Scarpetta

Scarpetta is an Italian place on the West side that Ankur went to for work and fell in love with. He had been wanting to take me there for a few months so this outing with some of our old Duke buddies Shalin, Sree, and Mili was the perfect occasion. The only thing about our night here was that everything about the food was overshadowed by the fact that it was 100F outside and the AC was not working in the restaurant!!!! Truthfully, I don't remember that much about the meal because I was sweating so much! Ankur raves about the spaghetti which we shared as an appetizer, but sadly I wasn't overly impressed. The pastas were fine, all home made and al dente, but perhaps my recent trip to Italy left me a little disapappointed with the food overall. The desserts were a hit though! Panna Cotta and Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding, both excellent.

Westville

We've been to eastville (westville's east side counterpart) a couple of times but never tried this original in the West Village. Sadly, this visit was for Mitali's farewell brunch the day before she headed back to Mumbai forever! It was nice to see her and the Goldman buddies even if all they do is talk about work! Westville is cozy so get there early if you don't like lines, but the food is solid brunch fare. I had tasty scrambled eggs with my choice of toppings and creamy potatoes (rather than your traditional breakfast potatoes) with a portuguese muffin. Everyone liked their food, but no one went crazy for it. Great location though, perfect for walking around afterwards!

Daisy May's Barbeque

Sometimes we get really desperate for good BBQ. Having lived in North Carolina and then Memphis for many years, moving to NYC has definitely put a damper on the good BBQ. Even places people think are good in the city just aren't. That's why, after trekking to Hell's Kitchen for this new find, we were pleasantly surprised to find some people that seem to know what they're doing when it comes to BBQ. The pulled pork was tender and the sauce perfectly hit the spot. The cole slaw, mac and cheese, and creamy mashed potatoes were the perfect additions. I would definitely return to this BBQ spot and I can't say that of any others I've tried in NYC. We finished the evening with a walk along the water and passed by the Battleship Intrepid.

Dumpling Man

Dumpling Man is THE place to get the yummiest dumplings in NYC. All they serve are a variety of dumplings (pork, chicken, shrimp, vegetarian, and some weird desserts ones) and, of course, some new surprises they are always trying out. Three small Asian ladies stand behind a glass counter and roll those delicious little dumplings all day long. The best things about these dumplings is not only the soft outside and savory inside, but the delicious monster sauce that goes on top. A highly recommended St. Marks staple!

Il Salviatino

Il Salviatino is a beautiful inn in Fiesole, Italy just outside of Firenze that Ankur discovered while reading his latest issue of Travel and Leisure magazine. Although his portion of the Italy trip only overlapped with my parents for one night, he insisted that we all go for dinner and to check out the historic inn. The locale was beautiful, providing amazing views of Florence and the Duomo as the backdrop for our lovely dinner. While the appetizers and desserts were good, the entrees were just ok and we probably enjoyed the scenery and our tour of the grounds more than the food. My Dad highly exaggerated my blogging skills to the waiter and we got some free stuff out of it as well. Beautiful hotel, probably not worth $90o/night though!

Sundaes and Cones

We started the evening by trying to go to Ippudo's for Ramen. It's supposed to be fantastic, which explains the 1hr 45 min wait for dinner at 6:30! I am so annoyed by places that don't take reservations and have those kinds of waits but I can't help but be intrigued by a place that can consistently command such large crowds. We'll make it there one day even if we do have to show up at 5PM. In any case, I was starving, and Praveen and Ankur know it's best to get me fed quickly when I'm heading down that path so we went across the street to Spice for some satisfying if uninspired Thai food. There are about five on these in the city and I pass them all the time. The food is solid, there's nothing on the menu you haven't seen before though. One interesting note is that every item on the menu is accompanied by a picture of said item, it almost feels like you're at an upscale Asian diner. We shared the Pra Ram, Sweet Basil Chicken, and spicy ginger noodles. I'm glad we skipped dessert here and opted for Sundaes and Cones instead. This charming ice cream shop a short walk away from Ippudo had some really delicious, creamy, and interesting ice cream. Similarly to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Sundaes and Cones offers up some pretty unique flavors including Red Bean, Honey Ginger, Lychee, Green Tea, and the most interesting that I sampled, Wasabi. It actually tastes like wasabi and causes that familiar burn in your sinuses but is cool and refreshing at the same time! I don't think I could eat a whole scoop though. The rest of the "normal" flavors are just as good, all creamy and rich with bits of whole fruit or chocolate to add texture. Just the way ice cream should be. The sweetest part of the evening; however, came when Duke slaughtered UNC. We watched the game with some old college buddies at Brother Jimmy's and there's nothing like a good whooping of UNC to really make you feel good.

Sushi Yasuda

Sushi Yasuda is another one of New York City's highly lauded sushi joints. We all know I am a Gari enthusiast, but Ankur prefers the simplicity at Yasuda. There are no frills here, just fresh sushi. Although the restaurant is large enough, it always seems like their in a rush to move you through as quickly as possible. As an appetizer, we had the fugu, or pufferfish. It's notorious because of the tetrodotoxin that can cause complete muscle paralysis and asphyxiation if not cooked correctly. However, if prepared as it's supposed to be, it leaves only a faint tingling on your tongue. I swear I felt the tingle, Praveen and Ankur think I'm crazy. The highlight for me was the fatty tuna, while the rest of the sushi was good I just didn't feel it was worth the price for the amount we were getting - and I was hungry again an hour after dinner. It's good, but is it that much better than the "regular" sushi place down the street that's 1/5th the cost? I don't think so.

This is the fugu - yeah it's basicall just a fried piece of fish. But my tongue was tingling!

Ankur's 30th Birthday!

Well, it finally happened. Creamy turned the age he's been acting since he was 15. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we had a big party at Alphabet Lounge, a club specializing in 80's and 90's music, the only kind Creamy knows. I was not surprised at all to find out how many people really love him. Everyone came out to celebrate the big day. We started off the night at Yerba Buena, a Latin American restaurant in the West Village. While Ankur thinks the food here is to die for, particularly the slow roasted pork, I think the portions are pretty small and the Miso Cod is a lame knock off of the Nobu version. The highlight of Yerba Buena for me is always the traditional cocktails, particularly those made with organic egg whites which are great to look at and full of very interesting flavors. We made our way to the lounge for, what I have to say, was the most fun I've ever had out in NYC. We really do have some fantastic friends and family that made the night so very memorable.
To continue the celebration, the next evening we had some family over for Creamy's favorite meal of shrimp and grits, the original recipe from City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi. There are few Southern meals as spectacular as this one, and it's pretty much a staple at all of our special occasions. The components are pretty simple: cheese grits, bacon, shrimp - and the outcome is always the same - phenomenal! We ended the night with Cajun Velvet Pie, a recipe stolen from a Memphis restaurant piece by piece over a series of lunches and then a rousing game of Taboo. It was so great to spend the weekend with some friends we don't get to see very often like Anita!! And with some great family that were able to make the trip up.

Panini Night and Happy Christmas!

We were down in Atlanta this year for Christmas and had a great time celebrating with the boys. Holidays are just more fun with little kids around. There were lots of presents to be opened, many of which were food related. Bindu got Suraj a great panini maker from Williams Sonoma, something he's been eyeing for quite sometime. My parents got him a panini cookbook to go along with it, so on Saturday night Suraj, Praveen, Naveen, and Ankur were put in charge of our panini dinner. They made three delicious paninis for all of us - a three cheese and roasted veggie one, a turkey, watercress, and brie one, and a dessert panini with nutella, bananas, and hazelnuts. What I found most striking about this dinner is that it took the boys roughly three hours to make it and created a huge mess.

We were also treated to a lovely cheese tasting of stilton, parmesan, and Bindu's favorite - the aged gouda. I did my best to sound like I knew what I was talking about as I described the cheese (luckily, I recently flipped through Murray's cheese guide - another Christmas gift).

What did I get for Christmas? Something I've been wanting for the longest time! A grown up girl watch - something for those occasions when the Timex Indiglo I've been wearing since age 10 just isn't appropriate. Thanks Creamy!

Woodfire Grill

From Bindu:

So Kavi is going to kill me if I don't blog about this one and of course I forgot to take pictures, but last Saturday, Suraj and I, along with our favorite foodie neighbors Leslie and Andrew, got the chance to experience Woodfire Grill, more recently made famous by head chef Kevin Gillespie who received a third place nod on top chef.

The amuse bouche was a specially prepared slice of beet, which most definitely amused my bouche :). For starters Lesley had a delicious mushroom fricasse, I had the pumpkin risotto, Suraj had the laughing bird shrimp with meyer lemon sauce. Our entrees included two steaks, one pork and I got the sablefish which came with a lovely green puree and some roasted root vegetables which were delicate and perfectly diced just not enough of them. The fish was tender like cod and had a brown butter sauce that could have used more flavor. Suraj's steak came with amazing fingerling potatoes with diced garlic.

For dessert we opted for the carrot cake, the pumpkin flan, the chocolate/pistachio cake and the doughnuts, I won out with the pumpkin flan, it just tasted so pumpkiny and delish. The pluses of this restaraunt were definitely the sustainable local produce which we were informed was picked that morning, everything was just extraordinarily fresh and exquisitely prepared, although some of the items could have used a bit more flavor. The wine pairings that came recommended were really perfect and the service was topnotch. All in all makes my atlanta top five and I would definitely return.

Posto

New York City got it's first taste of snow a little earlier than usual this year. The blizzard that dumped 18 inches of snow on Manhattan and stranded my Dad in NYC for two extra days gave us an excellent opportunity to enjoy dinner close to home. Ankur, my Dad, and I trekked our way to 18th and 2nd for some super thin crust pizza at Posto. We started off with some garlic bread with marinara and then made our own veggie pie. The pizza at Posto is probably not the best in Manhattan, but it is solid. The only downside to the restaurant is that it's extremely small and that the pricetag for pizza seems a bit much at the end of the night. The restaurant does have a great homey feel and it's a much nicer way to enjoy a slice on a cold night than standing on a street corner. I highly recommend the bread pudding for dessert as well!

Alleia

While on my wonderful two week vacation over Thanksgiving, my parents treated me, Ankur, and Suraj to a night out in Chattanooga at a new Italian restaurant called Alleia (poor Bindu had to stay home with the kids - don't worry, she let us know just how tragic this was). I don't know quite what I was expecting, but it was definitely the hippest restaurant I've ever been to in Chattanooga. The steamed mussels and cannelini bruschetta made for excellent starters, but I think we were more satisfied by our entrees - the balsamic pork shoulder, butternut squash tortelli with sage butter, and whole roasted trout. Everything was cooked to perfection in a simple, Northern Italian style. The emphasis was really on the quality of the preparation and ingredients. I don't remember what we had for dessert, but I do remember thinking the food was exceptional and definitely comparable, if not surpassing some of our favoring New York Italian eateries. It's always hard to come back from vacation, particularly when you have a family that treats you like you've just come back from war every time you come home!

Thanksgiving

For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday. It's the one day of the year that's set aside for the sole purpose of being grateful for your loved ones and eating lots of carbs, what could be better than that??!! When I was younger, we would often go to the Enjeti's house to celebrate Thanksgiving, and it was here that we got our first taste of the traditional American Thanksgiving meal. Over the years, the recipes have changed somewhat, but that great, joyous feeling I get when sitting around a table with the people I love most in the world and eating a meal we cooked together never has and never will. This Thanksgiving was even more special because I hadn't been home for it in five years, and it was the first Thanksgiving I got to celebrate with my boys, Kiran and Kethan (although they refused to eat anything but marshmallows). Notable additions this year were the roasted beat salad and scalloped parmesan potatoes, accompanied by the usual sweet potato casserole covered in marshmallows, turkey, fresh cranberry sauce, and sister schubert roles to name a few.

Kiran wanted to sit next to the marshmallows.


I spent the week after Thanksgiving having a lovely girls week in Atlanta. My mom, Bindu, and I spent four days shopping, lunching, and just generally doing all the things we never have enough time to do together. It ended much to quickly, but it is a week I will never forget!

Chik-fil-A

Growing up, I did not have the type of family that ate fast food on a regular basis. My mom was a stickler about healthy eating and healthy eating habits so we had a well-balanced, home cooked meal almost every night (yup, I have a supermom). Because of this, and I know it sounds strange, I was always the kind of kid that preferred carrots to cookies (you can ask my mom if you don't believe me). However, it was always a special treat, on those rare occasions that my mom was just too tired to worry about our dinner, that we got chik-fil-A nuggets for dinner. This was pretty much the only fast food that I didn't think was disgusting, and anyone who grew up in the South knows how delicious those little nuggets are. To top off the meal, I always ordered a carrot-raisin salad (not the waffle fries). I don't even think most people know about the carrot-raisin salad at chik-fil-A, but it is magic and every bite reminds me of my childhood.
My sister, who raises her kids with the same gusto and supermomness as our mom, has trained her kids with the same weird eating habits, and they too care only for chik-fil A among the fast food joints. So what better food to serve at Kiran's 4th birthday than his one fast food passion - chik-fil-A. I had so much fun in Atlanta with my nephews celebrating Kiran's birthday. I got to spend time with all of his friends and his parents friends, even the rainy day didn't ruin our fun. There really is something magical about getting to watch my nephews live out things I remember from my own childhood.

Lots of friends came to celebrate with our very own Batman and Robin!

Here is Kiran getting his birthday surprise from his Ammama, Thatha, and Pinni - a big boy bike!

Shake Shack

Although there are now 3 locations, the original Shake Shack is situated in Madison Square Park. It is, as its name implies, a burger stand, serving the best milk shakes around. The shack is surrounded by small, rickety tables and that's pretty much all there is to it. I hear the burgers are pretty awesome, but as a non-beef eater I always get either the chicken hot dog or portabella mushroom sandwich. None of the food here is very good for you, but it all tastes pretty darn great. Amazingly, the line here is usually an hour long or more, but somehow I never seem to mind. This place is usually so busy that they have a "shack cam" on their website that lets you preview the line situation before you go. It's a great place to spend a lazy afternoon basking in a sunny day and the food is always solid. I highly recommend the french fries (Ankur votes them as the best he's ever eaten!) and, of course, the milkshakes. Go only when you have time to spare and you are with someone you wouldn't mind spending a few hours with. After lunch at the shack, we wandered around, did a little shopping, and enjoyed the Fall colors in Union Square as you can see above.

If you look really hard at the picture at right, you can see Ankur waving. He's happy because he's almost made it to the front of the line :)

BBQ Chicken and Potato Salad

We finally got a new TV! Our old clunker broke down about two weeks ago. The sound was fine but the picture was a complete blur. At first, Ankur wanted to investigate repair options, but when we found out it would probably cost more to fix our old TV than what it was worth, I, along with our families, were able to convince him it was time to enter the 21st century and get a flat panel. So he, Suraj, and Sridhar picked out a 46" 10 ADP HDTV (I have no idea what any of that means) and it was delivered this past Saturday. Our first thoughts were "It's too big and it's too clear". Everyone thinks we're crazy but the pretty people just aren't pretty anymore on such a crystal clear screen. People say we'll get used to it but the jury's still out on that one. So what does all this have to do with BBQ chicken and potato salad? After spending an obscene amount of money on a new TV, Ankur decided we could no longer afford to go out to eat, AT ALL. So we proceeded to go through all our old recipes and settled on one last summer meal of BBQ chicken and my mom's famous potato salad for our Saturday night in to semi-enjoy watching Hindi film songs on our new TV. Although I rarely cook these days, I'm not half bad!

Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant

My cousin Geeta, Ankur, and I have long been planning (for 2.5 years been planning) a visit to Clinton St. for brunch. Their pancakes have reached the stuff of legend in New York. You can imagine their dismay when I had to break it to them that I went with my sister, Bindu. I hadn't meant for it happen, I don't know how it did, but Bindu can be SO convincing, AND bossy! Well, to be honest, it wasn't that hard to convince me. On any given Sunday, you can see the line winding out of the restaurant down Clinton St. usually indicating a minimum of a one hour wait. On this Sunday, Bindu and I didn't mind at all. We'd been blessed with a gloriously beautiful fall New York day and we took the waiting time as an opportunity to scope out our LES shopping plan for the afternoon and to taste test cannoli's at a new LES shop specializing in them called Stuffed Artisan Cannolis (Imagine a restaurant with 30 different kinds of cannolis and nothing else. It's awesome - go there). We were seated after about an 80 minute wait and I have to say I actually think it might have been worth the wait - and we didn't even get pancakes!). I had the Southern breakfast consisting of 2 eggs over easy, sugar cured bacon, cheese grits, friend green tomatoes, and a biscuit. The fried green tomatoes didn't come anywhere close to the ones my mom makes, and any true Southerner knows that grits should be a little lumpier than that ones at Clinton St., but the rest of the elements were just right, particularly the sugar cured bacon - genius! A highly satisfying savory breakfast well complemented by Bindu's Belgian vanilla waffle with roasted pineapple and toasted coconut. There were so many things on the menu we wanted to try that I didn't even make it to the pancakes on this visit, SO Ankur and Geeta we will go back, I promise!

Po

I first tried this charming West Village Italian spot in 2005 while visiting Bindu and Suraj with my parents and Ankur. The evening always stands out in my mind because it was the last family dinner before the birth of my eldest nephew, Kiran. I remember it as a night filled with laughter, excitement, and anticipation for the arrival of our newest family member. Mario Batali was still chef/owner at that time and while I know I enjoyed the food, it was almost secondary to the vibe of the evening. I returned several months later with a group of my college girlfriends while we were in town to celebrate New Year's Eve and we had an equally boisterous time. I came back on this occasion with Bindu, my oldest friend in the world Laura Conn, and her sister (who has just moved to NYC!!) Katie. Chef Lee McGrath has taken over the reigns at Po, but it can still be counted on for affordable, interesting Italian. The pastas are all homemade and the sauces and accompaniments are never boring. There are always enough dishes promising bacon and spice to keep me happy. While the food is not as sublime as at my favorite Italian eateries - Lupa and Babbo, it definitely hits the spot without breaking the bank. The true standout for me was probably dessert - the panna cotta with amarena cherries. The consistency was perfect and the cherries were sweet yet tangy. The end of this night was made even sweeter by a celebrity sighting that I dare say changed Bindu's life. As I was walking out of the restaurant, I saw Keri Russell (aka Felicity) out of the corner of my eye. Knowing that Bindu had a Felicity obsession for several years, I calmly walked back inside, pulled her aside and said "I think Keri Russell is standing outside, please be cool." Bindu was able to not make a scene but I think she's still pretty disappointed we didn't ask her for a picture. It was a great night for sisters and for old friends.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of Keri Russell, but here's a shot of me and my mom at that "last supper" before baby Kiran changed all of our lives forever! We actually sat at the same table (note the comfy leather booth) on this visit too.

Po revisited - 12/21/09
My dad was in town over the weekend for his annual visit to watch Duke play at MSG. This year, we got to see an awful Duke team kill an even worse Gonzaga and then fortunately for me, and unfortunately for my dad, a blizzard prolonged his stay by two days. He found plenty to do while I was on call, and then treated me to dinner at Po before he headed back home. We decided Alleia has better food but the desserts at Po win out in the end. We shared the porcini crusted cod with sweet pepper sauce and the butternut squash ravioli with brown butter (very similar to Alleia's but a little more doughy).

The panna cotta with amarena cherries...it really is just about the perfect dessert! And a not very good picture of dad enjoying the cod.

Jean Georges

After visiting chef Jean Georges flagship Manhattan restaurant, I can firmly say he deserves every one of those three Michelin stars. Located in Trump Tower on Central Park West, I was expecting the restaurant to be pretentious and stiff. I couldn't have been more wrong. The dining room was actually quite cozy and the waitstaff always pleasant and helpful despite the fact that we were clearly newbies. There are two rooms at Jean-Georges: the front room, which is a separate (less expensive) restaurant, where there seemed to be a lot of regulars hanging around, and the back room which is Jean-Georges proper. The room is a giant rectangle, so every table can be seen and no table is a bad one. What made this dining experience especially memorable was that I got to share it with one of my favorite couples, my original foodies, Bindu and Suraj. Few people relish a good meal the way Suraj does, and watching him have a love affair with his food is highly entertaining. I was a bit apprehensive before the meal because I am usually not a huge fan of fine French dining, but Bindu assured me that the food would have enough Asian inspired flavors to keep my palate satisfied. We started our three course prix fixe with hamachi sashimi, peekytoe crab, caramelized sea scallops, and goat cheese gnocchi. Each dish was so well balanced, it was hard to pick a favorite, but the pillowy, melt in your mouth gnocchi was certainly one of the best I've ever had. For our second course, we shared the charred corn ravioli, arctic char, gulf shrimp with smoked bacon, and chili glazed maine halibut. Everything was cooked to perfection and each dish really did have an extra kick or hidden ingredient to make the flavors stand out. We're not talking your typical French bechamel's and buttery sauces, this was creative, surprising, fantastic food! Many of the sauces had hints of mustard or wasabi or horseradish and they were adventurous with their use of spice and peppers. Our third course (what we thought would be our last) consisted of a black sea bass crusted with nuts, rack of lamb with chili glaze, and maine lobster with basil butter and jalapeno. While lamb is usually my runaway favorite dish, I have to say Ankur ordered best when he picked the black sea bass. The sweet and sour jus combined with the grainy, crunchy crust was out of this world. As we began to debate how much we were willing to spend on our dessert, we were informed it was actually included in the prix fixe. I don't think I have ever seen Bindu or Ankur look happier. Ohhhh dessert. My wish for each and every one of you reading this is: that at some point in your lives, you get to dine at Jean-Georges and then, at the end of your meal, when you are already swimming in ecstasy, you have the experience of a Jean Georges signature dessert platter (four desserts - all for you - based on a category of your choosing), our choices were: chocolate, autumn, strawberry, and harvest. We got one of each, thus creating a sixteen course dessert tasting. At the end of night, I was not only deeply satisfied by the food, but by the entire experience. Jean Georges proved to me that cooking is about so much more than the food, it's an art, and chef Jean Georges is a true master of his art. I felt not even an ounce of guilt at the price (which was actually less than I had anticipated) because, on this night, we ate (and felt) like royalty. Move over Gari, there is a new king of my heart.

Here we are with our amazing desserts (don't we look happy!)


The Arctic Char covered in chili-lime foam (above), Suraj enjoying his lamb (below)And last, but not least, the after dessert desserts including homemade marshmallows, chocolates, and candied fruits.