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restaurant week dinner at spice market

February 5, 2013 by Lara Leave a Comment

This year, Restaurant Week snuck up on me. I’m usually poring over the list, trying to identify spots to visit. This year, I wasn’t quite my normal self. Thankfully my friend M did her usual – selecting a good 4-5 restaurants, booking each for 4 people, and asking us all if we are interested in joining her. Spice Market had been on my “to try” list for a long time – a spot I usually forget since I’d say the Meatpacking District is one of the areas of town you’re least likely to find me.

When I walked in, I was intantly intrugued by the set-up. The upstairs bar area truly does look like a spice market and all of the workers are wearing uniforms in keeping with the theme. I can’t say I’ve been to another space with such a pronounced theme that didn’t feel awkwardly overdone or gimmicky. Nicely done. I suggest grabbing a drink at the bar before sitting down for dinner since it’s such a fun space. From their cocktail menu, I suggest their Whiskey Passion Fizz – which is George Dickel No.12, passion fruit, chili, and ginger ale. It has just a bit of heat to it and the passion fruit was such an unexpected yet amazing addition. And to boot, it’s only $10! [Read more…]

round deux at talde

January 23, 2013 by Lara Leave a Comment

This weekend, we went back to Talde for the first time since last spring. Not sure why we waited so many months to return back since the first visit was so amazing. It would be easiest to classify this spot as Pan Asian, but it’s so much more than that. Way better than a cop out of a description. And as was the case last spring, we found ourselves at this no reservations spot (unless you happen to be a group of 6 to 8) on a Friday night.

Lara Ziobro - NYC Lifestyle Blogger - Food Photographer - Food Blogger - Grits In The City

All decorated for Chinese New Year

Content to eat at the bar, I just sat up shop for us to eat there. Smart tip I learned – never assume, always ask, about being able to eat the full end at the bar because at Talde? No can do. I went up to out our name in and was bummed to learn the wait at that point was another hour – and I’d already been there almost 45 minutes I could have been waiting for the table. [Read more…]

new year’s at the third man

January 21, 2013 by Lara Leave a Comment

Figuring out what to do for New Year’s is always involved. Of course, the most intriguing of things always hit the wallet the hardest. There’s always some great options for staying in, but since we stayed in last New Year’s Eve, I was sort of set on heading out for the evening. One option which caught our eye was highlighted in Zagat’s NYE picks on their blog – The Third Man, a new spot that just opened on Avenue C by the team behind Edi and the Wolf. $85 – food, drinks, and an actual seat (something which definitely comes at a premium in NYC). While at home in Alabama for the holidays, I made it my mission to finally connect to book this – as their phone went straight to voicemail and the page the article linked to was not live. After a few days of Facebook stalking, emailing, and the like we were booked.

When we got there, we weren’t sure what to expect. None of us had ever been there – which made sense, as we learned due to delays from Sandy, they’d only been open for about a week beforehand! When we got there, it looked really empty so we thought we might be having an accidental personal party. It ended up being that one large group had booked for the evening, so it would become quite full later in the evening. [Read more…]

2012, you made me smile

December 31, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

I realized it’s time to pause again and think through all that 2012 was. The places been, faces met, and experiences had. There were so many, it’s hard to know where to start, but I love that writing this post forces me at least once a year to sit down and for a bit, thumb back through the calendar and such and reflect.

Not surprisingly, there were food experiences galore. I went to Cochon 555 (so… much…. pork). There was the US launch party for Pie Face, and the launch party for their second location. Zagat dinners of all sorts. I continued to try oysters, finding yep, I still just don’t love them. I celebrated a wonderful year with T with a wonderful dinner (minus our horrid server) at wd-50. I celebrated three years in NYC for 2 of my favorite Jenns on the rooftop of a stylish bar in Chelsea. I finally made it out to check out City Grit Culinary Salon – not just once, but twice – the second time being a benefit following Hurricane Sandy. I saw Anthony Bourdain speak at BAM, mostly regarding his contempt for Paula Deen, thanks to the gracious TC and Underground Eats. [Read more…]

city grit’s tour of the 5 boroughs

November 15, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

When T asked if I wanted to catch one of the two “Tour of the Five Boroughs” dinners City Grit was putting on, it was a quick yes from me. I knew after my first experience for their PDX Comes to NYC dinner that I wanted to come back – it was just a question of when. Last night’s dinner was the second of two dinners to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund to help fund the rebuilding of Staten Island (with 50% of profits for both nights going to the cause). Sarah Simmons explained that the menu had been used previously during the year, but that she thought it was appropriate to use again as they were just reoccupying the kitchen post-storm and because it highlighted the various elements of the city.

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birthday cupcakes for rachel

September 9, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

Rachel is one of my best friends and today she would have been 32.

When I arrived in Madrid, jet lagged and in the midst of a group of 16 students, mostly from the same university (which wasn’t mine), I thought I was going to have an uphill battle or a long summer ahead, one. When I met Rachel, we clicked instantly. She was warm, friendly, and 100% her own person. Like me, she wasn’t a University of Maryland, University College student and we clicked instantly.

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pdx comes to nyc at city grit culinary salon

August 15, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

When City Grit Culinary Salon first launched, I received countless emails from friends. Being from the South and with a blog so close to the name it just made sense. Somehow though I never made it there until last night. I was invited to join some other local Southerners for a Southern Dinner, and this ended up being our venue. Fitting! Four of the six of us were from Alabama. We sat and chatted about childhood experiences all over the wonderful food – and it was a perfect combination.

Sarah Simmons who started City Grit invites various chefs to come in and prepare their food and, from what I understand, usually adds a bit of a Southern flare to their offerings. The biscuit last night was a bit Southern, but I’d say for the most part, the chefs last night were serving up their usual fare. The venue was quite an intriguing choice as well. By day, the space is a furniture store. The building itself was a Catholic school and is some 200 years old!

[Read more…]

sunday supper at 606 r&d

August 13, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

A few Saturdays back, we decided to try out 606 R&D’s “Sunday Supper”. (Note: Sadly 606 R&D has since closed.) It had been a busy day – running all around Union Square/Greenwich Village for iAdventure’s Olympic Scavenger Hunt (we, the Google+ Local team, were the overall winners!). We had worked up quite an appetite.

Located along a strip of several restaurants and bars, 606 R&D looks very low-key. T originally thought it was more of a sandwich shop until a friend mentioned they had fabulous cocktails and we should stop in. [Read more…]

peanut butter & perserverance

August 7, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

I’d forgotten how therapeutic cooking can be. Baking, in particular. I do believe people usually lean one way or another. You have your bakers, who like measurement and absolutes, and then you have the cooks, who look at various ingredients and can play, with it with or without a formal recipe. I’d just finished Alyssa Shelasky’s Apron Anxiety, where the kitchen functions more or less as her sanity – providing her a release when nothing else seems to be able to do the same. Great book – perfect summer read if you love food and haven’t picked it up yet.

Last Wednesday, I’d planed on making T a big batch of peanut butter cookies. I figured I’d be up late making them since I had trapeze, but I found myself home an hour early after leaving midway through the class in tears. While the class wasn’t my finest, the substitute teacher who didn’t know me or my capabilities said some things which really upset me. The comments were out of line seeing as this is something I do only once a week rather than in their formal circus training program. [Read more…]

prix fixe at alembic

July 24, 2012 by Lara Leave a Comment

I don’t mean to skip ahead (I will fill in the blanks) but I so enjoyed my meal at The Alembic that I just had to write this one next. Out of all of the meals, this one was a whim. I’d noted it as a great spot in the Haight for cocktails. I hadn’t made much of a note of anything to highlight as far as their food is concerned. Almost a big, big miss. We’d ridden along the periphery of the Haight in our bike ride through San Francisco and over across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Saulsalito, but we hadn’t really gone through the heart of the neighborhood. After doing brunch our final day in North Beach, we decided to wander through this area.

I really enjoyed checking out Ambiance as well as several of the vintage stores along Haight Street. In the process, we saw Cha Cha Cha in the distance and walked by the signage for The Alembic. We were intrigued by what we saw and liked the idea of the menu, so we decided to come back and hope to get in. When we arrived, there was a group of people assembled in the front – making it look crowded. [Read more…]