And yes, despite the extreme cold that's been hanging around in the mid-Atlantic region, I packed my stuff and headed to my personal Disneyland, my happiest place on Earth--New York City. And I ate some stuff. But not as much as usual. Still, stuff. Allow me to share my musings on my dining experiences.
My first meal of the trip was a Monday lunch. I briefly contemplated two courses at Cafe Carmellini, but decided the handsome amount of money that would involve should go toward a bottle of perfume. My main agenda for the three day excursion revolved around visiting various perfume shops, with the intention of making at least one fragrant purchase. (I made five.)
One of the stops on my list was The Maker Hotel shop on 16th Street, so for the sake of convenience, I ate lunch next door at The Grey Dog Chelsea.
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| Guacamole toast? They were very generous with the toppings. |
The avocado toast sounded good. What I wanted was a nice piece of seeded multigrain toast topped with several slices of perfectly salted avocado and a fried egg. I got the bread, but the avocado was excessively lime-y, rather mashed, and much more like guacamole than I was in the mood for. My over-medium eggs were perfect though, and the side of home fries was tasty enough though completely unnecessary. (I can't put away as much food as I was able to in the past.)
I had popped into Levain Bakery before lunch to grab a gluten-free cookie for later. It was one of their typically behemoth, scone-sized, lumps--which is really quite delicious when made with gluten. And not at all delicious when made with gluten-free flour. It tasted...gluten-free, which can be a rather sad flavor when one is used to the taste of wheat flour.
That evening, I had dinner at the bar at Zaytinya. One of Jose Andres' original DC concepts, there is now a location not far from my usual hotel. Since I had passed on a spendy lunch and was disappointed with what I did eat, I thought I'd splurge on something that was bound to be delicious. After all, one of my favorite meals in NY is pretty much anything at his Hudson Yards food hall, Little Spain. Especially the eggs with morcilla (blood sausage). Incredibly, I found everything at Zaytinya to be...meh. The za'atar margarita seemed a little saltier than a normal marg, but it didn't scream of za'atar. The scallops were a relative bargain at $23 for four fat ones, but the rather flavorless apple cacik (the Turkish version of tzatziki) really didn't work for me, and the promised "sesame rose spice" was undetectable. I hoped the smoked beet salata would remind me of the incredible beet and pistachio salad I had eaten last summer at a local French restaurant. It did not. There was too much arugula and the honeycrisp apple chunks had zero flavor (and was probably the same kind of apple included in the scallops' sauce). The beets themselves were fine, though I'd have preferred more of them. Finally, though I didn't need a third dish, I ordered the brussels sprouts because the waiter was still looking at me expectantly. I requested the garlic yogurt to be served on the side (and should have done so with the cacik) as I am lactose-intolerant. The sprouts were nicely crispy, but were otherwise rather boring. A disappointment.
My palate fared much better on day two, which I started at Dominique Ansel Workshop. A perfectly fluffy and tender French omelette filled with Boursin cheese and nestled into a crisp croissant made a perfect breakfast, especially paired with a big cup of La Colombe cafe au lait d'avoine (oatmilk).
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| scallop toast |
Later, I met up with my friend Daisy, whose company makes even the most delicious meal that much better than it would be without her. We dined at Chinese Tuxedo, a contemporary Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Among the dishes we sampled were the braised black pepper oxtail bun, crystal shrimp spring roll, and scallop toast from the dim sum menu (all fantastic)...
...and the Johny fried rice with shrimp, char siu, and pork floss, the stir fried Snake River beef sirloin with kampot pepper, and the stir fried iceberg lettuce. Again, all fantastic. I'd eat there again.
Mealtime with Daisy usually means multiple stops, so after walking a bit, we took a cab up to Koreatown and had a few super crispy wings at Turntable on 33rd Street. The flavors were bright and the texture appealing. In retrospect, these wings were the culinary highlight of my entire trip.
The next morning, I had a nice breakfast at The Harold, which is conveniently located near my hotel. I ordered the wild mushroom scramble, which was had to include 3-4 eggs and a good half pound of mushrooms. I knew there'd be toast, but not the rosemary potatoes. They're delicious, but made for far too much to eat in one sitting. Next time, I'll ask them to omit the 'taters.
For a snack, I enjoyed a Midnight Dream (black sesame, espresso, oatmilk) at Elorea, a cute Korean perfume shop with a coffee bar at the back. (I will be going back someday to make a fragrance purchase.)
Finally, I had an early dinner/late lunch at Parm. This is their eggplant parmesan on a sesame seed roll. My server said it was his favorite thing on the menu, and suggested I get the hoagie-sized version so I could take half home for later. I stuck with the small. It was good, but lacking in textures other than soft. I've mentioned this in the past, but I really miss my mother's fried eggplant. But maybe I'm just obsessed with the memory of the flavor of Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs?
The Grey Dog
242 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011
Levain Bakery
2 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011
Zaytinya
1185 Broadway, New York, NY 10001
Dominique Ansel Workshop
17 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016
Chinese Tuxedo
5 Doyers St, New York, NY 10013
Turntable
20 W 33rd St, New York, NY 10001
The Harold
1271 Broadway, New York, NY 10001
Elorea
41 Spring St, New York, NY 10012
Parm
248 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012
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