Stanton Social

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to only order appetizers all night for dinner?  If that's something you like along with good food, a trendy atmosphere and no more than 2 or 3 of your friends or family members, I highly suggest going to Stanton Social.  The music is loud and it's kind of dark, but the food is spectacular.  For a table of 4 people, they recommend 8 - 10 dishes.  All dishes are small plates and meant for sharing.  So get excited to try lots of food, and I promise you will enjoy it. Let the foodie roller coaster ride, begin! 

*Note - Don't forget to make a reservation at least a few days in advance.  This place is packed even on week nights!  (average wait time with a reservation is approximately 15 - 45 minutes) 

Allergy Info: 
They are very accommodating with allergies.  Just tell your server and they will make sure the dishes that you order are allergy free (or not appropriate for your particular allergy) 
Vegetarian  / Fish / Meat options all available 

Foodie Rundown: 
French Onion Soup Dumplings  - A fan favorite across the board.  Don't come here if you don't plan on getting these.  So fabulous from the presentation to the taste!  Careful, these are very hot (temperature).  So eat them slow! 

Potato & Goat Cheese Pierogies with caramelized onions & truffle creme fraiche - my personal favorite.  The creme fraiche can be eaten on its own, it's to die for.  Life changing actually. 

Red Snapper Tacos with creamy avocado and spicy mango 

Hand Pulled Chicken Arepas with jalapeño salsa verde  - Guess I forgot to take a picture of these!  But they were delicious as well.  Definitely on the spicy side, but full of great flavor! 

Maryland Jumbo Lump Crabcake 'Corn Dogs'   - Just as cool as they sound, my mom's personal favorite!

Thai Spiced Baby Back Ribs with a hoisin BBQ glaze, jicama slaw and lemongrass oil  - So the waitress said these would fall right off the bone, and they did (we tested).  The flavors were so great, but we were so full!  But we kept on eating! 

Kobe Philly Slider / Grilled Aged Cheddar Slider with jalapeño bacon / Kobe Beef Slider with a side of assorted pickles.  The chips are sour cream and onion flavored, and the burgers are great!  I've tried almost all of them on the menu, but I keep coming back to the Kobe Philly!  (the truffle creme fraiche is on the top, I can't resist) 

Baked Spanikopita with Spinach in a puff pastry.  So this word is evidently easier to say that what I say.  But after many attempts, I just went with the "Baked Spanky".  These were outrageous, newer on the menu and full of flavor and delicious flakey pastry! 

Dessert 
Pumpkin filled twinkie with Hot Chocolate Bourbon dessert shots.  Not being a huge fan of pumpkin didn't stop me from loving this pumpkin filled twinkie!  Plus, who doesn't love twinkles?  

The bourbon shots are always delicious.  They change seasonally with regards to either hot shots or cold shots.  But this wintery hot chocolate shot was the icing on the cake for an outrageous meal! 

Location: 
Lower East Side - Stanton between Ludlow and Orchard 

In-N-Out Burger

Shake Shack, Five Guys and adding to my list, In N Out Burger.  The last of my burger trilogy that I've been dying to try for years now.  Few drinks in, there was a decision to go to the famous In N Out Burger on campus at UCLA, yes, this is where I was.  Full of hungry and slightly intoxicated college students.  But, nonetheless I was still excited to try this burger. 

OF COURSE, there was a secret menu, why would I even bother ordering, when half of my order wasn't on the menu!  There are grilled onions available and fries animal style (clearly the only way to go). But this "not-so-secret" menu can be found HERE  

Allergy Info: 

Meatlovers 

100% pure beef free of additives, fillers and preservatives of any kind

Peanut free

Foodie Rundown:

Cheeseburger with Grilled Onions (comes with lettuce, tomato, cheese and special sauce) - (pictured)  - These burgers were fresh and delicious, although late night and after a few drinks, I would go back for this burger just like a shake shack burger in NY.  

Fries (Animal Style) - fries with grilled onions, some sort of pickles and special sauce mixture with cheese (pictured) 

Locations: 

Location Finder

http://www.in-n-out.com/ 

Umami Burger

 

Sorry for the small hiatus from blogging for a few days.  But I have 2 LA posts!  So get on your plane, private jet or in your car and head to LA (or San Fran) to get one of these awesome burgers...c'mon, I know you want to. 

Umami Burger is one of LA's finest burger joints.  A trendy, fun and delicious burger for the entire family.  Pick your favorite and go back for seconds cause they will definitely keep your mouths watering.  So the good news is there are rumors of Umami Burger opening up in NYC.  Waiting for a date and a time, and i'll be there waiting for the doors to open! 

Allergy Info: 

Ahi Tuna burger available, but no veggie or turkey burgers for our meatless friends 

No nuts in the burgers / peanut oil is not used (but there are definitely nuts in the desserts, so just stick to the main course)  

Meat lovers enjoy 

Foodie Rundown: 

If you're made it this far, make sure to do some research on the Umami Burger secret menu items.  I'll give you a hint, cheesey truffle fries (pictured) and tater tots are among the secret menu.  But I can't give all of their secrets away, so you'll have to do some digging on your own. 

Manly Burger: Now, I was hesitant to make a first impression in front of co-workers ordering the "Manly Burger" but decided that they should know me for who I really am.  A huge foodie, who would never stop at anything less than amazing, for food of course.  So the manly burger, is topped with beer-cheddar cheese, smoked salt-onion strings and bacon lardon.  So the larden part kind of threw me off, but don't let it.  Because this burger is juicy manly goodness. Yeah, I said it.  (pictured) 

Umami Burger: A classic that my friend said he always gets.  A burger jam packed with shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, parmesan crips and umami ketchup.  I don't even like mushrooms, but when I took a bite of this burger, it was delicious!  (pictured) 

Locations:

 

California

Los Angeles 

Pasadena 

The Grove 

Anaheim 

Laguna 

Thousand Oaks 

Costa Mesa 

Hermosa 

Valli

Santa Monica 

Cahuenga Blvd

Los Feliz - Hollywood Blvd 

La Brea

San Francisco

NYC - COMING SOON!

http://www.umami.com/

Musha - Santa Monica

Have you ever had Japanese cuisine without eating a plateful of sushi? Have you ever had Japanese tapas? (Probably not). At Musha you can get quality Japanese food, full of flavor and origination without order sushi, sashimi or any raw fish and rice combination.

Musha is like the Japanese version of The Melting Pot for those of you who are familiar. They have dishes that come with a little "grill" with hot stones (see picture) and you can grill the meat and veggies to your liking. There are tons of gluten free, non meat, non fish, and vegetarian/vegan options for the whole family!

Allergy Info:
Allergy friendly
Vegetarian friendly
Vegan friendly
Gluten free options available

Foodie Rundown:
Tapas / Small Plates
Uba Shinjo - shrimp dumplings wrapped with tofu skin and deep friend (Pictured)

Ebimayo - Musha's version of rock shrimp tempura, fried to perfection with a sweet and spicy mayo sauce! (Pictured)

Appetizer
Spicy Tuna Dip - served with rice cake crackers was light and delicious, the best part of a spicy tuna roll, without the roll! (Pictured)

Grill
The Shichirin is a modern table top charcoal grille. My friend and I ordered the Saikoro Steak, which is cube cut rib eye steak served with 2 different sauces (garlic soy steak sauce and ponzu sauce) - the steak was tender and juicy and the sauces went with not only the steak but everything else on the table! (Pictured)

Locations:
Santa Monica, CA
Torrance, CA
Pasadena, CA

Follow them on Twitter

Musha

Feel the Love, in Nashville!

This weekend I was fortunate enough to visit my brother at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN. I went to a place called the Loveless Cafe. After a shortened 2 and a half hour wait, we were seated at this lovely country looking restaurant with a never ending menu of southern specialties. The service and the food were fabulous and the entire family had a great time. I suggest if you're in Nashville, driving out to the Loveless Cafe for some delicious and different foodie combinations.

*Note - Make sure to call ahead to cut down your wait time, you can put your name down and then drive over. Definitely a smart move that most of the locals know. The tourists, not so much.

Allergy Info:
Allergy Friendly

Foodie Rundown:
Pit-Cooked Pork BBQ and Two Eggs, One to the Left and One to the Right - This is the manliest of breakfasts, eggs topped with a whole plate full of pulled pork and BBQ sauce (pictured)

BBQ Pork Omelet with Sautéed Onions, Cheddar & BBQ Sauce (3 Eggs) - The girly version of what my brother ordered above, but full of cheese and BBQ sauce. This was seriously the most outrageous breakfast I could have asked for. It was so delicious and the BBQ sauce, cheese and onions were the perfect mix of flavors for this omelet. (Pictured)

Loveless Fried Chicken (Half Chicken) – Same Recipe Since 1951 - This fried chicken is NO joke, it was deep fried to perfection and served with 2 sides. My dad got the hashbrown caserole and the creamed corn, which were both outrageous. (Pictured)

Waffle with Bacon or Sausage - My mom and nana both ordered the waffle with country ham instead of bacon or sausage. The country ham is very salty (which they warn you about) but is definitely tasty! The waffle was a waffle, but was still enjoyable for all! (Pictured)

Sides:
Hashbrown Casserole - potato goodness, need i say more?
Homemade Creamed Corn - if someone came out with an entire bowl of this, I think I could have eaten it as a meal!

Dessert:
Banana Pudding - Served with 5 spoons and passed around the table multiple times, the banana pudding was sweet and savory, and was a great end to our huge breakfast! (Pictured)

Location:
8400 Tennessee Hwy 100
Nashville, TN 37221

Follow them on facebook or twitter!

Loveless Cafe

Mighty Balls to the Rescue!

Last night at Madison Square Eats I tried Mighty Balls! A gourmet meatball truck where you can get either just the ball, a meatball hero or a meatball slider! Everyone loves some good meatballs and these were definitely delicious!

Allergy Info:
Vegetarian friendly
Meat lovers

Foodie Rundown:
Obviously to optimize the different types of ball and sauce combos I got 3 sliders! 2 were the recommended ball to sauce combos and one I made up on my own! Here is goes:
Pork slider with jalapeño jelly - this was spicy!! But it had such great flavor and the consistency of a jelly on a meatball was way more awesome than what I had expected!

Beef ball with tomato sauce -
Sometimes ya just gotta get a classic meatball slider! The tomato sauce was fresh and full of chunks of tomatoes and was a nice refreshing classic meatball slider

Pork ball slider with "not your average brown sauce" I could tell you I had no idea what to expect from this, but the brown sauce was thick and tasty, like a brown sauce should be! It had a Chinese food taste on a meatball on a bun? If that's not the best combination of food ever, then I don't know what is!

Location:
UrbanSpace Meatpacking - corner of W13th and Washington St - Open daily Sept 1- Oct 28. Sun-Thurs 11-8, Fri & Sat 11-10.

Madison Square Eats - Sept 21-Oct 19: 11-9 daily

For daily locations follow Might Balls on twitter! @mightyballsnyc


http://mightyballs.com/

SPICE up your life!

SPICE is a chain of Thai restaurants throughout NYC. It is consistently good and trendy and has prices that can’t be beat. It’s not the most allergy friendly as there are peanuts and cashews in a lot of their dishes and sauces, so nut allergic must be careful. The food is flavorful and they have drink specials almost every night. Last night they had mojitos on special, and if you were lucky enough to get a sample glass, they came around the table and gave you them for free!

Allergy info:
Nut Allergy Beware

Foodie Rundown:
Appetizers:
Sa-tae Chicken (grilled marinated skewers with peanut dipping sauce)
Thai Dumplings (steamed pork & crab dumpling with black bean vinaigrette sauce
Crispy Calamari with spicy crushed tomato sauce

Entrees:
Cashew Chicken Nut - onions, broccoli, bell peppers with tamarind chili paste (pictured)
Beef / Shrimp Pad Thai- traditional thai noodle, egg, peanuts, bean sprouts and scallion
SPICE Duck - half duck, ginger, mushrooms and pineapple with sweet and sour sauce (pictured)

Locations:
Chelsea
East Village
Union Square
Upper West Side
Upper East Side


SPICE

It’s Time for Kevin’s Thyme

Kevin’s Thyme is located in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ. Northern NJ, about 25 miles outside of the city. This restaurant has an amazing staff, amazing service and more importantly amazing food. With a local and ever changing menu, they are gourmet, not pretentious and full of real NYC flavors. For those of you located in NJ and can’t make it into the city for dinner, please go to Kevin’s Thyme. Order as much as you can, share it or keep it to yourself and if it’s nice outside, sit on the patio under the stars.

*Don’t forget to make a reservation. The restaurant is super small (very NYC like). And stop off across the street to pick up a bottle of wine. Kevin’s Thyme is BYOB.

Allergy Info:
Allergy Friendly

Foodie Rundown:
When I was little, my parents always used to say that you could tell how great a restaurant would be based on the bread that they serve before the meal. As the bread came out, served with a delicious pesto sauce for dipping (pine nuts are in the pesto sauce). I looked at my mom and said “Dinner is going to be good”.

Lobster Spring Rolls with Asian Sauce This dish was beautiful, the colors from the veggies and the plating of the spring rolls were just absolutely gorgeous! What a delicious appetizer to get our taste buds going! (pictured)

Baby Green Salad with Balsamic Poached Figs, Candied Walnuts, Goat Cheese and Port Wine Cranberry-Raspberry Vinaigrette – a light and delicious way to start your meal. Full of candied walnuts (can be removed for those who are allergic) are absolutely fabulous. (pictured)

Grilled Wild Line Caught Southwest Swordfish with Israeli Couscous, Sautéed Spinach, Honey Jalapeño Glaze and Red Onion Marmalade Just thinking back to eating this makes my mouth water. The Honey Jalapeño glaze was to die for. Sweet and spicy to go with the perfectly cooked swordfish. (pictured)

Pan Seared Mascovy Duck Breast with Israeli Couscous, Sautéed Spinach and Orange Chocolate Espresso Sauce As a duck loving family, my mom ordered this 1) because it’s duck and 2) because it’s made with an orange chocolate espresso sauce, need I say more? (pictured)

Location:
614 North Maple Avenue
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423

Don’t forget, Kevin’s Thyme does gourmet catering for weddings and other special events!

Kevins Thyme

Decaf Vegan Delight!

Do you hate coffee? Are you a vegan? Do you like keeping a healthy diet? Do you love tea?

Argo Tea has an insane menu of teas, hot, cold and decaf. With scattered locations around NYC, the standard menu along with the seasonal menu flavors cannot be beat. The first time I went to Argo Tea was because of the “Irish Cream Tea Latte” poster that was hanging in the window. My friend Jaymelee and I walked by, then walked back and said we had to try it! It just sounded to good not to try! We left Argo Tea full of smiles. Delighting in the flavor of the tea while actually drinking something quite light. The customization of soy milk, whole milk, almond milk or skim milk allows you to customize to your liking.

In addition, their small bakery of quiche and muffins has some gluten free options for our gluten free friends! This place keeps getting better and better! For all nutritional information, you can check the link on their website! Nutritional Information Here

Allergy Info:
Customizable Tea’s (all tea can be made either hot or cold!)
Many Decaf Teas
Gluten Free and Vegan Options at the bakery and the catering menu
100% Organic
Nutritionally balanced
Wholesome ingredients

Foodie Rundown:
My personal favorite is the Green Tea Strawberry Cream (made with skim milk). This is naturally sweetened and delicious! Definitely has caffeine, but is delicious either hot or cold! You can also buy the loose tea and bring it home, which is fabulous!

Seasonal Irish Cream Tea Latte (made with skim milk) was my first ever tea from Argo. A life changing experience, if I must say so myself!

Other Teas to try:
Earl Grey Vanilla (hot)
White Tea Acai Squeeze (cold)
Pom Tea (either hot or cold)
Tea Sangria (hot or cold)

Locations:
NYC
Flatiron Building
NYU Langone Medical Center
Columbus Circle
Chelsea
Union Square
NYU Academic Resource Center
Chicago
Boston
St Louis
Beirut, Lebanon


Argo Tea

Mesa Grill

Bobby Flay continues to bring southwest style excellence to NYC after years of success. At Mesa Grill, you will be in awe of the menu, the décor and the service. The food from the appetizers, drinks to desserts were all tasty, spicy, sweet and savory. Leaving with only the feeling of wanting to go back when I was done with my meal.

Allergy Info:
Mesa Grill uses a lot of spices, and if you do not like spices or cannot eat them, almost every dish can be altered to be less spicy or not spicy at all.
There are some nuts on the menu, but they are very accommodating
Allergy Friendly
Vegetarian Friendly

Foodie Rundown:

Appetizers:
Bread for the Table –Corn and Jalapeno Corn Muffins were such a lovely substitute for bread at Mesa Grill. Great consistency and flavor to begin our southwestern foodie journey!

Roasted Corn Soup with Ancho Chile Crema and warm hominy croutons – Considering this was my first ever taste of corn soup, I thought it was outrageous. It was creamy and had a little kick to it, that was definitely worth trying (pictured)

Rough Cut Tuna Nachos and the Blue Corn Pancake – So when I asked the waiter for his 2 favorite appetizers, these were the recommendations. The Rough Cut Tuna Nachos came with Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce and Avocado Crema. The tuna was perfectly served, fresh chips to dip, and the right amount of spices. The fresh tuna was delicious, and the mango flavor and colors of the dish really stood out. Now the boldest of these 2 appetizers was the Blue Corn Pancake with Barbecued Duck and Habanero Chile-Star Anise Sauce. This just brought together savory bbq flavors, with the rich tasting duck and the spices from the sauce. It was to die for. Only thing I would have changed would have been to have more pancakes on the plate! (pictured)

Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri, Pickled Red Onions and Charred Corn with Tortillas – My dad and boyfriend both got the Sunday night skirt steak special. It was grilled to perfection and both found it to be very delicious. I loved the flavors of the onions with the chimichurri sauce. Definitely a must have if you go on a Sunday! (pictured)

Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno filled with Roasted Eggplant, manchego cheese, with sweet red pepper sauce and balsamic vinegar – Now, to the average eye (like mine), I had no idea what on earth this was. But it kinda sounded delicious? So I asked about it, found out it was the oldest item on the menu, since the Mesa Grill opened, and that it was the only vegetarian item as an entrée. Well, I did some good homework, because I fell in love with Chile Relleno. Imagine an eggplant, fried in cornmeal, filled with cheese, with spices and flavors that you didn’t even know existed! I had everyone at the table try it, and the consensus was the same! An A+ for the Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno! (pictured)

Side Dish:
Roasted Corn with Chipotle Aioli, Lime and Cotija – a perfect side dish full of flavor for sharing! A definite must for the table! (pictured)

Dessert:
Sticky Toffee Pudding with salted Cajeta and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, need I say more? (pictured)

Seriously, thank you Bobby Flay.

Locations:
NYC
Las Vegas
Bahamas

Fun Fact: The Mesa Grill used to be a factory in the 1960’s. What did they manufacture?
Answer: Coo Coo Clocks


http://mesagrill.com/new-york-city-restaurant/about.php