Beard Papa’s has perfected the art of mass-producing fabulous cream puffs without comprising on taste and quality. The Beard Papa’s empire began in Osaka, Japan in 1999 and has since expanded to over fifteen countries worldwide.
All their cooking is done right on the premises. They bake up crisp choux pastry shells, which have a filling of your choice, just as you order them.
Last night, I was invited to attend a media reception organized to celebrate the opening of The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park.
Every holiday season, Bryant Park is transformed into a vibrant hubbub of activity. This tree-lined space comes alive with twinkling lights, a skating rink and unique vendor booths. This holiday fair features more than 120 artisans and merchants selling one-of-a-kind merchandise that promises to make for exciting holiday gifts.
The Lower East Side was really hopping today with New York Magazines Grub Street Food Festival at the Hester Street Fair. This food festival offered up a smorgasbord of some 70-plus-food vendors who were selling everything from lobster rolls to lollipop cupcakes.
Along with all the great food there were some amazing vendors selling their merchandise. Of course my very favorite booth was Pages of My Life Journal , where we were selling our beautiful gratitude journals for women and children.
Food: ☆
Service: ☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Foodies, Family-Friendly Dining, Cheap Gourmet Eats
Dishes not to miss: Blueberry Muffins
Special Features: Bar Dining, Farm to Table, Outdoor Dining, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Weekend Brunch
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Sushi purists
Dishes not to miss: Flash fried blowfish, White king salmon
Special notes: As of January 2011, Chef Yasuda has moved to Tokyo to open a restaurant there. However the quality of Sushu Yasuda seems to have been unaffected by this move.
Food: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Service: ☆☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$$
Fit for: Special Occasion Dining, Fine Dining, Brunch, Private Rooms,People Watching
Special notes: For lunch, Eleven Madison Park offers 3 courses for $56. For dinner, they offer 4 courses for $125, or an 8 course Tasting Menu for $195.
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $
Fit for: Foodies,Family-Friendly Dining, Cheap Gourmet Eats
Dishes not to miss: Weisswurst, Disco Fries, Chocolate Salted Carmel Milkshake
Special Features: Breakfast/ Brunch – Weekend, Kid-Friendly, Late-Night Dining
Food: ☆
Service: ☆ 1/2
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Late night partygoers, boozy brunch scene.
Dishes not to miss: Prawn Cake Benedict
Special notes: $28 gets you 3 drinks and an entree at their MAD Brunch on weekends.
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$
Fit for: Spice hounds, cheap eats, foodies
Dishes not to miss: Northern Thai Sausage Appetizer, Fried Fish topped with Green Mango Sauce, Raw Shrimp Salad
Food: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Service: ☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆ ½
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Foodies, Quiet conversation, Brunch
Dishes not to miss: House smoked brook trout, Kabocha squash peirogis
Special notes: Lunch offers a great prefix for $28. Dinner offers a pre-fix 4 course tasting menu for $55 and 5 course tasting menu for $65
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$$
Fit for: special occasions, romantic evening,
Dishes not to miss: handmade tofu, grilled black cod, fig ice cream
Food: ☆☆☆ ½
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$$
I recommend: stir fried mussels with chili jam and crispy shallots, seared duck breast in a soy broth, flourless valrhona chocolate cake
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Groups, Vibrant bar scene, Spicy food.
Dishes not to miss: Tostadas de Atun, Mole Poblano, Calamar Maya
Special notes: Happy Hour at the Tequila Lounge is Monday to Sunday 5 – 8 PM with special bar bites priced at $3 each.
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Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Dishes not to miss: Pretzel Crusted Crab cakes, Parfait of Big Eye Tuna and Salmon Tartare, Tuna Burger, Butterscotch Pannacotta, Cheesecake Lollipop Tree
Special notes: They have great lunch and weekend brunch specials. Their crab cakes and Tuna burger are the best I’ve ever had.
Food: ☆☆☆ ½
Service: ☆☆
Ambiance: ½
Cost: $
Fit for: foodies, cheap eats, authentic ethnic eats
Dishes not to miss: Dumpling hand pulled noodles, hand pulled noodles with meat sauce
Special notes: You can buy bags of frozen dumplings ( 50 for $10)
It’s that most wonderful time of the year – well for foodies at least.
The Village Voice held its 4th Annual Tasting Event – The Choice Eats at the 69th Armory today and of course I was there.
Food: ½
Service: ☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $$$$
Fit for: Tourists
Dishes not to miss: It’s all really bad
Special notes: Afternoon Tea is served daily in The Palm Court from 2:00pm – 5:00pm.
Tea at the Plaza Hotel sounds like the quintessential New York thing to do. Throw Eloise into the mix and you’ve got a giddy group of excited little girls.
So off we went to the Plaza hotel for the special Eloise Tea at The Palm Court and a visit to the Eloise boutique.
We couldn’t have been more disappointed!
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Food: ☆☆☆ ½
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$
Good for: kids, foodies, small plates, hip cheap eats
Dishes not to miss: Spicy pork slider with pesto sauce, ice-cream sandwich
Special notes: Cramped quarters/ not good for large groups, long waits unless you go right at opening time, open until 4:00 AM Thursday through Saturday, and until 2:00 AM every other day of the week.
The Meatball Shop on Stanton Street is a shrine dedicated to one of America’s favorite Italian imports – the meatball!
The concept is so simple and the execution so clever – it blows my mind.
Food: ☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Good for: Hipsters
Dishes not to miss: Crabcake, Burger
Special notes: Eat at the bar during their tasting hour for well priced drinks and bites.
(I recently heard that the New York Japonais may be closing down)
Japonais is just one more of those prodigious, Japanese inflected restaurants that you find all over New York City these days.
You enter and know that you’ve “been there, done that”.
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆ ½
Cost: $$$$
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Fit for: Romantic meal, Special occasion, Pre/Post Theater
Dishes not to miss: Fluke, Broiled Mayan Prawns, and Triple Chocolate Napoleon.
Special notes: Eat at the bar room for a more casual atmosphere and cheaper tabs.
Charlie Palmer’s newly re launched, flagship restaurant, Aureole is housed near bustling Times Square, between the Bank of America and Condé Nast buildings.
Aureole’s most recent avatar is quite a ways away from the cozy townhouse setting of its yesteryear’s. This high ceiling, glass encased, modern setting; dedicates more of its space to the informal Bar Room, than the much smaller dinning room at the back. Continue reading
Food:☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $$
I recommend: Fried chicken, Chicken biscuit, Brisket Sandwich
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$$
I recommend: Salmon Tartar and Smoked Salmon
with Lavash Rye Crackers and Dill, Daurade Fillet
, Peppered Berkshire Pork Steak, “Le Cirque” Crème Brulee