Paddlefish Visited 3/28/2018 3 Forks

Paddlefish  1670 E Buena Vista Dr., Orlando, FL 32830

Lord help me if I ever have to be in Orlando ever again if I don't have children.  I haven't been to Orlando in years (since I was a kid) but found myself there for a work conference in the middle of spring break.  It was literally my worst nightmare - packed with people, screaming children everywhere and nothing that wasn't a chain restaurant or fast food joint within 50 miles.  But the weather was great!

Like I said, I was there for a work conference and one of our suppliers graciously gave us $75 to spend on dinner on our own at Disney Springs - this mega mall complex that reminds me a bit of Vegas.  We were to try to coordinate with others at the conference to have dinner together but the place is so spread out and huge that a few co-workers and I just scooted off ourselves for dinner.  The place is filled with kid friendly places like the Rainforest Cafe but we managed to find Paddlefish which seemed like it was a bit more quiet and adult friendly.  The wait was over an hour for dinner but we managed to grab 3 seats at the bar.  As you would expect, the menu is seafood focused which worked for me.  Since this is Disney related, the prices were all pretty inflated - in fact they are pretty on par with NYC prices which was not surprising but still annoying.  We split the calamari ($16) because we were starving and then I decided to get linguine and clams ($26) because I normally don't get it when I'm out.  I should call out that the bread they serve you in the beginning is actually pretty good - it was a warm parker-like roll and served with sweet honey butter.  We asked for 2 orders of it - carbs be damned!  The calamari was pretty decent for what it was - it was nicely battered and not too greasy.  As for the pasta, it was totally fine as a pasta with clams.  It was a bit oily but there were a good number of clams and tons of garlic which makes everything better.

Overall, it was a perfectly fine meal for being trapped in a mega mall.  The bartender was quite nice and friendly so that was a plus.  I know I'm being a bit harsh for ragging on this place but I'd think that even for parents they breakout in hives when they think of taking their kids to Disney/Orlando - it's definitely not a relaxing vacation.  I'm glad Delta paid for our meal, otherwise I would definitely be annoyed that I paid $60 for a such basic meal.  Total bill:  $60 with tax, tip and a beer

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Dominick's Restaurant Visited 3/21/2018 3.5 Forks

Dominick's Restaurant  2335 Arthur Ave., Bronx, NY 10458

It feels a bit like sacrilege that I'm giving this institution anything less than 4 forks but here I am.  This is not to say that I didn't enjoy my experience there, it's just that with all the Italian food I've had in the city (ranging from fancy pants to mom and pop) this falls in somewhere in the middle.

In all my years of living in NYC, I have never been to the legendary Arthur Ave. in the Bronx.  As Will, Aarti, Kinney, Nat and I continue to "plan" our trip to Italy and hit as many red sauce joints in NYC,  it only felt right that we had to visit this area at least once.  While the commute up wasn't necessarily the worst, it is most definitely a hike, especially from Brooklyn - it took almost an hour and a half with all the walking and transferring.

As you would expect the area is filled with very old school, mom and pop Italian places.  The whole street is lined with options but Dominick's is the most popular and famous.  We thought we were doing a smart thing by going at 5:30pm on a Saturday - after all, who eats that early?  Apparently everyone does because it was a 30 minute wait.  They give you a number and you can go upstairs to the bar/waiting room.  When you do get called the main restaurant is kind of a cattle call - it's tight communal seating with you definitely feeling a bit squished in.  There is one lone menu on the back of the wall but essentially the waiter just asks if you want this, this and this and you agree to it.  We started with the anti pasti salad and stuffed artichokes.  Then we got a melange of pastas and broccoli rabe - I can't remember all the details now but it was a lot of family style food happening at the table.  Everyone like the salad - I think mostly for the tangy dressing on it.  The artichokes were a bit difficult to eat, I never know if I should be eating the entire leaf or just sucking the meat off of it?  Then came all the pastas - sadly I don't remember exactly what we got but I do remember a seafood pasta showing up and that being pretty good.  Everything was extremely filling and the atmosphere did make me feel like I was in a loud Italian house for dinner but the one thing that kind of disappointed me was that when we were done with our pastas there was a layer of grease/oil on the bottom.  Obviously I know they use olive oil to cook but there's something about seeing that big shiny puddle when you end a meal that kind of gets you.  Luckily the broccoli rabe helped to make me feeling like I was cleansing my palate and eating something "healthy".

The service was a bit off here compared to the other old school joints.  They were nice younger guys instead of the older gentleman you usually see at other red sauce joints.  We had to ask for several things repeatedly like more water and wine which was annoying and they weren't as jovial or attentive.  The 2nd annoying thing is that it's cash only but luckily the bill was definitely much cheaper than the city so it's not as bad as you think.

Overall, it's still worth a trip up to Arthur Ave. to check out the scene but I think there are other similar red sauce joints in the city and Brooklyn that are much better and easier to get to.  While we didn't get dessert here, there is a lovely mom and pop joint right next door that had amazing tiramisu and coffee - definitely check it out.   Total bill:  ~$35/pp with tax and tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Daisies Visited 3/16/2018 3.5 Forks

Daises  2523 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60647

I try to go to Chicago at least once a year to see my best friends but I also love going there because they have a wonderful food scene.  Daises is in the hip area of Logan Square and I've always had great meals there.   Our introduction to Daises was a bit of a weird one - they have a separate entrance that's like you're entering into a nightclub and then once the host/bouncer checks you in, you enter into the actual restaurant.  Based on that you'd think it was some stuffy place but once you walk inside it's fairly laid back - although the decor is a bit stark and cold. 

I'm not quite sure what the genre of food is here but pasta is the star of the entree section.  But first we ordered fried mushrooms and cheese curds ($11) to start and I got the pappardelle ($17) pasta.  The fried mushrooms and cheese curds were an interesting dish - it was oyster-like mushrooms and cheese curd that were lightly battered (tempura-style) and fried and served with a buttermilk tarragon dipping sauce.  They were easy to pop in your mouth and a good snack although to this day I'm still not sure what a cheese curd really is.  As for the pasta, it was tasty and felt like it was homemade which is always a plus.  It was cooked al dente and the serving size was just right.  I can see why they are known of their pastas but it wasn't wasn't a dish that blew my mind away either.  They had a pretty light dessert menu and weirdly they had an oat bar for $1.   We got the kahula cake ($7) which was essentially a small bundt rum cake.  It wasn't anything super creative but it did satisfy my sweet craving. 

While I enjoyed my meal at the time, now that I've been back in NYC for over 4 weeks since my trip, it wasn't necessarily a place that stuck out in my head as a must visit when in Chicago.  I could see that if you lived in Chicago and especially if you lived in Logan Square, you would go there to check out all the pastas but I wouldn't categorize it as a destination dining experience.  Total bill:  $60/pp with tax, tip and some drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

The Marshal Visited 3/13/2018 4 Forks

The Marshal  628 10th Ave., New York, NY 10036

While I go out to eat a lot in NYC, there are pockets of the city that I'm just not as familiar with and anything above 23rd street kind of falls in that camp.  So when I meet up with friends for dinner outside of that area, I depend on others to make a recommendation.  I met up with Aarti for a late dinner near her office and while 10th Ave is certainly starting to become more populated, it's still a bit of a walk from anything.  Luckily Aarti's office is in the area, so she knew of The Marshal and even made a reservation.  At first glance, you wouldn't think you'd need one, but I would recommend one since it is tiny and a few people did get turned away because it was so full.

The vibe of this place matches its size:  cozy, rustic, farm to table food.  It's a very hearty line up of appetizers and entrees - mac and cheese, slab of bacon, meatballs, roasted chicken and meatloaf to name a few.  For the vegetarians, they don't have any entrees that are vegetarian but they have over 12 different kinds of farmers market sides that you can combine and make into a very filling meal.  Upon the recommendation from the waitress, we got the Brussels Sprout Salad ($17) and I opted for the goat cheese and herb stuffed bone-in chicken breast ($26) and Aarti got a medley of 3 different sides ($24.50). 

We were originally wavering between the kale and Brussels sprout salad and the waitress insisted that the Brussels sprout salad was way better and boy was I glad she said it because it was amazing.  It was a mix of raw and roasted Brussels sprouts, tossed with focaccia, croutons, Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese - basically a Caesar salad but made with Brussels sprouts.  It was so delicious and I could totally see myself getting this on my own as a main entree with some roasted chicken thrown on top of it.   This salad is definitely worth coming back for.  Then came the chicken which was fabulous also - since it was on the bone it was very juicy and tender.  It came on a bed of rainbow chard and topped with pork lardon.  The only complaint I would have is that I couldn't really taste the goat cheese but maybe that's what also kept it moist as well.

Overall, it's a lovely intimate restaurant with a very solid line up of farm fresh food.  The location of this place makes it a bit hard for me to say it's a destination restaurant but if you're looking for a nice quiet place on the West Side, I would definitely put on your list.  Total bill:  $70/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Fausto Visited 3/11/2018 4.5 Forks

Fausto  348 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

Fausto comes to us from the people who brought us L'Artusi, so I had pretty high expectations for this place.  The decor was a bit dull but the food is anything but.  While I have been to several old school red sauce place with Will and Aarti, places like Fausto remind me that there is also really great new age Italian restaurants in the city that deserve our attention as well. 

The hostess and waiter were super kind and accommodating - we were over 15 mins late because of the subway but they let Lav sit first before I got there which was great.  The waiter went over the menu with us and I loved that he had strong opinions about the dishes.  We started with the shredded chicory ($14) and the heirloom root vegetables ($15) to start and I got the orecchiette ($21) and Lav got the buckwheat rigatoni ($20).  The pasta prices were surprisingly reasonable especially given the quality and portion size but I'll get to that later.  They also had a ton of other appetizers that I wanted to try like the arancini, meatballs and crudo but there is only so much 2 people can share at one time.  I'll be honest and say that I wasn't immediately blown away by the appetizers but they weren't bad either.   My opinion is probably skewed a bit since neither of these dishes would have been my first choice in appetizers but I've never been a huge fan of chicory or carrots which is what the root vegetables were.

But the pastas were a whole other story.  They were freaking amazing.  I usually prefer a pasta with lots of sauce but the waiter told me that the orecchiette was delicious and I'm glad I took his advance because it was simple yet incredible.  It came with fennel braised pork, wilted greens and parmesan cheese.  It was a very healthy and generous portion size which is quite unusual for fancy Italian places like this but I felt like I was getting an actual meal vs. just a few bites of pasta.  The pork was moist and delicious and the flavors were fantastic - I didn't miss the red sauce at all.  Lav's rigatoni was also superb - it was actually a baked dish with brussels sprouts, yukon potatoes and fontina cheese.  Since it was baked the cheese was oozing but not in a gross way but in a yummy way.  The dish was a bit on the heavy side but it was hearty and wonderful.  We were both in love with our pasta dishes.   As usual, we saved room for dessert but surprisingly they didn't have any chocolate dishes on the menu.  It was actually a pretty small selection and we opted for the lemon ricotta cake ($10).  If you like lemon cakes, then you'll love this one.  It was similar to a very moist sponge cake but the absolute best part of it was the whipped creme fraiche.  I am a sucker for anything that has homemade whipped creme fraiche and this dish was no exception.

Overall, I was super thrilled with my meal and experience here.  It reminded me of why it still pays to go out to a nice Italian restaurant even though pasta is one of the easiest dishes to make at home.  The pastas all tasted fresh and homemade here which makes a huge difference and everything was simple but perfectly executed.  It's too bad that I don't live in this part of Brooklyn anymore otherwise, I would definitely make this a staple to my rotation.  Total bill:  $78/pp with tax and tip and drinks

Photo Credit: Yelp

Sarabeth's Tribeca Visited 2/27/2018 3.5 Forks

Sarabeth's Tribeca  339 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10013

Sarabeth's is your typical NYC American bistro place - it's a super safe bet if you're just looking for solid but not creative food.  I'm not saying this in a bad way because sometimes you just need a place where you can get a no muss, no fuss meal with friends and this is the perfect neighborhood place.  If you're looking for a foodie destination restaurant, this is definitely not it.  

I was there last month for a work dinner and it was a nice casual setting near the office.  The menu is a standard line up of salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and entrees like pork chops and salmon.  I was really eying the seafood cobb salad because it sounded amazing - lobster, jumbo crab meat, shrimp avocado, etc but in my mind a cobb salad is bit mis-leading as a healthy option and I was also starving, so I went on a total 180 degree change and got the steak sandwich ($20.50) mostly because it came with horseradish cream.  We got a few apps for the table like calamari ($14.50), guacamole with chips ($19) and grilled octopus ($16.50).  They were all totally fine dishes that satisfied my hunger but again, nothing was a wow dish.  My steak sandwich was a pretty tasty sandwich - it was a bit like an au jus but without the jus part.  It came with cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and a side of fries.  The bread was nice and soft but held up well with the cheese and onions - I would have like a bit strong horseradish flavoring but overall I was happy with my dish.  Although after seeing other people with the seafood salad, I think I might have been happier with that dish.  It actually looked really good and for $30, it's totally something I should have ordered when it was on the corporate card and not on my own dime.  Oh well, lesson learned. 

Overall, this is a nice neighborhood joint if you're looking for something in between fancy and casual.  Apparently, they are more well known for their brunch menu which I could totally see.  There are 4 other locations and they are also in more family friendly parts of the city, so I can totally understand the vibe they are going for.  I would totally check it out for brunch and I would come again for dinner if I was in the neighborhood or after work.  It's a nice change of pace from all the crazy restaurants right by the World Financial Center but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to come back either. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp