Well here i am, back from New York following the worst train ride of my life. Amtrak you have disappointed me. No wonder you just replaced your CEO. But why was I in New York you ask? Well, to attend the NYC Chocolate Show, the biggest chocolate show in the US. Lots of fun, but really, I was there to work, and this is a fun blog, so I'm not going to talk about work. What I will talk about is dining in New York.
Now as any reader of this blog knows, I greatly value New York food above Boston food. So going to New York is always a nice little treat for me. Of course, not everything is going to be perfect, and there are always going to be duds among the good places. So let's talk about the place I liked eating at the most this weekend. And the winner is...
SPICE MARKET
(like the red? It's also one of the only places I took pictures). As some of you may know, Spice Market is owned by Jean Georges. It's his hipper restaurant with lots of Asian influences. And it's located in the very trendy Meapacking district. I've wanted to go to a Jean Georges restaurant for some time. Normally I can't afford it, but my buddy Moses says he goes here once to twice and week and he said the appetizers were "cheap" so he and his girlfriend Roxanne took me for some cocktails and snacks. (which really ended up being my dinner). Now, what I really like about Spice Market is its design. It's beautiful and dark and you feel like you're really in another country. They really paid a lot of attention to details and thought about things. As Moses and I waited for Rox to arrive, we sampled some very yummy cocktails at the bar. Here's mine, I ordered this drink cause it had passion fruit in it. Plus champagne and some other ingredient i don't remember. But it was super tasty.
And here's Moses' cocktail. He had a pineapple mojito. I didn't try it, but it certainly looks pretty. So Spice Market is divided into a main floor and a bottom floor. The mian floor holds the dining room and bar. The bottom floor is like a lounge where you can order drinks, appetizers and desserts, which is what we did when Rox arrived.
Ok, so here's the deal. The appetizers are not "cheap" as Moses had said, but they are very reasonably priced. So i always like that. I got an order of chicken samosas and an order of spicy chicken wings. Here are the samosas.
There are three pretty big sized samosas and they come with a yummy green dipping sauce which i'm sure had mint in it. I really enjoyed these. since they used phyllo rather than the normal samosa pastry, these were much lighter than the samosas you get at your local Indian restaurant. Ok. I just tried to look up the actual description for you all, but apparently Spice Market isn't listed on menupages and Jean George's website was no help. So tough. Though I did get distracted and start reading an entry on the Amateur Gourmet about Janet Jackson Breast Cupcakes. But I digress. Back to my appetizers.
Here's a pic of my spicy chicken wings.
Now when I ordered these, the waitress warned me that these were really spicy. Which they were, but not in a bad way. What I also like was the slices of fresh mango topped with mint that i could use to cool my palate in between wings. It's a really simple combo, but i liked it alot. Maybe even more than the wings. So as I said, these appetizers weren't "cheap" but they were super reasonable. I think the samosas cost $9 and the wings were $11. And for a Jean Georges restaurant in the Meatpacking district, I guess you could all that "cheap". The other thing is that these were really well made appetizers. Not like when I went to Pomodoro and got totally ripped off. And that's one of the big differences between restaurants in NY and those in Boston. You really do get more for your money in NY.
Ok, my last comment is that I also discovered that I could never be a waitress at Jean Georges, cause man were those uniforms skimpy! Basically, they've got all the female waitress wearing orange scrubs. But the top has no back. just 2 pieces of string holding it together. I don't see why they can't make them men wear skimpy outfits too. At any rate I had a very enjoyable time at Spice Market. I'm not sure how much it'd be for dinner, though I can pretty much guarantee that based on the appetizers, the entrees would be in the mid 20s up to the 40s range. But it really is a lovely atmosphere and I'd love to go back there again for a full meal.
GALLERIA ILLY
No No. illy Cafe has not opened its first store in the U.S. What they have done is opened an exhibition space in SOHO to introduce American to illy coffee. Yes, I realize that illy has been around for a while, but i think this is a cool concept. So off i went to check it out. and here's the cappuccino that i ordered below.
ain't it pretty? i gotta work on my espresso art. Ok, so here's the thing. This is just a temporary exhibit space for illy. They're only gonna be open for another month. But it's beautiful. Huge floor to ceiling windows where you can have a coffee and watch ppl walking by on West Broadway. I sat right in front and munched on my lunch while sipping my coffee. You can also order desserts. Really relaxing. My friend Jayna was studying coffee houses for a project and she noticed that Americans in coffeeshops never just sit and watch. They're always doing something. Reading, talking on the phone, etc. They never just sit! I pointed out that I'm sure it's the American thing because if people just sit and do nothing it feels like a waste of time. But at galleria illy, there were plenty of ppl just sitting and watching and drinking. I thought it was great.
ok, so here come the criticisms. think of them as constructive criticism. Since this is a tempoary space none of the machinery they're using is hardwired in. A true industrial machine needs to be hooked up to plumbing, and of course, you can't do that if you're only using a space for 3 months. I think that kinda effects the quality of the coffee a little. The second problem is that I watched the barista make my coffee. and he pulled the shot prior to steaming the foam. (ideally both the steaming and the shot pulling take place at the same time so the shot isn't sitting there breaking down while you're waiting for the foam). Lastly, my cappuccino cost $5. And that's just freaking ridiculous. Yes, i know they need to pay for this beautiful space, but $5? No way.
Otherwise, the staff was super helpful, the displays beautiful and it was a great place to relax while waiting for my friends. Sometimes, it's just fun watching all those ppl rushing by. So if you have the time, definetly stop by galleria illy for the one more month that it's open, I think you'll find it very enjoyable too.
No comments:
Post a Comment