Cabrito, West Village
The reviews for West Village newcomer Cabrito have been all over the map. Love ‘em. Hate ‘em. I’d had them on my list for a long time and finally checked them out last Wednesday.
My friend and I arrived at 6pm, which ended up being good as we did not have reservations and the empty restaurant upon our arrival filled up easily by 6:30-6:45. It was pretty standard size, with tables easily pushed together to make a larger table or split to form a row of two tops. Read more »
Tags:
Cabrito,
Dish Buzz,
lara ruth,
latin,
Manhattan,
restaurant,
west village
Yerba Buena had been on my list for quite some time and Friday night, I finally made it over. The space is rather small, a bar is on your immediate left when you enter with the seating area extending back. Sunday through Wednesday, they take reservations, otherwise it’s luck of the draw. The wait was not too bad when we arrived at around 7:30pm, but we also learned that they had no heat. Hmmmm. We decided to stay and I have to say upfront we did notice this had an effect on the warmth of the food. I still was able to get a feel for what they had to offer.
Spinach and Manchego Empanada, Yerba Buena
The menu has a lot of small plates meant to be shared as well as a variety of main courses. It’s not really a “tapas bar”, but we all were more intrigued by their small plates, or botanas, so we sort of made it a tapas experience. We skipped the cold options (seeing as we had plenty of that). The empanadas were one of my favorites. Made with spinach, manchego cheese, a fig salad, and a chichada morada vinaigrette. The bite of the spinach and manchego were so different and made this one, no need for meat to add flavor here. The calamari was an interesting take on fried calamari. The calamari were lightly dusted with blue cornmeal and had sweet plantains, a tomato salad, and a tamarind vinaigrette (if you’ve never had tamarind anything, you should definitely try this!).
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Tags:
Avenue A,
Cocktails,
Dish Buzz,
East Village,
Lara,
latin,
reservations,
restaurant,
Yerba Buena
Restaurants focused on tapas seem to be spreading like that nagging cough in your office - Italian, Spanish, Mediterranean… you name it, it can be found. Macondo is a fairly new addition to this family.
What I love about this place is the simplicity of the set-up. The bar area is off to the right-hand side of the restaurant, overlooking the kitchen and also forming the walkway down the length of the restaurant. This visit, my friend and I opted to sit there, and it proved to be ideal for basking in the wonderful aromas of the food. You would go from the smell of freshly cooked steak and then shortly be greeted by seafood accompanied by vegetables. Everything smelled amazing… Read more »
Tags:
ceviche,
Dish Buzz,
East Village,
latin,
les,
lower east side,
macondo,
Manhattan,
mojtos,
restaurant
I’ve wanted to visit Bloomingdale Road since reading about the concept months back, but I wanted to give them a few months to settle in. Reviews I’d been reading were all over the place, but I finally decided forget all of their opinions. I was off to make my own.
A mixture of small plates and bites, salads, sliders, pastas, and main meat courses, the menu has a subtle upscale Southern flare and makes use of all natural meats and organic local produce and dairy as much as possible. The music featured classic rock, from “Sweet Home Alabama” to Aerosmith. When I saw the dinner menu had a side dish of cheese grits, I couldn’t help but wonder how this place could not be good.
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Tags:
Bloomingdale Road,
Dish Buzz,
Ed Witt,
natural meats,
organic,
restaurant,
southern,
Upper West Side,
wine,
Witt's Mac & Cheese
The Bruce Springsteen of Queens is back like a Big Mac Attack ready to clog your arteries and nourish your soul. Like the sound of a sweet church bell. Like the warm embrace of that person you love in a completely nonsexual way, The Boss is back (I’m holding for applause).
And let us begin . . . okay, I’ll digress a little more . . .
Just like that old flame that you saw in the East Village one lonely Saturday night . . . you ended up going home together, and you realized you could still make a little magic in the cha cha room . . . you got back together and you had 10 kids . . . WELL, I hope that you can go right back to humping this blog like we used to. And maybe we’ll have kids. But not 10, 3 max, but we can work out the details. 
Without further adieu, I present the latest blog.
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Tags:
america,
best burger,
bruce springsteen,
BSOQ,
Donovans,
pub,
Queens,
restaurant
To have lived in Miami for about three and a half years, there are still quite a few types of Latin American cuisines I have somehow never sampled - Venezuelan being one.
I walk by Caracas Arepa Bar frequently and typically find the restaurant packed with patrons, overflowing to those waiting on the sidewalk in front. Their specialty are arepas, which are sandwiches of a flat cornmeal patty where the cornmeal can be grilled, baked, or fried. These tasty treats are even wheat-free.
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Tags:
arepas,
caracas,
East Village,
latin cuisine,
Manhattan,
New York,
New York City,
restaurant,
sangria
If i had a food mantra for my attitude towards food in the city, it would be “will travel for good food.” I’d read about Peaches Market long before its arrival in Bedford-Stuyvesant. I’m not sure how it took me this long to make it out there. Catch the A to Brooklyn and then get off at Utica Avenue. Great food is just a short walk away from there. Read more »
Tags:
Bed-Stuy,
Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn,
fried green tomatoes,
green market,
local food,
New York,
nyc,
peaches market,
restaurant,
southern
In a historically Irish neighborhood like Sunnyside, few would expect anything worthwhile in the arena of Thai food, Mai Thai boxing or even Thai iced tea. Lucky for us, life is full of surprises, one of the most delightful so far being
DEE Thai Restaurant
46-17 Queens Blvd (Betw. 46th St. and 47th St.)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
Phone: (718) 786-3137
Known affectionately by its regulars as Dee, this diamond in the rough has the basics down pact. Pad thai: phenomenal. Chicken satay: satay your momma. When it comes to the special talents round, there is no dip in performance. The curry puffs: rock your world little country girl good. Drunken noodles: drunk like your Uncle Harry good. Just close your eyes and point.
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Tags:
bruce springsteen,
Queens,
restaurant,
sunnyside,
thai
Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me the ticket smiles and whispers good luck
Cuddle up angel cuddle up my little dove
We’ll ride down baby into this tunnel of love
In the heart of Queens, snuggled in between an old Irish pub and an antique “free detergent on Tuesday” laundromat, there is a tunnel of love . I have seen the light and it is glorious.
Quaint
46-10 Skillman Ave
Sunnyside, Queens 11104
(917) 779-9220
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Tags:
bruce springsteen,
jeff leblanc,
quaint,
Queens,
restaurant,
sunnyside
In about 24 hours, I’ll be eating a traditional Polish-style dinner at my little brother’s wedding: kluski noodles, mashed potatoes, Polish sausage and about 15 other types of meat. The Polish know how to party. I should know; I’m currently in my hometown with my crazy family who is successfully incorporating vodka into every meal. Impressive.
I’m happy to know that the partying and overeating doesn’t have to stop when I return to NYC.
If you’re looking for a tasty way to support an important nonprofit, consider this amazing food festival taking place on Monday, June 23 at Pier 54 in Manhattan.
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Tags:
April Bloomfield,
David Chang,
Events,
food festival,
gay,
Gay Pride,
Jean-Georges,
Johnny Iuzzini,
LGBT,
Momofuku,
nyc,
Pride Week,
restaurant,
Restaurants,
The Spotted Pig
