Sweet Melissa's Patisserie
175 7th Ave (between 1st/2nd)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-502-9153
Is there anyone who does NOT love Patisseries?? To me the Patisserie is the ultimate in decadent sweet shop, many steps up from the average cafe/coffee shop or bakery in the intricacy, colors, sheer beauty of the treats they have in the gorgeous glass cases. One of my favorite parts of visiting Paris is always the joy of Patisseries around nearly every corner. Just "browsing" in these sweet shops is an awesome activity, with the fruit tarts and éclairs and colorful treats never before seen. There are a fair number of places around NYC that call themselves patisseries, but Melissa's hits the nail on the head. It feels like you are in a cafe in Paris, very cozy and European. They have table service or takeaway, and the gorgeous glass display of European-looking treats and tarts, souffles & florentines & truffles, plus a great pie and cake selection. They do have an outdoor courtyard/garden that we haven't tried yet as well. They also have a lunch menu and an afternoon tea that I'm dying to try.
It's hard not to walk by and not stop in for a treat. (Especially with the beautiful cakes in the window!) We've become particularly fond of the delicious fruit pies! We had a slice of sour cherry & rhubarb that was to die for (by the way is rhubarb a northern thing?? I'd never even heard of it growing up in Florida; not til I lived in England. But hubby loves it and used to grow it in his back yard in Wisconsin!). Oh and it had--get this-- Pistachio crumbles on top! Yum. This week I tried the "Jumbleberry Crumble pie" or something to that effect, with a great berry mix and yummy crumbles on top, it was heaven. You can tell I must have a thing for crumbles. Their cafe au laits are quite nice too. When you are craving a sweet and a coffee in Paris, stop by Sweet Melissa's and forget about the rest of NYC outside.
Nov, 2007 update-- just a quick post-blog note: had lunch at Sweet Melissa's and it was so tasty! So even beyond sweets, check them out. A lentil soup with roasted garlic & tomato was fabulous, and the salad with roasted pears and stilton cheese was so tasty too... :)
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Red Horse Cafe
Red Horse Cafe
Corner of 12th St/6th Ave
Park Slope, Brooklyn
(718) 499-4973
When I started this blog, I mentioned how Magnolia is one of our favorite local restaurant options. During the course of the first year we lived here, we noticed a new coffee shop going up across the street from Magnolia, which ultimately opened up as "Red Horse Cafe." The entrance was done up very nicely and it looked very inviting. It took a while before we began to stop in, and usually we just got coffees to go. I really enjoyed their iced mochas, though they did vary tremendously depending on who made them. They always had a small selection of treats in the glass case and on the counter to choose from, and the dark cozy interior had various wooden tables & chairs and usually people on their laptops there. I like the bar by the windows, and the couches. There are also a few seats/tables outside often. I do remember a couple of delicious scones we had once-- blueberry and pumpkin spice, they were heavenly. We've also seen signs recently that they've started selling alcohol, and are staying open later on weekends.
This week we decided to stop by on a hot summer afternoon and get lunch here. It was hot and sunny but not too humid so we decided to see if we could bear it outside under a small touch of shade. (I always enjoy soaking up sun, being from the sunshine state and all!) We ordered a chicken and grape sandwich and gazpacho. The sandwich was decent, though probably overpriced, but the gazpacho was delicious, very tasty and refreshing, perfect for summer. It's definitely a nice local place for a coffee and a quiet hangout.
Corner of 12th St/6th Ave
Park Slope, Brooklyn
(718) 499-4973
When I started this blog, I mentioned how Magnolia is one of our favorite local restaurant options. During the course of the first year we lived here, we noticed a new coffee shop going up across the street from Magnolia, which ultimately opened up as "Red Horse Cafe." The entrance was done up very nicely and it looked very inviting. It took a while before we began to stop in, and usually we just got coffees to go. I really enjoyed their iced mochas, though they did vary tremendously depending on who made them. They always had a small selection of treats in the glass case and on the counter to choose from, and the dark cozy interior had various wooden tables & chairs and usually people on their laptops there. I like the bar by the windows, and the couches. There are also a few seats/tables outside often. I do remember a couple of delicious scones we had once-- blueberry and pumpkin spice, they were heavenly. We've also seen signs recently that they've started selling alcohol, and are staying open later on weekends.
This week we decided to stop by on a hot summer afternoon and get lunch here. It was hot and sunny but not too humid so we decided to see if we could bear it outside under a small touch of shade. (I always enjoy soaking up sun, being from the sunshine state and all!) We ordered a chicken and grape sandwich and gazpacho. The sandwich was decent, though probably overpriced, but the gazpacho was delicious, very tasty and refreshing, perfect for summer. It's definitely a nice local place for a coffee and a quiet hangout.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
NYC events
This week I was slow at posting my weekly entry, as a lot went on in a short amount of time. Scariest was being at the Hyatt Grand Central when the steam pipe explosion happened, and being evacuated out of the building not knowing what was going on. People were running, we could see what we thought was smoke rising up to the tops of tallest buildings, it was a run-for-your-life moment and pretty terrifying. We ran about 10 blocks north or so until we slowed down, and no one on the streets knew anything yet in terms of what was going on. We began walking east with an aim to get home to Brooklyn, and ended up walking over an hour before we could get a subway home. Along the way we eventually learned what had happened. Important advice for a run-for-your-life situation: do not wear heels!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Friday night Sushi, Blue Ginger
Blue Ginger
106 8th Ave
Chelsea, Manhattan
(212) 352-0911
Friday nights vary between super-excitement for the weekend, and, on tougher weeks, sheer exhaustion from an endless week.... this past Friday was more of the exhaustion category, but we still craved a yummy meal after a travel day at work. We had thoughts of Mary Ann's margaritas and Mexican in the Chelsea, which is always tasty, but walked in and decided it was way too loud, couldn't hear each other talk. There's a nice strip of restaurants along that block, so we decided to check out Blue Ginger for some sushi.
Blue Ginger has a nice feel, classic sushi restaurant, sushi bar with chefs rolling and chopping at high speed. The windows and front were open for the warm summer breezes. We sat in a corner table in the front to get the breeze. It wasn't too crowded and definitely quieter, service was efficient.
We stuck with the classics (for us) sushi-wise, but all was very tasty. They do have a list of special (i.e. fancy and more expensive) rolls, which I'm usually very tempted by, being a woman who loves many flavors, but this night I decided to stick with those I know. So I had the Alaska, spicy tuna, and eel avocado rolls, plus some pork gyoza. Hubby had spicy roll combo that he always loves, with the salad. Their ginger dressing was particularly good. Eel was a tiny bit chewier than I'm used to; otherwise all was great. The presentation/plating was very nice. Nice cozy ambiance at night for a date. Lunch specials sound good for those who work nearby too!
Menupages menu
106 8th Ave
Chelsea, Manhattan
(212) 352-0911
Friday nights vary between super-excitement for the weekend, and, on tougher weeks, sheer exhaustion from an endless week.... this past Friday was more of the exhaustion category, but we still craved a yummy meal after a travel day at work. We had thoughts of Mary Ann's margaritas and Mexican in the Chelsea, which is always tasty, but walked in and decided it was way too loud, couldn't hear each other talk. There's a nice strip of restaurants along that block, so we decided to check out Blue Ginger for some sushi.
Blue Ginger has a nice feel, classic sushi restaurant, sushi bar with chefs rolling and chopping at high speed. The windows and front were open for the warm summer breezes. We sat in a corner table in the front to get the breeze. It wasn't too crowded and definitely quieter, service was efficient.
We stuck with the classics (for us) sushi-wise, but all was very tasty. They do have a list of special (i.e. fancy and more expensive) rolls, which I'm usually very tempted by, being a woman who loves many flavors, but this night I decided to stick with those I know. So I had the Alaska, spicy tuna, and eel avocado rolls, plus some pork gyoza. Hubby had spicy roll combo that he always loves, with the salad. Their ginger dressing was particularly good. Eel was a tiny bit chewier than I'm used to; otherwise all was great. The presentation/plating was very nice. Nice cozy ambiance at night for a date. Lunch specials sound good for those who work nearby too!
Menupages menu
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Italian & Cajun combo-- brunch at Two Boots
Two Boots Brooklyn
514 2nd St (between 7th & 8th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 499-3253
Lazy Sunday...hazy heat....zzzzzz! Oh yeah, wake up, it's blog time! What's with this heat anyway? Ok, yes I may be orig from Miami, but that does NOT make me immune to this sleepy heat-- where I come from, air conditioning follows you around like a personal-sized bubble-- a/c house (24 hours a day, always central), a/c car, a/c office, a/c stores & restaurants, none of this walking in the heat for miles to do anything with your day, no sir.
So this lazy Sunday we wandered to Two Boots on 2nd street. They obviously have pizza chains around Manhattan, and the once or twice I tried the pizza I wasn't in love, I admit. Something about the extra "cajun" spices in the sauce, wasn't for me.
But this location in Brooklyn is a full restaurant with many enticing-sounding cajun foods, plus the pizza selection. We've walked by when it's packed to the seams sometimes, and seems to be popular with the kids-- with alligators painted on the walls and a ride-the-alligator rocking-horse style attraction outside, you can see why. Very mardi-gras decor inside, we preferred the cute outside courtyard. It was slow this hot sunday afternoon.
We drank the "arnold palmer" iced-tea/lemonade combo which was sweet and refreshing. I had 2 eggs scrambled, which were average, though tasty with the hot sauce on the table, served with grits and homemade biscuits. The biscuits in particular were de-lish. Hubby had the Bananas Foster French Toast (ok so I also voted for him to get that one!), which was decadent and tasted like dessert! I do make a mean french-toast-with-bananas myself (if I do say so myself!), but this was heaven- the bananas are sauteed in Cointreau, orange juice, butter & brown sugar--yum! We are excited to come back and try the cobb salad, sandwiches, and dinner treats like jumbalaya. They also have happy hour 4-6 weekdays.
Stay cool!
514 2nd St (between 7th & 8th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 499-3253
Lazy Sunday...hazy heat....zzzzzz! Oh yeah, wake up, it's blog time! What's with this heat anyway? Ok, yes I may be orig from Miami, but that does NOT make me immune to this sleepy heat-- where I come from, air conditioning follows you around like a personal-sized bubble-- a/c house (24 hours a day, always central), a/c car, a/c office, a/c stores & restaurants, none of this walking in the heat for miles to do anything with your day, no sir.
So this lazy Sunday we wandered to Two Boots on 2nd street. They obviously have pizza chains around Manhattan, and the once or twice I tried the pizza I wasn't in love, I admit. Something about the extra "cajun" spices in the sauce, wasn't for me.
But this location in Brooklyn is a full restaurant with many enticing-sounding cajun foods, plus the pizza selection. We've walked by when it's packed to the seams sometimes, and seems to be popular with the kids-- with alligators painted on the walls and a ride-the-alligator rocking-horse style attraction outside, you can see why. Very mardi-gras decor inside, we preferred the cute outside courtyard. It was slow this hot sunday afternoon.
We drank the "arnold palmer" iced-tea/lemonade combo which was sweet and refreshing. I had 2 eggs scrambled, which were average, though tasty with the hot sauce on the table, served with grits and homemade biscuits. The biscuits in particular were de-lish. Hubby had the Bananas Foster French Toast (ok so I also voted for him to get that one!), which was decadent and tasted like dessert! I do make a mean french-toast-with-bananas myself (if I do say so myself!), but this was heaven- the bananas are sauteed in Cointreau, orange juice, butter & brown sugar--yum! We are excited to come back and try the cobb salad, sandwiches, and dinner treats like jumbalaya. They also have happy hour 4-6 weekdays.
Stay cool!
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