The Wandering Eater

I went to SD26 last Friday with Helen and Seungmi in tow for Restaurant Week. Part of the allure was the fact that this is the reincarnation of the old San Domenico (think refined and genteel) that went downtown hip.

Top left, clockwise: Kitchen view, Salumi area, and Interior

Entering the restaurant from the windy, bitter cold, we’re greeted by the hostess and saw the automated wine dispensers, something that reminds me of Clo Wine Bar in the Time Warner Building in the Upper West Side.

When we entered the dining room, it’s minimalist in design: a huge bar before one enters the dining room; the dining room done in neutral beige walls with high ceilings, while the private booth areas were in painted in a bold red, the open kitchen, and a salumi area which stank from the opened wheels Parmigiano-Reggiano. The odd things were the fabric art objects that hung along the back wall, close to where my table was. Seungmi called them “pumpkins” – colorful, fuzzy pumpkins, in my opinion. (I don’t have a photo of them because I have a bad angle from where I was sitting.)

Place setting and RW menu

Perusing through the Restaurant Week menu, we pretty much agreed on the same appetizers and went almost our own way through the meal.

Continue reading "Lunch at SD26 – Restaurant Week" »

Last Tuesday, I’ve arranged dinner with my parents at The Modern Bar Room. First timers to eat there (and it’s Restaurant Week), I know the Modern would not disappoint me, as I’ve eaten here a few times throughout the years, Restaurant Week or not, and had good to very good experiences.

Crowded, sort of

Despite the fact we did have an early reservation for dinner, the tables were about half full and as expected, the sleek bar were packed with suited businessmen and lawyers hanging around for their Happy Hour.

Promptly seated, we’ve perused through the RW menu and decided upon what we crave. (Note that their RW menu was pretty much a truncated version of their normal menu.)

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Valentine’s Day is coming up and those of you who are taken and have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or a spouse, you would like to do something special and fun for your loved one.

Decadent Chocolate & Sinful Cheese
Saturday, February 13th, 3:00 – 5:00pm
Decadent chocolates and cheese pairings class sound enticing and unique, right? Artisanal will be holding a cheese and chocolates (from Christopher Norman) course with fromager Jessica Wurwarg and visiting Pastry Chef Colleen Riley. To get the 10% discount, go back to this page and call. A half-hour reception of fondue, cheeses, and sparkling wine will kickoff this event. Artisanal Premium Cheese Center, 483 Tenth Avenue (on W 37th Street); (212) 871-3141; event website

Romance of Food and Wine
Saturday, February 13th from 4 PM – 6 PM
This course will take students through the history of romance in both food and wine through the ages. $65 per person includes the wine tasting and instruction, as well as pairings from Vero’s three-course menu. The wine school will take place at both Vero locations – 1004 Second Ave at 53rd and 1483 Second Ave between 77th and 78th Streets. To make reservations e-mail: cara@veronyc.com.

Walking Chocolate Tour
Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Take a tour of four excellent chocolate shops with your significant other (or by yourself if you like to explore solo) around the SoHo and East Village area. Starting with Marie Belle, Kee’s Chocolates, Vosgues, and a “surprise” in the East Village who is known for her pretzel-covered chocolate shell encasing salted caramel.
A $5.00 donation per person. All proceeds go to Food Bank for New York City.
MarieBelle, 484 Broome Street, (between West Broadway & Wooster); event website

From top left, clockwise: The Breslin, Chef Bloomfield laughing, Interior & RW Menu

I’ve been holding back on going to The Breslin for quite a while. Part of me wanted to go in relatively blindly, as in earlier during the first week of opening, but I want a restaurant to work out their service and possible food kinks before I can reasonably write or say anything. Since it is Restaurant Week, it’s somewhat a good idea to give them a try with my friend, Giulia. So here it goes…

Continue reading "The Breslin: Restaurant Week" »

I have been reading around the Interwebs recently and thought about where I can get lunch, I ended up reserving a seat at SHO Shaun Hergatt on Friday. I know it’s quite a distance from where I work and frankly, I don’t eat around the Financial District since I get lost in that neighborhood and there aren’t that many notable restaurants. But I have read good (and a few mixed) reviews on this restaurant, I thought I might as well try to quench that curiosity and try out their food.

Interior: Corridor to Dining Room, Dining Room, Kitchen View

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Mmmm…Chocolate

Do you love cheese and chocolate like I do? Artisanal Premium Cheese Center will be giving a class called “Decadent Chocolate and Sinful Cheese” with Pastry Chef Colleen Riley on Saturday, February 13th at 3 PM to 5 PM. Yes, it’s a dreamy class filled with beautifully crafted, aged cheese, premium chocolates, and wine. Sounds like fun, no?

If you are a chocoholic and cheese lover like I am, you can buy yourself a seat for $85. Artisanal is gracious enough to let you readers to have a 10% discount ($76.50 after discount), all you have to do is call the Artisanal’s Premium Cheese Center, the phone number listed below, and mention my blog’s name “The Wandering Eater” when you book your seat.

Hopefully, I’ll see you there.

Artisanal Premium Cheese Center
483 Tenth Avenue (on W 37th Street)
New York, NY 10018 (map; website)
Telephone: (212) 871-3141

Free from the grips from the GREs, I’ve made plans with my friends Helen and Seungmi to have lunch at Shake Shack. Needless to say, I craved a burger after putting myself into self-exile from my social world. I chose to meet at the Upper West Side location just so we don’t freeze our butts off and our food wouldn’t get cold within a few minutes.

Cheeseburger

I ordered the cheeseburger with everything on top since I needed to save some calories and stomach space for my group dinner at Szechuan Gourmet (I’ll talk about it in the next post) later on that evening. This simple burger was still amazing and I missed it terribly. I never felt happier.

Continue reading "Shake Shack UWS & Stumptown Coffee" »

Continuing on the Sunday food fest with Hagan (started with brunch at Public), I joined him later on the afternoon at Luke’s Lobster.

If you have read Hagan’s introduction about this stop earlier, I have indeed told him that I’m probably the last NYC-based food blogger who’s eaten their lobster roll. I know, I hang my head in shame. I had my reluctance since the Interwebs were inundated with hype that are either true or false. For example, Porchetta had glowing reviews from many different bloggers and a few respected food journalists when it opened within its first week but I didn’t love it so much, hence my reasoning of holding back from trying Luke’s.

Luke’s Menu & signage

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Outside at Public

Standing outside the breezy, insanely cold Sunday morning, I was invited by Hagan to join him on his ambitious food project called 93 Plates. Partially, I was regretting saying “yes” to drag my butt out of my warm bed but I refuse to be a flake, suck it up like any other New Yorker (or tourist) who’s walking outside, and travel out to Nolita.

Since I arrived a bit early, I defrosted myself and soak in the interior of the restaurant. Open layout, loft-like, with an Industrial look. It looks Euro-cool to me for some reason.

Interior

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Tassimo Suprema Machine & T-Discs: Starbucks & Gevalia Cappuccino

Over the holidays, I received a generous gift from Tassimo to try out their coffee brewing system. Initially, I was quite ecstatic since this machine would have cost me $170, not including the coffees and chai tea T-Discs they’ve included with it.
Moving on to the actual usage of this machine, it’s convenient for the mornings when I need a single cup of coffee or cappuccino quickly or the lazy evenings when I just want a cup of caffeine without dealing with cleaning up my tea pot or machine.
Continue reading "Trial Run with Tassimo Coffee Brewing System" »