Foodie Friday

A bombolone filled with chocolate hazelnut creme from Caffe Lavazza at Eataly.  A piece of pastry heaven.

The perfect warm breakfast for those chilly mornings as we transition from summer to fall:  oatmeal with yellow peaches, cinnamon, and honey with almonds.

 

The perfect fall cookie.  Recipe to come next week!

Happy Weekend!

 

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A Wander on the High Line

Most of the time, I love living in a city.  The bright lights and skyscrapers fill me with excitement and I don't mind the hustle and bustle, because it's a sign that interesting things are happening all around me.

Every now and then though, I do feel the need to seek out green spaces and open air.  Maybe it's a natural reaction to all of the concrete that I see every day, or maybe it's due to the fact that I'm really still a country girl at heart. 

Whatever the reason, I was feeling such a need recently and so I took myself over to the West Side and climbed up to the High Line.  A public park that's been built on an old rail line, it allows you to walk above the crowded city streets and find some peace and quiet among the greenery.  It has a number of entrances over the course of its mile and half length, so you simple find a staircase, climb up, and stroll until you have to go back down to life at street level.

There is a lot of art located throughout the High Line's span, but on that day, I mostly wanted to enjoy a walk among the plants and the view of the city from above.  However, I did have to stop when I spotted this mural.

I am often a traditionalist, but I love this update of the classic photo.

I continued on, enjoying the feeling of returning to nature while still being in the thick of the city.

 If you look closely, you can see some subtle reminders of the park's past as a rail line.

Looking down from above, the city somehow seemed so much calmer from this perspective.

Instead of being perfectly manicured, many of the plants seemed slightly overgrown, giving the park a bit of a wild feel, which I liked.

After walking the park's length and then doubling back for a bit more, the sun was starting to set, so I decided that I should probably go back down to reality.

I didn't really want to leave, so I suppose it was a lucky thing that I spotted these initials on a building near one of the exit staircases.

 

There's really nothing that can knock me out of a nature reverie faster than the promise of some shopping.

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Foodie Friday

Avocado toast with chili flakes, sea salt, and a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil.  Having this for breakfast always puts me in a good mood.

The Bleu Burger from the Longwood Grille + Bar:  Bleu cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and pickled red onions on a grilled pretzel roll.

A lunch of champions:  a glass of rosé and the Famous Original pizza from Roberta's.

Ready for the closeup?

Happy Weekend!

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Kitchenette

I met up with D again this weekend and we went in search of brunch in the neighborhood of Morningside Heights.  One of his friends has recommended a place called Kitchenette, so we decided to give it a whirl.  I knew that we had made a good decision upon walking in the door and being greeted by the sight of a pastry case and cake stands, full of delicious-looking sweets.

Before I could stand and salivate for too long, we were taken to our table.  The interior is very narrow and you definitely rub elbows with your neighbor, but everyone was friendly and in a good mood, so no one really seemed to mind the cramped space.

The pink walls gave the place a cheerful vibe, as did the bright polka dots that covered the tables, which were apparently made from old doors.  We added to the happiness by ordering a round of cocktails, which arrived in mason jars.

D went for a Bloody Mary, while I couldn't resist the Strawberry Sangria.

I was not disappointed.  I feel like I've been waiting all summer to find a sangria like this:  fruity, sweet, and goes down like juice.

The food menu had a lot of fairly simple, comfort food options.  D opted for the Grilled Tomato and Artichoke Omelet with basil pesto, potatoes, and a biscuit.  Many of the egg dishes on the menu came with biscuits, which looked fluffy and divine.  Biscuits just scream "comfort food," don't they?

As for me, I was thrilled to see that there were dishes catered to those of us indecisive gits who can never make the agonizing choice between sweet or savory for breakfast.  I ordered the Lumberjack which gave me the best of both worlds.

 Two eggs with two ginormous orange almond pancakes and turkey sausage.

I didn't love the turkey sausage (it seemed a little dry) but I at least appreciated that it was on offer, as I prefer turkey to pork.  On the other hand, the pancakes were awesome.  Dense, not overly sweet, and made interesting in both flavor and texture by the addition of orange and almond.  If you get this dish, order your eggs over easy and then use the pancakes to sop up the soft yolk.  It's a good combination, I promise.

Kitchenette is a great spot for a low-key brunch with a homey and happy vibe.  In addition to the uptown location, they also have one downtown in Tribeca.  They serve breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner and they have some amazing-sounding milkshakes on the menu as well.  I'd recommend making a reservation (you can do so here), especially since the uptown location is tiny.  Having to stand and wait for a table and being forced to look at the pastry counter when you're already hungry might be rather dangerous.

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Kafana

D and I go way back.  We met years ago when we were both in junior high and quickly became really good friends.  Years of silly high school antics and movie nights followed, and we did a good job of keeping in touch when we each went off to college too.  However, getting together and catching up became a bit trickier when D joined the Peace Corps after college and headed to Sierra Leone, and we unfortunately kind of lost track of each other.

A few weeks ago, though, he returned from Africa and moved to New York to start a grad program, and we happily realized that we were both living in the same city for the first time in almost 10 years.  We agreed to meet up for dinner at Kafana, a Serbian-Croatian restaurant in the East Village.  We grabbed a table outside, ordered a carafe of the house red wine, and got stuck into some bread with a delicious roasted red pepper spread while we started to fill each other in on our lives.

The Zeljanica, a traditional phyllo pastry pie filled with spinach and feta cheese, caught our eye, so we split one to start.

It was thick and gorgeous, with a wonderfully buttery crust and flavorful, cheesy filling.

We then overcompensated for our vegetarian starter by ordering the Mesano meso--a selection of grilled meats for two.  We were quite impressed with our carnivorous selves when this plate o'meat arrived.

The pile consisted of Cevapi (the smaller sausages made of minced meat that you can see above at the bottom of the plate),  Kobasice (larger sausages)....

 Dimljena vesalica (thinly sliced smoked pork neck)...

Krmenadla (pork chops)

and what ended up being my personal favorite, Rolovane suve sljive i dzigerica (prunes stuffed with walnuts and cheese rolled in bacon with chicken liver rolled in bacon).

Wrap anything in bacon and I'll like it, guaranteed.

After finishing the plate, we felt like we had met our protein quota for the entire week.  So, rather than order dessert (although it was hard to pass up the baklava), we decided to finish the night with coffees.

If you want to go to Kafana, you can make reservations here, but be sure to hit up the ATM on the way, as it's cash only.

Sitting outside and enjoying the warm night air was lovely, but the interior of Kafana looked cozy as well, with lighting that got more romantical as the night went on.  I'd like to go back on some cold and snowy winter night, order some wine, and share stories and more of those bacon-wrapped prunes with friends, all the while pretending that I'm in Dubrovnik, of course.  

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