After our great meal at Balthazar, Chris, my mom, and I walked to Vosges Chocolate to see/taste some chocolate. I remember seeing the founder, Katrina Markoff, in an issue of Town and Country or a bridal magazine because the magazine covered her wedding, so I wanted to check out the store (I think it started in Chicago). Anyway, the store is extremely purple (in a cute way):

We had two pieces of chocolate split among the three of us - a chocolate with sweet Indian curry and coconut and another chocolate with chili peppers. I preferred the Indian curry and coconut (I’m suddenly starting to REALLY like coconut) but the chocolate with chili peppers was interesting - it had a kick as an aftertaste. Two pieces of chocolate cost $5.15, so it’s quite the splurge, but I think the Indian curry with coconut is worth it. On a side note, my mom brought me back some 99% cocoa bars and….MAN they pack a punch (to put it nicely). I think I’ll stick to milk chocolate and hershey kisses.

How to get to Vosges Haut Chocolate:

Vosges Haut Chocolate
132 Spring Street
New York, NY 10079
212-625-2929

After AVENUE Q, the three of us headed to Balthazar for dinner (we’ve only been to the restaurant for brunch and wanted to check out the options for dinner). The restaurant was packed, but luckily, Chris made a reservation before going to the show so we were seated right away. Since we saw a matinee, my mom and I didn’t really have time to eat lunch and apparently, neither did Chris. By the time we got to the restaurant, we were all starving. We started off with king crab legs:

Balthazar is my favorite Keith McNally restaurant so far (beating out Pastis and Schillor’s Liquor Bar) but Chris and I still have a couple to check out before making a final decision. The king crab legs were chilled over ice and seaweed and served with a side sauce and lemon. I loved the lemon juice with the crab legs and it was a great way to start the meal. We also ordered Brandade De Morue, which is a combination of salted cod and mashed potatoes with lots of cream and roasted garlic, served on toasted bread:

An interesting combination, right? It was really tasty (especially with the toasted bread…carbs on carbs!). It’s a great hors d’oeuvre and I’m going to make it the next time I host a party (….most likely in North Carolina). For our main courses, my mom ordered the grilled brook trout with spinach, lentils, and asparagus:

My mom really enjoyed the fish and it tasted very fresh. The asparagus was also really tasty, and the only complaint was that there might’ve been a little too much vinegarette on the fish.

Chris ordered the cheeseburger:

It was tasty, but I was a little disappointed with the bread. I love love LOVE Balthazar bread (seriously, it’s the best) but the bread for the cheeseburger was a little too crusty. I think the bun should’ve been softer on the inside (the core) but maybe it was just toasted a little too long. Chris liked the bread, so that’s all that matters.

I was originally going to order the duck’s Shepard pie, but at the last minute, I decided to order the Saturday dinner special: braised short ribs with mashed potatoes:

Oh. My. God. My braised short ribs were freaking AMAZING! The vegetables (carrots, leeks - possibly, and onions) were all really delicious as well. The mashed potatoes were so buttery and creamy and paired well with the short ribs (which were marinated with red wine and then braised). The meat literally fell off the bones (I took them home for my roommate’s dogs) and the meat wasn’t too salty (which is sometimes a problem with braised meats, in my opinion, since you’re cooking it with all these sauces for such a long time). The mashed potatoes were perfect (not too salty and just creamy enough that you could still taste some of the potato chunks) and the braised short ribs just melted in your mouth. Wow…it still makes my mouth water as I think about the dish. My mom and Chris agreed that the dish was awesome as well.

After dinner, we were all so stuffed that we didn’t order dessert (maybe next time!). Balthazar is such a great place to go after a long day of shopping in Soho, or a safe place to get a great meal. It’s also a great spot for brunch on the weekends or coffee on the weekdays (it’s a celebrity hangout during the week and many celebs/producers have their own tables). It’s great for a first date (maybe a blind date!) because if you can’t think of anything to say, you can look up to the ceiling and mention how quirky the playing cards that are sticking to the ceiling are. It’s also great for a party because there are so many different dishes for everyone at the table to order, or a great place to just enjoy some awesome bread (or if you can’t get to Balthazar for their bread, check out Whole Foods - they stock the brioche breads!).

How to get to Balthazar:

Balthazar
80 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
212-965-1414

On Saturday after dropping my mom off at the airport, I headed to Bond St. Sushi with Joe, Felicia, Chris, and Jason. Joe heard good things about the place through coworkers, so I figured it would be pretty good for dinner. We started off with some edamame:

Chris and I decided to order one main dish and then some rolls since there wasn’t too much on the menu that interested us, plus I read reviews saying you should stay away from the “special rolls” since they are super expensive and not worth the money. We ordered the spicy yellowtail roll as well as the spicy tuna roll:

I thought it was odd that they didn’t put the spicy mayo directly onto the sushi, but I guess you can control the portions, which is always good. The spicy yellowtail was not good (maybe I just don’t like yellowtail? I don’t know, but it definitely was not worth ordering) and the spicy tuna, in Chris’ opinion, tasted like it was just the leftover pieces of tuna that they didn’t want to waste. We ordered the chilean sea bass with a miso sauce as well:

We got a huge chunk and it was a really tasty piece of fish. I usually don’t eat fish skin, but for some reason, I thought the sauce and skin combination was really delicious. Felicia, my friend from high school/college, ordered the cod and found it to be tasteless. I guess if I were to go again (which I probably won’t), I’d probably order the chilean sea bass since the sushi was pretty disappointing. Jason ordered two rolls and was still hungry afterwards, so we decided to head to Soho Park for beers and french fries. In a previous post about Soho Park, I mentioned that I felt like we got the bottom of the barrel fries since they were so small, but apparently, that’s how their fries are. BOO! Me and Chris (after half a glass of wine):

On Thursday night, a couple of friends got together for dinner at Dos Caminos Soho. I was in the mood for tacos and fresh guacamole, so Chris and I arranged for our birthday dinner there (my birthday is on May 29th, Chris’ is on May 30th). We started out with fresh guacamole:

The guacamole was great - very freshly made (they had a stand in the restaurant where you could see it being made). Actually, the guacamole was probably the best thing we had that night. For my main course, I ordered tacos…I didn’t realize that they were going to be REALLY really TINY:

It was meant to be ordered as an appetizer, apparently, which I didn’t know when I ordered the dish. It reminded me of…Chipotle.

Chris ordered dos enchiladas - roasted chicken rolled in corn tortillas with Chihuahua cheese and two sauces:

I was kind of excited that he ordered the tortillas with Chihuahua cheese because I really love that stuff…BUT THEY DIDN’T PUT IT ON! BOO Dos Caminos Soho!

Ariel, my friend from college, also ordered the dos enchiladas:

He was in town for the week and found an apartment in the city for the year (congrats!). He also bought me a chief shirt for my birthday (how sweet!). Dinner, in my opinion, wasn’t very good AND it took FOREVER for the dishes to come to the table (we had eight in our party, but still, it shouldn’t take an hour for 8 people’s food to be prepared…unless they prepared it from scratch). I don’t think anyone really enjoyed their meals (sorry guys) but at least we had good company:

Audrey also brought cupcakes from Buttercup Bakery for all of us to share:

YUM-OH! Even though dinner was really disappointing, it was great getting together friends for dinner to celebrate our birthdays. After dinner at Dos Caminos Soho, we headed to Chris’ apartment, enjoyed our cupcakes, and then made frozen yogurt (Pinkberry style). Not a bad way to end the night!

Tuesday night, Chris and I headed to Soho Park for a quick bite to eat. Soho Park is a great place to go after a long day of shopping in Soho (or bargain hunting in Chinatown) - they have an outdoor area and the entire restaurant looks like a garage (or a park):

They have great burgers and fries (Chris’ office orders from there once in a while) - we ordered cheeseburgers:

The cheeseburgers are similar to Shake Shack’s (but not as good, in my opinion). The meat is slightly salty, the bun is soft and buttery, and there’s a special sauce that adds a little kick to the cheeseburger. We also ordered fries:

Crispy, but the pieces weren’t big enough! I guess we got the bottom of the barrel because most of the pieces we had were little baby bites. Overall, it’s a good place to eat for a quick bite - their service isn’t great (it took us forever to flag down the waitress because the restaurant is definitely understaffed) but a great burger that’s very similar to Shake Shack’s. And, in the summer time, you can definitely enjoy a nice beer in their garden area.