We eat early so I’m ready for a nap. I would normally try to get all introspective here and make a list of what I am thankful for, but therapy has worn off and I’m not in that space today. So all you get is a sincere wish that you have a great day with whomever you are spending it with and a lot of cyberspace hugs and air kisses. Happy Turkey Day to all!
I hadn’t been to NYC in 6 years and my friend hadn’t been there since she was a teenager so there was a lot of tourista action going on. Both of the hotels we stayed at were near Rockefeller Center, so that area was our home base. The last time I was in NYC, I really liked that area as well since there is good shopping and lots to see.
Like St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
And the famous Prometheus.
Radio City Music Hall is there as well. (I want to see Kings of Leon there!)
But I think my favorite random find was the Sephora that is in the historic Scribner’s and Sons building.
This is the entrance:
Inside is gorgeous as well:
We were also a few blocks away from Times Square. On Sunday afternoon, we went to Maxie’s for lunch. The place was a bit spendy for what you get ($22 for a sandwich), but this is what a sandwich looks like:
So I guess it’s all relative. We split the sandwich and then had cheesecake for dessert. Really good. Then we talked around Times Square for a bit.
I was really digging the Paramount Building, where the Hard Rock Café currently resides.
I really wanted to head up the Empire State Building, but when we went down there, the wait was an hour and a half and that wasn’t happening. The thing about NYC is that you’ll never get to do everything you want to do in a trip, so you pretty much have to pick and choose your battles and just go with the flow. I probably have one more NYC post and then I’ll be back to the rawk. It was good to get away but I am so ready to get back to normal.
For the night of my friend’s 30th, we headed down to Greenwich Village to check out Perilla. This is the recently opened restaurant of Harold, the winner of season one of Top Chef. We walked through the neighborhood a bit and arrived a little early. That was fine since they had a table open, so they seated us early. I noticed the indie rock soundtrack right away (who plays Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in a restaurant? I also caught Shins and Interpol before I tuned out.) After starting with the house signature cocktail, a 9 Jones (vodka, cointreau, ginger and lime, with a sprig of mint), I was all ready to eat. They brought out bread with an infused olive oil and we happily munched away until we got our appetizers. I ordered the spicy duck meatballs. When it arrived, there was a raw ostrich egg in it which the waitress told me to mix in (duh.) My friend had the beef carpaccio. Yum. The meatballs weren’t that spicy, but they were really good. I ordered the roasted duckling for dinner. (If you’ve ever eaten with me, you’ll know that if there is duck on the menu, I am ordering it. I’m predictable that way.) My friend ordered the skirt steak. Both of us pretty much had food orgasms once we had those first bites. For dessert, she had the chocolate cake and I had the buttermilk glace which had blueberries on it. Again, no complaints there. And our bill wasn’t that horrendous either. For the two of us (we both had two cocktails and shared a bottle of Pelligrino), the bill was a mere $175. (That was with a 20% tip.)
Oh, and we got some extra entertainment on the side. When we were waiting for our appetizers, someone walked in and sat at the bar (our table was right near the bar). After a bit, my friend told me that the guy was none other than Steven from Top Chef (also known as the asshole sommelier). He was a piece of work. He was talking up the maitre ‘d telling him all about what he was doing. And I couldn’t stop staring at his ridiculously white (Prada?) loafers. But overhearing that convo was good because we found out that Harold was actually in the kitchen that night and was running the grill, so our food was actually made by him. Awesome.
I stealthed a camera phone photo. Look at that haircut and the shoes! Ouch. I’m still laughing.
So good to be back. Went to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition again and spent some serious time in the photo room, which was really cool. These were the working proofs she used to put her book together. And they had different postcards in the gift shop, so score. Then it was off to the Prado, but way busy in there, so we made the executive decision to check out Modus on 4th and Ivy.
You can go two ways when eating at Modus…a bunch of appetizers or a full entrée. We kinda did a mixture of both. The Pomme Frites were perfect. I also had the House Made Charcuterie, mostly because I was intrigued by the Foie Gras Crème Brulee. If you go and actually order this, you should start at the Duck Confit Rilettes, then the Chicken Liver Mousse. The Salami and the Pork Galantine fits in well after those two. You have to save the Foie Gras for last. It’s a little sweet and that could be weird if you’re expecting it to be a savory foie gras.
Other things that were ordered at our table were the Avocado and Beets salad, the Beef Carpaccio, Wild Mexican Tiger Shrimp, some sort of garlic soup (not on the menu that I see) and the Free Range Chicken. Everyone seemed pretty happy with what they ordered.
We actually had dessert as well because there were so many tempting choices. We ended up with ice cream with heart shaped waffles, a Meyer lemon cake with some sort of berry sauce, and a kicked up version of Smores (my choice) that was a marshmallow tart with a chocolate glaze and then a chocolate cookie on the side. Yum-o.
The cocktail menu was also creative – The Ruby Sipper and the Fresh Start were my two choices.
Yes, yes, a little pricey (I was glad to get out of there with a $70 tab) but well worth the atmosphere and the adventure in cuisine.
There’s a chain of restaurants in Texas called La Madeleine that I discovered the last time I was here. (Actually a business partner of mine turned me onto the place. Like me, he travels for work and has become a foodie just out of the fact that you get about 40 odd dollars a day to spend while out on the road.) Anyways, they have really good sammiches (Croque Monsieur!) and incredible desserts. After watching Ugly Betty, (another great thing about this place, tv comes on an hour earlier) I headed out to get something for my sweet tooth. They had already started putting things away, but there were cream puffs and caramel creme brulee staring at me. I also picked up some chocolate cherry cookies. Good thing I hit the hotel gym this afternoon while I was doing my laundry.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, I am in Texas and it’s snowing. WTF? I walked out to my car this morning and it was covered in ice/snow. The hotel’s front desk had an ice scraper, so I went at the ice. As I was scraping away, someone walked by and told me to start up the car and crank up the defrost. The lightbulb went on and I did that and it was much easier to get the ice off. Then I drove the .5 miles to the office and there was snow on the ground. We are expecting an inch of snow today. Thank god for room service is all I can say to that.
And, Faith, I saw that it is 6 degrees in KC. I don’t know how you do it, I really don’t.
P.S. All the Starbuck’s here are drive throughs. I drove straight past the ordering area but since there was no one behind me, I just backed up and tried again. I guess it happens all the time. (You + no coffee = drive past the ordering area) Also, I went to Carrabba’s last night and got cannoli to go on the recommendation that it is the bomb for breakfast. No arguments on that.
I saw this recipe yesterday and I thought I would try it since I had all those leftovers in the fridge.
Turkey Casserole
10 oz. cooked turkey, diced
16 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into strips
1 (1.75 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (1.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (7 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
8 0z. shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a mixing bowl, combine the soups, chiles, and sour cream. Line the bottom if a 8x12 baking pan with the corn tortillas. Follow with a layer of turkey. Pour soup mixture over turkey, sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat layers and top with cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
My notes: I didn’t have that much turkey, but had a lot of ham left over. So I ended up with turkey and ham casserole. Still yummy. And I didn’t measure out the turkey/ham. I got a bowl that holds a cup and filled it twice. Also, screw using a mixing bowl for the liquid mixture. Get the biggest glass measuring cup you have (mine holds 4 cups) and mix it in there. Much easier to pour.
