Mesa Grill

By grace.g.yang · March 7, 2009
Under: Brunch,Flatiron



The end of February/March have been really busy; I’ve been looking for an apartment for quite some time and have been neglecting gracenotesnyc (so sorry!) I still haven’t found my perfect apartment, but I’ve taken some time this afternoon to write up an entry on Mesa Grill. I’ve been meaning to check out Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay’s Southwestern style restaurant and I finally had a good reason to go – my mom was in town and we wanted to go out for brunch by our apartment. We actually decided to go to Mesa Grill because the night before, we watched a chefography about Bobby Flay and we wanted to see if Bobby’s restaurant was as amazing as it sounded on television.

When we first arrived, a waiter came over and dropped off a bread basket that was filled with Southwestern style biscuits, scones, and cornbread:

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The scones also came with a side of jalapeno jelly that was sweet and slightly spicy. Our favorite from the bread basket was the scone because of its crumbly texture and spiciness. I think we went through three baskets before we actually got our food!

We also took some pictures of our family:

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We eventually ordered our brunch entrees – one of my coworkers recommended the spicy chicken and sweet potato hash:

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The dish is a different take on eggs benedict; it comes with poached eggs and green chile hollandaise. It was actually my favorite dish we ordered; the sweet potato hash added a nice sweetness to the spicy chicken and the green chile hollandaise. It was a bit heavy (all of the dishes were) but it was my favorite out of all of the dishes we ordered.

My mom ordered the grilled mahi mahi with roasted pineapple-cascabel chile sauce and caramelized pineapple-green onion salsa:

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The fish was cooked well and surprisingly, I liked the combination of pineapple with the mahi mahi (I’m usually not a fan of combining fruit and savory things). My mom also enjoyed the dish, which was the most important thing because she’s usually pretty picky about the way fish is cooked.

David ordered the spicy scrambled eggs with green onion, jalapeno, goat cheese, apricot mustard glazed ham steak, and buttermilk biscuits:

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The dish was heavy and very salty, especially the ham, but David liked his dish more than any of the other dishes we ordered.

We also ordered another dish, the ranch style eggs tostada with crispy flour tortilla, ancho chile tomato sauce, white cheddar cheese, and sour cream:

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This was my least favorite dish; the flour tortilla was like a big greasy (yet stale) tortilla chip and the sauces just did not taste good. In the future, if I return to Mesa Grill, I think I’d go with one other person and order the spicy chicken and sweet potato hash to share – the food is on the heavy side so sharing is probably a good idea. The food wasn’t disappointing, but I thought the flavors would taste fresher.

Mesa Grill on Urbanspoon

Getting into Ko, Part 2

By grace.g.yang · February 17, 2009
Under: My Life

Remember how I COULD NOT GET INTO Ko? Seriously, there must’ve been something wrong with my internet connection or I click really slowly because I tried a million times and I could only get the red X’s.

Well, GUESS WHAT! I got a reservation for this freaking weekend! I was talking to a friend about going there and I just randomly logged in at 9:59….at 10am, there were openings; I’m guessing it’s because yesterday was President’s Day and a lot of people were on vacation/forgot about it. I’m can’t wait to eat there, although I don’t know who I’m taking yet – anyone free this weekend and interested in accompanying me? E-mail me – gracenotesnyc [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Birthday, Joe!

By grace.g.yang · February 10, 2009
Under: My Life

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Happy 25th birthday to one of my best friends in the entire world, Joe! We’ve been friends since our sophomore year of college – we were accounting tutors together, we went out together on Thursday nights, we ordered greasy Chinese food on Friday afternoons when there was nothing else to do, AND we were even roommates our senior year. Joe and I parted ways after college (he stayed in Chicago, I moved to New York), but his job brought him to New York after two years of being long-distance friends. I’m so glad he’s back in my life – he’s been a supportive friend during tough times in my life and he also brings sunshine into my life. We finish each others sentences and I’m pretty sure he knows me better than any of my girl friends. He took me to per se because he knew how much I wanted to go and he doesn’t even mind when I bring out my camera to document our meals together. He also LOVES hanging out with my family (sometimes I think he loves my mom more than he loves me). He’s an awesome guy and I’m so glad to have him in my life. Happy birthday, Joe!

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Joe, me, and Ariel, making dumplings on New Years Eve

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Me and Joe after our amazing dinner at per se

Chocolate Festival THIS Friday!

By grace.g.yang · February 4, 2009
Under: Uncategorized

If you’re looking for something fun to do this Friday, come hang out with me at the Chocofest:

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My friend, Raj, invited me to attend the fundraiser for Lend-A-Hand-India and I’m really excited to go – I’m going to auction something off, so definitely come!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

By grace.g.yang · January 26, 2009
Under: Chinatown,Dinner,My Life

…or in English, Happy (Chinese) New Year! Over the weekend, a couple of friends came over to celebrate the year of the ox. We decided to do a hot pot, which is easy to prepare, great for groups, and an overall really fun experience. To prepare, Audrey bought some ingredients for us in Chinatown and we set up on Friday after work. It’s really easy to buy ingredients for a hot pot – pick up a bunch of vegetables, thinly sliced meats, throw it in a pot, add some broth. Baby, you’ve got a stew going. Here’s our set up:

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One important sauce to pick up is Satay, which is a barbeque flavored sauce that you mix with soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce (optional), and cilantro (optional). Some people even add a raw egg to the dipping sauce! The best meats for hot pot (in my opinion) are thinly sliced lamb and beef, but you can also pick up pork, chicken, and different types of seafood. We ended up going with a little bit of everything and also picked up some shrimp flavored fish balls (my favorite). Add some tofu, some enoki mushrooms, taro root, feng shi (to soak up all of the flavors near the end of the meal), and little scoops to fish out all of the goodies in the broth and you have yourself an awesome meal. Below are some pictures from the night:

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(left to right: Joe, David, Justin, me, and Audrey)

Chinese New Year

(left to right: Sara, Justin, and Audrey)

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Joe in a Yang sandwich (probably the highlight of the night for him)

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(The ASIANS: Julie, me, Joe, Audrey, and David)

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(The OTHERS: Sara, Ariel, and Justin)

After our successful dinner, we played Catchphrase and went out to celebrate with more friends. How did you spend your weekend? Are you going to celebrate the Chinese New Year tonight? Gong Shi Fa Tsai!


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