I can't wait to work from home again!

Sooooooo I just wrote this long blog post about this restaurant I went to a few days ago... and it somehow erased and none of it was saved..... great.

So here is my quick run down of Origin, a french/thai restaurant that I had the pleasure to discover with Eric.

When walking into Origin, I quickly noticed all the business men dressed in suits, hoping to grab a quick lunch with some co-workers. I felt a little off wearing my usual black tights with my Nemesis sweatshirt, but the hostess graciously sat us down and our orders were taken VERY quickly (i mean, I was taking off my jacket and the server came to ask me if i was ready to order).

A little bit thrown off, I quickly perused the menu and decided to get the safe option, Pad Thai. Eric got the duck burger.

Duck burger

Pad Thai

I am so excited that I found this place with Eric. The food came out extremely quick (they were obviously ready for the working lunch crowd) and was very well priced for what we got! Eric's duck burger was delicious. Full of flavor, the burger was huge! I really got that smokey (and a bit gamey) duck flavor out of my first bite and couldn't help but to take another! (Eric then yelled at me).

My Pad Thai was also great. It was extremely flavorful had a lot of shrimp in it, and best of all did NOT give me an allergic reaction!! (Most thai places unfortunately cause some bad allergic reactions).

The best part about this place was that not only did Eric and I got an option of a soup or salad with our entree, it all came out to be ~$10 each! What a great price!

Although I don't see what exactly makes this place FRENCH, I would definitely visit Origin again. I hope dinner is as fairly priced (although I hear it is not), but at least I know where to go when I work from home- this place is just 5 minutes from me! Wow, I can't wait to work from home again!

Price: $$ (Lunch)

Food: B+

Service: C

Ambiance: A-

My Special Valentine

As some of us know, being in a long distance relationship is pretty difficult. It's never easy to be away from the one you love, especially on Valentine's Day.

Eric and I have gotten pretty used to our relationship, and for the special holiday, we thought we'd have a special sushi Skype date on Monday night (Eric has class until 9:30PM on Tuesdays). I couldn't wait!

He told me to dress up as if we were going to go on a real date. To my surprise, he showed up in New Jersey and brought me out to a restaurant in the city!! What a sweetheart!

It turns out that Eric had been planning this surprise for a while and knowing me best, he picked out a restaurant where he knew I would absolutely love the menu- and he did a great job! We ended up going to SHO Shaun Hergatt, a restaurant located right on Wall Street. The food was absolutely delicious.

The menu at this place was really interesting as that you can't order things a la carte- but it was either a 4 course or 5 course meal! (We went with the 5 course- yum)

We got: Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Duck Skin Tuiles, Vermont Creamery Goat Cheese Pave, Slow Poached Knoll Krest Egg with Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, Nova Scotia Lobster with Coconut Cream Rice Balls, Three Day Beef Cheek with Black Trumpets, New York Guinea Hen, Blue Cheese with Quince Puree, Caramelia Custard.... yes.. we had lots of different dishes!

After we ordered, we got the complimentary amuse bouche (pictured below):

The shot glasses were my absolute favorite. A custard with some mushroom froth topped with sound ground coffee was absolutely amazing. The intense, earthy flavor of the mushrooms really shone through where the bitter coffee grounds added a nice aroma.

The round truffle looking balls were purposely made to look like truffles! I'm not really sure what it was (oops) but I do know that the outside was made with squid ink- how interesting!

The last one is a panna cotta. I didn't like this one too much.. it sort of tasted like a bar of soap....oops?

As for our first course, I was back in heaven.. mmM foie gras


The duck foie gras terrine covered in duck tuile was delicious. The crispy tuile added a great crunch and texture to the smooth, rich and creamy terrine. I love the sweet apple flavors that were the accompaniments as well! Perfect.

Eric's Goat Cheese first course

The slow poached egg (which Eric and I both ordered) was delicious (sorry not pictured). It was perfectly cooked and had some sea urchin on the side.

Nova Scotia Lobster-third course

The lobster is absolutely delicious. Paired with a coconut curry sauce, this asian inspired dish was perfectly paired with warm rice balls and crunchy cucumbers.

Guinea Hen

Three Day Beef Cheek

Our fourth course was also amazing (ok everything I had here was basically amazing). My beef cheek (that had been marinated for 3 days) was braised and just melt in your mouth. I did not need the knife that they gave me and it just fell apart. Full of flavor, this may have been the best piece of beef I've ever had. Seriously.

Eric's Guinea Hen was also delectable. The texture was not what I had expected- it reminded me of some really good pork belly! I like his as much as I liked my beef cheek!

Overall, this was one of the best meals I have had and definitely makes the list. The one thing that stands out at SHO Shaun Hergatt is the presentation. You can tell the detailed efforts invested into each plate and the presentations are absolutely gorgeous and very creative!

I'm so happy that I got to try this restaurant out, but even more, I'm happier that I got to spend the night with my special Valentine.

I really do have the sweetest boyfriend in the world, and I feel so incredibly lucky!

Happy Valentine's Day, love.

Food: A

Service: A

Ambiance: A

Price: $$$$

Hey, at least I learned how to ski?

Happy New Year! I am finally back from the west coast and have been experiencing the weirdest jetlag (yes we would sleep in until 11am in California (2PM EST)). It's been hard for me to wake up for work- and im working from home!!

California was great. I went over with Eric for the Christmas holiday and we drove up to his cabin in Lake Tahoe. We got a lot of family time in with brothers and cousins, but I would have to say the best part was learning how to ski (and learning that I'm quite good at it)!!!!

There are a number of different resorts up near our cabin, and we mainly skiied at one called Alpine Meadows. Although not one of the newer ones, I would have to say it now holds a special place in my heart, now that I have learned how to ski there! I was able to surpass the green runs and make it down the blues by the second day!

Wildly excited by my progress, Eric thought he'd take me on a difficult blue run at a new resort that he's never skiied at (Eric makes wise decisions). We headed over to Squaw Valley Resort and I skiied the steep blue run. I unknowingly went down the harder parts of the run and was doing great until I had a pretty bad fall. I ended up going way too fast, twisted my knee, and then sat on my binding. I was not a happy camper. (I was also lying on the ground screaming in pain for a good 2 minutes)

So, long story short, to make up for it, Eric decided to make me happy and take me to Mamasake Sushi Bar. (I was pretty much sick of plain, american food and needed some asian in my life!) Quite excited to finally have some asian inspired food, I couldn't wait for lunch!- and I heard that the place was pretty good.....................

Meh. Maybe it's just me, but the west coast is weird. I find that the service there is awful and I dont really understand why. Is it because they are more laid back? Is it because there was no snow and there weren't too many skiiers? But from where I am from, servers can't ignore customers and congregate and have conversations and texting wars...

We got seated at the sushi bar near the back and immediately got ignored for a good 15 minutes. Impatient, dehydrated, starving and in pain, I needed some food/water pronto. We finally got our server and didn't hesitate to put our order in with our drink order in fear that he was going to forget about us again. The menu was pretty simple and short and so it wasn't too hard to choose from.

Eric got the Mama's Basic Sashimi and a Stop Drop and Roll sushi roll while I started with some miso soup then got a shrimp tempura roll and some Basic Salmon Sashimi.

Mama's Basic Sashimi- sliced hamachi with sesame oil, ponzu, and serrano chile

Meh. Our sashimi dishes were both fresh (my salmon was pretty good)-Eric's hamachi was flavorful but the serrano chiles were very overpowering. Eric's Stop Drop and Roll sushi roll was basically a very spicy tuna roll, while my shrimp tempura was a plain ol' boring shrimp tempura roll. I would have to say that I started this meal knowing that this wasn't going to be anything special, and the price we were going to pay was going to be wayyyy too much. But I of course, was lucky enough to get a tuna scale stuck in between my teeth that cut my gums!!!

Squaw really does suck.

So it very well could be that I was in a bad mood because I could barely sit down thanks to my fall, but I would have to say that the next time I visit Squaw again (which won't be for a while), I won't be getting my sushi fix from Mamasake.

With a highly overpriced menu and poor service, I would have to say I am going to stroll over to the Fireside Pizza Co. for some good pizza instead.

Hey, at least I learned how to ski?

Price: $$$

Food: B-

Ambiance: C+

Service: B-

Happy anniversary

Besides the fact that I have been incredibly busy (and not to mention lazy), I have been a little bit hesitant to write this post.

Two weeks ago, Eric and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary and he thought to surprise me with a quick weekend trip to the city. We were having trouble figuring out dinner reservations (we wanted to go to Le Bernadin) and eventually we decided to go to Butter- since I am currently in my 'Chef Alex Guarnaschelli obsession phase.

I was extremely excited and I couldn't wait to try out this restaurant- I mean Jenny from Gossip Girl got reservations there and she instantly beat out Blair Waldorf and became the queen of Constance- this place had to be good, right??

Well, yes, right. This place was great- but not as good as I had hoped and expected. Maybe I am being a snob (ok, I am) and maybe my expectations were set really high after my recent dinners at Umi and the Four Seasons in Italy (best food I have had, ever), but I really was hoping Butter was going to also come out on top!

We arrived at Butter a little early for our reservation on Saturday night, and we were ready to wait for that extra hour at the bar. However, upon arriving at the restaurant, there were plenty of tables left! We were happy about the availability but also a little bit annoyed as they claimed they didn't have earlier reservations (we made our original reservations at 9PM).

We got seated pretty quickly and I was able to order a mocktail and got to trick Eric and let him think it was a real cocktail (I think he still thinks it was a real cocktail- he tasted the drink and commented on how he 'couldn't even taste the alcohol'- I didn't correct him.) Hehe.

Having already studied the menu extensively before that night, I had already knew what I wanted, but then made a last minute switch from the Braised Lamb Shank to the Duck! I should have stayed with the lamb shank... :(




To start, I got the Seared Foie Gras (of course) while Eric got the salad (of course).

Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with cinammon raison toast and roasted concord grapes

As for our entrees, Eric decided to get the lamb shank while I switched my mind and got the duck.

Braised Lamb Shank

Roasted Duck Breast

Our meal was great. Eric's salad was crisp and fresh while my foie gras was seared perfectly. Although the preparations of both our appetizer and entrees were executed perfectly, I would have to say that the accompanying flavors were not as pleasing as I had hoped.

First off, I love foie gras. There is nothing better than biting into that succulent, buttery piece of velvet. The smooth texture along with the rich, heavy after taste is one of the best things in this world. The cinnamon raiston toast and concord grapes that came with my foie gras was wonderful but it really took away from the decadence of the foie gras. I sort of wished the foie gras was paired with a crisp fruit (apple pear) rather than the overwhemlingly sweet toast!

As for our entrees, Eric's lamb was divine. Cooked perfectly, I would say that I had no complaints. As for my duck, however, the surprising 'kick' of spice I got in the after taste was.. well... a surprise. It wasn't necessarily bad, but I definitely was not expecting it.

The sweetness of the sauce paired with the duck breast was perfect- but afterwards I got a kick of spice (can't really put my tongue on what it was) that threw me off a little. I would have preferred to stop at the awesomeness of the duck breast with the sweet glaze alone.

For dessert, we decided to share the raspberry beignets with the vanilla sauce. The desserts were all around $14 and so we thought that it HAD to be good since it was twice the price of a dessert at other nice places.... it was good. The warm beignets with the raspberry filling was absolutely delicious, but on top of that.. having that vanilla sauce (which tasted like concentrated haagen daz ice cream- yum real vanilla) was just a wonderful addition!

Although the prices may not have been worth the hype, I would say I had a great meal and a really good time at Butter!

I am really happy I got to go to Butter. Not only did I get to say that I was able to support Chef Guranaschelli, I got to spend the night with the best boyfriend in the world.

Happy anniversary- as if anything could have ruined this night..

Price: $$$$

Ambiance: A

Food: A-

Service: B+

Needs work

What's better than a lunch with a few of my favorite co-workers? A lunch after a successful proposal of our project that got funded!!

Alright, so we didn't know we got funded during this lunch, but now looking back, it was pretty awesome.

Mahmudul, Charles, Tim and I had a presentation to make at Orchard Road last week and we have been prepping for MONTHS for this presentation. It went great and so we thought we'd treat and celebrate with some lunch!

We left it up to our advisor, Tim, and he brought us to Tusk- a unique restaurant located in Skillman. We drove past it on our way to Orchard, and I really wanted to try it out, so I was very excited when Tim decided to bring us there!

Upon entering, we were surprised by how large and nicely decorated the restaurant was- we were getting a bit nervous about how expensive the menu was going to be!

However, taking a quick look at the lunch menu, we were pleasantly surprised by the prices! All averaging ~$10 we browsed the menu and I knew what I wanted, immediately. Off to a great start, I couldn't wait to place my order, I was starving.

I actually really wanted to go back to the Tiger's Tale and get the lobster roll so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Tusk had a Lobster Roll on their menu as well!

Tim was also nice enough to buy us an appetizer- the Lobster Spring Roll. Yes, a lot of lobster that day.. (well sort of)..

Lobster Spring Roll

Lobster Roll

So let's start with the pros- the place had a great ambiance and definitely was wide and spacious with plenty of rooms for private parties. The service was great and our server was fast and courteous. We were also recognized as J&J employees and got a 10% discount (they really didn't need to tell us that, because we were unaware of this discount to begin with).

However, I would say that for me to return, the food needs to be revamped. The Lobster Spring Roll barely had any lobster in it, and thus I felt it was overpriced. The tangy duck sauce they drizzled all over, ruined the flavor of the spring roll and made it a bit unappetizing.

My Lobster Roll was okay. I would say that Tiger's Tales is better. There was barely any lobster in the roll and they used two hot dog buns as the 'roll'! The flavor of the sandwich was very bland and it really wasn't anything noteable. The fries were good, but I would say they need work on enhancing the flavors and quality of their food a bit.

At the end, I am a bit torn about if I would return to Tusk or not. I would say that perhaps if I went and someone else was paying, but I don't think I'd go back until their food is redone.

A lot of potential, I would have to say, but needs work.

Thanks Tusk for your gracious service, I hope to return one day!

Price:$$

Ambiance:B+

Service: A-

Food: B-

Quality over quantity.

aaaaaaaaand i'm back! Wow, it's been a while huh?

Now that I'm done traveling the world (for the time being), I can finally come back to reality and start my posts again- finally

Well this past weekend I got to spend time with Schwartzy-bear! I haven't seen Jeff Schwartz since the night we won thousands of dollars at Foxwoods (I think he's my good luck charm) and so I was very excited when he asked me to go to a wedding with him!.. it got me thinking about our wedding. No, not me and Bruner's...... me and Schwartz's. :)

We had a great time at the wedding and were very quick to decide to extend our night with dinner (it was a day wedding) with Sundar and Shaman! (I haven't visited the cripple since he got his surgery, so Schwartz and I were pretty keen on seeing Sundar)

We ended up going to Esca for dinner- which is right by Sundar and Shaman's (cripples apparently can't walk far).

All I have to say is, I can barely write about the food at Esca. Why you ask? Well, it's not because the food wasn't good it was because it took so awfully long to get our dishes (I'm pretty sure I fell asleep after 2 hours at the restaurant) I can barely remember what it was like.

So we started off getting seated fairly quickly- which was great. We got the drinks menu.. and then... that's it. We sat there staring at the drinks menu for a good 15 minutes wondering where the regular menu was...

Finally after putting our drink orders in (20 minutes later) we got the actual menu where the server took about another 15 minutes describing every special thing about the menu to us. We know how to read buddy, thanks.

Finally deciding our order (4 entrees with 2 appetizers to share) the server highly suggested that we order more appetizers as they are not for sharing. He then pretentiously ended his statement with 'we aim for quality over quantity'. I hated him immediately- do you say that to girls too, buddy? He just seemed so unrefined after that point. How about you give me both.

After that point, it all went downhill. It literally took another 45 minutes to get our appetizers. What were they doing?! Fishing for the teeny tiny calamari that we got?! Planting and harvesting the extremely expensive tomatoes and corn?! Milking the goat for our goat cheese?!

When we finally got it though- it was pretty good. :)

Fiora Di Zucca- Zuchinni flower stuffed with goat's millk ricotta and herbs

Insalatina Di Pomodoro- Heirloom tomatoes with cheese and balsamic

Calamari with wheat oats (?)

Insalata di Granoturco- corn, chanterelle,walnut, goat cheese salad

I would have to say that the appetizers were definitely small and not enough for sharing. They were also all around $20 per plate which seemed extremely expensive for what we got. In the words of Jeff Schwartz: 'This is a $20 tomato.....'.

The corn appetizer was the best. Maybe because it was cooked with chanterelle mushrooms and therefore had that truffle-like aroma to it, but the sweetness of the corn was also amazing! The calamari, although very tiny, was also very flavorful and cooked perfectly. The goat cheese in the zuchinni dish was also great. Overall, I think we did a good job at picking the appetizers, minus the heirloom tomato salad.

Then.. we waited for our entrees... and then waited some more. A glimmer of hope surfaced when they came back 40 minutes later and put our silverware on the table. But then 30 minutes later, we still didn't have any food. Sadface.

Finally, 2 hours into our meal, we got our entrees. Sundar and Schwartz got the gnocchi while I got the Fritto Misto Amalfitano (mix of fried seafood). Shaman got the ravioli.

Fritto Misto Amalfitano

Gnocchi di Ricotta

The gnocchi that schwartz and sundar got were pretty good. The ricotta gnocchi was delicate and fluffy and the dish in its entirety seemed very light. Shaman's small ravioli dish seemed so excruciatingly tiny that I couldn't get a taste. But.. i'm sure it was good....

My fritto misto was.. eh. I'm not exactly sure what it was fried with/in (seminola flour maybe?) but the grainy texture of the dish was strange. Granted, the dish was not oily tasting and also seemed very light, it was not very flavorful and so I found my dish OK. Nothing too impressive- especially for 35 bucks.

At the end of the night, we weren't very satisfied with the meal (and the price). Averaging about $70 per person we were still a little bit hungry. So yes, the food was good and I did appreciate the delicate details of the emlusion of flavors in each dish, but really the service and strangely overly pretentious attitude threw me off. Sorry Mario Batali, your food was good, but the overall experience, meh. I don't think I will be returning

Maybe Italy tainted me, maybe I'm not used to restaurants needing to flaunt the 'quality' of their food (I stand by the fact that if the restaurant is good, they dont need to make stupid comments like 'we aim for quality over quantity'), or maybe I was just drunk from Schwartz' love potion. Either way, thank goodness my brothers were with me.... they make everything and anything bearable.

I can't wait for our large group date this weekend! Love you brothers!

Love,

Brotherette

Price: $$$$

Food: B

Service: C

Ambiance: B-

I love my class!

Wow, it’s been a while huh?

And I still have so many posts to write! I have been out and about for these past few weeks dining out with Eric and some new friends, and have been getting soooooooo fat. Seriously.

Well I can tell you that although I have been getting out of shape, (perfect for my Italy trip in 3 weeks, huh?) I have been having a blast!

Last week was the start of ITLDP Training. Being an early start in this program, I have been working alone for the past 6 months and I couldn’t be happier to have others with me at Raritan! I no longer have lonely lunches at work and can procrastinate like the best of them!

With two weeks to get fully acquainted with my entire class during training, we all fully took advantage of our corporate cards and went out to team bonding dinners-yum!

For the first week, we went to a variety of restaurants- Evelyn’s, Cheesecake, Ichiban, Tulas- but I would have to say that Evelyn’s and Tula’s was most memorable- and not to mention right next to each other!

Evelyn’s was our first dinner as a group.

Located in New Brunswick, it was a short drive from our hotel (and a short walk from Stuff Yer Face) and we were all happy to get to know each other better. Although loud and rowdy, the atmosphere was perfect for our initial gathering and the food proved to be quite interesting.

Although not the best food I’ve had (I got the tilapia and had scales in my dish- if you know me, you know how much that grosses me out), I really enjoyed the company and ended up really liking Evelyn’s. Not the best quality or the freshest ingredients, I didn’t enjoy my food too much- but you can bet that I enjoyed the company! Perhaps not a restaurant I’d visit again, I would say it was the perfect restaurant for a hot summer night.

I love our class!

Price:$$

Food: C+

Ambiance:B

Service:C+

Next door is Tula’s. Although the food is a little bit better (although not that great- and very overpriced), we had the privilege to celebrate one of our classmate’s birthday! Although, not necessarily the best place to have a loud and rowdy crowd (we actually got yelled at, and plenty of dirty looks) we had a blast and the servers were very accommodating.

I first got a lemonade at the bar- it was disgusting. The tart lemon juice mixed with a little water was awful and I quickly switched to water. As for my entrée, I got the Wild Mushroom Ravioli (it wasn’t on the menu but it had truffle oil!) while I got the fried calamari to start. The calamari was awful. I used to say that you couldn’t really go wrong with calamari but my calamari was pretty bad. Hard and extremely salty, the rings of rubber were not appetizing and I was a bit worried about my ravioli to come.

The ravioli was OK. Definitely not worth the price I paid (thanks J&J), the tart eggplant/tomato salad on top threw me off a bit.

All in all, the food was pretty bad. The décor and ambiance misled me and made me think that we were perhaps going to get a good meal that night. False.

In the end though, I had a blast. We got to celebrate a birthday, be loud and obnoxious and in the end, I got to become even closer with my class!

Did I mention that I love my class?

Food: C-

Price: $$

Ambiance: B+

Service: B+