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Brunch at Cafe Clover

If anyone had asked me a year ago what my 2016 would be like, I wouldn’t have been able to guess at all. The start of this year has presented me with some very interesting challenges and adventures, especially in the work situation. After what seems like forever, I have moved on from my old company last summer and so did most of the terrific people I’ve worked with there over the years. We’re all spread out and it’s hard to not miss seeing familiar faces.

At the very least, I’ve tried to keep in touch with my old team through weekday lunches (it’s amazing how many people end up working in the same neighborhood but at different companies), farewell drinks all summer, and random meetups over dinner or brunch. A small group of us met last Saturday for a weekend brunch at Cafe Clover.

Two designers, one developer (me) and a product manager. This gathering was definitely a team effort: J, the product manager suggested the meetup and made the reservation; I sent a list of restaurant suggestions and one of the designers, C, helped to choose where we would end up. Nothing like collaboration, right?

Somehow, I ended up the first to arrive followed by J, M and C. We were seated at a corner table that was probably one of the nicest spots in the restaurant; it offered a great view of the bright interior and all of the other tables. It was so great seeing everyone together again and it felt almost like we never left given the conversation we had about the old company and other former colleagues.

But let’s get onto the food. The menu wasn’t lengthy but provided a variety of delicious and healthy options. Three of us went for the poached eggs, while C opted for the Quinoa Pancakes. To be honest, it was really hard to choose what to order since everything looked tasty.

The poached eggs were served with a tomato kale pan roast and spaghetti squash chia rosti. There was also a choice of Béarnaise sauce or herb vinaigrette; all three of us went with the latter. It was excellent! As for the pancakes, it was served with baked apples, cashews, and barrel aged syrup. C cut up little pieces from her dish to share with us and it was delicious as well. Really, it would be hard to order wrong since all the food was so good.

We asked about dessert and the waitress said they had an almond milk panna cotta. That sounded really interesting so I ordered two to be split among the four of us. When it arrived, the panna cotta reminded me of the classic Chinese sweet tofu dessert. It was creamy and not too sweet, and a sprinkling of chai tea made it even more flavorful. When we were finally ready to leave and the bill arrived, the waitress told us the dessert was comped. I didn’t quite understand why but it was very nice of them and we tipped her a little more as a thank you.

Good food, great company and a wonderful way to truly begin the new year. We’ll have to do it again soon!

January 20, 2016
Brunch at Reynard

For all that I live in a trendy, over-gentrified (in my opinion) neighborhood, I don’t really hang around there too much. When my friend Q told me she was going to be in the area to check out a local artists’ market, we ended up meeting there before heading over to the Wythe Hotel for brunch. The hotel is a short walk from my building though it seemed much longer when walking down very quiet streets on a cold, Sunday morning.

I’ve only been inside the hotel once before, to check out a pop-up artisan market in the summer last year or the year before. Reynard, the restaurant located on the ground floor just off the entrance, has always been a place I wanted to try but never had a chance to until now. The interior is very beautiful, with the tile work on the floor and the tall windows that let in a lot of natural light. We were seated at the very back, next to the glass walls that look out over a pretty courtyard. This time of year, there was nothing outside except for the strings of lights hanging along the walls that surround the patio area but I have seen it come to life in the evenings when I’ve been driven past it.

The brunch menu offered some very interesting selections. I was torn between several items but ended up with the Dutch pancake while Q chose the fried chicken. When the food arrived, the pancake was pretty big and not quite what I was expected. There was no description for it on the menu and I had thought it would be served with sweet fillings such as apples. Instead, this was a savory version, with prosciutto and topped with slightly melted cheese. The pancake itself was sweet, with maple syrup drizzled along the outer edges so overall it was a good mix of salty and sweet. It was far too big and I think I managed to eat about three-quarters of it before stopping, which wasn’t too bad considering the size.

The fried chicken appeared to be more lighter in appearance though probably just as filling. The chicken was nice and crispy, and not greasy at all. It was served with a fava bean purée and dusted with za’atar which made the whole thing absolutely tasty. I would definitely order that if I were to visit again; while the Dutch pancake was good it was probably a bit too much food for me.

December 22, 2015
A Weekend of Holiday Trains

With the holidays now upon us, life has gotten more busy during the last few weeks. Between checking out all the holiday shops, craft fairs and pop-up stores as well as meeting up with friends, I did make room for a few free events going on around the city this month.

During a recent stopover at Grand Central Terminal, I walked by the Transit Museum Annex and detoured inside to take a look at the holiday train show the museum puts on display every year. The tiny shop/museum annex was full of people as some bought gifts while others (like me) went in to admire the models of trains, buildings and city and country landscapes.

The biggest set was a miniature version of Grand Central Terminal itself, with taxis, cars and buses driving up Park Avenue and into and around the terminal. Crouching down below is a cut-away view of tracks, platforms and vintage trains. I love the retro feel of it as it reminds one of the golden age of travel by train.

And the following day, I decide to enjoy the real vintage trains by hopping on for a nostalgia ride. I took a regular train to Queens Plaza and arrived in time to watch the vintage train entering the station. There were plenty of people already waiting for it at this end of the route and we all hopped on board once it arrived on the other track to head back into Manhattan. The car I happened to enter was already filled with people as there were musicians and a singer already there, entertaining the people who had stayed on board the train.

The Grand St. Stompers sang and played throughout the ride to the Lower East Side, filling the car with holiday songs. Everyone took photos (of course) and enjoyed the music as well. Once we arrived at the end of the route, another band greeted us on the station platform as well dancers and many more people dressed in fashionable vintage attire. It was nice to get a glimpse of the past.

For those interested, there’s one more Sunday left to hop aboard and ride the old trains before they go back to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn. And the holiday train show at the Transit Museum will be on display through mid-February of next year.

December 21, 2015
Brunch at Little Park

Weekend brunch has been pretty rare in my life these days. I can’t even remember when the last time I got together with friends for a fun weekend meal and good conversation. My foodie life seems to be centered on lots of afternoon or evening get-togethers this year, the former with those who have flexible non-9-to-5 hours and the latter mainly on the many, many after work drinks with former co-workers as everyone’s been moving on from our old company.

I love hanging out with a lot of my former work colleagues and one great thing is that many of them are foodies. Who doesn’t like trying new restaurants? Four of us were trying to get together recently but with conflicting schedules, it was just me and former coworker and friend, C. I suggested going to Little Park down in Tribeca and that’s where we ended up.

Little Park was on my list of places to visit during my birthday week. Since I ended up elsewhere at the time, it was still on my to-visit list and the online menu looked really promising. C and I met up this past Saturday and were treated to a lovely, lovely dining experience.

It was difficult to choose what to order since there were so many delicious items on the menu. Once nice thing is that there were plenty of vegetarian options so there’s something for everyone, whether one is a meat eater or not.

I ended up with the eggs my way (over easy), which came with fried garlic potatoes (sooo good) and toast (the waiter suggested multi-grain). I also ordered a side of their smoked bacon, which was just as tasty. It didn’t look like much food when it arrived but all of it was so filling and I needed a very long walk afterward just to feel better. C wanted to get the coconut and spelt pancakes but had a week full of carbs, so she chose the Heirloom Grain Porridge instead. The porridge was served with mushrooms (hen of the woods), poached eggs and pine nuts. It was a much lighter meal than mine but just as tasty and she liked it a lot.

Everything was wonderful and she and I both want to visit again. The food and service was excellent and I definitely want to check out the menus for other meal times and of course, dessert as well. Here’s hoping my next visit won’t be long in coming.

November 17, 2015
The Lowline Lab

In an old market building in the Lower East Side, a lush miniature scale version of a park is blooming inside. With the Highline finally completed, the next new park we can hopefully look forward to is the Lowline.

There are a lot of abandoned underground spaces throughout the city, many former train stations and tunnels. One of these is an old trolley terminal that is still visible from the platforms at the Essex Street subway station. It’s a vast space with minimal reminders of its past and one idea on how to reuse it is to convert it into a park.

The Lowline is far from reality but visitors to their lab can see the potential thanks to a model of what park advocates want to do with the space. As you enter, there are large billboards that describe the project and what efforts the Lowline team have made so far to try to bring this to fruition.

One very interesting and important question is how to bring in natural light to the underground park. Through a combination of reflectors and tubes, sunlight will reach down and into the space and just like above ground, the light will move around the space, mimicking the path the sun would travel.

The scale model is very lush and there’s a variety of plants growing in there. Greenery not only grows up from terraced planters but also grow down from the ceiling reminiscent of stalactites. Walking around the model, one can see moss, ferns and lots of tropical plants and even a pineapple growing among the foliage.

It’s a teaser for what may come and I think an underground park would definitely be a good use of the space. Think of it as one way Nature can reclaim a bit of land now that man has no use for it anymore.

November 12, 2015
Untermyer Park and Gardens

I’m one of those people who tend to stick to the city when I want to experience arts, culture and the great outdoors. New York has plenty of beautiful parks and gardens in each of the five boroughs, though I’ve yet to find any that would rival the great European formal gardens such as those at the Alhambra, Schönbrunn and Versailles. Bryant Park is modelled after the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Conservatory in Central Park are similar in design but only a fraction as big.

My friend M recently had use of a car and after tossing out some ideas, we headed north to Yonkers to visit Untermyer Gardens. I think I first learned of this place via some short feature on a TV show (most likely on PBS) I’ve forgotten now but the pictures I saw of it intrigued me. Technically, it was a half-hour drive from our starting point in Queens but we were stuck in traffic for a bit in the Bronx; even so, we still arrived fairly quickly. As we left the city limits, the traffic and buildings gave way to beautiful, multi-color trees that lined the parkways.

The Untermyer Park and Gardens are located close to the Hudson River, offering beautiful views of the cliffs on the other side of the river. It’s a bit similar to Wave Hill in the Bronx but I think Untermyer Gardens is a lot more visually interesting with all the beautiful ruins and architecture situated throughout the park. Originally, there was a mansion called Greystone on the site, built by Samuel Tilden back in 1862. Samuel Untermyer bought the property in 1899 and added to it, comprising a total of 150 acres. The current park is only 43 acres now; Untermyer gave it to the state after his death but the upkeep costs were too high and much of it was sold.

The Untermyer Conservancy was established to help restore this beautiful park and so far they’ve done a beautiful job of it. From the parking lot, we walked to the entrance of the walled garden. High walls surround a beautiful Persian garden and once I stepped through the gate, I was reminded a bit of the Alhambra gardens. It was absolutely gorgeous with flowers and bushes lining the streams, pools and fountains and Greco-Roman columns and temples standing majestically inside. Since it was a weekday, there were few visitors which was nice but there was a wedding couple on the lower terrace taking pictures; even though it was a cloudy day, I’m sure the pictures looked wonderfully with the bright, vivid colors of autumn leaves in the background.

There’s a path from the walled garden that slopes downwards to a circular overlook where two lone columns stand at attention. The path and steps were partially covered with a carpet of red and orange leaves from the trees that lined the path. From the overlook, we could see the remains of an old gatehouse at the bottom of the hill that offers an alternate entrance onto the grounds. We didn’t go that way but turned back, walking up a little and detouring off to a woodland trail that retraced our steps and led us toward the rock garden and the Temple of Love. There was construction going on as crews were making repairs to those features so we couldn’t get too close to them. Even from a distance the Temple of Love was lovely to look at.

The sun did peek out for a brief ten minutes while we were on the grounds. Blue skies did make an appearance later on but we had left by then to grab lunch. I would like to revisit the park again in the spring or summer, when everything is lush and in bloom. It was definitely worth the drive there.

November 10, 2015
Lunch at Cocotte

I’ve been very impulsive with weekday lunches these days. Recently, I met up with my friend Maggie for lunch and I was torn between two French places I wanted to try. In the end, I settled for Cocotte but even that was a difficult choice. There is Cocotte, a sit down restaurant but they also have a café next door called Petite Cocotte. We looked at the menu for both and I ended up choosing the main restaurant.

It was a slightly late lunch, around 1:30pm but there were still some occupied tables when we sat down. The restaurant is located on a more residential street, further away from the office buildings and retail shops. It’s almost like a hidden gem in the middle of bustling Soho.

Cocotte serves French fare but with a subtle Spanish (from the Basque region) twist. The lunch menu had both a la carte and prix-fixe options. We settled on the latter, which was a short list full of tasty dishes. The prix-fixe was $22 for an entree and a side dish. Maggie went with the Cocotte Burger and the sautéed potatoes with duck fat. The burger arrived on a flat stone and was composed of beef, smoked bacon, cheese, onions and Guindillas peppers; instead of a normal hamburger bun, it was served on focaccia.

I chose the Cordon Basque, which was chicken breast rolled with baby spinach, pimentos and Idiazabal cheese served with peas and tomatoes. From the sides, I ordered the lentils with farro, bacon and the house vinaigrette. Both were absolutely delicious. I also ordered a pot of green tea to go with my meal.

Several of the menus were written in chalk on various bits of wall and columns. I eyed the short dessert menu but we were both too full for something sweet. We needed to walk off the very satisfying lunch before we could contemplate an afternoon snack. Cocotte was really lovely; it’d be nice to check out the cafe as well since there are slight variations to the menu. And I would love to return for weekend brunch or dinner one of these days…

November 3, 2015
A Visit to the World’s Fair Pavilion

New York hosted two World’s Fair events in the last century and alas, I wasn’t born yet when either one took place. Not much has remained from either Fair but there are still bits of the 1964 World’s Fair that are still accessible to the public. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the Fair and after a multi-million dollar restoration, the old New York State Pavilion was finally opened to the public on very limited tours. I wasn’t able to attend then but fortunately, it was open recently for the annual Open House New York Weekend.

When I was younger, I often wondered about those strange looking structures in the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park as we drove through along the expressway. To be honest, I always thought they were rather an eyesore that marred the view of the park and it was a very long time before I learned what they actually were. And then it just seemed a pity that they were left standing derelict for decades, a reminder of days gone by. But the site’s been cleaned up and there are fresh coats of bright paints in similar colors as were there originally in the 1960s.

The Pavilion is made up of several structures but it was the “Tent of Tomorrow” that we were coming to see. It opened at 1pm and there were about 20 or so people ahead of me in line when I arrived around 12:45pm. It was a cool, bright day and chilly but at least the sun helped to keep us warm. As we waited, music and old advertisements from that era played loudly from inside the pavilion to remind us of that time. And at the front of the line, everyone was given a mesh cap to wear and over that, a hard hat. Once the safety gear was on, I walked inside to find these glorious views:

The ceiling was originally made up of many translucent colored tiles. Only the skeleton remains but I suppose one could imagine what it might have looked like (or take a look at the photos in this WNYC article instead).

Even the floor was worth looking at. Originally, one would look down and see a highway map of New York State; most of the floor did not survive but there were two small portions on display for the weekend. Other items found during the restoration were placed in various spots inside the Pavilion as well as photos past and present of the site. There were several signs still hanging along the perimeter that indicated where a restaurant once was as well as access to a mezzanine. Unfortunately, heading upstairs is prohibited but we could see the remnants of old stairs and escalators just beyond a wire fence.

The other two structures that are part of the Pavilion still remain to this day. The Theaterama is now home to the Queens Theater; I walked by as I was leaving and was tempted to stop in its cafe to grab lunch but didn’t. Next to and slightly behind the Theaterama are the Observation Towers; the Towers are still off-limits and haven’t been restored. It would be wonderful if they too were cleaned up and accessible but there doesn’t seem to be any plans for that. Maybe one day…

October 22, 2015
Dinner at Claudette

Despite a slightly disappointing start with breakfast, I ended my birthday with a fabulous dinner at Claudette. My friend Q was treating that evening and we both had been wanting to check out the restaurant so it made perfect sense to go there.

Claudette serves French (Provençal) cuisine with a Middle Eastern bent. There are so many delicious looking items on the menu and it really was hard to decide. In the end, between the two of us, there was a starter, two hors d’oeuvres, two entrées, two sides and one dessert. Just like with Q’s birthday dinner at Cosme last month, looks were deceiving and there really was a lot of food at our table.

First up was the Pistounade, a basil almond tapenade. It was similar to a pesto and served with a basket of warm garlic flatbread. Very delicious and it felt healthy. The hors d’oeuvres came out at the same time: charred baby octopus for me and the Autumn Salad for Q. These were pretty big plates considering; we thought they were going to be smaller dishes, more similar to tapas but they were practically full meals themselves.

Choosing an entrée was a tough choice since there were so many good options. I was drawn to the Chicken Tagine since I haven’t had one in a very long time and Q chose the Bouillabaisse. The plates that came out were enormous; my dish was served in a traditional tagine and it was a very huge portion considering how much food we ate before the entrées arrived. The couscous was excellent; it wasn’t dry and very tasty, having absorbed much of the juices that came from the chicken. I could eat just that alone and have been happy. I did sample a bit of the Bouillabaisse and that was terrific too. And we really should have stopped ordering there but we wanted to try the sides as well so we ordered the grilled eggplant and the frites with ras el hanout (served with an aioli). There really was no way to eat it all and I ended up taking most of my tagine home, and Q took the remaining Pistoundae and flatbread (we finshed one basket and they brought out another).

Of course, one cannot leave out dessert. When the menu arrived, most of the sweets were either dairy or chocolate based. After all of the savoury dishes, we really wanted something light. We had settled on the orange blossom creme brulée when our waitress told us the dessert du jour was a baked apple served on puff pastry and topped with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. She likened it to a deconstructed apple pie. Fruit! And it was totally what we wanted. We devoured most of it before our tea and dessert wine arrived at the table. That was definitely the best way to end the meal.

October 17, 2015
Breakfast at Locanda Verde

I spent my birthday eating my way through the day. Though I did have a small breakfast at home first (because I’m usually up early), my second breakfast took place at Locanda Verde. Dinners are usually how I end up celebrating with friends but it’s nice to have a change and since my weekdays have been free, I wanted to go have a morning meal at a nice place.

Locanda Verde is one of those places I always hear about and never exactly know where it is other than somewhere in Tribeca. My friend and I met up before 10am and headed inside. We were seated right by the windows that looked out onto Grennwich Ave. The restaurant is located within the Greenwich Hotel and M noticed there were paparazzi hanging around on the sidewalk (we never did find out which celebrity was staying at the hotel).

There were several things on the menu that caught my eye but ultimiately I went with the Uova a Piacere, which was eggs, crispy garlic potatoes and toast. M settled on the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and we both ordered sides of pork sausage and bacon. The pancakes, smoked bacon and crispy potatoes were pretty good. I wasn’t really thrilled with the eggs (I hard ordered over easy and they ended up arriving as poached, and not very warm). M thought the sausage was okay but I did like the spices in it. My genmaicha tea was good and though they did give me the wrong tea at first, the waiter realized his mistake and corrected it a minute later; I had been given jasmine tea instead and wasn’t bothered too much by the mistake since I will pretty much drink any decent type of tea.

Overall, it was decent but the service was a bit spotty. Perhaps dinner might be better but at least I’ve tried it once. There are other breakfast places to try on my list and I can cross this one off now. One nice thing though is that there is a to-go counter so one can pick up a drink or pastries instead of sitting down to a full meal. I was eyeing the doughnuts and considered getting one to go but showed restraint.

When we left, the photographers and a few other people were gathered by the hotel entrance still waiting for the mysterious celebrity to appear. And speaking of photos, for fun I snapped one of M and I sitting at our table, reflected in one of the slanted mirrored panels along the ceiling of the restaurant; an unusual selfie of sorts, I think.

October 16, 2015