28
May

Grace Bay Club – TCI

by ccwynne812   {8:00 am}

GRACE BAY CLUB – TURKS & CAICOS

Grace Bay Circle Road, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

Date Stayed: May 2014

The Grace Bay Club is phenomenal all around – a classic of the island as one of our cabbies told us. It features classic island inspired architecture and is located in the center of Grace Bay with miles of beach on either side. It is easily accessible from the airport and close to many of the fantastic restaurants the island has to offer. The service is impeccable which makes for a truly relaxing and rejuvenating getaway.

One of the best things about the resort is that there are so many areas to eat and drink throughout – and every one has a spectacular view. They pride themselves on the beautiful Infinity Bar, which appears to extend all the way to the ocean.

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In the evenings there are several fire pits which add to the warm and relaxed ambiance of the property.  My favorite spot to watch the sunset for evening cocktails was in the Lounge in front of one of the fire pits facing the ocean. The basket lanterns hanging from the trees above shed a warm glow.

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The Grace Bay Club pools are also beautiful for cocktails during the day. The main pool (family pool) is lined with deep blue tiles and palm trees growing directly from the water and features a swim up bar.

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The adult pool is more calm and relaxed and features a glass wall facing the ocean.

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Of course there are many other spots throughout the property, including the ocean-facing balcony of your room to enjoy a cocktail (or to rehydrate!) but these left an impression.

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I would highly recommend the Grace Bay Club for your stay in Turks and Caicos.

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27
May

Conch & Cocktails – TCI

by ccwynne812   {8:00 am}

CONCH DIVING TOUR

Island Vibes Tours, Turks & Caicos

Date Dined: May 2014

Rating – Must Do!

Ready to Dive!

Ready to Dive!

For the absolute freshest conch around, you can have a conch salad made directly in front of you on a beach. I’m not sure how anyone can top that! We took a little snorkel boat cruise through Island Vibes Tours (again, thanks to the help of our trusty concierge, Franklyn), which stopped at Iguana Island where the captains prepared a little afternoon snack of conch salad.

Because conch is such a highly coveted shellfish, it has become seriously over-fished. The captains said that while tourists used to be able to dive for their own, they are no longer accessible in shallow waters and must be retrieved from much greater depths.

We had a couple of the beautiful creatures on board and one of the captains demonstrated how to loosen the muscle from the shell by using a hammer and a knife.

"Conchussion"

This guy’s about to get a “Conchussion”

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The conch is then cleaned leaving nothing but white muscle, which is chopped up and ready for eating. We had a lovely salad with tomatoes, citrus, onion and peppers (I worked my way around those) with a few rum punches on the beach.

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I was able to keep this gorgeous shell as a souvenir of the trip. A true food adventure!

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Filed Under: Amazing Views, Drinks, Outdoor Seating, Seafood, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
26
May

Coco Bistro – TCI

by ccwynne812   {5:52 pm}

COCO BISTRO – TURKS & CAICOS

Grace Bay Road (Next to Sunshine Nursery) Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

Date Dined: May 2014

Rating: 8.4

Photo Courtesy:

Photo Courtesy: www.upmagazine.com

After the crazy winter we had in New York City, a knee surgery and weekend after weekend of weddings, I needed a break. Turks and Caicos is incredibly easy to reach from the city – the flight down was under 3 hours! With silky white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and of course the promise of fresh seafood, I was sold. I gathered recommendations from my friends who have visited the island many times, Kylie and Chris, and Alex (from Indagare Travel) to put together a list of must-eats. Thank you for your spot-on suggestions!!

On the first night I managed to snag a reservation at Coco Bistro thanks to our personal concierge, Franklyn, at The Grace Bay Club. He said that reservations begin filling up 3 months in advance! Coco Bistro is charming and romantic as it is set amidst the largest palm grove in Providenciales. The plam leaves create their own living ceiling which flutters in the breeze to reveal the stars, and the palm trunks are wrapped in twinkling white lights. The name Coco come from the resident Coco the cat who wanders silently about the property.

Palm Leaf Ceiling

Palm Leaf Ceiling

Chef Stuart Gray uses the freshest local ingredients to create unique and bright flavorful Carribbean dishes.

Every vacation in my book begins with a cocktail. Coco Bistro serves its own signature version of the classic island cocktail rum punch. The recipe is kept a secret but one sip and you’ll know why!

Coco Bistro Punch

Coco Bistro Punch

We started with conch 2 ways. This local shellfish appears on basically every menu and the subtle flavor works with a multitude of preparations. Preparation 1 was a fried version with sweet and sour sauce, the second was a Dominican pineapple martini with lemon and hot pepper. Both were tender pieces of the shellfish bursting with fresh fruit flavors.

Conch 2 Ways

Conch 2 Ways

We also had the Coco style tuna sashimi, which was served on crispy tortilla with red onion, tomatoes, scallion, tobiko, cilantro and wasabi mayo. Fresh fish and vegetables on a crisp tortilla – ok, now I was officially on vacation.

Tuna Sashimi

Tuna Sashimi

For the entrées we stuck with fish as well. First was the tandoori rubbed Mahi Mahi with a chickpea potato cake, roasted fennel seed green beans, lime-ginger buerre blanc and a tropical fruit salsa. Mahi Mahi is one of my favorite white fish because it has nice body and light flavor. It stands up to preparations like grilling without falling apart. This preparation was a nice mix of Indian seasonings with a Caribbean twist.

Mahi Mahi

Mahi Mahi

The second entrée was grilled tiger shrimp with West Indian coconut curry with crispy pappadum, Jasmine rice and a spicy banana chutney. Again- a delicious marriage of flavors of the East and the Caribbean.

Tiger Shrimp

Tiger Shrimp

I highly recommend Coco Bistro for a delicious dinner is a beautiful and romantic Island setting. Just make sure to make your reservations far in advance unless you are willing to test your luck!

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Filed Under: Healthy, Outdoor Seating, Romantic, Seafood, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
21
May

Captain’s Neck

by ccwynne812   {8:12 am}

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I have just come across Captain’s Neck which is a line of drinks inspired by the East End. Based out of Southampton, the founders grew up on (virgin) transfusions and Southsides. Today, inspired by these classic flavors, they have created two awesome drinks (all natural) with similar flavor profiles but with only 40 calories!! I don’t know about you but I prefer to eat rather than drink my calories…Cheers to that!!

Find out more about where to try them or buy at www.captainsneck.com

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04
May

Black Seed Bagels – Soho

by ccwynne812   {5:32 pm}

BLACK SEED BAGELS – SOHO

170 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012

Date Dined: May 2014

Rating: 8.7

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New York’s hottest new bagel shop, Black Seed, has been getting lots of press in its first couple weeks of being open. Noah Bernamoff of Mile End and Matt Kliegman of The Smile have brought Montreal style hand rolled and wood-fired bagels to NYC with their charming little shop. On their first day they completely ran out of bagels altogether forcing them to institute a 4-bagel maximum.

The clean wood and brick lined interior features a few tables to sit at and an open kitchen where all the magic happens. The wood burning oven is tended by just one dedicated bagel roaster who carefully fires a few bagels at a time to achieve the perfect crusty outside and steaming soft, chewy inside. Each bagel is relatively small and nicely coated in its seeded topping of choice.

I stopped by Black Seed yesterday morning expecting a wait but had all my food in about 10 minutes. I ordered two bagels and wished I could have eaten more! The first was the classic #1 – an everything bagel with plain cream cheese, house lightly cured salmon, ripe red tomato, finely sliced onions and a few salty capers. What is really apparent is how much care is put into the creation of each bagel and each sandwich on the menu. The result is one of the best bagels in New York.

#1

#1: Everything Bagel, Salmon, Tomato, Cream Cheese, Onions, Capers.

My second sandwich was #3 which was an everything bagel with salmon, tobiko cream cheese and butter lettuce. The tobiko cream cheese was a nice creative touch that was not only tasty but also very beautiful.

#3:

#3: Everything Bagel, Tobiko Cream Cheese, Butter Lettuce

To round out the meal Black Seed also serves Stumptown coffee making it the ideal one-stop breakfast spot. I have no doubt that Black Seed will be around for a very long time.

 

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07
Apr

Philly Cheesesteaks

by ccwynne812   {9:54 pm}

ROADTRIP: PHILLY CHEESETEAKS

John’s Roast Pork vs. Pat’s King of Steaks

John’s: 14 Snyder Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148

Pat’s: 1237 E Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Date dined: February 2014

Rating: 8.4

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A few weeks ago I went to Philly for a university alumni event. Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was cheesesteak! I decided to do a cheesesteak-off between my two favorite cheesesteaks from my college days – John’s Roast Pork and Pat’s King of Steaks.

First stop was John’s Roast Pork. John’s has been around since 1930 so they have their recipe down. They are located in just about the most random location, which is in the middle of a shopping center down by the South Philly docks. One could easily miss it if they didn’t know to look for a non-descript shack that just happens to serve some of the best Philadelphia style comfort food around. Their signature sandwich, as you might guess from their name, is roast pork. We also sampled the pork but honestly, the cheesesteak is better.

Signature Roast Pork Sandwich

Signature Roast Pork Sandwich

The steak is served on seeded hard roll and packed with meat that is grilled to order for each sandwich. The meat is thinly sliced and grilled with the onions to infuse the meat with their aroma. The cheese is then melted on top of the meat so that every bite is cheesy. At John’s you are more likely to have provolone than wiz for a bit of tangy flavor. The steak is perfect as is, just salty, cheesy, and oniony enough with no need for anything else. Of course we complemented our steaks with some crispy hot French fries. Steak perfection.

Cheesesteak with Mild Provolone

Cheesesteak with Mild Provolone

Cheesy Cross Section

Cheesy Cross Section

One thing to note about John’s – it is a lunch spot exclusively so make sure to get there early as it often has very long lines and shuts down the grill at 2:30pm.

John's - Middle of Nowhere

John’s – Middle of Nowhere

Next up was Pat’s King of Steaks, which has also been serving steaks since 1930. Pat’s is much more what you would think of when imagining a Philly cheesesteak – plain hard roll, slathered with bright yellow cheese wiz and then topped with a mound of steaming sliced steak and onions. Pat’s is open 24 hours a day but amazingly has a long line at almost any time of day or night. The line moves quickly though as they cook their ingredients in bulk ready for assembling.

Wiz Wit (Wiz with Onions)

Wiz Wit (Wiz with Onions)

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Photo Courtesy: Pat's King of Steaks

Photo Courtesy: Pat’s King of Steaks

There is a special place in my heart for this artificial yellow cheese which has a unique flavor that cannot be replicated elsewhere. While one thing is for certain – Pat’s is far superior to its neighbor Geno’s Prince of Steaks – I must say that in my opinion John’s Roast Pork makes the tastiest Philly cheesesteak in the city.

WINNER: John’s Roast Pork

Filed Under: Cheap Eats, Field Trip, Open Late, Outdoor Seating Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment
05
Apr

Burger Joint Downtown

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

BURGER JOINT – GREENWICH VILLAGE

33 West 8th Street (at MacDougal Street)

New York, NY 10011

Rating: 7.4

Date Dined: March 2014

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Burger Joint has recently opened an outpost downtown on 8th street. This makes it much more easily accessible than its midtown predecessor for people like me, who are much more likely to stop by late-night than for a mid-workday lunch on a Tuesday.

This is exactly what happened last week. After my happy hour extended well beyond the normal dinner hours, I was starving and craved a burger. The new 8th street location is pretty large with a bar in front and booths towards the back. The décor is pseudo divey with assorted pieces of graffiti art lining the walls. At the very back is the open kitchen where all the magic happens.

The Joint burger falls into the category of “fast-food” burger, much like a Shake Shack or In-n-Out Burger – that means a thin patty with your standard toppings lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese (if you want) and pickle. The freshness of the ingredients blows any other “real” fast food place out of the water but can also arguably compete with a higher end luxury burger.

The meat patty is thick enough so that it is still pink on the inside. The vegetables are crisp and fresh. The fries are a fairly thin cut and crispy, served in a cute little paper bag. What’s more, you can order a cocktail while you enjoy your meal.

If I were to compare this burger to my beloved Shake Shack, I would say this is slightly “healthier” – only because Shake Shack is so greasy (which is exactly what makes it so wonderful.

Burger Joint is a really good fast food burger which will be happily welcomed to the scene south of Grand Central.

Cheeseburger and Fries

Cheeseburger and Fries

Medium Rare

Medium Rare

 

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03
Apr

Mary’s Fish Camp – NYC

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

MARY’S FISH CAMP – WEST VILLAGE

64 Charles Street New York, NY 10014

Rating: 8.1

Date Dined: March 2014

Photo Courtesy:

Photo Courtesy: www.westvillagefood.com

On the one randomly warm, sunny day amidst this brutally frigid winter we have had in New York, I was meeting a friend for lunch. I serendipitously stumbled upon Mary’s Fish Camp – no line, no wait, just walk right in. What was going on?! As it turned out Mary’s had just reopened that very day from some sprucing-up renovations and their credit card machine was down for the day. In this plastic-fueled city, no credit card machine means no business. For whatever reason I happened to have some cash on hand and called my friend to join me right away. We took our seats at the bar and debated how many dishes we could realistically tackle.

Mary’s has been in the conversation for some of the best casual seafood the city has to offer.  Even with their recent renovation, the feel is pleasantly divey like a roadside shack you might find in an East Coast beach town.

We settled on three dishes – the lobster roll (duh), fish tacos and the shrimp sandwich.

The lobster roll is served about room temperature (I prefer this or hot to chilled). The dressing is not overly mayonaisey but rather, more like a creamy sauce with hints of citrus and chives. The bun was bit stale but I’ll cut them some slack for just having re-opened. It was served with a gigantic mountain of shoestring fries that were crisp but not overly crunchy (a pet peeve of mine). Overall, a pretty solid lobster roll.

Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

The fish tacos were much larger than expected and come two to an order. They are served Baja style with habañero lime yogurt and frijoles charros. The flakey white fish was lightly fried with a good amount of toppings and sauce without being overwhelmed by them. This is a fish taco, not a taco with fish. I do not love black eyed peas so left those aside.  A good order for sure.

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos

Last was the shrimp burger with sambal lime aioli and daikon slaw. This is an excellent sandwich. It had a bit of a bánh mì feeling to it with the fish flavor, cilantro and slaw. The burger was mostly shrimp rather than breadcrumbs or other ingredients and the slaw added cool freshness. Cilantro always brightens a dish for me so I liked that component as well. The burger was served with charred shishitos peppers on the side. Also a great order.

Shrimp Burger

Shrimp Burger

Mary’s fish camp is no doubt some of the best seafood in the city. On a sunny day I would not hesitate to put my name down for a wait.

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02
Apr

Levain Bakery – UWS

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

LEVAIN BAKERY – UPPER WEST SIDE

167 W 74th St, New York, NY 10023

Rating: 9.5

Date Dined: March 2014

The most perfect cookie

The most perfect cookie

In 1994 friends Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes began their mission to bake the world’s most perfect chocolate chip cookie. Anyone who has ever had one of Levain’s EPIC-ly delicious cookies knows that this is about as close to perfection as one can achieve.

Levain is a shoebox sized bakery on the Upper West Side (although they now have two more locations) which fits about 5 people at once. The line out the door is visible from down the block and smell of freshly baked cookies emanates from the space causing unknowing passers-by to inquire about the heavenly aroma. Once inside, you order quickly and are given cookies fresh out of the oven.

The first thing you notice is that each cookie probably weighs a pound. Levain’s chocolate chip cookie is over an inch thick so that if you take it home to eat it is still warm and melting on the inside. Packed so densely with chocolate chips and walnuts, each bite is equally perfect.

The classic chocolate chip has made my EPIC picks list.  Of course Levain also makes a few other varieties – oatmeal raisin, chocolate chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter. Whichever flavor you prefer – Levain has indeed mastered the art of the perfect cookie.

Assorted Flavors

Assorted Flavors

Filed Under: Cheap Eats, Desserts, EPIC PICKS Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment
30
Mar

Wallflower – West Village

by ccwynne812   {5:05 pm}

WALLFLOWER – WEST VILLAGE

235 W 12th St (4th St & Greenwich Ave)

New York, NY 10014

Rating: 8.0

Date Dined: March 2014

Website: www.wallflowernyc.com

Photo Courtesy: www.wallflowernyc.com

Photo Courtesy: www.wallflowernyc.com

Wallflower is my new favorite spot to recommend to people when they ask me where they should go for dinner. It is a cute, low key hole in the wall with ridiculous cocktails and surprisingly good food. On top of all that, the service and friendly staff was some of the best I have encountered in a long time. That is always refreshing and especially in this city.

Wallflower opened just a few months ago in October and seems to be doing excellently well despite the lack of phone number to make reservations (I emailed them to get one – although now they appear to be on open table). I selected it for a date a few weeks ago because the space is intimate and romantic without giving the feeling that you are on top of your neighbors.

I expected great cocktails knowing that Xavier Herit, ex-head barman at Daniel, would be crafting them. But we were pleasantly surprised by how good each course was and I later found out that chef Jared Stafford-Hill previously cooked at Maison Premiere which is another one of my favorites.

I was torn between ordering a la carte or ordering the extremely comprehensive tasting menu because at just $65 per person, it’s a great value as you get (what seems like) nearly everything on the menu. We chose a la carte in the end because there were a few additional dishes we wanted.

As a vodka drinker I started with the delicious and slightly spicy “shush” cocktail – a pineapple and chipotle pepper infused vodka drink with lime juice, strawberry syrup and angostura bitters.

"Shush"

“Shush”

Our first small plates arrived – briney Island Creek oysters, the black bass crudo with matsu apple and seaweed, and chèvre with shaved breakfast radishes and basil. The black bass really stood out with its subtle and clean flavors. The chèvre cheese was smooth, creamy and bright with the basil oil.

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Island Creek Oysters

 

Black Bass

Black Bass

We were also given a small sample of the homemade ricotta with fennel and golden raisins which was also light and creamy but slightly more savory.

Ricotta and Fennel

Ricotta and Fennel

Next were the pâtés – country pâté with pickled vegetables and the fois gras sandwich with rhubarb mostarda. The country pâté was a bit meatier while the fois gras sandwich was creamy with a bit of sweetness on a fresh, crusty bread.

Fois Gras Sandwich

Fois Gras Sandwich

While you could easily get by on just the small plates, they do offer a few larger plates as well. We had the house made duck sausage – two juicy, gamey links atop some white beans. The fluke with chowder “jus” really impressed me with its refined flavor. It was incredibly light and the broth was thin yet multi-dimensional with tastes of shellfish and vegetables.

Duck Sausage

Duck Sausage

Fluke

Fluke

For dessert the brioche with pear confit and vanilla ice cream is a bit like a decadent French toast you might share at brunch. The sheep’s milk yogurt panna cotta came highly recommended by our waiter and rightly so. The slightly tartness of the yogurt is cut by the sweet and sourness of the kumquat confit.

Brioche with Pear Confit

Brioche with Pear Confit

Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta

I highly recommend Wallflower for a casual meal, a date, or even just drinks.

 

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