I'm a fan of the food involved with each holiday and do my best to take full advantage. Although I have no record of my digestive involvement, I assure you it was delicious!
I had a really lovely weekend, and enjoyed a number of tasty delights with Mel, Adam and my MOMMIE! She is a miraculous woman who appreciates food as much as I do. She also happens to come from a long line of incredible cooks - so I do my best to watch her cook. She's one of those natural cooks that doesn't really measure... so its particularly difficult to figure out what she's doing and replicate. Anyhoo, here's the food...
To start, I had brunch twice this weekend with Mel. She has the whole weekend off, so we took full advantage! After some Total Body Conditioning (I'm gonna have me some sexy legs and arms this summer), we headed over to The Bedford for brunch. Unfortunately, their menu wasn't so good for me this time, with lots of cheese in everything. Mel, being the good sister and understanding my dilemma, encouraged me to go elsewhere for brunch. I felt terrible getting up and leaving, but they had a very limited selection and I didn't want a single thing on their menu.
We went to Cafe Colette instead and had a deliciously good time!
Cafe Colette (please note that their menu is not updated fully on their website)
We were fortunate to get a table right away. This place is usually busy for brunch, but the weather was terrible, so that played in our favor. Mel comes here all the time and rightfully so since its fantastic.
They had a lot of interesting options on their menu, most of which sounded like the healthier version of common brunch dishes. There were two poached egg dishes to choose from, so I went with the spicier variation, even though the other sounded just as good!
This dish came with two perfectly poached eggs laying neatly atop pureed chickpeas and braised kale. The bread was a type of sourdough that had a bit of kick to it. Not sure what it was, but it was delicious.
The dish was a little spicy, but nothing too crazy. It was delicious, not greasy at all. I loved every bite.
I would definitely order this again, but will probably try the other poached egg dish since it looked fantastic (person next to me ordered it and I pretty much salivated all over him)
I thought that I needed something a little unhealthy to even my meal out, so I went with their homemade sage sausage patties. Wow those were good.
They were perfectly grilled and juicy. I definitely recommend these if you want a side of meat. It's a shame Mel doesn't really eat meat, because she totally missed out on these.
Oh well, more for me!
Mel ordered one of the sweet crepes on their menu. I love crepes, but most have filling that will make my body cry out in pain.
I definitely had a taste of these though, so I can honestly say they were incredibly delicious.
These are creme fraiche, honey and walnut cremes. I guess Mel went the opposite with me and thought these were too unhealthy, so ordered a healthy side...
Here's the happy half grapefruit that we both enjoyed during our meal.
Grapefruits are quite possibly one of the most challenging and messy fruits to eat with a spoon. This thing was splashing all over the place.
I ate one almost every day for breakfast, so I'm starting to get the hang of it, but its still a splash-fest!
So overall, the meal was really lovely. Staff was nice and quick to serve. The food was fresh and flavorful. Great option if you want a healthier brunch - definitely going to come back in the next couple of weeks to check out that other poached egg dish.
After Adam was done with work in the late afternoon, we decided on our activities for Saturday night... which involved going into the city and enjoying some delicious imported beer. Adam is a serious beer connoisseur, so we venture to really great bars that offer a wide variety of excellent beer.
But first, we needed to eat something so that the beer didn't kill us. I opted for something a little healthier (shocked, aren't you!) and went to Dojo near NYU.
Dojo Restaurant
I've actually been coming here for so many years. I think as long as 10 years if that's possible. It was and still is a really affordable restaurant with a wide range of tasty items. It was particularly convenient when I knew friends attending NYU, since it was right near them.
Dojo is still a great place to hit up if you're in the area. I was shocked to learn I'd never taken Adam here, so it was a totally new experience for him.
It was particularly dead on a Saturday night. Usually this place is buzzing with activity, but I guess the weather and holiday weekend made the city less lively.
I usually ordered the same dishes here. Their fried chicken cutlet with Japanese BBQ sauce is always a winner. I also like their grilled chicken salad.
The other dish I'll order here is their Salmon Teriyaki - which is not only delicious, but surprisingly inexpensive for what you get.
This dish used to be about $8.95, and keeps going up every time I go back. I know times are tough and food prices are increasing. This time, the dinner was $12.95 - but I still think its a good deal.
You get a large piece of fish, that's always cooked perfectly with a nice portion of steamed vegetables and brown rice. Talk about a healthy dinner! Sure the glaze isn't that healthy, but I end up scrapping it aside anyway. The veggies are always crisp and fresh.Each dinner entree also comes with a lovely little side salad with the greatest carrot ginger dressing I've ever had. I can practically eat this dressing with a spoon - believe me, I have.
The salad is a lot bigger than this - I was just so hungry that I forgot to take a photo while it was a full bowl.
Adam ordered the Grilled Salmon Steak with ginger dressing. Our waitress was helpful and allowed Adam to swap out his broccoli for cauliflower.
He was a little sad that mine was better, but his was far healthier and he was saving himself for the tasty beer ahead.
We both enjoyed our salmon and agreed that although the price wasn't what it used to be, it was still worth it. We'll definitely be back! Also try their fried calamari, which comes with this amazing sweet and sour tarter sauce. Their cold sesame noodles are also yummy!
The following morning, Mel and I met up for brunch at Brooklyn Label - which I've highlighted before, so I'll go through this quickly. I had a ScoutMob, so it made brunch a super affordable treat.
I was craving their Borderline Benedict, which is always a winner here. The bluecorn muffin was tasty, their chorizo was good, but perhaps a little under done. Although sometimes they burnt it, so I'd rather it this way than burnt!
The eggs were cooked perfectly - my only complaint was not enough hollandaise sause, although this was probably best for me.
Also their hash browns are probably the best I've had anywhere. It's always amazing and worth getting.
Mel was indecisive and ordered their special eggs benedict that had a cheddar biscuit with pastrami, but she swapped out the pastrami for smoked salmon.
She liked the dish, but wasn't all that impressed. She had a lot of trouble cutting the biscuit that looked more like a slice of bread. Oh well - what can you do.
At least I enjoyed brunch?
We then ventured into the city to meet up with Mama Maria (our mom). It was Easter after all, and so we took her out for a movie and dinner. We enjoyed The Good Life playing at the Tribeca Film Festival (definitely check out that movie, it was great), and then went to a nearby restaurant that sounded appetizing online.
Westville Restaurant - Chelsea
I called before heading over and they reported that business was slow so it was a good time to go and get a table. Rumor is that they get busy and since they don't take reservations you need to wait outside - something I didn't want to make my mom do.
The place was really pleasant with helpful staff and an extensive menu. They feature plenty of market fresh sides, I counted at least 15 of them.
Mama Maria is very particular about her food. She has a very severe cheese allergy, so we always have to be careful about the dishes that she orders.
She also hates sauces, so the grilled salmon (minus the sauce that they featured on their menu) was best for her. It came with her choice of side and mixed greens. She chose the lemon grilled asparagus, which was delicious. It was beautifully cooked and she enjoyed it a great deal.
Mel wasn't feeling particularly hungry and went with two market fresh sides, which cost $5 each.
We were all very surprised with how large they were and Mel ended up with a hefty doggie bag.
She chose the roasted beets with goat cheese and the roasted fennel with Parmesan cheese. Both looked nice, but I'm a fan of neither. I did try the beets and I guess they were okay. I don't care for beets. They kind of freak me out actually.
I'm also not a fan of fennel. I hate that liquorish flavor and so don't care for fennel at all.
Mel enjoyed both very much. They looked good, but the cheese sprinkled on top was really my final straw - so Mel got to eat in peace without me pestering her for another bite.
My dish, however, was truly amazing and would gladly come back to have it again. I was initially going to get the roasted trout with pears, avocados and other tasty items. The waitress mentioned it was a very light tasting meal, which could have been good had I not been so hungry.
She recommended the Macadamia nut encrusted tilapia with coconut rice, mixed veggies and a small salad. It didn't sound very good, but she said it was really tasty. So I thought "what the hell, I'll get it" and I couldn't have been happier with the recommendation.
I was surprised to discover that there was a sauce with my dish. That was my main worry - it being too dry. Fish and rice can be so dry together, but this was perfection.
The fish was large, flakey and delicious. Roasted macadamia nuts were sprinkled throughout and added a tasty crunch.
The sauce was sweet and creamy, adding a light macadamia nut flavor to everything. The fluffy coconut rice was hiding under the fillet with little morsels of vegetables hidden throughout the rice. Every bite was heaven! I barely had room for dessert, barely.
Mel and I were hoping to get the strawberry rhubarb pie, but Mama Maria had her heart set on the special Chocolate Pecan Pie. The only reason I ordered this was because my mom wanted it, but it was sinfully delicious.
It was made with cane syrup instead of corn syrup, or so claimed the waitress. It was oogey-googey goodness with a prefect crust and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. I tried not to eat too much, which was good cause my mom finished everything without issue. Nothing like something a little sweet after a perfect dinner.
Overall, Westville Restaurant was nice, offering fresh food and a lovely atmosphere. The food was a bit pricy, but it was good quality. I would come back to try some of their cheaper fare, like the hamburgers, which looked really good.
Well it was a long tasty weekend, not back to reality and my diet. ::sigh::
