Minetta Tavern (Black Label Burger)

We had been holding off on hitting up Minetta Tavern since it's such a far trek from our apartment...a four minute walk, just too strenuous. We decided to make the journey last night and our expectations were sky high after all the things we've heard and the responses to our RestoHoppers tweet...."This calls 4 a day of fasting so u can eat ALL u WANT...Congrats & have fun 4 the rest of us!"

We started off the night by indulging in their cocktail menu by getting the Blood & Sand and the Rhubarb Sophie...both delicious and strong.

Now...on to the food. We debated about the appetizer - Eric wanted to try the beef tartar but we ultimately went with the hamachi, which came with scallions and a citrus dressing. It was good but nothing to write home about. We were aiming for something lighter to prepare us both for our Black Label burgers....

We were very excited to have these plopped in front of us, both ordered medium because Minetta says that they "undercook." The burgers aren't huge, which we weren't complaining about, because the meat is supposed to be top notch. It's a dry-aged 70/30 rib eye, blended with skirt, brisket, and short rib. The burger is topped with melt-in-your-mouth caramelized onions (and a ton of clarified butter and salt) and sitting in between a brioche bun, which is just the right thickness so as to support the burger but not detract from it.

Our followers know that we usually like all of our meals, so it may come as a surprise to find out that we weren't obsessed with Minetta's Black Label burger. Yeah, it's a good burger, but did we appreciate the $26 worth of beef? Not really. Maybe it's the hype, maybe it's that we can't taste the difference between good beef & great beef, or maybe it's the hefty price tag for a burger. Whatever it was, we weren't blown away with "the best burger in the city." We're still partial to the bacon cheeseburger at Corner Bistro...maybe a little less high class, but it's equally as flavorful & half the price.

Good times at Minetta Tavern, but we won't be rushing back here any time soon. Check it out for yourself and let us know if we're blogging crazy talk.

Scarpetta

Last night for our 5-year dating anniversary, we celebrated with a meal at Scarpetta. Despite trying to get a reservation right when this night became available, the earliest they could seat us was 9:30. Lesson: this place has some serious buzz about it & you better be on top of getting a Saturday night reservation. Sitting on the edge of the Meatpacking District, Scarpetta feels much classier & cozier than the B&T restaurants just a block west.

We had heard so much about Scarpetta prior to dining here that we didn't even need a menu. They bring you a fully-loaded bread basket (pick up the pinwheel & thank me later) paired with olive oil, mascarpone butter, and a tomato-eggplant tapenade. When you're eating at 9:30, you respect a good bread basket.

We started off with the famed creamy polenta appetizer, which was finished table-side and already split in half for us (why don't more restaurants do this for you?!?).  We were given a bowl of creamy polenta & the waiter spooned truffled mushrooms on top. It's at this point that you know you're in for a treat... the sweet smell of truffles hits your senses. Each & every bite of this dish should be savored. It's creamy beyond your wildest dreams and loaded with truffled mushroom flavor.

We each got the spaghetti entree - an odd move for us since we usually like to sample the menu, but every review we read said this was the best dish, so we each wanted it for our own. It was a good move. It's as simple as spaghetti can be... coated in marinara sauce & mixed with shredded basil. You don't think you're in for a treat when you first twirl your fork around the plate of pasta, but you're wrong. There's something about that sauce that just causes a taste bud party to erupt in your mouth. The sauce is a bit sweet and I think that's what it is. The pasta is perfectly cooked and a bit thicker than normal spaghetti.  By the time the meal was over, both our plates were completely empty. The reviews weren't lying.. this dish is phenomenal.

For dessert, we got the chocolate cake and it was sublime. The perfect capper to a delicious meal,  served with a salted caramel gelato, this dish does a great job of combining sweet & salty.

The biggest takeaway from Scarpetta is that everything brought out seems simple & slightly underwhelming: polenta, spaghetti, & chocolate cake...nothing too crazy right there from a culinary perspective.  However, when each dish is cooked to perfection, you realize its full potential. Scarpetta was an absolute treat and we're lucky to have celebrated such a wondrous occasion with an equally wondrous meal.

Engagement Celebration!

The Resto Hoppers are engaged! Would you expect anything less than an epic weekend of eating out to celebrate? I didn’t think so….

I’m tipping my hat to Eric for planning every single detail and making sure that every meal was memorable and amazing.

The Night:

Blue Ribbon Bakery – If you are ever looking to celebrate a special occasion, go to the private wine cellar room at Blue Ribbon Bakery! It's an intimate room across from their bread-making area and the service was fabulous. We started with some drinks and the cheese platter, some beef marrow with red wine sauce, garlic shrimp and chorizo. Everything was great, but I was too distracted and excited to recall the details.

For entrees, I split the salmon with asparagus, potatoes and mustard sauce and the tuna...both were good but you need to go with meat here. Most others went with the fried chicken or the filet mignon and we got some sides of the brussel sprouts & parmesan and roasted garlic, both were great.

For dessert, we had to go with the bread pudding, which we discovered at Brooklyn Bowl and which is AH-MAZING. As the waiter said, they may lace it with crack...it's that addicting.

The Day After:

Jane - We went around the corner for brunch at Jane, a regular in our rotation but one that can always be counted on to deliver. I'm a huge fan of places that steam their milk for coffee...a classy move. I went with the mushroom omelet and Eric went with the hash....both were heaping portions and were a great chaser to an amazing evening.

WD~50 - When we needed a really special meal to celebrate just the two of us, we knew it was going to be wd~50, a spot that has long been on our "special occasion" list.

We walk in and who do we see in the kitchen but Wylie Dufresne himself? We knew it would be fantastic from that point on....

We started off with the "Eggs Benedict," the Peekytoe crab roll with salt ‘n vinegar chips & celery mayonnaise and the Shrimp spaghetti with tomato, basil & garlic. The "eggs benedict" consisted of breaded cubes of hollendaise sauce, jello-like molds of egg yolk and bacon chips. Let us just say it was out of this world...as you can see from this shot of Eric's face after taking a bite.

It's Wylie's way of playing with ideas that make his dishes so special. The Eggs Benedict was fun to eat and each bite was just bursting with flavor.

The shrimp spaghetti was another culinary feat - the spaghetti strands were made of shrimp and tossed with shrimp in a tomato sauce, so you were getting lots of shrimp flavor in every bite. I was worred that the texture might be off, since shrimp can be stringy, but it was perfect.

The crab roll was excellent as well, although not as memorable as the first two.

As entrees, we went with the Mediterranean bass with artichokes, forbidden rice & white chocolate-green olive and the Lamb skirt steak with pistachio ‘polenta,’ endive marmalade & spiced apricot.

The bass was beautiful and cooked perfectly and the "forbidden rice" was in the form of crispy brown rice balls that really balanced out the lightness of the fish.

As for dessert....we passed. However, we did receive a parting gift complements of the restaurant: balls of marshmallow ice cream dipped in rice krispies and frozen for a perfect ending bite.

We were so impressed that we asked our waiter to get us into the kitchen to thank WD himself, and we were brought back a few minutes later. We got a quick tour of the kitchen and shook hands with the chef who blew our minds with a meal we won't forget. And he even congratulated us! Never washing our hands again....

Peels - To cap off the weekend, we joined forces with the parentals for brunch at Peels. Owned by the Freemans folks, this spot is ALWAYS crowded with hipsters on the weekends, so make reservations or be prepared to wait!

We started off with some bloody mary's and the pastry basket, which contained some nice goodies for the table - banana bread, pistachio bread, a chocolate chip loaf and lots more! I went with the Flower Power sandwhich: Hummus, spiced cabbage slaw, feta cheese & black olives.

Eric got the build-a-biscuit with avocado, cheddar and bacon...can't go wrong. The brunch menu is really large and has options for any set of taste buds - we'll definitely be back soon!

Holy last weekend! Bianca, The Palm, Home, and Colicchio & Sons!

Thursday night

After a long day at the office, we headed out for a meal at Bianca...a spot we had last hit up about 3-4 years ago and needed our fix again. Bianca is owned by the same person who owns Celeste (a Farkas family favorite) and Teodora - both of which serve authentic, delicious and affordable Italian food. The constant wait is partially a result of Bianca's cramped quarters but also indicative of the fact that the food there is awesome & everyone wants a piece.

When you're told that there's a wait, you can go to the bar next door and they'll come find you when your table is ready. Or you can just hang out on Bleecker Street. Either way, you're a winner when you get seated. Bianca feels very New York. You are practically seated on top of your dining neighbors and the pace of the wait staff can best be described as hustle & bustle. They start you off with some bread & fantastic olive oil. Rumor has it that the owners bring in their ingredients fresh from Italy.

They have a limited selection of vino by the glass but what they do have is good (and affordable). A pot of mussels to start was a great way to kick things off. In typical fashion, Eric was slurping down the leftover mussel broth at the bottom of the bowl. Jess is a HUGE fan of their balsamic chicken and she ordered that. It didn't disappoint. The balsamic sauce is thick and sweet with just enough acidity, and alongside a bed of mixed greens, this dish is filling and fantastic. Eric went with their lasagna bolognese. It was as good as the reviews made it out to be.

By the end of our entrees, we were stuffed & pleased to see a $50 bill... Two glasses of wine, a bowl of mussels, and two entrees. This place is a steal and we'll be back prior to 3-4 years down the road. In typical NYC fashion, by the time we were out of the restaurant, another couple was promptly seated at our table. The hustle & bustle never stops....

Friday night

April 8th... Eric's mom's birthday! We celebrated with a meal at The Palm West. We had previously eaten there for Eric's parents anniversary in December and his father liked it so much that he wanted us to go back. Sure thing! You can check out our initial review of The Palm here.

The only thing we would add is that the waiter we had was a bit sour and the steak was overcooked by one notch: medium rare was medium, medium was medium-medium well. While the steak was still delicious and we finished every last bite, we made a note of this to the manager and they brought out a tray of desserts for us on the house. A very nice gesture.

Saturday brunch

For brunch we headed over to Home, a cute spot in Greenwich Village. Our friends who live nearby steered us here and we were looking forward to some home cooking in a beautiful outdoor garden.

We were both slightly underwhelmed. The duck confit & butternut squash hash with sunny side up eggs was good, but it sounded better than it tasted. Jess' chopped salad was OK but nothing to rave about. I don't think we'll be back for brunch in the near future. Oh well.

Saturday night

That night, we met our friends at the Tap Room at Colicchio & Sons. This was preceded by Tom Colicchio (@tom_colicchio) tweeting us (@restohoppers) his recommendations on what to order. Unfortunately for us his 3 recos (pork belly, cod, & duck) were not on the Tap Room menu. The Tap Room is the dining area by the bar, and has a different menu than the dining room.

For starters, we got adventurous & shared the bone marrow, which was raved about by all the reviewers. It was spread on some toast with an onion relish. We all liked it but didn't love it. We tasted more of the onion relish than the marrow. We also shared the taleggio & sopressata pizza and the cavatelli...a great way to start the meal off.

For our main course, Eric got the burger and Jess went with the tilefish. The burger with onions & pecorino cheese was really juicy and flavorful and a hit at the table. Jess was so enthralled with Eric's burger that she came back for a 2nd bite! Eric was dubious at first, but the bbq potato chips served on the side were a great compliment.

We topped things off with a duo of desserts. The ice cream parfait outshined the cookie jar by a mile.

All in all, the food, the company, & the atmosphere were top notch! If you want to get a little bit of Tom Colicchio goodness without breaking the bank at Craft or the main dining room, then Tap Room is a great place for you.

So, there you have it... a helluva weekend for the resto hoppers!

Joseph Leonard

We went out to Joseph Leonard – a restaurant that has long been on our list, and should be on yours too - this past Friday night. Resting on the corner of Waverly & Grove in a converted one-bedroom apartment, Joseph Leonard has a great vibe. You walk in and are immediately greeted by an L-shaped bar and classic rock (Clapton, Talking Heads, etc) blasting from the speaker system.

With a bar on the ground floor and the kitchen "upstairs" (just a few of them), JL has very limited seating and one is expected to have to wait for a table on the weekend. We were shocked when we were brought right to a table on the upper level. SCORE!

It looked like everyone sitting at the bar was socializing and having a great time - it's definitely that kind of place. There are also seats right in front of the kitchen, which seemed fun since the chef was chatting with customers and it's always a plus to be able to see your food being cooked!

Instead of bread on the table, they have out a jar of mini pickles – double score! We started off with a couple of their cocktails & a handful of their daily selection of oysters. On this night they had some from two northeast states that we can't remember. No matter where they were from, they were damn tasty and went down very easy with our drinks...a great way to kick things off.

On to the main course & a couple more cocktails (they make a mean old fashioned)... Jess ordered the cod, which was crispy on the outside and served with confit red peppers, yukon potatoes and a salsa verde. All the flavors went well together and made for a filling and satisfying dish.

While Jess was the one tipped off to the treasure that is JL, Jess was Eric's tipster on what to order. The consensus of JL eaters is that the braised pork hock is the thing to get. Since Eric is a sucker for signature dishes, he signed up for some hock, despite not having a clue what he was getting himself into. The waitress explained that it’s brined and then braised overnight….and then deep fried. So, he knew that this couldn't end too poorly. Served alongside an arugula salad, this pork hock was down right filthy (in a good way). With a crispy exterior and meat on the interior that was falling off the bone, it was the right choice. Each bite was scrumptious & loaded with pork-y goodness. We quickly understood why NY Magazine put this on their "Best Of Pork" list.

We also got a side of the brussels sprouts that need to be mentioned because of the unique way they were prepared... shredded, roasted, & then topped with some sriracha (hot sauce). Delicious!

There was not enough room for dessert so we continued to sip our drinks as the meal came to a close. We loved our dinner at Joseph Leonard and will definitely be back when we want a tasty meal out with some cocktails.

Frankies Spuntino (17)

SPUNTINO (spoon'tîno), noun: An informal meal or a snack; also, a casual Italian eatery.

If you're looking for a fresh, delicious Italian meal, you're not at a loss for options in NYC. What makes Frankies Spuntino better than the rest? The friendly faces and comfy feel…oh yeah, and the meatballs.

Frankies had long been on “the list” but due to the no reservations policy, it’s only appropriate for certain evenings. When Eric and I planned to grab a bite on Friday evening with no real plans after, this was a perfect destination. We walked in and were told it would be a half hour wait…we were expecting longer. The people who walked in five minutes later were told an hour and 15 minutes, so I guess we arrived during the sweet spot. We stood around the bar area with some wine, beer, bread and olive oil, conversing with the bartender about his favorite dishes, so the wait seemed to whiz by.

Upon sitting, we ordered the Cremini Mushroom & Truffle Oil crostini, which was good, but not nearly as delicious as our recent crostini binge at Corsino. We also ordered the Meatballs with Pine Nuts & Raisins, which were the star of the meal. They didn’t come with quite as much marinara as we needed to cover each bite, but regardless, they were a dish we would order again and again.

Eric got the house-made Cavetelli with Faiccos Hot Sausage & Browned Sage Butter, which he promptly devoured. Cavetelli is an interesting pasta because most people have no idea what it is. The best way to describe it would be to show you a picture. See below. The portion was large but not over-the-top, the pasta was perfectly cooked, the sausage added a ton of flavor & a nice kick, while the browned sage butter lightly coated it all and added a ton of flavor. All in all, a fantastic ordering decision.

I got the Roasted Vegetable Salad, which was a mix-up of beets, sunchokes, mushrooms and other yummy roasted vegetables. No lettuce in this salad…it was light and packed with flavor. On an evening when I didn't want to eat too heavy, this was the perfect choice.

Frankies is definitely a unique and cozy New York spot. We're looking forward to dining at Frankies (457) Sputino in Brooklyn...the original. Check it out!

Pearls, Pearls, Pearls…..Oyster Bar

Last Saturday night, we strolled over to Pearl Oyster Bar, a seafood lover's gem amidst the chaos of Greenwich Village. It is known by many to have a top-of-the-line lobster roll & strangely enough, Eric had never had a lobster roll before (yikes!), so this was going to be a special evening for him. Even stranger, we walked in and pretty much sat right down in the bar area. You can usually count on at least an hour wait, so this was music to our appetites! (Sitting in the bar area does mean that they’ll rush your meal along a little quicker, though. If you want to nosh at a slower pace, you should probably sit in the dining room so you don’t get evil stares from the people waiting at the bar for a table while you milk that last sip of wine.)

We started out with a small bucket of steamers and the fried oysters – two solid appetizers. The steamers are a fun “get involved” appetizer and let’s face it, anything you dip in butter is going to be good. The fried oysters come on top of a delicious tartar sauce and again, anything fried is going to be good. I’ll give Pearl a thumbs up for not screwing either of these up, but I wouldn’t say either were OUT of THIS WORLD fantastic.

The star of the evening was by far the lobster roll, which is what you should get at Pearl, hands down. Eric’s world was rocked. What comes in an unassuming bun is a big ole heap of lobster meat mixed with a light coating of mayo and herbs. No celery in this roll…straight up lobsta. And overflowing on the other side of the plate are shoestring fries, a crispy and salty complement.

Jess went with the pan roasted cod, as she had already hit up the lobster roll another time and wasn’t in the mood. The cod was fresh and had a browned exterior that made for a nice texture contrast to the flaky fish. The dish came with sautéed snap peas and almonds and was good, but not fantabulous like the LR.

Pearl Oyster Bar is a place where you can always have a good time & a great meal and is a must for NYC seafood lovers…