Peoples Pops: But Not My Kind of Pop

The other day I decided on a whim to head over to Chelsea Market and get a popsicle from People's Pops. Never trying one and  hearing such good reviews, I had to check it out.

Cute guy working the front? Check. 

 Weird rubberized popsicle mold displays? Check

Peach Tarragon Basil

I really, really, really wanted to like this. I really did. I just.... didn't.  I couldn't taste even the slightest hint of tarragon or basil and the peach was flavorless. You know when you think a peach is super ripe and bite into it and there is no juice or suppleness to it at all and it just seems like you are eating a scoop of mushy potato? Well, that it what it was like eating this. Except it was overly sweetened as well.  I actually threw it away. I never, ever throw away food. I am a human garbage disposal.  Sigh...

Price: $3.50

Verdict: I truly wanted to be a fan of their popsicles, perhaps I had tried the wrong flavor? I mean, I love there whole marketing package. Either way I left disappointed. Especially since I could have gotten a giant Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie a couple of feet away  for a dollar less.

Product Review: Battle Between the Roof of my Mouth and Bread. Bread Won

A couple of weeks ago I went to Chelsea Market craving 2 things... a good hardy bread and bleu cheese.  I've never been to Amy's Bread before so I figured to try it out ( even though the lazy girl inside of me just wanted to go to Whole Foods... but I do it for you people).

Entrance. I have nothing smart or funny to say about this ( not that anything I do say is funny anyways). Sorry.

Nice array of rolls and baguettes. The scary thing is I could probably eat a whole basket in one sitting if society didn't pressure Victoria's Secret body images on us. Damn those sexy angels and their push up bras.

More bread porn. The little fat asian inside of me really wanted to run behind the counter and take a bite of everyone. The smell of the breads were utterly irresistible.

Whole Wheat & Whole Wheat with Five Grains

I went with this one because I love poppy seeds, and also this is what the guy behind the counter said would go best with a strong cheese. I took a bite by itself first... holy hell it was like trying to bite barbed wire! The crust was ridiculously hard, the kind that punishes you by cutting the roof of your mouth. The inside was very soft and airy, but bitter. Time to test it out with my condiments! (If my mouth isn't filled with blood yet...)

I added bleu cheese and overly ripe sliced apples. 

The bitterness of the cheese + the bitterness of the bread= me adding a crap load of apple jam and agave nectar after to balance it out. Overall an unsuccessful snack.

Price: $2.50 for half a loaf

Verdict: I didn't know what that guy at was smoking; but this bread paired horribly with bleu cheese. At 2.50 for only half a loaf?? I could have gotten a whole loaf of delicious crunchy sourdough from Whole Foods that wouldn't put battle wounds in my mouth like this bread did. Might give them another shot with a different bread, or possibly try one of their desserts, but I very much disliked the whole wheat with five grains!

Amy's Bread

75 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10011

www.amysbread.com

Dinner: Never Thought I Would Enjoy the Taste of Lard and Liver...

Priscilla, Janet and I decided threw emails that we would meet up and take advantage of restaurant week...It took 3 girls, 3 hours and 25 emails to finally settle on Del Posto, a Mario Batali,  Joe Bastianich, and Mark Ladner restaurant.  Hey, eating is serious business.

In the center of Meatpacking District, and across the street from Morimoto. Valet service is available...well how else do you expect me to park my Mercedes SLS??

Walking in, it looked like a grand ballroom made of a marble. I automatically felt like a hillbilly

While we waited for out table, we decided to grab a drink at the bar and they brought us bar snacks. Mixed nuts (brazil and almonds were in here... mmmm, the good nuts!) homemade potato chips, and pasta shaped cheese puffs.

* After taking this picture, the maitre de told me there was no flash photography allowed... so the rest of the pictures might be dim

* Also, when we asked for the restaurant week menu for dinner and found out... they didn't offer it for dinner!!! We decided on the next best thing; everyone get a different dish to share.

After we ordered, 3 Amuse Bouches came to the table

Salmon Chips

Fried asiago chips filled with salmon and tarragon. 

Rolled Proscuitto

Deep Fried with escarole. Crunchy, salty, and with a soft center.

Chilled Gazpaho

Tangy and rimmed with brown sea salt.

Complimentary Bread Basket

Holy Shit. The most amazing bread basket I have ever had. It comes warm with baguettes, foccacia, olive oil bread, and bread sticks. If they just served me this bread basket for dinner I would be happy, I know bread was already tasty, but this bread basket stole my heart.

Whipped Lardo, Italian Whipped Butter

This came with the bread basket. The lardo had tarragon and other herbs blended in it. Not as creamy and light as butter, but interesting to try.

Ricotta Pansoti

Priscilla ordered this one. It was paired with wild asparagus and shaved black truffles. Drizzled with olive oil and ultra creamy center. Simple is sometimes the most delicious.

Price: $27.00

 

 Seared Duck Breast

Janet picked this one. This was made with apician spices, grilled apricots, and salt baked endive. They added a little piece of caramelized fois gras on the side. Wow, way to eat a tortured duck and its liver! However..... was succulent. I never thought a word could so perfectly describe a food, but succulent is it. The fois gras was so ridiculously fatty and velvety I think I gained 20 pounds just tasting a sliver.

Price: $33.00

Wood-Grilled LOBSTER

I picked this one. Made with basil, chopped almonds and salicornia. Insanely flavorful, and the chopped almonds added a fun crunch.   

Price: $39.00

At this point, none of us could believe how full we all were, but we couldn't leave without dessert!

Chocolate Ricotta TORTINO

(Notice how a slice of the cake was already missing? Yeah, chocolate is a girls kryptonite). Anyway, this was made with toasted sicilian pistachios and extra virgin olive oil gelato. My favorite part was actually the ice cream,  light, cool and fun to roll around in the crushed cocoa. The olive oil was sweet and fragrant. The cake was too dry, but the quality of the chocolate made up for it.

Price: $15.00

Post Dessert Desserts (!?!)

As if we could fit anymore food in out stomachs... they gave us a plate of post desserts! 

From left, white chocolate caramel crisps: the best of the bunch, sweet, crunchy, and fun to bite. Nutella Cookie: The shell was pretty bland, but the salt sprinkled on top of the nutella gave it an extra kick. Biscotti: Standard biscotti, nothing to write home about. I wish it had been dipped in chocolate. Apple Crisp: Soft and delicate, also nothing special.

As we were walking out, they stopped us to ask....if we wanted truffles!? Hell yeah we did! Free + chocolate= Things I love.

I immediately popped one in my mouth. Creamy dreamy ganache heaven.

Me, Priscilla, Janet, and possibly 20 extra pounds

Verdict: Pricey? Yes. But worth it. If you are worried about the price, come during lunch where they have a $29.00 prix fix lunch special. We were there for at least 2 hours, and the service was fantastic.

Del Posto

85 10th Avenue
NY, 10011

www.delposto.com

Brunch: The Co. mpany of Friends and Burnt Pizza

A couple of weeks ago, Melissa, Nikoma, and I met up of a Saturday brunch at Co. Pizza as breakfast ... what could be better?? ( I also want to apologize in advance for th iphone pictures, I didn't have the camera with me that day..)

Sleek modern atmosphere

Rosa

Since Nikoma is a vegan, he ordered one of the only things on the entire menu with no cheese or meat. This was made with crushed tomato, oregano, chili, garlic and a healthy drizzle of olive oil. The crust came out more burnt than I would have liked, and it almost ruined the taste of the pie. Other than that, it was also quite spicy! A nice alternative to coffee if you are trying to wake up. This was also a hardier pie, I could fold a slice in half without it flopping all around like melting jello. The tomatoes were the stars of the show and had the kind of fragrance that transferred the smell straight onto your palette. A nice tasty appetizer, would I order it again? Perhaps if I wanted lighter fare on a super hot day.

Price: $9.00

Margherita

Once again, the crust was charred more then I would have liked. I also wished they would have added the basil on after taking it out of the oven, for the basil took the same fate as the crust. I did enjoy that the mozzarella seemed to meld into the tomato sauce instead of sliding around as if it were on ice skates like other Neapolitan pizza restaurants.

Price: $13.00

Popeye

Basically a salad on top of a pizza. In a good way. I love spinach, obviously for those of you who dislike spinach, don't get this pie. The spinach leaves were not those wimpy baby craps you find in most salads, but actually full fledged adult spinach greens. Underneath revealed pecorino, gruyère, mozzarella, with black pepper, and garlic. Though to be honest, I couldn't really taste the other flavors without having to eat most of the spinach before taking a bite of the actual pizza. This was my favorite pie out of the three. 

Price: $17.00

Verdict: Well, after thinking it over, this place is definitely the priciest out of all the Neapolitan style pizza places I have been...($17.00 for a 10 inch pie with spinach?!?! )The crusts, and dough were also the least impressive,they had a tough texture without much flavor on their own.  I would not recommend this place for visitors or tourists.... but it was a nice experience with friends while I was there.

Co.

230 9th Avenue

New York, NY 10001

www.co-pane.com

Dinner: Team Dinner with at the Bastard

My team at work love to find reasons to celebrate. Whenever we do, its always an excellent excuse to go out and eat together. This time it was for my coworkers birthday and my bosses going away. After rattling off various Italian restaurants, we ended up picking Il Bastardo. Some of you who know it as the place the City ( a brain dead reality show on MTV) was filmed.

Walking in, the place was very modern, spacious and even had a section in the back for bands and dj's to play.

As we sat down my boss Steph, ordered a bottle of prosecco to celebrate

Less dry than champagne, but just as bubbly!

They brought out olive oil and vinegar for the bread. However the vinegar sank to the bottom and we ended up getting another bowl just for vinegar... pointless that I mentioned this, but hey... its annoying when you are trying to get vinegar, and all you get is olive oil.. you know?!

Complimentary Bread

They gave 2 pieces of bread per person... Crusty on the outside, airy and doughy inside- this was dangerously addictive and hard to refrain filling up on!

Grilled Pizza bread

This was 2 orders, and was topped with grilled mushrooms, peppers and onions with gorgonzola cheese on an ultra thin crunchy crust. As Rachel ray would say.. Delish! The vegetables were soft, and mimicked the cheeses playful texture. The cheese was pungant and salty. But in a good way, one of my favorites of the night.

Price: $10.00 per order of 4 slices

Baked Eggplant

Layers of eggplant with fresh tomato sauce and a heaping pile of stringy mozzarella and parmigiano cheese on top. Yum.. This could easily be a replacement for a meal. The eggplant was soft and melted in your mouth, the sauce...like biting into a fresh tomato. One of my favorites of the night

Price: $10.00

Organic Mista

Some of the girls got the dinner special (served between 4-7 on the weekdays) for 20 dollars, you get an appetizer, main course and dessert. Being girls, they chose salads... The caesar salad looked pretty tasty though!

Caesar Salad

Gnocchi

Carly and Steph ordered this one. It was made with the same tomato sauce as the eggplant, and with pieces of melted mozzarella on top. I stole a couple of bites, not the best gnocchi I have ever had. It could have used some fresh basil and a little more salt, but still satisfying.

Price: $14.00

Pan Seared Jumbo Scallops

Cherry ordered this one, it was in a balsamic reduction with endive and came with a radicchio salad. Looked delicious, but only 4 scallops??! 

Price: $22.00

Mixed Grill Seafood

So I guess I was so busy taking pictures of everyone else's food, that I forgot to take a picture of my own!  Imagine 2 tiny pieces of fish (one red snapper, one salmon) the size of a baby's palm, 3 little shrimp, and 1 scallop sliced in half.  Ripe off? I would say so! Over cooked? Yep. Tasty? Not really. Its okay though, the company I was in, and the delicious appetizers made up for it!

Price: $25.00

Taglierini

 Donna ordered this one, it was made with pesto and sun-dried tomato. It was part of the $20.00 dinner special, but they didn't seem to give a lot. I didn't get a chance to try this, but I presume it was very good since before I could bat my eye, it was in her tummy!

Rigatoni Eggplant

Kristina ordered this one, it was made with tomato, eggplant, ricotta and basil.  It smelled pretty yummy. This was also part of the prix fixe menu.

Mango Sorbet

This was the dessert of the day from the prix fixe. The fragrance was intensly mango and so was the taste. Not too sweet, but could have been a tad more tart.

Chocolate Mousse Ice Cream

This was served with whipped cream and a raspberry drizzle. Really addicting..spoonful after spoonful, I had to remind myself that other people wanted some too! The raspberry sauce was tart and complimented the creamy chocolate perfectly. The cookie was a nice added crunch, although, not really necessary. 

Price: $8.00

Chocolate Lava Cake

Since it was Kristina's birthday, we had to get another super chocolatey cake with a candle! This was a cake like brownie with hot melted chocolate sauce on the inside and a scoop of peanut butter ice cream. Need I explain the tastiness of melted chocolate on top of more chocolate with peanut butter flavor as an accessory?? I don't think so. Did the fat child inside me come bursting out? You can figure that one out.

Price: $8.00

Apple Strudel

Obviously being a table full of girls, a third dessert was necessary. Duh. This was more like apple pie the raisins on steroids. My favorite part of this was the caramel sauce and pie crust dough. Not being a big fan of raisins, I sort of neglected this one.

Price: $7.00

Our Awesome Team 

(From Left) Carly, Me, Cherry, Kristina, Stephanie, Ana, and Donna. 

It was a happy AND sad day, since Steph was leaving, this was the last time we were all going to get to eat out together. We will miss you Steph! 
Verdict: Go for appetizers and drinks, this place is fantastic for large groups and people who are generally claustrophobic. Also the bathrooms are open and unisex, so beware!

Il Bastardo

191 7th Ave

New York, NY 10011

www.ilbastardonyc.com