Blue Fin: An Ocean in a Food Desert

I love going to the theatre, but I hate picking pre-theatre restaurants. There are such slim pickings around Times Square that I often say that I feel like it's a food dessert. Which is exactly what I was saying to my friend as we sat on the red steps of the TKTS booth, but then I looked past her and spotted Blue Fin. As if reading my mind she said "You know, there's actually a pretty good sushi place around here..."

St. Andrews a Nice Catch

St. Andrews

After picking up some last minute tickets for The Realistic Joneses at the TKTS booth we needed a nearby spot to grab dinner. A quick search of the nearby vicinity pulled up St. Andrews Scottish Restaurant & Bar. Since we've recently returned from a trip to Scotland, we've been scouting out all the Scottish culture (& Scotch) that we can get our hands on in NYC.

Are You Achin' for Some BarBacon?

BarBacon: Old Fashioned & The Drunken Preacher

For some reason there is a bar devoted to serving Craft Beer, Bourbon, and Bacon-centric food 2 blocks from my office and I've never heard of it. That is, until I received an invite to a Happy Hour located there next month. However, I couldn't wait a month to check it out, so tonight The Mr. and I decided it would be a great pre-theatre spot before our show at the nearby Neil Simon Theatre.

Salute a Sergimmo Salumeria

Sergimmo: Meat Arancini

Our holiday weekend trip to do the Bourbon Trail was cancelled due to the general suckiness of the weather we've been having in NYC this year, so today we found ourselves milling around our apartment when the subject of lunch came up. Our instinct was to order sandwiches from our local fave Bottino Take-Out, but we decided some fresh air would do us good. I've had Sergimmo Salumeria bookmarked for a while due to the raves of other bloggers such as NYC Food Guy.

Debonair Bites at db Bistro Moderne

db Bistro Moderne: "I really can't stay..."

Tonight we had tickets to see "No Man's Land" over at the Cort Theatre so I hunted for nearby restaurants and was excited to find that it is close to db Bistro Moderne which has been on my radar for a long time. Not only is their burger often seen on "Best Burgers in NYC" lists, but I've been eager to try any/all of Daniel Boulud's restaurants. The Mr. got stuck in some traffic, so I ordered the "I Really Can't Stay..." cocktail while I waited. Although I really dislike "Baby It's Cold Outside", I really like Rum, Lime, Walnut Infused Sherry, Maple and Egg mixed together and served in my favorite cocktail glass!

Tot-totally Digging Yakitori Totto

Yakitori Totto: Sake

We finished a Knife Skills class at Sur La Table and were absolutely starving. I pulled up my "To Try" list and found we were a mere few blocks away from Yakitori Totto, which would officially round out the "Totto" trio of restaurants (or quartet if you count the new Totto Ramen).

Ra! Ra! for Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop: Shio Ramen 

I was pretty excited about the opening of Gotham West Market, since well, 11th Ave is pretty much no-man's land at the moment. But then we got pretty darn excited when we learned that it would be home to Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop. We'd seen Ivan Orkin on "Mind of a Chef" and couldn't believe that we'd have an outpost within a mile of our apartment.

What a peach! Ma Peche

Ma Peche | Fried Brussels Sprouts

We've been David Chang fans from almost the instant we set down in NYC as Momofuku Noodle Bar was one of the first restaurant we were taken to to initiate us as legit New Yorkers. However, we tend to keep doing repeat visits and haven't taken the opportunity to try his other fine dining establishments. Tonight, that finally changed...

Cafe 57 How do I love thee?

Cafe 57: Pecan Croissant Donut

I have the distinct pleasure of working in the Hearst Tower and therefore get to enjoy the offerings of Cafe 57 on an almost daily basis. I'm always impressed with the quality and diversity of their offerings, so though I was very pleasantly surprised to see a Cronut impersonator delivered from their kitchens, I was not shocked. This was actually my first experience with a cronut-like creation and it was an absolute delight. I expected it to be pretty darn good, but this far surpassed my expectations. Kudos to the Cafe 57 Chefs!

Izakaya MEW: Must. Eat. Weekly.

MEW: Potato Croquettes & Sake

We absolutely love our neighborhood Izakaya, Izakaya Ten and would really like to be able to say "It's our favorite Izakaya in NYC" except up until tonight, it was the only Izakaya we've been to in NYC. When we found ourselves hungry in midtown tonight it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try another so I whipped out my smartphone and off we went to MEW Izakaya.

Keen on Keens Steakhouse

Keen's Steakhouse: Creamed Spinach, Potatoes, & Prime Rib

Confession time folks: this was actually our second visit to legendary Keen's Steakhouse. But we liked it so much that we returned quickly and I didn't even have time to write a post about it yet. When our favorite steak place Dylan Prime closed earlier this year we were at a loss so I put together a list of new steakhouses to try. We tried and really enjoyed Del Frisco's, but Keen's historic status really piqued my interest, so when we were celebrating my first project launch at my new job, this is where we headed.

Gotta give it up for the Ippudo Westside

Ippudo Westside: Shishito Pepper

Ippudo is one of our favorite Ramen places in the city, so when we heard they'd be opening up a new location on the Westside we made sure to head there as soon as we could. We took our seats at the bar, ordered a couple of Sapporos and the Shishito Pepper, and settled in.

Update: Gazala's Place

Spinach Bourekas

It's hard to believe, but it's been a little over a year since I first visited Gazala's Place with my parents. We absolutely loved it (they've even gone back on their own!). So when we found ourselves out again in Midtown West with empty stomachs, we stopped by a liquor store to grab a couple of bottles of wine (it's BYOB), then made a beeline back to this great Israeli Druze joint.

FINally Blue Fin!

Lobster Roll

I remember the first time I went to Blue Fin- it was years ago when I was still in high school. My girlfriend and I were visiting New York City and my grandmother took us here for a pre-theatre dinner. I remember the awe of being in a fancy, modern restaurant in The Big City. So when I was going to see a show with my grandmother, The Mr, and my parents, I decided this would be a great place to revisit. Smack dab in the heart of Times Square, the location is perfect for a lot of theaters.

Stuffing My Pie Face

Pies Glorious Pies 

I was going to see Priscilla Queen of the Dessert with a couple of Australian friends and they suggested  grabbing a bit to eat at Pie Face. Funnily enough, this is their go-to post-work pre-theatre spot, so the pure Aussie awesomeness of it was kind of lost on them.

L'Ybane is Twice as Nice

L'ybane

A girlfriend and I needed a quick, impromptu pre-theatre meal, and I literally just walked around until I stumbled upon L'Ybane. A wine bar with hummus sounded very promising, so we decided to give it a go. 

Want Wine & Chocolate? Try AYZA

Angry Chicken Lollipops

I was meeting a friend for girls' night and knew exactly which restaurant we should try. AYZA is always near the top of Urbanspoon's NYC restaurant list and I've had a hard time drumming up enthusiasm from The Mr to try it out. But as soon as I said the words "wine and chocolate" my girlfriend was totally in. It also worked well that they had a Midtown location since we work on opposite ends of the isle of Manhattan.

We started with a glass of free wine (you can 'Like' them on Facebook to get a coupon) and then ordered a few appetizers to split: the Angry Chicken Lollipops, White Truffle Pizza, and Grilled Baby Shrimp...

Anejo Tequileria To Kill Some Time

Anejo Tequileria

My friend and I were wandering around the Theatre District between shows, looking for a little place to grab a drink when we spied this charming little tequileria on the corner of 47th and 10th Ave. The doors and windows were flung wide open, letting in the sunlight and surprisingly fresh breeze.

A Very Gilded Lillie's

Lillie's

I had had a disappointing experience with the Lillie's location in Flatiron a couple years back, but decided to give it another shot at a pre-theatre brunch because I was seeing Once and I'm a sucker for musical/meal pairings. We were immediately enamored with the Victorian decor as soon as we walked in the door. Like it's Flatiron sister, every square inch is lavishly decorated, but this location is much bigger, making it an even larger impact.

A New Go To: Kyotofu

Kyotofu Goodies

I was wandering around Hell's Kitchen with some friends, when one of them suggested getting some desserts from Kyotofu. I was intrigued by this tiny Japanese restaurant/bakery packed with people. I hadn't heard of it before, but I seemed to be in the minority. We fought our way in the door to get our little snacks and ate them out on the sidewalk. I was extremely full from dinner, so just got the cute little Matcha Green Tea Mini Cupcake, but everything looked AMAZING. I have mentally bookmarked this place for a romantic date night with The Mr. sometime in the (hopefully) near future!