Another fun visit to our favorite casual cafe !!! Only thing I can say is “just go” !!
Perhaps one of the best values for a nice meal in Paris ! UPDATE: Cafe Constant is closed !! very sadden !! It will always be in our hearts !!
We celebrated Lori’s Birthday in 2018 in Paris ! We decided to visit our old friend Christian Constant at his flagship on Rue Saint-Dominique, Le Violon d’ingress. This is his Michelin Starred fine dinning establishment. Christian greeted us prior to the meal as he is the omnipresent host at all of his restaurants. The food was excellent however the star of the evening was the Mille-Feuille , we crave it to this day !! its amazing !!! We highly recommend all of Christian Constants restaurants especially my favorites Cafe Constant and Les Cocottes. Sorry for the delayed posting but too many restaurants too little time ….
http://www.maisonconstant.com/fr/les-restaurants/
We love stone crabs and have previously loved Joe’s in Miami. Billy’s is close to the Boca Raton area and has a water view. Crabs and sides are all excellent including the pasta marinara. Nice wine list and excellent service. Definitely recommend it if your a stone crab fan or seafood in general. We will definitely return. Food 9.0 Service 9.0 and Value 8.5
We had a lovely dinner with friend las night everything was great except the mains. :: at Ristoro del Cinghiale
The starters and bread were really amazing and had high hopes for the steak and ribs, Unforutnatly we received two orders of each. Round one was overcooked and round two was raw. The ribs were actually not eatable so tough you could even cut them. The strip side of the steak was tasteless. We did even try on round two because we were afraid. Manager was very nice about the problem because it was obvious. Hopefully they’ll do something about the grill person.
We had a great dinner with friends at Tocqueville. The Truffled Grits with an egg was outstanding !! Mushroom risotto was rich and creamy. I hear the fish was perfectly executed. The Short ribs were as tender as butter and tasted great. Deserts also outstanding. Wine list was large and focused towards the higher price points however there were some nice choices at reasonable prices. Corkage at 55 dollars a bottle is also an option with most NYC restaurants charging a 4X markup on wine bringing your own favorites is a good option. Service was friendly but could have used a bit more polishing. Food 9/10 Service 8.5/10 and value 8.5/10.
Tanoshi Sushi is our favorite casual sushi place in NYC. They have 3 defined seatings ay 6, 730 and 9. It’s only 95 for the Omakase menu which the only menu. They do offer a few special items at additional cost after the standard menu. They have a BYOB policy which is a very nice and cost saving feature. FOOD 9/10 Service 9/10 and Value 10/10.
Restaruanat Week in NYC continues with our dinner at Boulud Sud. Daniel doesn’t dissappiont at his Mediterranean outlet. The food and service are “Star” worthy of course I’m referring to Michelin Stars. We actually enjoyed every course served. The food preparation was flawless with service to match. We started with Lemon Saffron Pasta which was a repeat from our lunch a couple of days ago if we repeat a dish nothing more has to be said. The octopus was melt in your mouth tender. Mains both fish and lamb were cooked as ordered and seasoned nicely. The Grapefruit Givre was simply outstanding !! A marvelous experience !!
Food 9/10 Service 9/10 and value 8.5/10…..its hard to get above a 8.5 for value in NYC….LOL
I decided to try some California heath food. This is my first time at an In and Out burger so I did some research and ordered off menu items. I had the Double-Double Animal burger and Animal fries. The burger was excellent nice combination of toppings, condiments and meat. Crunchy and delicious. Fries were fresh and hot , I wouldn’t recommend the Animal fries it’s a bit much.
Our first visit to the “New” Union Square Cafe…I wish it were still the old USC !! It has a very corporate vibe to it unlike the warmer local cafe of days past. They have insituted a non-tipping policy which has some advantges to the employees but certainly the extra wages are pasted along to the consumer in the pricing. We sat at the bar on a very slow afternoon and service was just OK, friendly but not very professional.
We had an excellent: Fritto Misto at 24 dollars:
Calamari, Oysters, Asparagus, Peppers.
We also tried 3 Pastas:(prices are for full orders, half and mid course sizes available):
Pappardelle 37 dollars
Cacciatore Ragu, Castelvetrano Olives, Pecorino Romano
Ricotta Gnocchi 33 dollars
Tomato Basil Passatina, Pecorino
Tagliatelle 35 dollars
Snow Peas, Pea Leaves, Lemon Ricotta
All the pastas dishes were good but not nothing worthy of returning for. These are not Marea or Babbo level pastas.
Dessert: Stores Pavlova was sick in the best way !!!
Beverage Program is huge: they have a great selection of local beers and creative cocktail program as well. The house wine list is poor to say the least I couldn’t find a wine that I would drink at the 25 dollar a glass and below level. The wines and cocktails are designed to max out the profits per square foot. Certainly nice for a special occasion but the pricing would wear on you if you frequented the place.
The scores are Service 7/10, Food 7.5/10 and value 7/10.
Le Bernardin has been around the NYC dining scene for decades. It’s a seafood based restaurant with a meat and vegetable dish thrown in for those guest that come with the seafood lovers. If your not a seafood fan there are much better options at other resteraunts. Proper attire is required in the dining room (jackets for gentlemen). We had the Chef’s tasting menu at $225 dollars per head with the wine pairings for an additional $145 each. This does not include coffee which is $5 per cup, rather petty after ordering a $740 dollar meal.
Each and every course was plated beautifully and was of the highest quality available for the season. The salmon was farmed this time of year, personally I would rather have skip it and had something else wild had I noticed beforehand. The preparation was excellent however it was not flawless; the Dove Sole was overcooked. The wine pairings where very nice with familiar quality labels.
Le Bernardin is a special place that I would recomend to any seafood lover. The dining room is elegant and pace of service very relaxed so it’s perfect for couples.
Very authenic Northeastern Thai food on the LES in NYC. I was delighted by the flavors as well as the moderate prices of both food and wine….I would highly reccomend SOMTUM DER to anyone that enjoys Thai food.
We are big fans of Marea so we decided to try the Chef’s other retaraunt during restraint week. Once we got the food we really enjoyed our meal. The pasta was classic MW excellence ! The only problem with Morini is the hostess and coat check people. They seem to want to turn customers away at the door. We had a reservation and were greeted by a hostess throwing down a bar menu and say this is all we have now. When I was given a chance to speak and explained we have a reservation. She huffed off and returned several minutes later to seat us upstairs. Once seated the service was average however the food was very good. The appetizer: calamari alla piastra, creamy fregola, manila clams, spiced mollica was very unique and tasted excellent, we both wanted more. Our pasta course was riccioli: handmade pasta curls, carbonara, rock shrimp, pancetta, pecorino this was a typical Michael White fresh pasta dish we enjoyed the dishes however didn’t enjoy the pancetta. Dessert was a beautiful TORTA DI CIOCCOLATA;
chocolate cake, espresso mascarpone mousse, milk chocolate ganache. It tasted as good as it looks. We were both generally happy with the food and after being contacted by the management about the service issues, we will give it another try soon.
We had a fun night at Lavo !! It’s a large and loud room. Food is average with a few fun items to share like the Basket Ball sized Meatball and huge 20 Layer Cake. Eggplant part was not bad. The vegetable sides had so much sodium my blood pressure spited just short of a stroke…..LOL Drink and food prices aren’t not bad for NYC it’s not Kansas…Service was actually pretty good for such an active place.
Very authenic casual Japanese sushi bar, Omakase only seatings at 6.730 and 9pm. you get only 90 mins to eat and BYOB. We have eaten here several times and quality is always great.
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When I asked Lori what she wanted for her birthday this year she said she’d like to go to Tuscany and visit our friends at the Villa di Piazzano. We’ve been to the Villa many times and always return because to leave the Villa is like leaving relatives behind in Tuscany. Many places can offer a nice room but few can make you feel like family. The Villa itself is a virtual landmark with a long and rich history. The Wimpole family has managed to upgrade and modernize the Villa in tasteful manner adding all the modern amenities you would expect but still maintaining the “Old World” charm. They have recently added a new Sommelier and do wine tastings in the afternoon. We always are sure to dine at least one evening at the Villa with our friend the bubbly Chef Gabriella. Well I can go on forever with our pauses for the Villa but as they say “TRY IT YOU”LL LIKE IT”.
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We celebrated our 15th anniversary at Daniel. After consulting my friend and fellow food Blogger Michael T, we decided on Daniel.
We both ordered the Mayfair Tasting menu which was actually supplemented by a surprise extra course.
The food and service were all outstanding. The uni served with the oysters was my favorite dish if it’s possible to choose a favorite almost like choosing your favorite child.
The wines were expertly paired by a very professional sommelier.
After dinner we had the honor to be invited into the kitchen to meet Chef Eddy Leroux.
We both enjoyed the evening and can’t wait to return.
Do put Daniel on your “to do” list, you won’t be disappointed.
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One of my favorites in Paris: DO NOT MISS SPRING
Here are the details of our lunch
Apetizer:
Crème fraîche de Normandie, onions pickles, Banka Truit’eggs
Fried black sausage form Pays basque, apple compote, mustard sauce with lime and cream
Vegetable broth with leeks and smoked potatoes
Starter:
Maquereau Tataki, mustard shoots, dill, apple juice vinaigrette and buckweat
Main Course:
Lamb saddle from Lozère, olives from Kalamata, sheep milk yogurt & herbs, celery purée & chips, watercress, pigeon juice
& lamb neck with raisins de corinthe
Dessert:
Vacherin : vanillia ice cream, meringue & passion fruit
Chocolate tart
Pineapple & litchees salad with lime
Mango with crispy honey & pistachio.
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Back home on the ranch in the Cortona area of Tuscany, we decided to try some new places. We had a conversation with Alessandra the owner of Villa di Piazzano inquiring about any new and exciting restaurants in the area. She recommended Walter Redaelli. Coincidentally, we ran into her and her family two days later having dinner at Walter Redaelli. We had dinner and lunch at Walter the same day. We liked it so much at lunch we had to try a dinner. Walter uses only the finest locally sourced in season products. Once the bread basket arrived we knew we were in for something special. The wine list was excellent with many of my favorite local wines including a reasonably priced Brunello by the glass. They had the largest Brunello glass we have ever seen. The pasta course consisted of the most wonderful fluffy mushroom and truffle gnocchi topped with a Gorgonzola sauce. We also had the Pici which is a hand rolled pasta served in southern Tuscany. The Pici was prepared with artichokes and a tiny bits of Cinta Sense bacon (local bacon). It was delicately flavored to perfection with parsley from the garden and pecorino cheese. The Primi was the most amazing Beef Carpaccio with a bit of arugula and cheese dressed with a balsamic reduction. We also had a wonderful Salmon Carpiccio with artichokes. In the evening we had a special stewed neck of beef that cut with a fork and melted in your mouth. Deserts were amazing !! Prior to desert we had a tasting of several local chocolates. Of course we finished with a bit of local desert wine… This is truly a fine dining experience in Tuscany!! You cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. We can’t wait to return in the Spring and try the seasonal specials.
53040 Bettolle –
Sinalunga (Siena)
Via XXI Aprile, 10
Tel. / Fax 0577 623447
cell: 335 397648
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We decided to have dinner out locally in Delray Beach this evening. Brule Bistro has gone through a major renovation the past year. It was previously a self serve lunch and to-go place. Now it is a full service Bistro. Overall the food was pretty good. The wine list was adequate although the servers really have not had any formal wine training which is to be expected at a small establishment. The Zucchini blossom tasted great however arrived at the table a little on the cool side. The Salad with goat cheese was good but a little bit of a cliche. I had the Tile fish special with lobster risotto and wine sauce reduction. The fish was excellent and cooked to perfection. The risotto was good however the wine sauce was a bit overpowering. Lori had the Diver Scallops which she loved I tasted them and they were ok, a bit over seared their not supposed to be “Southern Fried” Scallops. To the chef’s credit they were not overcooked in the middle and still remained tender. For desert we had banana bread pudding with Bourbon ice cream it’s excellent! We will definitely return and recommend you give it a try. This is about as good as it gets in Delray Beach.
