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

Blue & Cream in New York

A few days after I arrived in New York, I found this beautiful store in the East Village, called Blue & Cream. I had probably walked past it a few times before I finally noticed––which is a shame, because I love it––but I'm glad I went in when I finally discovered this little corner in the city. When I walked in, one of the first things I noticed was the very interesting array of items they sell: which range from Nike runners, to 3.1 Phillip Lim bags. I also found myself very attracted to all the books and cute little things they have all over the place––such as the Audrey quotation plate in one of the pictures above.

So I––Diego, actually––had a great idea! Why not contact the people at the store and ask them if we could visit to shoot some pictures? I was really nervous because I didn't want to hear no for an answer... but once they said yes, the nerves multiplied, as I felt I had to take some very good pictures.

But the nerves disappeared the moment I walked back into the store last week. I was greeted by the kindest staff––who took the time to talk to me and let me wander around the store taking pictures of pretty much everything, even if they were running their last minute preparations for Black Friday. I even had the chance to meet Jeffrey Goldstein, founder of the store. It took me less than five minutes to realise how big of a marketer he is, because as soon as I took out my notebook––with all my reading summaries for school––to ask my questions, and he quickly exclaimed "You can sell that!"

But rather than selling my carefully-written notes, we had a short conversation about the brand. Although I spent most of my visit to Blue & Cream taking pictures––and I had trouble trying to reduce the amount of photos I liked to upload on this post, so you can imagine how many I took––I also had the chance to learn a few interesting things about the store's history. Probably what I liked the most was where the name comes from.

I'm not a big music expert, but Jeff explained how, back in 1995, Raekwon launched an album called Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, whose eleventh song––called Glaciers of Ice––talks about customising some blue sneakers "with cream on top." As you might imagine, that's exactly where Blue & Cream came from. And from its very beginning, 11 years ago, it has intended to portray

a mixture of The Hamptons, streetwear, high and low, which is now where fashion is, but eleven years ago, it was something new, or at least not as popular.

That first Blue & Cream store was opened in East Hampton––and is still alive today––before the New York site appeared seven years ago. From the very beginning, the store has carried products from Alexander Wand and Phillip Lim, and has strived to maintain a consistent image and engage in enduring relations with the designers that speak to its image. The store also has its own brand, which takes influence from the other designers sold in the store, but produces everything locally, in New York.

The mix between high and low was probably what appealed to me the most about the store, but it's a great place to do some shopping––and not as crowded as other New York stores––in one of the most vibrant neighbourhoods of the city. I will totally be back soon!

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