• 5,  asian fusion,  bowery,  celebrity chef,  great for dates,  jeans-appropriate,  michelin-starred,  restaurant reviews,  tasting menu,  wine-paired menu

    The New Momofuku Ko

    You wouldn’t know it from reading my blog, but Momofuku Ko is the restaurant I’ve been to most in NYC. I only ever reviewed my first meal there, because their no-photo policy meant that my reviews would just be words, and my dearest friends have let me know that no one cares about my writing. But I loved Ko for its creativity, its super-relaxed atmosphere where jeans were recommended and the soundtrack included everything from 70s prog rock to 80s alternative to current hip hop, and the way its counter seating allowed you to talk to your chef as he used tweezers to top your miso ice cream cone with…

  • cheap eats,  great for dates,  red hook,  restaurant reviews,  seafood

    The New Red Hook Lobster Pound

    If you live outside of NYC and know about the neighborhood of Red Hook, it’s for one of two reasons: the IKEA or “The Real World: Brooklyn”. It became one of my favorite parts of the borough to visit after my I convinced my roommate to drive us down there one summer night at sunset when I was trying to make him my boyfriend and thought cramming key lime pie on a stick in our faces would be very romantic. I figured out in the process that Red Hook is really only a 45-minute walk or a 15-minute bus ride from Downtown Brooklyn, enjoys beautiful views of Manhattan, and also…

  • good for groups,  high tea,  restaurant reviews,  upper east side

    Afternoon Tea at The Pierre Hotel

    A couple of my ladyfriends and I decided to get really into tea recently. We read all of the articles about the best high tea services in NYC, prepared ordered lists of our must-visit teahouses, purchased embroidered silk gloves and dusted the mothballs off our party dresses. And then managed to go to exactly one tea service. But afternoon tea at The Pierre Hotel overlooking Central Park was exactly what we were picturing when we set out to drink some tea and eat some tiny sandwiches. The Pierre hosts tea in its Two E Bar/Lounge every day from 3 to 5 p.m. with a couple of options so you can…

  • flatiron,  good for groups,  great for dates,  jeans-appropriate,  mexican,  restaurant reviews

    Cosme: The Time We Basically Ate the Entire Menu

    Eater called it “One of NYC’s Most Relevant New Restaurants“. The New York Times gave it three stars the very day I went. Chef Enrique Olvera has what’s considered Mexico’s best restaurant and just guest-judged an episode of “Top Chef: Boston” filmed there. This chef is hot, and you know he knows it the moment you walk in the doors of Cosme to find a bar crowded with people not there to eat but just to be. The decor is mostly black, punctuated by little pots of succulents and a direct beam of light on every table strong enough to make professional photographers and hardcore Instagrammers alike swoon. The tables…

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  • pizza,  restaurant reviews

    Forno Rosso Pizzeria and Its Half-Pizza-Half-Calzone

    I’m writing pizzeria reviews as Examiner.com’s Manhattan Pizza Examiner. I know it shows that I have the palate of a 5-year-old, but pizza’s easily my favourite food, so you can count on me for plenty of fangirling over crust and sauce in these articles. I had to order the Forno Rosso, figuring they wouldn’t name it after the restaurant itself if they kind of didn’t want anyone ordering it, and also figuring that the best situation one could ever encounter in a pizzeria is a half-pizza/half-calzone on the menu. The Forno Rosso is part classic calzone (house-made tomato sauce, imported smoked mozzarella, ricotta, imported soppressata, EVOO), part Primavera pizza (house-made…

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  • houston,  restaurant reviews,  travel eats

    High Tea at Kiran’s Restaurant – Houston, TX

    My NYC ladyfriends and I have been really into the idea of high tea at fancy hotels lately, so when my boyfriend and I found ourselves in Houston through the weekend earlier this month, I wondered if I could find some Texas-style high tea full of brassy ladies with hair as tall as the heavens. I never expected to see Indian high tea in my search results, but Kiran’s is as beloved around there as BBQ and Mexican food. High tea is served on Saturday afternoons beginning at 2, and reservations are required for the four-course, $35 menu. For an extra $3, you can add on a glass of Champagne,…

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  • cheap eats,  houston,  jeans-appropriate,  mexican,  restaurant reviews,  travel eats,  vegetarian-friendly

    Chavez Mexican Cafe – Houston, TX

    I’m in Houston, Texas, with my boyfriend at the moment and am astounded by how much Mexican food these people have access to. I know we’re lucky in NYC to have a little bit of everything, but I’m suddenly feeling very deprived with only one taco joint on my block back in Brooklyn. Here, there are family-owned Mexican places next to huge Mexican chain restaurants next to slightly different versions of the huge Mexican chain restaurants. Driving across the Katy Freeway, my mouth waters right and left at all of the neon signs. So I was here for less than 24 hours when I started searching Yelp for the best…

  • boerum hill,  burgers,  chain restaurant,  jeans-appropriate,  meat sweats,  vegetarian-friendly

    Can’t Quit You, Bareburger

    I’ve been a pretty bad food blogger lately, in part because I’ve been a pretty bad restaurant-goer lately, in part because I’ve been a pretty great home-cooker lately. (If you’re looking for recipes involving all manner of melting cheese on things you find around the house, I’m your gal.) But my friends and I were all still off our diets on Saturday night last weekend after Thanksgiving, so we headed off to find some sloppy Brooklyn Heights Mexican food. But on the way, my boyfriend decided he wanted Bareburger, because there’s really nothing sloppier. I only had my camera phone with me, so the pictures are crappy, but I think…

  • recipes . . . FOR DISASTER

    Egg Fast Low-Carb Ice Cream Recipe

    A couple of months ago, I read about the egg fast on the low-carb blog I Breathe I’m Hungry and decided to try it for myself. I had the same amazing results she did during the five days I did the fast, and since then, I’ve been using an egg-heavy diet as a great way to get the weight back off after a weekend of eating towers of tea sandwiches and scones with my ladyfriends or reviewing pizza for my column. I love the taste of eggs and think they’re basically the perfect health food, so finding the I Breathe I’m Hungry low-carb egg fast ice cream was so exciting…

  • american,  chain restaurant,  good for groups,  great for dates,  jeans-appropriate,  midtown west,  restaurant reviews,  vegetarian-friendly,  weekend brunch

    The New Brunch Menu at Ted’s Montana Grill

    If you’re like me, you probably think of Ted’s Montana Grill as a place for business deals, happy hours, and big, juicy bison steaks. The Midtown location in NYC is great for all of those things, with its hardwoods and low lighting and intimate booths, but when Creative Communications Consultants invited me in to try a complementary meal at Ted’s Montana Grill, they encouraged me to give the newly-revamped brunch menu a chance. Because Ted’s is in a more business-oriented part of town, I would’ve never thought of it for brunch, and the massive space was pretty quiet when we arrived at 1 p.m. An hour later, though, things were…

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