The Standard Grill

I was shopping around in the Meatpacking District and stopped by The Standard Grill for lunch.  I have been here before for dinner and I highly recommended this spot, I am already planning my next trip back!

I absolutely love the decor, it's a warm and inviting brasserie with beautiful red banquettes and dark wood.  My favorite feature is their brilliant use of pennies for their flooring!

They start you off with a nice bag of bread.  Is wasn't warm but it was salty, and a slightly salted bread is something of perfection, love this.

The Tuna Nicoise salad was not a traditional salad, more like tuna on top of a small bunch of arugula and some accompaniments including delicious olives, half a hard boiled egg, green beans, potato and tomato, I had them hold the anchovies.

There were so many options that looked amazing there is something for everyone.  Stop by for dinner, lunch, or brunch and try some of their delicious and unique eats and drinks!

 

 

The Standard Grill
848 Washington St, New York City (cross street is 13th)
http://www.thestandardgrill.com/

T-Bar Steak and Lounge

I am enjoying some time off from work and decided to spend a rainy afternoon the best way possible...couped up in a restaurant with plenty of wine and delicious food!  So, my husband and I headed off to T-Bar Steak and Lounge for a long lunch.

To start, a beet salad, but not just any beet salad, this included the traditional frisee and goat cheese, but to my complete pleasure, it also included crumbled pumpkin seed brittle.  So delicious!

The tune tartare was also fresh and delicate.

The mac and cheese, a side dish, was quite big and very rich and savory.  Loved the cheesy crust.

Finished off with their biscotti plate and a coffee which concluded my perfect UES lunch.

Check out T-Bar Steak and Lounge for a wonderful day (or night) filled with delicious food and perfect service.

T-Bar Steak and Lounge
http://www.tbarnyc.com/
1278 Third Ave, New York City (cross street is 73rd)

Maialino

It was a cold day and all I wanted to do was sit in a warm restaurant with delicious food and drink wine all afternoon so I went to a perfect place for just that, Maialino, located in the Gramercy Park Hotel.  Mailiano has a beautiful and quite fancy dining room but since I wanted something a bit more relaxing, I sat at in their bar area with old rustic wood tables and floor to ceiling windows where the sun just poured in on this particular day.

 

 I love bubbly at lunch and because it was such a cold winter day I went with the chilled, sparkling red which is a bit more complex than say, a Prosecco.  They also provided beautiful rosemary bread to start.

 

 

 

 

 

Maialino has a reasonable weekday price fixe menu, 3 courses - antipasti, entree, and biscotti - for $35.  For the antipasti I had the octopus with heirloom beans and radish.  It was cooked perfectly and quite lovely. 

 

 

 

I then had the Brodetto, a seafood stew, for my entree.  On the cold day this was perfect, light, alittle spice and filled with fresh fish.

 

 

 

The biscotti plate was an adventure, there were so many different cookies that were all delightful, a perfect end to the meal.

 

 

If you have a few hours for lunch and are looking for some great food and wine, Maialino is a great spot for you.

Maialino
2 Lexington Ave, New York City
http://www.maialinonyc.com/#

Catch

On a night of spontaneous bar hopping, I ended up at Catch for a third round of scotch.  By that time, I also needed to get some dinner.  I had been to Catch for dinner before and loved the food so was happy to order a few appz to quell my hunger.  The bar was packed but we were able to order with the bartender.

 

A nice Macallan

 

 

 

We started with the Catch Roll with crab, salmon and miso-honey.  So delicious and very little rice, mostly fish, which is fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

Sake chicken lettuce cups are fun and delicious!

 

 

 

 

The Grilled Octopus with a wonderful sofrito sauce.

 Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

Mahi Mahi wonton tacos with fresh guacamole.  Crunchy, bright, a bold bite of flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

If you love fish you must swim over to Catch for fun, unique and delicious dishes.  A great spot for groups as well as couples.

 

 

Catch NYC
21 9th Ave, New York, NY 10014
(212) 392-5978

SD26

Last weekend I had dinner at SD26, located at the north side of Madison Square Park.  I had a special five course tasting menu that they put together that evening and it was quite an experience.

 

 

The restaurant itself is beautiful, very modern and stylish but felt warm and inviting.  When we sat down they already had rosemary breadsticks on the table.  I haven't met a breadstick I haven't liked but these were exceptional with little pieces of rosemary, the fact that they were waiting at the table for me, bonus!

 

 

 

We ordered a bottle of red wine and presented with a gorgeous bread basket; I went with the walnut bread and foccacia.  The foccacia was light and doughy, not greasy.  Red wine and three bread options, this is a great way to start a Saturday night!

 

 

 

The chef brought out a lovely and very large "amuse-bouche".  Two fish dishes that featured a hint of orange: fried fish on orange marmalade on the left and tuna carpaccio with citrus on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

We were then served with what they said was one of their signature dishes, a ricotta ravioli with soft egg on top.  Quite delicious, the ricotta was absolutely heavenly but it overpowered the egg and that delicious runny yolk was lost in the dish.

 

 

 

 

Then came the pasta, this was my favorite dish of the night.  A linguine with clam sauce, the pasta was perfectly cooked, soft and delicate but with a bite to it.  It was elegant and simple and just wonderful.

 

 

 

 

We then moved on to fish, scallops with green cauliflower puree with pistachio.  This was a delightful dish and a wonderful use of the local produce!

 

 

 

 

For our next course, I had the venison.  It came with simply grilled leeks and onions but the meat really stood out, the star of the dish. 

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert we had two options, a fantastic Tiramisu that was to die for, it was mousse-like which I loved. 

 

 

 

 

And gorgeous Lady Fingers surround a pastry cream and berries.

 

 

 

 

To top us off, we ended the meal with had a collection of cookies and truffles, completely divine.  Restaurant owners take note, your patrons LOVE this stuff, do it more often :)

 

 

 

SD26
19 E 26th St, New York, NY 10010http://www.sd26ny.com/