Lollipop Lounge
27 East 61 Street btwn. Park & Lexington Aves. (212)752-8900 TYPE: Thai Vietnamese tapas VIBE: Adults-only candyland OCCASION: A furtive affair or commitment-free dinner date GO WITH: Party types DON’T MISS DISH: Yellowfin tuna lollipops DON’T BOTHER DISH: Beef lollipops PRICE: $30 & up (bottles are big bucks) HOURS: Dinner & drinks, Monday-Friday, 5 PM-3:30 AM, food service stops at 12 AM. RESERVATIONS: Recommended, especially when it comes to bottle service INSIDE SCOOP: Get your hands on a lollipop necklace (membership has its privileges) RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 4.5 FINAL WORD: Alluring for late-night nibbles, naughty nights, & last licks… The owners of Geisha & Serafina plan to stir up a little trouble on the Upper East Side with their newest venture, Lollipop Lounge. An homage to the orally fixated New Yorker, this uber-sleek subterranean lounge screams sex &...
Read MoreJaponais
111 East 18th Street btwn. Park Avenue South & Irving Place (212)260-2020 Savory NY video TYPE: Contemporary Japanese & sushi VIBE: Feng shui sleek OCCASION: Entertaining GO WITH: A date, birthday party, or power lunch – the possibilities are endless DON’T MISS DISH: Wagyu brisket ravioli DON’T BOTHER DISH: Tuna tuna salmon roll PRICE: $50 & up HOURS: Dinner, Sunday-Thursday, 5 PM-11:00 PM, Friday & Saturday, 5 PM-11:30 PM. The lounge (no food served after 11) stays open Sunday-Wednesday until 1 AM, Thursday, 1:30 AM, & Friday & Saturday until 3 AM. Lunch will begin come September. RESERVATIONS: Two weeks in advance for prime hours. INSIDE SCOOP: No reservations necessary in the “walk-ins only” upstairs & downstairs lounge (100 seats & with an abbreviated food menu). RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 6 FINAL WORD: A big addition to the neighborhood…...
Read MoreCheese Girl: Wine & Cheese Pairing
Eating a great cheese can be a palate-altering experience that can become even more blissful when paired with a great wine. But finding the perfect pairing’s not as easy as you may think. Sure, there are plenty of cheeses and wines that get along, but I can help you find those marriages made in heaven. A great pairing happens when both the cheese and wine taste better together than they did on their own. Maybe you started with a so-so wine, but when combined with the cheese, you can suddenly taste complexities and nuances you never thought you could coax out of that $10 bottle of vino. Here’s how you do it: Take a piece of cheese in your mouth, throw a splash of wine on top, and mash it all together. Wait a few seconds, swallow and note...
Read MoreBooze Boy on Scotch
It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with food, but even a Restaurant Girl gets thirsty and I’m quite fond of liquor. Luckily, I met a boy who knows his way around the bottle – let’s call him Booze Boy. He’s stopped by to share the wisdom of his scotch drinking ways: Have you ever heard someone walk up to a bartender and order their scotch “neat”? Hey, maybe you’ve even been that person. Did you ever notice that the first (and second and third) sip burn? That’s because neat translates to no ice, no water, nothing – just plain straight up. Most single malt scotches are anywhere between 42% and 50% ABV (alcohol by volume), also known as 84-100 proof. That’s almost half alcohol – no wonder the stuff burns. It’s not the same grain alcohol burn we all...
Read MoreRewind
137 Essex St., btwn. Stanton & Rivington Sts.(212)779-7923 TYPE: Asian-influenced ItalianVIBE: Supper club(by) OCCASION: Lounging on the LES GO WITH: A table service crowdDON’T MISS DISH: Butternut Squash and Asiago Cheese Ravioli DON’T BOTHER DISH: Sweet & sour tuna with berry puree PRICE: $30 HOURS: Dinner, Tuesday – Sat., 5 PM-11:30 PM, Sunday, 11 AM-4 PM. Open every night for cocktails and bottle service until 4 AM. INSIDE SCOOP: At 11:30, food service ceases to make way for the DJ & bottle service crowd. The real party doesn’t get started until after dinner. RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 3 FINAL WORD: Tuna, noodles, & strawberries, oh my! Fast forward to dessert. The Lower East Side’s latest lounge hopes to be a one-stop shop for all things nightlife: food, drinks, DJ, & dancing under one roof. Rewind’s refreshingly un-velvet rope attitude...
Read MoreThe Fancy Food Show
Some people dream of winning the lottery, world peace, or moving to a desert island. Me – I dream of food. My dreams came true at this week’s Fancy Food Show, a culinary utopia of free samples & digestible inventions. Over 100,000 exhibitors flocked to NYC from all over the world – Italy, Australia, Spain, and even Iceland (who knew they cornered the market on?)- to let us sample their goods. From coffee to tea, all things fair trade and organic reigned at this year’s food show. Speaking of which, organic and fair trade chocolate tasting may well replace wine tasting with the Outstanding New Product Winner: Chocolove’s Chocolatour Tanzania Vintage 2005, and the entire Chocolatour vintage line of cocoa beans from different vintages & regions from all over the world (Granada & Java). Designer bottled White Tea intends...
Read MoreThe Inside Scoop
Who would’ve ever imagined that one day you’d be able to watch a music video on your ipod or send mail from your computer or…order gourmet ice cream from a virtual ice cream shop? Forget fishing for M & M’s from the office vending machine, Moobella machines offer made-to-order fresh ice cream, right on the spot. Just pick from one of 12 different flavors – cake batter, banana, & mocha – add one of 5 mix-ins – reeses peanut butter cups, chocolate chips – and you’ve got custom ice cream in 45 seconds flat, $2.50 per serving. Hmm…I wonder if this robotic ice cream man’s got a girlfriend. Who needs Ben & Jerry when I can make designer ice cream myself without lifting a finger – well, maybe just a couple of fingers, but only to type in my...
Read MoreBondi Road
153 Rivington St. (btwn. Suffolk & Clinton Sts.) (212)253-5311 Bondi Road website TYPE: Seafood shack VIBE: Surfer chic OCCASION: Endless summer GO WITH: Friends or make a couple at the bar DON’T MISS DISH: Rock shrimp cocktail & Tasmanian ocean trout DON’T BOTHER DISH: Lobster lettuce wraps PRICE: $30 (the current tasting menu) HOURS: Dinner, Monday-Thursday, 6 PM-2 AM, Friday-Sunday, 6 PM-4 AM. INSIDE SCOOP: All the fish is flown in from down under twice a week RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 7 FINAL WORD: Catch this wave (or the F train) to the LES for an Aussie fish fest QUICK CHEAT SHEET: Drink – John Boag’s beer or a Tamaramaglamma cocktail (it’s a mouthful) Start with – Rock shrimp cocktail or crab lettuce wraps Eat – Tasmanian ocean trout or grilled barramundi (Snatch up the John Dory when it’s...
Read MoreCheck out My Book – Try This
