On Easter Sunday, Laura, Eric, and I went to Casa Mono for a late brunch/early dinner. I’ve been there once before for dinner with Blake and thought it was a great restaurant, especially for Mario Batali (the only other Batali restaurant I like is The Spotted Pig – his Italian restaurants…are not great to me). Casa Mono offers Spanish tapas and also an open kitchen, which is really nice if you end up dining by yourself because you have something to look at and someone to talk to. I made a reservation, but they wouldn’t seat us immediately, even though there was an available table (which was very obnoxious because they didn’t give us a reason as to why they wouldn’t seat us). When we finally sat down, they recommended each person order 2 dishes, especially since some of the dishes can be small. We started off with some bread, olives, and olive oil:
We asked our waiter if we had ordered enough and he rudely responded, “are you serious?” AND rolled his eyes, which REALLY shocked us, considering I WOULDN’T EVEN SAY THAT TO A FRIEND because it is SO INCREDIBLY rude. We ended up ordering six dishes, starting with the crispy pork belly with Greenmarket apples and Guindillas (peppers):
The pork belly was my least favorite dish of the meal; it was too oily, not flavorful enough, and, I think after living in New York City for three years, I’ve had enough pork belly to last me a lifetime. Eric ended up liking the dish (which is not that surprising because we have completely opposite tastes in food).
We also ordered foie gras with cinco cebollas:
Cinco cebollas, in Spanish, means five onions, so there were different types of onions paired with the creamy foie gras and crusty bread. The green onions were a little overcooked, but the tiny pickled red onions added a great crunchiness to the really well prepared foie.
My favorite dish of the afternoon was the Pork Croquetas with Green Tomatoes and Spicy Aioli:
The pork croquettes were really flavorful and slightly crunchy, but what made me really love the dish was the acidity from the green tomatoes paired with the spicy aioli and pork.
Based off David’s recommendation, we also ordered Cock’s Combs with cepes:
The texture was very gelatinous and the flavoring actually reminded me of the Chinese dish, tee-pang (I think it’s pork shoulder?) There was a lot of star anise flavoring and it was definitely over-salted, but otherwise, not terribly bad (although I would definitely not order this dish OR recommend anyone to order it).
My second favorite dish of the afternoon were the lamb chops with harissa and chickpeas:
The lamb chops were seared and paired with lots of fresh mint, which was delicious, but also over-salted. I was trying to cut the lamb chops and had a lot of difficulty because the knife I was using was completely dull, so I asked someone to bring me a new knife (not a completely outrageous request, right?). No one brought me a knife AND the guy I requested the knife from me walked by me multiple times! WHAT is wrong with their service?!
The last dish from lunch were veal cheeks with Pardina lentils:
The braised veal cheeks were also really delicious, but were doused in salt (I’m guessing while braising, they salted the sauce about 500 times). The lentils were very plain, but I suppose it offset the veal cheeks.
After dining at Casa Mono, I can see why it’s considered a Michelin star restaurant for their great Spanish food, but doesn’t Michelin consider service when they’re coming up with ratings? There are so many wonderful restaurants in the city that would love to be included in the Michelin book and the service that we dealt with at Casa Mono kind of ruined the entire experience for me. Go for food, but do not expect much from their waiters.
After a day of shopping in the farmers market, Whole Foods (Tribeca AND Union Square), Trader Joe’s wine market AND the regular Trader Joe’s, I went to Dos Toros for a quick bite to eat before I had to run more errands in Chinatown. I’ve been to Dos Toros once before and I thought the meat was very plain, but Lou had told me over and over that I was absolutely crazy for not falling head over heels in love with Dos Toros’ burritos (our tastes are very different). I went back this afternoon for a quick snack and ordered pork tacos with guacamole:
The meat was plain (as I said last time) but what surprised me the most was the cost – each taco (TACO) was $4.50! WTF and I thought CHIPOTLE was expensive! Okay, maybe not EXPENSIVE, but aren’t tacos pretty inexpensive? The taco was actually better than the burrito I ordered last time, but they definitely load it up too much and I ended up eating salsa, pork, and guacamole off my hands instead of off a taco shell. Will I be back? Hmmm…possibly…but there is a Chipotle around the block.
Last week, a bunch of people I used to work with at RecycleBank.com left the 95 Morton Street office for the last time and headed to the bars around Macdougal to celebrate unemployment. I decided to join them for a drink even though I was suffering from really bad allergies and David decided to stop by as well. Since I was sneezing for the majority of the time I was outside, we decided to leave the bar where all the developers were celebrating/drinking their sorrows away and head to Creperie, down the street, for some food. Creperie specializes in both savory and sweet crepes:
The crepe batter is made beforehand and each crepe is made-to-order. Here’s someone making our ham and cheese crepe:
The crepe mix is spread thinly across a hot griddle:
Once it starts bubbling, it gets flipped over:
It was filled with cheese and slices of ham, then closed up for consumption:
The crepe was fresh, but the cheese wasn’t melted because it was taken off the griddle too early (the ham was still cold as well). They’re also quite expensive – around $7 per crepe, which is kind of ridiculous because sandwiches don’t even cost $7! I don’t think I’ll be back anytime soon – I’d rather just make crepes myself!
The ad hoc at home cookbook is filled with wonderful recipes that can actually be recreated at home. I’ve made the apple fritters, the fried chicken, and now, the brownies. The brownies are very delicious, however, I don’t know if they taste better than the fudge-like ones from Tartine!
Ad Hoc at Home Brownies
Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1 cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder (I used regular cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups 61-64 percent chocolate (I use chocolate chips for ease)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×9 pan and dust with cocoa powder before setting aside:
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt:
In a small saucepan (or in the microwaveable glass bowl), melt half of the butter:
Put the remaining butter into a medium bowl:
And pour the melted butter over the non-melted butter:
Stir until remaining butter melts, and mixture is creamy with small bits of butter floating around:
In a stand mixer, mix together eggs and sugar for 3 minutes:
Or until pale yellow in color and thick:
Add vanilla:
With the mixer on lowest speed setting, alternate adding 1/3 of the sifted dry mixture:
And 1/3 of the butter:
Until just combined:
Add in chocolate chips and spread batter into prepared pan:
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it. Completely cool brownies in pan before cutting:
Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if desired. Serve with ice cream, fudge, and whipped cream for a really sublime experience.
After a lunch in Union Square on Sunday, Laura, Eric, and I walked over to Chikalicious Dessert Club for something sweet. Eric was in the mood for cupcakes and since the weather was perfect, I thought the walk to Chikalicious would be perfect (plus, I really wanted to try their flavored snow that I read about last year). We shared desserts but below are the items we each ordered:
I started with the adult chocolate pudding:
It’s a dark chocolate pudding with a cookie crumble underneath and absolutely heavenly. It’s sweet, very rich, and has a really great smooth texture. It was a little too sweet near the end, but I would definitely order it again.
Laura ordered the warm vanilla bread pudding:
The vanilla bread pudding was very sweet and probably the perfect dessert for the winter, but it was about 75 degrees outside and the dessert was too warm for me to enjoy.
Eric ordered the strawberry cupcake:
And the chocolate chip cookie:
The strawberry cupcake had a very light and airy frosting with real bits of strawberries mixed throughout. The chocolate chip cookie was Eric’s favorite dessert, but I thought it was way too oily and the edge I had was too crispy.
I saw the list for the ices after I ordered my first dessert, but was determined to eat more so I ordered the green watermelon slushie/ice:
The slushie is topped with green watermelon syrup, filled with vanilla ice cream (I’m not sure if you can choose the type of ice cream you want in the center), and topped with condensed milk. The consistency of the slushie was very light and finely milled – it tasted just like fresh snow! The slushie was my favorite dessert of the afternoon; the syrup wasn’t too sweet and was very satisfying on the warm afternoon. I can definitely see it becoming a summertime staple (Pinkberry should take some notes on how Chikalicious creates the shaved ice!)
Across the street from the Dessert Club is the original Chikalicious, which pairs desserts with different wines and sakes. Everytime I walk by the restaurant it’s always packed, and based off the tasting we had at the Dessert Club, I can definitely see why.
