Dinner at Hearth

We kinda knew that Hearth wouldn’t be for us. Leo was reluctant, but I was determined to have an East Village restaurant experience. The spring menu, which looked so appetizing online, seemed underwhelming in person and had I not been craving fish that night, I would have been hard pressed to choose anything as nothing really called out to me. After a bit of deliberation, we finally chose to share the Grilled Quail with a side of the Sauteed Market Greens, the Whole Roasted Fish of the Day (which may have been Bass, I can’t quite remember anymore…), and the Rhubarb Panna Cotta.

Each dish was good on its own, prepared simply with a good amount of refinement…except for the fish.  The fish was the least flavourful, stuffed with lemon and rosemary, and unfortunately ruined by a bitterness permeating its underside. Leo, whose family cooks seafood regularly, says whoever gutted the fish must have cut into its stomach and organs, which can release some sort of acid. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant. If you’re going to do something as simple as roasted fish with rosemary and nothing else, it better be done well, right?

The dessert, however, was impressive. The panna cotta with the ‘rhubarb soup’ was like eating a burst of spring, simultaneously light and fresh, but filled with warmth. We couldn’t get enough of the almond brittle.

Hearth
403 East 12th Street | Website 

96 Hours in New York, New York

New York, you were a blast, let’s do this again. Here’s a list of where we ate and some snapshots of our in between meals moments. Proper posts coming soon in the next few days and following weeks. Soooo…stay put!

Day 1: John Dory Oyster Bar, Motorino.

Day 2: Blue Bottle Highline, Momofuku Noodle Bar, La Colombe, Tasty Dumpling, Hearth.

Day 3: Abraço, Roberta’s, Bon Chon (Korean Fried Chicken).

Day 4: Marlow & Sons, Brooklyn Flea, Brooklyn Brewery, Mast Brothers Chocolate, Samurai Mama, Pies’n'Thighs.

Day 5: Doughboy Bake Shop, Blue Bottle Chelsea Siphon Bar.

Photos are a mix of digital and film from both Leo and myself…

New York City, Day 1 (Part 3): Graffiti NY, first dinner

Graffiti was the turning point to what looked like was going to be a really bad evening. After a terrible afternoon spent searching for a  camera store that took two hours to find, rushing to go visit MoMA before it closed, and then once again wandering around in circles trying to find the restaurants on our list for the day, getting to the first restaurant of our choice (Ippudo) and then being told that we would have to wait over an hour to get seated, I was ready to call it quits. At this point it was about 9 o’clock and the only thing we had eaten were the pastries from Bouchon and some ice-cream. Needless to say, I was starving. I was becoming increasingly passive aggressively and petulant, and somehow Leo kept his cool throughout the entire ordeal and managed to pacify me as we retraced our steps back and went looking for Graffiti instead. That was honestly the best thing we did that day.

Graffiti was just superb. Excellent service and quality food at a reasonable price. We ordered the Green Mango Paneer ($7), Pickled Ginger Scallops with Candied Chilli ($12) and the Green Chilli Shrimp ($15), which were all light and delicate dishes.  At first they didn’t seem spicy at all, but the heat built up quite nicely as we ate. We skipped out on dessert because we didn’t want to be too full for our second dinner, but it seems like that was a mistake, because most of the reviews rave about their sweets. I would love to go back again and try more dishes, like their Braised Pork Buns…yummm.

Graffiti
224 East 10 Street | Website | Yelp

New York City, Day 1 (Part 2): Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice-Cream

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice-Cream was on my list of coffee spots to try while in New York. I had originally planned to try it while we were at Central Park, but the truck was nowhere to be found at 10 in the morning. Fortunately, we ran into it on our way to Graffiti in the East Village at night. Not wanting to ruin our appetite, we decided to just share a scoop of Earl Grey and omitted the coffee. The ice-cream was dense, creamy and rich, but light on flavour.

www.vanleeuwenicecream.com/