A Modern Jewish-American Deli: Kutsher's Tribeca

On our most recent date night the hubby and I decided to try Kutsher's Tribeca, the newly opened outpost of the famed Kutsher's Country Club resort in the Catskills. The menu includes delectable traditional Jewish American fare albeit with a contemporary twist, such as wild halibut gefilte fish with beet and horseradish tartare. Being lovers of Jewish cuisine and always excited about restaurants with creative concepts, we headed on over.

The space is really interesting. Modern with recessed lighting and curious configurations of blond wood panels positioned around the restaurant.

Source

Being that we were at a modern Jewish deli, we decided to start off with the charcuterie platter, aptly named the Delicatessen.

There are 6 types of meat to choose from but we decided on the Kutsher's pastrami (succulent and absolutely amazing!), the chopped liver (rich and delicious) and the smoked veal tongue (good but not as phenomenal as its other two counterparts). Served with rye bread, mustard and horseradish aioli, this is not to be missed!

We then moved on to our individual appetizers. The hubby decided on borscht but I chose to get the Pickled Herring Two Ways. One serving was dressed with pickled onions and cream, and the other with wasabi, yuzu and pepper. Suffice it to say I am still thinking about this appetizer. It was that good!

At this point we were stuffed. Which would have been fine but we had an order of the Grilled Roumanian steak to share coming up! I really wanted to save room for dessert and so I had a few nibbles of the steak before having it wrapped to go. I am not a huge fan of steak but this one was pretty special. Tender and flavorful.

The dessert was a toss-up between the chocolate babka bread pudding and the strawberry shortcake and on our server's suggestion that the latter option would be a tad lighter we chose the strawberry shortcake. We were not disappointed. It was light and fluffy served with whipped cream and a strawberry compote.

If you're looking for an upscale downtown spot with great food I highly recommend Kutsher's Tribeca!

Question: Does the modern Jewish American deli concept interest you? Would you pay $11 for a bowl of matzo ball soup?

Date Night in San Francisco

I was in the Bay Area for a wedding this past weekend. After six grueling hours on the plane where I was constantly thinking up of ways to entertain my very curious toddler, I was quite relieved to finally see the tarmac at San Francisco airport. My mother, seeing me drenched in exhaustion took pity on me and quickly offered her babysitting services so that the hubby and I could get some quiet time. It had been a while since we had had date night so I swiftly accepted my mum's offer.

We had a car fully equipped with a GPS (how did we ever get anywhere before the GPS???). But where to go? Should we do the touristy thing and hit up Fisherman's Wharf? Be a culture-hound and go to the SF Moma? Drive around aimlessly and look for a whimsical coffee shop? Ultimately we decided none of the above and instead I succumbed to my inner cupcake-lover! I remembered that Elizabeth Faulkner (a constant fixture on the Food Network) owned a cake shop in San Francisco. After a quick Google search we were on our way to Citizen Cake!

As we approached Citizen Cake I saw a long lIne snaking outside a neighboring pizza joint. This piqued my interest. A line outside a restaurant is usually a good sign! 

 Pizzeria Delfina was quite a find! It had a laid-back, hipster vibe but, at the same time it had an inviting aura about it. 

The hubby and I shared two pizzas: The Clam Pie...

and the Porcini Pie..

Can you tell we enjoyed them?

Next stop was Citizen Cake!

We were told the restaurant was fully booked and so were seated at the bar. Not a problem. Except that the restaurant was two-thirds empty when we got there and stayed that way for the remainder of our time there. Anyhow!

The center of the restaurant housed a glass case containing an assortment of exotic sounding desserts..

..which included, but was not limited to, the Retro Tropical Shag! A rum-soaked genoise with passion fruit and mango mousse!

Yum!

The hubby felt like getting a sundae, so we chose the Red Forrest sundae: Chunks of red velvet cake sticking out of a mound of vanilla ice cream, and dribbled with chocolate sauce and cherries.

It looked pretty good but the verdict? Disappointing. The cake felt dry and did not go well with the vanilla ice cream. Next time I am trying the SF Sourdough sundae. Grilled sourdough ice cream anyone?

Question: What is your favorite thing to do or favorite place to eat at in San Francisco? Next time we are going to come a little more prepared!

July 4th weekend recap and Uncle Sam Cereal Giveaway Winner!

Hey all. Hope you all had a great July 4th weekend! Alright, first thing's first. I am going to announce the winner of the Uncle Sam Honey Almond cereal giveaweay courtesy Attune Foods.

I compiled the following list:

Then used random.org to generate:

Congratulations to Sofia! Please email me your mailing address at momatthebarre@gmail.com and we will get that box of cereal over to you as soon as possible!

So the weekend was pretty relaxed but highlights included:

1. Dinner at Rouge Tomate with a friend.
 
The space is gorgeous. Clean and minimalist.

The food? Phenomenal! The seasonally inspired menu is Modern American with a strong emphasis on fresh and locally sourced ingredients.

To start, we shared the Chickpea hummus with sweet pepper, house-cured olives and flat bread crisp.

Then, for my main course, I had the Grass Fed Lamb Loin, with fennel, turnip, Beldi olives, bing cherries and Greek yogurt. It was lip-smackingly good! Also, not a huge portion, which I am often afraid of whenever 'Lamb' and 'loin' are on the menu!

Yum!

For dessert, I decided on the Passion Fruit Tart with pineapple, mango, coconut and pink peppercorn. This I could probably have done without. The first few bites were heavenly but it became a little too sweet afterwards. Gorgeous presentation though, no?

A lovely evening with great food. Highly recommended if you are ever in New York!

2. Worked out on each of the three days of the Holiday weekend:
- Tried Core Fusion Sport for the first time on Saturday-which I shall review soon. I bought a $25 certificate on Gilt a few months ago for two weeks of unlimited classes at Exhale Spa. I thought it was an amazing deal! So I am looking forward to trying all this studio has to offer.
- Took a Physique 57 class on Sunday when it was pouring. I got to the studio drenched and grumpy but once we got started I fell into the groove and had a fun class! I tried a new instructor and thought she was great (thanks Brigitte!). I love Physique 57 so much.  It really is like my therapy.
-On Monday I tried Exhale's newest class, Core Fusion Bootcamp-which is also to be reviewed in the near future.

3. Spent some quality time with friends and family in the Park.
With the exception of Sunday, the weekend had some gorgeous weather and we were able to take advantage of it and spend some time in Central Park, where we caught the roller-bladers in action. Check out the guy roller-blading while balancing bottles on his head!

Ah, love New York city in the summer!

Question: How did you spend your July 4th weekend? 

Finally. Date Night. A Success: Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel

I am slowly getting more comfortable with leaving my baby boy with a sitter. I'm a little obsessive-compulsive and a tad bit of a control-freak, so it's no picnic for my sitter either. It's bad enough being stressed about leaving your six-month old with a complete stranger but it's even worse when the date-night dinner you had been so looking forward to culminates with mediocre food.

The last few restaurants the hubby and I have been to had been hyped up but we left feeling disappointed. This losing streak changed last night when we were finally able to snag a table at Maialino!

Maialino is the impossible-to-get-into Italian restaurant that is part of Danny Meyer's culinary empire (of Union Sqaure Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and ofcourse Shake Shack-fame, amongst others) located at the Gramercy Park Hotel.

We got to the restaurant at 910pm for a 930pm reservation, and found it to be at almost 50% occupancy. I was elated since that meant we were seated sooner but puzzled as to why I was unable to get an earlier reservation. Could there have been that many last-minute cancellations?

Anyhow, by 930pm the dining room had filled up and the place was popping.

Source: NYTimes

The decor is very 'Roman trattoria'. You walk past the bread and salumi station...

Source: NYTimes

..to get to the dining room where there are wooden floors, oak wainscotting and white on top of blue and white checked table cloths.

Source: Mailino

The place did get packed but the noise was not a bother. I hate going to restaurants where you cannot hear yourself think and this wasn't the case here.

The food was amazing! We started off with the Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe- ribbons of pasta prepared with pecorino and pepper. So simple and yet so delicious!

For our entrees we shared another pasta dish, this time the Garganelli- tube shaped pasta (similar to penne) with braised rabbit, green olives and rosemary; and the Pollo alla Diavola: Half chicken with black pepper and pickled chili.

Pollo alla Diavola

Everything was superb! The pasta was cooked just right and the flavors were not overpowering. The portion sizes were great too. Some people have complained that the portions are too small-I disagree, I think they are just right.

For dessert we opted to have the gelato, trying the trio of olive oil, straciatella and tiramisu flavors.

All in all, it was a perfect evening. Good food, great ambiance, excellent service. Date night is back with a bang!

Apparently had we been there a few hours earlier we may have caught a glimpse of Lady Gaga who was staying at the hotel!

Q: What is your favorite date-night spot?

Cape Cod Adventures: I Love New England!

New England has to be my most favorite part of the country. Granted, I still have not visited the Pacific Northwest (I have been told that I would love Portland, Oregon) but for the time being throw me into any part of Vermont or Massachusetts and I shall be content!

The husband and I just spent the past few days in Cape Cod, allowing our little guy to experience his very first beach. While it was slightly cool to actually get into the water we spent our time reading at the beach, exploring the charming neighboring villages and eating a ton of lobster! The quaint little inn we were staying at had the spottiest wireless internet connection. When I brought this up to the gentleman-in-charge he nodded, "Yes, the internet comes and goes here." He then paused and added helpfully, "There's a library though...its about 20 miles from here...you could access the computer from there?"

Um, no. I figured the blog could be updated once I was back home!

So the highlights of the trip (most of which are ofcourse, food-related!) included the following:

*The Lobster Caesar salad at the Friendly Fisherman Restaurant in Eastham, MA

The freshest, sweetest lobster ever, thrown over crispy leaves of lettuce amidst croutons and sprinkled cheese. Divine!

*The Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, MA

This was a real winner, in my opinion. Sandwich is a charming little village, with gorgeous houses and woods that seem like they are out of a fairy-tale.This was my favorite of all the villages we explored in Cape Cod, and the Glass Museum is lovely. Sandwich used to be the largest producer of glass in the world at one point and this museum commemorates that. There was a wonderful glass-blowing demonstration and some really fun interactive exhibits, including one which detailed the history of light. Of course the museum also houses the most beautiful collection of glassware..

Along with a very interesting exhibit in the ladies' rest room!

Yes, ladies, thats a breast pipe in the top shelf, along with a nursing bottle and a 'bosom shell' in the bottom shelf, circa 1850. The "bosom shell" is the glass equivalent of a present-day breast shield. Uncomfortable much, nursing ladies of the 1850s?

*The Stony Brook Herring Run in Brewster, MA

Isn't it pretty?

*The Houses in Chatham, MA and the Chatham Lighthouse

*Dinner at PB Boulangerie and Bistro, in Wellfleet, MA

Roasted chicken runs the risk of being rather bland. Not so much at this adorable little French bistro. Served with a carrot puree, it was one of the best plates of roast chicken I have ever had. Unfortunately I failed to take a picture. What I did take a picture of was the dessert- the bombolones, little balls of dough, filled with chocolate ganache, served alongside creme fraiche.

Thought I had died and gone to heaven!

*And finally, brunch at Chach, an off-the-beaten-track brunch spot in Provincetown.

This is where the locals go for some tasty grub.

I had the french toast with strawberries and lemon curd!

De-lish!

Now that I am back home it's back to green smoothies for me. I'm also looking forward to getting back into the workout routine, having taken a short break over this mini-vacation. I'm excited about trying a new workout in the am. Till then!

Question: Have you been to Cape Cod? What's your most favorite thing to do there?

Food and Fitness: Some Hits, Some Misses

This week has been kind of 'meh'. I have been feeling tired, a little low on energy and I have not been sleeping well. Workouts this week have been hit or miss. Some were great, like yesterday's Refine Method boot camp-style class, chock-full of mountain climbers and jumpbacks, performed to the point where I thought I would die; but there have also been some workouts where I just wasn't feeling it.

I took a spin class with a teacher who I had not tried before. While she taught a great class she played music that did not resonate with me. For a spin class, the music is key, and if its all going to be top 40 then that's going to be a problem. My knee was also beginning to get irritated with the repetitive cycling motion so it all added up and I ended up wishing I had taken the day off.

This was not the case this past weekend when I attended another one of Physique 57's workshops. This one was called "Trim and Tone Your Trouble Spots" and in a 90-minute frenzy, it did just that. The instructors, Tanya, Alex and Stephanie, led a tough class that was also fun as hell. Each time they would demonstrate a contorted move we were expected to emulate I would look at them quizzically and mouth, "Really? You really want us to do that?" I am not going to give an in-depth review of the class because honestly, I was enjoying it so much  that I zoned out, and so do not have a lucid recollection of the actual sequence. What I do remember is that we targeted every aspect of the seat and thigh - definitely my trouble spots!

On Monday, the husband and I went out for date night. I had forgotten how hard it is to a score a reservation in this city, and this is a week in advance! We tried all the hot spots du jour: The Dutch-5pm and 11pm slots available (um, no thanks); Maialino-11pm (you're kidding, right?); ABC Kitchen- fully booked for the night and the next two days (who are these people taking up all the reservations on a Monday?!). Slightly annoyed, I kept going down the list of all the places I have been wanting to try. Finally, I was able to get an 845pm reservation at Osteria Morini - Michael White's hot, new, Italian restaurant in Soho. I loved his old restaurant L'Impero, which later had its menu spruced and was renamed Convivio (closed now). Osteria Morini is his newest venture and has been getting a lot of buzz so I was excited to try it.

Source: Osteria Morini

The first thing that struck me when I entered the dark, cozy space, with its terracotta floors and wooden rafters hanging from the ceilings, was how casually everyone was dressed. One guy was even in flip flops! Hoping for a glamorous night out I had dolled up and so felt a little silly in the mix of things! It's my own fault. Morini does not have a dress code and in fact "Osteria" means inn or tavern so the restaurant is going for a casual vibe.

Source: Osteria Morini

But still, flip flops?

Well, let's move on to the food. To start with, I had the Sformato, described as parmigiano-truffle cheese custard with wild mushroom sugo.

Verdict: Delicious! The braised mushrooms on top really brought out the umami in the dish and the cheese custard was just as decadent as it sounds!

Next up, the main course: I had the Creste: pasta crests, with mussels, shrimps, scallops and parsley e aglio.

Verdict: The pasta was good. Was it finger-licking-I-don't-want-this-to-be-over good? No, but I enjoyed it.


For dessert I had the Torte, which was a plum cake. 

Verdict: Delicious!


Overall: The food here was pretty good, however, the service we received was not. Our server was impossible to get a hold of and one of the sides we ordered showed up after we had already finished our main course, and so I sent it back. Also, the place was LOUD! Not ideal for a romantic date night, as we were hoping. I probably won't be back since there are so many other great Italian restaurants in the city where the service is not sub-par. I do feel bad saying this since the food itself was good but, for me, going out to eat is an experience where everything matters, from how long you have to wait to be seated, to how promptly someone fills your glass of water and so on and so forth. I'm a tough critic, I know.


There's going to be some travel in the next week or so and therefore I may be missing in action. But I shall return! I have some new exercise classes that I will be trying out and reviewing in the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Personal Bests and Firsts: Japan Day Run and Mother's Day

Yesterday I ran a 4-mile race in Central Park commemorating Japan Day. This race is special to me because it was the first race I ran when I started running New York Road Runner races two years ago. At the time, I set two goals for myself. First, I wanted to run the entire four miles without stopping and second, I did not want to go any slower than a pace of a 10-minute mile. I remember being really nervous the day before the race as I was really feeling the pressure of my pre-set goals. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous that day. As feared, I did not get a side cramp, my knee did not act up, and not only did I run the 4 miles without even stopping for water, I ran at a pace of 9:06 which is still my personal best.

The race yesterday was different. Things have changed over the last year. I have had a baby and have pretty much stopped running, or at least have not been running as regularly as I used to. As you can imagine, I am quite out-of-shape as far as running goes. The difference is evident when the pace/mile in the pre-2011 races is compared to that in the 2011 races (See Below)

So anyhow, I have reconciled with the fact that I need to become a stronger runner and so for this race my goal was to try and run without any stops and overall, just have fun, which I did. The hills on the east side of Central Park at the race start are always tough for me but once that hurdle was passed I kept a slow and steady pace and really enjoyed myself.  My pace did end up being one of my slowest but right now it's about getting the endurance back. Speed will come later. Baby steps!

After my four mile run, my husband took me and our little baby to Norma's to celebrate my first mother's day. If you have never heard of Norma's then know this, it is a New York city landmark known for its fabulous brunch and its $1000 omelette! We opted to savor more modest but equally decadent fare such as Chunks of Lobster Swimming in Cheesy Macaroni...

and the Super Moist French Toast with an Orange Infused Honey Drizzle..

Not to mention the free shot of their smoothie-of-the-day which was some guava-strawberry concoction.  De-lish! I was in a food coma for the rest of the day but it was so worth it!

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

A Motherhood First + A Spectacular Dining Experience

This past weekend was eventful because it marked one of the many nerve-wracking "firsts" that a new parent undergoes. There was the first time my baby projectile vomited on me in public. The first time I had to change a soiled diaper in the middle of a snowstorm at a Denny's off the highway. Saturday marked another first, while not as traumatic as the above, equally nerve-wracking! It was the first time I left my baby with a babysitter. This time last year my husband and I were discussing how we could resume our 'regular' life post-baby and reasonably concurred that a babysitter would feature prominently in our lives. Cut to the present day, four months post-baby, and no babysitter has entered the picture. Don't get me wrong. We had family helping out for the first few months who let my husband and I sneak out for the occasional date night. But this was always within a few blocks radius of our neighborhood and leaving your child with grandparents versus leaving your child with a complete stranger are two entirely different things. Like any new parent I felt very protective. Umpteen different scenarios kept clouding my ability to reason. What if the sitter does not respond to my baby crying? What if she does respond and terrifies my baby who was expecting mommy's smiling face? What if what if what if?

This weekend I decided to bite the bullet and just do it. I found a great sitter through a friend, put my baby to sleep and the husband and I met some friends and went out for dinner at an adult restaurant! Which brings me to my review of Soto, a Japanese restaurant in the West Village which recently acquired its second Michelin star. Soto has been around since late 2007, and has been getting rave reviews since. On the higher side of the price spectrum, it's a special place, to be reserved for a special occasion.

Located on sixth avenue, there is no sign outside the restaurant. You walk into a space with wooden panels and a very minimalist feel. The sushi bar is to your left where the chef Sotohiro Kasugi is at work with a few assistants, and according to our server, "is involved in at least 90% of the preparation of all the dishes being served." Luckily for him, only 42 patrons can dine at one time but still thats a lot of work! So was it worth it? I have one word for the meal that I had. DIVINE! It was the best Japanese meal I have had, and in the top five best meals I have ever had. The sushi was good but what really stood out were the small plates composed of raw and slightly cooked seafood. Uni (sea urchin) is the specialty of the house, so one should definitely get a few uni dishes.

Some of our meal's highlights:
1. Sea Trout Carpaccio: Cured Tasmanian sea trout with black truffle sea salt and sweet miso mustard sauce

2. Uni Ika Sugomori Zukuri: Sea urchin wrapped in thinly sliced squid with shiso served with quail egg and tosa soy reduction, arranged with thin strips of seaweed.
The picture below does not do it justice but underneath the quail egg and the seaweed nest lies a marriage of creamy uni and pieces of squid! This is a must-have. It is so unusual and so melt-in-your-mouth delicious that it would be a travesty to come to Soto and not try this.

3.  Steamed lobster with uni mousse: Steamed lobster and uni mousse in a lotus wrap, garnished with smoked uni and caviar.

Everything on the menu was highly inventive and a testament to the creative genius that is Sotohiro Kasugi. It is a quirky and playful take on traditional Japanese cuisine and was a remarkable and unforgettable dining experience!

Also, I am over my babysitter hang-up.