...NYC, Day 3, Part 2: Babbo

 For Day 1 of my New York City trip, click here.
For Day 2, Part 1, click here.
For Day 2, Part 2, click here.
For Day 2, Part 3, click here.  
For Day 3, Part 1, click here.

 James and I had some near-death experiences in NYC:

1.) While hailing a cab, an SUV backed into James (going at about 3 MPH).

2.) Walking through Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I unknowingly stepped onto a large patch of ice (I did not fall).

Ok, those aren't so bad, but...

3.) We took a pedi-cab from 42nd and 6th to 39th and 8th in rush hour traffic.

Yeah, that wasn't the smartest move.  We got there quickly, but when you come within 1 inch of a Jeep Wrangler's bumper while wedged between a barrage of yellow taxi cabs, it hardly seems worth it.

It's definitely not worth $35.

We took the pedi-cab because we were exhausted after walking across the FREEZING, BLUSTERY Williamsburg Bridge, which has to be at least a mile long (probably longer), or at least it seems that way when the wind is whipping in your face, lowering the temperature at the surface of your skin by 20 degrees...

...and your bladder is at capacity.

Luckily, we found refuge in a Burger King at the end of the bridge.  THAT was worth the $1.79-ish we paid for fries just so that we could use the restroom.

Never so happy to see a Burger King before in my life!

The subway station was a block away from Burger King, so we hopped on and rode back to 42nd street...where we almost met death in a pedi-cab.

After the adrenaline rush subsided, we were able to warm up and nap a bit before getting ready to go to our 10 PM reservation at Babbo, Mario Batali's famous Italian restaurant near Washington Square.

We took a taxi, and arrived about 1/2 an hour early.  I guess we were excited.

Babbo facade

 Lucky for us, they could seat us right away.  We checked our coats and were seated upstairs at a table for two in the crowded restaurant.

I was nervous.  Overwhelmed.  Out of my element.  Trepidation set in.  I have always said that I am not a fancy person, but this was over-the-top.  James sensed my anxiousness and admitted that he was a bit uneasy as well.

After being presented with the menu, James recommended that we do the traditional tasting menu, and I agreed that that was probably the best way to experience what the restaurant had to offer, since who knows when we'd make it back there again?

Susan was our server and presented us with each dish and wine pairing.  She was very engaging and  had no problems answering any of our questions, making us feel much more comfortable in the intimidating setting.

I'll admit that each dish had things in it that to this day, I cannot identify, nor do I know how they are found in nature.  I speak English and Spanish, and many things were not in either language (nor close to it), so pardon my ignorance.

 We were first presented with a Chickpea Salad on crostini as the chef's welcome...and where I dropped chickpeas on myself trying to get them to my mouth (smooth move, I know, but I was nervous!):

Chickpea Salad on Crostini

The pictures that follow are our courses in the order that they appear on the traditional tasting menu at Babbo.  I won't go into detail about each one because I will say the same about each - they were like nothing I have ever had before and tasted out-of-this-world!  This restaurant lives up to the hype, for sure.  The only thing that I did not like was the goat cheese, but I don't like goat cheese from anywhere, really, unless it's mixed well with many other ingredients.  These pictures speak for themselves (forgive the quality - it was very dark, and I had to enhance them):

Babbo Culatello with Ramps and Pecorino

Pappardelle with Chanterelles and Thyme

Duck Tortelli with "Sugo Finto"

Grilled Guinea Hen with Pumpkin Fregula and Black Truffle Vinaigrette

Coach Farm's Finest (goat cheese) with Fennel Honey - the one thing I didn't like

"Gelo alla Val di Non" (a gel with walnut crumble)

Chestnut "Palacinche" (layers of chestnut paste with ricotta)

Chocolate Pistachio Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Sweet Potato Spice Cake with Lemon Mascarpone

Although everything (except for the goat cheese) was unbelievably wonderful, my favorite parts of the meal had to be the duck, guinea hen, and gelo. I'm not going to pretend that I know much about each dish, because - I don't.  I can only judge based on previous experiences at restaurants, mostly in and around Pittsburgh, and this was far superior to anything I have ever experienced, personally.

James and I couldn't pass on the suggestion of espresso after our meal, which as served with a few small cookies to enjoy with it:

Espresso & Cookies

Babbo was an experience that we will never forget.  Reservations for this restaurant are hard to come by, as you can imagine, especially in the week between Christmas and New Year's, so we were very fortunate to be able to secure one.

I could not think of a better way to end our New York City trip: dinner with James in a fabulous restaurant opened by a world-famous chef.  Grazie, Mario Batali.  Bravo.

Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca

110 Waverly Place

New York, NY 10011

Website: http://babbonyc.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/BabboRistorante 

...NYC, Day 3, Part 1: Wafels & Dinges, & Moto in Brooklyn

 For Day 1 of my New York City trip, click here.
For Day 2, Part 1, click here.
For Day 2, Part 2, click here.
For Day 2, Part 3, click here. 

Brrrrr.

You would think that living in Pittsburgh my entire life has made me immune to the cold.  No.  Not true.  Anyone who has lived here knows that we have seasons, and when it's cold, we want it to be hot, and when it's hot, we want it to be cold.

Will we ever be happy?

New York isn't much different from Pittsburgh in the winter, in the fact that it's COLD.  WINDY.  BLUSTERY.  Our third day in the city was no exception.

James wanted to show me Bryant Park, and when we arrived, we saw that it was set up with pop-up stands where local artisans and food vendors could sell their products.  In Pittsburgh I love attending the I Made It! Markets and Handmade Arcade, plus who doesn't love a good food festival?

 James was excited when we came upon the Wafels & Dinges stand, because he had read about their food truck before.  I was drawn to the Nutella in the display, personally.  After looking at the menu, we decided to indulge.

Wafels & Dinges stand, Bryant Park

I ordered "de Throwdown Wafel", a Belgian liege wafel with speculoos (a caramelized gingerbread spread...*drool*) and whipped cream.  Yes, definitely the right choice.  Sweet, warm, and soft.

de Throwdown Wafel

James went with a traditional liege wafel.  When he said that he wanted it plain, the man working the booth told him that the first dinges (topping) is free, so he should get something.  James tried to get it plain again, and he lost that battle - he got dulce de leche on it.  I think it was a fine choice - but mine was better.

Liege Wafel with dulce de leche

We then walked to the subway station and hopped on the "M" train to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, which James described to me as "what Lawrenceville wants to be" - the hipster section of the boro.

As soon as we were at street level, James spotted Moto - which didn't look like much to me.  An old bike hanging above, a barely-sturdy aluminum entrance that looked like a dive - but James said that he watched a documentary that featured Moto, and that it looked interesting.

Moto

Alright.  Fine.  We went in.

Holy cow - never judge a book by its cover, seriously.  The inside was adorable!

Moto - facing the entrance

Moto - counter

We ordered coffee and looked over the menu.  We didn't want to eat too much more, but dinner was a long way off, so we figured we'd get a light lunch.

Coffee, sugar, cream

James ordered a Soppressata Panini, which had mozzarella and tomato with basil pesto, served with arugula salad (reminiscent of our lunch at the Tin Front Cafe not too long ago).  I tried some of the sandwich, and it was well-toasted and yummy.  The arugula salad was typical, but the dressing was just enough to make it much tastier.

Soppressata Panini, arugula salad

I wanted something warm that would stick to my ribs a bit, so I ordered the Warm Lentils, served with fig and walnut crouton with queso fresco.  The lentils themselves reminded me of a lentil chili that I made from a Whole Foods recipe once, and the crouton was a wonderful complement to them.

Queso fresco, fig and walnut crouton, warm lentils

We left quite satisfied with our find - first, we came upon Rayuela by accident, not knowing what to expect, and now we came upon Moto, which James had heard of, but came upon just by where we got off of the subway.  Things really seem to fall into place with the two of us together.

Williamsburg is very eclectic, with funky little stores selling uncommon goods.  One of them is Radish, where they serve prepared soups, sandwiches, and snacks.  James purchased some items there for our train ride home.

Inside Radish

In-season produce board, Radish

Sushi candies for sale, Radish

 Of course, we saw more taco trucks...but did not purchase any...

Tacos Morelos Taco Truck, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

We spent a few more hours exploring Williamsburg, and when we were finished, we decided to walk across the Williamsburg Bridge to get back into Manhattan.  This turned out to be regrettable (more on that later), but the scenery was fantastic.  I leave you with some of the sights we took in along the way...before returning to the hotel to rest up for our culminating meal: Babbo.

Best. Sign. Ever.

Wafels & Dinges

Website: http://www.wafelsanddinges.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wafels-Dinges/98272277937?ref=ts&sk=wall

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/waffletruck

Moto

394 Broadway St.

Brooklyn, NY 11211

Website: http://www.cafe-moto.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Motobrooklyn

...NYC, Day 2, Part 3: Rayuela

For Day 1 of my New York City trip, click here.
For Day 2, Part 1, click here.
For Day 2, Part 2, click here.


I needed to find some Latino food in New York City.


If I had left New York City and NOT had any Latino food, I would have regretted it.  I mean, the Spanish language is EVERYWHERE - on storefronts, billboards, directional signs...EVERYWHERE.  In fact, look at this Pepsi ad near Times Square:

The Spanish version is bigger than the English one!  Whoa!


Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, James and I just happened to stumble upon Rayuela while seeking out Russ & Daughters, and it was probably the best coincidence that could have occurred - I needed to find a Latino restaurant, and James had this obsession with finding razor clams somewhere (they didn't have them at Eataly).  One of the paella dishes listed on the menu that was posted outside had razor clams in it, so he was immediately sold.


It was destiny.


After all of that walking during the day, and given the fact that we didn't have a reservation at Rayuela until 9:30, we took a cab from Russ & Daughters back to the hotel...and napped.  We were exhausted, but we wanted to enjoy our meal without yawning extensively.

Sign outside Rayuela

 There was no way that we were walking back to the Lower East Side, so we took a cab to Rayuela and arrived close to our reservation time.  We were immediately seated at a table at the end of a long corner cushion.  The restaurant was not crowded, and the people closest to us were about 3 tables down, at the other end of the cushion.


I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant - they played great music, mostly instrumental versions of popular music, mixed with some salsa-type rhythms.  Candlelight was the main lighting source, some real, some battery-operated.  There were even candles within the entrance door.

Rayuela is mostly lit with candles (and the Christmas tree)

 We were served a small dinner roll before our order was taken called "pandebono", a Colombian bread made without yeast - yucca flour, masarepa, queso blanco, eggs, and sugar.  It was heavy and dense, but soft, warm, and especially tasty with the garlic and olive butter with which it was served.

Pandebono

Garlic and olive butter

To start, we ordered two different kinds of ceviche: James's choice was Hamachi: a Japanese yellowtail with grapefruit, avocado, citrus sauce, and wasabi-lemongrass foam; I chose Langosta: lobster, shrimp, avocado, cucumber, queso fresco, onions, and rocotto pepper leche de tigre.

Hamachi Ceviche

Langosta Ceviche

 I was much more satisfied with my choice, mostly because I am not a fan of the taste of grapefruit, but the yellowtail itself was pretty tasty on its own.  The langosta combined some of my favorite Latino flavors (seafood, onions, avocado), so I made the right choice.


James had to have those razor clams, so for his entree he ordered the paella that contained them - Paella de Concha, or "shellfish paella", which also included saffron rice, conch, mussels, and sepia in a lemon aiolli.  As a fan of shellfish myself, I found this paella to be an excellent choice.

Paella de Concha

I chose a different paella - Paella Verde, or "green paella".  The rice is infused with cilantro and parsley, giving it its green color, and mixed with shrimp, clams, rabbit, chicken, and finished with a tomatillo poblano chili, adding more green coloring to the dish.

Paella Verde

I chose well, as I found my paella to be just slightly tastier than James's, although his was fantastic as well. 


We asked to see the dessert menu, and it was obvious that we had to try something.  To go along with my fondness for avocados and guac, I chose the Crema de Aguacate: avocado cream with poached plum de arbol, Pedro Ximenez Sherry reduction and a chocolate tuille.

Crema de Aguacate

James chose the unusual-sounding Chocolate-Jalapeno Ice Cream.  Yeah, really.

Chocolate-Jalapeno Ice Cream

If you can believe it, the ice cream was fabulous - chocolatey, with a hint of jalapeno flavor (no heat - I think the ice cream would have melted...).  My dessert was creamy and tasty, and James especially liked the flavor of the plums in their sauce.


Overall, we both made great choices for our meals, but even more importantly, finding Rayuela by chance was a strange (yet heavenly!) coincidence.  The restaurant is exactly what we wanted - Latino with a funky twist.  In Pittsburgh, the only place that compares to this type of restaurant is Tamari, and even it is not quite to the level of Rayuela.


Tired and full, we returned to the hotel.  We had our Russ & Daughters bagel breakfast planned for the next morning, followed by adventures in Brooklyn and our culminating experience: Babbo.


Rayuela
165 Allen St.
New York, NY 10002


Website: http://www.rayuelanyc.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rayuela/120614274618344?ref=ts&sk=wall
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/RayuelaNYC

...NYC, Day 2, Part 2: Russ & Daughters

For Day 1 of my NYC trip, click here.

For Day 2, Part 1, click here.

Everything I knew about New York City I learned from The Babysitters Club book series.

It's true - I read every single one of the books in the series religiously through my middle school and part of my high school years.  One of the characters, Stacey McGill, was originally from New York City, and she talked extensively about it in the series, even living there again at one point.

After reading these books, I had always wanted to try lox.

I did buy some at Whole Foods one day and made an omlette taco, of sorts, over the summer.  It's delicious - a cured, smoked salmon, which is salty, yet full of fishy flavor.  When paired with cream cheese and a bagel, it sounded like breakfast perfection.

On the train, James and I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations", a Food Network program that, shockingly, I had never watched before.  In the New York City special episode, he visited Russ & Daughters, an appetizing shop that sells just what I wanted to try during our trip: lox.

We had to find it.

After leaving Eataly, we roamed the streets some more.  Walking...walking...walking...

We walked to Canal Street.  We walked into Chinatown.  We walked...

Ok, I don't want to sound like a Dr. Seuss story.  There was a lot of walking.

When we were almost at Russ & Daughters, we passed a restaurant called Rayuela, which turned out to be a Latin American fusion restaurant - just what we were seeking to satisfy our palates for dinner that night.  We made reservations for 9:00 PM, and continued to our destination.

Russ & Daughters, from across the street

 We entered - or really, squeezed into the doorway, because the place was packed, as I imagined it would be.  We took a number: 49.  

Packed like the sardines they sell in Russ & Daughters

 They called number 23.  Oh, boy.  This was going to be a wait.

If you'll recall, I am not a fan of crowds, but I wanted to check out what they had to offer.  James grabbed a menu, and I tried to look at what was in the cases, but I absolutely hate the feeling of being in the way all of the time.  Hate it.  So I became more and more miserable. 

I can't blame the workers - they are very helpful and allow you to try the meats before you buy them so that you are satisfied.  We waited for at least 45 minutes before Andrew called number 49.

Andrew sharpens his knife.  Look out.

Andrew is a true New York City character.  He was obviously annoyed by his previous customer, and I don't blame him - the guy was a pain in the behind, asking to chop up his lox after it was already packaged, for one thing - but I was afraid of how this would affect us.  James requested a sesame bagel with plain cream cheese, tomato, red onion, and belly lox.  Andrew seemed to doubt our lox choice, but allowed us to try a sample before we committed to it.

James swears he mumbled, "I doubt you'll like this," as he tossed the thin slice of lox on parchment paper to us.

Andrew shouldn't have doubted us, because we agreed that it was quite tasty - very salty, yes, but very tasty.  We also ordered eggplant salad, pickled salmon with onions, salmon tartare, horseradish cream cheese, and sable "to go", so that we would have something to go with our bagels at the hotel the next morning.

As Andrew got all of our foods packaged, his mood seemed to improve, and he turned out to be very helpful and jovial by the end of our experience.  Truly, he must have realized that he was dealing with some hardcore foodies, since we ended up liking the belly lox.

Sure.  We'll go with that.

We left the crowded appetizing store and sat on a bench outside to consume the bagel o'deliciousness.  

Belly lox, red onion, tomato, cream cheese, sesame bagel

The double-whipped cream cheese and salty belly lox, along with the veggies and bagel, were totally worth the wait.  I loved it.  I was not disappointed one bit.  My mood improved 3,9058,390%.  

Approximately.

The next morning, I went down to the complimentary buffet at our hotel, grabbed some orange juice and plain bagels, and brought them up to the room to try some of the other purchases.  I was most looking forward to the sable, because the sample that we tried at the store was absolutely divine.  I must - MUST - find somewhere in Pittsburgh that sells this.  Yes, it is about $50.00/lb. at Russ & Daughters, but you only need a small bit to make a fantastic bagel sandwich.

Top: Eggplant salad; Bottom: Bagel halves with horseradish cream cheese, plus salmon tartare (left) and sable (right)

Fabulous.  Fantastic.  Best New York breakfast anyone could ask for.  

I tried the pickled salmon with onions the next morning on my bagel, and wasn't quite as thrilled about it.  James liked it a lot - he seems to like anything pickled, like the pickled turnips from Pitaland in Brookline (I like those too, and didn't think that I would).  

Maybe I didn't like it as much because I was still so full that morning from our dinner at Babbo late the previous evening...

Russ & Daughters

179 E. Houston St.

New York, NY 10002

Website: http://russanddaughters.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Russ-Daughters/105800986120788?ref=ts&sk=info

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/LoxPopuli