More from the Egyptian bagel taste test

I rewarded myself for completing a 10 mile run this morning by defrosting and toasting Egyptian Bagel #3, this time a cinnamon raisin one.

Once again I was treated to a tasty flavorful bagel. Expecting brown raisins, I was pleasantly suprised to find yellow raisins inside. The density of these bagels versus the ones you get in New York makes taste of the cinnamon and raisins really stand out.

Being fairly traditional with my bagel accompaniments, I decided to keep it simple and just add some margarine. Yes, should have used some butter but couldn't totally undo all of the calories burned on this morning's run. The margarine just added a little something extra without deterring from the flavor of the bagel.

One more to go, the multi-grain, so stay tuned....

Porgy & Bess (and Ethos)

Tonight's dinner companions were RRR & Haggis. RRR was craving Greek and chose Ethos, a delightful neighborhood place in Murray Hill.

Not sure what the wine was except to say Greek since as usual we deferred to RRR's particular tastebuds and our waiter's suggestions - all I can say was it was Greek and it was good! A balance of fruit and enough body to satisfy all of our tastes.

We started with the Pikilia Spread, an assortment of four spreads: tsatziki, taramosalata (red caviar whipped with lemon & extra virgin olive oil), melitzanolsalata (roasted eggplant whipped w/garlic, parsley, herbs, lemon & oil) and skordalia (whipped potato, garlic & extra virgin olive oil) --- my favorite was the eggplant but I did find the taramosalata especially tasty, a bit of a salty anchovy-like taste on the back end versus the smooshiness of caviar I was expecting. Garlic was certainly in full force on all spreads, so might not want to order this one on a first date!

We followed our app with the holovi metsovo salad: grilled potatoes, onions, extra virgin olive oil, lemon and Greek wine vinegar with mesculun greens. The onions were perfectly softened and the potatoes had enough crispiness on the outer skin to add an extra level of texture to this herby tasty mezze.

Haggis enjoyed her thalasina on a skewer (shrimp, scallops, swordfish w/tomatoes, peppers & onions w/lemon, olive oil and rice), RRR had solomos ambelofilo (salmon w/herbs wrapped in grapevine leaves & oven roasted).

Not to brag but I had the pick of the night, literally! Our waiter who resembled a portly Tony Danza, escorted me over to the fresh fish case with the day's catch sitting on ice just waiting to be picked out. I chose a one pound tsipoura (aka porgy) which was charcoal grilled to perfection, filleted tableside and served with a lemon infused oil which was not needed - the fish was moist and tasty enough on it's own. This came with a side of char-grilled, oily, garlicky broccoli and more potatoes a la our salad from earlier in the night.

My glowing review of our waiter's technique in deboning the fish may have been partly responsible for our complimentary desert, a custard-like pastry wrapped in philo dough - wish I could tell you the name but again food coma and wine caught up to me at this point.

Once again, we found a wonderful neighborhood place to take a date, your friends, your parents or your Greek friends. Good food, good service, good prices and fresh well-prepared ingredients. And if you pick your porgy (or snapper or orata as the case may be) you are in for an extra special treat!

One weekend, three restaurants, one city - what a dilemma!

"If you had one long weekend to dine in NYC what 3 places would you go to?"

I'm sure when Asbury Park emailed me this question after our conversation in Marina del Rey he wasn't expecting me to overthink, overanalyze and agonize over my response -- I did finally answer but not after considering the following factors:

1. Do you pick somewhere you've been to and know is fantastic so you won't be disappointed?
2. Do you pick somewhere that is super high end (a la French Laundry which I promise to write about at a later date) and a one in a lifetime dining experience?
3. Or do you pick a restaurant with a scene that's ultra-sceney & pretentious or go with a neighborhood place that's comfortable & homey?
4. Does dining companions factor into the decision making process?

My first instinct was to pick three restaurants I know are great and will always have a special place in my heart...or stomach as the case may be. Each of these restaurants have been fabulous memorable experiences with amazing fresh ingredients, warm and friendly service and most importantly meals that I fondly recalled long after I've been there. Not saying these are THE BEST but these are MY BEST...at least as of now. So here they are in all their glory:

Babbo, The Harrison & Tocqueville

But two new American places? Maybe more variety needed? And what about Nobu? Le Bernadin? Megu? Per Se? Jean Georges? Daniel?

I certainly invite you to weigh in and tell me your top three - I'd love to compare notes! So much to eat so little time!

Happy as a Clam in Marina del Rey

Back in June, I spent a week in Marina del Rey for work. While the work was rewarding, the hours were long and draining. However, coming back at night to sleep at the Ritz-Carlton wasn't too shabby.

On a rare early night off, Lambert's Army & I decided to take the advice of the concierge and head down the road to Cafe del Rey where we enjoyed a fabulous civilized dinner versus a week of craft service on the Sony backlot and take out from various restaurants in Santa Monica that were eaten in the edit room. The fish was fresh and impeccably prepared with an equally impressive wine list - oh yeah and the company wasn't too bad either!

So for my last night in LA, I decided to go back to Cafe' del Rey and have a light dinner at the bar. On this particular night, while I was chasing down their truffle coated popcorn with an earthy glass of pinot noir, I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me. Somewhere between my spinach salad with a zinfandel poached pear, blue cheese and candied walnuts (for the second time that week!), & my Dungeness crab cake, talk got seriously culinary. Asbury Park & I started comparing notes about restaurants in LA and NY, including his statement that Cafe del Rey is the best restaurant in Marina del Rey (can't say I disagree).

We've exchanged email addresses and while I promised to inform him when my blog was 'live', something I still haven't done yet, he did pose an interesting question via email which I will answer in my next entry....

Can you stand the suspense?

Dining Seaside @ Nino's Bistro

RRR & I spent the weekend at the Jersey Shore and as always, the big question was "Where are we going to eat?" We decided to be adventurous and try somewhere new, this time around, Nino's Pizzeria and Bistro in Seaside Park. As is often the case in Jersey, this restaurant was pretty much a pizzeria with a BYOB restaurant with tables and waitress service on the other side. We ran out in the rain to get a bottle of Corvo Nero D'Avola and sat down with the hopes that RRR will have better quality Italian food than she usually gets in Massachusetts.

Well, the entire meal was a pleasant suprise. We started off with a broccoli rabe appetizer. After the waitress survived RRR's inquisition of how much oil would be used in making the broccoli rabe, there was just enough olive oil to bring out the flavor of the vegetable without drowning it. The bitterness of the broccoli received just the right amount of kick from the toasted garlic and there was just enough lemon to keep it all in balance. We made quick work of the huge heap of broccoli and felt like it was well worth the $8.95 price tag (one of the pricier appetizers on the menu!). Side note: I never tire of the 'sticker shock' at how inexpensive meals can be outside of Manhanttan.

Next came our side of meatballs - two meatballs we topped with a generous helping of parmesan and as meatball conessieurs we did note that this was probably a 100% beef meatball versus a beef/pork or beef/pork/veal combo which usually yield a tastier meatball. Still pretty decent considering the fine texture of the meat and not as much parsley as I would prefer - I believe the meatball was helped by the fresh marinara sauce that accompanied it.

Our main courses consisted of a personal pizza with mushrooms for RRR (pizza in MA cannot measure up to pizza in NJ) and I had pappardelle with shrimp, broccoli rabe and sundried tomatoes in a tomato sauce. The pasta was cooked al dente and the combinations of the fresh ingredients made this entree a standout. They must have added some parmesan when finishing the pasta since there was a note of creaminess that you usually don't find in a seafood & pasta dish.

So nice to have discovered yet another great restaurant to have an inexpensive but delicious meal. This is why you should never underestimate the little neighborhood places!