Lafayette

With all the new French restaurants opening up, I decided to have an impromptu French food week.  Lafayette now occupies the ominous Chinatown Brasserie space.  There's always something strange about walking into a restaurant in it's new incarnation, especially when it is so different from its predecessor.

Lafayette tries really hard to be the new "it" French brasserie, cheesy "french" waitress costumes and all.  While the decor works, the costumes certainly don't.  The one huge plus to Lafayette is the abundance of outdoor seating.  Despite it's location across from a parking lot, it is actually quiet a charming set up.

The menu focuses on seasonal ingredients, which is great for snow pea and radish fans (are there any radish fans???, there was certainly a lot of radish featured on the menu).  The wine menu is French centric and overpriced.  Not to say that there aren't great selections, we were happy with the Sancerre we ordered, but the prices are pretty close to gouging.  I don't think you should have to spend $80 to get a good bottle of wine wine, after all this isn't Per Se.

The service was awkward throughout the meal.  Our server constantly tried to get us to order our meal, which was ridiculous and unnecessary, we were there on the early side and the dining room was largely empty.  Once we finally caved to her hounding, she asked if we wanted our dishes coursed, we we did.  Despite her offer and our acceptance, everything arrived at the same time.

The dessert menu was lame, lacking traditional French favorites like souffles and tartins.  We ended up going elsewhere for dessert.  

Despite having a patisserie on the premises, Andrew Carmenelli does nothing with the bread basket tossed on your table.  Overall, I felt that most of the dishes we ordered were average.  The scallops were small and overcooked, with the best thing on the plate being the snow peas.  Strangely, we noticed the table across from us got up in the middle of their entrees and left after barely touching their food.  Perhaps we weren't the only diners underwhelmed with Lafayette.  At Lafayette's price point, Carmenelli needs to up his game.

What to Eat:

Start with the Octopus, the large, thick tendril is placed over thinly sliced, sauteed onions and peppers.  The plate is also garnished with pureed eggplant and drizzled olive oil.  Octopus is plentiful these days so you may think why bother, but I appreciated the rusticness of this dish.  And the freshness of the octopus was top notch.

Another fabulous starter is the Snap Peas with Pureed Ricotta and Salsa Verte (oh ya, and radishes on top, easily pushed to the side).  This was a winner because it was simple, different, and delicious.  This appetizer is perfect for a sweltering, summer day.  The pureed ricotta hidden under the snap peas were an excellent contrast to the light, chilled salsa verte dressing.

The Short Rib Ravioli special was hands down the best dish of the night.  The delicate home made ravioli noodles where packed with a tender, braised short rib.  The dish was finished off with an aged balsamic vinegar and Parmesan topping.  This dish was so good it made me sad I had to share it.  

Carmenelli, you get one last shot for brunch at Lafayette before I write you off entirely, who wants in?

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Avoid at all costs: Maine Crab a la Nage.  We sent this gelatinous, foul tasting dish back it was so bad.  This should be removed from the menu, I can't see how anyone could enjoy a luke warm gelatin with tiny slivers of crab in it.

Taverna

NYC's oppressive heat waves always make me crave Greek food.  Taverna, located in Gramercy, recently replaced the longstanding Lyric diner.  As someone that actively avoids diners, I was pretty stoked with the neighborhood upgrade.

Taverna has dozens of tables for sidewalk seating (for when the weather is below 90+ degrees).  Fair warning readers, the service was far from great.  After being ignored for 10 minutes, we had to call over our waitress to take our order.  We then had to flag her down to check on our food (I'm pretty sure it shouldn't take 30 minutes to prepare a Greek salad).  And this was when the restaurant was at least half empty.  

But the food was well worth tolerating the negligent service, as you can probably tell from the bright colors of the fresh ingredients in the Greek salad.  Every dish we ordered was a hit.  The menu was packed with so many enticing options I could easily go back every night this week and order something new.

What To Eat:

Even though it is meant to be a side, I decided to start with the Fasolakia, which is green beans stewed in a tomato sauce.  Taverna's green beans were the best green beans I've ever had at any Greek restaurant anywhere, including Greek restaurants in Greece.  The green beans were cooked to perfection, and tossed in a thick tomato sauce, with diced carrots (the diced carrots were a welcomed addition that I've never seen before in Fasolakia).  

For an entree, we devoured the Youvetsi Thalassinon, which is also known as Greek paella.  This savory orzo dish is practically overflowing with fresh scallops, shrimp, octopus, and mussels. The light orzo noodles are tossed in a buttery, feta tomato sauce.  This is a great choice if you are struggling to decide which seafood dish to go with (because Taverna offers quite a few).

Looking to take advantage of the break in the heat this weekend? Pull up a chair at on of Taverna's sidewalk tables,

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Amali

I know I've been neglecting my beloved food blog.  Partly because I am swamped with work and dance but also because I haven't been inspired to write.  I am tired of saying "good food, bad service" or "average food, bad service".  Why is it so hard to find good service AND good food in NYC?

But alas, after eating at Amali, a charming Mediterranean restaurant near Bloomingdale's, I am once again inspired to pound the letters on my keyboard.  Amali's menu doesn't focus on just one country but instead incorporates Greek, Italian and other Mediterranean countries to create a diverse and delicious offering.

The restaurant is somewhat reminiscent of it's Greek sister restaurant Periyali, which I also enjoyed (reviewed here: http://forthefoodieinallofus.blogspot.com/2013/03/periyali.html).  The white walls are contrasted with red upholstery, hinting at the eclectic Mediterranean cuisine that will follow.  Also like Periyali, a medium sized bar area lines the front of the restaurant.

From the moment we were seated, we were promptly and warmly greeted by our server.  We had warned him we were in a rush and he made sure to bring out the food so quickly we had time to spare.  He had an impressive in depth knowledge of the menu and it's exotic ingredients.  You could tell from the moment you met our server that he took pride in providing impeccable service.

After discussing the menu with our server, Amali delivered a bowl of dense, thickly sliced seven grain bread with seasoned olive oil.  The hearty yet soft bread was a welcomed surprise/departure from pita typically served at Greek restaurants or Italian/focaccia bread served at Italian restaurants.

Amali boasts a large wine menu, with white and red options from all over the globe.  Because we were ordering a few seafood items (and it was over 90 degrees out), we went with a crisp bottle of Sancerre, which went perfectly with all of our food choices.  Amali allows you to bring "unique" bottles for a corkage fee.  Sadly, I forgot to ask what that meant but my inclination is that the restaurant allows corkage for bottles not featured on the menu, which if that's the case, I'm a fan (on my to do list to call back and inquire...seeing that I will be back).

What to Eat:

We started with one of the specials, the Heirloom Tomato Over Whipped Ricotta with Basil Leaves.  I hope this is a special that appears all summer because it certainly is worth repeating.  The large, colorful tomato slices where placed on top of a bed of airy, ricotta cheese.  The texture of the ricotta cheese was so light it was hard to believe it was ricotta.  The sweet tomatoes were then topped with different varietals of basil leaves.  We needed extra bread to ensure we did not leave a speck of the delectable cheese behind.

Another appetizer must is the Spanish Octopus a la Plancha, with olives, potatoes, celery and oregano.  You can see from the picture, it looks like the appetizer is lined up, inviting you to aggressively dive in to each bite.  The plump octopus tenderils were moist, which is not a term I would usually use to describe octopus, but they were.  The octopus was topped with a mixture of greens, olives, small diced potatoes, and slices of raw celery.  This was a fantastic light dish on a hot summer night.

Somehow, my picture of the Line Caught Local Dorade did not turn out.  Nevertheless, the dish was perfection.  The whole fish is grilled and then presented at the table so that the server could confirm that I would like the fish filleted.  Amali takes great pride in the quality and accuracy of its seafood.  The dorade was no exception.  I wish this simple, yet flavorful fish, was offered at more restaurants.

The fish does not come with sides, which was a bit strange for a Mediterranean restaurant.  Luckily, the Oven Roasted Broccoli 

with Pine Nuts and Salmoriglio appetizer seemed like a suitable choice for a side.  Salmoriglio is a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.  The broccoli was packed with so much flavor that despite not having cream, my husband was willing to eat it.

Looking to escape the Bloomingdale's chaos?  Amali will provide you with an inviting and enticing reprieve from your shopping madness,

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