ABC Kitchen - my favorite spot-of-the-moment

I'm a little bit late on the bandwagon for this one, but ABC Kitchen is now one of my favorite restaurants in NYC (ok maybe my ENTRY is late - I went for the first time back in the Spring). You see, I never know when JP gets out of work so I've started making reservations at restaurants several weeks in advance just in case he's free in the evening (or weekend for that matter). I'd canceled and rescheduled reservations numerous times already (Dell'Anima, Untitled at the Whitney) but this was one reservation I was not going to let go of, even if it meant going without him. Granted the restaurant has been getting a ton of buzz for a while now but I booked before it won the James Beard for Best New Restaurant earlier this year, and now it'll probably be even more difficult (I am still bitter about how I kept nagging him to go to Locanda Verde with me until one day early in their existence, NYTimes did a review and I still haven't gone there for dinner). On the plus side, ABC Kitchen has a fairly spacious bar area for walk-ins and some seating at the cafe in the back, where the same menu is served.

We went on a Sunday night. I went again the following Tuesday for lunch. That's how good it was. Since then, we've had brunch there twice. Their cocktails are bright and fresh. Their veggies are ridiculously delicious, especially the beets which I got twice, as well as the roasted carrot and avocado salad. For me the dinner was more memorable than the lunch but that's because the pasta I had at lunch (bowties with kasha and veal meatballs, below) didn't impress me much. 

What did impress me was the other pasta we had - cavateppi with spring peas, guanciale and parmesan. I gave half of a half of a half sized portion (...you following that? we got the smaller portion, which they split into two, and I gave him half of mine) since he didn't want to touch the beets after having a tiny bite. But I didn't care, more for me!

This is just really good, simple market-based cooking done well, with very reasonable portions (perhaps one of a handful of times when I didn't feel like I was pregnant with a food baby after dinner). Oh, and their cream-filled doughnuts with a rich dark chocolate sauce aren't too bad either. More dinners and brunches here await!

Go!Go!Curry! - chicken katsu bliss

I agree, the name "Go!Go!Curry!" isn't the most appetizing (something to do with the number 5 and Japanese baseball stars...), but this small Japanese curry shop, which is located in the awkward area between Penn Station and Port Authority, has a lot going for it. JLau and I ducked in here to grab a quick bite for lunch and escape the rain after an unsuccessful stop at a Theory sample sale during lunch hour. I've read about this place numerous times on various blogs but it was just too out of the way from work to ever go, so this was the perfect opportunity. I ordered a small chicken katsu. It's not small in the least as you can see in the picture. We could've ordered a medium or the Grand Slam option which gives you a little bit of everything and shared...but we each got our own small (JLau got the pork though).

It's a thinly pounded, panko-breaded and deliciously deep-fried chicken (or pork) cutlet (katsu), over a mound of sticky rice, with thick Japanese curry. I found the curry to be a little too salty for my liking but the rice balanced it out. The sauce on top of the cutlet was really good too - I forget what it's called but it reminds me a little bit of chamoy. Oh, and it comes with shredded cabbage to make you feel better about being a lard and eating all that fried, salty goodness.

NYC - Aldea

Someone at Aldea woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to have a very heavy hand with the salt at 11:30am. While my arugula and pickled apple salad with Casera cheese and hazelnuts came out perfectly fine, the main dish of farro risotto with pickled cucumbers, mushrooms and orange segments was like licking a salt shaker. 

Loved the coolness of the orange with the warm farro, but hated the saltiness of the dish. Although mama's skate with escabeche jus and sauteed zucchini ribbons seemed to be pretty good.

Dessert was redeeming with a smooth, not overwhelmingly sweet banana caramel bread pudding with creme fraiche sorbet and a roasted pear tarte with gingersnap ice cream . I know that chocolate and pear is a classic combination, hence the cocoa tart shell, but what I assumed would be frangipane ended up being more similar to creme anglaise - an interesting but welcome change.

I don't know if I'd go here again, but for 3-courses at $24.07 it's not a bad deal at all. My favorite part of the meal was probably the delicious Spanish olive oil (I think the waiter said it was Romanico) accompanying the bread to start. That and the fact that I got to stare at George Mendes for most of the time I was there thanks to my seat which let me see his reflection from their semi-open kitchen on the glossy wall. Stalker much? Oh, and +1 Michelin star over JP now.