0 What'd You Miss Last Month??

As March begins, February closes, and with that comes a little recap of some of our top posts:

2 The Brightest Star In The Brunch...

So it has come to my attention that I've been coming to The Noho Star for YEARS and not once did it dawn on me to write something up about it. How that happened...I have no idea. My sincerest apologies for the disservice. Without further ado...

0 Charlie's Bar and Grizzill!

I'm telling you...spontaneous adventures almost always lead to great finds. After the gym last night I was contacted by a friend who was looking to catch up for a bit over some grub and drinks at this spot which I had never heard about. Not having anything planned for the evening I happily accepted the invite. And I must say that I'm glad I did.

3 B-A-C-O-N!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen!
I have been to the promise land! I have seen the glory! And let me tell you...it's filled with mounds and mounds of thick, juicy, flavorful...BACON!

What the hell are you blabbering about?
Bacon! Bar Bacon to be more specific. Imagine a place where bacon is LITERALLY apart of every single item on the menu. Sandwiches...with bacon. Pasta...with bacon. Drinks...with bacon. Bacon...WITH BACON! And on top of all that bacon you can wash it down with a nice ice cold brew!

Bacon on top of bacon accompanied by more bacon! I like it...what did you end up getting?
As I'm sure you can imagine it was extremely difficult to not order everything on the menu. So after much consideration and strategic planning, my friend and I decided to order the following items:
- bacon grilled cheese with a side of tomato soup - because who doesn't love that
- bacon lobster roll - because lobster rolls are amazing and can only be enhanced by the bacon
- sausage and bacon roll - pure gluttony
- bacon and lobster mac n cheese - this should speak for itself

That. Sounds. AMAZING! How was it all and what did you enjoy the most?
Overall, the experience was great. Nice ambiance, great company, and bellies full of bacon. I'd say our mission was accomplished. I'm going to have to give the dish of the afternoon award to the grilled cheese and soup. The sandwich was could have easily stood alone but that tomato soup (which was used for excessive dipping) really took things to the next level. Hands down the favorite between the two of us.

Nice! How was everything else?
Not gonna lie, I did have a few issues. Like...
- with the bacon lobster roll and the sausage and bacon roll, though it was packed with TONS of meat, the bread was a little disappointing. Seemed like it the contents were just thrown on a piece of untoasted bread and folded to keep everything in it
- it almost hurts me to say this but the bacon and lobster mac and cheese was very disappointing. There was barely any cheese in it! And outside of the bacon and lobster there was little flavor. Towards the end it just wasn't worth it to finish it all (after all the bacon and lobster was eaten of course)
- all the dishes were kinda warm in temperature like they had been sitting around for a while before getting to our table

DAMN! Talk about a let down. Here I am thinking everything was going to be amazing and you didn't like anything damn near.
I wouldn't say that. All items, with the exception of the bacon lobster mac, I enjoyed and would definitely order again. Just wanted to put those things out there so that no one would go and make the same mistakes I did.

Got it...anything else we should know about this place?
The hostess is a FOX!!! Our waitress was amazing (I wish I got her name because I would definitely recommend her to you all)! The food is really good and there are tons of other items on the menu to order outside of what we had. If you do go try to make it there fairly early because they will and do fill up quickly!

Until we meet again Bar Bacon!

 Bar BACON

836 9th Avenue

New York, NY

646-362-0622646-362-0622

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0 Nom gets Elegant

Last night, my firm was hosting a welcoming event for a newly hired judge.  We have quite a few events here in our NYC office, however, this one takes the cake.  The decor and food were top notch, and everything was presented with elegance.  I was given the opportunity to take pictures of the event last night and figured if I'm taking pictures of the attendees, I'm damn well sure going to take pictures of the food.  

The event was Catered by Elegant Affairs, which is a company based out of Glen Cove, NY.  The staff was absolutely wonderful, and really did a nice job with the presentation of the food as well as the bar setup. The food consisted of passed Hors d'oeuvres,  two cheese stations, fruit, chips and assorted peanuts. Dessert consisted of Death By Chocolate cubes and cheesecake balls.  Just typing this is making me hungry right now, and I hope you're getting hungry reading...good...because I'm about to make you hungrier.

First up: the cheese, fruit, chips and nuts. The nuts were your average salted mixed nuts, so nothing special there, but they made a nice, quick snack if the rest of the food wasn't your cup of tea. One of the more surprisingly delicious bites were the red beet and yukon gold chips they had.  If you have never had red beet chips before, go get a bag. You'll finish that in one sitting; if you don’t...call me, I'll help you out.  The fruit and cheese was really good.  Not being a HUGE cheese fan, I really just Nom'd on the cheddar cheese and grapes that were there, and they satisfied my cravings.

So cheese, fruit, chips, and peanuts aren't your thing? First, thats kind of weird, because who doesn't like that combo? But I digress, the passed Hors d'oeuvres were AMAZING!!!

Next was my second favorite - the blackberry plum hoisin turkey meatballs. You didn't even realize you were eating turkey meat. That hoisin sauce though, WOW!!! Made them THAT much better.  If that was all they had, I would have been satisfied.

The coolest presentation definitely goes to the cornucopia with spicy tuna tartar with a dab of wasabi creme fraiche on top. It looked like a little ice cream cone with spicy tuna. You tasted more spicy tuna than wasabi, which was good, but in my opinion, just a SLIGHT more wasabi would have made them better.

If you enjoy lollipops of any kind, you would have really enjoyed the coconut curry shrimp lollipops. Not your traditional lollipop, as this one didn't have gum in it, nor did you need an owl to tell you how many licks it took to get to the middle.  The curry sauce made an interesting flavor addition to an already awesome snack.  I liked it, but I feel maybe a duck sauce would have paired nicely instead of the curry. (I apologize as I did not get a picture of this one) If Zoolander miniature panini type sandwiches are your thing, you would have loved the spinach napoleon triangles. These little delectable treats consisted of roasted red peppers, herb boursin and balsamic grilled portobello mushrooms pressed in a spinach wrap. I'll admit; NOT a fan of mushrooms AT ALL. However, you don't even realize you're eating mushrooms, and the herb boursin gives it a nice little kick.

I'm a really big fan of Thai food, so the sautéed thai chicken bites with toasted sesame seeds were right up my alley. These tiny pieces of chicken were atop a small bed of peanuts - a nice presentation. The thai sauce was good, and a nice change of pace from traditional sesame chicken.

OK… My #1 favorite of them all was the standing micro grilled cheese. These little grilled cheese sandwiches were adorable. Made with wild mushrooms, asiago cheese and gherkin, perfectly pressed between tiny pieces of garlic toast. I'll admit I just had to google what the hell gherkin was, and I found out that it was the tiny little pickle that was on top of the sandwich. Not sure why they can’t just call it tiny little pickles, but hey, thats just me. Sorry, went off track there. Legitimately, these were amazing with every bite I took. Everything about it was just perfect. I want more of them...now...so if Elegant Affairs can just send me a tray over, that would be amazing!!!

If you're a quesadilla lover, you would have been in heaven.  Now, this wasn't your traditional cheese and chicken quesadiller (spelling is correct, trust me). OH NO, this was a peking duck and scallion quesadilla with hoisin sauce.  The duck was tender and really flavorful.  I think there was A LITTLE too much hoisin sauce, but it wasn't so overwhelming that it ruined everything. I just think instead of 2 tablespoons, use 1 (measurements are a complete guess on my part).

Last part of the passed Hors d'oeuvres was a California vegetable salad wrapped in rice paper with miso. Essentially, it was a vegetable packed sushi roll, minus the sushi flavor.  The carrots had a really perfect crisp to them.  Out of all of the above, this one is the third in my top three. It's a perfect spring or summer app you could make for a BBQ, or maybe a picnic at a winery.

AFTER ALL THAT FOOD....OF COURSE there's dessert, because what meal would be complete without dessert?

You had two choices: death by chocolate or a cheesecake lollipop dipped in white chocolate with a graham cracker crust.  I didn't think I could fit any more, but I'm fairly certain I had two or three of each of them.  I don't even LIKE cheesecake, and those were my favorite of the two.  I'm a huge chocolate lover, but the lollipop took the cake. (Pun was fully intended.)  

Overall, Elegant Affairs NAILED every bit of food that was served.  Their chefs did a fantastic job of getting food out to the cocktail area and into peoples’ stomachs.  From the looks of everything as the party wound down, people were so stuffed from all of the food, no one could pick anymore. I call that a GREAT SUCCESS!!! (Yes, please when you read that, say it in a Borat voice. It's funnier).

If you or someone you know is planning an event, I would highly suggest using Elegant Affairs.

Elegant Affairs

110 Glen Cove Avenue

Glen Cove, NY 

(516) 676-8500

0 Sel de Mer

Went out to dinner last week at this little spot in Brooklyn.  It is a Seafood/American type menu, which is not large, but just enough. All of the tables are a little too close each other, but I guess that should be expected for a small restaurant.  Also, maybe it was just the night we went on, or it was an off day, but the service was pretty poor.  We finished our meal, and waited for about 30 minutes before anyone even came to our table to give us a check.  Took another 15 minutes for them to come back to get the check so we can pay, and the place wasn't even that crowded for it take that long.  


However....ON TO THE FOOD!!!!

Beer of Choice: Rogue Dead Guy.
Served in a 12oz Bottle. 6.50%  ABV. Has a Slight Amber/Copper Color to it. Has a caramel and apricot taste to it.  Not very hoppy, but leaves a nice taste in your mouth. Would recommend for sure.

                                                 

















Appetizer: New England Clam Chowder

Was made with actual clams in shell mixed in, But that was the extent of clams. Each shell had 1 clam each. Lots of chopped potatoes. Had a nice kick w/ the pepper in the broth. Delicious, but could have used more clams and fewer potatoes. 

Main course: Sel de Mer Burger

Ordered medium. 7oz of Pat LaFriedas meat. Bacon strips cooked w/ a perfect crisp. Caramelized onions, mixed w/ a sweet marinade, they had a real nice flavor. Melted sharp cheddar melted on top. All squeezed between a nicely browned, crunchy English muffin. Served with two sides, French fries, and a serving of mixed greens, lightly mixed in oil and vinegar. 

       

Final Thoughts
Overall a pretty good meal, my burger was delicious!! However, being a seafood place, I was disappointed with the chowdah!! Also, I know I didn't get seafood for the main course, but sometimes you just crave a burger, so next time. Price was average for a Brooklyn restaurant as well. I'll give it 3 out of 5 Nom's. 

Sel De Mer

374 Graham Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 

(718) 387-4181

0 Little Love at Love Lane Kitchen

     

This past Columbus Day my fiancé and I had our engagement pictures out on the North Fork. After a few hours we got hungry, and wasn't a surprise we ended up here. Love Lane Kitchen might be my favorite cafe on all of Long Island. The area it is in is beautiful, the food is fantastic, and the service is just top notch. I have never left disappointed, and I have NEVER left feeling like I didn't just have a great meal. 

It's small, quaint, and comfy cafe located in Mattituck on Love Lane. It sits about 60 people and also has a nice bar area as well. The decor has a small-town, rustic feel to it. 

The menu has many options on it, and a chalkboard full of specials that is always changing. Their drink selection is also very appealing.

For drink selection, I went with my all-time favorite, of a Sixpoint Sweet Action. However, I also went with the the 21st amendment brew free or die IPA. It was my first time trying to 21st amendment IPA, and was pleasantly surprised. Nice taste, good head, not an IPA that's going to blow you away with hops, but there's just enough to know you're drinking a quality brew.

We kicked the night off with the Truffle Fries, which are French fries covered in Parmesan and garlic. We had also asked for the Mac N' Cheese, but they were out of it, and I won't lie, I was a little bummed as I wanted to try that. The fries did not disappoint though. Between the mixture of the Parmesan and garlic, it was perfectly seasoned. My only suggestion for future reference, offer more dipping sauces other than Ketchup. Now, the fries alone were amazing, but I could have went for a little garlic aioli, or maybe some buffalo ranch. 

(Note picture was taken after digging right in, we were hungry)

Now, with many options to choose from, I've only ordered one thing from Love Lane. That is, oh so delicious, lobster roll. Seriously, this thing is massive, and will positively blow your mind. It comes with huge chunks of lobster, flavored with a mayo type dressing that has a real nice flavor, all stuffed into a hoagie roll, which has a little garlic spread on it. The lobster is cooked perfectly, very moist and very tender. On the side, it comes served with a generous amount of Parmesan fries. I walk in each time saying I'll try something new, but, I always end up getting this dish. It's really that good.

Love lane will always be my go to lunch/dinner spot when I am in the area. It is highly recommended if you happen to be out in Mattituck drinking wine, apple/pumpkin picking, or just enjoying a nice day out east.