Tuesday, July 26, 2011

NYC Restaurant Research

While on my lunch break I was surfing the internet for what else, but cool restaurants to eat at in New York. I pretty much do this on a daily basis, but especially at work now since I have no friends here to eat with...pathetic I know. The up side is I spend less on lunch because I choose food from to-go places.

Today I went to Neofytos and ordered a fresh salad. They have an entire bar for you to choose from and a list of how much each additional item costs. I had the guy add grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, red onions, black olives, red cabbage, croutons and a balsamic vinaigrette. He mixed it all right in front of me and was finished in just a few minutes. My salad ended up costing $7.50.


Normally I wouldn't order a salad because I don't like the pre-boxed kind, but I enjoyed this one. It was definitely a great deal for a quick fresh salad only a few minutes walking distance from work. For those of you what aren't huge salad fans, they also have sandwiches.

Anyways while I was searching the internet, I found a couple of new really cool websites. One of them is Eater: New York. It has different stories about new restaurants opening, the local hot spots, and where fun/cheap places are in your neighborhood. It also showcases reporting on celeb chefs, dining trends and reality TV. Of course I was looking at the New York restaurants, but other cities are featured on their website as well.

One of my favorite articles was "The 38 Essential New York Restaurants, July '11." You can search for restaurants by neighborhoods or just view the map of the whole island. One place I have been wanting to visit is #26 on the list: JG Melon Restaurant. I first saw it on the Food Network where Bobby Flay (my favorite) talked about how they have the best hamburgers in the city.


Doesn't that look delicious?

Hopefully since I am about to be an Upper East Sider I will be able to go here soon! If you have been to JG Melon's, let me know about your experience! 

While searching around on this new site I stumbled upon a link to the Food Network New York City Food & Wine Festival (September 29-October 2). I instantly began looking at the schedule and tickets to see if I could find an event I could afford to attend. Unfortunately, the cheapest event I found that interested me was around $100. I immediately told myself it was alright because by this time next year I will be making enough money to afford any ticket I want!

Upon further review I did find some complimentary events (they aren't necessarily the exciting ones though) and sent an e-mail to RSVP. The one that looked semi interesting was "The Feast Talks: 21 Questions for Tom Colicchio." I sent in for four people. My roommate Erica, her boyfriend Tyler and my friend Alexa. I don't know if they will all want to go, but I figured it can't hurt to do it just in case. I figure I can always drag Alexa along with me if I promises her drinks afterwards haha.

As I continued to search the internet I also found Lidia Bastianich's website. For those of you who watch Master Chef, she is Joe's (the judge) mother. For those of you who don't, google her. She is known for Italian cooking shows and cookbooks. Next time I go into Barnes & Noble I want to flip through one and see how it is. Here are a few of the cookbooks she has written.














If you have any of these or know anything about her cookbooks, PLEASE let me know what you think about them. Also, feel free to tell me which ones are your favorite and which recipes of hers you life.

She also has several different restaurants and just opened a new place with her son and Mario Batalli called Eataly. In a sense it is a supermarket with restaurants on steroids. You walk around being able to taste the ingredients the restaurants cook cook with. One weekend my roommate and I are going to go there, so I will be able to tell you more about it at a later date.

That's all the new restaurant info I have to tell you about for now. If you know of anywhere I should try, don't hesitate to tell me! I look forward to hearing from you.

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