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

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

Union Square Holiday Market

Yesterday was the first day of the Union Square Holiday Market, one of my favourite places to visit during the winter. It might be because I'm in love with everything handmade––and that might be related to my love for arts and crafts in general––but I can spend hours in this type of artisanal markets without even noticing how the time goes by.

So of course, I had to visit the Union Square market on its first day. And I loved it! I didn't really buy anything, but I came back home with lots of gift ideas––most of them for myself, shamelessly––that I will definitely go back to buy. Some of my favourite stands were Edie Art, Lola Bean, Dr. Sofskins... and of course all the food places––especially if they had waffles and hot chocolate!

The market will be open until December 24, so there's still a lot of time to visit (again) and support all the artisans that are participating in it.

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

Italy in New York: The Feast of San Gennaro

We all know how mad I am about Italian food––and Italy, in general––so it is probably obvious that the Feast of San Gennaro is one of my favourite happenings in New York during the fall. Although I would have liked to go earlier––and have a proper Italian meal there––I didn't make the time to go until last Sunday in the afternoon, which was also the last day of the festival.

I spent a few hours walking around Little Italy, eating cannoli and gelato, and listening to the live performance that was going on. It was a sweet afternoon, and more than a perfect break from all the studying/work I had to do last week!

Love,
  Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio