Posts Tagged ‘american food’
Cafeteria in Chelsea
On Christmas Day recently, my sisters and I lunched at Cafeteria in Chelsea. Our friends only had to rave to us about the delectable macaroni and cheese, and we were already calling to make reservations. Upon arrival, we weren’t extremely impressed with the façade (I think they’re in the midst of some construction) but the interior décor was simple and elegant. We were seated promptly upon arrival by the friendly staff.
We pored over the menu, debating between breakfast entrees or sumptuous salads. As tempted as we were by the lemon ricotta pancakes, we finally settled on the crispy calamari salad, which was a tossing of frisee, roasted peppers,
calamari (obviously), green beans, toasted peanuts, all dressed with honey sesame vinaigrette. Along with the salad, we ordered the restaurant’s signature “Mac Attack,” which is a tasting of all three types of their gourmet mac & cheese (1) cheddar and fontina, 2) smoked gouda, and 2) truffle oil). For dessert, we indulged ourselves by ordering deep fried Oreos, which are served with espresso chip ice cream and a coffee shake shot.
Crispy Calamari salad
A cultural and culinary tour of NYC with Mercedes-Benz and AmEx
Mercedes-Benz x American Express
American Express and Mercedes-Benz recently launched two new cards — their Mercedes-Benz credit card and the Platinum Card where users can accumulate points every time they use it at restaurants, gas stations AND gain access to invite-only experiences to private events. To celebrate and (quite literally) give us a taste of what they have to offer, AmEx and Mercedes-Benz invited me and a few other bloggers for a “Progressive Night Downtown.” First stop, the Mercedes-Benz dealership in midtown!
Our rides have arrived
Elmo Restaurant in Chelsea
I feel like there hasn’t been much “feasting” on my blog lately. Well, that’s because I don’t eat anymore.
Just kidding.
During Fashion Week, I was primarily surviving on Fiber One bars (not totally by choice but necessity due to running around so much) and barely had time to sit down for a meal in between shows and writing — much less cook for myself. The one place I did manage to lunch at was Elmo in Chelsea, which was right around the corner from the Bebe show I attended.
Elmo
Dinner with Covergirl’s Jake Bailey & the new LashPerfection mascara
Pretty centerpieces
Last night, I joined a handful of writers for an intimate dinner with CoverGirl’s celebrity makeup artist, Jake Bailey at 5Ninth in the Meatpacking District. Bailey is one of those people who is so laidback and funny, you could just as easily forget that his day-to-day includes working with some of the biggest people in Hollywood: Katy Perry, Angelina Jolie, Eva Mendes, and Mariah Carey have all sat in his chair before. But tonight he was alll ours, and we bombarded him for his best makeup tips and tricks…over burgers and chocolate cake.
Dinner at 5Ninth in Meatpacking
Here are some of tidbits I learned:
Farewell Dinner at ABC Kitchen
One of my very dear friends, Archana, is moving out of New York to travel pretty much all over the world for the next year (jealous much?!). Sometimes with all the hustle and bustle of the city, I tend to forget how much of my experience is shaped by a few key people, and Arch is one of them. She’s been my go-to for all: dinner and recipe recs (I hope by now you’ve seen her food blog, LettuceVeg.com); everything TV (like ID’ing who the redhead walking around the office from The Real Housewives of New York is); movie-watching; concert-going; and lamenting about stupid boys over dessert (always over dessert). Of course, being as organized as she is, she had a whole Bucket List of restaurants she needed to go to before she leaves. Some for the first time, others for the last time. We decided we’d have a little farewell dinner at Jean-George’s ABC Kitchen, a restaurant I’ve been dying to visit myself.
ABC Kitchen
The place couldn’t have been more perfect. The decor and tables are just stunning first of all. It’s dimly lit, and has the most beautiful antique fixtures like Scandinavian chandeliers and wood-top tables. Well, you might expect that since it is housed in the equally gorgeous ABC Carpet & Home department store. Another nice thing about it is the SPACE. You can stretch out and not knock the person next to you here (a rarity in New York).
ABC Kitchen
Menu
The food matches the elegance in taste and presentation, with a focus on organic and locally-grown. We started with the strawberry salad. I think we might be so used to hormone-pumped fruits we get at the market, that these juicy, organic ones were such a treat. The lime offered a nice zest to it too, and I swear I tasted a little mint as well. It was beyond refreshing.
Strawberry, goat cheese, lime, arugula salad
Insider preview at Last Call by Neiman Marcus at Craftbar
My 'Live' Tweet at the LastCall.com dinner
I don’t know how I’m managing to post this so embarrassingly late, but my dinner with the wonderful people at Neiman Marcus’ Last Call at Craftbar deserves to be revisited. It was a small, intimate sit-down meal where we really got to know the brand and the people behind it.
For those of you who don’t know, Last Call is the outlet store for Neiman Marcus that’s stocked with merch from the full line stores, catalogs, and even Bergdorf Goodman, but at price points that will make you salivate. We’re talking designers like MICHAEL Michael Kors, L.A.M.B., Tahari, Juicy Couture and more. And ON TOP of the already reduced prices, they go all out with additional sales that are posted practically every week (I know, now I’ve pretty much been on their mailing list for a month and finally used the $100 gift card they presented me with to indulge in a cute Ali Ro dress that can easily take me from day to night).
Me, Danny, Christine of courtandhudson.com, and Aly of alittlealytude.com at Craftbar
{PS, how much do you love Danny’s fluorescent scarf? He makes them! His label, Hena et Daniel, is on Etsy.}
