Quick Bite: Grandaisy Bakery

Again, Groupon.com had led me to another gold mine! This cute little bakery in Tribeca serves wonderful and tasty baked goods to satisfy any hungry snacker. After window shopping through Soho and not buying anything, I decided to reward myself by using my Groupon for $17.00 worth of food ( I know... Im a pig). After trekking through Chinatown, I came upon this sunny and spacious bakery 

The display of sweets that called my name, but took all my self control not to get any 

Pizza Bianca *photo from wanderingeaterThis is a Roman style flatbread sprinkled with olive oil, rosemary and sea salt.The picture of the slice might not look big, but it was a very generous portion. It was about the size of letter paper, and yes I ate it all in one day.

Taste:This took me back to when I lived in Italy, the fragrant olive oil and rosemary were so subtle but addicting. I kept ripping little pieces off telling myself that it was going to be the last bite but couldn't stop!

Texture: Chewy, doughy, light and airy

Price: $1.50

Potato Pizza

This was with potatoes, onions, rosemary and olive oil. The slice was approximately 5x4 inch piece.

Taste: This one was kind of disappointing. The potato did not have much flavor to it and with every bite I wished it had more herbs or garlic, or something to give depth to the flavors. I shamefully sprinkled salt on it

Texture: Chewy crust ( they use the same dough as the bianca) and the potatoes were soft and starchy. The onions though, were a bit too oily

Price: $3.25

Panini Greco 

*photo from SeriousEats

This was made with whole chickpeas, pickled carrots and onions, arugula with a greek skordalia spread. I picked this sandwich because I was "trying" to be vegan at the time and this was the only sandwich they offered without meat or eggs (though I'm sure there were eggs in here somewhere).

Taste: The greek spread was garlicky and meshed well with the peppery arugula. The chickpeas added a nice earthiness and the carrots and onions shot out little bits of tang on the palette. This was a very light and refreshing sandwich

Texture: The chickpeas were soft dense and hardy, even a carnivore wouldn't miss the meat. The baguette itself had a great thick crust with a super airy interior

Price: $7.00

Verdict: I will definitely be returning, if not to try their pound cake or other sweets, then to get more pizza bianca! Next time you are in Chinatown and feel like venturing on the outskirts, stop by this place. There are also 2 other locations, one in the UWS and one in Soho. I really enjoyed my relaxing mini meal and hopefully you will too : )

Grandaisy Bakery

250 West Broadway (at Beach St.)

New York, NY 10013

www.grandaisybakery.com

Wine Tasting: New York Vinters

I love Groupon.com, one day their deal was for around half off wine tasting and a pizza making class. They usually cost 50 dollars, but I got 2 tickets for 20 dollars each. They have other classes too such as sake tasting and sushi making (which was the one I originally wanted). The space was very nice, a small wine shop in the front and a dining and kitchen area in the back.

The tables were arranged beautifully, and the first wine we started off with was Prosecco. It was a light bubbly drink. They taught us to swish it around the glass 3 times then smell it so close that your nose is almost touching.

We then moved on to a Chardonnay and then to a Sauvignon Blanc. The Chardonnay was sweeter than the Sauvignon. I prefer red wine rather than white, but these were not bad to sip on.

We then moved on to a Rosé. I was not a huge fan of this one. I find Rosé wines to be too sweet. This one had a great fragrance, but the sweetness was off putting.

Now it was time to taste the reds. I was so excited! I love their vibrant colors and the kind of thin coating of tartness they put over your tongue after a sip. Buddy was "smelling" the Red Bordeaux.

I really enjoyed this one. We also tried a Pinot Noir which was also very pleasant.

This is Chef Meeker, the in house pizza expert. He taught us the step by step way of making the best pizza. He also said if we didn't want to deal with making our own pizza dough; you can always go to your local pizza place and ask to buy some dough from them, and they usually cost 2-3 dollars :)

After the demonstration we all got a chance to work with the dough while his pizza's were baking. They smelled SO GOOD. Here I was checking to make sure the dough was thin enough and that there were no breakage in the dough.

The Finished Pizza!

Taste: The sauce was so flavorful and yet it didn't over power the taste of the cheese. (It is the WORST when sauce tastes too sweet or has too much tomato paste in it) The cheese was mozzarella, we also made a mushroom pizza. The mushrooms were the marinated kind, but I preferred the old fashioned plain.

Texture: The dough was perfectly chewy and the underbelly nicely crunchy. The cheese varied from stringy to almost burnt and bubbly (I love that kind of textural variation in pizza)

Verdict: I really enjoyed my class here. It was 2 hours long and I learned so much about wine and pizza! The people working there really knew their wines and were very helpful and friendly with questions others had after the class was over. Their wines were also reasonably priced and and next time I'm in the area, I will definitely be stopping there for my alcoholic needs!

*I also just found out that there is a cupcake and wine pairing class! So if you are as crazy about wine and cupcakes as I am, you should check it out :)

New York Vinters

21 Warren Street

New York, NY 10007

212.812.3999

http://www.newyorkvintners.com/

Ninja NYC

Near financial district, there is a secert underground Japanese ninja village serving fine sushi, quick witted servers and magic shows. This village is called Ninja. I went there twice, once with my friend Kim, and a second with my boyfriend. The lobby to this place is painted all black and there is only a host stand. Behind the host stand is a black elevator. After going down the elevator you are surprised by a ninja, popping out of nowhere. He will ask you if you want to take the "safe" route or the "dangerous" route. Of course the adventurer in me takes the "dangerous" route. It ends up being a long walk of up and down stairwells within an small confined space in the dark. Once you reach the opening, you are graced with the presence of little replica village huts with people seated in them. You cant really see their faces but you can hear them. Our mini hut was tiny and only seated two. After being seated our ninja server whips out a menu scroll.

Mystery Sake Tasting

Taste: Since this was a mystery tasting I had know clue what the server gave me, I could only guess. The first one was a sweet rose like sake, the the one to the left was more dry and had a bolder, grainer taste

Texture: Both were smooth and had a light syrupy feel on the palette

Smell: Sweet and fresh

Price: $12.00

Ninja Star Caesar Salad

Taste: It came with a large flat parmesan wafer that you needed to " ninja chop" into the salad. Pictured on the side is a wrapped rice wafer "mortel" After chopping the cheese wafer into bite sized bites, the overall taste of the salad was standard, kind of boring and nothing to write home about. The lettuce was actually kind of soggy.

Texture: Super crunchy cheese wafer + soggy lettuce= not worth the price

Smell: anchovies

Price: $12.00

Floating Sashimi

Taste: It was composed of three different types of sashimi picked by the chef. Essentially I got 12 pieces of sashimi on top of a large bamboo with dry ice making a "floating" effect. The presentation was very beautiful and the sushi was extremely fresh. I got salmon, tuna, and squid sashimi.

Texture: Very velvety, light and the fish melted in my mouth

Smell: fresh, didn't smell fishy at all

Price: $25.00

Teriyaki Chicken

Taste: It was a combination of grilled chicken thigh, wing and breast. These were prepared three different ways, grilled, fried and breaded. The fried chicken was very dry, but the grilled was juicy and the breaded was very flavorful. The teriyaki sauce itself was overly salty.

Texture: Three different ways of chicken, each had the appropriate textures expected of them

Smell: Teriyaki sauce

Price: $28.00

Rose Chocolate

Taste: It was a creamy chocolate topped with whipped white chocolate sitting next to a rose infused dry ice vase. The chocolate was a decadent rich intense dreamy pudding. My taste buds were setting off fireworks! It came with a side of a little wafer truffle, but it was nothing compared to the actual star of the dish. This is definitely one of my favorite desserts in the city

Texture: Creamy, airy, smooth like velvet on my tongue

Smell: Sweet sweet chocolate

Price: $10.00

Ninja Star

Taste: It was a soft chocolate mousse cake. The presentation was so much fun! They brought out an empty dish and set it on fire, then some crazy explosion happened and BOOM, it appeared out of nowhere! Anyway, back to the taste, it was very tasty, very chocolatey and the mousse was light and fluffy. I enjoyed the solid chocolate sheet topped with edible gold as well

Texture: Perfectly whipped mousse that was creamy and the chocolate was at a perfect temperature

Smell: Sweet sweet chocolate

Price: $10.00

Verdict: Overall, I wouldn't go back for the food, maybe for some cocktails,definitely for dessert and the magic show at the end. The ambiance is was makes this place so expensive. Even with dessert, I left hungry and undoubtedly ended up at my neighborhood beer hall for bratwurst later on. On the other hand the waiters were very friendly, attentive, and interactive with tricks, magic and quick witted chit chat. The magic show at the end was so much fun and lasted at least 15-20 minutes. This is a great place for a first date, or kids.

Ninja NYC

25 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10013

www.ninjanewyork.com