Beauty & Essex

146 Essex St.  New York, NY
www.beautyandessex.com

Price: $$$
Favorite dish: Tuna Poke Wonton Tacos; Molten Chocolate Bread Pudding

After having eaten at and absolutely loved Chris Santos's The Stanton Social, I had been wanting to try his other Lower East Side restaurant Beauty & Essex.  My parents and I booked an early reservation prior to seeing a show on Broadway, so we were there pretty early on in the evening before the crowd really started arriving.  After walking in, the decor was certainly unexpected.  We walked into a small pawn shop storefront, and then walk through another door leading to a large, trendy and sophisticated restaurant atmosphere.  The food on the menu is all unique and distinct, and being that the restaurant is tapas-like and meant for sharing, we ordered several things off the menu.

What we ordered:

Shrimp Cocktail with charred jalapeño cocktail sauce 

Tuna Poke Wonton Tacos with micro cilantro, radish, and wasabi kewpie 

New York Pretzel topped with shaved NY strip, mustard aioli, and crispy shallots

Watermelon and Avocado Salad with feta, gem lettuce, mint, red onion, and charred lime vinaigrette 

Crispy Eggplant Pizzetta with charred san Marzano tomato sauce, whipped ricotta, and chile oil

 Dessert:

Molten Chocolate Bread Pudding topped with hazelnut ice cream

Box of Doughnuts: vanilla beignets with chocolate hazelnut creme & raspberry jam

Unpictured: 

Roasted sweet corn with avocado, lime, and manchego; 

Broccolini with garlic, soy, and chile

   I can honestly say that there wasn't one thing that we ordered that I did not like.  The shrimp cocktail with jalapeño cocktail sauce was great; we were expecting it to be a bit spicier, but it did have a really nice kick that made it different than a typical cocktail sauce.  The Tuna Tacos were amazing--I usually am not the biggest fan of raw tuna, but something about these tacos made them incredibly addicting.  The wonton in itself had great flavor, and mixed with the tuna, radish, and wasabi made for a great marriage.  The New York Pretzel was also amazing; the pretzel tasted like a perfect NY pretzel.  However, I am not a huge fan of mustard, so I found myself scraping off the aioli so I was able to taste the meat and pretzel combination better.  I loved the watermelon and avocado salad.  It was super refreshing and the watermelon was perfectly sweet.  We also loved the crispy eggplant pizzetta.  The eggplant was unbelievable; maybe it was that it was flash fried, but the combination of the eggplant and ricotta was mouthwatering.  The two side dishes we ordered were both super tasty.  I adored the subtle spiciness of the broccolini and it had a great pungent flavor.  The sweet corn was also a very good version of one of my favorite things: roasted mexican corn.  The salty manchego and the sweetness of the corn went perfectly together.  

Both desserts we shared were actually incredible.  The chocolate bread pudding was actually perfect and incredibly irresistible.  The doughnuts were also amazing.  Half of them were filled with a nutella-like filling, and the others had raspberry jam. Both were very tasty.

It honestly was hard to pick one favorite dish from all of those we were able to try!

I highly recommend coming to Beauty & Essex for a really fun and elegant night out in the city.  The ambiance is very classy and fun, and it seems like it would be a great spot for groups of friends.  There are several things on the menu that I will definitely try next time.  

Some of the jewelry showcased in the front pawn shop restaurant entrance

XOXO,
Danielle

Jack's Wife Freda

224 Lafayette St.  New York, NY
www.jackswifefreda.com

Price: $$
Favorite dish: Matzo Ball Soup

After a long but unforgettable school year in Ann Arbor, I am finally back in the city and back to blogging! I have been compiling and even longer list of restaurants to visit this summer, and I cannot wait to try them all.  After the amazing places I visited last summer, there is only more amazing things to try.

Within the first week of being back in NYC,  I made sure to visit Jack's Wife Freda, a restaurant my dad has highly recommended to me several times.  We went together after my first day interning at Helmut Lang, and it was definitely the perfect atmosphere for a fun after-work meal.  The restaurant is small and neighborhood-y, with open sunny spaces and a simple and friendly ambiance.

What we ordered:

Matzo ball soup

Special: Sweet Potato Dip served with feta cheese and pita bread.

Jack's Burger with grilled tomato and fried onion, served with hand-cut fries

(Jack's Burger)

Peri-Peri Chicken served with a diced vegetable salad

   I really enjoyed our meal at Jack's Wife Freda and definitely feel like this would be a great place to  come to meet up with friends for a nice but not too pricey meal.
   The Matzo ball soup was perfect and, in my opinion, was certainly all that it is cracked up to be. The soup was super homey, and tasted just as fresh and amazing as any good matzo ball soup should.  The special for the evening was sweet potato dip, which was something I had never heard of before.  It resembled almost mashed potatoes, but was obviously a bit sweeter.  The texture was creamy, and tasted great paired with the feta-- my dad and I scraped the plate clean.  The burger was cooked perfectly and also tasted great. Although it was nothing super out of the ordinary, it was, however, tasty and satisfying.  My dad's Peri-Peri chicken was fabulous.  The meat was super tender and the flavor was deliciously addicting.
    The brunch menu at Jack's looks amazing, so I plan on coming back soon to try out the breakfast as well.  Jack's Wife Freda is also a hotspot for celebrity spottings, another reason to make my way back ASAP!

XOXO,
Danielle

Bianca

5 Bleecker St. #1  New York, NY
www.biancanyc.com

Price: $$ --everything is extremely well priced… but cash only!
Favorite dish: Artichoke Salad

Sara and Frankie went to dinner at Bianca one night and couldn't stop raving about how good it was afterwards. So, for a nice, fun, middle of the week dinner, I decided to drag the two of them back to Bianca so I could get a taste of what was so good.
After arriving, I noticed the vibe at Bianca was loud and trendy. The restaurant is set up to look almost like a kitchen, so we would feel right at home. Because they don't take reservations, we did have a little wait for a table, being that the restaurant is not all that big and super crowded.
After looking at the menu, I found so many things that I wanted. But what I really noticed was how reasonably priced everything was. That must have been the first time I had thought that since I got to New York. Main dishes for no more than $15? Yes please!

Here's what we got:

My favorite!! Fresh bread and olive oil. 

For a starter, Sara and I shared the Carciofini, or in other words, an artichoke salad. It was thin slices of artichokes  with fresh parmesan and a lemon dressing. I absolutely adored this dish. It was so light and refreshing. The artichokes were super delicious and I loved how it was something I'd never really seen before. I have been craving this sole dish ever since I ate there, and I am yearning to go back for it.

An unobstructed view of the salad. yuuuummmyyyy

The Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. This was probably my favorite of the pasta dishes. The meat sauce was really flavorful and was enriched with lots of tomatoes and mushrooms. You could taste how the pasta was homemade and so perfectly cooked. Deliciousness!

The Ravioli di Ricotta con Burro e Salvia. Translation:  a fresh ricotta ravioli with butter and sage. Again, this ravioli was so light and deliciously handmade. It was a bit bland, however, and could've used some salt. But from subtle flavors I tasted I really liked them.

The Gnocchi con Formaggio, or gorgonzola cheese sauce. This gnocchi was so awesome. I am not a huge fan of gorgonzola but the creaminess of the sauce overtook the gorgonzola. It was, however, very heavy, so after eating some of it I felt like I could be done. The pasta's texture was really good and it was really super tasty.

This restaurant was totally adorbs and a good time. The only small detail that you should be aware of before heading over is that it is cash only. Not the biggest deal in the world, being that you really are getting great quality food, delicious flavors, and a fun atmosphere without breaking the bank. This is definitely going to be one of my go-to spots for any future visits [or perhaps for when I live here ;)]

XOXO,
Danielle

The Smith

956 2nd Ave.  New York, NY
www.thesmithnyc.com

Price: $$$
Favorite dish: Whole Wheat Penne (no decisions there!)

This past friday night, I got to hang out with a few of my besties from Michigan: Jamie, Mel, and Dani. We ended up going to dinner in Midtown extremely late (try 10:00 pm), so we wanted to go somewhere that we could get in quickly and be served promptly, but that would still be good. Mel suggested The Smith, and I had heard good things about this restaurant before. Being that we were within walking distance, it seemed like a perfect place to go for a satisfying meal waaaay past normal meal time.
The Smith is a casual, American restaurant, with a fun, inviting, "New York" atmosphere. To get seated right away, we were put at the end of a communal table, which was actually kind of fun (great people watching!) 

Our communal table!!!

We didn't really have a lot of diversity in what we ordered. We all ordered a different variation of the same meal… classic. We got the Whole Wheat Penne, with arugula, wild mushrooms, roasted garlic, and parmesan cheese. 

                   Mel and Jamie's whole wheat penne, plus chicken. (Obvi Mel got hers without cheese)

My whole wheat penne, with grilled shrimp to add protein. The shrimp was actually so good, and added a really good touch of flavor to the pasta. I really liked the oil&garlic sauce that was over the pasta…it was super flavorful and wasn't overwhelmingly garlicky. 

Jnuss takes her noodles to go for a late night snack!

There were actually a ton of good-looking things on the menu and I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to try more than one thing from the menu--all the more reason to go back! From what I did taste though, I do think that The Smith has some really good things to offer. Besides the food, I was just happy to be hanging out and spending time with my friends! (was that cheesy?)

XOXO,

Danielle

Cafeteria

119 7th Ave.  New York, NY
www.cafeteriagroup.com

Price: $$$
Favorite Dish: Warm fallen chocolate cake (whoops)

On Friday night, I went out for a fun little dinner with Arleigh, Sara, and Frankie. We decided we'd try and aim for a place on my restaurant bucket list so that we can keep that moving. We ended up going to Cafeteria, a place I have been before, but solely for dessert. Cafeteria is a super trendy spot, and has indoor and outdoor seating. Since they don't take reservations, and the restaurant is super busy on a Friday night, we found ourselves waiting for a table for quite a while. However, it was a really pleasing and enjoyable environment for a night out with friends.

Here's what we got:

At the beginning of the meal we were given a basket of warm biscuits and butter (Sara's favorite!!!!!) They were actually really good and I enjoyed having something other than bread for a change of pace.

Arleigh and I both got the grilled peach salad, with prosciutto, arugula, aged goat cheese, and a shallot wine vinaigrette. Although I ordered my salad without prosciutto, it was still really good. The only thing was that the goat cheese tasted a little funky to me. Even though goat cheese is usually my favorite type of cheese, I ended up eating around it. The peach tasted great, and was really a good combination with the dressing and the arugula.

For my entree, I ordered the appetizer portion of the baja fish tacos. These were served with grilled Mahi Mahi, Salsa Fresca, crispy tortilla topping, and a Serano Salsa Verde. I loved the tacos. They were really tasty, and I am not usually much of a fish person. The salsa verde had a nice zing and was great on top of the taco.

Frankie got the appetizer portion of the old school meatballs. The meatballs were topped with a roasted tomato sauce and were served alongside grilled rustic bread. I was contemplating ordering these since they sounded so good, and they definitely looked that good too.

Sara got the Cafeteria burger, which came with tomatoes, red onion, and field greens, a pickle, and french fries. 

Arleigh decided to channel her inner southern side and ordered the fried chicken and waffles.  It was buttermilk fried chicken, with crispy sage, grilled lemon, and came with a chili butter sauce. 

Ready to dive in!

 Cafeteria has an extensive dessert menu, and Arleigh even said that it may have the best dessert selection at a restaurant that she's ever seen. We had trouble agreeing on a few desserts to share, but we finally were able to narrow it down.

We ordered the warm fallen chocolate cake, served with a passion fruit drizzle, and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. I was expecting the cake to be a little bit larger, but regardless of the size it was so good. The cake was warm and moist, and not overwhelmingly chocolatey. The little bit of passion fruit sauce was actually a surprisingly nice touch. Everyone likes a good chocolate cake, right?

For our other dessert, we agreed on the red velvet cake in a jar. The cake was topped with a cream cheese frosting and chocolate pearls. The cake tasted good, but wasn't super moist. It wasn't the best red velvet we had ever tasted, but it wasn't bad. I also don't tend to like cream cheese frosting very often, but this one actually was not half bad. All in all, this one wasn't our favorite dessert.

Although our meal had a few flaws, it mostly was pretty good. I would like to come back to try some of the other things on their extensively long dinner menu, and of course, their dessert menu (aka, I'm coming for the Cafeteria waffle banana split.) The crowd at Cafeteria is very hip, and the wait staff are very friendly and willing to engage in conversation. It was a fun evening, and I would definitely give Cafeteria another try in the near future.

XOXO,
Danielle

Delicatessen

54 Prince St.  New York, NY
www.delicatessennyc.com

Price: $$--The price is about reasonable for the quality of food.
Favorite dish: Margarita Mac

I need to first start off by saying that today was definitely one of the most exciting days I've had in the city this summer as of yet. Being an obsessive Food Network enthusiast, I couldn't be more excited for today's errand to the Food Network offices to simply drop off a package. I know that doesn't seem like much, but to me, it was kind of a big deal that I had a reason to step foot into the Food Network offices, where dozens of my idols spend their time.



Besides that one exhilarating part of the day, another highlight was when I met my friend Frankie for dinner tonight. I thought maybe we should try a restaurant off my restaurant bucket list, so we went to Delicatessen in Soho, which is a perfect halfway point between both of our NYU dorms. I passed by Delicatessen for the first time when I first arrived to New York for the summer. My family and I were exploring that area of Soho, and as we passed by it, I couldn't help but note the hip and trendy ambiance of the restaurant. There is outdoor seating, which is great for a perfect night, and the inside is casual and dimly lit.





Here's what we got:

Delicatessen's menu cover.

The menu features an entire section for a variety of macaroni and cheese dishes from their neighbor restaurant MacBar (also on my Restaurant Bucket List). Frankie wanted to try one of the options, so she went with the Margarita Mac. It was macaroni with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, parmigiano, and fresh basil. Frankie said it tasted like she was eating a margarita pizza in noodle form, and thought it was super cheesy and had a nice smoky flavor. It was too tempting and I just had to try a bite. It was SO good, as it won me over for best dish of the night.

Frankie trying her mac. Here goes nothing!

I couldn't decide what I wanted for dinner; there were too many things on the menu that sounded amazing, so I decided to order two appetizers as my main dish.

My first appetizer was the Delicatessen Sliders. They are usually served with bacon and swiss, but I ordered mine plain, and they were served inside house-made buns. The sliders were sooOo good. The beef was cooked perfectly medium and the buns were flakey and buttery.

I was tempted by the description of the House Made Naan Flat Bread, which is served with grilled asparagus, sweet pepper & mango chutney, and burrata cheese. The Naan bread was definitely different than what I am used to from home, as it was super thin and crispy, but I definitely liked it this way. The subtleness of the cheese was an excellent balance for the flavor punch found in the chutney. The asparagus was amazing, grilled and flavored perfectly. This was certainly an unusual, but memorable appetizer.

 Delicatessen is a really great spot for food, drinks, and people-watching (which seems to be the case for a lot of NYC restaurants). Getting a seat outside is definitely worth it on a nice night. Our waiter was super friendly and the service was quite good. I definitely want to go back to Delicatessen again so I can try some of the other items on the menu that I didn't get a chance to try!

XOXO,
Danielle

Dos Caminos

475 West Broadway (at Houston St.)  New York, NY
**there are several locations**
www.doscaminos.com

Price: $$$--The entrees get kind of pricey.
Favorite thing on the menu--Mexican Grilled Corn

Being in the city, it's nice having so many friends that live within such a short distance to me (I can see muuuch more people living here than if I was still in Michigan). For dinner on Thursday night, I met up with Erica and Mel (who came in for the night) for a Mexican fiesta, and I must say   …   it was muy delicioso.  We ate at Dos Caminos in Soho, which meant it was a super easy walk for me to get there from my dorm. As we arrived, the wait for outdoor seating was way too long (considering it was a perfect night outside), and being that we were extremely hungry, we settled for indoor. The decor was sleek and fun, and the atmosphere was modern and trendy. There were about 500 things I wanted on the menu, but obviously I had to narrow that down.

Here's what we got:

At the start of the meal, the waiter brought us warm corn tortilla chips, served with a trio of salsas and guacamole. 

Salsa Salsa! All three of Dos Caminos' signature salsas were AMAZING, but we came to an executive decision that the green-colored salsa was the best. (Is it bad that we're not sure what any of them actually were?)

OOOOOHHHHH look at that guac. Their homemade guacamole was incredible. We were able to choose the level of spiciness, and I found myself eating it with a spoon. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Everyone knows Erica loves her guac (or does she…)

Erica also really wanted to order the Queso Fundido dip for the chips as well, and oh boy was it good. You know a cheese dip is good when Mel, who hates cheese, says she really likes it. It is a mexican three cheese fondue also served with flour tortillas on the side. It was really gooey and cheesy and a perfect starter.

For my dinner, I went with the Shrimp Fajitas, served with refried pinto beans, spicy cabbage slaw, warm corn tortillas, and the main attraction: mexico city street corn (but I'll get to that in a sec.) The shrimp was perfectly cooked and tasted great with the beans. The sauce was really flavorful…definitely unlike any other fajita dish I've ever had, but in a good way!!

Clearly about to dig in to my fajita..

Right when I saw Mexico City Street Corn on the menu,  I knew I absolutely had to try it. This is my most favorite way to eat corn, and my family also loves it. The corn is smothered in a chili mayonnaise sauce, and topped with garlic, lime, and finally, a good amount of Cotija cheese. It is honestly amazing. After eating mine, I finished off eating Mel's. It's that good. 

Erica's simple Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla. You can't go wrong with that.

Smile, Erica!

Mel got the Pescado Tacos, which was grilled mahi-mahi, spicy slaw, smoked chile aioli, guacamole, stuffed inside flower tortillas. These looked, and tasted awesome (obviously I had to try it). It was really yummy and had a great combination of flavors.

Mel in her happy place :)

FRIENDS!

I couldn't have been more satisfied with my first Mexican restaurant experience of the summer (thanks Erica). Dos Caminos is a really fun place to go with friends for a night out in loud and pleasurable environment. The service was a tad slow, as we were waiting for our entrees for quite awhile, and the restaurant was extremely crowded at the time. Otherwise, I don't really have much to complain about from this meal. 

XOXO,

Danielle