Cafe de Paris

Well I visited this restaurant about 2 months ago and I'm just now blogging about it.  I've been a little behind the past couple of months but I'm hoping to get back to some steady posting.

Bill and I visited Cafe de Paris on a date night.  I had heard some good things about it and we were both pleased with our meal.  They started us off with an appetizer that was essentially cheese grits balls breaded and fried topped with a french cocktail sauce which tasted just like Zaxby's sauce.  I had the french onion soup which was just ok. 

 For my entree I had a breaded chicken cutlet with ratatouille and oven roasted potatoes.  The ratatouille was so delicious.  Bill had a pork chop with the ratatouille and sweet potato gnocchi.  The gnocchi was not good but rather very gummy.

For dessert we shared the bread pudding.  They add a little rosemary to their bread pudding which adds a little different twist but it was very good.

Overall, I like Cafe de Paris and will be back.  I would definitely like to go back and try their crepes and Sunday brunch menu.

Chez Lulu

I've been meaning to try this little restaurant in English Village for while.  Chez Lulu was a nice change for Sunday lunch!  They offer soups, sandwiches, pizzas, and on Sunday a great brunch.  The owners also run Continental Bakery next door so, of course, the breads and desserts are wonderful too!  I was very pleased by their kid friendly menu as well.  It is a 3 course meal that offers choices such as ants on a log, apples and peanut butter, bagel cheese pizza, and several other choices.  Then they get the choice of a cookie or ice cream for dessert.  For $6 I think its more impressive than the $4 or $5 choices you get at other restaurants and really my two boys could have shared it and I just order another cookie.

We started with a fruit and cheese plate to share that had brie, blue cheese, and a soft, I think goat, cheese with several fruits.  I chose the Brunch du jour which was a spinach, ham, and roasted red pepper frittata; homemade applesauce, and stone ground garlic cheesy grits.  It was soooo good!  The applesauce was served warm, a little chunky, and had some plumped up golden raisins in it.  I would love to get that recipe!  The frittata and grits were great too and made a great combo with the applesauce.

Of course I couldn't leave without trying a dessert!  I wanted to try a strawberry crepe but they were out so we decided to share a chocolate bread pudding.  So delicious!  Before we left I peeked into the bakery to gaze upon their croissants, scones, cakes, and cookies.  I'm glad they are not in my neighborhood because that would be dangerous to have such good food so close.  It will however now be a favorite Sunday lunch spot.

NYC Day 7

Last day in NYC!  It has been a great trip and we have a little more sightseeing to do before we head home but I'm ready to get back south!

We started out the day with a late breakfast at the Carnegie Deli.  We were both kinda craving corned beef hash again so we split an order.  The portions here are huge!  I had hoped that it was going to be better than the hash we had the day we got here because they cure their own meats.  Unfortunately it wasn't.  Overcooked, dry, and greasy.  We definitely liked the other better.

We got on the subway and road the 1 down to Battery Park to catch a ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.  At Liberty Island, they are currently not allowing entrance into the statue except for special ticket holders and they only allow 240 per day of them.  I was pretty sure that we may not be able to access the top of the statue but I was really surprised we couldn't go into the museum in the base of the statue either.  So all we could do was walk around it and then get on the ferry to go to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island is alot bigger than I thought and there is so much to see there!  We only had about an 1 hr before we had to get back to catch our plane.  I didn't realize that this island had not just the main building but also a ferry station, hospital, powerhouse, and dormitories.  Only the main building is currently in use but you could easily spend 3 hrs in it!  Definitely a place I need to go back to.

We were starting to get into a pretty big hurry once the ferry got back to Battery Park.  We had about 2 1/2 hrs to ride the subway back to midtown, get Jack a gift at FAO Schwarz, get our bags, and get to the airport before the plane took off.  Jack has a fascination with trash trucks and can you believe that we found a NYC trash truck at the store!  We darted down 5th Ave on foot stopping once for a hotdog to eat while running! 

When we got to our hotel, our street was closed because they were piling up the snow to be removed.....using a bulldozer!  That's just too much dang snow!  So a taxi can't come to the hotel to pick us up and we have to go down our street to 6th to hail one.  Now another snag...it is 4:15 and all of the taxis change shift at 5 and no one wants to take us to LaGuardia because it will put them past their shift!  After being turned down by about 5 taxis, one finally takes us!  I wasn't sure what we were going to do if we didn't get one.  The subway doesn't go to the airport but I was about to see if there was a bus route to it.  It shouldv'e been about a 30 min trip but a little traffic congestion made it about 45.  We got there about 5:15 and checked in with no problem before our flight at 6.  Nothing like ending a trip with a little unexpected excitement!

All in all, NYC was a great trip.  I was on my own most of the time since Bill was in school.  I never felt scared to be out on my own because where we were was a big tourist destination.  I was out there with other tourists, people who worked around there, and police.  I saw very little panhandling and never felt like I was somewhere unsafe.  I kept a little map with me and we paid $27 each for an unlimited pass for the subway and buses.  The subway didn't feel unsafe either.  I really want to go back and take the boys next time.  They would just love so much of it!

Top 10 Things I Learned on My First Trip to NYC
1.  Mass transportation rocks!  How else could a city like this function?
2.  There is a Starbuck's on every corner!  I thought it was pretty funny when the directions to one place I was looking for said that it was across from Starbuck's!  What isn't?
3.  Finding a grocery store in the city isn't easy.  I don't know why they eluded me!
4.  Eating out can get very expensive so it helps to do your research to find some cheaper options.
5.  Duane & Reade is the NYC drugstore and there are just as many of these as Starbuck's.
6.  You can easily walk 8 miles a day walking around sightseeing.  But don't look up too much!  You might just walk into an intersection or crash into another pedestrian.
7.  Research, research, research you trip!  You could waste alot of time figuring things out while you are there if you don't have some idea about what you want to do and how to do it.
8.  If it's winter, take boots!  It would have been a life saver for my feet the last couple of day we were there.
9.  Seeing at least one Broadway show is a must!  It is affordable too.  We got 2 weeknight tickets for Wicked the night before the show for only $56 each.  Our seats were labeled as having a "partially obstructed view" but they were totally fine.  Didn't miss a thing!
10.  Stick with yellow taxis.  Other taxis may take you for a ride...no pun intended.  We took yellow taxi to the airport for about $35 and Bill's coworker to another unmarked cab and paid $10 more.

NYC Day 6

I had intentions of getting up this morning and going to Regis and Kelley but after my day of marathon walking yesterday and getting to bed at midnight.....I just couldn't pull myself out of bed.

I had to go out by lunchtime though because I didn't have anything but granola bars in the room to eat for lunch.  I decided to go back to the little french restaurant, La Bonne Soupe, that we had the steak au poivre.  I had their Quiche Lorraine which had ham and swiss cheese.  It was an individual sized quiche, which was nice because I think you get a little more crust :), and a side salad. 

I also tried their apple tart which I didn't like quite as much as good ol' apple pie but it was nice.  It had very little apple and more of a thick custardy filling.  I believe it is called a frangipane which is made of butter, eggs, sugar, and ground almonds.





I then headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  That is one massive cathedral!  It is free to visit and worth stopping by to see.  From there I went to do a little gift shopping at the Lego store at Rockefeller center before going to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).  It costs $20 to visit the MoMA but on Fridays 4-8 Target sponsors free access.  It was very crowded, which was expected, so I limited myself to checking out just 2 of the floors of the museum.  




Monet's Water Lillies



They have well known artists on display such as van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Polk, and Warhol.  I would like to go back and do the audio tour sometime.



That evening we had planned to have supper from a local, very popular street vendor, The Halal Guys, on the corner of 53rd & 6th.  Apparently this vendor is open 7:30 at night till 4 in the morning.  They serve chicken and lamb plates that are suppose to be the best.  Well, it was cheap (about $6 for a plate) and filling but it was far from being the best thing I've ever had. 



Chicken & Rice



Yellow rice topped with chopped chicken and a little lettuce.  They give you a side of white sauce and hot sauce.  The white sauce was essentially white bbq sauce and the hot sauce was so outrageously hot I couldn't stand it.  We definitely could have split a plate...we both threw away about half our food.

I also stopped by the same bakery I got my black & white cookie to get a cannoli.  It was very good but not better than the black & white which is now my favorite Yankee cookie.

NYC Day 5

I wasn't too anxious to go out this morning because I wasn't  sure what it was going to be like outside.  The snow storm brought about 16 inches of snow to Manhattan.  It was plenty of entertainment just to watch the local news!





I'm the speck on the left in the back!


Searching on the internet I learned that the Rachel Ray show should be taping around 12:00.  It was now 10:00 and I had to get a shower and take about a 20 min walk to get to the show.  And how much would the snow get in my way?  Well I decided to take a super fast shower and dart out the door to see if I could get a standby seat.  Getting there wasn't too bad but for every crosswalk that was cleared of snow there was one that seemed like an obstacle course of snow and slush!  I made it and they had plenty of seats still available!  I've never been to a television show so it was really fun to see how it all worked.

After the show, I had a few hours to waste until I was to meet Bill.  The leader from the school Bill was attending was taking a group to the World Trade Center site.  I got a late lunch at Goodburger, a New York fast food chain.  I had a very good grilled burger with real cheese.  I had several more blocks to trek before I got to where Bill was and unfortunately I wasn't able to keep my feet dry.  It was inevitable and I finally plunged my feet into an icy slush puddle trying to cross the street.  Shooting pain followed by total numbness!  I kept walking to get the water out and keep the blood flowing to my toes!  Stopped into a Duane and Reade store (drugstore) and got some dry socks.  Now I'll be able to handle the tour tonight.



Memorial Site Model

 We had a very interesting tour around the WTC site.  The new site will be composed of 5 skyscrapers, a memorial & museum, transportation hub, retail complex, and performing arts center. 1 World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the country when it is completed.  The foundations of the 2 World Trade towers will be waterfall memorials.  The site did not have a look of destruction anymore but rather progress and rebirth.  It was inspiring.



Smokin' Goodfella

 We took a walk to the Staten Island Ferry.  In Staten Island we had supper at GoodFella's.  They served us huge chunks of fried mozzarella, calamari, and tomato & mozzarella salad.  The pizza was great!  Traditional tomato and mozzarella, a Vodka sauce pizza with peas and mushrooms, and their award winning Smokin' Goodfella with smoked mozzarella and roasted red pepper cream sauce.  All 3 were very good but my favorite was the traditional pizza.

NYC Day 4

This became a rest day...for obvious reasons!  I enjoyed staying at the hotel and relaxing.  We didn't head out until the evening for supper and a Broadway show.

We had supper at Ellen's Stardust Diner.  What a blast that place was!  It has a great 50s feel to it and all of the waiters and waitresses take turns singing while they work. 

I didn't get a very impressive supper.  An appetizer platter of fried stuff.  I don't know what I was thinking.  The chicken empanadas and wings were good but just too much fried stuff. 

Ryan, our waiter, did a hilarious rendition of Jay-Zs "Empire State of Mind".  Also while we were there, American Idol was there interviewing 2 finalists that worked there!  So cool!

Then we headed to the Broadway show Wicked.  I had heard from several people that it was very good and it did not disappoint us!  It was alot funnier than I expected it to be.  I think the boys would have really liked it too. 

When we left the show the snow had just started and already the streets were covered white.  Thank goodness we only had to walk a couple of blocks back to our hotel!

NYC Day 3

 

Today was a day full of sight seeing!  I had hoped to try to get into a recording of the Late Show while here but they aren't taping this week.  Boo!  Oh well, there's still plenty to do.  It was really snowing in the morning but that wasn't slowing anything down.  My first stop was to the M&M's World store to get something for the boys.  Smells great in there but not much cheap, and by cheap I mean under $5, stuff for sale.  I didn't want to spend all of the money I had alotted for souveniers in one store!  I also stopped by the Hershey's store across the street which was very small and not to terribly impressive.  By comparison the M&M's store was 3 stories!



Split Pea Soup

  

I stopped into Junior's for lunch.  I had split pea soup and a piece of cheesecake, which they are known for.  The split pea soup was ok but alot thicker and chunkier than I thought it would be.  My waitress Tina, who was so pleasant, also gave me a side of pickled beets, slaw and a pickle.  I tried them, but I still don't like beets. 



Cheesecake

  

The cheesecake was very rich and creamy.  It had a sponge cake bottom instead of a graham cracker crust.  I couldn't finish it and I didn't take the rest with me cause I wanted to save my appetite and calories for other things I haven't tried yet.



Macy's



After lunch I headed down through Times Square towards Macy's.  Its a huge department store with 3 floors of shopping and several places to eat in the cellar.  Didn't buy anything....the things that caught my eye were just too expensive!  

NY Public Library

Then I headed over to the NY Public Library's main branch building, the Stephen A. Schwarzmann building.  You know, the one with the two lions out front.  What a beautiful building to see and it will be celebrating its 100th birthday this May.  It is now primarly a research building and not a place you would go to checkout a book.  The only exception is the ground floor which is the Children's Center.  Behind the library is Bryant Park which is a nice little green space in the city.  They had a temporary ice skating rink set up while we were there.

 

 

That evening Bill and I headed out for supper.  We were really wanting to have steak but the steakhouses are soooo expensive!  About 35-45 bucks for a steak and that doesn't include anything with it.  And these are huge steaks that I wouldn't be able to finish anyway.  So while I was researching where to have steak on the internet, I saw where people were suggesting to go to a french bistro for a very affordable steak dinner.  They usually do steak with pommes frites (steak and fries) and steak au poivre (steak with a cognac cream sauce) for 25-30 bucks and it includes the fries and a salad.  And the steaks at the bistros are a good portioned filet so its not too much meat. 

Steak Au Poivre

We decided to try La Bonne Soupe.  It was such a cute, intimate little restaurant.  We had a simple salad with a dijon mustard vinagrette and the steak au poivre with pommes frites.  Just right!  Very satisfying but it didn't weigh us down for more sightseeing. 
 

After supper we caught the subway to Grand Central Terminal.  Again, this is another beautiful building in NYC!  Its so weird to see these historical beauties surrounded by plain looking concrete and glass towers.  They just don't make em' like they used to huh?  Built in 1913, this is still a very busy, very much functioning station where subway lines and train lines intersect.  It also houses shopping and several restaurants too.  The huge concourse's ceiling is painted blue with a mural of the constellations.  They even have some lights to simulate the stars.  It really is breathtaking to step in there and you can see it on people's faces when they walk in there.  They just gaze up and say, Whoa!  Hard to believe that this landmark was almost torn down.  Thank goodness it was saved and revitalized.

NYC Day 2

This wasn't quite the whirlwind of a day like Day 1 was.  First of all I got to sleep till daylight! 



Chicken Ramen Soup



I didn't venture out of the hotel until lunch.  Across the street from the hotel was a place called Cafe Dukes.  Its like the craziest cafeteria I've ever been to!  It's broken up into different areas that serve such things as pizza, panninis, salads, sushi, korean, and a hot food bar that has an assortment of different things.  At lunch time it was packed full of people.  I decided on having the chicken ramen noodle soup from the Korean section.  They gave me a huge quart of soup, a side of kimchee, and I grabbed a diet Mt Dew all for about $9.  The soup came with a spoon and chopsticks and I refused to get a fork.  I managed to eat pretty good but hopefully no one was watching me.  Isn't there such a thing as the Chopsticks Diet where you eat everything with chopsticks?  I bet it works!  Anyway, I enjoyed my soup and tried some kimchee with it.  It tastes like a sorta spicy, kinda sour, chunky pickled slaw.  I liked it!  I had enough leftover to have for lunch another day.

After lunch I went to find some groceries so that I could have b'fast and some snacks in our room.  Well no one here calls them grocery stores, they say supermarkets.  Also I couldn't find them!  Tiny little things stuck in between other stores and with just a few things for alot of money!  I got 2 apples, 2 pints of milk, and 2 small yogurts for $6.  Later I found that a more normal looking supermarket was a few more blocks north of me.  I may visit it later this week.



Black & White Cookie



While I was out I passed by a little bakery and cafe, Fluffy's Cafe, and decided to stop in for some hot chocolate, or steamed chocolate as they call it.  I couldn't resist the black and white cookie either!  Its like a soft, not very sweet cookie the size of a large hamburger bun top with vanilla and chocolate icing.  It was so good but I couldn't eat it all at once.  I did finish it by that night and I did share a little with Bill!

That evening was a reception at the hotel's restaurant, Moda, for all of the student's that were attending the school.  Nothing too exciting just some pasta dishes, bland salad, and cookies.  I don't sound very impressed do I.  I wasn't.  The best thing was the roasted chicken, the olives, and manchego cheese I had.  Oh well, I would still have a week of good food to look forward to!

NYC Day 1

Wow was this a long day!  It started at 4 in the morning (our flight was at 6) and ended at 10 that night!  Well, the reason we are in NYC is b/c Bill is attending some classes with the medical examiner's office of NYC.  So, while he is in class I'll be sightseeing and then sightseeing some more at night with him.  We flew into LaGuardia Airport and then took a $30 taxi ride to our hotel.  Fortunately we didn't have to pay for that ride!

We are staying at Flatotel on 52nd St between 6th and 7th Ave in Midtown Manhattan.  We are blocks from Time Square and alot of touristy stuff so we can walk to just about everything.  We also got a Metro card for the week for $27 each that gives us unlimited access to the subway and buses which will give our legs a break.  Taxis get just too costly for running around and we wanted to experience mass transportation NYC style!

Our first  meal was a late b'fast at the Astro Restaurant.  This is a typical NYC diner and we had the typical corned beef hash with eggs.  Huge and very satisfying to last us until supper.  We had a great time chatting with the staff and everyone is very nice.

From there we took a walk down to Times Square.  What a sight!  You really can't take it all in!  Every time since then when I've gone back I see something I didn't see before!  There is a small Time Square Visitor's Center in an old theater that gives you a little history about it.  They also have one of the crystal balls they drop on New Year's Eve for you to see close up.  The museum is free and was a nice relief from the cold!

Afterwards we went back to our hotel for a little rest before we went back out.  For supper we went to a wonderful Greek restaurant called Molyvos.  It had a great atmosphere as well as great food. 


Makaronia





Bill got Hortosoupa, a bean and vegetable soup, and Makaronia, homemade pasta rolled with braised short ribs and a cheesy cream sauce. 
I had the Salata Roka, a salad for mixed greens with oven dried tomatoes and a crunchy bread topped with a yogurt cheese spread, and Lahano Dolmades, cabbage rolls stuffed with ground lamb & pork with rice then topped with a spiced yogurt sauce.


Lahano Dolmades

 

We shared a Ravani for dessert which is an almond cake topped with stewed figs and a vanilla yogurt cream.  Everything was so delicious and I plan to look for their recipes on-line.  The chef has several write ups in papers and magazines that you can find on the restaurant's website too.



Ravani







After supper we went to the Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of Rock observation deck.  It was great, but cold, view.  When you take the elevator up they project video on the clear ceiling of the elevator and you can see the elevator shaft as you travel 70 floors up.  The buildings, filled with artwork, are beautiful examples of Art Deco from the 30s.  I hope to go back later this week just to see more of its artwork.



Skating Rink @ Rockefeller



Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe

I really enjoy Greek food.  One day I would like to travel there and have the real deal.  Until then I'll keep looking for great Greek food here.  Taziki's is a well known Mediterranean Cafe here in Birmingham and I think they have a few locations outside of here.  You can view there website here. 



Greek Chicken Dinner for 4

The Fri-Sun special is my favorite dish of theirs.  They take Greek seasoned chicken breast and serve it on top of penne pasta coated in balsamic vinagrette.  This is on top of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, feta, and basil.  It would be such an easy thing to try at home.  The dressing is alot like Ken's Steakhouse balsamic vinagrette (which is what they use at Logan's Roadhouse) that you can get at the grocery store.

What I wanted to talk about this time is their chicken dinner for 4 to go.  This is a $20 whole chicken dinner with your choice of basmati rice or roasted potatoes, Greek salad, pita chips, and Taziki sauce.  You can only get this to go and you have to order it 24 hrs in advance.  The chicken is huge and it can easily serve 6 people.  They also do a Grilled Chicken Breast, Roasted Leg of Lamb and Pork Loin dinner to go too.

Cocina Superior

I have just gotten terrible about taking my camera to restaurants so I've decided to talk about the restaurants I've visited whether I have pictures or not!

 Tonight we at at Cocina Superior over at Brookwood Mall.  We have eaten there before and I don't remember what I had except for the excellent churros!  That's why we went back!  I had 3 tacos on soft corn tortillas with a slow cooked beef brisket filling.  They topped it with queso fresco, which is a mild crumbly white cheese, tomatoes, and cilantro.  On the side was avocado,  pico de gallo, and rice.  It also came with a choice of soup, black bean or chicken tortilla.  I had the black bean and it was better than the tacos!  The tacos were ok but not great.  Oh, and their salsa is a little bit different than the bright red salsa you ususally get.  I think their salsa had fire roasted tomatoes and it was very good. 

Finally, the churros!  I love them!  Crispy fried donut sticks coated in cinnamon and sugar.  If that wasn't enough, they put caramel and chocolate sauce on the plate to dunk in!  Oh my word!  In the future, I'll get a cup of soup and churros and skip the entree.

Day Six and Seven - The trip to Williamsburg

Well I didn't have much to say about day six because we pretty much rested that day.  We ate lunch at Panera which is one of my favorite places to go that I don't go to enough.  I recommend the french onion soup in the sourdough bread bowl.  Yummy!

Day seven was time to go home.  We had a great time but we were missing our boys terribly!  Once you see the 3 places we stopped to eat and what we had you'll probably think that we were guzzling pepto that night!  But it was all good and it didn't make us sick all though I couldn't eat like that often.  We took a different route home that took us on the Blueridge Pkwy.  It was a very pretty drive through northern Virginia and Tenn.

Our first stop was in Richmond, Va at the Dairy Bar Restaurant.  This was formerly a cafeteria for a dairy plant there but remained open after the plant closed.  They are know for their ice cream but we didn't have any with our b'fast.  I got corned beef hash which is something I don't get very often but its a nice change every once in a while.  Bill got a biscuit covered with sausage, eggs, potatoes, and gravy.  A mess on a plate but tasty.  Southern Living says its the best place for b'fast in Richmond.  I thought it was pretty good too.

On down the road in Charlottesville, Va, close to Va Tech, we got some lunch a Dudes Drive-in.  It's a teeny little place that you pull up to and a carhop comes and takes your order.  Bill and I each had a Dude cheeseburger, which is a cheeseburger with lettuce, tom, onion, & mayo, and shared a chocolate shake.  It was a very good burger and shake.  I'm sure it's very popular with the locals.

Finally in Knoxville, Tn we had an early supper at the Pizza Palace.  This was featured on DDD.  It's also a drive-in but they have a small counter inside that seat a few.  We went inside to get out of the car a little.  We decided to share the raviolis and greek salad.  I had to try their famous onion rings but I was only able to eat two so I took the rest home.  It was all very good and I would definitely like to go back and try their pizza which look thin and crispy.