Sunday Game Plan – NurtureLife Part 2

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Back in May, I decided to take part in NurtureLife for the baby. We received 12 items, and it took about 1 – 1.5 months to consume it all because it takes about 2 days for this toddler to finish a meal.

There were some hits and misses for this first order. Below is an excerpt of the game  plan I had in mind for the first order:

Sunday: Lunch or dinner, depending on which meal I get treated to. We will have some Swedish meatballs, broccoli, and egg noodles.

Review: Toddler loved this dish. This was the number one favorite out of all the items ordered.

Monday: Honoring Meatless Monday with: A jar of the Squash, Kale hash with bell peppers for breakfast and lunch. Then, for dinner, we will have the super veggie gnocchi with string beans.

Review: Toddler was not a fan of any of the jar foods and the babysitter, aka my mom commented that the gnocchi and string beans needed more seasoning. Ultimately, I ended up eating all this for dinner.

Tuesday: Honoring Taco Tuesday with Beef Taco Pockets with fiesta corn.

Review: Toddler did not like the corn but gradually enjoyed the Taco Pockets.

Wednesday: Honoring Wellness Wednesday and traditional Catholicism with a jar of salmon cakes with peas and potatoes.

Review: Toddler did not care for this jar, and yours truly ended up consuming this for lunch.

Thursday: A jar of roasted chicken with potato and broccoli medley. Dinner of chicken, tortellini, and broccoli.

Review: Toddler did not care for this jar, and yours truly ended up using it for stir fry. Meanwhile, the chicken, tortellini, and broccoli were overall toddler-approved.

Friday: Fish Friday time with teriyaki salmon and rainbow rice.

Review: Toddler actually enjoyed this meal, but it took about 2 plus days to finish.

After the consumption of eight meals, which took at least 16 plus days to consume, we defrosted the Presto pesto Ravioli with chicken and carrots; Squash, Kale hash and potatoes, Grilled Chicken with carrots, peas and potatoes and chicken and Mac.

Review: We ended up utilizing the two jars: Squash, Kale hash, and potatoes, and grilled chicken with carrots, peas, and potatoes to make omelets for breakfast that lasted a total of at least four days. However, the Presto Pesto Ravioli and chicken, and Mac were toddler approved. Both dishes took at least another four days to consume.

What nice about the boxed meals is that if they were placed in the freezer, it is good after 90 days of drop off.

In retrospect, twelve items are a bit much for the week, especially since I have a bunch of items in the fridge that need to be cooked. I gave my review of what’s good and not so good on NurtureLife website.

Fast forward to two days ago, we received another package from NurtureLife. This delivery is another set of 12 items. Six of them are smoothies, which are good until September, so that’s a plus. So far, we have frozen six items: Chicken and Mac, Beef Roast, Cheese Pizza pockets, Mighty Bites Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Duo. The remaining items will be consumed this week.

Sunday Game Plan

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It’s been over a month since my last post, but a lot has happened in the last month with work and birthdays, so I haven’t been cooking as much. However, since my last post, I have actually completed all eight dishes during that week of the post.

I have posted pictures of my progress of the dishes I planned to make during that week on my Instagram stories (IG stories). Since IG stories only last 24 hours, a lot of followers haven’t seen the progress. Therefore, below are photos of what I’ve cooked since the last post.

Breakfast Egg Muffins
Egg Tomato Stir-fry
Spinach and Cheese Frittata
Banana Bread
Avocado Toast
Cinnamon Apples
Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Maple Syrup Glazed Salmon

After cooking these eight dishes and finishing the leftovers, I’ve only cooked three more dishes. Only one of the three dishes was cooked on Father’s Day. Two of the three dishes were made off the cuff because we learned that the Prego Alfredo Sauce bottle had to be used up after three days of opening and refrigeration.

For the two pasta dishes, I used leftover cooked pasta and mixed them with the Alfredo sauce for a quick dinner after a long commute. I even paired the dish with Graham and Fisk white wine in a can.

Wine and Dine with Prego Alfredo pasta and Graham and Fisk white wine in a can

There was still a half bottle of Alfredo sauce, so I sauteed leftover cooked Perdue short cuts roast chicken slices, broccoli, and leftover pasta. Finally, I used up the remaining bottle of Alfredo sauce and concocted this dish that lasted at least 2-3 days.

Chicken, Broccoli Pasta Alfredo

Finally, on Father’s Day, I made skirt steak, and it came out really good that my parents took the leftovers home.

Ingredients used to marinade the skirt steak for 2-3 hours.
Skirt Steaks right off the grill and resting
Top section – well done
Bottom section – medium

Last weekend, which was the holiday weekend, I decided to stay home and cooked a Butter Basted Rib Eye Steak.

Rib Eye Steak
Rib Eye Steak basting in butter, garlic, thyme and rosemary
Butter Basted Rib Eye Steak resting

I know I won’t be cooking as much this week because my mom is going to bring her version of adobo, which will last two days. In addition, I’ll be participating in French Restaurant Week, which takes place during the week of Bastille Day. Finally, NurtureLife has supplied us with more products for the toddler to try and hopefully enjoy.

Sunday Game Plan

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This weekend was a big food day for eggs and cheese. Yesterday (Saturday, June 3rd) was National Egg Day, and today (Sunday, June 4th) is National Cheese Day. So, to celebrate a weekend of eggs and cheese, I prepared a bunch of dishes for the week utilizing either eggs, cheese, or both.

Breakfast Egg Muffins
Egg Tomato Stir-fry
Spinach and Cheese Frittata
Banana Bread

The first four dishes should last about 4 days. In addition, there are other dishes we will be consuming, including:

Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Maple Syrup Glazed Salmon
Cinnamon Apples
Avocado Toast

Eight dishes should be enough considering that I’ll be doing Dine Around Downtown on Tuesday

Continue reading →

Sunday Game Plan with Nurture Life

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Happy Mother’s Day! I came across a post on Instagram about Nurture Life.

Nurture Life is a subscription plan of prepared meals for picky eaters. They advertised as making portion control meals for babies weaning off pureed foods. My daughter, for example, is in the phase where she wants to eat independently and pick up the food with her hands. So, I saw a post on Instagram along with a 50% off deal plus an additional discount, so I decided to give it a try.

What I’ve learned during my ordering process is that meals are delivered weekly. I have been skipping deliveries because we have food that needs to be consumed, and we have been non-stop grocery shopping because we go through a gallon of milk a week.

My first order of 12 items arrived yesterday, and they all have to be used up within a week. The other option is to freeze it within a week and it’s good for three months. Since it’s Mother’s Day weekend, I’ll definitely be freezing some of these items.

Here’s what we got, with the exception of one jar of squash, kale hash with bell peppers because it was already consumed.

Here’s the Sunday game plan for my toddler using Nurture Life.

Sunday: Lunch or dinner, depending on which meal I get treated to. We will have some Swedish meatballs, broccoli, and egg noodles.

Monday: Honoring Meatless Monday with: A jar of the Squash, Kale hash with bell peppers for breakfast and lunch. Then, for dinner, we will have the super veggie gnocchi with string beans.

Tuesday: Honoring Taco Tuesday with Beef Taco Pockets with fiesta corn.

Wednesday: Honoring Wellness Wednesday and traditional Catholicism with a jar of salmon cakes with peas and potatoes.

Thursday: A jar of roasted chicken with potato and broccoli medley. Dinner of chicken, tortellini, and broccoli

Friday: Fish Friday time with teriyaki salmon and rainbow rice.

The remaining dishes will have to be frozen: Presto pesto Ravioli with chicken and carrots; Squash, Kale hash and potatoes, Grilled Chicken with carrots, peas and potatoes and chicken and Mac.

In retrospect, twelve items are a bit much for the week, especially since I have a bunch of items in the fridge that need to be cooked. A separate game plan for these items that are both adult and toddler friendly will be posted at some point.

Stay tuned in IG tablespoonsandteaspoons on the ongoing review of Nurture Life products as they are consumed.

If you are interested in trying these products, here’s the link: https://www.nurturelife.com/?referral_id=A22ZAU&fbclid=PAAaZOkdnTjv28bvzxjD6x9fymvmEYVILnOSC_k-p3kDxF_-IYdtmKCc29cec

Sunday Game Plan: Long Island Restaurant Week – 2023

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Long Island Restaurant week began in 2006 as an annual fall promotion week long event. Five years later in April 2011, Spring Restaurant week launched and five years after in January 2016, Winter Restaurant week debuted due to popular customer and restauranteur’s demand.

Currently Long Island Restaurant week is celebrated three times a year. The goal is to promote businesses during slow periods and it literally last for eight days. Long Island Restaurant also includes Saturday participation but until 7pm. The website separates the list of participating restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk County. Starting today April 23rd thru next Sunday April 30th, participating restaurants are promoting either two course lunch prix fixe for $22 or three courses for $37 or $44 for dinner.

Normally, I’d be reviewing all the menus from participating restaurants, but I’ve only focused on Nassau County just because of the time I’ll be able to invest this week. Below is a list of restaurants that I would go for lunch or dinner along with the dishes I would order.

There were several restaurants that the menu was not posted and one of them was Maggiano’s Little Italy in Garden City.

Guess what!! First day of restaurant week today we went to Maggiano’s Little Italy because they give A LOT of food. My parents joined in and they loved it. My mom was really impressed. Below is the menu for their restaurant week and it includes a to-go classic pasta, which was amazing. I believe this is the only restaurant that is doing this promotion.

For the appetizers, we got one of everything:

As you can see the portions were huge and all four items were amazing. Let’s just say we were full by the end of appetizers.

When the entrees arrived, my parents ordered the salmon and the beef medallions which had supplemental charges. My husband decided to add chicken to the fettucine alfredo for an extra charge. I ended up ordering the chicken parmesan. My dad devoured his beef medallions, it tasted very tender because it was prepared medium rare. My mom was really full from the appetizers that she took the salmon and shrimp to go. She was not crazy about the sauce, but enjoyed the mashed potatoes and spinach. I enjoyed my chicken parmesan and the pasta was surprisingly tasty without having to add extra cheese. I took my dish to go because I was also full. My husband ate a third of his fettucine alfredo and took the leftover home too.

For dessert, we got one of everything:

The desserts thankfully were served sample size, which made everyone in the table happy. Finally, we ordered our to-go pastas and we ordered spaghetti and meatballs, four cheese ravioli and mom’s lasagna.

The executive sous chef came out to our table to thank us for coming in and enjoying the restaurant week menu. Staff and management were awesome. We will definitely be coming back.

Given the amount of leftovers we got, this week meals will be leftovers from Maggiano’s.

Cheers to eight days of Long Island Restaurant week.

Let’s do this … 2023

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Happy New Year! 2022 was a transformative year as I became a new mom. I’ve been active on Yelp and Seated writing restaurant reviews and hitting up Michelin rated restaurants. I’ve been struggling with Meta, which consists of Facebook and Instagram. My post has not been reaching out to a lot of people and businesses as if I’ve been ghosted or blacklisted. I know it’s a very competitive market out there. So, if anyone out there can provide input to help improve this account, that would be great.

Since it’s Sunday, I began the game plan last night on New Years Eve 2022 with my traditional lucky foods menu. Thanks to Instacart and Food Bazaar, I was able to achieve that.  To start, I had my traditional 12 fruits, which I was able to obtain:

Oranges, clementine, banana, Apple, pear, plum, grapes, blackberries, blueberries, Kiwi, pomegranate, lemon and lime. That turned out I had 13, well to be fair. I had 12 pairs of fruits and 1 banana.

For my meals, I search recipes online to find inspiration with the ingredients I had to work with.  So I made the following:

Cornbread, baked lentil pasta with collard greens and ricotta, Cappellini with tuna, ricotta and peas, Smithfield apple smoked pork loin topped with bacon.

Today, the celebration continues with Pacific foods lentil soup and maybe dumplings. In addition, I’ll go through recipes with my Beaba baby food blender and make stuff for the baby, which I’m very excited about.

Check out my posts on Instagram at @tablespoonsandteaspoons. Stay tuned for an exciting 2023.

Sunday Game Plan: NYC Summer Restaurant Week 2022 – 30 years in the making

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NYC Restaurant Week began 30 years ago with 95 participating restaurants in 1992 to approximately over 600 restaurants today.  This season’s restaurant week began on 07/18/22 and will end on 08/21/22 for most participating restaurants, but some of the well-known or higher end place will end their promotion on either 07/31/22 or 08/07/22. The price points this time are $30, $45 and $60. Mastercard is also a sponsor so if you have a Mastercard, you can register your credit card to get $10 credit back into your statement for purchases over $45 and you can purchase up to 3 meals; so in essence you’ll really paying $35 for an order, which is a pretty good deal.

As of 07/19/22 there are 660 participating restaurants. We reviewed 312 dinner and/or brunch menus of restaurants partnering with Mastercard offering $10 credit for meals $45 and over from July 18-31. During my review of 312 menus, which is based on the menu availability and whether they are participating in Mastercard promotion, below is a list of restaurants grouped by meal and number of people that is worth exploring:

Lunch for 1: Bistrot Leo ($30); Boucherie West Village ($45); Chelsea Table + Stage ($30); Lexington Brass ($30); Malii Gramercy ($30); Morton’s ($45); Rivercrest ($30); Sant Ambroeus ($45) and Side Door ($30)

Dinner for 1: Anassa Taverna ($60); Bar Boulud ($60), Chelsea Table + Stage ($60); David Burke Tavern ($45); Empire Burger House ($45); Festival ($60); French Roast ($45); Hangawi ($60); Il Fiorista ($60); Jue Lan Club ($45); Malii Gramercy ($45); Montebello Restaurant ($60); Morton’s Steakhouse ($60); The Ribbon ($45); Rivercrest ($30); Rosa Mexicano ($45) and Sac’s Place ($45)

Lunch for 2: Cibo e Vino ($30); Dos Caminos ($30); Empire Burger House ($30); Jue Lan Club ($30); Nice Matin ($45) and Yama Ramen ($30)

Dinner for 2: Ammos Estiatorio ($60); Boucherie Union Square ($45); Casa Lever ($60); Chateau 49 ($60); Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse ($60); Cibo e Vino ($60); Dos Caminos ($45); Claudette ($45); Essex ($45); Felice 56 ($45); Hoja Santa ($45); Hudson West ($45); Beauty & Essex ($60); La Pizza and La Pasta ($30); The Land Thai Kitchen ($45); Leuca ($60); Lexington Brass ($45); SenYa ($60); Santo Bruklin ($60); Nice Matin ($60); One 19 ($45); Philippe ($60); Redeye Grill ($60) and SeaFire Grill ($60).

Lunch for 3: Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse ($45); Cibo e Vino ($45); Empire Steakhouse ($45); Felice 56 ($30); Gentle Perch ($30); Amali ($30); Fulton ($45); ilili ($45); Jones Wood Foundry ($30); La Bonne Soupe ($30); Lattanzi Cucina Italiana ($45); Mable’s ($30); The Meatball Shop ($45); The Russian Tea Room ($45) and Tudor Steakhouse ($45)

Dinner for 3: Merakia ($60); Bistrot Leo ($60); Alice ($45); City Winery ($45); Copinette ($45); Danju ($60); Elea ($60); Empire Steakhouse ($60); Frankie and Johnnie’s Steakhouse ($60); Amali ($60); Jasmine’s Caribbean ($45); Jones Wood Foundtry ($45); Kellari Taverna ($60); L’Adresse Nomad ($60); La Bonne Soupe ($60); La Masseria ($60); Longo Bros ($60); Mable’s ($45); Pomp & Circumstance ($45); The Russian Tea Room ($60); Cull & Pistol ($45) and Il Falco ($45).

Lunch for 4: David Burke Tavern ($45); Kubeh ($45); Longo Bros ($30); Maggie’s Place ($30); Osteria 57 ($30); Quality Eats ($30); Redeye Grill ($30) and Zabb PuTown ($45)

Dinner for 4: Fine and Rare ($60); Flatiron Room ($60); Hortus ($60); Kurant ($45); Lattanzi Cucina ($60); Osteria 57 ($45); Pera Mediterranean ($60); Pera Soho ($60); Cathedrale ($60); Laut Singapura ($45) and Temple Court ($60)

Lunch for 5 or more: Ammos Estiatorio ($45); Blue Smoke ($30); Bowery Road ($30); Ci Siamo ($45); Montebello Restaurant ($45); Il Gradino ($30)

Dinner for 5 or more: Vallata ($60); Chazz Palmanteri ($60); Baar Baar ($60); Blue Smoke ($45); Bowery Road ($45); Casa Brazilian ($60); Altesi Downtown ($60); Kubeh ($45); Maggie’s Place ($45); Mazu ($45); Mint Marsala ($60); Perrine ($60); Cacio e Pepe ($45) and The Independent ($60)

Stay tuned and follow me on Instagram: @tablespoonsandteaspoons.

Throwback Thursday – 2022 New York City Winter Restaurant Week – Part 2

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It’s been approximately 8 weeks since I posted my restaurant dining experience on the first three restaurants, I’ve dined in during NYC winter restaurant week.

Now, I am finally going to write about my experience eating in the remaining four restaurants.

  1. Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse
  2. Thaimee Love
  3. The Bar Room at the Modern
  4. Taralucci E Vino

Ben and Jack’s Steakhouse – 219 East 44th Street New York, NY 10017

After work, I ventured into the Midtown East just past Grand Central Station into this renovated steakhouse. The steakhouse was huge and I was immediately seated. For my drink I ordered a ginger ale. For my appetizer I went with the French onion soup, which was the perfect comforting soup to consume on a very cold winter night. The soup was hot and each scoop of the cheese with the soup hit the spot.

French onion soup and ginger ale

For my entree, I ordered the 14 oz steak with a side of broccoli and mashed potatoes. The broccoli was a bit overcooked. The mashed potatoes were good yet standard. The star of the entree was the steak. The steak was cooked well done due to my pregnancy. Having a well-done steak gave me the opportunity to taste the namesake steak sauce, which made the meat consumption experience worthwhile. Apparently I was hungry because I devoured the entire steak and I took the bone home to make my bone beef broth.

Prime Dry Aged Sirloin Steak with sauteed broccoli and mashed potatoes

For dessert, I went with the server’s recommendation which was the chocolate mousse cake and ice cream, which hit the spot. However, I had to end my meal with decaffeinated tea with lemon to maintain body warmth after consuming the ice cream. FYI, they are also participating in the 30th Anniversary of NYC restaurant week starting from July 18 thru August 21.

Chocolate mousse cake with tea

Thaimee Love – 116 West Houston Street New York, NY 10012

I’ve been personally dying to return to this restaurant once it reopened. I dined after the huge snowstorm because I struggled to get out of my Uber with my baby bump hoping not to slip in the black ice sidewalk. I eventually made it inside and the owner Hong Thaimee was there. I was greeted by the server and owner both welcoming and awesome people. The restaurant was waiting to get their liquor license so their drink menu options were limited. My server also looked out for me by recommending not to order the Thai teas because he was not sure of the caffeine content.

For the appetizer, I ordered the Yum Gin Ghai soup, which is a “Northern Thai style chicken soup with a rich broth of turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, mint, and “Laab chili”. This soup was not spicy and it was perfectly portioned for a solo diner on a cold winter evening. I would definitely order the soup again and not a lot of Thai restaurants make this type of soup.

Yum Gin Ghai

For the entree, I had spare rib favorite green curry, which was served with berry rice. The green curry paste is made in-house and once again another perfectly portioned dish, which was also beautifully presented. The meat from the rib was very tender as it falls off the bone. The curry with the rice was to die for and I don’t usually order green curry. No wonder why the green curry is one of the favorite dishes to order.

Spare rib green curry with berry rice

For dessert, I was excited to try the pandan custard with roti. As the menu description stated, the dish definitely was “the perfect way to end” my dinner. The dish was to die for. The only drawback to this dessert was that there was not enough roti to dip into the amazing custard. I would eat this over and over and over again.

Pandan custard with roti

My overall experience at this restaurant was amazing. They obtained their liquor license so their menu has expanded to include cocktails. I can’t wait to return to try their summer dishes, cocktails and afternoon tea. FYI, they are also participating in the 30th Anniversary of NYC restaurant week starting from July 18 thru August 21.

The Bar Room at the Modern – 9 West 53rd Street

My friend and I met for the only dinner reservation that evening. My friend could get there on time, but for me to arrive on time was impossible because the reservation was at 5pm and I usually get out of work at 5pm. Thankfully the restaurant was able to accommodate and we had our girl time dinner. FYI, the menu at this restaurant also changes seasonally so the entrees and desserts from this dining experience is currently not available.

For the appetizer we both ordered the tarte flambee which is a flatbread made of onion and bacon. The portion was surprisingly generous that I took half of it home. FYI this dish will be offered for the 30th anniversary of NYC summer restaurant week lunch starting July 18 – August 21.

The entrees and desserts were very good and we devour both dishes.

Entree – Duck breast
Dessert

The final restaurant I ate in was the Tarallucci e Vino in the East Village. I arrived there pretty late. The overall service was OK. I am unsure if this location is participating in this season’s restaurant week. The appetizer I ordered was the Tortino di Melanzane, which tasted pretty good and definitely a great start to my dining experience despite the so-so service. For the entree, I ordered the lamb chops thanks to my server who twisted my arm to get it. The lamb chops were cooked medium instead of well done, but I ate it anyway. The polenta fries were really good. For dessert I had the panna cotta with mixed berries, which served as a perfect ending to my dining experience.

TORTINO DI MELANZANE
Lamb Chops Special
Panna Cotta with Mixed Berries

NYC Restaurant week will be starting again on July 18th for it’s 30th year. Stay tuned for my game plan on approaching this milestone restaurant week.

Throwback Thursday – 2022 New York City Winter Restaurant Week – Part 1

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We had a productive winter so far, we ate at several restaurants, most of the time I’ve dined alone because people are still leery of omicron. There were several restaurants where I went off the game plan.

Here is a list of restaurants I have eaten for 2022 NYC Winter Restaurant Week:

  1. Jun Lan Club
  2. David Burke Tavern
  3. IRIS
  4. Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse
  5. Thaimee Love
  6. The Bar Room at the Modern
  7. Taralucci E Vino

In this post, I’ll be writing about the first three restaurants:

Jun Lan Club – 49 West 20th Street New York, NY 10011

The first restaurant I went to was an upscale Chinese restaurant in Flatiron. The place is pretty big and I was seated in what it looks like a huge dining room. I had an early dinner and there were photos taken for all the guests who dined that evening. They promised us a copy of the photos but that was not fulfilled due to “technical difficulties” and it would be nice to have a copy of a photo. Anyways, let’s get to my three-course meal and mocktail. Overall service was great and quick. My server had the bartender make a virgin mojito due to my pregnancy.

Mojito Mocktail

Appetizer – I had the edamame dumplings in truffle miso broth. The dumplings were surprising pretty and tasted really good with the truffle miso broth; I devoured the dish. No wonder this appetizer is a customer favorite.

Edamame Dumplings in truffle miso broth

Entree – I was going to the hot & spicy beef but I was persuaded to go with their popular Beijing chicken. I have had Beijing chicken from Brooklyn Chophouse, which I absolutely love so I have high expectations. The dish was presented in a crispy rice bowl. The quantity was definitely less than the portion that I had at Brooklyn Chophouse. The dish came with white rice, which was plenty. I ate half of the dish and the other half I took home. The taste of the dish was pretty good overall and definitely worth ordering for restaurant week.

Beijing Chicken

Dessert: I ordered their creme brulee, which hit the spot after tasting two different savory dishes. The dessert had a berry compote on top which was cleverly presented with one half plain creme brulee and the other creme brulee with berries on top. I smeared the whole berry compote throughout the creme brulee to get that perfect balanced bite of sweetness and tart. The overall dining experience started from savory to savory sweet to sweet, which developed a nice layering palette.

Creme Brulee with mixed berries

David Burke Tavern – 135 East 62nd Street New York, NY 10065

The second restaurant I went to was a restaurant known for its flexible restaurant week menu. David Burke Tavern located in the Upper East Side reopened on the first day of restaurant week after several months of renovations. It was great to see old friends and staff at the restaurant. The menu was offer a $59 pre-fixe menu, which appears to be pricey for restaurant week, but the menu included the infamous aged filet mignon at no extra cost. My server had the bartender make a virgin drink due to my pregnancy. Service was efficient and accommodating. Now to the food dining experience:

Mocktail

Appetizer – I had the soup of the day. The soup of the day was the butternut squash bisque which was really good especially on a cold winter night.

Entree – Since the prix fixe menu was $59 per person I had to go with the infamous steak, which would cost extra if the original prices for restaurant week still exists. The steak with charred brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes was very comforting and hit the spot. I had to get my steak well done because I was pregnant. I am thankful that there was a sauce to eat with my well done steak. FYI if I was not pregnant I would have had this steak medium to medium rare.

Dessert: I ordered the infamous apple tart which was a warm dish. The tart hit the spot. To get that perfect bite one must consume the flaky tart, caramelized apple with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. The tart had to be consumed quickly because the ice cream was melting.

IRIS – 1740 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

The third restaurant I went to was not on my game plan. My friend and I saw this new restaurant in Midtown Manhattan and we went to check it out. The restaurant is huge and really pretty. The menu is constantly changing by season so the items were ordered for restaurant week is not on their regular menu. Unfortunately I could not drink but they had a menu for Dry January and I had their grapefruit sumac soda, which was not worth the price because it was a small portion. Meanwhile, my friend got a bourbon mixed drink, which was strong for her but was smooth.

Appetizer: We ordered the calamari and the lamb flatbread. Both appetizers were to die for. The calamari was perfectly breaded and crispy. The lamb flatbread encompasses the essence of the restaurant’s theme cuisine – Mediterranean. Unfortunately the current menu only has the lamb flatbread, no calamari.

Entree: We ordered the branzino and the short ribs. Both entrees were to die for. Unfortunately the short rib entree not on their current menu. The branzino filet is on their lunch menu.

Dessert: We both ordered the baklava. The menu had baklava with homemade bourbon ice cream. Since I was pregnant the chef personally made me a greek yogurt ice cream. The dessert was amazing. The baklava was clearly homemade. I want to try the bourbon ice cream once I return from maternity leave, but now I’m unsure if this dessert is still on the menu.

Stay tuned next week where I’ll be writing about the remaining four restaurants visited and my dining experience.