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 SPUR TREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

So for my mother's birthday last week, I had the bright idea to take her to dinner...because who doesn't like to stuff their face on their birthday? Decided to take her to a place I had been to before and am quite fond of called Spur Tree waaaaaaaay down at almost the bottom of Manhattan.

Spur Tree! Sounds fancy....what kind of place is this?
Spur Tree is a Jamaican and Asian fusion restaurant/lounge. Classic Jamaican meals and drinks with a little bit of that Asian persuasion.

How the hell does Jamaican and Asian food even make sense together?
First, you need to open your mind. Second, it's not like you have some left over pork fried rice and just so happened to buy some curry goat and you eat everything off the same plate. It's NOTHING like that! Think more along the lines of a steamed jerk pork bun. Or Red Stripe beer battered shrimp tempura. Or a Dark and Stormy beverage that's sake based. Think more along those lines. I'll agree that it may not sound like something that makes sense, but it works! TRUST ME!

That actually doesn't sound bad. So what did you and everyone in your party end up getting?
For starters we had the Jerk Chicken Wings and the Shumai with shrimp, which were both excellent. The entrees ordered were Jerk Chicken, Seafood Roti, and Grilled Salmon with Jerk sauce and a side of Mac n Cheese. Note that all entrees came with a side salad. And we washed everything down with a Dark n Stormy, Lemon/Lime Sakitini, and a Ting a Ling.

Sounds like it was a feast to me...how was everything?
Starting with the drinks, the Dark n Stormy was just as I remembered it. Mild to heavy ginger taste and a smooth kick from the sake. I just had a little sip of the other drinks, but they were good as well. The appetizers were really good! Out of the 2 I think the Jerk Wings may have been my favorite but the Shumai is definitely a solid choice that won't disappoint. And for the entrees...the Grilled Salmon and Jerk Chicken were amazing, but the award for meal of the evening HAS to go to the Seafood Roti. It was prepared in a way that I haven't seen before. 

So if you've had roti before you're use to the contents being inside the actual bread or wrap or whatever you wanna call it. Not this one. The roti bread was rolled up and cut in half (so it kinda looked like a wrap) and the seafood (curry salmon, scallops, and shrimp) came in a bowl where it was just soaking in juice. Separately each item was great, but when you manage to pry your face out of the bowl of seafood goodness, take the roti bread and dip it in the juice. OH! MY! LAWD! Had me ready to steal my mother's food! Didn't even make any sense how good that damn roti was!

Glad to hear that everything went well. Anything else I need to know...service? Atmosphere?
Service is usually pretty pleasant. As far as the atmosphere...I love it! It's very mellow and laid back. Dim lighting, decent music...good for a quick rendezvous or an intimate dinner date. One HUGE issue that I do have with this place though is the size. It seems like every time I go to Spur Tree, their popularity is becoming greater and greater and attracting more and more people. With that being said, the size is extremely limited! If you can get there at a time when there aren't a lot of people, you'll have a great experience. But if you get there during their peak hours, you and your party may be sitting shoulder to shoulder with the customers sitting next to you. Other then that, this place is golden!

Good to know!

 

Spur Tree

76 Orchard Street

New York, NY 10002

(212) 477 - 9977(212) 477 - 9977

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