Looking for a special getaway this Valentine’s Day? Dylan’s Candy Bar, New York’s candy cathedral, and Renaissance Hotels have created the Escape® Romance Valentine’s Day package at participating Renaissance Hotels in the U.S. and Canada.
The package includes:
- Standard Guest Room
- Bottle of Champagne upon arrival
- Breakfast for two
- Dylan’s Candy Bar Gift bag
- $100 Renaissance Savings Coupon toward a future 2-night stay
The Dylan’s bag includes gumballs, gummi bears, chocolate covered cookie dough and of course a chocolate heart. The package is available February 11-15, 2010 and prices vary by location. Go to www.RenHotelsRomance.com to book your package.
For a real splurge (or an extra big I’m sorry), The Renaissance New York Hotel 57 and Dylan’s created the Sweetest Suite, filled with over 300 pounds of candy including:
- An edible candy wall
- White chocolate fountain
- Cotton candy machine
- Gum balls and chocolate treats in every drawer
The suite is available February 13-15 for a mere $2,500. To book, call 212-651-3205. Nick Cannon checked it out earlier this month so book now before Mariah Carey does!
One of the best things about living in New York is the ability to enjoy some of America’s best chefs. Sometimes you get really lucky and one of those chefs comes to you. Such was the case last week when Peter Vauthy of Miami’s Red the Steakhouse came to town. Chef Vauthy was cooking at the James Beard House and hosted an intimate lunch at the West Bank Cafe. Red opened last year and is the first outpost of Cleveland’s famed steakhouse. I can’t vouch for the atmosphere of Red’s Miami venue but the food was top notch.
Lunch began with a creamy steak tartare served with thinly sliced crostini. A good tartare is hard to find and this one was excellent – hand cut beef tenderloin - none of that nasty connective tissue that can mar a good tartare - blended with salty capers and shallots instead of traditional onions. Also on the appetizer menu was a hot pepper stuffed with home-made sausage and topped with tomato sauce. If you are not a fan of spicy foods, skip this one. If you are, don’t miss it. After the fiery pepper, the house salad was a refreshing follow up – candied nuts, goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette over baby greens.
Our main course was, naturally, sliced filet mignon. Red uses only certified angus prime beef which is the finely marbled top cut of angus beef. The meat was simply seasoned with salt, tellecherry pepper (an exceptionally flavorful black pepper) and a hint of garlic. At the restaurant, the steak is served with a choice of sauces but the flavorful, high quality meat stands on its own. Another Red specialty, Alaskan King Crab was fresh and tasty but paled in comparison to the steak. Like most good steakhouses, Red has an impressive array of side dishes. The standout was the parmesan tater tots. A little larger than the tater tots mom heats up, the inside has the consistency of a potato latke with a crispy parmesan coating. I am embarrassed by the number of times I picked just a “couple more” off the communal plate. The crunchy sauteed green beans with salty pancetta, hot pepper and pine nuts are also a great accompaniment although one pinch away from being too salty.
If this meal is any indication, Red is certainly worth a visit the next time you are in Miami. If you are planning a corporate retreat, Red has a “blend your own wine” program instead of the usual tedious, team-building exercises. After a few tips from the sommelier, teams blend their own wines, develop a brand name and design the label. The winning wine is served at dinner – beats the hell out of Tug of War.
Red, The Steakhouse is located at 119 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL. (305) 534-3688.
Trial and error is a very important motto to live by. One of my biggest pet peeves happens to be people who refuse to try new foods… those “picky eaters” who deprive their taste buds of flavors, day after day, because they don’t even give them a try. Of course, I don’t get pissed at someone if they don’t take a bite of my shrimp dish because they are allergic to shellfish; I would feel bad for you, but I would understand.
What really gets me, is if I put the most delicious, flavorful, fatty piece of Maguro in your face and you won’t even TRY it. Truthfully, it is rare that I will ever voluntarily offer anyone a bite of my food, but if I do make that grand gesture, it is a huge deal!! You will never know whether or not you like something if you don’t ever put down your guard and open up your taste buds! So, for those picky-eaters out there (you know who you are)… the first step is admitting you have a problem. The second step, is either a) make a conscious decision to change your ways, or b) don’t ever, ever, EVER, dine with me.
I am one of those people who lives to eat, as opposed to those who eat to live. I will try anything, I mean ANYTHING, once. If I like it, fabulous, if I don’t, so be it. That is the only way to experience food, and life for that matter. I spent the past few months traveling the world and I got to try a lot of exotic and diverse foods. From Zebra, Oryx, Springbok and Crocodile in Namibia, to Dosas, Naan and Curry in India.
Restaurant Saravana Bhavan... Chennai, India
Some things I would eat again, some, I’d rather not. But the thing is–I experienced each country and culture through their food. That to me is the best way to get a feel for the places I visit, through the flavors, cooking techniques and the style of the people who inhabit them.
You learn a lot by watching someone cook. In Thailand, I took a cooking class at the world renowned Blue Elephant Cooking School with Executive Chef, Tiger, and ate at the Blue Elephant restaurant.
Cooking at the Blue Elephant in Bangkok
In Vietnam, I ate from street carts, while sitting on plastic chairs, on the beaches of Nha Trang. The simplicity of Asian cuisine and the pride the people take in preparing their native dishes, from locally grown, fresh, ingredients, shines through in every bite. Whether I ate at the best restaurant in a city or the most famous stand on the corner of a small town, I did not regret a single thing I tried.
Fresh spring rolls in Nha Trang, Vietnam... mmm
Masterpieces.
Living in a city full of every cuisine imaginable, I am truly blessed to be able to find the foods from around the globe that I have come to appreciate, like a really good Pad Thai, and the ones I have not yet been fortunate enough to savor.
This past weekend, I dined at some really great new finds (well, they may not be new, but to me they are!). If you don’t know me, you should know that if I see avocado in anything… I am probably going to order it. Add shell-fish or raw fish, and I’m sold. Benvenuto, on the corner of 23rd and Broadway has a great lunch menu and get this, they serve eggs all day! I don’t know about you, but I find it very aggravating when a restaurant shuts their grill off at 11:30 a.m. and won’t make me a good egg white omelet. Not only are egg white omelet’s a great healthy meal, but they are filling, delicious and something I am always in the mood for! I decided to try something on their menu, because it’s pretty hard to mess up an omelet, and let you guys know if this place was too good to be true.
I got a shrimp and avocado wrap, which had arugula, tomato, cilantro and dressing.
I love the colors-- doesn't it look awesome !
It was delicious. They serve all their wraps with a choice of chips or “air fries.” Of course, I had no idea what “air fries” were, so I had to order them… but, they turned out to be regular french fries. They kind of looked like those Ore-Ida fries that you get in the frozen section, the ones that you had growing up as a kid and were amazed how frozen fries could be microwaved to crispy perfection.
See what I mean ?!
Don’t get me wrong, they were great… I haven’t really met a french fry I didn’t like, but they were thick-cut and I must admit I am a shoe-string fry kind of girl. Don’t worry Benvenuto, I’m sure there are plenty of thick-cut loving fry eaters out there… you can’t please everyone!
Another place I got to try this weekend, as I said I wanted to in my earlier post, was Spice Thai. I think it is pretty hard to mess to up Thai food, so clearly their food was awesome, but the service was horrendous. I think any place can have a bad night… so I will give Spice the benefit of the doubt and assume this was theirs. The good thing about Spice is that it is BYOB, however, it would be in their interest to tell groups of 6 or more that they are limited in the alcohol they are allowed to consume, while in Spice. Two bottles of wine, for 6+ people, seems a tad unreasonable… in my opinion. Keep that in mind next time you hear that a place has free wine with dinner, or BYOB–it just goes to show that some things are not what they seem.
Be sure to get out there and give the diverse cuisine of NYC a try… you never know what you may find. And, when you do find that little hidden gem–be sure to tell me all about it!!