FOODYHOLIC'S Choice: Restaurant Modern American cusine casual

Showing posts with label Restaurant Modern American cusine casual. Show all posts

Sunday, May 26, 2013

DINING AT TRAIF

My friends and I ventured to Williamsburg, Brooklyn where it certainly is now bustling with interesting and innovative restaurants.

The trek to Brooklyn was well worth it! Not only was the food very good - better than expected; it was light in the pocketbook!

For starters, we had cream of pepper soup. After that the food just kept coming to the table! The Chef chose the dishes for us to try and share like tapas.

Above is our amuse bouche - pepper soup.

Above was one of the dishes I liked. It's burrata cheese with roasted hazelnuts, black truffles and white asparagus.

Above is seared scallops on risotto with peas - one of the favorites at our table.

Lightly battered eggplant - with topping and what looks like balsamic syrup. (That's my guess). I loved this one even though it was deep fried.

Above is salty shrimp with cauliflower.

We dug into this roast pork before I could take a picture. Definitely a must to order.

Giant prawns serves on a large piece of brioche bread with sauce and foie gras!

(Another dish I loved!)

This is the pork ribs with cinnamon. The meat melts in your mouth. Juicy and tender but a bit too sweet for me.

Lobster, andouille sausage, peppers and some cheese and vegetables with couscous reminded me of paella.

Melted Munster cheese with chorizo in pot served with sliced apples and crustades. It's like a fondue! Also reminds me of Spanish tapas.

Pulled pork sandwiches. It was a little sweet for me. I preferred the French fried sweet potato dipped in special mayonnaise which they serves it with.

I'm glad the Chef brought us a salad. It was delicious with a light dressing.

One of the two desserts was a homemade key lime pie with real graham cracker crust as pictured above.

The sun had set so my photo doesn't do justice to our favorite dessert of all! The BACON DONUTS served with a scoop of ice cream. It was soooo good we had to

order another on top of our omakase.

I certainly will go back to eat here!

TRAIF

229 S 4th St Brooklyn, NY 11211 (347) 844-9578

www.traifny.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/traif-brooklyn#hrid:BP1mVW3_9aCHxTjKaVMbtg

Monday, May 13, 2013

First thing I have to say is I'M IMPRESSED!

My new favorite in NYC! It certainly fulfills presentation, price point, service and taste! Yes, a little pricey but not exhorbitant and not to mention the outstanding nouvelle decor. I praise them for their creativity and new techniques. I was happy from appetizer to dessert and how prompt and responsive our server was. Although, there was one server that seemed a bit snobbish who sat us down. The suckling pig, although small in portion (but honestly, it's a healthy portion unless you like to eat like a glutton) fit the description of being crispy skinned. That passed my suckling pig test even though the crispy skin was placed on top of a pork confit. They did have a good slice of pork belly with crispy skin on the side as well. My lobster with its sauce was delicate. The milk and honey dessert is very light and not too sweet. I'm so glad it's the dessert we ordered. I highly recommend this place.

This restaurant was established inside The Nomad Hotel about 13 months ago from today. It's no surprise why I love this restaurant without even knowing its background prior to eating here. This restaurant is under Chef Charles Humm of Eleven Madison which is an expensive Michellin Star acclaimed restaurant not far from this restaurant. Charles Humm spent his cullinary experiences in Switzerland, New York and California; which is why he is able to compose that clean fresh California taste, with sophisticated European Swiss taste and meet New Yorker's expectations!

The black canopied entrance of this fine handsome building opens to a unique boutique hotel where the restaurant awaits you.

Such elegance but not pretencious. The sky above is open because the roof is made of glass. There is always light that shines during the day as if you are outdoors.

There is a bar area behind the restaurant and another separate room on the other side with a very large fireplace. You can either dress up or dress casually which is why it's very trendy.

I opted for the healthy julienned snow pease with mint and pecorino cheese in a light salad dressing.

This is the appetizer or small orders.

This first course of our dinner was this poached egg with pancetta (minced), some cheese, brown butter and quinoa and some asparagus. I think it would have been a nice brunch to itself!

They will give you war focaccia bread with rosemary and chickpea. We had to ask for seconds as we were 3 people and we needed it to soak up the sauce from the egg.

I had to try the steamed lobsters poached with fennel, vermouth and asparagus. The sauce is so light and delicate, it does not drown the lobster taste.

Next time, we shall order the Roast chicken for 2 as shown in the menu above. It has foie gras between the skin! We saw this ordered by quite a few tables. It comes out perfectly brown roasted served topped with a bunch of rosemary standing up like a tree.

SUCKLING PIG: The confit of pork is topped with a perfectly crisp suckling pig skin. Covered by vegetables on top is a roll of succulent pork belly with dark crisp skin served with cooked prunes around the plate. (I claim myself as a connoseur for suckling pigs having grown up in a country that served it in special occasions - which was often enough during a year)

I watch what I eat so we ordered a side dish of vegetables. On the right is a mixture of snow pease, pease, and fava beans.

AAAH! The dessert! Given the restrictions I have for eating too much sugary stuff, I had to pick the most incredible and unusual dessert from the list that I could learn something new from.

Above is Milk & Honey dessert. The scoop of "ice-cream" is really the smoothest cold milk that is not too sweet. The crispy white cracked things around is really milk - probably bubbly and dried up to create a delicate crisp cookie. The brown cookies crumbled around must be the shortbread which when I first imagined was not this way; so I was pleasantly surprised!
This is a light dessert to try!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

THE PLAZA FOOD HALL - Todd English at the Plaza Hotel

Earlier this year, I featured The Plaza Food Hall located in the lower level (basement) of The Plaza Hotel by Central Park in New York City. Today, the good news is some of the iconic wonderful places I go to will join the Food Court. The following will soon be in the The Plazal Food Hall:

1) Luke's Lobster (already featured)2) La Maison du Chocolat (mentioned) 3) Lady M Cake Boutique - specializes in the multi layered crepe cakes in different flavors (have ordered on ocassion but have not featured) and 4) Sushi Gari.

I can't tell you how excited I am to find all of these under one roof (err... basement). If you haven't read my experience at The Plaza Food Hall, go check it out now below:

In the beginning of this summer 2011, in search where my favorite French little pastry shop went, I delightfully discovered The Food Hall in the lower level of the famous Plaza Hotel in New York City. I had not realized that the Plaza Hotel actually had a little shopping mall with fine food!

Entering from 58th Street takes you directly down the escalator to the shopping concourse. Behind the perfumery is Todd English's Food Hall. The place is enormous, and you can either eat around the counters or on tables with high stools.

The menu is very good. The atmosphere is casual and the place was totally vibrant! They have a bakery, wine bar, cheese and mini market. We decided to sit at the counter around the seafood-oyster bar area.