The Food Foo Foo at Frankie's 457 in Brooklyn

So we FINALLY got to go back to Frankie's 457 this weekend and I am happy to report.....it is still one of my favorite places to eat.
We got there at around 3:00 in the afternoon. They were still serving brunch which made it a bit crowded but were were seated right away. Billy right away commented on the fact that they were playing Led Zeppelin which he thought was fantastic. Our table was small and in the back in front of a window facing the courtyard. It was snowing slightly which added to the entire experience and charm of the restaurant.
Our waiter came and took our drink orders...then appetizers. We ordered the spicy soppressata and fresh bufala mozzarella which came out with marinated olives, rustic bread and Frankie's own olive oil.
For lunch, Billy ordered the Sweet Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper & Onion Over Creamy Polenta and I ordered, (of course), the House-made Cavatelli with Faiccos Hot Sausage & Browned Sage Butter.
You know what....I don't even have words. Make your way over to Court Street in Brooklyn and check them out. Trust me...you won't be disappointed!




Frankie's Spuntino - Frankie's 457
457 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718.403.0033
www.frankiesspuntino.com

Thumbs down to Magnolia Bakery

Well what a disappointment!
I have heard so many people just talk and rave about Magnolia Bakery...I even have their dessert cookbook. And while everything looks amazing, the actual product leaves a lot to be desired.
The story goes like this.....Billy and I went to Carnegie Hall for the NY Comedy Festival to see Bill Burr. As we were driving home through Manhattan, by chance, we drove by Magnolia Bakery. Billy pulled over, I got out and went inside. I was star-struck by all the cupcakes, cheesecakes, brownies and bars that were displayed on the counter. I ordered 2 yellow cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting (Which was WAY too sweet. So sweet in fact, that it hurt my teeth), 2 Snickerdoodle cupcakes with meringue frosting and a peanut butter brownie.
We got home...opened the box... and tasted the treats inside the box. STALE! Ummm...seriously? This is MAGNOLIA BAKERY!! So there we were, standing in my kitchen with $20.00 worth of stale cupcakes and a stale peanut butter brownie. What a waste! So a huge thumbs down to Magnolia Bakery.

The Food Foo Foo at Biggie's in Carlstadt

Biggie's has become my new favorite place to eat. A few weeks ago we were on our way to another restaurant for dinner and we passed Biggie's on Rt. 17. I asked Billy if he wanted to go there instead. We had passed it a hundred times before but never stopped. Carlstadt is their 3rd location. There is one in Hoboken, the original Biggie's, and one in Asbury Park. In addition to the restaurant, Biggie's is also a raw bar, with the most delicious calms on the half shell that I have ever had.
This past visit to the restaurant, we ordered a 1/2 dozed clams and the Thai Coconut Shrimp, since I love spicy food and was craving these! Billy's clams came out first and were out of this world. I love clams but hate when they are chewy. These were not. I mean, we have eaten at some pretty fantastic seafood places but Biggie's clams are the best I have ever had. My shrimp followed shortly after and were nothing less than perfection. Just the right amount of sweet and spicy. For dinner, I ordered Seafood White, which was one of the specials and Billy ordered the Parmesan-Crusted Flounder with sauteed spinach. I am not a big fish eater but I love their flounder. It is always moist and very mild flavored. My seafood was delicious. It had in it shrimp, clams, scallops and mussels in a lemon butter wine sauce.
I think what I like most about Biggie's is consistency. Their food is always good. To me, that is probably the most crucial thing in the restaurant business. The staff is also very friendly. Our waitress remembered us....I love that!
Big plus...every Wednesday is Badge Night for First Responders. 10% off your food bill!! The bar always has a ton of specials going on and an extensive beer list. It's just an awesome place to go and chill. So if you are ever on 17 and are in the mood for awesome seafood, great drinks and a terrific atmosphere..check out Biggie's!






Biggie's Restaurant, Raw Bar & Tavern
430 Route 17 South
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
http://www.biggiesclambar.com/Home.html

My Top 5 Places to Eat....

As you know, I am very picky about my restaurants. VERY PICKY!! Food is food...but awesome food is an experience. I have said this a million times, I don't care if the place is cheap, fancy, close to home, or a 2 hour drive. I don't mind paying $300 for a meal, as long as it knocks my socks off. There is nothing worse than paying for food that you walk away wishing you never ate. My thing is, a restaurant has to be consistent.
We don't eat out a lot, but when we do...it is only to a few "Arge Approved" places. Here are my top 5.

5. Yuki Hana - Little Ferry, NJ
Okay, Yuki Hana is a little, upscale hole-in-the-wall and just happens to be the only place that I will eat sushi at. I don't know what it is, but their sushi is just unreal. My suggestions - Rock Shrimp Tempura, Lobster Tempura Roll, Beef Yaki Soba, Fuji Roll.

4. George's Place - Cape May, NJ
Every time we go to Cape May, we stop at George's, usually for breakfast. I love, love, love George's. The food, the photos of his kids on the walls...everything. You seriously can not walk in there and not smile. Plus I love when owners work at their own restaurant. My suggestions - Bananas Foster French Toast, Waffle Nutella, Tiramisu Waffle.

3. PF Chang's - Hackensack, NJ
Okay, okay, okay...I understand that this is a chain restaurant BUT I have never had a bad meal there. Whether it was eat-in, take-out, at the bar, it was always good. Plus, I never said that this was the top 5 restaurant list of the Tri-State area. These are my favorite places to eat. That being said, PF Chang's has become the only place that we will eat Chinese food from..lol! My suggestions - Chang's Spare Ribs, Steamed Pork Dumplings, Mongolian Beef, Dan Dan Noodles.

2. Telly's Taverna, Astoria, NY
What restaurant list of mine would be complete without a Greek restaurant! I love Telly's. I love Nana, the owner, I love the food, I love the atmosphere. Their tzatziki is the best I have ever had. In my opinion, if you want awesome Greek food, it's worth the trip to Queens. My suggestions - Greek Salad, Grilled Baby Lamb Chops, Fried Zucchini and Eggplant, Grilled Octopus.

1. Frankies Spuntino, Brooklyn, NY
Billy and I had gone to Frankies for a birthday party. The atmosphere was charming. The front of the restaurant looks like an old school brownstone complete with a courtyard with small bistro tables in the back. The food just blew me away. Everything we have eaten there has been phenomenal. It is perfect for little romantic dinners, showers, girl's nights. I know people hear Brooklyn and think its too far away. But honestly, our drive only took about 20 minutes and we are coming from New Jersey. My suggestions - Antipasto with an assortment of meats, cheeses, olives and crostini, House-made Cavatelli with Faiccos Hot Sausage & Browned Sage Butter, Meatballs with Pine Nuts & Raisins.

The Food Foo Foo at Trillos in Secaucus

So Urban Spoon on my Blackberry FINALLY surprised me. It picked out an awesome Italian restaurant last night. I was so in the mood for pasta but lately every Italian restaurant has been falling short. So we have Urban Spoon a whirl....and Trillos in Secaucus pops up. It's a BYOB (AWESOME) with a liquor store like 20 feet way (even better). We stopped at the liquor store to grab a bottle of wine (well we ended up buying 10 bottles, but that is for another blog post..haha!) and off to the restaurant we went. The place itself it very relaxing with a comfortable atmosphere. We were seated at a quiet table in the front. The extremely nice waiter came over, opened our wine and told us the specials. We ordered the Zuppa di Mussels in White Wine and the House-made Fresh Mozzarella with Roasted Peppers and Tomato to start. Then Billy ordered the Fettuccine Bolognese and I ordered Veal Francaise over Capellini. Our mussels came out with the fresh mozzarella and I was VERY happy to see that the portion sizes were not ridiculously huge. It was just enough for the 2 of us. The mozzarella was topped with balsamic vinegar to which I added a bit of olive oil. The mussels were EXCELLENT! The dish came out with 2 slices of toasted bread. We added the bread to the dish to allow it to soak up the broth. Billy was literally drinking it with a spoon it was that good. Out main course came out and I managed to steal some of Billy's while he was in the restroom. The Bolognese is made with crumbled sweet Italian sausage and big chunks of roasted tomatoes. It actually reminded me of my dad's Greek Meat sauce. It was out of this world and what I will most likely order when we go back. My veal was excellent as well. I usually order veal at a new restaurant because veal is kinda tricky. Over-cook it, and you get a tough, inedible piece of meat. The sauce was very light and went really well with the capellini. After stealing a few more bites of Billy's fettuccine (haha!), we were both full but ordered a piece of New York Style Cheesecake topped with Caramel Sauce for dessert. We had read that "the cheesecake usually sells out because it is THAT good"...which is was! It was very creamy with a hint of cinnamon. The overall experience was really great. The atmosphere isn't stuffy or uncomfortable. It is like you are sitting in your neighborhood restaurant, being treated like family. I can honestly say...Trillos will definitely be our next FD Family Dinner spot!

Trillos Italian Restaurant
10 Meadowlands Pkwy
Secaucus, NJ 07094
201-348-1443

The Food Foo Foo at Stamna Taverna in Bloomfield

If you thought I was picky about regular food..I am EXTREMELY picky about Greek food. Billy and I have been to a few Greek restaurants in New Jersey. All of them fall very short of even being edible. So all of our Greek cravings have brought us across the bridge into Astoria to either Stamatis or Telly's...until Friday. Billy and I were looking for some place to eat. We looked on
www.restaurantpassion.com and found Stamna in Bloomfield. I was so excited when I saw the menu that I actually said, out loud, "Where have you been this whole time?". We called and made a reservation for 8:30. We arrived at 8:00 and it was already packed. To our surprise, we were seated right away. The busboy came over with a plate of homemade marinated olives and slices of grilled bread with olive oil and oregano. The olives were mixed green and black and were marinated in olive oil, lemon peel and cheese rinds. Usually when we go to a Greek restaurant, we only order a bunch of appetizers but because this was our first time, we wanted to try dinner as well. I had known what we were going to order when we were still at the house so I was ready when our waiter came over. We ordered Grilled Octopus in Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar (one of my favorite things!), Saganaki and Tyropita. The octopus and saganaki came out first. The octopus was very tender with the perfect amount of oil and vinegar. We cut it into thin slices and let it soak in the juices which made it extremely flavorful. The saganaki was perfect. It is made using Kefalograviera cheese, which is another favorite of mine....crispy on the outside, soft and perfectly melted inside. We had a few minutes to digest before the tyropita came out. I was pleasantly surprised when the plate was placed on the table that they were little mini pieces and not one large piece. Again..perfection. The feta was mixed with another cheese which made it not as strong as straight feta. The taste reminded me of the tyropita my dad makes. When dinner arrived, we were very full but still wanted to try the food that we had ordered. I ordered the Lamb Kokkinisto, which is braised baby lamb in tomato sauce with orzo pasta and Stuffed Cabbage Avgolemono. The lamb was just what I expected, very tender and was perfect in the tomato sauce. Billy loved the stuffed cabbage. I thought it was good, but I grew up eating my dad's and his is hard to top. We ended up wrapping most of our dinner to take home. We were way too full for dessert but do plan on going back very soon. Next time...just appetizers!!



Stamna Taverna
1045 Broad Street
Bloomfield, NJ
973.338.5151
www.stamnataverna.com

The Food Foo Foo at Eataly in NYC

Three words describe Eataly, awesome, over-whelming and crowded. For those who don't know, Eataly is a huge Italian food store on 5th avenue and 23rd street in Manhattan co-owned by chef Mario Batali. In addition to the store, Eataly has 5 restaurants, a cafe, patisserie and a gelateria.
Billy and I walked in and we were immediately taken back at the size of the store and all the people inside. We made a few laps to check out the layout and to see what they had. It was insane. Our first stop was the fresh pasta. Billy loves gnocchi, so we ordered a pound. The guy who helped us was VERY friendly and when he saw that Billy is a fireman, he added in a few extra pieces (well...a half pound more) in our box. Next stop was the cheese. We walked by and noticed that they were packaging fresh mozzarella that they had just finished making. Needless to say, that went into our basket. The cheese shop itself we unbelievable. There were cheeses that I had never even heard of. Right in front of the cheese shop is the Piazza where you can enjoy a glass of wine and plates of cheeses and meats. We walked a little further to the meat market. We bought skirt steaks and the freshest hot and sweet soppressata that I had ever eaten.

We walked past the pasta sauces and dried pasta. The selection was amazing. I was in heaven looking at all the different types of bruschetta, olives, oils and vinegars. I seriously had to battle the temptation to buy everything I saw. We made our way to the produce section were I found the most incredible selection of vegetables..things I have not been able to fine anywhere else (sunchokes!!!). They had every kind of pepper, mushroom, fresh herbs..it was fantastic. We loaded up our basket and headed to the check-out. When we left, I told Billy "This store would seriously makes me consider moving to the city". I wasn't serious...well maybe a little...lol! When we got home, we tasted some our purchases. Everything was excellent. They seriously do stand by their promise of the best quality products. It is definitely a must-see if you are ever in that area.












Our pasta guy with his "fireman discount"...LOL!












Fresh ravioli












Billy looking for Mortadella












Meat market
















LOVED all the olives and bruschetta












People waiting to eat at one of the restaurants

Eataly - 200 5th Avenue, NYC
212.229.2560
www.eatalyny.com

The Food Foo Foo at Ballato's in NYC

Okay...so I usually don't blog about restaurants but Ballato's is the exception. Billy and I went to see Stomp this past Saturday (my 7th time, his first). After leaving the theatre, we were trying to figure out where to eat. After going back and forth a few times, I suggested Little Italy. We turn onto E. Houston Street and I said to Billy "Isn't Ballato's near here?". Sure enough, I look up and there it is! If you have never been, Ballato's is very shabby chic. The paint on the walls looks like it is cracking, there are pictures of Emilio with a bunch of celebrities on the walls, all of these antique mirrors....very "Arge". We were pretty early, so we were the only ones in there. The waiter told us that we could sit anywhere we liked. We choose a little table near the kitchen. The waiter brought over our menus and homemade rosemary focaccia that they "just took out of the oven". We order a glass of chianti for me and a glass of pinot for Billy and basically dove right into the focaccia. Billy and I poured olive oil into a plate and just sat there in what I can only describe as "Bread Bliss". Our waiter came back over to the table to take our order. We ordered the fried calamari as an appetizer. It came out in a napkin in the shape of a basket which was great because it soaked up some of the oil and made the calamari very crispy. It was served with a small dish of spicy marinara sauce. The calamari itself was so tender it melted in my mouth. We finished the entire plate...ordered 2 more glasses of wine...and dinner. I had seen on the menu that they had Fettuccine with Butter, Romano and Black Pepper....my absolute favorite pasta dish! The waiter told me that it was a fantastic dish, something that you would go there everyday for. Billy order the Shrimp with Bread Crumbs, Lemon and White Wine, which came with a small serving of pasta. Our food came out and it was nothing short of phenomenal. The portion size was just right..not too much and not too little. Billy and I are the King and Queen of "Can you wrap this up?" but this time..we were in it to the end. My pasta was a culinary orgasm. Billy's shrimp was as tender as could be. The sauce was perfect. You could taste every ingredient. We finished our meal...wishing we could pick our plates up and lick them but by then the restaurant had many more tables and we didn't want people looking at us funny, plus after 2 glasses of chianti, I was half in the bag. The waiter took our plates away and gave us some time to digest and finish our wine, something we both appreciated. There is nothing worse then when a waiter is up your ass as soon as you put your fork down. I ordered a cappuccino and the waiter suggested homemade biscotti "to dip in your coffee". I agreed. Billy didn't order dessert. He was too full still from dinner. My cappuccino came out all frothy and cinnamon scented. I dipped my biscotti in my cup and smiled as I took my first bite. From beginning to end, it was one of the most fantastic meals I have ever eaten. As a matter of fact, when we were done, my husband turned to me and said "If there ever was a reason not to have kids, this is it". We don't really go out to eat a lot and when we do, I am very picky about where we go and we WILL be making a trip back to E. Houston Street.

Emilio Ballato's
55 E Houston Street - between Mulberry Street & Greene Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 274-8881