cloudy with a chance of WHAT?!

yes, meatball sized snowflakes

falling from the sky.

someone poured a slushy 

all over new york city

and it's not cherry flavored.

but oh, 

wait 

wait

splish splash splish splash

{that's the sound of me jumping in puddles wearing my new hunter green hunter boots!}

oh

and

hold on...

zoom zoom

zoom zoom

{that's the sound of my airplane taking off for miami tonight}

whaaaaaaaat

that's the sound of a spring break starting in february.

silly, i know.

happy spring break, 

my lovely classmates!!

xoxo

yeh

{pics from here, here, & here}

the breslin

since when did everybody in the world become vegetarians?

did i miss the memo that you're not supposed to eat dead anymore? 

why do i feel like i just denounced gay marriage when i take out my turkey sandwich for lunch?

raise your hand if you take bacon in your mac and cheese,

if you can't have pancakes without them being rolled around sausages,

and if you go to baseball games just for the hot dogs.

*raises hand*

i'm so happy to have found

the breslin

to renew my faith in carnivores.

and to remind me that, no, meat eating is not dead.

{no pun intended....}

...

 unaware of what being attached to the ACE hotel really meant,

i expected white table cloths and cordial waiters in all black,

but was pleasantly shocked to find a quirky, two story, vintage-y establishment

run by kool kids in tight t-shirts and jeans.

the moments where i

[a] opened the menu, and

[b] dropped my jaw

were simultaneous.

"i know, it's like porn!" said my new best friend, the waitress.

the amuse bouche was caramel corn.

I KNOW!

not like those balls of cardboard you got on halloween.

this was freshly popped,

with homemade caramel,

and roasted nuts.

...light, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth heaven.

cracker jacks on crack, if you will.

but,  nothing could prepare me for what was about to happen next...

the appetizer.

{i'm hoping that adding a period after the word makes it sound all a bit more grand and intimidating}

cotechino

with lentils and a terragon and shallot dressing

a house made pork sausage,

herbed uniquely and to PERFECTION...

 piping hot, 

fried

 meaty goodness. 

you could linger on one bite forever.

this honestly has to be one of the best things i've ever eaten.

the main course

came close though...

house made sausage
with polenta and parmesan


&


taglietelle
with pork ragu and rosemary


{pictured is the former}


i almost bit the pops' head off when he tried ordering the halibut.
i told him if he didn't get the sausage, i'd disown him as a father 
{i had already decided on the taglietelle}
and, luckily, ms. waitress was on my side {YES!}
because the sausage was {and pops soon agreed}
amazing.
ok the sausage itself was fine,
but a perfect forkfull of just the right proportions of it and it's friend, the polenta, was just 
deliciously comforting. 
the tanginess of the parmesan meshed so well with the sweet polenta. 
i needed one of those four foot long forks to keep reaching across the table to pops.


the taglietelle 
was very very good. 
i can't say much about it,
because by the time i had finished it
 {in all of two bites :-(...}
i had forgotten to think about it.
oops. 


it was an almost offensively small portion.
but
that's ok
because it gave the pops and i reason to order the
thrice baked chips
served with cumin mayo and spicy pickles
that yelled from the menu,
"eeeeat me!!!"

they were quite tasty.
similar to pommes frites,
but a bit crunchier.


i tasted one of the pickles that came with it.
{i've never had a pickle}
it was fine.
sorta weird.
kinda pointless?
what's the point of a pickle?


whatever, it's time for
dessert

donuts!
ciabatta donuts with navan and banana ice cream
{banana ice cream on the SIDE thank heavens... bananas give me the heeby geebies}


&


chocolate stout syllabub
 with bubbled caramel and crème fraiche 




donuts! can we talk about donuts?!
in 6th grade i once ate an ENTIRE box of krispy kremes in once sitting.
and well, THESE WERE BETTER!
april, these ciabatta donuts are just genius!
they're chewy! sooo chewy! 
and not too sweet, so i could go on and on eating them.


..."syllabub"
is like a fancy word for mousse?
that, too was über tasty. 
the caramel was a bit salty,
and the crème fraiche light,
and the chocolate pearls on top hilarious and charming.


both of the desserts were way satisfying.


actually,




the whole meal was wayyy satisfying. 
i give it like seven thumbs up.
it was so creative. 
not in an out sort of way,
but in a.. this makes so much sense sort of way.


next time i have carnivorous friends visit from out of town,
i'm taking them here.


i mean,
those brits, they just know.


xoxo




yeh






the breslin bar and dining room is on west 29th street, just east of broadway

week 4: zaftigs

ohhhh k! so. let's talk some about

boston

.

see, to me, a weekend visit to boston means:

-seeing old friends

-strolling on

newbury stree

t

(with a definite visit to the marc jacobs store)

-perhaps exploring cambridge

-a sit with a chocolate sandwich cookie at cambridge's

hi rise bread company

.

-and maybe a nun chuck lesson?

but to the boys,

a weekend visit to boston means one thing:

get. wasted.

as in, 

wake up, 

and even before breakfast, 

be very very drunk.

{even if the only cups left are measuring cups}

it's like a tradition for them.

it's ridiculous. 

don't even get me started.

anyways,

naturally my restaurant for this week was going to be in boston,

but i faced a challenge:

i needed a restaurant that would be interesting and tasty and boston-y,

but

it would also need to appeal to some very drunk or very hungover boys.

anything that took traveling to the opposite side of the city for?

ummm no.

any posh seafood restaurants?

not a chance.

the greasy four dollar cheeseburgers they all craved?

bored. so bored.

so with the help of former bostoner

z

, i found it:

zaftigs

.

walking distance from friend trent's,

not too expensive,

voted

best breakfast in boston

,

and a perfectly acceptable place to nurse a hangover.

there it is.

we arrived on sunday at typical brunch hour,

ready to wait

{because what fabulous sunday brunch doesn't have a severely long wait?}

oh but wait we did...

for almost

TWO

hours.

good thing there were fun mural people for brian and i to play with...

and to pick the noses of.

teehee.

luckily the wait gave me enough time to decide what i wanted.

and,

because there were too many ridiculous menu items that i couldn't pass up,

i also decided what friends kyle and trent would want too.

for me:

the challah french toast.

{holla!!!}

when, 

by complete chance, 

i happened upon a girl from my

high school english class

on the walk to zaftigs,

she recommended it, 

and i was all, damn, this is a

sign

!

and then about six more people told me i should get it.

so i did.

and it was, to quote miss erin who also got french toast,

cake for breakfast!!

i mean, i'll take that any day.

i also felt weird about going to a jewish deli and not having a potater pancake.

which,

by the way,

is there a difference between a latke and a potato pancake?

it was ok.

it was at least crispy enough.

friends matt, erin, and becca had

a monstrous breakfast sandwich,

bananer

french toast, and a

salmon

burger

and...

for kyle:

the raphel

roast turkey, stuffing,

cranberry

and

apricot

chutney, mashed potatoes, and gravy

atop toasted challah.

think: the gobbler at the

millburn deli

in jersey.

except with mashed potatoes,

that in my opinion,

 took away its rights to be a sammich.

might as well have just had thanksgiving.

oops.

for mr. trent:

the lupo

brisket sandwiched between two potater pancakes

with gravy and horseradish

it was a good thing that trent was willing to order this,

because if he hadn't

i would have had a major problem.

i mean, 

what self respecting person that likes to blog about food sees this on a menu and doesn't taste it?

i was a bit confused when it came out though,

talking about,

are you supposed to pick it up and eat it like a sandwich?

or is it just too messy for that?

trent opted for the fork approach,

and so did i.

it was good, pretty good. 

a+ for creativity.

joe got an omelet.

:-)

zaftigs was an all day affair.

we were there basically until the early evening.

and it almost bordered on

this severely long typical sunday brunch wait being almost too severely long.

i was satisfied with my toast.

but i'd like to spiel about traditional american breakfast places some:

there seems to be a commonality about em that is a plateau.

because,

really,

how many ways are there to omelet an egg?

or flip a pancake?

or iron a waffle?

don't get me wrong,

it's good food.

but i've never had, and really can't imagine an out of this WORLD brunch. 

{black label burger of brunches, do you exist?}

it seems that when it comes to breakfast,

it's either solid,

or a stale bagel.

i'm truly equally satisfied with a

telepan

prix fixe ordeal,

an egg mcmuffin,

or a zaftig's seven hour affair.

what i'm saying is, 

zaftigs was very good...

but unless i crave the brisket + latke combo,

and unless i have a whole day to spare,

i'll focus on my next

48

restaurants, thankyouverymuch.

xoxo

yeh

zaftig's delicatessen

is located just outside of boston, in brookline.

joe+kyle don't remember a thing.

en route

...he rode over connecticut

in a glass coach

once, a fear pierced him,

in that he mistook

the shadow of his equipage

for blackbirds.

{wallace stevens}

13 ways of looking at a blackbird

.................................................................................

passing through connecticut,

groggy from my nap,

curiously gazing at the big pretty houses along the way,

listening to sigur ros, the decemberists, and rufus,

full from a newly discovered honey mustard,

excited for what boston will bring,

 and sitting next to one of my very best friends...

i couldn't be happier.

this is exactly where i want to be right now.

and in two hours i will arrive in boston,

and that is exactly where i will want to be then!

 i like how that works.

xoxo

yeh