Restaurant Outings: The Smith at Lincoln Center

I went on a dinner date with one of my close friends last weekend to one of my favourite restaurants: The Smith––the one at Lincoln Center. And it was absolutely delicious, just as I expected! The only problem might have been that we ate a little too much––and had a little too much wine as well! But it was truly amazing.

We skipped the whole appetiser part––thankfully, because our stomachs wouldn't have handled it!––and ordered a paella...

...and black tagliatelle with shrimps, scallions, and bread crumbles...

...both accompanied with some Pinot Grigio (which unfortunately didn't look as good as I would have liked it to.

For dessert, we chose to have the hot fudge sundae...

...and the lemon icebox tart.

It you want to check out the full restaurant menus––and their different locations––you can do so here. If you want to visit, try to make a reservation because the place gets a little crowded! You can call them at 212.496.5700 (this is the Lincoln Center phone, you'll find the others on their website).

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Short Escapes: Princeton

After having the longest week last week, I decided to run away of the city and take some time to breath and be happy in Princeton with one of the people I love the most in the whole world.

Although my Princeton escape lasted only two days, it was absolutely amazing! We walked around this beautiful place on Friday, had our little picnic in the gardens, and then went for some delicious ice cream. There was also time to visit the museum and have dinner with the family. After dinner, we had our little GNO and went for drinks and dessert––I promise I'll share the recipe for my perfect-for-fall drink if I ever manage to discover how to do it––and then cuddled in bed and watched Disney movies at the end of the night––although I must confess I slept probably for half of the movie!

On Saturday we slept in, and went for some fluffy and delicious pancakes. My choice was banana, strawberry, and chocolate chips pancakes, naturally. I then had to run back to the city, to a conference about Luxury on MAD Museum. Spending some quality time with one of my best friends was something that I really missed, and it was more than incredible! I probably didn't realise this until I was there, but sometimes I get lonely in the city. Even if I'm constantly surrounded by people––and I love it––I still miss my family and friends!

Love,
  Photography: Laura Beltran-RubioPS. Sorry my pictures weren't that good this time... I just forgot to bring my camera!

Tea Tuesday

Nothing better than having tea––and over-eating––with one of your best friends! That's exactly how I spent last Tuesday evening... eating, chatting, and having fun!––Oh, and also talking about female empowerment and moving to New York!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Fridays Are For Dessert

You might start getting used to my constant pictures of my dessert evenings in family––which revolve mostly around crepes, waffles, and fruits––but I honestly can't get enough of them! ...Especially cause I know I won't have them as often once I move to New York in the fall!

It's usually on Friday evenings that my mum and my sister have free time, so I tend to make them accept an invitation to indulge ourselves in some delish desserts, while we chat, laugh, and have some family fun!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Travel Diaries: Bye, Bye, Italy!

Being in Italy was definitely one of the best life experiences I've ever had. I met one of my best friends yesterday and when she asked about my trip, I was speechless... And not exactly because I had a bad time!

After trying to come up with some words to describe my trip, I could only say that it was a truly magical one and that I hope the people I was there with will be my friends for life. We usually express all the love that we have for each other and I will do it even in public: I love them with all my heart and this time they gave me the most amazing two weeks I could ever have!

Sadly, I'm back home, sitting in my desk and trying to concentrate on homework... But seeing the pictures of our last supper are definitely much more interesting than whatever theories about syndicalism or environmental economics have to say!

I spent half of my last day in Italy in Naples, where we had the final sessions of the conferences. We then had lunch at Ciro a Medina––again, yes! My choice was a pizza margherita con bufala, a little more elaborated than the day before, and lemon sherbet for dessert.

We arrived in Rome in the afternoon, where we had our last supper. We went to a beautiful place called Ristorante Alla Rampa, in Trastevere. I was very full from all the pasta and pizza from the past few days, so I just ordered some Carpaccio di manzo con rughola e parmigiano. However, I did manage to steal some calamari from one of my friends––and they were absolutely delicious! I ended with a panna cotta with caramel, one of my favourite Italian desserts.

After dinner, we had our traditional midnight walk around Rome––the last one, sadly!––before going to bed. All of us departed early in the morning, when a beautiful, sunny Rome greeted us, inviting us to come back soon!

I probably won't have pizza or pasta at least for a couple of weeks. But I must confess I still feel like dying when seeing all the pictures of food I took during the trip and not being able to taste all of the wonderful dishes I ate.

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

A Weekend in Terni

As part of the conferences I'm taking part of while in Italy, we spent the weekend commuting from Rome to Terni. For those of you who don't know, this is a little town, located around an hour away from Rome, heading to the northeast. It is absolutely magical, although there's not much to do.

We were busy most of the time during the conferences, but we had the chance to walk around this wonderful place. One of the most interesting things is the mix between old buildings and more modern forms of architecture. What I heard is that many old buildings were destroyed during World War II, so that's why there are also a lot of more recent buildings.

On our first day there, we went to a new restaurant called Cucinaà. We had a tagliata di chianina con ratatouille, which was by far the best meat I've had in a long while. It came with cooked vegetables, although they weren't so good.

That afternoon we had tea with tiramisù, and I absolutely loved them––mainly only because I was craving to have some tiramisù!

The next day, we had pasta for lunch at the slowest restaurant I've ever visited. I had strozzapreti alla norcina, a very mushroom-y sauce. It was really good, but I couldn't finish my dish, since my body was rejecting Italian food that day.

The next day we had to eat at the exact same place, since it was Sunday and nothing else was open. I wasn't very excited about the idea, but my choice totally made up for the bad service. I chose to have some gnocchi with beans, meat and tomato sauce. This was the best dish I'd had––until then... You'll have to come back to find my new favourite! We also had chocolate cake with cream filling, which was delicious!

By this time we were ready to grab the train and head back to one more magical night in Rome, before leaving for Naples. But I'll talk about this tomorrow!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio