This is my first restaurant post (and it covers an entire weekend of dining out)! As much as I love to cook, I love to eat (especially what I can't cook).
I spent the past weekend in New York with my husband's family. We stayed at a fun hotel and pretty much ate and drank our way through New York. I had the chance to dine at some phenomenal restaurants across many cuisines and different parts of NYC. If you're taking a trip there and want to splurge a bit, I'd highly recommend this itinerary for your culinary pleasure (not your waistline).
Friday Dinner
After landing, we met at The Post House at the Lowell Hotel on the Upper East Side. It's a fairly traditional steak house with an old school feel. The menu has something for everyone. My husband and I split tuna tartare and caprese salad (with in-season heirloom tomatoes - yum) to start. He went for the New York strip with mac and cheese while I chose the sea scallops. Everything was delicious - classic, elegant, and generous portions. I managed to take a bite of my neighbor's lamb chops, which were thick & juicy and cooked to a perfect medium.
Saturday Dinner
After a nice lunch and some shopping, we changed into our trendy clothes and headed to Marcus Samuelsoon's Red Rooster in Harlem. From what I was told and read, Red Rooster is a new hot spot in New York. It was nice to get away from hoity-toity Manhattan and walk into a place with live music and a fun crowd. I enjoyed myself a little too much here and forgot to snap a few pics (this is my first restaurant blog post, so will need to work on remembering this). We were served corn bread with honey butter and tomato jam. I only had one slice, but could have eaten an entire loaf! If you like seafood, I would highly recommend the Harlem chowder for two. It is served in a spicy tomato-based sauce with mussels, lobster, shrimp, grilled bread, and corn. The Harlem chowder is more like a bowl of deliciousness than a traditional chowder. This is a dish you will crave. For dessert, I ordered the sweet potato doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and could not have been happier with my choice. You can probably split these (they give you about 5), but I needed all 5.
Sunday Brunch
We escaped from the city on Sunday and drove 20 miles outside of Manhattan to what looked like the English countryside. I could not believe the green beauty so close to New York! We had a beautiful brunch at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. This place is truly "from farm to table" and you can taste it in every bite. The service is outstanding. The servers would sneak up from behind us and place our plates down in unison (top chef style). Brunch started with an heirloom tomato & green bean salad with crusty french bread, which I used to soak up all of the delicious juice. The second course was a lobster and corn chowder (I could not get enough chowder) and brunch was finished with peaches with sweet polenta and lemon sorbet. To top it off, they brought out mini chocolates after dessert (petits fours to be correct).
You can never go wrong with good food and family. It was a perfect weekend.
I spent the past weekend in New York with my husband's family. We stayed at a fun hotel and pretty much ate and drank our way through New York. I had the chance to dine at some phenomenal restaurants across many cuisines and different parts of NYC. If you're taking a trip there and want to splurge a bit, I'd highly recommend this itinerary for your culinary pleasure (not your waistline).
Friday Dinner
After landing, we met at The Post House at the Lowell Hotel on the Upper East Side. It's a fairly traditional steak house with an old school feel. The menu has something for everyone. My husband and I split tuna tartare and caprese salad (with in-season heirloom tomatoes - yum) to start. He went for the New York strip with mac and cheese while I chose the sea scallops. Everything was delicious - classic, elegant, and generous portions. I managed to take a bite of my neighbor's lamb chops, which were thick & juicy and cooked to a perfect medium.
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| seared scallops at the post house |
Saturday Lunch
After sleeping in, we missed breakfast and headed straight to lunch at Amaranth Restaurant. Definitely a place to see and be seen. Great people watching. It was overpriced (as everything seems to be in Manhattan), but the service was great and the food was perfect for a nice lunch. I ordered the avocado salad and my husband chose the fish of the day, a chilean sea bass (so good) with sautéed spinach & mushrooms. Fortunately for me, he hates both of those delicious vegetables, so I gladly ate his sides.
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| avocado salad at amaranth |
After a nice lunch and some shopping, we changed into our trendy clothes and headed to Marcus Samuelsoon's Red Rooster in Harlem. From what I was told and read, Red Rooster is a new hot spot in New York. It was nice to get away from hoity-toity Manhattan and walk into a place with live music and a fun crowd. I enjoyed myself a little too much here and forgot to snap a few pics (this is my first restaurant blog post, so will need to work on remembering this). We were served corn bread with honey butter and tomato jam. I only had one slice, but could have eaten an entire loaf! If you like seafood, I would highly recommend the Harlem chowder for two. It is served in a spicy tomato-based sauce with mussels, lobster, shrimp, grilled bread, and corn. The Harlem chowder is more like a bowl of deliciousness than a traditional chowder. This is a dish you will crave. For dessert, I ordered the sweet potato doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and could not have been happier with my choice. You can probably split these (they give you about 5), but I needed all 5.
Sunday Brunch
We escaped from the city on Sunday and drove 20 miles outside of Manhattan to what looked like the English countryside. I could not believe the green beauty so close to New York! We had a beautiful brunch at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. This place is truly "from farm to table" and you can taste it in every bite. The service is outstanding. The servers would sneak up from behind us and place our plates down in unison (top chef style). Brunch started with an heirloom tomato & green bean salad with crusty french bread, which I used to soak up all of the delicious juice. The second course was a lobster and corn chowder (I could not get enough chowder) and brunch was finished with peaches with sweet polenta and lemon sorbet. To top it off, they brought out mini chocolates after dessert (petits fours to be correct).
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| tomato salad at blue hill at stone barns |
