Marc Forgione's AMERICAN CUT Rocks Our World

I'd first heard about American Cut via my weekly Zagat emails. They ran an editorial about the best biscuits in NYC. Being a southern myself I love a good biscuit. Zagat made mention of Marc Forgione's hot new steakhouse in TriBeCa (one of my favorite neighborhoods) serving up EVERYTHING BISCUITS wiiiiiith a vegetable cream cheese butter. Say whhhaaaattt!? American Cut shot straight up to the top of my "where to eat" list. 

The hubs recently surprised me with a night out. When he finally told me he was taking me to a American Cut I was psyched. Upon walking in I noticed that my old team I used to work with at Richard Sandoval Restaurants had pretty much transplanted themselves here. It was like a little reunion... I knew we were in for a phenomal night. 

The space is sick. Super sexy but (like most steakhouses) had a masculine touch. The chairs and booths are insanely comfortable. One could sit for hours...and we did...stuffing our faces with the following...

The Biscuits-I can't believe they don't charge money for these things. They're amazing.

Caesar Salad-A classic must. It's ridiculously good. I love the addition of the quail egg. 

Marc Forgione's Signature Chili Lobster-WOW. The lobster was perfectly cooked and very sweet but the best part was the broth served with thick chunks of fluffy bread. Heaven. 

The Bone Marrow-Very good. Basic, yummy, fatty bone marrow. 

The Ribeye with Pastrami Spices and The Hanger Steak-Both steaks were wonderful. The pastrami spices are a very unique touch to the Ribeye. Up there with the best steaks I've had.

Latkas-This is a very Jewish side dish. For those who don't know it's basically shredded and fried potato pancakes. Delish. I loved the crispy apple in between each potato cake, nice touch. 

Potatoes Puree-Whipped buttery goodness. (FYI-we tried the Twice Baked Potato with Truffle a few weeks later and I highly suggest going with the Twice Baked. It's the jam.)

Sunchoked Spinach-Being a creamed spinach lover, this was my favorite. 

Dessert-One must get the Cracker Jack Sundae. Yes, it's a sundae...but think of the best sundae ever and multiply by 10.

Needless to say, American Cut def made my top 5, maybe even top 3 favorite steak houses. It's THAT good. Like all amazing NYC restaurants, make those reservations in advance. At least a couple weeks for prime dinner hours on the weekends. Be prepared to spend some cash. This place is not cheap. If you go all out expect to pay well over $100 per person not including tax or tip. Totally. Worth it.

There are no words. I'd come just for these babies. 

Chef Marc Forgione's signature Chili Lobster

Fatty Bone Marrow...MMMMmmm

Our starchy sides-Latkas and Potato Puree

The Cracker Jack Sundae. 

Chef Michael White’s MAREA Exceeds Expectations

I mean, I knew it would be good. I just didn’t realize how good. Let's start with the experience. Chef Michael White's Marea is located on Central Park South. Very swank. I actually heard the ambiance was a little stuffy. I'm assuming due to the area but we didn't find this to be the case at all. The decor is lovely and there was a nice variety of people dining. The tables are large and the dining room had tons of space between tables. For those of you who have never dined in Manhattan, trust me when I say this is a huge deal. There are some restaurants in NYC where you're literally sitting on top of some person you've never met and the tables are so close you may as well share your food.

We went with one of our favorite foodie couples as we knew they'd appreciate the experience and be ok with what we knew was going to be a steep bill. The menu is simple with many yummy offerings. We opted for the 4 course prix-fixe option for $99 per person. I loved the prix-fixe as you get to pick from the entire menu. We all selected different items so we could maximize our culinary experience. First, we needed some vino. Our sommelier, Alexander was great and extremely knowledgeable. Our server, Mark, was amazing. He actually did seem a bit stiff at first but we had him joking and smiling within minutes. He was a blast and made very on-point recommendations (the Gnochetti with Ruby Red Shrimp...OMG). Other menu favorites were the Scampi (succulent Langoustines), and THE PASTAS. Chef White is a pasta genius. You will not go wrong with any of them. The Scallops and the Duck entrees were superb. Ryan and I know good duck. We've had the best of the best from The Four Seasons to Phillip Chow and quite frankly, this was the best of the best. We of course saved room for a little dessert and they were good but the pastas and main courses stole the show.

This is an extremely hard table to get in NYC so plan way in advance. Also prepare to be there for a while, especially if you do the tasting menu. The service is wonderful but it's an experience. I believe we were at the table for about 3 hours and loved every minute of it. We'll definitely be back.

Now please enjoy the following food porn...

My Tonno aka Tuna Crudo. Pretty good. 

The tuna was very fresh but I found this dish to be a bit bland.

I'll get something different on my next visit. 

Truffle Tagliatelle. Amazing.

Their signature Fusilli with Bone Marrow. Delish! A def must try. 

My insanely good scallops. Every component I felt was perfection.

Roasted Long Island Duck. Literally the best in NYC. Get.it.

DOUGHNUTS! Nom nom.

St Patty's Food Porn with Recipes to Boot!

St Pat's is definitely a boozy holiday but there are a lot of fun foodie ideas out there if you're planning a party, attending a pot luck or you just need a little sustenance to soak up the booze. I love The Daily Meal. It's an amazing website for all things food and drink...right up my alley. I saw this link earlier today and it reminded me of my Georgia days, heading to Savannah every year to celebrate my favorite Irish holiday. Even though Georgia is usually fairly warm at this point in the year, people tend to start early for the parade. To keep warm, my fave drink would be a traditional Bailey Irish Coffee (recipe below). Please enjoy the recipe and the following St. Patty's food porn with recipe links if you still have menu planning to do. Enjoy and eat & drink up!

A Traditional Bailey's Irish Coffee

serves 1

2 oz of Bailey's Irish cream

6 oz of hot coffee

1 oz Irish Whiskey

Blend ingredients above together and add whipped cream if desired. 

MMMMmmm...def add the whipped cream;-)

St Pat's Clover Pie

Corned Beef and Cabbage - great recipe from a beautiful blog

Turkey Shepherds Pie - 

Another amazing recipe made with ground turkey for a slightly

healthier option.

Irish Soda Bread - compliments of Parade Mag

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!!

Cesca: My New UWS Italian Gem

The upper west side is not known as the best “foodie” neighborhood in NYC. In fact, it’s a bit of a joke how (in comparison to the rest of the city) uptown hoods are a bit lacking in the amazing restaurant department. That being said, if you look, there are some pretty good gems. Case in point-Cesca. One of my colleagues used to assist with their wine program so she suggested we go by and grab a drink. Of course, a drink turned into a full on food fest. Upon arrival I noticed how busy they were, always a good sign. It was packed. Lots of suits and local upper west siders. We nestled into a booth in the back, ordered our wine and perused the menu. We ordered the following goodies.

The Oyster Fritto-Crunchy, perfectly fried oysters topped with pickled onion and frisee over a creamy tartare sauce. Yum-O. A perfect start to the meal. 

The Prosciutto Parmesan Fritters-Fried buddles of absolute joy. Filled with salty prosciutto and creamy parmesan, these guys are a must try. I could’ve eaten 5 orders. Life-changing.

The Braised Rabbit with Creamy Polenta-OMG. The rabbit was juicy and tender. The Polenta was topped with roasted carrots, arugula and parmesan for an outstanding balance of flavors. 

The Carbonara-The pasta fresh and the sauce simple but divine. I will absolutely order this again on my next visit. 

A side of Brussel Sprouts-Ya know, for good measure:-)

I can not wait to take Ryan here. A great neighborhood date spot, reasonable prices and portions and a fantastic wine list. They take reservations, which I suggest making in advance, seeing how busy they can get.  Eat up!

Oyster Fritto! It’s like a huge fried oyster salad. Ahhhhhmazing.

The life-changing Prosciutto and Parmesan Fritters...

My fave! Savory Brussel Sprouts. 

Want An Easy, Delicious Dinner For Two? Let Blue Apron Do The Work!

Don’t we all want cooking to be easy and simple? You know I LOVE to eat but to be honest I’m not a huge cook. Ryan is the chef in our household and when I do cook, it’s quick and easy stuff. I heard about Blue Apron Meals via Facebook and Instagram. I was seeing many of my friends posting these awesome pics of food and hash tagging Blue Apron. I checked into it and come to find out, it’s an amazing delivery service that while it doesn’t deliver a complete meal, it delivers all the ingredients (pre-portioned) to create an amazing meal with a large recipe card instructing you step by step. Lucky me, they just happened to be running a Gilt City special at the time so I figured we’d give it a shot. Result-Ryan and I are hooked.

The details:

Go to http://www.blueapron.com and sign up. As of now they deliver to most states but there’s still a few in the middle where they’re unable to deliver. At the rate this company's going I’m sure this will change sooner than later.

They post and email you the menu of the week which includes 3 meals for 2 for $59.99 (not too bad). There’s a regular menu which includes meat and seafood and also a vegetarian menu. You can not mix and match meals or pick you’re menu items. What they offer that week is what you’re getting. This being said you can skip a week anytime. If you don’t care for the menu one week, just skip it!

You pick the day of the week you want your food delivered. We picked Saturday so every Saturday we get a shipment of fresh, pre-portioned ingredients. This service is perfect for couples who eat out often or have hectic schedules as it helps eliminate waste since you're shipped only what you need.

*Bonus-all the ingredients are locally sourced and the recipe cards include the calorie count. You know exactly what you’re putting into your body. HUGE bonus.

You can cancel or skip anytime so go sign up and enjoy!

The recipe card

Our mise en place

Our phenomenal Beef Ramen Noodle Soup. Eat up!