My last Restaurant Week dinner for Summer '10 was at Fishtail by David Burke.  It's a lovely spot in an Upper East Side townhouse.  The upstairs dining room feels like they've set up tables in a space that used to some lucky person's living room.  It's really quite beautiful.

I LOVE Fulton... not only is it beautiful (decor-wise), a yummy fish restaurant (run by the Citarella people), but it happens to be a stone's throw from my house.  I don't go there very often for dinner because it's a bit pricey for a "neighborhood" spot, so it was great that they were participating in Restaurant Week (3 courses for $35, it's kind of like getting your appetizer and dessert for free)!  I went with a friend on Wed. night.



I had the chilled spring pea soup garnished with lobster, creme fraiche, lemon grass and chili oil. Then, the monkfish with charred tomato, mussels and chick peas. I also tasted my friend's organic salmon with spinach, fava and yogurt. For dessert, the strawberry shortcake.

The soup was amazing, it was non-dairy except for the creme fraiche garnish.  It's hard to get really excited about soup but this was exciting, perhaps it was the chili oil that made it perfect?  Wow, it was just delicious and it really did have chunks of lobster in it.  The monkfish was quite good, but not great, but in all fairness monkfish isn't my favorite fish because of its texture. The preparation was excellent though, with the flavorful charred tomatoes.  My friend's salmon was delicious.  The strawberry shortcake was fine, but not great.  I compare all strawberry shortcakes to my Mom's home-made so maybe its not a fair comparison.  (you know, fresh homemade biscuits, with fresh local picked berries and freshly whipped cream with no sugar - heaven)

I was quite impressed by the generous portions too.  You sort of figure that they're thinking all the cheapskates are coming out for Restaurant Week so maybe they'd be slightly less generous with the portions, but this what not the case at all.  Great, great dinner.  And it's not too late, there are couple days left of Restaurant Week!

You can read their regular dinner menu here.  Oh, and their super nice final touch is that on the way out they give you a little bag of sweets.  This one had a cookie and 2 fish shaped chocolates!  How nice is that?

I went to the Carlyle last night for Restaurant Week dinner.  What an elegant affair!  The restaurant is divided into two rooms both have table arranged spaciously so one would never feel crowded.  There are several corner tables that are nice, you sit on the banquet with velvet pillows to lean up against.



The wine list was in general pricey, but they had at least one reasonable choice in each category, which is nice. We had Chateau de Sales Pomerol, I think it was around $70? I had the field greens, scallops and rhubarb tart. The field greens were pretty standard.  The scallops were served with grilled fennel and were quite good. I loved the rhubarb tart because it was just rhubarb, not mixed with another fruit as most places do, so it had that great tart rhubarb flavor. Here is a link to the Restaurant Week menu.  The service was nice, quite proper and not snobby at all.  I thought they might have been since we both ordered from the Restaurant Week menu...  Overall, it definitely felt like a luxury experience... as it should, the Carlyle is a Rosewood property and they certainly know luxury!

Great news for those of us who are sorely missing Payard on the Upper East Side.... Francois Payard will be opening Payard Bakery at 116 West Houston Street.  It is scheduled to open in the late Summer.  Here is a rendering:



It will offer take-out and a casual dining room.  I used to stop by the Upper East Side bistro/restaurant to buy macaroons once in a while... oh, I miss those!!!  They are so good it will be worth a trip downtown!
 

Bastille Day is next Wednesday, just the excuse we needed to go out for some tasty French wine and food!

Fig & Olive serves Mediterranean food with a South of France vibe.  They are offering free rosé wine with their delicious crostinis at their Meatpacking district location!

 
While you're there why not try their prix fixe menu which is a really great value!

NYC Summer Restaurant Week is July 12 - 25.  Start making reservations now so you don't lose out!   Lunch prix fixe is $24.07 and dinner $35.


Some restaurants are participating for only lunch or dinner, but most are offering both.  You can preview selected menus at the NYC Go website and link to reservations on Open Table.  Many top restaurants are participating like: Aureole, Cafe Boulud, Del Posto, Jo Jo, Le Cirque, Nobu, etc. etc.  Also a lot of neighborhood spots.

Tribeca Grill is having a Clambake/Wine Dinner on Wednesday July 28th.  It's $75 for a family style feast with lots of great seafood and wine!  Here's a peak at the menu:


Yummy, yum, yum!!  Call 212-941-3900 for reservations.

I have been meaning to get to Luke's on the Upper East Side (242 E. 81st St. betw. 2nd & 3rd) ever since I read about them in New York Magazine a while ago.  Well, I finally made it yesterday.  They are located in the former Etats-Unis space, but it has been transformed into a Fish Shack.  The lobster roll is $14, or you can get a it with a drink, chips and a pickle for $16 (both + tax).  What interested me the most about this place is that I love lobster, but I HATE mayonaise, and almost everyone mixes the two - but here you can keep your lobster pristine (no mayo or butter!) if desired, or have it with just butter and/or lemon, and spices.  I tried it with lemon and spices... wow, I have to say they don't chintz you on lobster!  I was really impressed with the amount of lobster and gorgeous huge hunks of claw meat. (the claw is my favorite part)  The roll is nothing special, just your basic toasted hot dog roll, I didn't even eat it.  I just ate the lobster out of it with a fork, heaven!!

This is the picture from their website and yes, it really does look like that!



They even deliver, with a $20 minimum.  Check out the full menu here including soups, crab claws and crab and shrimp rolls. I hope they're successful, it's a great addition to the Upper East Side!

I'm going to stay on the topic of truffles today... another great and (relatively) inexpensive way to get truffle flavor is with a truffle oil!  I found a good size container at Home Goods of all places for $12 recently!  (and no, it was even expired or anything!)  You can get the same kind at Amazon (La Tourangelle Infused White Truffle Oil, 2 for $26.15), their price is very good too, it's 23% off the regular price.  The oil base is grapeseed oil, which is a very healthy type of oil.



A nice way to use it is to mix up an easy vinaigrette:

1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon white truffle oil, or to taste
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Toss it with mesclun greens. Dress up your salad a bit if you feel like it by adding some fresh fig cut into pieces and a little bit of gogonzola dolce!

I LOVE truffles, but of course they are so expensive, it's a rare treat. Well, here's a pretty inexpensive way to bring truffles into your life: Truffle Salt!

Williams-Sonoma Truffle & Salt, 3.5 oz. jar, $28. It is sea salt blended with a generous amount of Italy's fresh black summer truffles from Abruzzi.  It has received 4.8 stars out of 5 from Williams-Sonoma reviewers.  I would put this on basically anything savory!  Vegis, popcorn, scrambled eggs, omelets, salads.... Yum!