New York Magazine Bar Buzz has a great listing of rooftop bars. It's been 90 degrees today, so a rooftop bar is sounding pretty good!

View the list here.  Some of them are opening soon, or later in the Summer.



Shown above: rooftop bar at The Strand, Top of the Stand, 33 W. 37th Street. Wow, great view of the Empire State Building!

More from my weekend in Chicago... Osteria Via Stato in the River North neighborhood (620 N. State St.). You enter the restaurant into the more casual Pizzeria via Stato section and go through a swinging door to the Osteria.  It's quite large with 2 rooms and several really big farmhouse tables for large parties or communal seating.  We went on Thursday night, it was pretty busy but not full capacity.


Here is the menu.  It has a la carte and "famous Italian dinner party" options.  The Italian dinner party sounds fabulous if you're starving or with a big group.  It features antipasti to share, 2 pastas, a main course and sides for $38.95/person. Here is the full description.  We opted for a la carte but tasted several things.  We started with the grilled baby octopus with roasted fingerling potatoes, then shared a small serving of the handmade spinach ravioli with truffle oil, then the seafood stew and prawn entrees.  It was all delicious and we paired everything with different wine courses from their nice selection of wines by the quartino.  They also have a rather clever option for people who don't know wine very well called "Just Bring Me Wine" and they will match up the wines for you. Oh, and I almost forgot - - the bread is amazing!  It's warm and has a perfect crisp crust and tender center, it's heavenly.

I've been working up to having a burger for years... I'm not a vegi but I just kind of prefer not to eat meat.

Well.... I ran across a burger so compelling in Chicago this past weekend that I had to have it!

The burger was at the Park Grill in Millennium Park, the giant bean sits on top of the structure that houses the restaurant.



Here is the description from the menu: Peppercorn Crusted Kobe Burger with gorgonzola, balsamic grilled onions and grain mustard on a pretzel bun

Oh my goodness!  This was so perfect since I love every single part of this - what put me over the top was the pretzel bun.  I love pretzel bread and it's so hard to come by!  They gave no hassle about substituting the fries that normally come with it for a mesclun salad.  They had some great wines by the quartino, the Unti Dry Creek Zinfandel 2006 was a perfect match for the burger!

Their menus have a lot of great things.  Take a look at the lunch and dinner menus.  To my taste, stand out items are: the Apple & Fennel Salad with mixed greens, candied almonds, mindoro bleu cheese and cider vinaigrette; Thyme Roasted Scallops with edamame, tofu, radish, pea shoots and lemon-salt; and Pacific Dover Sole with crisp capers, arugula salad, baby artichokes and italian parsley.  

The Haagen-Dazs® brand is celebrating a milestone birthday − and you're invited to share in the fun as we all sing for ice cream.  On Tuesday, May 18, 2010, Haagen-Dazs will celebrate 50 years as the first super premium ice cream with its annual Free Flavor Day.  From 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in any participating Haagen-Dazs Shop across the country, ice cream lovers can wish the brand a "Happy Birthday" and enjoy a free scoop of one of three original all-natural ice cream flavors: Haagen-Dazs Chocolate, Coffee or Vanilla. 

"This is a huge milestone for us, and we're thrilled to be celebrating our 50th birthday with our loyal fans," said Haagen-Dazs Shops brand manager Julie Fleigle.  "Free Flavor Day gives us an opportunity to give back to our dedicated supporters who have made us the successful ice cream brand we are today."  

Haagen-Dazs ice cream reflects decades of passion and creativity that began in the early 1920s when Reuben Mattus, a young entrepreneur with a passion for quality and a vision for creating the finest ice cream, sold fruit ice and ice cream pops from a horse-drawn wagon on the bustling streets of New York. The Haagen-Dazs brand officially launched in 1960 with three classic all-natural ice cream flavors - Chocolate, Coffee and Vanilla - still popular favorites today.  At first, Haagen-Dazs was only available in container packages at gourmet shops in New York City, but soon distribution expanded throughout the East Coast.  By 1973, Haagen-Dazs products were enjoyed by discerning customers across the United States. In 1976, Mr. Mattus' daughter, Doris, opened the first Haagen-Dazs Scoop Shop in Brooklyn, New York. It was an immediate success, and its popularity led to a rapid expansion of shops across the country.

To find a nearby Haagen-Dazs Shop where you can participate in the Free Flavor Day festivities, visit the Shops locator on www.haagendazs.com.

One of the best things to do in good weather times is go have a cocktail outside to enjoy the breeze and fresh air (okay, maybe the air isn't exactly fresh)...

Here are two places to imbibe outdoors - and up high!

Press is on the 16th floor of Ink48 (a Kimpton Hotel) in Hell's Kitchen (address: 653 11th Ave at 48th St.)  It is scheduled to open this Friday, April 16th.


Not bad, ha?  I bet this place is going to be very popular!

The Rooftop is on the 12th floor of the Empire Hotel (address: 44 West 63rd St. @ Broadway) It has views of Lincoln Center.  The food is done by the China Grill people, so you know it's going to be tasty!  You can look at the cocktail and food menu here. 

Last weekend I found a wonderful new (to me, not new in general) spot on the Upper East Side: Bistro Le Chat Noir on 66th Street between Madison and Fifth.

(Odd Fact - It happens to be diagonally across the street from where Imelda Marcos and all her shoes used to live!)  It is run by the woman who used to manage La Goulue, you can read an interview with her here. 

After a pleasant walk around the Upper East Side on Easter Sunday, a light bite was in order.  They had a really tasty and very Spring-ish lobster salad prepared with 1/2 a lobster, mesclun greens and fresh fennel in a citrus vinaigrette. The baguette they served was quite spectacular, crispy outside with a tender, chewy inside - just the way it should be.  I regret that I didn't ask who their baguette source was. You can check out the entire menu, here at menu pages. For the location, I would say it was a very good value too.

Sherry Lehmann is one of my favorite wine shops in the city. It's a beautiful store and everyone who works there actually knows about wine. Also, it's in a super convenient location (505 Park Ave. at the corner of 59th Street) near Bloomingdale's, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn.

Here are their wine picks for April:

Over the weekend I went to Esperanto (145 Avenue C at the corner of E. 9th Street). It's a South American bistro.

It was quite good!  We all shared some red sangria. ($35/pitcher).  The wine list offered several very affordable options like a $26 Rioja and a $31 Malbec.  The menu was surprisingly diverse... usually when I think of South American, I think it's going to be really heavy on the meat, but this wasn't. Also, as you would probably expect on Ave. C, the prices were all quite reasonable.  I had a delicious tuna steak with a salsa and rice ($17).  It was perfectly seared (very rare) and the tuna itself was beautiful quality - - not a bit of that stringy stuff you sometimes get with tuna.  My friend had the salmon with mango salsa ($15.50).  She gave me a taste... also delicious!


The interior is a bit quirky, but it works.  It has a cheerful and lively vibe, not dump vibe.
The service was good, a bit slow at times, but nothing dire.  Despite being quite busy by the time we left, they didn't rush us at all.  I was really quite pleasantly surprised.  I'm looking forward to going back!

In New York City, we've had calorie postings at chain restaurants since March 31, 2008.

Above, Banana Chocolate Chip Cake at Starbucks, 390 calories

It looks like the rest of America is about to join us. In the health legislation that has just passed, there is a provision requiring large chain restaurants to post calories on their menus and signs (like drive-through signs). The New York Times has an article about it in today's dining section, here.  I think it's a good idea, although studies have shown that it may not be very effective for the people who need it the most... ie. poor people tend to care less about their weight and just want cheap food.  Here is an interesting article from the Times from last October about a study that showed people in poor neighborhoods actually ordered slightly more calories after the postings went up.

There's a very good article in this week's New York Magazine about Keith McNally. (The Restaurant Auteur by Benjamin Wallace)  I've always been a fan... I LOVE his restaurants, especially Balthazar and Pastis... (sadly I still have not made it to the Minetta Tavern)

Photo: restaurantgirl.com

The article talks about, among other things, his new restaurant Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria which is opening soon on the Bowery. (282 Bowery at E. Houston St.)  Nate Appleman of A16 and Iron Chef fame is the chef, apparently this is the first time McNally has hired a "celeb" chef. Grub Street has a preview of the menu, here. The pizza is going to be thin and crispy and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Yum!

Photo: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum Photos

I hope they get it open soon, it looks great!  It's already been delayed quite a bit.  Breakfast and lunch are supposed to start on March 15th with opening for dinner following soon.