Virgin Atlantic

I have been completely remiss with my blogging duties for scads and scads of reasons (not least of which is that whenever I press “save draft” – as I did 10 minutes ago – my entire post gets eaten, instead of being saved), which I won’t fully get into here. However, I recently made my first trip to London – my first time ever in the mother country! – mother to the United States, that is, not MY mother’s country – and chose to fly Virgin Atlantic, mostly because I’ve enjoyed flying Virgin America on my fairly regular trips out to the West Coast. (Though I haven’t really blogged about those flights, I did make mention of being upgraded to Main Cabin Select and my experience there once… and I will certainly be flying Virgin America when I eventually bring my doggie on that cross country flight.) I guess that means it’s time for some more travel blogging! Been a while, eh? A late evening flight meant that we were served dinner as soon as we leveled off in the air. ... [continue reading]

Spina

Back in March, I was invited to a pasta tasting at Spina in the East Village, so I tapped Minty to join me. The menu had the logo embossed on its leather cover… kinda cool. As this was a tasting, everything was chosen for us. First up: wild mushroom polenta; goat cheese polenta covered with wild mushrooms and chicken jus. I loved the wild mushroom assortment on top, but was less enamored of the goat cheese polenta. However, Minty raved about this and said it was both his favorite dish of the night and that he wanted more. Next up: meatballs made of veal, beef and pork, served with a tomato sauce and parmigiano reggiano. These are actually included in their happy hour special – I believe $5 for an order. Tender, tasty bites, pretty good meatballs actually. The best I’ve had? not by a long shot. But satisfying in their own way. I was really happy the winter salad (shaved brussels sprouts, avocado, cranberries, apples, pumpkin seeds, parmigiano reggiano, lemon dressing) landed in front of me. This had everything I like... [continue reading]

Momofuku Ssam Bar – duck dinner

When someone invites you to join in their Momofuku Ssam Bar duck reservation, you say yes… oh yes indeed. And when they ask you if you’d like to start the meal with some uni, you also say yes. Uni topped with grilled croutons that were brushed with something spicy, topped with a sheet of ham gelatin. Loved the play of textures and flavors – uni is quite soft on its own, but the spicy croutons added a really nice crunch to the dish, while the ham gelatin offered a savory sweetness to the dish. I shouldn’t mention that there was a lot of alcohol flowing as well. The duck dinner comes with your choice of two sides, and I picked the pickle plate. It came with a nice assortment of various pickled veggies, all of which were truly lovely and perfect foils to the richer meat accompanying. The other side choice was the broccoli salad – which came very lightly dressed with a creamy dressing and topped with crumbly bits of bacon – was freaking awesome. I really enjoyed how crunchy they’d cooked the broccoli,... [continue reading]

The JHouse Greenwich

I was recently invited to spend a weekend at the fairly-recently-opened JHouse Greenwich and enjoy all the amenities they offer. So I grabbed the bestie and off we went on a quick weekend trip – The JHouse is only 30-45 minutes outside NYC (depending on traffic). The Chocolate Lab makes all their own chocolates, and sent us some bonbons to enjoy in our room. Bestie enjoyed these greatly. Our first night there, we enjoyed dinner at eleven14. Tuna tartare Beef tartare Lobster salad (special) Kale salad Seared duck breast Perfectly cooked, super tender skirt steak with mushroom medley Brownies and ice cream Pear tart with chambord gelato. After stuffing ourselves silly, it was time to head to the room and end the night. The place was packed with people enjoying late dinners, cocktails, the bar was pretty crowded… lively scene, which was surprising in a small town like Greenwich. The next morning, we woke up and headed back for breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice. This early on a Saturday morning, the restaurant was... [continue reading]

Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter

A few days after I returned from my most recent trip to SF, I headed over to Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter for some fried chicken – no, I hadn’t had my fix at Pollo Campero, never enough fried chicken! – and to take Dessert Zombie out as thanks for watching my little monster aka my baby aka my dog, Keywee, while I was in SF. I actually visited Bobwhite months ago – back in August, I believe – while I was on my blogging hiatus, and had enjoyed it, but thought it was time to return and document the experience using something other than my phone. *I visited back in August after reading a blurb in a magazine where Chef Michael White mentioned it as one of his favorite places for fried chicken. Thanks for the hat tip! Collards on the left, mac and cheese on the right, and in the middle: one of the day’s specials, a brussels sprouts, beets and pickled onion “relish” of sorts that I couldn’t stop eating. So good – crunchy, tender, pickled, sweet, just the perfect combination of... [continue reading]

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