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:

0 Birthday meal at Besito

Last Sunday of Presidents day Weekend, I went out to lunch with my family to celebrate my birthday.  Being that Mexican is my favorite cuisine of all-time, I decided upon Besito in Huntington.  I have been to the one in Roslyn before, but my first time here.  The food was DELICIOUS! and the drinks were DOPE!!

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.

1 VDay Suggestion Numero Uno

Are you into loads of flavor? Huge portions? Spicy seasoning?

You might wanna consider Mexican for your Valentine's Day excursion. I don't know about you but nothing says love like some good old Spanish cuisine!

I mean rice...beans...roast pork...hard, fried chicken chunks! OH MY!!!

If Mexican is the route you choose to take here are some of our favorite places to go for enjoyable

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 Shared: Mexican Food Is Healthy???

So, this isn't an original Post, but it has to do with Mexican Food, and if you really don't know by know that it's my favorite food of all time, I don't really know what to tell you.

0 Cinco De Mayo...in the Fall

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, however, I need to stress the fact that I am a HUGE fan of Mexican Food.  I'd say it ranks up there with my all-time favorite food, and YES I could eat it every single day and never grow bored of it.  So I was in the mood for Mexican on Friday, and told my fiance that we were going out to dinner.  We hit up this spot called Cinco De Mayo on Bell Blvd.  This will have been my second time there, and lets say it wasn't the greatest of visits, but wasn't terrible either.

The decor is your basic mom and pop Mexican Restaurant. The lighting is dim, and the tables are small as well.

They start you off with some chips and salsa, which is always a favorite of mine, but it always fills me up because I dig right in and don't know when to stop.  The salsa is a little bit thicker, and has a tiny bit of a kick to it. However, I ordered a Bulldog for my beverage, which if you don't know, is a 21oz margarita with a mini Corona turned upside down in it.  Now you're probably thinking, REALLY? A Corona IN a margarita?? And to you, I say, don't knock it till you try it, because that was one amazing drink.

For appetizer, we went with the always solid house made guacamole, which can be ordered Medium, Hot, Spicy...we went with Hot..  Well, it took them about 15 minutes to bring the Guacamole, and when they did drop it off at the table, it wasn't hot. BUT, we ate it anyways and finished it off completely because it was still very good. The avocado tasted fresh, and though it may not have been hot, it still had a little kick to it. 

For my main meal I went with the chicken burrito. Let me state, this thing was massive, and I finished it all. Also, I was really hungry. It came with a side of sour cream, avocado, and lettuce.  The burrito was filled with shredded chicken, rice, beans, and was topped off with melted cheese and ranchera sauce (also known as enchilada style in my book). The chicken was cooked just right, and flavored with a nice spice as well. The cheese and sauce on top added a nice mixture to it. Also, if you don't like beans, you don't even taste them(or order it without, your choice).

 

Look, Cinco De Mayo is not 5-star Mexican restaurant by any means. However, if you're looking for a good meal, some good drinks, and a good time..stop in and give it a try. However, there are many other places in the LI/Queens/NYC area that blow it out of the water.