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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Saxon + Parole

My hometown buddy Angus and his lovely wife Sallie were in NYC this weekend. Rob and I met them for dinner last night at Saxon + Parole on Bowery. Two of Sallie's college friends joined as well. Great company, and such a good meal!

Portobello mushroom mousse, PAROLE whiskey jelly 

Honestly, these scallops of Rob's may have been my favorite dish, and I only got one bite. I should have gone with my intial urge to order them, but I switched once he got them. Big mistake!
Grilled scallops, roasted cauliflower puree, golden raisin relish, pistachios


Steamed asparagus, poached egg, crispy pancetta, truffle-yuzu hollandaise

Foie gras, kumquat & mustard relish, toasted brioche

Roasted butternut squash barley risotto, Tuscan kale, toasted sunflower seeds


Seared salmon, sweet potato puree, grilled scallion, caper-raisin emulsion




Hanger steak with bone marrow and a side of cauliflower and gruyere gratin

Roasted Chatham cod, kohlrabi, salsify, lobster sauce

popcorn trifle
chiffon cake, vanilla pandan custard, malt vinegar gelee

Moveable Feast in Brooklyn

Memorial Day weekend, Rob and I ventured over to Caracas Arepas in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When my friend Jason came to town, he asked for food recs on Facebook. Someone swore by this place, so I was intrigued!
We got three kinds. One had pork, one was guacamole and chicken, and another one had plantains and beans. Or hell, maybe there were plantains in with the pork one too? I forget. They were all delicious! Plus the place had a cool garden in the back. Fun field trip!
The rest of these pics are kinda gnarly, to be honest, but I'll show you anyway. I had obviously had entirely too much wine when I thought this was photo-worthy -- these are the mussels Rob and I had later on in the afternoon once the arepas had burned off.
It rained, so we got stuck inside a really cool restaurant (Sweetwater...a place Travis and I randomly discovered last fall). We made the most of it drinking wine, eating mussels and having this amazing gnocchi with cheese and truffle oil.
Let me just round out the Memorial Day eat-a-log by telling you that on Friday night we had a great meal at a Latin place on Greenwich Ave. It's called Yerba Buena. Come to think of it, that's why we ended up having arepas on Saturday, because we had some absolutely amazing pork arepas at on Friday. They had cole slaw on top...wow...I'm getting hungry again just thinking about them!

This paella was good too, but those arepas really rocked my world.

Burger Challenge

Rob and his friend Kyle mentioned on Memorial Day they wanted to do a "burger challenge." I chuckled to myself, knowing they wouldn't have anywhere near the organization and staminia to do a TRUE food challenge!

For that, you need a super-leader like my friend Anne. During the summer of 2005, she organized a BBQ challenge for us in Charlotte. It was serious...we had an official spreadsheet, and we visited various BBQ establishments to rate them in a number of categories, from the quality of their sides to the sweetness of their tea. (Yes, of course we evaluated the main event, the meat, but we were very thorough!)

Anyway, I haven't heard another peep from the boys about their challenge, but here are a few of my favorite burgers of late. This was Pop Burger near Union Square. I think this was called the Superman Burger? It had fried pickles. Good stuff!! The tots were OK, but I wouldn't waste my calories on those again.
Last Saturday, I got a burger at BLT on Sixth Avenue. It was one of those perfect burger days...I'd worked out hard that morning, showered and dressed, so I was good and famished by the time I sat down for this. I got blue cheese on it. Heaven!!

Volunteer Weekend

One thing that has been really lacking since I moved to NYC is my volunteer life. Last weekend I got back on track!

On Friday night, I spent the night at a shelter for homeless women run by St. Barts Church on Park Ave. I was paired with an experienced volunteer to help me get oriented, and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon. It's a 12-hour shift, but you sleep through most of it, so it goes by quickly.

The next morning was Citi's 200th anniversary! We celebrated with Global Community Day; the company organized volunteer evnets around the world. My team worked with the Red Cross. We stuffed teddy bears, assembled flood and disaster kits, and wrote letters to soldiers. Time well spent...it's about time I started giving back to the city that has given so much to me!

NY Scenes: Here and There

Some of these have been on Facebook...but for my Auntie D and other non-Facebook readers, here are a few recent happenings...

When I was walking to Grand Central one evening, a lady stopped me on the street to compliment my fine taste in footwear!
Pretty summer scene on one of my walks through Battery Park...
Loved getting to see my friend Frances and her sister Ellen. We are hoping this photo of us with fellow Gadsden County native Adam Dyer makes it into the Havana Herald! Frances brought an issue with her nephew's Appalachian Trail hike on the cover.
Great fun last Saturday celebrating Jason's belated birthday on Matt's amazing rooftop...
Love the days I have meeting in our Wall Street office...the view beats the pants off our snoozy Park Avenue view in Midtown...
Kurt and I got to enjoy a corporate perk...a teambuilding event to watch the Mets take on the Orioles! It was a perfectly mild summer night...we were lucky, it shot up to 95 the next day!
Sunbathers in Battery Park on one of the first warm summer weekends...

View from the bathroom at the Top of the Standard...also known as the Boom Boom Room.
Jason's friend Thannos, who is a Greek reporter for Sky News. I told him my photo of him was way bettter than his photo of me...then again, the wind wasn't exactly cooperating!
Another nice afternoon in my favorite spot, the Hudson River Park.