Craftbar

Earlier this summer I had the chance to celebrate my brother's New York arrival at Craft with him and my mom. So it was only fitting that we ended his New York experience with another one of Tom Colicchio's restaurants... this time we went to Craftbar. Located at 900 Broadway [MAP], Craftbar is Craft's informal sister-restaurant. the menu changes seasonally and features a variety of amazing dishes like Pecorino Fondue with Hazelnuts and Acacia Honey, Summer Squash Puree, Grana Padano Frico soup and more. (I didn't try either one but both sounded like great vegetarian options.)

My brother, his girlfriend and I shared a cheese plate where we chose four different cheeses- Sweetgrass Dairy Green Hill (cow cheese from Tomasville, GA), Sprout Creek Fram Toussaint (cow cheese from Poughkeepsie, NY), Holland's Farm Marieke Gouda (cow cheese from Thorpe, WI) and Ancient Heritage Dairy Adelle (sheep and cow mixture from Scio, OR).
Stephanie had the Bouchot Mussels sauteed with white wine, garlic and parsley. I had the Wild Arugula, Lemon Vinaigrette, Grana Padano and Pine Nuts salad. While Michael had the Linguine, "Cacciucco Livornese."
For dessert we all shared the Warm Brownie served with chocolate source, whipped cream, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. A bunch of the other desserts sounded great too like the Ricotta Fritters and the Vanilla Ice Cream Float.

Craftbar is now even open for weekend brunch- Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm.
See their brunch menu HERE.

Fishtail by David Burke

With my sister and cousin in town over Valentine's Day weekend we wanted to try the famous Serendipity but given the popularity of the weekend for lovers and out of towners the wait was nearly three hours long! Realizing it wasn't worth us waiting three hours to eat dessert we walked around the 60's until we stumbled upon Fishtail by David Burke which I had heard had great desserts. Even though the restaurant is known for their innovative seafood dishes the desserts are just as innovative.
We walked in, sat at the bar and ordered three different desserts (my sister and I don't mess around when it comes to desserts!). It was hard to choose between the Caramelized Banana Tart (maple gingersnap ice cream and peanut dust), "Can o' Cake" (molten chocolate cake, baked to order with all the fixins), the Apple "Toffe Pudding" Tart with pomegranate sorbet, the Passion Fruit Creme Brulee and the David Burke's Cheesecake Lollipops served with raspberries and bubblegum whipped cream.
We decided on the Apple "Toffee Pudding" Tart served with pomegranate sorbet which was amazing, we also shared an assortment of three sorbets and topped it all off with the made-to-order "Can o' Cake," and the best part? They bring you the mixing bowl and the whisks so you can lick the batter while you wait for your dessert to be presented. And the presentation is definitely worth waiting for... they bring you the piping hot chocolate cake baked in a tin that they top right in front with toffee crumbles, chocolate frosting, and more!
So I can't speak for their food but as most things created by David Burke, I'm sure everything else is just as delicious as the desserts were!
Location: 62nd btw. Lex and Park.

Morandi

The food at this rustic Italian trattoria is truly unique from the appetizers to dessert. I definitely recommend the Carciofi alla giudea (fried artichokes with lemon) for an appetizer, Zucca in scapece (savory pumpkin with pine nuts and raisins) as an antipasti, Tortelli di zucca (pumpkin ravioli with sage and butter) for the pasta dish and Branzino alla luciana (whole sea bass grilled in a lemon vinigrette) for the fish dish. Stick around for dessert because the Pere al forno (bosc pears roasted in red wine with robiola) is not to be missed. However I do suggest ordering a side of noci (similar to vanilla) gelato because I didn't like the robiola cheese very much. Another tasty and beautiful dessert was Crespelle (warm crepe with vanilla gelato and berries).

We went before seeing a Broadway show so we dined very early, but I would recommend making reservations for about 7:30 or 8pm, that's when the crowd really started picking up.

Check it out ASAP- it's already been written up in New York mag and more so hurry up! It's located at 211 Waverly Place.

Check it out on Spotlight:

Kansas City

A few weekends ago I was in Kansas City for a wedding and was totally impressed with how cute this city is, especially the downtown area. The area known as The Plaza has great shopping and great restaurants. The Plaza was designed in the 1920s and known as the nation's first suburban shopping district. The open-air centre was inspired by Spanish architecture and European art.

For the rehearsal dinner we went to Brio Tuscan Grille where we were severed fabulous dishes- 2 different dishes of pasta, salmon, and steak, followed by 2 large dishes of dessert including the best cheesecake I have ever tasted- Mike's Famous Cheesecake and Tiramisu.

On a side note, I flew Midwest Airlines NYC-Kansas City round trip and loved it, even despite the massive delay leaving NY. Not only did each passenger have big comfy seats, the flight attendants serve freshly baked chocolate chip cookies during the flight that they bake on the plan! What a great idea!

Pinkberry

After work this evening I met a friend to try the famous Pinkberry!This is the place to get "real" frozen yogurt and delicious toppings from fruit like mangoes and kiwi to cereal and nuts. The frozen treat boutique sells only two only two flavors, original and green tea (I didn't get to taste the green tea because it wasn't working). YumSugar's taste tester said it was terrible and too sour but I liked it, the first bite was a bit sour but once I added fruit to the bit of yogurt it was very tasty!

Cipriani- Downtown (376 W. Broadway)Late on a Monday night this hot spot was still completely packed with uber chic New Yorks. Even as we arrived around 9:30 p.m. for dessert everyone around us was just ordering their entrees. This is a great place to people watch- all day, really, from brunch to desserts & nightcaps.

Ideya (349 W. Broadway btw. Broome & Grande)
After dessert at Cipriani I stumbled upon Ideya, drawn in by the Latin flavored live music and dancing which I heard and saw through the front door as I stood across the street. Live music, salsa dancing and a delicious mjiots was such a pleasant surprise on a random Monday night.