Mind Over Stomach

My former coworkers raved about this restaurant and all the veggie delights they had so obviously I had to try it out. Got my OpenTable reservation and went with a few friends. While I waited at the bar for them to arrive, I noticed they had Tito’s Vodka which is my favorite vodka that’s made in Austin. Ordered a drink, waited a few and then my friends arrived. We ordered exactly what we were told.

We started with the ricotta and honey crositini which we cut in half and thoroughly enjoyed. I really love anything with honey on it. We also shared the appetizer of fried artichoke which was a little too fried for me – didn’t do it for me. For a main course we had the eggplant parmigiana and orecchiette with cauliflower & toasted breadcrumbs. First of all, after becoming a veggie, I was really terrified of missing out on chicken parm but honestly eggplant is that good. I eat it so frequently and the one at Stuzzichini was perfectly done. Not too saucey or anything. I could eat the orecchiette EVERY day. It’s outstanding. I can’t even explain the explosion of deliciousness in my mouth, you just must check it out.

Unfortunately we didn’t have room for dessert but everything looked delicious. I loved everything about or meal, and our waitress, Bridgette, was in training and she was fantastic. So honest and helpful. I went back a week after going the first time because I couldn’t stop thinking about the orecchiette. I look forward to many more meals at Stuzzichini.

Bar Stuzzichini
928 Broadway

I had a work event in Chelsea and decided that my friend and I should meet for dinner after in the ‘hood. We decided on Cookshop as it was one of the many restaurants on my list. I arrived a few minutes early, and stood in the front with a large amount of people waiting to be seated or enjoying their time at the bar. It was a bit overcrowded and I would have stood outside if it wasn’t so cold. I contemplated ordering a drink but decided it was best to wait, and it would have been a real production to deal with the bartender while standing over crowds of people.

My friend came shortly after, and we were immediately seated at a cute table against the wall with a mirror. I enjoyed pretending like I was five again and watching my reflection, hand puppet and wine glass reflect off the mirror and onto the wall. I asked our very nice waiter what he recommended on the menu for a veggie and he said the lasagna. Done and done.
Some bread and bread sticks came out with a delicious bitter spread. Not sure what it was. Shortly there after, our waiter brought out a massive hot dish with my lasagna. Wow. It was huge. I was starving but this was just out of control. I burned my mouth in my first bite but it was worth the heat. I ate about 1/3 of the whole dish because there was just no way I could stomach it. I got it wrapped up and enjoyed it for lunch the next day.

Somehow we managed to have some room for the Cookshop Candy Bars (devil’s food cake, gianduja crunch, praline ganache, frozen peanut nougat & chocolate shell). They were outstanding. I don’t usually get dessert, let alone something as chocolatey but they were well worth it.

I’m already thinking about when I can go back to Cookshop again.

Cookshop
156 10th Avenue

As it wasn’t all that long ago that I tried the classic, Freemans for the first time – I felt it was necessary to get to Peels immediately. I went for dinner twice and didn’t have to wait at all which as always makes me really happy when it’s a non-reservation taking restaurant.
We sat upstairs at a communal table and had the friendliest waitress. As usual, I asked what she recommended for a picky veggie like me. She suggested the potato dumplings and mentioned they were gnocchi-esque but she wasn’t supposed to say that. As a big fan of gnocchi, I decided to try that. I also got the Warm Red Quinoa Salad. The gnocchi was perfectly cooked, aka el-dente so I was really pleased. Extremely flavorful as it had chunks of roasted squash and was in a butter-sage sauce. The quinoa salad on the other hand wasn’t my favorite. I really like cauliflower but for some reason it really wasn’t good in this salad and I was a bit disappointed.

I went back another time and had the tomato soup which is something really rare for me but it was cold outside and it seemed like the right move. Plus it had mint in it which is one of my faves. It was delicious and just what I needed on a cold fall day.

Service is great, food is great, love the ambiance (more than Freeman’s, less sceney) and fairly reasonably priced.

Peels
325 Bowery

Brisk cold outside and I was really looking forward to Sunday brunch – my favorite meal of the week. I arrived at DGBG 5 minutes earlier than our reservation because for some reason I’m always late with my one specific friend when we eat together and I was getting fed up. I checked in early and he was stunned. “You’re 22 minutes early!” he said via bbm. Uh oh, not only was I early but he was 15 minutes late…so I sat and waited. And waited, and waited. Observed the restaurant, people watched, ordered a diet coke (was judged for not getting an alcoholic drink) and was angered when a song by Devendra Banhart started playing.

My brunch buddy finally arrived and we were brought to our table. One good people watching seat, one no-ability to people watch seat. Not okay. My brunch buddy immediately asked for a different table and they brought us to one of the booths that was meant for 5-6 people. We were able to sit elbow-to-elbow and have the same view and not fight over who had the best seat. It was fantastic.

Gave the waitress the heads up that I was veggie and recognized that this wasn’t a place meant for veggies and she recommended I ordered sides and a sweet breakfast appetizer. She wasn’t very friendly or helpful. After much back and forth I decided to get brussel sprouts, home fries and cheese blintzes with blueberries (although I don’t really like blueberries). My friend got a burger with fries and we decided to split the squash soup. I ordered a white cosmo which was too sweet and not for me (and a waste of $12). The soup was excellent, we were scraping at the edges of the bowl. Next came the home fries and brussels which were both well done and tasty. I enjoyed the french fries more because they were a perfect mix between crispy and soft. I enjoyed the blintzes but since I really don’t enjoy blueberries I didn’t really enjoy the whole meal. My friend ate most of it. He loved his burger too. All in all we really enjoyed our meal, the people watching, the music but the waitress was pretty personality-less.

DGBG
299 Bowery

A good friend of mine from college is moving to London, so her best friends coordinated a surprise going-away dinner at Lil’ Frankie’s. The date changed numerous times as she kept changing the date she was leaving and Lil’ Frankie’s was more than accommodating of our changes (of 11 people). I had been to Supper and Frank but was excited to check out Lil’ Frankie’s. When we finally secured the date and time, we arrived early and were seated in the back room.The back room was a great a place for an 11 person party. There were a few other tables with people having dinner that we felt semi-bad for that they were going to have to deal with our loudness but oh, well. We had a nice round table that was all set and looked great. My friend decided it was best to pre-order family style dishes. I didn’t even get a chance to say, “make sure there’s a veggie dish” because my friend had already decided I was going to be choosing what we ordered because of my picky-ness. We ordered a bunch of pizzas, a butternut squash gnocchi, salads and some other non-veggie things that obviously I didn’t pay attention to. The waitress, Liz, was so helpful and accommodating. She recommended dishes and helped us choose the right portions.

The hostess came back to us when our friend we were surprising arrived which was so nice of her. My friend was totally shocked, had no idea what she was doing there and it was just perfect. We had a great time. Food started coming out. I had the arugula salad, and most of the gnocchi. Wow the gnocchi reminded me of Supper and Frank – so fluffy and delicious. We ordered a veggie pie where every other slice was different. I had two small zucchini slices. I don’t think I’ve ever had zucchini on pizza so I was quite impressed. Wasn’t too mushy or crunchy, and made the simple pizza a lot more flavorful.

Overall the food was delicious. The service was excellent. The ambiance was extremely fitting for the group and the price was right. Frank, Lil’ Frankie’s and Supper really do it right.

Lil’ Frankie’s
21 First Avenue

My coworker came into work last week raving about The Meatball Shop – she of course prefaced her detailed experience with, “yes there is veggie for you, no I didn’t try it but you must go there!” So I did. Aside from Momofuku Noodle Bar, I’m not a big fan of no reservation restaurants. 1) I’m 300 points from my $50 OpenTable gift card 2) I don’t have the patience to wait around. I really had a feeling this was going to be worth the wait. We arrived at 6:30 and were told it was going to be a one and a half hour wait and they took my cell # and told me they’d call me. Interesting concept – I don’t have to stand on top of people waiting and I can go grab a drink down the block. So that’s exactly what we did. One and a half hours later and two rounds of drinks at The Living Room, I called The Meatball Shop and was told another half hour. We slowly strolled back over and stood on top of the table that was clearly going to be ours. So yes, at 9pm we were seated after two and a half hours of waiting. This food better be worth it, is all I could think.

Our waitress came over, gave us the rundown of how the menu and ordering works and we ooh-ed and aah-ed over the many options. I was a bit nervous about the veggie meatballs – she said they were bean based and had mushrooms and I was not feeling that. I just really hate mushrooms and am so particular about my veggie burgers I wasn’t sure this was the right move but I was reminded that I was at The Meatball Shop and I had to try the meatballs. Their market vegetable special of the day was brussel sprouts (let the salivating begin…) with onions, apples and candied walnuts. Yes, please. Unreal. I asked the hostess (who I went from hating to loving) what she recommended I ordered and the snappy waitress jumped in and said “I’m your waitress, I can help you”…so she gave her recommendation and I didn’t take it.

Filled out the dry erase menu with my dry erase pen (um, love) and decided on meatballs over rigatoni with marinara sauce and obviously the side of brussel guys. Food came out fairly quickly and we all stopped talking and focused on food. I enjoyed the meatballs but can’t say I’d get them again – I’m just so not thrilled with the consistency when it contains beans and mushrooms. The rigatoni was el-dente and had extra delicious sauce. But really, the highlight of the meal were the brussel sprouts. SO flavorful and perfectly cooked and just an amazing combo of ingredients mixed with it. I could have had a larger portion of that instead. My friends loved the risotto with prosciutto and all of their (actual) meatballs. They barely ate the spinach and were quite disappointed in that. I tried their mashed potatoes which were tasty as well.

Oh gosh, we had to save room for dessert? We decided we all needed to try different things. I had the brownie cookie with the mint ice cream sandwich. It wasn’t your typical mint, it was like a mojito. I’m not even an ice cream fan and I was really impressed by the deliciousness of this dessert.

The meal was $80 for 4 of us which considering the long wait and the totally worthwhile food was completely worth it. If and when I go back, I will probably steer clear from the (veggie)meatballs and will stick to the pastas, veggies, sides and such. Highly recommend this place overall.

The Meatball Shop
84 Stanton Street

If you know me, you know that I don’t frequent Times Square/Theater District very often. I actually have heart palpitations walking through that area so I try to avoid it at all costs. Unfortunately, sometimes I do have to make my way there when there are shows I want to see. My mom, aunts and I were going to see ‘Love, Loss and What I Wore‘ off-broadway with an excellent rotating cast. My mom chose West Bank Cafe to have an early-quick dinner before the show. We were shoved in the corner near the window where we could barely move and be comfortable but the rest of the room seemed to be quite spacious.

We made it very clear when we sat down that we were in a time crunch. They immediately brought us water with lots of ice and constantly refilled our glasses which always gives a restaurant a point in my book. We spent a few minutes with the menu, I asked the waiter if they were able to change things up (for a picky eater like myself) and they said absolutely so I ended up with a side of brussel sprouts (without some meat stuff in there) and gnocchi appetizer without mushrooms. Food came out fairly quickly. The brussel sprouts were extremely chewy and undercooked and I asked the waiter to send them back to make them burnt and crispy, and so he did. Meanwhile, I ate my gnocchi which was el-dente and extremely flavorful. The waiter returned with crispy brussel sprouts which were better, but still nothing out of this world. If you haven’t realized from my past reviews, I’m on a serious brussel sprout kick and nothing can beat Alta at this point.

We finished up our meal and asked for coffees and cappuccinos. Shortly after ordering, we realized we really didn’t have time for it so we rushed to get the waiter and he was already bringing it out. We didn’t even get the chance to say “sorry can you cancel that order and bring the check?” He brought them out with the check, and didn’t charge us for the coffees and cappuccinos which was extremely appreciated by us all. We paid the bill and chugged our drinks as fast as possible. We grabbed our bags and umbrellas and tried getting out from the table without bumping into the other two tables we were practically attached to. I didn’t pay so I can’t tell you how the prices were but overall everyone was quite pleased with the meal and if I have to go back to that ‘hood for something – I’d go back here for sure. Love, Loss and What I Wore was a hilarious and entertaining show that all women should see.

West Bank Cafe
407 West 42nd Street

I kept hearing that Motorino was the “best” pizza in Manhattan and I knew I had to find out for myself. Surprisingly I’m not very picky about pizza as long as it’s not thick crusted, I like thin crust and well done pizza but otherwise I’ll really eat it from anywhere (in NYC!)

They don’t take reservations and they won’t seat you until your whole party arrives. I’m on the road to 5000 points on Open Table in order to get a $50 gift card (woohoo!) so I’ve been sticking to restaurants that only take reservations. Waited a while for my friends to arrive. We were immediately seated at the table closest to the kitchen where it was unfortunately, really stuffy and hot.


They provided us with menus and we ooh-ed and ahh-ed over many of the dishes. We started with the corn on the cob appetizer which I really enjoyed because it was it was prepared with tender loving care: burnt, cheesy and crunchy. We also got a Mixed Green Salad which was $6 and not worth even $3. It was just lettuce and nothing else. Totally boring. We moved on to pizzas. I insisted we order the pizza with brussel sprouts and the staff was accommodating by removing the meat that came on the pizza. I love brussel sprouts, but they have to be well done and crispy. The pizza was good, not great. It was a bit too mushy for me. We also got a three cheese pizza which was good but again needed to be crispier.

The food was decent, not amazing. The wine was smooth and tasty. The music was excellent including Deathcab For Cutie and one of my favorite songs, Mad World played while we were there. The waiter was standing over our shoulder the entire time and the second I put my fork down he came over and attempted to take my plate. Way too overbearing. It’s a Tuesday night – if the place was packed or there was a line outside, you could be a little antsy but there wasn’t so give me space. All in all, overpriced and probably won’t go back there again.

Motorino
349 E 12th St

This is a pretty run down street, not much lives here that’s very exciting and uplifting. That’s what I thought before I went to GustOrganics for the first time. I was quite impressed. Sat outside and had the nicest and friendliest waiter. He told us his favorite dishes and informed us that if we ordered a special we would get a free glass of wine. We all decided we wanted a different glass of wine so we ordered separately. So many delicious sounding things on the menu. We decided to pick on some things then order our own main courses. Things on the menu seemed a bit overpriced for what they were.

We shared two empanadas – one meat one (not for me) and the caramelized onion/mozzarella one. Delicious. Great for an appetizer. Then we shared the wild baby salad because I was intrigued by the mangoes and candied walnuts. It was a decent size salad for the 3 of us to share, with lots of arugula and minimal walnuts and mangoes but very tasty. Mango often is served mushy but this was done well.

I ordered the Green Risotto (Spinach pesto, broccoli, zucchini, parmesan) and it was delicious. I really enjoyed it but was super full halfway through the meal. My friends had the veggie burger and veggie pizza. Both were happy with their meals. I tried the pizza which was great and the bread on the veggie burger looked outstanding.

Our waiter accidentally poured water in one of our half-filled glasses of wine. He felt bad and immediately brought out a new glass of wine. It was very nice especially because we didn’t have to put up a fight about it or anything. Overall, great meal. Great food and service, and when the bill came out we were happy with the total as it was fairly reasonable. Can’t wait to go back here and try something else.

Gustorganics
519 Sixth Avenue

Park Avenue restaurants either do really well or really badly. It’s such a prime location especially for tourists hanging around Union Square. I decided it was time to try Barbounia. My friends came here for a birthday and said it was excellent. We made a reservation and were immediately seated which was nice. Cool space, loved the lighting and mirrors and Mediterranean inspired ambiance. Our meal started with drink orders – my friend as always asked for a “full body red wine” and our waitress said “uhh, I’m new here. I really don’t know. I can’t help you.” So that was awkward and strange, and he picked one for himself and luckily it was delicious. We ordered the sample platter/tapas style appetizer of eggplant, hummus and tzaziki and it came with a delicious hot, soft but crispy bread. That was all delicious. Especially the hummus (which after living in Israel, it’s hard to find so tasty). The busboys stood on top of us. The second we put our forks down (and our plates were NOT empty) they came over and started taking our plates. First of all, why can’t you ask before you take? Secondly, why can’t we have a minute to put our forks down and breathe while eating?! I was very annoyed by this as it happened numerous times by numerous people.

After the sampler I got the mozzarella and tomato salad and a side of cauliflower with pine nuts and tzaziki. The salad was fine. The tomatoes weren’t especially ripe and there were capers which are absolutely repulsive. The cauliflower was very tasty. We then answered for an additional side of hummus and they brought out a whole ‘nother loaf of bread. We were quite stuffed by the time we left there.

Overall the food was good, it wasn’t amazing. The service was pretty disappointing with a waitress who didn’t know anything and busboys on top of us. Plus I’m trying to wipe out the cost of the meal from my brain because it was so overpriced when it came down to what we actually ate/drank. Never again unless someone else is paying and somehow I have more patience to deal with this poor service.

Barbounia
250 Park Avenue South