Mind Over Stomach

As a born and raised NYC-er, I’m a bit disturbed that I’d never even passed Freeman’s Alley until recently. Googling the address really doesn’t help – it takes you to Chrystie Street and then you stare at a door for a while and realize you must be in the wrong spot. You know you’re in the right spot when you see a long alley, people waiting and a guy reminding you that it’s a “24 hour quiet zone” and you can’t talk on your cell phone. That’s gotta be a fun job to have.

I made a reservation else where for brunch with hopes there wouldn’t be a long wait here – and it was under 20 mintutes so we did it. What a great place. A bit noisey and great people watching. We were seated on the back right near the bar. Our waiter was a nice guy. He recommended some drinks and informed us of the specials. I had a orange-ish champagne drink that wasn’t very tasty. I’m not sure why I get drinks with champagne – cause I really don’t enjoy champagne. We shared the artichoke dip which was excellent. It came with small pieces of perfectly toasted bread, The dip wasn’t too cheesy and was crispy on top. Then I had the grilled cheese. It was good but a little overdone for me. I don’t like it so crispy. It came with mixed greens which were lightly dressed and tasty.

It was insanely rainy outside so we decided to stay at the bar and have another drink. I had a Mrs. Palmer (lavender honey, lemon, iced tea) with vodka and it was outstanding. I could drink those all day. Anything with lavender honey makes me happy. It was definitely a bit pricey and I wouldn’t go every Sunday for brunch but we definitely enjoyed it. Plus they played Arcade Fire so I was happy.

Freeman’s
191 Chrystie Street aka Freeman’s Alley

There are so many small cute restaurants in Alphabet City and it’s about time I check ‘em all out. A friend of mine told me to go here because it has a good food & drinks brunch. It was a really nice Saturday afternoon and we were able to sit outside. How can you turn down a$22 meal served with 3 cocktails (mimosa, bloody mary or sangria). Waitress was friendly and nice. Asked her if I should get the pancakes or french toast and she said definitely to the pancakes so I took her advice. My friend had a bloody mary and I went for the mimosa. He ordered lobster mac n’ cheese which apparently was the must-have dish. I wouldn’t touch the dish, even though he kept telling me there was a way around the lobster, I know it still touched it. My chocolate chip cakes were good – drizzled with dulce leche although a little dry. I asked the waitress for more dulce leche, she went to get it and came back with syrup and said “sorry, we can’t find the dulce leche.” Um, okay? You put it on my pancakes minutes ago, did you really lose it? That was super odd. The potato hash was probably the best part. More like chopped potatoes with grilled veggies than home fries but I enjoyed them enough to get another side of them.

For the price we paid, it was good but I was really confused by the dulce leche situation. Wouldn’t you be?

Poco
33 Avenue B

My friend told me she was a regular here so we decided to go together as she highly recommended numerous dishes. We sat at the bar and had a drink before we were seated. The place was pretty empty at 7pm on a Thursday night. Our bartender was very nice. We were hoping to sit outside but the host said it was going to be a 15 minute wait (after our drinks) so we decided to sit inside. The service was very sub-par, pretty unfriendly people. We ordered a selection of veggie things to share. To be honest, I don’t even remember which dishes they were which clearly means they were not memorable. We did have the side of brussel sprouts which were excellent. I love brussels so much. I don’t know, overall it was a little pricey for nothing so exceptional. Cool ambiance, I give it that.

Extra Virgin
259 West 4th Street

Venturing down to the South Street Seaport is very rare for me. Yes, born and raised in NYC, and this is a neighborhood that I don’t know my way around at all – and could get completely lost down there. Luckily I was running late, so I was able to leave it to the cab driver to find Acqua

Cute italian restaurant on Peck Slip. Sounds like it belongs in the Hamptons or something, but no, it’s in the city! AN array of wine bottles lined the shelves, and it was a very clean Italian-looking restaurant. Our waiter was extremely friendly and helpful. When telling us the specials, he would repeat them. It’s funny how when you hear specials you tune in to specific words and often miss the first word and ask for it to be repeated – luckily he automatically did that.

We did a lot of sharing. We shared a few salads – all mozzarella-esque with tomatoes and deliciousness. it was extremely fresh. Everything in the restaurant is either made fresh there (including their pastas) or organically grown. We had four different pastas. The gnocchi with pesto and gorgonzola was a bit disappointing. No, I’m not a fan of gorgonzola but everyone agreed it was the least delicious dish of the meal. The rest of the pastas were delicious and flavorful and none had an overbearing amount of cheese. I was very impressed.

Not sure how much the bill was because luckily I didn’t pay – but it was a really delicious meal and if you have any reason to go to the Seaport, check this place out!

Acqua at Peck Slip
21 Peck Slip

My friends randomly picked this place and I had never heard of it. I don’t know this neighborhood and find there is no reason to need to know this neighborhood. It’s barely an upgrade from Murray Hill.

You walk in and it looks like a cheese shop and then you look further back and it’s a restaurant with about 10 tables. The host told us it would be a 30 minute wait on a Wednesday night, so we waited and had a glass of wine at the bar. Cute bartender. After over 30 minutes, we were still waiting and other tables were being seated, so we asked what the deal was and he said that they seat people based on party size because it’s so small. So they sat a foursome before us (we were 3) even though they got there 20 minutes after us. Not cool. Finally we were seated at a mini table where they gave us a foot stool as one of the seats. Not cool. Finally got another chair after lots of huffing and puffing.

We ordered the large sample platter and small cheese platter. it was delicious. Everything tasted great. The food was really very good. The spinach dip, tabouli salad, hummus, tzatziki and all that deliciousness. The waiter was not friendly, not interesting in telling us what was “the best” and what we had to order. Just very unfriendly people.

The food is really good though. A friend told me she gets take out from there, which is much more appropriate considering the space/service is so worthless

Kashkaval
856 9th Ave

I love the ambiance at Public– such a cool space and fantastic service. I’ve been here for brunch a few times, never dinner. The first time I came I was waiting for my friend to arrive, the hostess said there wouldn’t be a wait if he arrived soon. I rushed him and by the time he came, there was no table but she said we could sit at the bar. It was a spacious bar, a really awesome bartender and we were more than happy sitting there. Amazing people watching especially from the bar where there is a mirror high up on the wall that allows you to look up at people.

We shared a few dishes: Coconut pancakes with fresh ricotta, mango salad and ginger-lime syrup (very good!) Ginger spiced lychee french toast with lemongrass dark palm caramel and pomegranate mascarpone (OUTSTANDING) and a side of Quinoa hashbrowns (which were good, not fantastic). We had really delicious drinks including a spiked hot apple cider. I really love this place and would love to go back for dinner but there aren’t enough veggie options for me!!

Public
210 Elizabeth St

If you know me, you know how much I dislike Murray Hill and don’t give it much credit for ANYTHING. I finally found something worth giving credit for thus I am publicly expressing my interest. Cask. What a great spot! Okay not great but a different spot considering all of Murray Hill is the same – confirmed by this video. Friend of mine living in Murray Hill raved about it and constantly told me I had to go so finally I did. Late dinner on a Tuesday night. Love the ambiance. Could be for a date or a group of friends. Pretty dark and just more of an east village-y feel and NOT a MH feel (which obviously is what attracted me to it). Waiter was very nice and friendly. We ordered drinks and then had mac n’ cheese and the veggie flatbread (minus the olives). The mac n’ cheese honestly wasn’t THAT great, it was too water-y for me but clearly didn’t stop either of us from eating it and scraping the plate. The flatbread on the other hand was very flavorful with an assortment of veggies and cheese. I was impressed. I kept pinching myself to see if it was real that I was in Murray Hill enjoying myself but yes, this place is a unique find.

Cask
167 E 33rd St

In my walks to/from my addiction – Momofuku Noodle, I have looked inside and said “hmmm maybe I should try this….” and finally I decided it was time to switch it up from Momo to Tree.

We made a reservation for four and when we called we specified although the garden looked beautiful we wanted to sit inside because it was too hot outside. When we arrived they showed us to our table at the garden which was in fact adorable and would have been nice to eat at but not on a 93 degree day. Isn’t there a “notes” section when you take the reservation? And so they brought us back inside to the table at the front window. What I would like to refer to as the forgotten table.

Took a while for our waiter/the bartender to come to us and take our order. There was a gnocchi on the menu and below it said “vegan option available” so when the waiter came over I asked him what the vegan option of the gnocchi was. He looked at me like I made something up off the menu. The “vegan option available” was completely separate from the gnocchi – it was whatever the chef (who was probably the waiter/bartender too) felt like making. Anyway, we ordered basic things (nothing with/without anything – shocking for me) and I was the only one who ordered a drink, an iced tea. Food took a while. We all shared a side of asparagus. I had the veggie gnocchi which was very yummy but honestly not a big enough portion. I could have started with a salad. Everyone else had a burger and enjoyed it and the fries were good. The waiter brought us a fish pasta and apologized for not bringing it out earlier because he forgot it. Huh? We never ordered a fish pasta. He was completely scatter-brained so he decided to just leave the pasta for us (at no charge) if we wanted it. Um, strange.

He forgot my iced tea and yet charged us for it, and then when we told him he didn’t even say like, “sorry I forgot” It was just weird, he was quite spacey but the food was good. Something tells me the waiter is the bartender is the chef is the manager and who knows, maybe even the owner.

Tree
190 1st Ave

Came here for brunch on a Saturday with my best friend who said he’s there all the time and loves it. It wasn’t packed and getting a table last minute was totally easy. Nice ambiance, sorta Balthazar-ish with a DeNiro kinda spin on it of course (whatever that means).

Their orange juice with pomegranate was delicious – so delicious.

Waitress was nice, helping me pick out what to eat as a veggie and recommending things. She made it clear there weren’t that many options for me especially as I went through my list of my “no” eats. She suggested the pesto pasta or the zucchini fritatta. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered a fritatta before so this day I was feeling adventurous. It was good, nothing amazing. A bit too much cheese but that’ expected with a fritatta. We also shared the fruit salad and the fruits were very fresh and tasty – especially the grapes.

I don’t know. It was good but really nothing outstanding stood out to me….in simple terms, I don’t need to go back.

Laconda Verde
377 Greenwich St

Three of the six of us for the reservation arrived, and they immediately seated us. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine when they require the whole group to be there in order to be seated. What a great place. The atmosphere was very laid back, east vilage-y. Everyone was well dressed, but it didn’t feel like a fashion competition.

There were so many different options on the menu, even for a picky eater like myself. I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich that came with tomato soup (which I didn’t eat) and salad. The grilled cheese was huge and cheesy. It was good but I think it made me realize that I’m definitely allergic to dairy. Anyway, the salad was good. Everyone enjoyed their meals–especially the french toast. The waitress was fantastic–she didn’t think we were crazy, well maybe she did but she didn’t show it.

Two small complaints. The bench I was sitting on was next to or attached to the heater so the bench was scorching hot. Painfully hot. I guess I learned my lesson NOT to sit on the bench. Also, they list on the menu “no substitutions” and for such a picky eater–that’s not really my thing, although I was very pleased with the service, food, price etc of the meal.

Belcourt
84 East 4th Street