green Goddess salad made a great start, fresh and light. We both choose the Filet for the main course and had Corn Creme Brulee with that. All very delicious. For desert a decandent Chocolate Hazelnut Tart. Highly recommended with great food and ambiance! www.qualitymeatsnyc.com
The second night we went to the signature restaurant Fives at the hotel we stayed at the rest of the trip, The Peninsula. Good food (the White Asparagus-Morel Risotto with Poached Egg and Sweet Pea Foam was the highlight of the meal) and service but nothing memorable.
The night after we went to BLT Steak, www.bltsteak.com. Dinner started of with a delicious pop over, still warm from the oven. Then we had Tuna Tartar, Chopped Vegetable Salad, Rib Eye, Braised Short Rib in a red wine sauce, Sauteed Mushrooms and Corn Souffle. All very tasty and definitely a place to return to. We had a outrageously good wine with all of this. The 2002 Merus. Rated 95 by Robert Parker and 96 by Wine Spectator this wine is a fruit power house. This was not the first time I had this wine and certainly not the last. This is the best wine out there right now in it's price range. Find it at www.wine-searcher.com from $194. Not an inexpensive bottle but worth every penny.
After dinner we went for a drink at David Burke and Donatella, www.dbdrestaurant.com, one of our favorite restaurants from last years trip. We did not intend to return for dinner this year because we have the policy that we need to try new places every year. But after a drink with the manager we were convinced we needed to come back the next night, and I am glad we did. This was by far the best dining experience we've had in New York and even better than last years dinner there. We started of with a nice little salad and a fantastic asparagus risotto. After that my husband had a fantastic Rib Eye, perfectly done and juicy with tons of flavor. I had THE best dish I have ever had, period. An amazing dish of home made pasta in a wild mushroom cream sauce, topped with a pile of the most tender, flavorful short rib. Heaven on a plate! Bravo David! Although we were stuffed after this, there was of course still room to share a molten chocolate cake. Yummy.
On the way out we stopped to thank the manager when David Burkes cookbook caught my eye behind him. I got a copy and the manager informed us that David Burke himself was sitting right behind us, in the bar. We got introduced and to my thrill he signed my new book. He invited us to sit down for an after dinner drink and we had a great time with him and his friends. After this we all headed to the next door bar Lollipop, where you get a lollipop with your drink, and danced the night away. In all an amazing night for a foodie like me with excellent food and the privilege to meet and spend time with a genius chef, David Burke.
The last night we went to The Modern, a restaurant with a sleek, contemporary design. The food followed that theme as well, small plates, artisticly pleasing to the eye. We had a great meal (I loved my chorizo crusted cod) and highly recommend it. www.themodernnyc.com
Four pounds heavier we left a couple of days later after a fantastic food and tennis week.
I am already starting to plan where to go next year...