0 Restaurant Week Adventures: Blue Water Grill

So it's come to my attention that as much as I like seafood I don't really go to seafood restaurants...and I can't seem to understand why. In efforts to get more seafood restaurants under my belt, a good friend and I decided to check Blue Water Grill for restaurant week. 

0 Chef Marty at Your Service....

Well, for those May not know, this past Valentines Day marked my 30th birthday. A milestone to say the least. However the weekend before my fiancé threw me a wonderful surprise party with friends and family. It also being Valentines Day, I wanted to make it special for her, also it would be our first in our new apartment.

I scoured the internet for recipes and came across three that I thought would be a good test for myself. 

0 Valentine's Day Date...

So as much as I may preach against Valentine's Day festivities...I'm guilty of partaking this year. How did I go about choosing where I wanted to go, you ask? Simple! I knew I wanted to go to a place that I haven't been to and that also sold seafood. After some searching around and review reading I was lead to Fish Tag. 

What made you come here as opposed to some place else?

I was looking for a low key, intimate, quiet venue. After doing some research I saw that Fish Tag kept coming up on several lists. Dug a little bit further and decided to take the plunge and bring my talents to Fish Tag. Seafood, never been before, AND I got to take someone who's very special to me. Triple win if you ask me. 

Did all your research pay off?

I'd say it did. The venue was everything I was looking for and expecting. Quiet, visually appealing (exposed brick!...can't go wrong with that), pleasant wait staff, and above everything else I thought the food was pretty good too. 

You say you thought it was good...what about your date?

She enjoyed the food but definitely not as much as I did. Something to keep in mind about this place is that their seafood items are VERY FRESH (which can be a good thing...at least to me it is)! Meaning, if you're not into fishy taste and textures you may wanna avoid here and go to a more generic seafood restaurant. 

Got it...so what did you all get?

To start the Grilled Prawn and Spicy Chilies Bruschetta. VERY TASTY! For entrees we got the: 

- Grilled Striped Bass (she) - fresh bass with a layer of crispy skin on the top, sitting on a bed of rapini, oyster mushrooms, tomatoes confit, and garlic puree 

- and the Grilled Swordfish and Greek Sausage (me) - plump swordfish with 2 strips of Greek sausage, loukaniko, grilled kale, middle eastern spiced bulgur salad

And everything was washed down with 2 glasses of red wine. Overall, a very satisfying meal.

Anything else I should know about? 

Surprisingly they have a huge list of wine and beers. All separated by taste to help those who may not necessarily be fluent in the languages of wine and beer. Lastly, the portions are not that big which may actually be a good thing. However, if you're someone with a rather large appetite you may wanna grab a quick snack before coming here.

Fish Tag

222 West 79th Street

(212) 362-7470(212) 362-7470

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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

2 Dinner at the Atlantica Restaurant

Friday night I was treated to a wonderful surprise from my lovely girlfriend with dinner at the Atlantica located inside the Allegria Hotel. The Allegria is an upscale hotel located right in the heart of Long Beach, NY. This was actually my first time down in Long Beach since Superstorm Sandy hit. It was quite startling not seeing the boardwalk, and seeing how much work they're doing to get it back up before the season opens. Much love to the city of Long Beach. 

The decor of the restaurant is beautiful, with an upscale environment, and the service was top notch. We were lucky enough to get seated next to the window, with a beautiful view of the ocean. 

The Menu is constructed of American cuisine with a nice twist on all of the dishes. . The menu has a reasonable amount of choices to it, from pasta to steak to fish. I made a solid choice for appetizer, main course, and Desert. 

The wine selection had many options to choose from including many local vineyards. We decided on the 2011 Paumanok Riesling, priced at $28 for the bottle, $7 for a glass. I'm not a big white wine drinker, but in my opinion, Long Island Rieslings are perfection. It had a nice crisp flavor to it. Enjoyed it throughout the night. 

Kicked off the meal with the Tuna Tartar. It was actually my first time ever having this dish so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was over guacamole, tortilla chips, pomegranate reduction, and chive oil. The tuna was very good, had a great texture to it, and you could tell it was very fresh. The guacamole on the bottom mixed very nicely, and you could barely tell you were eating Tuna. Mix this with the pomegranate reduction and chive oil on top, and it had a nice little kick to it. The chips were lightly salted, and for anyone who has had Tortilla chips knows that too much salt could ruin the flavor. All in all, It was a great start to the meal, and I would HIGHLY recommend it. Priced at $17 dollars.

Onto the main course! I went with the Marinated Beef Filet Tips With Avocado Aioli on French Baguette, covered with BBQ caramelized onions, pepperjack cheese, and sweet potato fries on the side. Let me start this by saying WOW what a huge and absolutely delicious sandwich this was. The beef was cooked to perfection. When you have a beef tip sandwich most of the time it falls off the bread and makes for a sloppy eating situation, not this one though. Between the pepperjack (which is my all-time favorite cheese), onions, and aioli, the beef stayed together, and made for a mouthwatering bite every single time. The flavors hit your taste buds at once, and all mixed wonderfully. The sweet potato fries were average, and nothing special. Again, HIGHLY recommended! Priced at $25 dollars, it was well worth it. Also, to mention, it was so big I didn't even finish it, and took it home with me. I enjoyed the other half today and was just as delicious cold as it was when I got it hot. 

               

Desert was a Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich with chocolate syrup glazed 

underneath it. I LOVE brownies which is why I chose this. It was an average desert, nothing crazy, Price I believe was $9 dollars. 

                                      

My overall experience at the Allegria was great! My meal was fantastic and if you're looking for a swanky night out, whether on a date, or with a group of friends I would absolutely recommend this restaurant. The views are beautiful as it is located right on the Long Beach Boardwalk and overlooks the Atlantic. If you time it right, you will be able see one of Long Island's always beautiful sunsets. 

Feel free to contact me for any questions you may have in regards to the post. I'm looking forward to sharing more experiences with you. 

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at @NomInNY