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!

Summertime Minty Pea & Avocado Dip

Summer goes hand in hand with dips. Today's recipe is one of my absolute favorite dips of all time -- Minty Pea & Avocado Dip.  It's super light, refreshing, healthy, and great with a glass of white wine while watching the sunset. It also takes about 5 minutes to make. 

My aunt discovered the original recipe from Dinner: A Love Story. I made a few alterations to her recipe substituting half of an avocado for the olive oil and leaving out the Parmesan cheese.  These subs cut around 500 calories, making it even healthier and just as delicious.  

Ingredients:

1 cup thawed frozen peas

1/2 ripe avocado 

Juice from half of a lemon

Handful of fresh mint

Salt 

Minty Pea Dip is always a crowd-pleaser and literally disappears within minutes.  I like to dip rice crackers or veggies in it, but you could use it as a spread on sandwiches and toast, on salads, or even with pasta. Make this pronto.

NYC Restaurant Review: Gato

Gato, NoHo

Fun cocktails, good wine, cool vibes, unique eats and celeb sights AKA all things Gato. Oh, and Bobby Flay.  Gato is a restaurant with a lot of hype, and while a lot of it could be attributed to Bobby, I think it deserves every bit of it.

I was lucky enough to snag a reservation at Gato a few weeks ago with one of my best girlfriends. She had actually already been to Gato. She loved it and was dying to go back and try more of the menu.  I’ll get more into said menu later, but it really is an amazing thing – extremely diverse, creative, and truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen. 

Let me start with first impressions – Gato has a downtown, funky, modern, fun, and casual setting. There’s an awesome big bar in the center of the restaurant which sets the energy for the whole restaurant (which is a pretty big space).  The bar also serves the whole menu and has great lounge seating so it’s definitely worth trying this option sans reservation. We were there on a Wednesday around 7:30 and there was still some space at the bar to drink and/or eat.

While we waited for our table we started with a cocktail at the bar. Well, the first cocktail on the menu, the PACO, is Ketel One Vodka, Blood Orange Juice, and Cava.  This couldn’t have been more of a shoe-in for me and I LOVED it. It didn’t hurt that Bobby Flay walked right past me while I sipped on it. Something pretty terrible was going to need to happen for me to dislike this place.

We were seated after a few minutes.  When the server came over, he immediately recognized my friend. Like I said, she had been to Gato 3 weeks prior, and I thought it was pretty impressive that he remembered her. He was obviously a gem. Our table location was ideal because we had a direct view into the kitchen so we could watch Bobby work his magic during our entire meal.

We ordered wine after our cocktails – We asked the sommelier for a medium-bodied red in the $40/50 range, and he sold us on a $60 2012 Moreson. It was delish and worth the extra $10.  And to top it off, the sommelier brought over complimentary glasses of champagne to apologize for the unintentional upsell. Good job with your servers, Bobby.

Now onto the food. The menu is full of crazy flavors, combinations, and creative dishes, so it’s a good restaurant to go with a big group to try as many things as possible. There were only 2 of us, but we were able to cover a good amount of the menu and not end the meal feeling horrible about ourselves.

We started with the bar plates which are a must order to try lots of flavors. I loved the 3 we ordered and need to come back and try the entire bar menu. Each one is the perfect size to split between 2 people. We got:
1. Piquillo filled with Raw Tuna and Saffron Sauce (left) – This had a spicy and roasted kick to it and balanced well with the tuna.
2. Eggplant with Manchego, Oregano, Balsamic (middle) – Melt in your mouth mini Eggplant Parmesan. The Balsamic is tangy and compliments the Manchego perfectly.
3. Beef Crudo with Pickled Fresno Chiles (right) – This tasted like a smooth and spicy salsa with tender beef...So yes, very good.

Bar Plates

Next we ordered 3 appetizers, again with a goal to try as many different things as possible.

First, we had the Scrambled Egg Appetizer – They’re served with Almond Romesco, Boucheron Cheese, and Tomato Confit toast.  If you like cheese, order this. It is a glorified cheese dip with some great toast. It's hard to go wrong with some melted cheese but it did not blow me away.
 

Scrambled Eggs

Second, we got the Soft Shell Crab Crostini with Tomato, Basil and Smoked Paprika – I was a big fan of this. I thought it was a unique way of serving both crab and crostini.  The crab had tons of flavor.

Crab Crostini

Our last appetizer was the Roasted Octopus with Sour Orange, Bacon, and Oregano. Delicious -- So many flavors and a big chunk of tender and perfectly charred octopus. 

Roasted Octopus

For our main, we split an entrée and a vegetable.

Our entrée was the much raved about Kale and Wild Mushroom Paella with Crispy Artichokes and Egg.  This seems to be Gato’s signature dish and for good reason. I love anything with some yolk porn and vegetables. They mix it up for you right at the table. Each bite is a little different -- creamy, salty, and served over crunchy rice to balance it all out. Order this.

For our vegetable, we got the Charred Carrots with Parsnips Chips, Harissa, Mint and Yogurt – I’ve never had carrots like this before. Crispy, sweet, and the sauce is pretty incredible. The only issue was that they were served next to the Paella which I couldn't stop eating.

Paella and Carrots

To top the meal off, they gave us some complimentary Sherry (yum) and excellent biscotti.  We also ordered the Espresso Soaked Bread Budding with Mascrapone crema, and cocoa.  This tasted just like Tiramisu. It was good but probably not worth ordering (unless you're really into Tiramisu). 

Espresso Soaked Bread Pudding

I rarely want to go back to a restaurant as badly as I want (need) to get back to Gato.  Everything you eat there really just makes you want to try more of the menu. It’s a great spot for a girls dinner, date night, or special occasion.  Also, it’s good for celeb sightings – We saw Chrissy Teigen, too. Bobby knows what he's doing and it doesn't hurt that he's there every night. Our waiter told us he's only missed 2 nights since the restaurant's March opening -- impressive. Gato is a great addition to the neighborhood – It’s a lively atmosphere, bumping bar scene, excellent service, and a fun menu.  

Bobby's Butt ;)

Roasted Banana Granola Recipe

I’ve been meaning to take a stab at homemade granola for awhile and it finally happened last night. I’m moving apartments next week (SoHo - YAY!), and we have a ton of random food in our apartment that I’m attempting to get creative with and use in the next week. There are a lot of great things about granola, but what I really love is how you can throw just about anything you like into it and most of the ingredients are things you usually already have in your pantry.

If you haven’t figured this out already, I will put bananas into anything possible, so I decided to make ‘Banana Bread’ Granola. The Minimalist Baker was my recipe inspiration (click here for her recipe). I just tweaked/added a few different ingredients.  It was super easy and quick and the best part - it made my apartment smell amaaazing.

The final product tasted like a crunchy fusion of banana bread and oatmeal cookies also known as my heaven. 

DRY INGREDIENTS:
2.5 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup shaved almonds

1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup craisins

WET INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tbsp Williams Sonoma Graham-Crack Butter (Any Speculoos Spread would work)

2 bananas pureed (about 1 cup)

There are only a few easy steps for this recipe:
1. Heat oven at 350
2. Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl.
3. Simmer and mix all of the wet ingredients (minus the banana puree) over low heat. Once mixed, take off the heat and mix in the banana puree.
4. Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and stir it all up.
5. Spread your mixture evenly (thickness can range from completely thin to about 1 inch thick) onto a baking sheet.
6. Cook for 25-30 minutes. I mixed the granola in the middle of the baking process to ensure even crisping and some crumbles.
7. When you take it out of the oven, stir it up to release some heat, and let it cool completely either on the baking sheet or a separate bowl.

Dry ingredients before:

Wet ingredients mixed:

Dry & wet mixed together before the oven:

The granola right out of the oven:

The three servings I immediately consumed: 

Then with Almond Milk - yum

 

What’s great is it’s gluten-free, vegan, and packed with flavor and nutrition.  It’s crunchy, nutty, salty, sweet, and you should make it. I like it with almond milk, but it’d be delicious over yogurt, in a smoothie, or all by itself (how I’m eating it right now). Enjoy!

Restaurant Review: Charlie Bird

Charlie Bird, SoHo

Last night I had a truly amazing ‘New York’ moment – actually I had a few of them.  I was walking down 6^th ave on my way to dinner at Lure Fishbar when I stumbled upon the unassuming awning and patio of Charlie Bird.  Having read probably 500 reviews of this restaurant and tried countless times to get a reservation, I actually felt like I was having a celebrity sighting. I can’t even describe my excitement level when A. I saw the place and B. they said they could seat us.  At this point, I’m pretty sure I was jumping up and down while screaming.

I had very high expectations for Charlie Bird, and I knew it would deliver. Charlie Bird is great because it strikes a perfect balance on all levels – ambiance, service, menu. The scene is the epitome of New York, downtown ‘cool’ yet cozy and simple.  It’s a modern yet rustic vibe. The restaurant is lined with exposed brick, huge windows, candles, and vibrant, modern art. Even the music they play works into their scene -- think Kanye, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi and 50 cent.  The service is professional and casual.  The wine list is long, diverse, and affordable. We got a bottle of the French J. Boutin Rhone – delish. All of this and the food is incredible. 

Love this menu

Now about that food. It’s an American menu with lots of influences - mostly Italian ….I’ll break it down for you:

Grilled Octopus ‘Saltimbocca’ – Ceci Beans, Sage and Prosciutto
Perfectly grilled octopus with an amazing charred texture and flavor on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The prosciutto bits are a nice touch, too.

Razor Clams with Fennel and Pickled Chiles
Served raw and chopped in the shell. I loved the chiles alongside the fresh and light clams.  Definitely recommend.

Farro Salad – Pistachio, Favas, Mint and Parmigiano
I could and would eat this salad all day.  Don’t underestimate the power of fresh mint and parmesan.  Order this.

Spaghettini Nero – Dungeness Crab, Chiles and Meyer Lemon
I’m becoming a bigger fan of black spaghetti every time I order it.  This is served in a light lemon sauce with flaky chunks of crab in it. It comes with an awesome house-made chili sauce (which I’d like to purchase by the bottle). And they were nice enough to split the dish into 2 bowls for us. 

Roasted Chicken with Crispy Bit Salad
Chicken is something I almost never order while out. I owe Immaculate Infatuation a big thank you for recommending this dish because it was unbelievable. It’s served in 4-5 pieces of sliced chicken. It tastes like a quality fried chicken but without the heavy and overwhelming ‘fried’ flavor. It’s moist with slightly crunchy and flaky skin.  The crispy bread salad, chicken liver pate, and charred-leek ricotta are good mixed together or separately with the chicken making every bite a little bit different and equally delicious. The other large plates on the menu will tempt you, but do yourself a favor, and order the chicken.

Slow Roasted Spiced Carrots, Buttermilk, Rye and Hazelnuts
The carrots actually had a very similar texture to the chicken - flaky and crispy skin with a smooth interior.  The spiced sauce had an Indian influence. These carrots are definitely different and interesting – worth ordering and made me want to try their other vegetable combos.

Surprisingly this did not feel like an overwhelming amount of food for two people.  The ingredients are all fresh so everything is pretty light (maybe not the chicken pate). You actually feel like you’re being somewhat healthy.  The two dishes that impressed and surprised me the most were the Farro Salad and Roasted Chicken.  These are 2 dishes you see on so many menus these days, but Charlie Bird really did them exceptionally.

I cannot wait to come back to Charlie Bird again and again (with or without a reservation).  I’d love to sit at the bar or on their patio and try everything on their menu – the raw bar, pastas, desserts, and wine.  Charlie Bird gets it. If you love New York, food, wine, or need a throwback hip-hop fix, go to Charlie Bird.