I’ve been eating a lot of salads and leftovers this week, so I thought I’d share some of the fun meals I had in NYC this past weekend.
We arrived in NYC just in time for lunch on Saturday, and headed to S’MAC for a big ol’ skillet of mac ‘n cheese. It did not disappoint.
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| S’MAC! |
I ordered the 4 cheese with spinach, mushrooms, and bacon. A-mazing.
And we did not even need a pre-dinner snack, which was initially surprising, but then we realized we probably each ate about a pound of cheese and pasta!
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| Major munch size |
Since I’m a little obsessed with everything Top Chef, I made dinner reservations at North End Grill, which just opened in January with Floyd Cardoz as the Executive Chef. Floyd Cardoz was the winner of Top Chef Masters, Season three.
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| Oysters! |
We started out with some oysters, one each from NY, MA and New Brunswick, and we all had a different favorite. My favorite was NY, with MA in the middle, and New Brunswick coming in last place.
For dinner I had the seared diver scallops with cauliflower, and we got a bunch of sides to share: griddled ginger spinach, hashed brussel sprouts and lentils, and truffled mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy. Someone at the table who is not a big fan of potatoes said that if all potatoes tasted like that, she would eat them more. I am a potato lover and those potatoes would definitely make the highlight reel, as would the brussel sprouts. Everything was delicious, and we were even too full for dessert.
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| The sides |
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| Diver scallops |
The next morning we had brunch reservations at Locando Verde, based on a recommendation from a friend of a friend. We actually planned to go there for dinner, but when I called to make a reservation (more than a month in advance), the only options were for 5:30 and 10 pm. So brunch it was. I had the soft scrambled farm egg crostino with leeks, mushrooms and speck, and lots of water to rehydrate.
Add in a couple of slices of pizza and some hot nuts and I think it was a pretty delicious weekend.
The rundown:
Sarita’s Macaroni & Cheese
345 East 12th Street, between 1st and 2nd Ave
North End Grill
104 North End Avenue, Battery Park City
Locando Verde
377 Greenwich Street, TriBeCa
cross street N. Moore Street
Kara Cooks and Eats 