Recently in NYC Favorites Category

I had dinner at Orsay on Saturday night - - as the snow was coming down outside - - thankfully I live two blocks away!

I love Orsay, it totally reminds me of Paris!  ... the tile floors, dark woods, cozy banquets, art nouveau style chandeliers, etc.

I had a fabulous salad of baked artichoke with corsican cheese and walnut vinaigrette on baby arugula.  Wow, just delicious!  And for a main, the seabass crusted with parmesan and orange, fennel puree and a dollop of tomato confit on top.  I didn't taste the orange in the crusting at all, which is fine with me because it seems perhaps unnecessary to the success of the dish (sorry chef!).  It was also quite good - I'm a sucker for anything with fennel!  They have a tarte tatin on the dessert menu, it's fine, but not a traditional preparation. (I am still on a quest for the perfect tarte tatin!) You can view the whole dinner menu here.

They're having a nice New Year's Eve menu, the 9 pm second seating is a bit pricey but it looks very good (entrees like lobster salad and bison steak au poivre).

I have been going to Lucien in the East Village (1st Ave. between 1st and 2nd Streets) for over 10 years.  It may seem odd in a city with so many superb restaurants of different cuisines and levels of formality, but Lucien is my favorite!

The atmosphere, in all fairness, is nothing special... but it has a rustic charm that I love. I prefer to sit in the front section.  The best table is the one along the banquet that is closest to the bar, that way you can use the edge of the bar to hold some of your (tiny) table's contents... like the wine bottle or the bread basket.

Every time I go, I get the same thing.  It's terrible that I do that, but I just can't help it.  There are many other tasty things that I'd like to eat... but I have to get my regulars: endive salad, scallops grenobloise and cinnamon ice cream for dessert!  For wine, it has to be Champagne or Bordeaux (red).

Here is the endive salad.  I love how they don't mess with tradition... it's just endive, walnuts, and bleu with some traditional dressing.

Here's one of those things I should be trying... but I always end up getting the super delicious scallops grenobloise.

The tarte tatin is good... but the cinnamon ice cream is the best thing on the plate, so I've just started skipping the tarte and having them bring a martini glass of cinnamon ice cream.  It's not on the menu, but they are always happy to do it.

I've been going to Fiorello's (1900 Broadway, betw. 63rd and 64th) for so long I can't even remember the first time... For a while I had the great fortune of living about a block away, so I got to the know the place very well.

During warmer months they have a large outdoor eating area directly across from Lincoln Center so it's a wonderful place for the view and people watching. What I love the most though is eating inside at the antipasti bar.  The amazing team back when I used to go there all the time was Richard, Cleber and Elvis... they treated their regulars so well, always so welcoming and gracious.  You start with perhaps a proseco or a quartino of white wine... then they bring the bread basket!  Oh, the bread basket... with focaccia and this super thin paper-like crispy bread, YUM.  The antipasti bar itself is just amazing, they have vegi, seafood and meat items.  I'd always have the vegis and the seafood. My favorite thing on the antipasti bar is the shrimp and scallop salad with endive and radicchio.

The thin crust pizza is also FABULOUS.  It can be hard to eat at the bar though unless you get the prime corner spot (the one further from the door) that gives you a bit more space.  The pizza is a bit pricey at $25 for a margherita -  - but it is made with real buffalo mozzarella.  It's super, super thin - I love that!

They have a great wine list, and as mentioned above they serve the glasses in quartinos, so it's nice, a glass + a bit more.

Between the delicious antipasti and the pizza, I hardly ever made it to the real main courses!  Oh, especially because you must leave room for dessert!  As far as I'm concerned they have the BEST profiteroles in the city.  They bring out a little copper pot of hot dark chocolate sauce and pour it on right in front of you... MMMMmmmm!!!   Here's a link to the dinner menu.

I'll be going back soon!