Kitchen and Cocktails

When my co-worker Winette and I learned my birthday was the same day as her anniversary, we realized we had more than just sangria-lovin' in common.

Since my birthday was on a Tuesday and I had it off, we made plans to go to one of her favorite places Kitchen and Cocktails to celebrate my birthday eve and her anniversary eve together. I was excited to catch up (she had just returned from a wedding in Russia), and even more excited when my roommate FoxyLady wanted to join us. Those rare souls willing to go out with you on a school night are true pals. Not only that, but Winette brought in 2-dozen cupcakes for me and our co-workers!! They were from Buttercup Bakery, the spin-off of the famous Magnolia Bakery, and they were out of this world!! I especially loved the red velvet ones! What a treat. It feels as if I've celebrated a birthWEEK and not just a birthDAY this year. I am one lucky girl...

K&C has two very wide open doorways and not a single windowpane was anywhere in sight. What a find for the beautiful fall weather we are finally starting to enjoy. There were several open tables but we decided to sit at the bar on the big comfy leather stools. The closer we were to the server the better. It was soothing to sit on the bar, with our backs to the pouring rain outside. Minus the honking taxis, I felt I was in a tropical storm.

The inside was dark and subtly lit by dangling colorful lanterns, candles, and golden chandeliers. There were some tables and a couple wooden booths with curtains neatly draping the outer edge of the tabletop. Perhaps you could eat in them with the curtains closed. Very intriguing...I felt like I was in Morocco and a genie was going to come out of my champagne can.

Champagne can? Yes, that's right. Winette told us about these adorable pink mini-cans of champagne and we all thought, what better way to start off the evening! They aren't even as tall as the Red Bull cans. And attached to the side of the can is a small expandable straw. We had so much fun drinking this new discovery in Niebaum-Coppola's wine selection. I plan on buying a small case for my friend's recent engagement.

Menu memorables: The "adorable" dinner continued with goat cheese fondue. The goat cheese sat in a ramakin atop a mini-fondue set. A candle was its source of heat, and surrounded with slivers of grilled sourdough bread and thinly-sliced green apples. The goat cheese was warm and creamy, and on the lighter side. It wasn't as potent as other goat cheeses I've tried, which was a good thing. And there was a perfect amount of bread and apples for all of us to enjoy. K&C was already off to a great start. FoxyLady and I decided to try the tuna poke (Winette is a vegetarian and we respect her choice but wanted to try one of the meat dishes). The dish was served with fried wonton chips and a globular portion of poke. Poke is similar to tartare with lightly marinated and lightly seared tuna, minced and mixed with cucumbers, seaweed, and ginger. The poke was chilled and soft and tasted smooth slathered on the wonton chips, like butter on toast. A perfect end of summer dish (and I wish I had started coming here sooner). For the main course we tried the oven-baked macaroni and cheese (as you know one of my weaknesses). I died and went to macaroni heaven. Without a doubt, even better than the Kraft mac and cheese, even better than Grandma's, even better than Auntie's, this macaroni and cheese was THE BEST macaroni I'd ever eaten in my whole life (pasta used wasn't actually macaroni but shells). It was served in a sort of narrow casserole dish (the kind you'd get a huge banana split in). It was topped with fresh bread crumbs and a perfect layer of light cheese. The icing on the macaroni was the pieces of broccoli, equally mixed in. There were even a few shells with crispy edges -my favorite part. I wish I could eat this on a weekly basis and still hope I can convince them to start free UWS delivery, though not likely. Birthdays and anniversaries only come once a year, right? Hence, the decision to order dessert. Just when we thought this meal couldn't get any better, we chose caramel apples. Similar to the goat cheese fondue, warm caramel sat atop a mini-fondue set. Around the caramel, there were 8 apple balls (a la melon balls, scooped out the same way) with toothpicks, the better to dip them with. Pick up the apple, dip in the caramel, then dip in the chopped nuts on the side. Carnival delicious. Our server was extremely friendly, and when she noticed we ran out of apples she sliced us some more, as not to waste any of the dippings.

I haven't even mentioned the delicious cocktails we had all night. After the cans o' champagne, Winette and I went for the house sangria. The sangria was excellent-not too sweet and just the right boldness of flavor. I need to taste the wine in my sangria. FoxyLady tried the Hangar One Raspberry Lime Ricky, (what a mouthful) which had raspberry-infused vodka, lime, mashed raspberries and soda. This was delicious, a cross between a raspberry blended margarita and a raspberry margarita on the rocks (minus the tequila of course). It wasn't blended but had very small smashed ice cubes and pieces of raspberry...mmmm delicious. When our server realized it was my birthday eve, she bought us a whole round of drinks.

I didn't want the evening to end, nor did I want the eye-catching and yummy dishes to stop coming. But alas, the clock was ticking and Mona-rella had to get to bed. I can't wait to share this bar & restaurant with other friends...

*we came on a weekday and were easily seated. HOWEVER, i was warned not to even TRY getting a table without an annoying wait on the weekends*





199 Orchard St, between Houston & Stanton St.
212-420-1112