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

City Views: The Empire State Building

There are several things I love about New York, and the Empire State Building is one of those. Although it's been standing there for ages, it's a pretty building and I can have a good time just staring at it––especially if I have some good drinks at hand. About a year ago, I discovered a The Strand Hotel, and its rooftop bar became my favourite place to see my favourite building.

Of course, I had to take my friend who was visiting for a few days there. We had dinner at the bistro on the first floor, and then we headed up to the bar, to enjoy a cure view of the building while staying warm and happy inside.

We had kale lasagna for dinner, which was pretty hearty, with lots of cheese and tomato sauce.

As for the drinks, we both chose a forbidden fruit cocktail––prosecco, crème de pamplemousse and grapefruit twist––which was also really, really good!

And to top everything up, we had a perfect view of the Empire State Building and a huge amount of fairy lights!

No doubt this was a more than perfect girls night––followed, of course, by the greatest pillow talk when we got back home!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Restaurant Outings: Nom Wah

Dim Sum has got to be one of my favourite things to do in the weekends––although I must confess it's only a recent tradition, and I should definitely give credits to my friend Shirley for introducing me to it. So when I received one of my childhood best friends in New York on Saturday night, I knew I had to take her for dim sum on Sunday.

We went to Nom Wah, which was apparently the first dim sum parlour in New York. And if there's one reason why it has survived through the decades, it has got to be the food. It is nothing but amazingly delicious! The problem, however, is that it is so good that the place gets packed pretty early and there's usually a waiting line.

This time, thankfully, we only had to wait for about 10 minutes––probably because we made it there just after noon––before being able to go inside and indulge with lots of great food.

We started with some scallion pancakes...

...followed by shrimp rice rolls...

...spring rolls...

...house special roast pork roll...

...fried shrimp balls...

...shanghainese soup dumplings...

...and sweet and sour spare ribs.

We ended with fried sesame ball with lotus paste.

Our original plan was to go out for ice cream after dim sum, but you might guess it never happened. We ate so much––and drank too much jasmine green tea––that there was no space in out tummies for more food. So instead, we went out for a long walk around town and had fun being reunited after ages!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Restaurant Outings: Novecento

It seems like the last time I actively took pictures of delicious food and uploaded them to the blog was years ago! The last time I remember doing it was when I visited Don Antonio for the first time, and before then, when I took my family to Fig & Olive. For some reason, although I eat out quite a lot––who doesn't in New York?––I had sort of forgotten the pleasure that it is to take pictures of good food. Although, to be honest, my favourite part is seeing them afterwards and remembering the amazing flavour of the food!

I went recently to Novecento, an Argentinian bistro in Lower Manhattan. Although the food was indeed delicious, I should warn you that I'm a little biased about it because Argentinian food reminds me a lot about home and spending entire afternoons eating this type of food with my family.

As usual, I had to try as many dishes as possible, so I went with a couple of friends to make sure we would all eat lots and lots. We started out with a Trio Argentino, which had morcilla, chorizo and mollejas, together with the best chimichurri I've had in quite a while...

We then had some salads (Caprese and arugula salad, nothing very extravagant)...

...with empanadas Novecento...

...and steamed mussels with white wine sauce.

We skipped dessert, but only because we went to Magnolia to get some Banana Pudding, just to keep up with a little tradition of ours. I'm most likely going back to Novecento though, so you'll probably see some dessert pictures soon!

You can find the full dinner menu here.

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Real Pizza from Naples in New York: Don Antonio

There's no doubt that Italian food is one of my favourites––although I do love food in general––and pizza is one of my favourite things to eat. Although you can normally find pizza quite commonly in New York, it is not so easy to find real, good Italian pizza.

Today I went to a small little restaurant in midtown where they have one of the best pizzas I've had lately in the city. It's called Don Antonio, and it was founded by the owners of Starita, one of my favourite pizza places in Naples. So I guess there's no doubt you'll find real Italian food there...

I went there for a light lunch, so there's not as much food as I normally post, but it was nevertheless amazing. I had a pizza capua and a Montanara Starita––which is the signature dish of the house, and I truly recommend it.

I then finished with some angioletti con Nutella––which are also absolutely amazing!

I then run out of lunch to go on a mission to Dover Street Market, so I skipped my espresso––which might explain why I came back home to take a nap and I'm only posting this until now. But I guess I'll just have to go back... The menu is also quite big, so there are lots of options. They even have some gluten-free options––which will most likely make some of my friends happy!

Love,
  Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Tea Afternoon at The Plaza

You might now how much I love tea. Although drinking dozens of cups of tea everyday normally satisfies my tea-appetite, I do prefer having the whole experience, drinking tea with finger sandwiches and scones.

Being in New York, the best place to go for Afternoon Tea has got to be The Plaza. Unfortunately, The Palm Court––which is where tea is normally served––was renovated recently, so it is only offering breakfast services for now, and is not yet offering the afternoon tea service. However, there is a similar service being offered right now at The Champagne Bar. Although this one is not as magical as The Palm Court, the afternoon tea is still more than amazing, and the place is more than wonderful.

Naturally, we started out with some finger sandwiches. My favourite one was the Deviled Quail Egg Salad––just because it doesn't taste like any other egg salad sandwich you'll ever have.

Then came the scones... And the apricot preserves were more than perfect! Although I guess the lemon creme doesn't fall far behind them...

And dessert. Need I say this is always my favourite part of the meal?!

Oh, and tea, of course! I must confess, though, that I was a little disappointed at the beginning by the fact that the only options of tea available were English Breakfast and Earl Grey. However, when I tasted the first tiny sip of my Earl Grey order, I realised how mistaken I had been. There is definitely nothing better than real, freshly-brewed tea!

I guess I'll have to go back soon––once The Palm Court relaunches the service––and maybe this time I'll also get some champagne.

Love,
  Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Happy Nachos

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but my mum, sister and grandma came to visit me about a week ago. We spent a few days happily together, mostly shopping and eating. My favourite day, however, was the day when we decided to stop worrying about planning our days ahead and ended up wandering around SoHo, chatting and laughing together for the first time in what seemed ages to me.

After a while, we found out a cozy bar named Dos Caminos with a pretty terrace, where we decided to go for some food. We shared some nachos with guacamole –which were really good– and drank some sangria. This was a great evening; I had a lot of fun with my girls, showing them one of the neighbourhoods I like the most in my beloved city. Having them with me for a few days made me realise how much I miss them. I really hope they can come visit again soon!

Love,
  Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Restaurant Outings: Fig & Olive

I'm finally starting to feel more settled down in New York, which means that I am ready to start exploring everything that the city has to offer for its inhabitants––and I guess some of the tourist-y things as well!

Last week I had the chance to go to Fig & Olive––on 52nd Street, just off of 5th Ave––and I couldn't enjoy it more. I really love Mediterranean food––which was actually one of the main reasons why I chose this restaurant––and this place is likely to become one of my go-to restaurants in New York... Although I probably want to try a few new places before going back!

First of all, I feel like I should mention the olive oil was just amazing. I believe it is one of the signature offerings of the restaurant––which means you were probably expecting to hear the olive oil was good––but it is worth making the remark. It was truly incredible!

After the bread, we kicked off with melone e burrata and truffle mushroom croquette. The melon was sweet and the burrata absolutely perfect... But I must say that the mushrooms were my favourite. It had been a long while since I last experienced such an intense pleasure in having just a little bite of food. I probably could have ordered three or four servings of mushrooms and eaten them all!

We then had lobster bisqué...

...followed by paella del mar and primavera lobster risotto to share. The paella was excellent... Although I must say I would stay with the risotto! It is a little spicy, so I wouldn't recommend it if you're not that much into the spices. But I loved it!

We ended up with a crème brulée cheesecake. It wasn't very big, but my stomach wouldn't have been able to handle anything bigger anyway. And it was very tasty, which is what really matters.

All in all, it was an excellent night, full of the food I love! I sincerely recommend visiting Fig & Olive. If you're still not sure, you can check out their menu here. If you're already sold––I would be––make sure you book a reservation before arriving, as the place gets busy quickly!

Love,
Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio