Peels

Breakfast at Peels.

Desmond's

Valentine's Day dinner at Desmond's.

In the Tavern at Gramercy Tavern

This evening we went for a belated Valentine's Day dinner at Gramercy Tavern. In this case I was interested to see if we could walk right in and get a table at around 7pm on a President's Day evening and get a table in the tavern without having to wait.

In this case we were in luck, and were able to get right in. The highlight of our meal was a cauliflower appetizer, which was a semi-circular cross section of the head of cauliflower; a unique presentation.

Valentine's Day at Sidecar

Tonight we enjoyed a low-key dinner at Sidecar, the upper floor to P.J. Clarke's on 3rd Avenue. Sidecar is a "reservations only" establishment," an approach which is apparently intended to maintain an exclusive ambiance. Given the much more prominent entrances to the first-floor P.J. Clarke's dining room and the bar itself, the entrance to Sidecar is barely labelled and could easily be overlooked (especially since it requires ringing the door buzzer to be allowed in).

Since we live close by, we go to Sidecar fairly often and have always remarked at the quality of the food, in contrast to the fact that they usually don't seem to have much of a crowd.

Sunday dinner at Craftbar

This evening we enjoyed what has become somewhat of a habit, Sunday evening dinner at Craftbar. The biggest draw for me is the quality of the small bites available, including particularly the olive mix with marcona almonds. At $6, I would assert that you aren't going to get them any cheaper direct from the grocery store (well, at least not at Whole Foods), and not with a side of almonds. And certainly not prepared and delivered to you in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of tasteful dishes by competent if not overly attentive wait staff.

In addition to the olives, veal meatballs with ricotta are a recurring favorite, served with a side of fettucini pasta.