Best Winter Cozy Swanky Spots, Kitchen Fails, and Restaurant Recs!
Hello cozy winter beauties! I’ve got a list of the best spots to have a swanky NYC fantasy evening and hot new restaurant recommendations. But first a little anthology collection of my favorite kitchen fails:
I made a pasta for a friend coming over for dinner which uses full lemon slices with the peels. It was so bitter the whole dish was inedible and I had to throw it out. I went to the author’s Instagram and saw that under a post about this recipe, other users said it was too bitter to eat and they had to throw it out and the author said that they must have made it wrong.
I made a strawberry cake for a friend’s birthday and I went balls to the wall I-Love-Lucy-Mode. To start, I miscalculated ingredients and had to buy more. Then the batter overflowed in the oven so I had to take them out mid-cooking to clean the oven. When I put them back in the chemical processes of the baking powder weren’t working anymore so they took forever to cook and didn’t rise right. Once I piled these dense disks together with the icing, the icing wasn’t cold enough and melted out the sides of the cake. Also I decided to use yellow food coloring for strawberry frosting? I put it in the freezer. As I transported it to the function later the layers were sliding around. I tried to serve everyone the cake immediately because this cake needed to die. I threw all leftovers in the trash outside the bar where the birthday party was.
I used cream of coconut (a sweet syrupy liquid used to make piña coladas) instead of coconut cream for a stew I was making for my roommates.
I used Trader-Joe’s graham crackers that are covered in sugar instead of regular graham crackers for a key lime pie crust and the crust turned to a black crisp so I brought the key lime pie filling in a plastic container separately and also inexplicably brought the blackened pie crust.
I brought to a party this Gramercy Tavern chocolate caramel tart where the crust had not come together so it was a crumbling mess, the caramel was clear and liquid, and the chocolate was fine. Someone reacted in genuine horror toward it.
Swanky NY Fantasy Time
Photo credit Paul Quitoriano
Bemelmans Bar | Upper East Side
Open since 1947 and named after the illustrator of the Madeline books who painted the walls in this bar inside the Carlyle Hotel in exchange for a room at the hotel for a year and a half. This is the original New York VIBE and the rest are imitators.
The Nines | Noho
The piano player is playing contemporary covers and takes requests! A very transportive experience all around. NYC fantasy explosion.
Monkey Bar | Midtown
Established in 1936, this place makes me feel like I’m Mr.Big having a three martini lunch. The burger is delicious.
Cafe Carmelini | Nomad
Created in a former Gilded Age bank, the vibe of this place is a cross between Rainforest Cafe and Mad Men. I recommend the beef filet with potato and watercress, the caramelle piedmontese, and the sticky toffee pudding.
New Restaurant Recommendations
Bridges | Chinatown
European bistro and a fucking VIBE. Get the comté tart, king crab, duck, and vin jaune gelato.
Cafe Mado
Ok I used to live above this place during the pandemic when it was called Oxalis and my roommates and I have beef with the owner which I will not disclose here. All that said, I did not want to like this place because it’s the same owner BUT, credit where credit is due, this place is insanely good. The pork was so impossibly tender I had to ask how they did it. The floor manager told me something about covering it in a bean paste, then a pepper paste, then putting it on a Japanese grill. I also recommend the bagna cuda and truffle ice cream.
Blanca | Bushwick
Very expensive tasking menu in Bushwick but worth it! Perfectly titrated and interesting flavor combinations. The elderberry verbena kombucha was a highlight.
Ivan Ramen | Lower East Side
Solid spot for Tonkatsu ramen!
Eel Bar | Lower East Side
Eel Bar is the sleek new sibling from the owners of Cervo’s and Hart’s. I recommend white fish dishes but their menu usually changes up a lot so it’s hard to pin them down.
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