Be careful tipping - Blue Ribbon Bakery tricked me...

This post is a little bit out of frustration and annoyance to a recent trend that I am seeing at restaurants.   These days many restaurants are putting suggested tip amounts on the receipts - 20%, 25% and 30% amounts.

I typically tip 20-25% on my bill.

When splitting the bill with friends, each person usually puts that tip on their individual receipt...thus the collective tips add up to the 20-25%.

Last night I dined at Blue Ribbon Bakery with two girlfriends and we split the bill 3 ways.  When we got our receipts there was a suggested tip amount.  In my stupor (perhaps that glass of wine hit me too hard)...I ended up just putting that amount as my tip - meaning I tipped 20% of the entire bill on my third.  Essentially amounting to a 55-60% tip!

I didn't realize this until I got home - and I thought about calling the restaurant.  But, I figured I would let it go this time...it amounted to an extra $12, which I can stomach for my own mistake.

But really, shame on them - this must happen often to unsuspecting diners and international tourists who are already unfamiliar with the tipping culture here....

Just be careful and ignore any "suggested amounts."  We should be smart enough to do the math on our own.

...Perhaps it's their way of punishing us diners when we ask to split the bill on separate credit cards.  Sigh.

Birch Coffee Cold Brew - Great way to start the morning

Since last summer I have been religiously buying weekly growlers of Cold Brew from Birch Coffee. Since I live just around the corner from Birch I opt for pick up rather than delivery - which you can certainly do - and would be a great asset to any office!

The cold brew is deliciously strong, nutty and think (not watery like most iced coffees).  The first time it's $18, and then $15 each time after.  Just bring your empty growler back and swap out for a new one and you are set for the week!

Half and half and a splenda is good for me, but it tastes great just black for those of you hardcore coffee drinkers!  I find that it's way more worth it than going to Starbucks all the time.  I'll be starting my mornings off with this daily luxury all summer long :)

Birch Coffee
Flatiron
21 East 27th between 5th and Madison

My Weekend Brunch

So after my favorite bartender at Maialino jumped ship I've decided to start making brunch at home more often.  My go to is soft scrambled eggs, bacon and challah toast.  Sometimes simple is better.  For two, I usually whisk 5 eggs plus a dash of half and half and cook on low heat - stirring often.  It usually takes about 10 minutes to cook, but out come delicious fluffy scrambled eggs.

Add a couple strips of bacon - cooked on medium heat on my DeBuyer iron fry pan (bacon comes out totally crisp - and the more you use the pan, the better it tastes!)
plus toasted challah from the greenmarket and voila!

I've also started grounding coffee beans and doing french press in the morning as well. Nothing is better than fresh ground coffee...!  I use the Chambord french press - after years of using a plastic french press, I realized of course glass is better - retains the heat and cleans more easily!

Easy breakfast in less than 30 minutes!!

Make your own fresh O.J. and Grapefruit juice!

So I got really scared about the "flu epidemic" that seemed to be going around NYC this winter and decided it was time to amp up my vitamin C intake.  Given I don't really believe in flu shots (I know, I know...many people will have me crucified for this), I decided I was going to show everyone that I could protect myself naturally against the flu this year by just sleeping better, exercising and some fresh O.J.!

Knock on wood...so far it's worked.  Anyhow - to help me out I ordered the Tribest CS-1000 Citrus Juicer on Amazon.  After perusing the dozens and dozens of different juicers, this one seemed to be the right fit.  Not very expensive ($43 bucks), electric and simple and easy to use and clean.  The simple and easy to clean was major.

All you do is slice your fruit in half (larger fruits like grapefruits and larger oranges seem to work best) and place on top of the juicer.  Press down and it spins around squeezing all the juice out.  Voila!  So easy!  Not much pulp, all juice.  To clean, there are really only three components that need to be rinsed.  Really as easy as you can ask for..

A warning though - this isn't a cheap endeavor - you have to buy fresh fruit (a lot of it, and often).  For reference it takes about 2 large grapefruits to make one full glass of juice.  For oranges, try 4.  That's a lot, I know...

BUT, it's worth it.  Just order from FreshDirect and it comes to your doorstep - no heavy lifting or anything!

I highly recommend it - although after drinking fresh squeezed, you will become one of those overly annoying people who needs clarification at restaurants on whether the juice is fresh squeezed or not.  Oh well - sometimes we become the people we roll our eyes at...

hehe.

il laboratorio del gelato on FreshDirect!

Yay!  So I've been meaning to write about this, but a while back FreshDirect (my savior for groceries!) started carrying il Labortorio del gelato!  Super exciting - no more having to go all the way down to the LES and enduring those lines...

Now it comes every Sunday morning with my groceries - all packed up and delivered to my door.  It's like Christmas every Sunday.

They don't carry a ton of flavors, but I expect that will change over time and seasonally.  One of my favorites is the Thai Chili Chocolate.  Delish.

It's not cheap, $9.99 for 20oz container, or 2 for $18 right now.

One note - which is odd to me, on their website you can order a giftpack of 4 20 oz containers for $60 + $10 shipping = $70.  On FreshDirect, you can get 2 for $18, or 4 for $36 - with free delivery with the delivery pass.  AND you can only buy 1 if you want.  Sure they don't have all the flavors, but that sounds like a good deal to me!

Didn't see that statement credit from American Express/Foursquare last month?

 = FRAUD?

Have you all been getting your statement credits for your 4square and American Express sync?  I thought I synced my foursquare over a year ago but have yet to receive a single statement credit for checking into a restaurant or business with a special Amex deal!

Low and behold - even though the site kept telling me my card was already synced, American Express has claimed it never was, continuously pointing me back again to the site to enter my information.  After doing this at least 10 times, I still get the message - Sorry your card has already been synced.

Is this fraud?  Maybe? Maybe not?  But don't expect to necessarily get that lofty statement credit for buying those lovely cupcakes at ButterLane next time.  I guess a $10 credit for a $10 purchase is too good to be true...

But then again, shouldn't American Express stand by it's word???

Btw - Twitter and Facebook syncs have been working just fine...

Brachetto - Where have you been all my life...

Barbie, my favorite bartender at Maialino (which I guess I need to do a review for given I go there EVERY Saturday for brunch and Sunday for dinner!)....anyhow I digress.  She introduced me to the Italian dessert wine - Brachetto.

Wow - so delicious!  It usually has pretty low alcohol content (maybe 5%?) and is deliciously sweet and sparkling.  I highly recommend it - every girlfriend I've introduced it to swears by it.  I'm on at least a bottle a week, and Barbie jokes that I am responsible for the restaurants ongoing shortage ;)

It can be found in most Italian wine stores - I am lucky enough to walk across the street to Eataly's wine shop where they typically carry 1-3 different brands.

Pineto Brachetto - $19-$22

Flatiron Wine Shop Now Open!

Yay!  Finally a good wine shop has opened in my neighborhood. Located on Broadway between 21st and 22nd, Flatiron Wine & Spirits carries over 1500 different hand selected artisanal wines - they specialize in small wineries.

They often have free wine tastings on the weekends and during happy hour :) and source a wide selection of wines - all price points and regions!

I just picked up a wonderful $12 bottle of riesling for dinner...

Interesting and unique wine openers...

So I went to Eataly last week just to browse their little knick knacks after my old trusty wine opener got stuck in a cork last week.  Looking for something fun and interesting, I came across the most amazing looking wine opener ever!

Alessi Anna G. Corkscrew - $63.00

Unfortunately it was priced at a hefty $63 bucks!  Who can spend $63 bucks on a wine opener?  I was definitely tempted, but decided to have some restraint and go home and search for other interesting wine openers.

And low and behold - I found this one!

Boston Warehouse Bluebird Corkscrew - $14.95 (sometimes cheaper on Amazon)

I ordered it and with the wonders of Amazon Prime it showed up on my doorstep 2 days later!  And it's just perfect.

Belated shoutout to Portland Restaurants

I should have done this a long time ago, but I took an amazing trip to Portland, Oregon this past August where I had some of the best meals I can remember.  Super fresh, organic, farm to table without being kitschy - the food in Portland was seriously THE BEST.

Le Pigeon

Clyde Common

Tasty n Sons

1. Le Pigeon - Best French meal I have ever had.  Seriously.  Foie Gras profiteroles?  Need I say more?
2. Tasty n Sons - This place had an hour long wait for "brunch" at 11am on a Wednesday afternoon.  Need I say more?  And it was worth the wait.  A tapas style brunch menu - super reasonably priced.  Finally one can do savory and sweet!
3. Bijou Cafe - Amazing french style omelets. Fluffy, perfectly soft.  Better than the ones I had in Paris.  Seriously.
4. Clyde Common - While located in the urber hipster Ace Hotel, the service and food were welcoming and warm.  Had a delicious light crab and lemon pasta.
5. Brunch Box - One of the food trucks - breakfast sandwiches served on buttered texas toast.  Need I say more? Trial by Fire is my boyfriends favorite sandwich of all time. 
6. Random Order - Delicious Pies, especially the Vanilla Salted Caramel Apple...

Random Order

Random Order

Other obvious notables - Stumptown coffee (love the bottled cold brew), Vodooo Doughnut (maple bacon bar)

Voodoo Doughnuts

Stumptown

Also want to note - The Allison Inn & Spa in the Willamette Valley was amazing.  Go there.

The Allison

Pool!

Blacklisted restaurants for 2012

One of my New Years Resolutions is to stop eating at bad restaurants.  I know everyone thinks New York City has some of the best restaurants in the country, if not the world, and to a certain extent I agree.  However, I have been burned one too many times and now I need a place to keep track of restaurants that just need to go on my blacklist.

Right now I only have a couple - but I will keep updating this post as the year goes on....

New York has pretty much two tiers of restaurants in terms of pricing.  

1. entree prices $15-25
2. entree prices $25-35

Now I want to specifically address tier 2.  Most NYC restaurants fall into this tiers (the ones that go on everyone's "best of" lists - the ones that get the press and coverage.  Fancy, not fancy - most restaurants I seem to go to fall in tier 2.  That being said - there is a HUGE variance in quality.  Warning, if you can get a same week reservation at a restaurant in tier 2, it is likely going to be a major rip off.

Why pay $27 for 3 scallops at Gravy, when you can pay that for a fantastic piece of fish at ABC Kitchen?  Well, trust me I know, it's hard to get a resy at ABC - but it's worth it.  Otherwise you may be stuck paying $24 for lasagna at The House. 

Lesson learned - Make reservations.  Just do it.

Blacklisted....

1. Commerce - Overpriced with terribly over entitled service. West Village DBag central.
2. Tamarind - High tier 2 priced Indian food.  When taking my order, the first thing my waiter did was suggest I order the chili crab appetizer - the most expensive appetizer on the menu.  Biggest turnoff a waiter can do.
3. Gravy - Overpriced southern food.  See above - $27 for a 3 scallop entree.  No thanks.
4. The House - again see above.  Anyone who has a $14 Devil egg appetizer has to be ripping your face off.
5. Pipa - This always ends up being a default for me since it's close to my apartment.  And every time I regret it.  Maybe tapas just isn't for me, but I have never been impressed with the food and the portions make the bill escalate very quickly.  Brunch in particular is disappointing.
6. De Santos - I have nothing to say about the food, because I didn't even make it to ordering.  Went there and was seated next to the door (cold!!), it was super loud and took 20 minutes before anyone came to even talk to us.  Walked out.  Doesn't matter what the food is like - ambiance and service were terrible.
7. August - All I can say is ehhh.... just hasn't lived up to the hype for me.  Cramped space, poor service, and tiny portions.
8. Burger & Barrel - Terrible bartenders (extremely rude and dismissive), subpar burgers and dry fried chicken.  Prices aren't terrible, but nothing is worth the bad attitude and service.

Jumbo Size Ice Cube Trays- Perfect for the Bartender in you!

So I just discovered these jumbo sized ice cube trays - which are apparently perfect for whiskey drinking.  I however, like them for just about anything during the summer!  Very Mad Men like!

Next time you want to impress your guests, turn up the notch on your cocktails by adding one of these jumbo ice cubes - reminds me of the old Milk & Honey days....

Tovolo King Cube Extra Large Silicone Ice Cube Trays
Sold from Amazon for $6.50

Last Week for Madison Square Eats!

Madison Square Eats is a monthlong outdoor food haven located at Worth Square with the diverse tastes of some of the city’s most raved about eateries. Open from 11am to 9pm each day!  It's so good, I've been going everyday for dinner!

Closes on June 3rd, so hurry there this week!!

Mad. Sq. Eats 2011 Participants:
Asia Dog, Bar Suzette, Breezy Hill Orchard, Calexico, Carnelian Knoll, Chameleon, Cookie Panache, Eataly, Engage Green, Goat Town, Hong Kong Street Cart, ilili, Karma Living, kudu-lah, Marquet, Momofuku Milk Bar, Nunu Chocolates, P&H Soda Co., Peter Charles, Piccolo Café, Resto, Roberta’s Pizza, Sigmund Pretzelshop, Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, Selen Design, Spices and Tease, The Filling Station, Yumi Chen Designs

http://www.madisonsquarepark.org/things-to-do/calendar/mad-sq-eats

Egg-Perfect Egg Timer from Crate & Barrel

So I have always had a really hard time boiling the perfect egg.  It either comes out too runny (scary!) or too hard (dry!).  I never really know when to take it off the stove and how long to keep it cooking.

Solution - The Egg-Perfect Egg Timer from Crate & Barrel!  (btw, I think you can buy it from Amazon or many other retailers as well...

Anyhow, you just drop the timer in the water with your eggs and as soon as they start to boil, turn off the heat and cover.  Just watch the timer and move eggs to a bowl with cold water as soon as they hit your desired level of "doneness."  Soft, medium or hard.

I did it tonight and it worked amazingly well!  The perfect egg indeed.

KeepRecipes For Recovery - Donate $10 for Japan Relief and get a free cookbook!

This is a great opportunity to help out the recovery efforts in Japan after the devastating earthquake.  KeepRecipes.com has partnered with several notable chefs including Anita Lo, Masaharu Morimoto, and Marc Spitzer to produce a cookbook of 21 premium recipes.  All you have to do is donate $10 to the Red Cross and you will receive your specialized cookbook!
What a win win for everyone!

KeepRecipes.com

KeepRecipes is one spot for all your recipes. You can check in recipes you just cooked, or that you want cook. You can add family recipes that have been around for generations. You can buy recipes and instructional videos from world famous chefs.

Fake em Bake em Fresh Direct Chocolate Chip Cookies from Fresh Direct

So I recently discovered the best way to fake Martha Stewarte - Fresh Direct's secret weapon!  Ready to back chocolate chip cookie dough!  Comes in puck sized pieces - 24 for $8.99.  Defrost as many cookies as you want to back for about 45 minutes and then back for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.  Voila!  Best Chocolate Chip Cookies ever!  Shhhh....We'll just keep it between us!

Fresh Direct Chocolate Chip Cookie Ready to Bake

TED Conference November 11, 2010 - Speakers include Thomas Keller

Here is an interesting event that is being held at the New York Times Building on November 11, 2010. 

The upcoming conference, themed “Interconnectivity,” will bring together speakers from diverse industries who will discuss the connections within and between different disciplines.
Speakers include FourSquare founder, Dennis Crowley, and celebrity chef Thomas Keller, artist and TED2010 speaker Raghava KK, connector Sunny Bates, architect Shohei Shigematsu, designer Nancy Duarte, entrepreneur Jason Johnson, Columbia Law Professor Tim Wu, singer/songwriter Dayna Kurtz, photographer Rick Guidotti, singer/songwriter Morley, and Gavin Starks, founder of carbon data site AMEE.
 
TEDxEast was founded by a committee in 2009 that includes Marisa Farina, Julianne Wurm and Connie Frances Avila. TEDxEast is a bi-annual event that brings together innovators and inspirational speakers to the New York metropolitan area and promotes TED’s mission of “ideas worth spreading.” True to the format of the TED experience, TEDxEast presenters will give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less. In addition to BBC.com’s premier support of TEDxEast, BUILT, the New York design company that makes neoprene bags, totes and cases for people on the go, is also sponsoring the event.

To register for the conference, please visit www.tedxeast.com/register. The speeches will also be simulcast live on http://www.tedxeast.com/ and http://www.livestream.com/.

The Hunger Series Volume 2 - Argentinian BBQ

The Hunger Series is a pop-up themed restaurant concept developed by Top Chef alum Camille Becerra and hospitality gurus Alan Philips and Josh Shames of SKY Group.

The core focus of The Hunger concept is to create memorable culinary and social moments that exist briefly and then disappear. 

The evenings will be set up like a fabulous dinner party, where all guests sit at the same time and simultaneously share an evening. A moment in time similar to the many great moments that take place every day in New York, and then fade out as quickly as they popped up.   Kinda of like the supper clubs happening around the city...except these are open to everyone!

This edition will feature a delicious asado style Argentinean BBQ from Monday, August 2^nd until Friday, August 6th at The Yard at The Soho Grand Hotel (310 West Broadway).   Reservations are $65 per person, which includes tax and tip and seating will take place each night between 6pm and 10:30pm.  For more information or to reserve your seat, visit thehungernyc.com.

 

Fresh Direct - 4 Minute Meals are a city girl's savior!

So a couple of weeks ago my good friend Emily introduced me to the magic of Fresh Direct's 4 minute meals.

Omg - how did I live without these before???  I think I may have tried Fresh Direct once many years ago, and then finding it a bit expensive and realizing I almost never ate at home, I quickly abandoned it.  After spending the past year in a tiny apartment with no working oven, I thought there was nothing I could do except do takeout.  EVERY NIGHT.  Which is not only expensive, but oh so bad for you.

Maybe that's why I gained 10 pounds last year!

Anyhow...onto Fresh Direct.  These 4 minute meals are awesome!  Think of it like a fresh version of a tv dinner.  All you need is a refrigerator to store, and a microwave to heat.  You don't even need a plate!  What's amazing is that the ingredients are all fresh - no preservatives, and they cook in the microwave right before your eyes.  I mean - the shrimp goes into the microwave raw, and comes out perfectly cooked.

I'm talking shrimp, lamb, beef - restaurant quality.  Prices per meal range from $6.99-$12.99 depending on what you choose.  Choose from dishes by Tabla, Terrance Brennan, Rosa Mexicano...

Seriously - I place my order for every Sunday night, and I have my meals for 2-3 days a week (I leave one weekday to go out, and obviously my weekends are for exploring!)

Takes the pressure off figuring out what you're gonna eat every night. 

I know, I know...I should cook more - but until then - these will have to do it! 

Some disclosure - the meals are on the small side (but hey - maybe it's good to have some portion control).  Also - don't order en masse....they only stay good for 3-4 days.  Hence, they are FRESH!

New York Food & Wine Festival Tickets on Sale Monday June 21

Tickets to October's New York Food & Wine Festival go on sale this Monday!  A weekend filled with fun talks, demonstrations, sublime eating events and fabulous parties!!!

Last year I went to a couple of the talks including one with the Frank Bruni/Ben Leventhal as well as the Anthony Bourdain/David Chang talk which was fantastic! 

I also hit up the Blue Hill Stone Barns event - which while pricey, was worth every penny.

This year the talks don't look quite as interesting to me, and I am more likely to either go to the Burger Bash which I heard was fabulous last year, even at the pricey $225/head ticket.

Or....maybe the Tacos & Tequila with Bobby Flay event? 

Remember....proceeds all go to the Food Bank of New York - so there's no better time to indulge in some tasty treats and meet your favorite Food Stars and Chefs!