I have watched with envy in various cities but especially New york, when the supper hour arrives and people pop in on their way home from work to pick up supper.  This has never been a part of our lifestyle until recently.  I was on my way home from my baby hugging shift at the hospital and D’s tennis game had been cancelled due to rain.  I decided to stop at the Little Saigon Restaurant for soup-just soup, I kept telling myself as I remembered my favourite menu items and even their menu numbers by heart:

#1 Spring Rolls, #5 Charbroiled pork with rice vermicelli and fresh vegetables, #21 Deluxe Won Ton Soup and #80 Salt & Pepper shrimp with the shell off.  Just soup, just soup.

I did it.  I placed the order for 2 portions of #12 Deluxe Beef & Rice Noodle Soup.  They had to pack the containers in a handled bag for me to carry it out to the car.  And that bag was heavy!

Two containers included the lovely, rich broth with slices of spring onion floating on top.  The other two packages (where the weightiness came in) were filled with the noodles, bean sprouts, rare shaved beef, a lime and a sauce of spicy hoisin.

We placed our fixings in the bottom of a huge pasta bowl and poured the broth over top.  It took 2 hands to carry each bowl to the dining room table without spilling.  Savoury, so satisfying and amazingly, it was just soup.

Kath’s quote: The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us…..”-Marcel Proust

As I write this snapshot of our time at The Ivy Dining Room and Lounge, I am reflecting upon all the reasons that people gather together to dine (besides the obvious-hunger).  This would be an interesting perspective for servers to think about before they approach a table.  We were pretty wound up.  We were only in town for the day to pitch a very important piece of business.  We had our luggage and presentation materials all around us, so it was pretty obvious.

This building holds a lot of sentimental importance for me as it was the former home of The Keg and I was in the restaurant on opening night.  We had travelled by motor home from Winnipeg in the dead of winter to help celebrate the milestone.  I love that Ivy left the original round fireplace but added contemporary touches that contribute in a calm way to the dining experience.

We sampled crab cakes and the prime rib dip that day.  I “stress” eat and had polished off the shoe string fries before I even knew it.  I do recall that the cakes and sandwich though were carefully prepared and quite satisfying.  Although I could not taste the goat cheese that was promised as part of the topping.  The next time I would like to try the California Baquette.

Kath’s quote: “Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man is starving.” -O. Henry

I also sampled the Ceviche de Atun con Camoranes which was citrus marinated (and therefore not cooked over heat) tuna and shrimp.  This was a delicious attempt although I prefer more lime juice and fresh (never frozen) seafood but I was in NY city not the Yucatan Peninsula so what did I expect?  Both these appetizers were part of the featured 3 course dinner menu.  The other untasted offering was Tortilla Soup.

Main dishes of Chicken Enchiladas and Steak Tacos came next.  Although our gang was underwhelmed by the Enchiladas, the tacos were a huge hit.  The skirt steak was grilled to a perfect medium rare and had been rubbed with guajillo and pasilla chiles, garlic, cumin and black pepper.  The mini cast iron pan that it was served in was accompanied by red bean-chorizo chili, corn esquites, chile de arbol salsa and freshly made warm tortillas.  We requested flour over the traditional corn, which they readily provided.  What made this dish exceptional was the bed of gooey Chihuahua cheese that the freshly carved steak was laid upon.

Under normal circumstances, dessert would not have been requested but since the third course was included in the flat price, we dutifully choked it down (lol).  OMGoodness…Pastel de Queso-cheesecake filled with baked apple-cajeta sauce and pecans and Pinquino-a Mexican chocolate cupcake filled with hazelnut mousse and topped with crème fraiche whipped cream and an espresso-piloncillo-chocolate sauce.

Food before drinks $35.-  a deal anywhere, an absolute steal in Manhattan.

Kath’s quote: “I’ll have my steak medium rare with no pink.”
anonymous restaurant customer

By happy coincidence we were in New York for 2010 NY Summer Restaurant Week which actually goes on for multiple weeks.  The website for the event was very helpful and we could choose our neighbourhood, our cuisine preference, get details about the specific time frame of the offeringsand then even make a reservation on line. 

We chose the haute Mexican restaurant within walking distance of our home away from home Rosa Mexicano.  We were immediately struck by the energy of the place with its high ceilings and open spaces.  The noise level might be considered a hindrance if you were there for a quiet, romantic evening but such was not the case for us (almost six in the city).  We started with their signature pomegranate margaritas and although I have had better at (Miquel’s Moonlight Madness on Isla Mujeres), they were a lovely distraction as we surveyed the menu and the menu choices of surrounding tables.

We are all self-confessed Mexican food groupies that love to discover the Mom and Pop places when we travel, but we were willing to give these swanky digs a chance.  We started with Guacamole en Molcajete made table side by a gentleman, serious about perfecting his craft.  He starts by smashing his ingredients with a pestle and then skillfully pits, cuts and scoops in the fresh avocado.  You can’t get any fresher than this.  Each order is served with warm corn tortillas, tortilla chips, salsa pasilla de Oaxaca and salsa tomatillo y habanero.

Kath’s quote: “Let us go early to the vineyards to see… if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.”Song of Solomon 7:12

When I reflect on key food influencers in my life-my brother-in-law from Toronto ranks right up there.

He has exquisite taste in restaurants and introduced me to “Fred’s Not Here” in Toronto and Keith McNally’s “Pastis” and “Union Square Cafe” in Manhattan.

He is a great cook, especially grilled items, learning early as a teen aged Broiler Chef at the Keg Restaurants alongside my husband.   The last time he cooked for me, I went on and on about the grilled potatoes (potato aficionado that I am).  He shared that his secret ingredient was truffle oil that he had purchased on a trip to Italy. Of course I had to do the same and bought a beautiful bottle on the beach in Positano, Italy.  When it was snatched with our luggage on a train platform in La Spezia, we had to repurchase one in Monterosso al Mare.

Truffle oil is precious to begin with and this little bottle is placed on the table as a flavour to top a salad or a pasta course for very special guests.

I am prompted to write all this as my husband is staying with his brother this weekend.  As he was heading out the door to catch a flight to Toronto he reminded me that he was taking my camera.  Thankfully, I remembered that the memory card was in my laptop and quickly removed it for his departure but not in time to transfer all my current photos which were for my upcoming blog entries-drat.

Kath’s quote:  “There are two types of people who eat truffles: those who think truffles are good because they are dear and those who know they are dear because they are good.”-J.L. Vaudoyer