No Monkey Business at Casa Mono

Casa Mono

I was in Gramercy this afternoon time today with my Dad looking for a place to eat. I knew it was finally time to check out Mario Batali's Casa Mono. It was the awkward time between lunch and dinner, so I thought we wouldn't have a problem finding a table, but to my surprise, the place was packed. We were able to get a couple of seats at the bar, and after a good while, we were finally noticed and brought some bread.

A Window into Ventanas

Ham Croquettes y Empanadas

I walk by Ventanas almost every day and love the decor I can see from the outside, so the second I saw a Bloomspot Voucher I snapped it up to go try it out. Seemed like a good place to try for a girls' night with a girlfriend, so I called her up and arranged a date.

So-Yummy Soccarat - Nolita Edition

Stuffed Dates & Fried Artichokes 

We were meeting up with friends for dinner and one of them suggested Soccarat Nolita. Having enjoyed the Chelsea location of this restaurant, we were interested to see what the Nolita annex is like. First, it's a lot bigger than the Chelsea location, which was good for our group of 8. I also enjoyed the ambience a bit more, which surprised me, since I had assumed they would be similar. But enough about the space, let's get to the food.

We started with a selection of tapas: stuffed dates, fried artichokes, calamari and potatoes. More photos after the jump.

Salinas is anything but flat

Coles y Coliflor
Pimentos del Padron

Paella Negra

We hit the town last night with the intent of scoping out Chelsea speakeasy newcomer Bathtub Gin, but when we arrived, it was reservation only. We started to walk home and as we were discussing what our replacement plan should be we walked by Salinas. I've been hearing great things about them since they opened in June, so we popped inside.

Poll Winner: Tia Pol

Everyone raves about Tia Pol as one of the top Chelsea joints to eat. It's been top of my list of places to try (especially since we live half a block away), so with my parents in town and needing dinner, I dragged them in here. It definitely falls into the typical teeny, cramped NYC dining space camp. But we got a nice table by the bar where we weren't too jostled.

We started with two of our favorites, the shishito peppers and deviled eggs, aka pimientos estilo gernika and huevos rellenos al pimentón de la vera. These are straightforward dishes and did not disappoint. 

Shishito Peppers & Deviled Eggs 

Spanish Fare at Cafe Espanol

Sangria, Bread, & Dipping Sauce

Paella Valenciana

Paella Marinera with Lobster

To celebrate one of our good friend's birthdays we decided that the festive choice would be paella. We revisited a restaurant that we went to when we first moved to the city back before the blog was really up and running called Cafe Espanol. As we remembered, the sangria was delicious and the bread comes out with this wonderful olive and olive oil dipping concoction. 

For dinner, we all shared the Paella Valenciana (sausage, chicken, seafood, and saffron rice) and the paella Marinera with Lobster (shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, squid, and saffron rice). We enjoyed it a lot, but found it to be a bit on the salty side. Now that we've had paella from Soccarat and experienced the slightly burnt, magic, delicious crust that can be the bottom of paella, I don't think I can fully enjoy paella again without that. Unfortunately, this paella did not have the soccarat effect.

Socarrat, So-yummy

Daily Special Peppers

Tocino

Sangria y Beer

Seafood Paella

Ready for it's close-up

We were in the mood for Paella, so it was finally time for us to try out Chelsea's famous Socarrat Paella Bar. We started with a couple of tapas while we waited for our paella since each pan is made to order. There were some delicious little peppers on the daily special list, lightly seasoned with oil, salt, and lemon- nice and fresh tasting with just the right amount of kick. We also ordered the tocino: braised pork belly served over date puree. The food was so good that we decided it was worth treating ourselves to relax and enjoy some drinks with our main. Finally, our pan of seafood paella full of cod, cuttlefish, shrimp, mussels, squid, cockles, and scallops arrived.  The treat was the socarrat, the crust of overcooked rice that forms at the bottom of the pan.

Save some room for Sala One-Nine

The Mr. was craving paella so we pulled out the trusty old Diner's Deck, and wouldn't you know it, we were only a few blocks away from Sala One-Nine! Normally when we pass it on the way home it is chock full of people enjoying drinks & tapas. Fortunately, on a Sunday night it was a big quieter and we didn't have to tackle crowds to get a seat.