I started off on the Lower East Side this time, for breakfast at the Clinton Street Baking Co. They’re known especially for their pancakes and biscuits…

Blueberry Pancakes w/ Warm Maple Butter. The pancakes were good enough — if a bit heavy — but it was the warm maple butter that I finished… And maple + blueberry is good.

Another time that I was there, I got the Spanish Biscuit Sandwich, with Scrambled Eggs, Melted Jack, Tomatillo Sauce, Grilled Chorizo, and Hash Browns. This was a great way to start the day, but I prefer it when you can eat breakfast sandwiches with your hands. This one demanded a knife and fork, or else each chorizo would be gone in an extended bite and the biscuit would crumble all over the place. I liked how the tomatillo sauce anchored all of the flavors and textures, though.

Pistachio Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Vanilla Cupcake. I got these to go, but I was a bit disappointed. The cookie was bland (my feeling is that bread flour dulls the flavor of choc chop cookies, and I think there was bread flour in it; it’s usually used to contribute a greater chew), the cupcake dry, and the brownie was only decent and fudgy enough, although I loved the idea of the pistachios on top.

Vanilla Cupcake and Chocolate Cupcake from Sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery. The vanilla cupcake was the best of its kind that I had in NYC — moist, sweet, and tinged with vanilla… that’s all I’ve wanted all along. Plus, it was compact enough to eat in civilized bites, which is an under-rated good quality in a cupcake. All of their chocolate icings seemed to be made with ground almonds, so I didn’t try them — I like my chocolate pure for cupcakes. Unfortunately, the chocolate cupcake was dry.

Then to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, at Bayard & Elizabeth.

Black Sesame and Red Bean Ice Creams. I was surprised that I liked the black sesame the best between the two. The flavor approached a mellow peanut butter. The Red Bean wasn’t very stongly flavored — I only tasted the red bean when I came across little pieces of them.

Raspberry Doughnut and Tres Leches Doughnut from the Doughnut Plant. Both very good, if a bit chewy and sweet. I really liked the ribbon of caramel-ish cream inside the Tres Leche, which made it even more moist and cakey.

Then I went down to the Financial District.

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My destination was Financier Patisserie on Stone Street. I had no idea that this wonderful street existed — packed with restaurants that have tables lined up on the street. Perfect for lunch on a sunny day.

Croque Monsieur w/ Salad. Speaking of perfect, I liked the Croque Monsieur a lot — which was perfectly heated and, in addition to the ham, was creamy on the inside and chewy/pungent on the outside. Even the salad was just right - the lightly anointed dressing was an acidic contrast to the creamy sandwich.

Napoleon and St. Honore. The napoleon was too dense and all around soft for me, but I loved the addition of rasperries to the St. Honore and the caramelized choux puffs, even if the choux was a bit tough.

And that was all the food I had until dinner… when I atoned for all the sugar and flour with Whole Foods sushi.

After our disappointing meal at Del Posto, I wanted to give the Batali empire another chance.  So, I went for a quick lunch at Lupa, his Roman osteria in the West Village. The restuarant has a great sidewalk patio with tables, and has a casual but stylish dining room.  I only had one dish — a very good dish — and would be happy to return to explore more.

Skate with Guincale, Corn, Red Onions, Parsley, and Radicchio.  I wish I could say that I ordered this as a mirror to compare it with the the unfortunate Pike with Spotted Radicchio, Pancetta, and White Corn Polenta that I’d had at Del Posto, but I did so unwittingly.   It was a happy coincidence, though — it was perfect, and erased the bad memory of that pike.  The skate was turgid, and the relatively simple garnishes came together in a kinetic way.

I’ve always been curious about those restaurants in Chelsea that I think of as “boites.” They’re usually designed with clean lines, glowing lights, and colors that pop out cleverly. When you glance into them, you can see all the way back into their rectangular spaces. The patrons seem to be either coming or going to a club… in NYC or Europe.

So, I was happy to try out Sensa (at 6th Ave and 21st St) one afternoon when we were shopping nearby. With a menu that could be described as global, I was a little concerned by the lack of focus, but aside from one bad dessert, the food was very good and thoughtfully prepared. I usually don’t look out for big servings, but they were here and that was refreshing given the modest prices. And be sure to check out the cocktail list.

Warm Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart with Sweet Onions, Puff Pastry, and Saffron Sauce.  Cleverly constructed, and acidic, sweet, creamy, crunchy, juicy, and yummy.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin w/ Sage Roasted Potatoes, Goat Cheese, Creamed Corn, and Peach Chutney. The pork was so good that it didn’t need the very sweet chutney.

Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic.

Pulled Pork Pibil - Roasted Chilis & Oranges, Tomatillo Mayo, and Fries. Is it me, or is pulled pork everywhere nowadays? This was a very good version; I especially liked the hint of spicy orange.

Grape Caipiroska - Imperial Vodka, Grapes, Sugar Syrup. A caipiroska is usually made with limes, and if you used cachaca instead of vodka, it would be a caipirhina. Here’s a link about the whole caipi family.

This drink was fantastic, and made be think of a thought that I think a lot: “If grapes come ready to go and are so delicious, why aren’t they used more in drinks and desserts?” I’ve vowed to work on this. That reminds me — I’m back in Napa now and have the most amazing black grapes from the Sonoma Farmer’s Market. One grape contains a whole bouquet of grapeness, from sweet and perky to floral and dusky.

Nutella Panini w/ Coffee Crunch Ice Cream.  Satisfying.

One Large Profiterole - Chocolate and Banana Brulee Ice Cream, Black Cherry Sorbet, Chocolate Sauce. This description is what the menu said, but as you can see, there are three profiteroles and only one of the three promised ice creams present. I think that the choux pastry had been baked, cut, and frozen — it was matted on the inside cuts and was gummy. The ice cream was average.

I’m not the type of person who can see a shop sign that reads Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man and just keep walking. Upon entering, I found myself in one of the most over-the-top, overwhelming spaces that I’ve encountered in NYC. Everything is some shade of chocolate, and most things are chocolate in this 5,000 square foot space near Union Square. At the crossroads of the gift shop, pastry counter, and restaurant areas, you’ll see bins full of hot chocolate powders, a glass-topped table full of truffles, chocolate cakes, chocolate marshmallow pizzas, chocolate bar-filled bagels ready to be warmed, shelves of chocolate candies in boxes, and… sandwiches. There are fantastic pictures here. It feels a bit gimmicky, but it all comes out on just this side of charming — if you know that one thing is true within this chocolate fog, it’s that there’s obviously a passion for celebrating chocolate here.

I kept wondering, “Who are these people, and how did they come to do so much with chocolate???” This article explains that Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner launched it ten years ago in Israel. They sold it to a large food manufacturing company that has been opening franchises around the world. Apparently, Oded Brenner has taken on the Max Brenner role. He is bald.

So, I saw that Chocolate Syringe in a display case.

Me: “What’s in the chocolate syringe?”
Counterperson, with a shrug: “Chocolate.”
Me: “Just…”
Counterperson: “Chocolate.”
Me, accepting the partial truth, and still overwhelmed: “How are you supposed to eat it?”
Counterperson tipped her head back and mimed injecting her mouth with a syringe.

Convinced, I ordered one. I saw someone fill a fresh syringe from a chocolate vat, and he assured me that it would remain melted. I took it home, noticed that I got 60 ml’s, took the topper off, and injected my mouth with that fabulous burst of chocolate. It has the consistency of a slightly fluffy hot fudge (even after it cools), and it’s crazy fun to eat (and believe me, I was skeptical). The internet tells me that the restaurant lists it on the kids menu, but if you ever find yourself here, don’t let them have all fun.

I happened to be browsing around City Search on Sunday night when I came upon Sapa. I was reading their menu when I happened to look up at the Iron Chef: America episode that was playing on my TV. The challenger was Sapa’s own Patricia Yeo. I liked the way that she handled the tofu, so I vowed to visit her restaurant as soon as possible. I went on Tuesday night.

I think of Sapa as a first date restaurant. The kind where the couple can’t commit to a place to go to until one of them mentions this restaurant called Sapa that’s supposed to be fun — that is, it serves French-Southeastern Asian cuisine and cool drinks in a cleverly-lit glowing white and black relief space with pumping music. So, this couple goes, comments on the eclectic menu, orders their food, and never mentions it to each other again amidst their getting to know each other. But silently, to themselves, during low points in the conversation and with an incisiveness similar to their judgments of each other, they discern the triumphs and failures of the dishes in front of them.

The food would warrant a polite end of the night “good” judgment when asked by a date, but with just a little bit more attention to detail, the food could have been great. It was the sloppiness at Sapa that disappointed me. An over-sauced rib appetizer… a fried rice with a sandy texture… an overly sweet and overly reduced Port wine reduction… a sundae that could only be eaten by ingesting spoonfuls of shredded coconut bound by sorbet… a grainy-looking chocolate sabayon. And aesthetically, the plates easily could have had cleaner lines.

But I did love how chopsticks — balanced on small pieces of cinnamon sticks — were part of the place setting. I think chopsticks make everything taste better, and would use them for every meal if they were available.

We were served bread to start. A basket of warm pita with white bean spread and an eggplant dip. I don’t know how they fit in with the menu and why we were served stale pita that was only acceptably soft when it was still warm — or maybe they were supposed to be crunchy crackers when cooled? Some kind of temporal two-in-one deal?  In any case, the eggplant dip was very sweet and wet while the white bean spread was very dry and a little bland. They almost balanced each other out when spread together, but not enough to be truly good.

Cocoa and Peanut Glazed Spareribs - with Carrot-Orange Pickle. This had a very smooth cocoa flavor that was spiked by the crunchy nuttiness of the peanuts and the fall-off-the-bone tenderness of the ribs.  That was wonderful. But there was too much sauce splashing about, and the sour vegetables were too dissonant with the earthy sweetness of the rest of the dish to be enjoyable.

Halibut. I don’t remember the full components of this dish. I do remember that the halibut was juicy, but seemed almost raw in the middle.

Coriander Crusted Tuna with Braised Oxtails, Port Wine Reduction, and Baby Arugular Salad. I order fish much more than I order red meat at restaurants, but it’s not because I don’t like red meat — it’s because I usually don’t want to slog my way through a lot of it. So, I loved this combination of pungent tuna and saucy oxtails — the flavors and textures seem to take up where the other had left off. The peppery arugula was the perfect foil for them both. I could have done without the Port wine reduction, though, which detracted from the party with its one-note sweetness and sticky thickness.

Cod Roasted in Parchment with Porcini Mushrooms and Roasted Mushrooms. Good, but again, the fish seemed undercooked.

Fried Rice w/ Duck Confit. This had a delicious woodsy sort of a flavor, even if I didn’t notice any pieces of duck. I wanted to eat a lot of it, but something sandy in it prevented me. I asked the waiter, who had mentioned that he’d been asked about it before, and he said that it was probably the Szechuan peppers. So, they know it’s sandy, but they… serve… it… anyway…

Chocolate Caviar with Chocolate-Rum Sabayon, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. I’m not convinced that the chocolate caviar works aesthetically… and the warm sabayon was curiously grainy-looking… and the cookie was curiously chilled.  Otherwise, it tasted fine, with subtle variations on chocolate.
As for the Chocolate Chip Cookies, they were brought out from the kitchen on a sheet pan so that guests can take some. A cool yet homey touch, and the cookies tasted good… even they were rather misshapen.

SAPA Sundae - Pineapple and Coconut Sorbets, Vanilla Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce. I really liked the chocolate covered pretzels stuck into the top of this, which were able to get a fair amount of sorbet and coconut adhered to them for a great flavor and creamy crunchiness. But there was an avalanche of coconut in the glass. And since the glass was so narrow, there was no escaping it, so no opportunity to try the sorbets or sauce on their own. It got monotonous to eat.

Off to the Races - Woodford Reserve Bourbon muddled with Drunken Cherries, Chambord, and Fresh Lemon Juice. This had an excellent initial bite of bourbon, but this glass also had an avalanche in it — of seeds. I’m guessing that they were from muddled raspberries… not cherries? The seeds made it difficult to drink smoothly from the straw.

Otherwise, the Lychee Bellini was good (with lychee puree and lavender water blended with sparkling wine), but I think I would have liked less lychee puree, more lavender flavor, and more sparkling wine flavor — the wine only contributed a sly bubbly texture here.

The Cosmo was very juicy — not very strong on the alcohol.

I had an Apple Ice Wine from Canada with dessert, and I liked its blend of cider and dessert wine flavors.