Yonah Schimmel's Knishery

The mission: knishes. The spot: Yonah Schimmel's. The verdict: oy, delicious! There's not much that could get me to go outside on a chilly winter's day like today, but I had a knish date with some friends, and that was not to be missed. This tiny knish spot is down on the Lower East Side, and is one part knishery, one part Jewish deli - offering matzo ball soup and the option to make your knish a "platter" with pickles and cole slaw. Yonah's has two types of knishes: savory and sweet. I'm more of a savory girl myself, but we ended up trying both varieties. And did I mention that you can add cheese to any knish for $1? The three of us shared three different knishes. First off, a sweet potato knish with mozzarella ($3, $ with cheese).
This was a perfect combination of savory and sweet. Most things taste better with cheese, and mozzarella was delicious with the fluffy salty-sweet sweet potato inside.
Next up, a broccoli knish with cheddar cheese ($3, $4 with cheese).
Broccoli and cheddar - classic combination. This was like the knish version of broccoli cheddar soup, but cheesier. The broccoli is mixed in with potato, making it hearty and creamy - great tasting knish.

Lastly was the sweet knish - blueberry with cheese ($3.50).


This was more like a blintze than a knish, but the wrapping was less crispy and more doughy. I liked it, but didn't love it. Not enough blueberry and the consistency of the knish dough was a little too chewy.

This was a worthy mission, which I look forward to savoring again. Next time I will probably take some to go, experimenting with other cheeses in the comfort of my home (Yonah's only offers cheddar and mozzarella as add-ons). Long live the Jewish food in the Lower East Side!

Yonah Shimmel's is located at 137 East Houston Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues
212-477-2858

Oh, and they ship anywhere in the U.S. Brilliant!

Resto

A lover of Belgian beers, frites, and hamburgers, I was very excited to try Resto, a Belglian "gastropub" in Gramercy. I had heard good things about their burger and so Justin and I arrived with high hopes and hungry bellies. The restaurant had a nice feel, with tin ceilings and wooden tables. We didn't have a reservation, so we were told there would be a 30-40 min wait and we headed to the bar. Their beer menu is quite extensive, which is why I was disappointed that there were no alcohol content or descriptions next to the beers, save for the categories: draft, christmas, abbey blond & trippels, abbey dubbles & brown ales, saisons, amber, white, red, pilsner, lambics, trappist, and "large format". They have a wine list as well, but at a place like this, I'll skip the wine. We each started with a Kwak($10) an amber ale on draft. I wanted to try them simply because of the hourglass it's served in, placed in a wooden handle.

Soon after receiving our beers (maybe 15 minutes) we were told that our table was ready. I love efficiency.
On to the appetizers. I had heard about the deviled eggs on pork toast ($8), so that was a must.

Pork toast must be the world's most wonderful invention, although I'm not sure I want to know what's in it. I thought this was delicious, although as Justin remarked, it could have used more of an edge. Either more spice or more acidity. Both the egg and the pork toast were salty and creamy. Maybe a dash of lemon juice would have brought perfection.
We also tried the appetizer special - a pulled pork sandwich with pickled carrots and tomatoes ($12).

This was good. The bread was a little greasy, but the meat was slightly sweet and the pickled vegetables made it vinegary and tangy. We only ate 1/2 of this because we wanted to save room for the mains.
Of course we had to split the burger ($13).

It was served with gryuere, red onion, sweet pickles, and frites. It was good, but for a burger that had some hype behind it, I wanted it to be great. And I wanted it to be served on a better bun. This one could have come from McDonalds. As Justin noted, the pickle improved the burger. It also tasted good when accompanied by a swig of our new beer, Chouffe Houblon ($10).

This was a dry and hoppy abbey tripple. We asked the waitress for something comparable to delirum tremens (a favorite of ours). I though the beer could have used a floral or sweet aftertaste, but Justin pointed that those flavors would have made it even more similar to delirium or leffe. All that said, it was a good pairing with the burger.
And back to the food. We also went out on a limb last night, splitting the beef cheek carbonade with mustard spiced carrots and frites($23) for our other main.

I wanted this to be incredible. It had been marinated overnight in all sorts of delicious liquids and spices, and the meat itself was incredibly soft, fatty and tender. However, it lacked in flavor and there was no real sauce to help with that. Such a disappointment, so Justin and I took most home in leftovers to try to do something with at a later time.
And then there were the frites. Accompanying both of our meals, the frites were unlike any I'd seen in a Belgian restaurant, because they were fat. Big fat, steak fries style frites, not the crispy and thin double fried variety I'm used to. And not what I want in a Belgian frite.

Overall, Resto was alright. It has a very nice atmosphere and some pretty adventurous items on the menu. I am keen to try other burger spots in my endless quest for the perfect burger, and I would probably go elsewhere for my Belgian fare. But, if I wanted a large selection of Belgian beers to go with my deviled eggs on pork toast, Resto would be the spot.

Resto is located at 111 East 29th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
212-685-5585

Flor's Kitchen

Readers of this blog may recall my fondness for Caracas Arepa Bar. It is easily one of my favorite spots in the city, and I can always rely on their arepas as my go-to meal. Imagine my elation at discovering there's another spot for arepas in the city (yes, aside from the Arepa Lady in Queens - I know I have to visit her)! Enter Flor's Kitchen, a Venezualan restaurant in the West Village. Looking at their menu prior to my visit, I noticed that was more Venezuelan cusine than arepas. And when we arrived at the restaurant, there were even fewer arepas! Not a major problem, just a surprise. One thing I liked about Flor's was the atmosphere. It's located on a corner, so there are lots of windows. While not hugely spacious, there are two small rooms, one of them up a few stairs, creating the illusion of space. And unlike Caracas, they have real napkins.
My friend Stefi (who is allergic to gluten), came with me on my branching out adventure. As per usual, we started with a bottle of wine - that night a Tempranillo ($36).

It was a silky and mellow wine. I loved the glasses they served it in!
We shared the cachapas ($9): fresh corn pancakes with paisa cheese.


This was one of the best selections of the night. There were pieces of corn in the pancakes and the cheese was similar to a parmeasean. They were sweet, savory, and delightful.

Because we got an appetizer, Stefi and I each only got one arepa. She went with the reina pepiada - a chicken and avocado salad filling ($5.50).

I sampled it. The mixture was very flavorful and had more lime than the version at Caracas. She was happy but not hugely impressed by the texture and flavor of the corn patty (arepa) itself.

I chose the arepa barlovento - black beans, sweet plantains, and cheese ($5.50). It is a similar arepa to the de pabellon from Caracas, but without the beef.

The beans were very tasty and more complexly flavored than the beans at Caracas. But like Stefi, I was not enamored with the actual arepa surrounding the filling. I also didn't love the sauces that accompanied the arepas - a spicy green sauce and a guacamole-like sauce. They made me yearn for my Caracas sauce.



Then came an unexpected surprise. Our side order of coconut rice ($5).


Wow. This dish was incredible. It was sweeter than I'd anticipated, but not cloying, with pieces of coconut in the mix. It was heavenly. I would order it to go if I were in the area just so I could have it around. I would eat it for breakfast or dessert. Outstanding.

I will probably return to Flor's kitchen, with appetizers and rice on my mind, but probably not for the arepas alone.

Flor's Kitchen is located at 170 Waverly Place between 6th and 7th Avenues
212-229-9926

Tree

First avenue is full of cute little restaurants. I walk around this part of the East Village regularly, peeking into them, thinking sometime I'll try a spot or two. And I finally got my chance when my sister and I popped into Tree, a little French bistro. Tree is a cute and narrow restaurant, with brick walls and wooden tables. Apparently they also have a garden in the back. My sister and I thought we would have a wait, but they squeezed us into a table at the back, right near the kitchen. That was somewhat of a bummer, as I could see into the kitchen, but we were happy to have a seat. We settled in, eating the delicious bread, and splitting a bottle of wine.



For an appetizer, I had the Roasted Beet, Chèvre & Mache salad ($8).

I thought there would be less greens in the salad, but it was very delicious. The roasted beets and the chèvre cheese balanced each other nicely.

My sister had the mussels in white wine ($10).


They were nothing exciting, but were a rather large portion for an appetizer. Additionally, since the winter months are the best time for mussels, they were quite large.

After all that food, it was a good thing we decided to share our main course - the seared breast of duck, parsnip puree, pomegranate reduction ($20).

The duck was exceptional. Soft and tender, slightly rare, with bursts of juice from the pomegranate seeds....delicious! The parsnip puree rounded out the dish with its creamy and mild flavor.

With my family there's always room for dessert. We had the creme brulee ($8).

A sweet finish to a sweet meal. It was not the most original choice, but you can't go wrong with the classics. I will definitely return to Tree!

Tree is located at 190 First Ave between 11th and 12th Streets
212-358-7171

New Year's Slack

I'm back! I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I have a lot of pictures and reviews to get to, so I'll be back in action again. Thanks for reading.