NYC Part 4 of 4: Shnippers & STK

First off it has been a few weeks since new york so I apologize about the tardiness of Part IV.

Secondly, thank you to those of you that are still reading, that means that you are slightly interested in what I am writing or...your name is Sol.

Our last day in the City was Sunday, it was kind of Bobby Flay day, Bar Americain, one of his restaurants. I can't say I can really give this place a fair assessment because: a)I was still engorged from the night before and my stomach wasn't too happy I had even considered the thought of putting more food it in b) I ordered breakfast (off the brunch menu); and it's kind of hard to judge a good restaurant off breakfast food c) the waiter didn't "wow" us (main reason) & the greeters seemed a little "eh", all 3 of them.

As a note going forward: if I love a place it will not only have good food but GREAT service. Needless to say I won't go into any detail about Bar Americain - yes that's how you spell it.

After a visiting Americain we went to check out Elsa's (one of Sol's best friends) loft on the Upper East Side. Then we were off to Schnipper's, home of the Sloppy Joe Throwdown (Bobby Flay show).

As we walked in it seemed like a GIANT In 'N Out. They had an interesting menu, all american favorites with a bit of a twist, hot dogs, burgers, shakes, etc. Scanning the menu was pointless since I knew what I was going to get months ago as I was sitting on my couch with my mouth watering watching the throw-down. Back at Schnipper's, the Sloppy Joe was as good as it looked on TV. In fact it was so Sloppy I had to go get another bun because there was so much left over. It had that perfect bar-b-Que/ketchup/meaty taste. Just like the cafeteria lady used to make (aka my mom). I have to admit it was much better than I had hoped for. I am glad Flay put this place on TV, otherwise I never would have enjoyed it. Definitely worth the trip & not too far from Time Square for those of you interested.

Later that night...

We found ourselves in the Meatpacking District looking for STK (pronounced Es Tee Kay) the restaurant I had originally planned for on Friday night. Since there was no sign on the outside we walked passed it twice. Eventually we found it & strolled in and went straight to the bar, sat down and looked at the drink list, very niiiice.

Their cocktails were all handcrafted. Meaning, house made bar syrup, house made sour & fresh ingredients. I Love places with this much emphasis on details in their cocktails (see my blog about the Ususal). A few of the cocktails we sampled I listed below:

"white orchid"
ketel one citroen ginger cosmo with canton, white cranberry juice, and candied ginger

"gin fizz"
oxley gin with fresh lemon & lime juice, sliced cucumber (mudled) , topped with soda water

"rediscovered cherry cosmo"
smirnoff black cherry vodka, triple sec, white cranberry juice, fresh lime, dried cherry

"tempest storm"
absolut berry acai, limoncello, muddled blackberries and fresh sour

I won't go into too much detail but to answer your question, yes they are all as good as they look. All had very different flavors and every sip was a good time. Our bartender was amazing. He was an actor (that I recognized) doing Broadway and had just gotten into Harvard, pretty impressive right? We told him we had just gotten engaged and he took care of us which was very nice. He was genuinely happy for us and wanted to hear about it. He knew when to talk to us and when to let us enjoy ourselves. His cocktail recommendations were spot on and he killed it on the food endorsements.

He urged us to try the lil' Big Macs, he said, "every time the a guest orders them at the bar, all the bartenders wish they could have a bite." Done. Send 'em right over. Before that he brought us a pan of bread with a side of chive infused olive oil. It was a green color and a little scary to look at but had great flavor when the bread was dipped in it. The bread was apparently fresh baked by a local new yorker that came in every morning, which made it taste that much better.

 Then came probably the best thing I put in my mouth all weekend, the Lil' Big Macs: Japanese Waygu, special sauce, sesame bun & a white cheese that I couldn't put my finger on.

Japaneese Waygu: basically Kobe beef

Special Sauce: not just your ketchup and mayo special sauce but your good burger special sauce

Sesame bun: Fresh Baked by the same lady who cooks the bread

The first bite was unexplainable, so good, so flavorful and so tender! As I was chewing I looked at Sol, then the bartender, I didn't have to say a word. He said, "I know..." - Sol dug in as well and if we hadn't planned on continuing on for another few cocktails we probably could have eaten ourselves in to a coma. But I will never forget the way that tickled my taste buds. For those of you that keep an eye on the Food Network, I think that was, "The best thing I ever ate..."

Nice & Sloppy_Worth the trip_Find STK...

NYC Part 3 of 4: Quality Meats & S3

As I stated before we were originally supposed to go to a steakhouse in the meat packing district called STK but had to cancel due to our flights getting canceled and losing our luggage, etc. Believe it or not there are 2 good parts to that: 1) We found a great place to go instead 2) We went our last night anyway and had great drinks and an app that was to DIE FOR. I'll get to that in part 4.

Per another recommendation from the concierge we decided on "Quality Meats" not even a block south of snow covered Central Park where I had just proposed to my girlfriend. Good news is she she said yes so honestly anything was going to taste good at that point, but let me tell you...it was outstanding, especially for a last minute reservation in New York.

We started with a comp bottle of sparkling wine as a congratulations from the restaurant (thanks QM!!!) We started with with Seared Diver Scallops that sat in a light cream sauce with candied walnuts & grapes that added a nice salty and sweet combo. We also ordered a Crab Cake with HUGE lumps of crab that came with what tasted almost like a Tabasco red pepper sauce for dipping (see picture below). Home Run on the apps.


For our main course we decided to do something different, well different for us, and get the porterhouse for two, we are both normally filet all the way. As usual the filet side was great, tender and flavorful, you can't go wrong when the beef is aged (right Josh?). Any-who, the sirloin side though full of flavor just gad too many of those un-chewable strands of gristle; halfway through is when we ditched and devoured the better half. Overall, I'd still give the steak a B+. Our side items were scrumptious as well, a Sweet Corn Creme Brule if you can imagine that. I actually considered ordering a second helping of this because it was so good, thank you ELSA. Our other side was Gnocchi and Cheese, it was sort of a play on mac n' cheese, just what I had hoped for. It had a nice crusted top from the broiler and a creamy flavor, the contrast was a delight. I have to say the side dishes almost over shadowed the meat, but I am a carnivore at heart so no matter how good the sides are, the meat will always have my heart. On to the next question, "Would you care for any dessert tonight?" We decided to fore go dessert at Quality Meats and hit Serendipity, something I'd later regret.

I know what you're thinking, "it's so trendy, why there?"...but it was where my new fiancee' wanted to go and who was I to argue? I might as well get used to being agreeable. We ordered a frozen hot chocolate and a Forbidden Broadway Sundae - chocolate Blackout cake, ice cream, hot fudge topped with whipped cream - ate way too much of that.

The one good decision I made aside from finally putting a halt to my food intake was to walk the 20 blocks home. It seemed like a good idea...to walk off some of the binging I had just par-taken in; unfortunately for me it didn't work. I have never eaten so much in my life, I thought I was on an episode of Man vs. Food - and food definitely won this battle. But let me tell you, I put up one helluva fight.

Quality Meats: Aged Beef_Amazing sides_Killer Apps!

NYC Part 2 of 4: John's Pizzaria "No Slices"

Day 2 of New York we new we wanted to get a good slice so we decided to ask the concierge where to go for some good pizza and he DELIVERED! Super good.

We strolled over towards time square/ broadway and walked through this hidden door into a huge restaurant with brick pizza ovens in the dining room. Looking around I could tell these were not tourists that were surrounding us but New Yorkers. Bonus points for the concierge to sending us somewhere authentic and not somewhere that was going to give him a kickback.

We decided on a classic margherita and added some pepperoni. I will throw in the fact that I ordered a root beer. Let's go to tangent-land for a minute. When I was a child, my dad used to take me to this little Italian place for pizza and he always ordered root beer, every week same thing, Large Root beer. So now when I am eating Italian or pizza (and not drinking wine) I get root beer. That is the only time I order root beer at restaurants...kinda weird right?

Time: The pizza arrived quickly since it's so thin it doesn't take long to cook. Now one might think this is an advantage over Chicago style (it takes them around 45 minutes to cook theirs), but I say that 45 minutes gives you time to get more excited and hungrier.

Presentation: The pizza arrived on a pizza stand with hand torn basil and had a great aroma radiating from it. There it was, looking at me, wanting to be folded and eaten, who was I to argue? I am a lover not a fighter so I succumbed to the demands of that wonderful thin crust, authentic, New York Style pizza.

Taste: 'Twas Everything I hoped and dreamed it would be. The sauce was tasty, it started at the front of your palate and the different flavors crept to the back, yes I am talking about pizza. It was easy to eat a few slices without getting stuffed and fun too. It was just good pizza, really good pizza. I saw this guy sitting across from us, a real new yorker he was, with his two kids; he probably stuffed 8 slices into his pie hole (is this why they call it that?). Every time I looked at him he was taking his first bite of a slice.

So the time trial goes to Chicago I don't mind waiting for a culinary experience, though there is something to be said about being able to walk up and get your NY pizza within minutes. Presentation I will say as a whole goes to NY, it seemed more authentic, hand tossed & just in the realm of what pizza was meant to be. Taste, oh the taste. NY has the raw pizza - Chicago has the experience - NY has the flavor but so does Chi-town - Deep Dish, Thin crust, Deep Dish, Thin Crust - How do I choose? I'll just take a poll: If you have had Chicago style from Chicago and NY style from NYC, what is your choice?

I have to throw our dessert in quickly. It was a homemade lemon sorbet served in a hollowed out frozen lemon. This thing was so hollowed out there was no white rind left in the lemon just yellow. Probably one of the coolest presentations ever.

I say: Great Atmosphere_Authentic_Great Pizza

NYC Part 1 of 4: Gottino's

Okay so my surprise dinner was canceled due to weather, we had a bit of an adventure just to get to the city, but boy was it ever worth it. Talk about a gastro-tour through New York.

The first night a friend of a friend recomennded an Italian tapas/gastropub called Gottino's, Enoteca e Sulmeria; so off we (Sol, Felipe, Alberto & I) went. The restaurant was nice and warm as opposed to the snow covered streets. It was about 6 feet wide and it had a true pub feel - but Italian if you can imagine that. It had great mood lighting, slighlty dimmed but lit well enough to see your friends, food and drink (I hate going to places where I can't see those things).

Speaking of drink, I had 2 out of their 3 specialty beers (they only had 3 and they all kicked ass). The first was a amber pale ale, from what I can remember, a bit hoppy but very flavorful. The second was a belgian white, like blue moon, but on steroids...in a good way. I eventually switched to the wine Sol was drinking which was also very good and a nice compliment to the food we were ordering.

The first course was a pecorino cheese with brandied cherries on the side to balance them out. Next was a sheeps-milk cheese with a brie consistency but softer and better for that matter. Its accompaniment was a peach chutney, soooo good. At the same time we had a slow roasted baby pork served slightly chilled....yes it was as good as it sounds. And the last two things worth mentioning were a chunky walnut pesto served on a slightly toasted slice if ciabatta & a spicy red pepper cheese on crostini. I highly recommend this place, a little pricey but hey what do you expect when you're in NEW YOWK!

Great Ambiance_Great Beverages_Great Food

I apologize for not being more specific on the names and exact descriptions, I was counting on them having a menu online and they didn't!!!

NYC, here we come

NYC here we come with open hearts and empty stomachs.

First on the list is a Steakhouse in the Meatpacking district which for now shall remain nameless since it's a surprise.

We will definitely grab a slice of pizza, suggestions are welcome on where to go for the best pie in town. Maybe we can finally put the age old question to rest: Whose pizza is better, Chicago or New York? I gotta say, having been to some of the best pizzerias in Chicago in 2009 (Uno's, Gino's East, & Giordano's), NYC's got some stiff competition. But i'm about equal opportunity, I don't discriminate. Enough about pizza.

We'll probably try to swing by one of Bobby Flay's restaurants since we watch his cheesy grin on the Food network all the time. I do hope his food tastes as good in person as it looks on the tv set.

I wouldn't mind finding a gastropub either. A gastropub concentrates on quality food with an emphasis on good beer & cocktail selections. The name is a combination of pub and gastronomy.

I didn't forget CHINA TOWN or Little Italy my bet is we'll make a stop in both countries.

Aside from those...we'll go where our belly's take us.