Since moving to New York last August, I’ve eaten my fair share of cupcakes. When I was in college and the only experience I had of New York were re-runs of Sex and the City, the place to go for cupcakes was Magnolia’s. Once I moved here, I quickly found out that Magnolia’s is probably the most over-hyped establishment; their cupcakes are dry, their frosting is crusty and too sweet, and the lines are endless. I usually prefer Crumbs, Buttercup, or Cupcake Café. A friend of mine recently told me that Billy’s Cupcakes is another alternative to satisfy my cravings for sugary frosting with moist cake. Naturally, I had to go there myself to see what the fuss was about:
The offerings are similar to Magnolia or Buttercup; icebox cake, red velvet slices, and of course, lots and lots of cupcakes:
My friend, Leo, bought four for us to share:
Their cupcakes are definitely better than Magnolia’s; very light, airy, and chocolately, but not to the point that you can’t finish one cupcake without begging for a cup of milk. Their frosting, in my opinion, is better than Buttercup’s, too, because it’s creamy and sweet, but you don’t feel like you’re eating a pound of butter with every bite. Billy’s was a great treat that I really enjoyed and I’ll definitely be back to satisfy my cupcake cravings!
If you’re a loyal reader of gracenotesnyc, you’ll know that I am a cheeseburger fanatic. After reading about Five Guys opening up in Manhattan, I had to visit opening weekend. Five guys was started by a dad and his four sons (using their college fund to start the place). Five Guys is famous for their burgers and fries and their goal is to sell the best quality burgers possible, so I knew I was in for a treat.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see the place was completely empty, especially since earlier in the week, it took an hour and a half to get your order. The place reminded me of a Jimmy John’s (same checkered tiling around the walls):
The bags around the cash register and along the walls are full of potatoes (everything is really fresh). 5 guys has been compared to In N Out, and since I love their burgers, I was hoping for the same experience. Their menu is simple and they offer premium toppings for free Рmushrooms, onions, relish, jalape̱o peppers, green peppers, and your normal tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and mayo. We placed our orders for two cheeseburgers and an order of fries (half Cajun, half normal) and while we waited, we munched on FREE peanuts:
Why do they offer free peanuts?!
10 minutes later, our cheeseburgers and fries arrived and I couldn’t believe how large the burger was:
I didn’t realize that the cheeseburger was a double patty (so much meat, such a little stomach). The burger was cooked and seasoned well but the bun was too soft. It tasted more like a Chinese pastry than a burger bun even though it was toasted. The burger wasn’t too messy and it wasn’t that greasy (I’ve heard stories that in the Philadelphia branch, by the time your burger gets to you, the bun is completely soaked in grease).
The fries were greasy and a little soggy, not crispy:
AND there was no Cajun seasoning on half of the fries (even though we requested it). The fries tasted like they were drenched in grease and there were a lot of little pieces (which I HATE). We eventually got some Cajun seasoning and mixed it with the fries in a paper bag, but I didn’t think the seasoning was anything great (Chris, on the other hand, liked the seasoning a lot).
Five guys’ burger was good, but not great. I’m sure it’ll be popular with the folks that work around midtown and it’ll give the Burger Joint some competition, but I don’t plan on returning.
Norma’s, an open space restaurant in Le Parker Meridien, houses a brunch that is out of this world. I didn’t even know Norma’s existed until Metrodad recommended the restaurant. I love trying new brunch spots in the West Village, but Chris and I finally trekked up to midtown to sample Norma’s offerings.
I made a reservation through OpenTable and received a confirmation with detailed instructions of what I should do before going to Norma’s:
24 hrs to go print out the menu http://parkermeridien.com/eat.php
24-12 hrs to go show off the menu and seek advice on what to order (yeah, they’re all jealous!)
18 hrs to go aerobic exercise and strength training (preferably the Quickie
Lunch the day before remember, you’re in training, so have a protein shake
Dinner the day before no eating after 7pm only bread and water allowed
Night before dream sweet dreams of beautiful food floating through your subconscious
Morning of do a full yoga session with Swami Ramdev Ji
Arrive on time and tell me that the Swami sent you
You’ve made it, now time to eat!
What the heck – aerobic exercise to prepare for a brunch?! After an initial glance at the menu, I could kind of see why (lots of sweets and other fatty brunch foods) but seriously, a workout?! After seeing a couple of table’s food choices, I could see the reasoning behind a workout to prepare; Norma’s portions are HUGE and they do NOT mess with brunch.
Chris and I ordered two sweet brunch items – the Waz-Za and the Waffling Toast. The Waz-Za is a waffle with fruit on the inside and fruit on the outside with a crackly brulee top:
When we were ordering, we saw a waiter walk by with a huge waffle and a pile of fresh berries and whipped cream and immediately thought that was the Waz-Za. I think we were initially a little disappointed when the actual Waz-Za appeared, but I took a bite and it was seriously…pure bliss. Let’s start with the waffle – not too crunchy and not too soggy; especially impressive for a waffle that’s smothered with so much pink sauce. The fruit was mixed into the waffle mix and you could taste little bits of blueberries every once in a while. The pink sauce on top of the waffles was a puree of sour cream and berries (I think) that was topped with blueberries and bananas. All together, it was already perfect, but then Norma’s adds another kicker by adding a crunchy topping:
Every bite was better than the last and after scarfing down half of the Waz-Za, my turn was up – it was time to trade for the waffling French toast:
A great idea – it’s a piece of bread that’s dipped in an egg batter mixture that’s pressed in a waffle maker. The French toast was infused with lots of citrus (not in a bad way) but I simply couldn’t eat my one and a half pieces. By the time it was my turn to try to conquer the waffling French toast, my stomach had already called it quits and I couldn’t finish. The French toast tasted great and I feel like I didn’t give it enough of a chance since I was so in love with the Waz-Za. French toast: 1, Grace’s stomach: 0:
Norma’s is a little on the expensive side (around $17/plate) but it’s definitely worth the trip. It beats Clinton St. Bakery in terms of taste AND they accept reservations. My only regret – I didn’t wear elastic pants.
On Friday night, I made a special trip to DessertTruck, a Mister Softee type van parked on 8th and University. DessertTruck was started by two friends – one a pastry sous chef from Le Cirque and the other an MBA student at Columbia:
We ordered two warm desserts: the molten chocolate cake and the Slow-Baked Apples & Cinnamon.
The molten chocolate cake came with a liquid ganache center, sea-salt, roasted pistachios, and a hint of olive oil:
Usually, I’m not a fan of mixing sweet with salty, but the sea salt paired SO well with the decadently sweet ganache and chocolate cake.
The slow-baked apples and cinnamon were also delicious:
Apples paired with cranberries, crisp puff pastry, streusel, and whipped cream. The sweetness of the apples was wonderfully offset by the tartness of the cranberries. The overall effect was very light and demonstrated that DessertTruck was just as good at doing lighter desserts as they were at producing the more decadent chocolately stuff.
The best part? The price; each dessert is only $5. AH!!!
PS – take a look at the logo; notice the RFG at the bottom? What does that stand for? My opinion: Really Fucking Good.
By
grace.g.yang
· November 1, 2007
Under:
East Village,
Lunch 
Have you ever walked by a Mandler’s? They have these obnoxious signs that say “OURS IS 9″ INCHES LONG!” They serve bratwursts and other unhealthy foods with a large variety of mustards. I headed there one Sunday afternoon for a quick bite to eat and didn’t know what to order, so I went with Mandler’s sausage on wheat, the most traditional option (well, that’s what the cashier told me):
The actual bratwurst was very salty and I’m sure I had my fair share of sodium for the day and there was too much bread considering the sausage was so small. Well, not really small, but they use so much bread that the sausage LOOKS small AND you don’t feel like you’re eating a lot of meat because you’re stuffing so much bread into your mouth. The only redeeming quality of Mandler’s is their mustard bar:
They have five or six options of different mustards and explanations of each. If you’re into mustard, you should check it out. Maybe bring the sandwich/hotdog/food you want mustard with to the restaurant so you don’t have to actually order/eat one of their sausages since they’re not that great. There’s no value in a $6 bratwurst that tasted like a Central Park Hotdog – go to Dogmatic instead!
