Restaurant Review: The Backyard at Solé East, Montauk

This past weekend was my last out in Montauk for the Summer. Sad. But I'm excited to head home to Cleveland for Labor day.  I'm seriously wondering where Summer went. I got some solid eating, drinking and running in out in MTK this weekend.  My 3 faves.  This past Saturday Citizen Cope was playing a free concert in The Backyard at Solé East so we went for an early dinner and some tunes. The Backyard at Solé East is the restaurant of the hotel. It's a very hip but welcoming scene with a relaxed bar, pool area, and really 'homey backyard' feel to it. 

I started off with a cocktail - The Trevor: Ketel One, Soda, Watermelon & Lime. So refreshing, light and not too sweet.  Had more than one of these guys. 

It was perfect lighting for pictures so feast your eyes on this food line-up:

The Bread - Yum. Comes with Butter with Roasted Garlic, EVOO and Balsamic Glaze. Had to.

Bottomless Carbs

The Backyard Salad: Mixed Greens, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Beets, Chickpeas, and Hearts of Palm. 

Tasted like it was just picked in the garden.  Huge, fresh, and summery salad. Great to start with and share to get some greens in.

Backyard Salad

Fluke Ceviche - Served with Jalapenos and Plantains.

Couldn't have been more fresh and light slightly spiced with the Jalapeno. I could've had about 3 plates of this. 

Fluke Ceviche

Grilled Local Squid- Served with Guacamole and Balsamic.  

Fresh Guacamole paired with anything is heaven and this octopus is tender and chewy with a subtle grilled taste.

Grilled Local Squid

Tuna Tartare - Served with Ginger, Soy, Wasabi, Cucumber, and Black Sesame Seeds (and some kind of delicious cracker).

A plate full of some of my favorite things - Definitely recommend this if you like Tuna Tartare.

Tuna Tartare

Grilled Tilefish - Simply Grilled with Lemon and EVOO.
Right out of the ocean and perfectly grilled, mild and buttery. Summer on a plate.

Grilled Tilefish

Skirt Steak - Grilled and topped with Chimchurri Sauce

Lovelovelove the color of the Chimchurri on the steak. To be honest, I didn't try this, but I heard it was good and that the Chimcurri was spicy!

Skirt Steak

I definitely recommend going on the early side to The Backyard to enjoy being outside in a relaxing setting -- Citizen Cope playing in the background was pretty cool. There are no water views, but it really is beautiful back there. Also, the service seriously went downhill as the night went on, but it was good in the beginning. It's a great spot for big groups and obviously, fresh fish! Oh, and I was a BIG fan of the cocktails. Nom nom. Love the summertime. Cheers!

Restaurant Review: South Edison, Montauk

Fresh fish is the best in the summer. I spent the past weekend eating some seriously fresh fish out in Montauk – Fluke, Scallops, Tuna, Sea Bass, Salmon, Octopus, Clams, Oysters. I rarely go out to restaurants while in Montauk, but this past weekend I went to South Edison, one of Montauk’s best fish restaurant.  South Edison also has an equally delicious sister restaurant in NYC’s Midtown East: Crave Fishbar. I’ve also been to Crave and also love it there.  South Edison is right in the middle of town. It’s a pretty small restaurant but has 2 cool bars. It’s everything you want in a beach town restaurant – causal, laid-back, bright decor, and is just 2 blocks from the ocean.

Here were the highlights:

Oysters – Fresh, creamy, delicious. If you’re in MTK, you should probably order some oysters.

Their Famous Carrot & Clam Chowder with Littleneck clams – So good and creative. Light and perfectly salty/sweet.  A little lacking on the clams, but I was happy enough with the Carrot Chowder alone.

Carrot & Clam Chowder

Olive Oil Braised Baby Octopus Tacos – Mushroom, pickled red onion, cream, queso cotija, tomatillo salsa, serrano chile

I thought these sounded unreal and I think my expectations were a bit too high. They were good, but nothing to go crazy over.  For tacos, they were a bit bland, and the octopus itself lacked flavor and texture. I obviously still ate the entire thing.

Olive Oil Braised Baby Octopus Tacos

Scallop Tartar – Bean sprout, apricot puree, beet chip, blood orange and dill vinaigrette. Loved this a lot. The scallops were melt in your mouth.  

Scallop Tartar

Seared Yellowfin Tuna – Harissa cauliflower puree, heirloom bean, cilantro, wheatberry, castelvetrano oil

The tuna itself was perfectly cooked and delicious. I loved the sides and flavors of everything that it came with, but the puree/bean/wheatberry flavors were a little overpowering with the fresh tuna. I also found beans and tuna to be an odd pairing.  I liked everything on the plate a lot – I just preferred to eat the tuna on its own. I would still recommend this though.  

Seared Yellowfin Tuna

Sea Bass – My favorite of the dinner. Order this if it’s on the menu. Ate it too quickly to snap a photo. It was served over black rice with cherry tomatoes and a light glaze - don't remember much other than it being delish. 

Street Corn – Sunflower aioli, lime, ancho chili, cotija. Yup. Don’t order this if you want a ‘vegetable’ by any means.

Street Corn (somewhere under there is actual corn)

When I go back I definitely want to try their desserts. Both tables next to us got the 5 Year Anniversary Sundae - This is 5 scoops of Stracciatella Ice Cream, a Chocolate Chip Blondie, Caramel Chocolate Sauce, and Chantilly Cream. It was huge and looked just as heavenly as it sounds. They also have a pretty great cocktail menu that I'd like to hit up. Highly recommend South Edison if you're looking for a fresh and local spot in Montauk.

Summer Dinner Party in the City

First, I have to share this great pic I took on my run Friday morning -- I rarely make it over to the East River and loved running by the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. 

This past weekend was my first in the city all summer.  The forecast wasn't great and a lot of my friends and roommates had left for the weekend. When I woke up Saturday morning I was really looking forward to just having nothing to do. I knew this feeling would not last long and needed a plan.  It's been a long, long time since I've seriously cooked so I decided to invite some friends over and host a dinner party in the new apartment.  It was great to have a day all to myself - I went to Pilates, took a 3 hour nap, read on our roof, and then was pumped to look up recipes, pick a summery menu, head to Whole Foods and start cooking and drinking wine. 

The Menu:

Minty Pea Dip & Guacamole

Arugula & White Bean Salad

Farro Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumber, Corn & Basil

Grilled Chicken & Turkey Burgers (bought these from Whole Foods)

Lots of Wine & Limoncello 

The Arugula salad was so easy and light. The only thing I really added to this was a homemade dressing. I also had the white beans "marinate" in some of the dressing for about 15 minutes before mixing them in with the arugula to give them some extra flavor. This salad would be great with added cherry tomatoes, onions or crumbled Feta.

For the dressing:

2 Tablespoons EVOO

2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard 

Garlic Salt, Salt & Pepper 

A Dash of Soy Sauce 

*100% guessing on all of these measurements

I'm still thinking about Charlie Bird's Farro salad so I attempted to make something similar. I tweaked this recipe a bit and added corn, Parmesan cheese, and a little garlic salt.  I also used a little bit less olive oil and went heavier on the Red Wine Vinegar. It was my first time making Farro and I am horrible at estimating how much food to make and doubled the recipe  -- It was WAY too much and could have fed a dinner party of literally 25 people (we were 8), but it was delish and will make for great leftovers. 

Here's the full plate with a Turkey Burger -- so light, fresh, and healthy. 

Such a fun summer night in the city!