La Bottega

(photo courtesy of Winette's camera phone)

It was a sunny spring day and Winette and I wanted to take the opportunity to eat al fresco and sans car fumes. She suggested the Maritime Hotel's La Bottega and I was all for it.

We showed up after a stressful day on the job, and were startled when the hostess at the top of the staircase leading up from the street told us we would be seated momentarily. It was a busy Friday night and I was stunned. Her "momentarily" was only seconds as she turned away and turned right back with menus and lead us to a tiny two-top in the center of the outdoor terrace. The word terrace doesn't really do the space at La Bottega justice. When I think of terrace in most New York City restaurants, I think of a fenced in 10x10ft section behind a restaurant, off a back alley. This is far from the case at La Bottega. The hotel sits behind the massive space and the front looks directly onto Ninth Avenue. The terrace is divided into two sections, one where you can order drinks and pizza; and the other where you can order the full menu. Whenever I pass the Maritime Hotel I can't help but look up with dreamy eyes, to see the large white globular lanterns dangling above the blue and white umbrellas. It makes me nostalgic for a trip my family once took to Santa Margherita Ligure along the Italian Riviera.

Winette and I couldn't believe how easy it was to sneak in to this hot spot and get a table. Our excited giddiness was short-lived, however. It was marred by the Britney Spears-esque girl that waited on us. I didn't mind she resembled the pop starlet, but I did mind that it took her forever to come over to our table, and not just the first time, but every time thereafter. Winette and I got our first glasses of wine, and we debated ordering the next round right then and there.

Winette is my favorite vegetarian and when I eat with her I try to mimic her, so we ordered a simple pizza margherita. It took so long to come out you'd think Britney flew to Italy to get it. We waited, and we waited patiently, and she kept saying it was on its way. What I didn't understand was how the table sitting next to us got their pizza when they were seated after us. Oh well, that's the story of my life. At least the pizza was hot when it came out. The pizza was just the right balance of sauce and cheese. And the thin crust was well-cooked and not soggy from too much cheese (one of my peeves).

I think every New Yorker should go to La Bottega. And when it's sunny I will be going back. It is hands down one of the most beautiful places to sit and relax with friends. I suggest not going starving like we were, however. Or, like us, you'll be be casting death wishes on every waiter who walks out with food that's not yours.

La Bottega at The Maritime Hotel
88 9th Ave, between 15th and 16th St.
212-243-8400

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Blue Water Grill

Funny how incredibly complicated it is to pick out a restaurant when four people are involved. Someone wants halibut or seafood, someone doesn't want anything too trendy or fancy, someone's wearing work clothes and can't go where she'll be seen as uncool, and finally someone is carrying a bookbag with them all the time so a restaurant with mini tables and seating isn't going to work either. There, I think that covered all of our dining concerns that evening, and any other evening with my family, for that matter.

When Mom mentioned she and Dad were coming into the city for dinner, we tossed around a few places and finally decided on Blue Water Grill. Thank goodness we came to a consensus at the ninth hour and still got a reservation on a Saturday night.

Blue Water Grill is a B.R. Guest restaurant. Some of their others include Ruby Foos, Dos Caminos, Barca 18, Vento and Isabella's. The group clearly knows what they're doing, but so far, Blue Water Grill is my favorite. The others tend to make up in party atmosphere what they lack in unique-ness and lackluster food. The B.R. Guest spots are typically characterized by their larger than life surroundings. The massive dining rooms and bars are always guaranteed to be packed with several other parties also celebrating birthdays, promotions, Fridays, engagements, breakups, etc. with you. They're not the best places for dates, because you'll end up yelling at each other the whole night, but they're great for a big loud party.

I walked in to Blue Water Grill to my smiling and proud fan club made up of Swimster and my parents, all giving me hugs about my work news. As I basked in this warm welcome, I felt the grandeur of the place. The downstairs was more or less split down the middle: half dining room tables with the other half being the long narrow entranceway to the hostess stand and the long bar. There is a big divider separating the two sections and I was trying to step on my tiptoes to see the action on the other side. The outdoor seating in front looks out on Union Square, but there are also the tables on the side of the restaurant, that overflow from large open doorways. There were tall white columns outside the airy doorways and gave me the feeling we were in a Greek palace and Bacchus was going to come out from behind one of them with his crown of vine leaves to pour me some wine. Next time I go to BWG, I'm requesting a table off the side doorways. That was the place to be.


The hostess escorted us to our table on the mezzanine level. Our perch, or table, was perfect for checking out the scene downstairs, kind of like the restaurant's box seats. Our server was extremely friendly and came over right away to rattle off a lengthy list of specials. After his impressive performance, I was surprised to learn he was not an actor. Maybe he needed to rethink his career choice.

We didn't waste any time before we picked out our cocktails for the evening. I went with my staple Grey Goose dirty martini, Mom went with hers the Mai Thai, and Swimster had a glass of wine (Dad was driving us home to CT that night so he was the token teetotaler). For starters we all shared shrimp and lobster spring rolls with a sweet chili glaze and bamboo-steamed shrimp dumplings with a spicy Asian dipping sauce. Dad ordered lobster bisque for himself and Mom ordered the grilled *Bosc pear salad with baby greens, goat cheese and a Banyuls vinaigrette. The dumplings and spring rolls were the highlights of this course. The spring rolls were just the right size to bite into without making a mess. And their outer pastry wrapping was thin and crispy. Unlike some spring rolls where you can't really tell what you're eating, I could taste the piping hot shrimp and lobster chunks. The steamed dumplings were packed with tender pieces of shrimp. Dad was a little concerned when he got a large white bowl with nothing but a dollop of creme fraiche in it. Before he could wonder any further, a busboy came flying over to pour the lobster bisque fresh from a hot metal container right into his bowl. Impressive.


For my main meal, I ordered the soft-shelled crabs (see above). They were a special that our character server talked about at the very beginning of our evening. Underneath the tower of soft-shelled crab was a sweet potato puree in a chili glaze (don't remember it being purple as in the pic). I go cuckoo for soft-shelled crabs, and I went cuckoo for these ones. They were breaded just right and there was tons of meat to be had. Swimster and my Dad both tried the Alaskan halibut with a porcini mushroom and fava bean risotto over a sweet corn emulsion. Mom went with her favorite: blackened swordfish with a sweet potato-crabmeat hash. She's not a sweet potato person, and even though my dish came with sweet potatoes, this didn't stop me from putting a dent in her portion too. Think minced corn beef hash meets crispy sweet potatoes...mmm! The boys enjoyed their halibut, so much I only got a small single piece of the tender white fish.

For dessert, we chose the apple pie profiteroles or cinnamon apple-filled cream puffs with vanilla ice cream and spiced caramel sauce. Need I say more? Apart from the dessert beignets Swimster and I had at the Modern, I think this is one of my favorite restaurant desserts of all time. Just seeing the apples and ice cream oozing out of the crispy pastry should be enough to inspire you to try them sometime.


As if this wasn't enough (I had already made up my mind this place was a gem), the waiter brought us samples of dessert wines with no prodding, and they were on the house. He brought us a glass of a Hungarian port '99 Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos. It was rusty golden in color and had a honey almond flavor to it. Second we tried a glass of champagne Cerdon du Bougey from the Domaine Renardat-Fache. It was a soft, sweet berry champagne and we insisted on having our waiter write both down for us so we could buy them on our own. The icing on the cake, ladies and gentlemen, and one more reason BWG gets its three apples.


31 Union Square West, at 16th St.
212-675-9500

*I just bought the Food Lover's Companion and thought I'd include the info I learned when I needed to look something up in it. So if I'm learning, everyone else can too:) Bosc pear is a large winter pear with a slender neck and a russeted yellow skin, available from October through April. It has a sweet-tart flavor and is delicious fresh or cooked.

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Out to Lunch

It's been 20 days since my last post.
Why didn't somebody tell me?
I'm sorry to have neglected you, blog, for this long.
And to my readers and friends, I'm sorry for neglecting you as well.
Times, they are a' changin' in my little corner of this Big Apple, both professionally and personally.
I've been adjusting to a new work schedule and am still trying to iron out when to set aside time to blog.
I hope you will forgive me for my absence, and thanks to all who wrote in with concerned emails.
Happy Monday! And now it's back to the blogging board...

Here's some of the action I'll be working on:
Blue Water Grill
The Maritime Hotel's La Bottega
Sangria
A clam and lobster adventure in Kennebunkport, Maine
A wedding weekend in Charlottesville
A wine night with friends at Tarallucci E Vino

And I'll leave you with this big furry friend. My mom and I saw one just like him hanging out on the side of the highway leaving Kennebunkport. Incredible :)

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