For a recent team lunch, our boss sent a cryptic invite – we knew it was going to be six minutes away (although we weren’t told if it was by cab or by foot), we should dress up, and that the restaurant had received five Grace faces. I thought it could be Gramercy Tavern and when we were walking out of the Credit Suisse building, my boss confirmed my suspicion – we were having lunch at Gramercy Tavern!
I loved Gramercy Tavern during my initial visit (you can read the review here) and was very excited to dine there again. The menu was somewhat similar to my visit last year and I decided to start with the house made parppadelle with lamb ragu and Swiss chard:
I ordered the entree portion because I thought I was going to share with two other people but we ended up keeping our own dishes (oops!) – the lamb was so tender and delicious, the parppadelle was cooked al dente, and I never knew Swiss chard could be so delicious. I sampled the other appetizers (the trout that I had last time and a calamari and carrot salad) but was very glad that I ordered the pasta because it was absolutely amazing.
For my main course, I ordered the sea bass:
The sea bass was tender and quite substantial – it was almost too much after I finished eating an entree-sized portion of the pasta.
For dessert, we were in a rush to get back to the office but we did eat some petit fours:
My favorite – least favorite: the white chocolate, then the lemon tart, then the chocolate macaron. They were all great, but the white chocolate was filled with a passion fruit curd that was absolutely awesome. The lemon tart was also really delicious and the crust was very buttery – the chocolate macaron was good, but I thought the shell was a little too chewy.
We had a great lunch and it was probably the best work lunch I’ve ever had. I’m lucky to work with an office filled with foodies – it means we always have great team outings!
By
grace.g.yang
· March 24, 2011
Under:
Dinner,
Travels 
On our flight from St. Martin to Charlotte, Ken and I read an article about the ten best airports for food. Charlotte had a restaurant, Brookwood Farms BBQ, so we decided to get dinner there during our layover. After we got out of customs, I headed to Brookwood Farms’ line while Ken went to the drugstore to search for anti-itch cream because we had the most miserable flight from St. Martin to Charlotte. Luckily, the restaurant was very close to our gate and it was a cafeteria-style line so I figured we could get our food quickly:
Ken wanted to try their brisket and I wanted a pulled pork sandwich because I love North Carolina-style pulled pork. They sliced up the brisket to order:
The brisket plate and the pulled pork plate came with a side – we could choose from the macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, fried okra, corn, or creamed spinach:
My pulled pork sandwich came on a brioche bun and I ordered it with a side of fried okra and coleslaw:
The brisket came with a little barbecue sauce but it ended up being super dry:
The meal ended up being pretty good, especially for airport food. I usually don’t fly into Charlotte but their pulled pork sandwich is very comparable to Cook Out (one of my first destinations whenever I visit my mom in Greensboro). It’s much pricier than Cook Out (my sandwich platter at Brookwood Farms was around $10 vs Cook Out’s $5) but if I ever fly through Charlotte again, I’ll definitely re-visit Brookwood Farms.
On Sunday, we woke up incredibly red and sore from our sunburns. Ken was really itchy and I was just in pain and couldn’t stand up straight, but we managed to pack our suitcases and head out for a nice lunch before going to the airport. We wanted something out of the sun and local, so decided to visit Lee’s Roadside Grill:
I wanted something light before our long flight home so I ordered the grilled fish with a side of potato salad:
The fish was a little charred and slathered in garlic and butter but wasn’t very salty. It was light but I ended up not being a huge fan because the only taste it had was a burnt flavor.
Ken ordered half a chicken and ribs with a side of fries:
It ended up being really flavorless, but they had a lot of different barbeque sauces you could slather on the ribs and chicken so we ended up eating the majority of his food.
Lee’s also served lobster by the pound – the lobsters were gigantic and held in a tub in the center of the restaurant so customers could pick their lobster:
We had a great view while we ate and didn’t have to deal with the sun at all:
We arrived at the airport slightly early but since we were moving a lot slower than usual due to our sunburns, it was okay to just sit and do nothing at the gate. I probably wouldn’t return to Lee’s Roadside Grill for lunch but they have a fully stocked bar and they also have karaoke on weeknights.
On Saturday, Ken and I decided to pack up our bathing suits and head to Orient beach, one of the more popular beaches in St. Martin. We went to a restaurant called Palm Beach, which offered lounge chairs, umbrellas, and decently priced food in an Indonesian-themed setting. The waves at Orient beach were a lot stronger than the ones by our hotel and we had a lot of fun playing in the water (although it was freezing!) and spent the majority of the morning at the beach. We were originally going to go jetskiing in the afternoon but when we were getting ready to go, Ken looked at me and realized that I was red like a lobster. My shoulders, chest, thighs, and feet started turning red and we ended up going back to the hotel to assess the damage.
When we got back to the hotel, we purchased some aloe vera and I was starting to get more and more red. We decided to try to get some food since the Heineken Regatta just finished and there was a big outdoor party on the French side, so we drove to the regatta area and found a place to eat. I wanted some jerk pork or ribs and we randomly found a restaurant, Sandy’s, that looked pretty good. I wasn’t too hungry so we decided to share a plate of jerk ribs with a side of rice and salad:
We were both surprised with how delicious it ended up being; the meat fell right off the bone and reminded me of a Chinese dish my mom makes where she braises meat in all sorts of spices to make it super flavorful. Ken also got a little burnt but wasn’t in as much pain as me:
We ended up driving home because we were both super itchy and ended up spending the night in our hotel room – I was bathing in aloe vera and Ken ended up ordering room service because he didn’t want to leave my side. I think we ended the evening around 9pm (exciting for our last night of vacation!)
After a fun afternoon at the hotel’s beach, we got dressed up and decided to spend the evening on the French side of the island. Our hotel was straddling both the Dutch and French sides but the first day and a half we stayed closer to the Dutch side. On Friday night, we decided to drive a little further to the French side and went to eat at La Villa, which is located near Grand Case:
The restaurant is located on a street filled with restaurants and feels very similar to the French quarter in New Orleans. We were excited to dine on the French side (which is much nicer than the Dutch side and their roads are actually paved) and the restaurant owner helped us park our rental car since it was difficult to find parking.
La Villa has a three-course tasting which I decided to order since I enjoy eating in multiple courses; I started with the escargot:
And Ken started with the French onion soup:
I also went through two baskets of bread while eating the escargot so I sop up as much butter and garlic as possible:
Ken and I before our first course:
I loved the escargot, which were bathed in butter, garlic, wine and parsley. Ken tried them for the first time and also enjoyed them, but was more into his French onion soup, which I thought was a little light on the flavor.
For my main course, I ordered the lobster with risotto:
The tomato sauce was actually very similar to an Indian tikka masala sauce, which was an interesting complement to the freshly caught lobster. The scallops and seafood were also good with the creamy tomato sauce, but the other parts of the dish were slightly bland (the vegetables and pancakes on the side). Originally, Ken was going to order the risotto because he was still recovering from food poisoning, but since my dish came with risotto, he decided to order fish instead.
Ken ordered the mahi mahi with a side of clams:
The sauce was indistinguishable but was light enough that it didn’t bother the mahi mahi, however, neither of us were a fan of the clams or any other part of the dish.
For dessert, I ordered the trio of sorbet:
The passion fruit was our favorite, next came raspberry, and our least favorite was mango because it was too sweet and not mango-like enough. At the end of our meal, the owners gave us truffles:
And banana rum:
We enjoyed the atmosphere and it was probably our favorite meal from the entire trip. Since we were on the French side, they charged Euros instead of USD but a lot of the restaurants in the area did a 1 USD for 1 Euro exchange rate if you paid in cash. If we ever return to St. Martin, we’d love to explore Grand Case and the French side of the island more; it seemed very lively and fun!
