When I first heard of Bell Book and Candle, I went “Huh?  Bell Biv Devoe?”  I guess I was very off the mark.  Apparently, it is the title of a 1958 movie w/James Stewart and Kim Novak as a modern day witch.  It’s also the name of a new restaurant in the W. Village from Chef John Mooney. 

What sets this place apart from a lot of other places is the aeroponic rooftop garden where they grow their own vegetables.  So the veggies on your plate 10 months out of the year (excluding Jan and Feb) will come from the garden, which is all sorts of efficient, responsible and economical. Stuff that we like.

Now, that’s all well and good, but to survive in New York, a restaurant has to have the magic combination of tasty/quality food, inviting atmosphere, consistent customer service and perhaps a little bit of buzz (ratios most certainly will vary).  A garden is nice and all, but does the combination stand up to the garden shmarden hype?  In the case of Bell Book and Candle, “yes ma’am.” 

Because you know what, kids?  The veggies are accompanied oftentimes with some kick-ass yummy action.  Like meat.  The place has a grilled sausage of the day. OF THE DAY.  And that lovely frisee salad?  There’s pork belly hanging out next to it.  Don’t forget the seafood.  There’s a ‘gin and tonic’ wild salmon.  Because why wouldn’t Mr. Salmon enjoy being bathed in some juniper juice?  Crispy fried oysters. Scumptious - although I would suggest serving more than two.  Who the hell has just two? 

And, guess what?  They sing you “Happy Birthday.”  With pots and pans.  And don’t get all embarrassed - get a round of tequila shots and dance with the well endowed lady statue by the bar.  I sure did. 

The atmosphere - cozy, cute.  Lots of attractive men that would bring out the cougar in me.  I would head butt a few of their lady friends to move ‘em out of the way.  The service - super nice.  I mean, no need to be uptight in the W. Village and they take it to heart.

The downside?  Not much.  Some dishes are underseasoned, but rather that than over, I always say.  The price point for some dishes may be a little high.  But all in all, a solid new place.  I’d go back…and perhaps cop a feel from the lady statue again.

bbandcnyc.com/141 W 10th St
(between Greenwich Ave & Waverly Pl)
(212) 414-2355

New York may be the best city in the world, but there’s something about London glamour that can be so alluring.  And Le Caprice brings that sparkle stateside at the fantastic Pierre Hotel.

The lead-up was great.  The handsome, dapper man standing outside. The live piano music. The gorgeous long bar.  It had all the makings of a good night.  And a good night it was.

Now, the scene was pretty nonexistent.  It was a Wednesday night and well, most of the diners were very Upper East Side old money-ed old white men dining with their old white wives.  And when I took my seat at the bar, waiting for my friend to join, the old white diners thought I was a young not-white hooker.  But I took lemons and made lemonade by feeling pretty satisfied that I was the youngest female there. Hooker or non-hooker.

Once my friend joined me, she reminded me of our ‘bottle only’ policy and we promptly ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, which was quite lovely.

Now, I didn’t have high expectations of the menu, but it had potential.  So, we ordered half portions of the squid ink risotto, the grilled prawns, the plum tomato and basil galette with burrata and the steak tartare.  The dishes were (surprisingly) really fantastic.  I wished that we had ordered full portions! 

Now, at this point, we’ve accosted a fellow diner, who was deeply engaged with his Blackberry and glass of shiraz, to join us in our shenanigans.  He was well dressed, employed, British, a regular, but married (aren’t they always?).  I doled out some sage advice - “You’re mostly on the road and you’ve left your wife with your three sons under the age of 8? Get her diamonds.”  Then we drunkenly scarfed down the desserts (they were good, I just can’t remember what they were) and kidnapped him to a party where I should have remembered that champagne after wine can be a bad idea at times. 

But - back to the original point of this post.  It may be stuffy, but it’s glamourous, lovely and the next time I want to put on my hooker heels and look like I charge per night (not hour), you’ll find me back at Le Caprice.

795 Fifth Ave. , New York, NY 10021 (nr. 61st St)

212-940-8195

I’m wasn’t looking for a new Armani dress or suit, but I certainly was in the mood for wine while checking out some Italian eye candy.  And I was delighted - yes, delighted - to see some Italian male hotness dressed in Italian suit hotness hanging out at the Armani Ristorante bar. 

While a new friend and I cackled over finding the Holy Grail (a man who looks good, smells good, is well-spoken, hopefully employed, likes to cook, gives a good schtuping, and sleeps on his side of the bed, not mine), we made sure to check out the goings on.  And 5 glases of wine for the each of us, lamented why we didn’t stick to the original plan of getting a bottle.

Oh and by the way, the food is decent.  The bread basket was the highlight.  The tuna tartar was yum, but not yummy.  My pasta w/truffle oil, shaved truffles and mushroom was, well, not the truffly goodness that I wanted it to be, but seriously, am I going there for the food?  My friend’s pasta bolognese was much to be desired.  Both needed seasoning.  I was almost tempted to ask, ‘this is underseasoned, but I bet he’s hot.’

So, would I go back?  Absolutely. Maybe next time I’ll check out the 5th Avenue view and do some drunken shopping. 

717 5th Ave
New York, NY 10022

(212) 207-1902

I’m just sayin’ - the pastas at L’Artusi are crazy. CRAZY!  The spaghetti w/the spring garlic, parmesan and chilies is insane.  It has 4 sticks of butter in it, and that probably contributes to the crackiness, but I’m telling you, the dish is straight up crack.  The broccoli rabe side dish was just as mental breakdown inducing - and mixed w/the spaghetti, it just about killed me.  The fettucini w/clams - nuts.  Just nuts.

Our waiter John was so excellent, I wanted to pick him up, and put him in my pocket and take him home.  I always say, it’s a rare place that has the food, service and atmosphere that keeps me going back; I’m so going back to L’Artusi.  I can’t wait.

You know how you find a place and you go all the time, then things change?  And then you get bitter and just stop going.  I’ve had that happen to me with a number of places. One of them was Dell’Anima.  

I used to sit at the chef’s table, order 5 different pastas and stare admiringly at the…food.  Chefs were cute, but the dishes were cuter.  Until they were oversalted by the cute chefs.  Then noone was cute anymore.  Because everyone knows, there’s nothing I hate more than oversalted pasta.  

So I abandoned ship and found another place to cook for me.

To my delight, I found another place.  Dell’Anima’s sister restaurant, L’Artusi.  It was introduced to me by a friend in the wine business, who happens to know everyone there. So you know we got some special treatment - and some damn good wine; but I have to say, the food was great on its own.  The lantern bay scallops w/uni (yes, uni) was awesome.  Really really awesome.  The beef carpaccio was unexpected with the horseradish crema.  I loved schmearing it on bread.  That and a vat of wine would be good. But, there’s more!   The ricotta ravioli was crazy. Crazy!  Granted, it was a little bit of ravioli w/8 sticks of butter.  That’s what made it so good. And the grilled arctic char with fava beans and chanterrelles, because we thought was should have some sort of protein.  And butter.  

I wish we could’ve just ordered the entire pasta menu, but my friend and I vowed that we would try to have to an ‘off’ button on ordering.  Because I the ability to overorder (no, really?).

And the space is especially conducive to dining alone, which I dig, because it’s the only time I have to read.  In fact, I think I’ll be going back this week.  And perhaps the next as well.  

L’Artusi

228 W. 10th Street (btw Bleecker & Hudson) 

212.255.5757

I dig Marea.  Marea digs my wallet.  It’s a symbiotic relationship.

The reason I go back, despite the havoc it does on my bank account, is the food. Or the gorgeous bar.  OK, both.

I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve most of the dishes on Marea’s extensive menu.  And most of them are stupendous.  My constants are the astice (lobster/burrata/eggplant al funghetto/basil), the calamari (squid stuffed w/sausage/kale/turnip), and the ferrantini pasta with manila clams, calamari and hot chiles.  But I whore myself out to the other offerings; in fact, I appreciate that they allow half portions of their pastas so I really pull a pigfest and get a few at once.  Don’t judge!  

And can I say…fantastic cocktails?  I usually start with the Sicilian Orange - vodka, mezcal (that’s right!), blood orange juice and something else - delish and gets the night started right. 

The wines by the glass are good; I wouldn’t say it’s stellar.  Last week when I went, both the roses were disappointing. Actually made me sad.  Almost made me cry. OK, maybe not.

But the wine won’t stop me from going back. Maybe the bill will . .

Marea

240 Central Park S New York, NY 10019-1457

(212) 582-5100

I’ve been eating too much.  And drinking too much.  It’s not normal to eat out EVERY night.  Every day. On the weekends.  Every meal.  Even when you live in NY.  So I had resolved to not go out tonight.  Just gym and home.  But it’s always something, right?  In this case, a friend needed to go out. Needed.  I couldn’t turn her down. 

She suggested Pulino’s.  Solid place; and since it’s Monday, thought it would be easy. And technically it was - she had a seat waiting for me at the bar.  Love it.

Now, I’ve been to Pulino’s before.  Solid food; great service.  And every time, I’m amazed at how packed it is.  Monday night and it’s wall to wall people.  Astounding.  It’s the McNally formula - powder mix/add some water/wall to wall people. 

I’m hoping that it’s a simple dinner and an early turn-in time.  But seriously, I need to learn how to order simple.  Octopus bruschette (can eat this all day, all night), ceci beans (nice, forgettable), snap peas w/hen of the woods mushroom salad (too salty).  Then the polpettini pizza with beef meatball (I’ve had better).  But the food really is a side note.  It’s the french dishcloth napkins.  The small wine cups.  It’s the weathered look to everything.  The je ne sais quoi atmosphere. It’s the classic McNally formula that works at Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Pravda, Balthazar.  Over and over again, this dude just hits it on the head. 

And even though I had intended to stay home and I was beyond tired when I arrived, I walked out happy, satisfied and ready to come back.  

282 Bowery , New York, NY 10012 
at E. Houston St.  
212-226-1966 

How is it that I’ve never been to this fantastic restaurant in all my years living in NYC? It’s like that well known secret that I, not surprisingly, didn’t know.  Well, I’m in on that secret!

Il Buco started out as a quaint antiques store, and the charming, rustic ambiance still remains.  I believe you can still purchase imported items with a walking around with glass of wine in one hand and olive pits in the other.

We started out with a black kale salad that was to die for. So good that we just kept referring back to how it was so spectacular.  The house made pork sausage was just succulent - not too dense, and very moist.  Just as good was the pan-fired prawns; just so right for a hot day.  

We all continued onto pastas, but I have to say, the appetizers were so special that I wished that I had just ordered another round.  

And while I was with great friends and the meal was even more memorable because of them, I almost wished that I was dining at the bar, alone, with a good book.  But of course, if I did that, I would just text people telling them how great it is.  I guess it’s a win-win.

47 Bond Street
New York, NY 10012-2450
(212) 533-1932

WTF. In a good way. And while attending alone, know a good amount of mixologists. Is that a bad thing?

Soft shell crabs.  I love them. I really do. So when I get a mediocre soft shell crab dish, my heart breaks a little.

After checking out the new Limelight Marketplace opening, we headed over to BLT Fish because the fact that their name has ‘fish’ in it would imply lots o’ seafood.

And they do.  

But I knew what I wanted.  A dozen oysters and the soft shell crab tacos.

Oh, and cocktails.

A set-up for a fantastic night, right?  Well…

The so-so oysters and the ‘meh’ soft shell crab tacos made it not so fantastic.  I really wanted it to be better.  I ate the crack bread. I ate the crack chips.  But it didn’t matter. The oysters didn’t zing.  The soft shell crabs were flavorless.  It was… ‘meh.’

The cocktails are admirable there, though, so points for that.  And great service, as usual.

I’ll be back. The atmosphere is laid back and comfortable.  And memories of previous good meals there will keep me on the hook.

BLT Fish

21 West 17th Street

Between 5th and 6th avenues

212-691-8888