A Truffle-tastic Tasting

'Tis the week of feasting and boy have I feasted. It all started with one of the best blogger dinners I've ever been to at Bagatelle in the Meatpacking District. 

I'm not going to lie, I've always been a little weary of the Meatpacking, whether for fear I would not fit in or because I'd be scared to go home to an empty bank account at the end of the night. While you're not going to be particularly frugal if you go to Bagatelle for dinner, I felt very welcome upon walking in the front door. What first caught my eye was all of the 'out there' art that adorned the walls of the restaurant. It was highly entertaining.

One of my favorite pieces of art from Bagatelle

Fellow blogger friend Laura with a colorful sculpture

The main dining room

They even have a DJ under a fabulous chandelier

Headed by chef Sébastien Chamaret, Bagatelle offers a menu inspired by the South of France, and parties like it as well, closing the blinds after dinner and throwing a hopping party (as told to me by a friend who was recently there for a bachelorette party). I decided to get my own party started with a Girl from Lima ($14), a cocktail combining jalapeno infused pisco, passion fruit puree, lemon juice and mint. Because I neglected to read the "jalapeno infused" part, I was a little shocked at how spicy this drink was and didn't think I'd be able to finish it. However, I warmed to it, and would highly recommend it!

Girl from Lima

I don't know about you, but when I typically go out to dinner, I don't order the entire menu, but at this awesome event, they practically sent out everything the kitchen was cooking up. For appetizers, we had the Pizza a la Truffe Noir with black truffle, flat bread, crème fraiche, scamoza ($22); the charcuterie board ($24) which came with a variety of house-cured meats and whole grain mustard; Salade Bagatelle with hearts of lettuce, parmesan cheese, fresh garden herbs, and mustard vinaigrette ($13); Tartare aux Deux Saumons ($17/$25) fresh & smoked Scottish salmon tartar, shallot, salmon caviar, dill crème fraiche, olive oil crostini; Haricots Verts et Canard Fumé string beans, radicchio, smoked duck prosciutto, truffle vinaigrette ($18); foie gras creme brulee (off-menu); and finally the Tartare de Thon Bagatelle ($19/$29) ahi tuna tartar, avocado salad, lime soy vinaigrette, taro chips.

My favorites were both of the tartares, although I always favor salmon. The fish was fresh and super flavorful. I was very intrigued by the foie gras creme brulee, but I still concede that foie gras is an acquired taste. Hence, I only had a couple of bites as it was very rich, but I would definitely say it's worth a try. The salad was simple and fresh, but I might opt for one of their other more creative salads next time. The truffle pizza was OMG amazing and not just because I like anything with truffle.

Pizza a la Truffe Noir

Charcuterie board

Salade Bagatelle

Tartare aux Deux Saumons

Haricots Verts et Canard Fumé

Foie Gras Creme Brulee

Laura with the Tartare de Thon Bagatelle

After all that, I honestly thought that was the entire dinner and was ready to put on the coats and head home. But no! Chef Sébastien came out to answer questions and explain a bit about his background in preparation for the main courses. Yes, plural main courses, because, why not?

I'll start with the pasta and fish dishes. First we had more truffles (!) with the Gnocchi Truffes à la Parisienne de Nicolas ($25/$36) homemade gnocchi, black truffle pesto filling, truffle sauce; Calamars Snackes au Beurre Aille ($18) sautéed calamaris, tomato confit, polenta fritter, garlic butter; Coquilles St.Jacques Rôties au Parmesan ($36) thyme & parmesan crusted scallops, artichokes mousseline, cabernet demi-glace; and the Filet de Saumon Sauvage Grillé ($28) grilled wild salmon filet, asparagus hollandaise sauce.

I could have eaten the entire vat of gnocchi, no joke, it was that good. Do you SEE the giant truffle shavings spread over the top?!?! Other favorites from this course were the onions that accompanied the salmon. Yes, the salmon was good to but it didn't feel particularly special. The onions, however, were of the giant cippolini variety topped with chantarelle mushrooms. Yum! I would also highly recommend the scallops as they were seared perfectly with a fragile parmesan crisp that will melt in your mouth.

Gnocchi Truffes à la Parisienne de Nicolas

Calamars Snackes au Beurre Aille

Coquilles St.Jacques Rôties au Parmesan

Filet de Saumon Sauvage Grillé

Now for the meat! We sampled the signature Poulet Fermier Rôti et Truffé ($30) truffled roasted chicken, country style potatoes, chicken jus and the Côte de Boeuf - Pour Deux ($95) natural fed grilled black angus bone-in ribeye (26 oz), pommes frites, spinach and roquefort salad – for two. You may remember me saying I like to judge a restaurant based on it's chicken before, and according to that rule, Bagatelle passes with flying colors. The truffle sauce was decadent and the chicken was moist and crispy on the outside. The beef was tender and cooked to a nice medium/rare. The French fries that came with it (do you see that giant pile of them!?) were among the best tasting potato wedges I've ever tasted. 

Poulet Fermier Rôti et Truffé

Côte de Boeuf - Pour Deux

As for sides, we sampled the mixed mushrooms, grilled asparagus, and roasted Brussels sprouts & 

butternut squash with candied pecans ($9 each), with the latter definitely a favorite all around the table.

 

Hahaha, you think the feast is over? No way, Jose! (Or should I say no way Jean Pierre?). The chef sent out five different desserts for us all to share. Wowza! In picture order, we tried the Apple Tarte Tatin, Floating Island, Profiteroles with chocolate drizzle, chocolate mousse, and brioche and pear bread pudding. The floating island was the most interesting dessert; meringue-y and literally floating in a vanilla sauce and topped with almonds, it almost felt healthy (haha, yea right). My favorite was the tarte tatin, a classic done right, although the brioche and pear bread pudding was a close second.

Apple Tarte Tatin

Floating Island

Profiteroles with chocolate drizzle

Chocolate mousse

Brioche and pear bread pudding

Head to Bagatelle the next time you feel like you deserve a culinary treat. My perfect meal would be the salmon tartare, truffle gnocchi, scallops, cote de bouef, and the apple tarte tatin. Don't forget the Girl from Lima!

Good food is better with great company! Head to Laura's and Dave's blogs for their take on our dinner (and even more pictures!).

Awesome Cooks!

It's no secret on the blog how much I love cooking. So when Cook & Go in Meatpacking invited my friend Laura and me for a blogger cooking class, I got very excited.

The "classroom" with windows to the street

My set-up

Originally a French company, Cook & Go opened their first outpost in the US on West 16th Street about 1 year ago. They offer various cooking classes, which rotate monthly, designed to incorporate several "cooks" (ie, cut into julienne, make meringue, fold a papillote, etc.) and ultimately prepare a single serving of a multi-course meal. In the summer, they offer a Highline picnic class, designed to be taken up to the park after class. In the winter, they replace it with their TV Tray class, designed to be eaten, you guessed it, at home in front of your TV. All classes after 5:30 are served wine. They also host a wide array of parties!

For our class, we started with 2 appetizers: purses filled with pears, brie, and raspberries and Tuscan white bean crostini. I liked that one was cooked and one was not (meaning we could eat it right away, I was hungry!!).

'Purse' prep

Folded purses

Cooked purses

Crostini prep

Finished crostini

For the main course, we made apricot chicken. I will DEFINITELY be making this at home as it was so easy and so full of flavor. Here's the recipe in case you're interested:

 

Apricot Chicken (serves 6):

1 1/2 pounds apricots (we used dried), roughly chopped, pits removed and discarded

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 pounds skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces

Salt

1 Tbsp unsalted butter (can sub olive oil)

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 chopped onion

2 cups chicken stock or broth (use gluten-free stock if you are cooking gluten-free)

1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons Tabasco or other hot sauce (you can add more if you like)

Black pepper

Place the chopped apricots in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and the vinegar. Let sit while you brown the chicken in the next step. In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, place chicken pieces in the pan, without crowding the pan, and brown them on each side. As the chicken cooks, sprinkle salt over it. Once the chicken is browned, remove the pieces from the pan to a bowl and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan and sauté the onion until it begins to brown. As the onion cooks and releases moisture, use a flat edged spatula or wooden spoon to scrape off the browned bits from the chicken (called fond) from the bottom of the pan. Once the onions have browned a bit, add the chicken stock and lower the heat to medium. Put about 2/3 of the apricots, along with any juice they have given up, into a blender and blend into a purée. (If using dried apricots, there isn't really a need to do this step, just chop very finely). Pour the purée into the pan with the chicken stock and onions. Add the cinnamon, rosemary and Tabasco and taste. You may need to add some salt. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and gently simmer for 10-20 minutes. When you are ready to serve, put the chicken and the remaining apricot pieces into the pan and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Serve hot with rice.

For dessert, we made date filled cakes and s'mores shots. The s'mores shots were my favorite, although I admit we didn't really cook them, our teacher Christina did, but I did put mine together in the coolest looking way possible! The date filled cakes were more like cookies to me, but were really delicious, especially when they were hot out of the oven.

Me with my date filled cakes

Finished date filled cakes

Chef Christina making meringue

Laura and me with our s'mores shots

Finished s'mores shot

All classes run from $39-$59 and are 90 minutes long. Extra portions/people range between an extra $15-$25. But wait!...if you use the code BPIBLOG you can get 15% off any class! But wait again!...Living Social is currently offering vouchers to Cook & Go! For only $34 you can get admission to any two classes of your choosing, that's 56% off!! The deal is only good for 3 more days so get on it!

One thing I will note, however, is that the classes are meant for people who have little to no cooking skills. If you cook a lot and know how to follow a medium hard recipe by yourself, you may get a little frustrated in the classes, especially because they only allow you to use a paring knife because chef's knives are liabilities apparently. Nonetheless, it's still a fun time and you go home with a yummy meal and a fun experience. For those of you who use your ovens for shoe storage, I highly highly recommend you sign up at Cook & Go!

Hold that Pose...With an Insta-Magnet

I'll admit it, I'm an Instagram whore. I can't get enough of the brannan and earlybird filters and I take way too many photos of sunsets/sunrises out of my apartment window, amazing meals, and I have an affinity for chandeliers (follow me and you'll see what I mean!). But I also have a lot of meaningful photos in my collection from various travels and I can't help but feel artistic when I browse through them.

It's because of this I was over the moon to find out about Stickygram. Stickygram connects with your Instagram account to let you print magnets or make iPhone/iPad covers using your carefully calibrated images. The photos we post on Instagram all seem to have special meaning by virtue of being posted there so why wouldn't you want to look at them on your fridge?

I just placed my first order of 3 sheets of 9 magnets each--two of friends and family I'll keep at home and one (above) of images I think are beautiful that I want to display on my metal cabinets at the office. Use my referral link (code: FRIENDS36N) and get $2 off your first order of magnets or $5 off your first case.

These would also make great holiday gifts! Stickygram is offering free premium shipping in time for the holidays if you order 3 sheets of magnets by midnight tonight!

Drinking in the Holiday Spirit

A couple weeks ago (on the 80th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition to be exact) I attended the Village Voice Holiday Spirits Tasting Event at Studio Square in Queens. I was really excited about this event because it was close by my apartment and my blogger friend Laura was also going with her boyfriend.

Entrance at Studio Square

I've learned the hard way that you have to pace yourself at drinking events, hence my strategy was really just taking sips of drinks from various stations and not downing entire cocktails. Favorites included:

• Rough Rider Old Fashioned served with a cherry and rock candy (Who am I kidding? I was just obsessed with the rock candy!)

Rough Rider Old Fashioned

• Dutch's Spirits' 'Fat Apple' with mulled cider with moonshine and melted cinnamon brown sugar (I'm not going to post the picture because it actually looks somewhat disgusting)
• Barefoot Bubbly in citrus fusion

Barefoot Bubbly

• Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur Eggnog

Barrow's Eggnog

• Brotherhood Winery's Holiday Spiced Wine which they served warm (side note: my boyfriend and I recently visited this winery, supposedly America's oldest, and fell in love with their Cabernet Sauvignon. You can take tours there too.)

• Tito's Handmade Vodka's "The Go To" with elderflower liqueur, lime juice, mint and ginger beer.

The Go To (who doesn't love a Laura photobomb?)

• Ole' Smokey Moonshine's "Southern Hooch," which was recommended to me by Laura and was really delicious. I may have imbibed the entire drink this time -- apple pie moonshine and sweet tea!

The venue was great and the live music was a nice addition. The food, however, was lacking. I got a short peek at the sliders that were coming out of the kitchen, but hoards of eventgoers seemed to maul the waiters before they even had the chance to leave the kitchen. Hence, I was very glad that I ate before the event. Whole Foods was smart though in that they were serving a root liqueur poached pear sundae, yum!

Whole Foods' Root Liqueur Poached Pear Sundae

Overall, we had a great time and thankfully only had to stumble home a few blocks before tucking in for the night. Gotta love a good Village Voice event!

Cheers!

For the Person Who Has Everything...

Calendars always make nice gifts, and with the holiday season in full bloom, have I got a gift idea that will toot your coworker's/brother's/cousin's/funky uncle's horn. Presenting, the 2014 NYC Taxi Driver's Calendar.

These cabbies know how to properly hang an air freshener and are surprisingly easy to hail. A nice percentage of them will also go all the way to Brooklyn. All jokes aside, 100% of the proceeds from the calendar are going to University Settlement, a social services agency. So you're giving a laugh and giving back at the same time.

The calendar is selling for $14.99 (you don't even have to calculate tip!) and is available here.

Holiday Cheers!

The Village Voice and their events team is at it again. If you're someone who takes holiday drinking a bit classier than a peppermint patty shot (although you have to admit those are darn delicious), be sure to check out the Holiday Spirits Tasting Event happening tomorrow night at Studio Square in Long Island City.

Of course I love that the venue is a hop, skip and a jump from my digs in Astoria, but if you've never visited the "new beer garden," you're in for a treat. In addition to their large patio, Studio Square has a fairly large 2-story indoor space which will feature drinks from more than 25 local wineries, breweries, distilleries, and specialty liquor makers. There will also be hors d'oeuvres and music all night.

General admission tickets are $50 (update: use coupon code THANKS for $25 tickets) and will be available at the door. VIP tickets are $70 and will let you in an hour earlier than everyone else and you will take home a commemorative wine tote with event goodies. Everyone will be able to take home their tasting glass as well, and ticket fees will partially support the ASPCA.

Details:

Studio Square

35-44 37th Street

Long Island City, Queens 11106

Thursday Dec. 5

General Admission: 7:30-10:30

VIP Entry at 6:30

Purchase tickets here.

AWESOME GIVEAWAY: Earrings from Wordstobeadby

Earrings are one of my weaknesses--I can never have enough. So when my friend Lindsay opened her Etsy shop Wordstobeadby, based out of Long Island and the city, I must admit that I spent way too much time oogling her designs and laughing at her witty names for everything (shell pieces shaped into Hot as Shell earrings, I mean come on, that's awesome!).

Lindsay, a lawyer by day, crafts each piece herself using Swarovski crystals, one-of-a kind beads, and vintage charms and ships each item free of charge. All earrings can be converted to clip-on style for those without pierced ears at no extra charge. She also recently started including druzy pendants in her collection, both in delicate bracelets and statement making earrings. Her prices are very reasonable and I'm just deciding which pair I want to buy for myself (Vintage Blue and White St. Tropez or Mint Condition Earrings?...But seriously, how beautiful is the Blue and Gold Druzy Double Strand Wrap Bracelet?).

All of my readers are in luck! Lindsay and Wordstobeadby are giving away a pair of earrings made especially for Awesome in New York! You don't even have to live in NYC to win :) Behold the Holidaze Silver Druzy Earrings made with silver beads and authentic Siam Swarovski crystals.

If you're coveting something (or things!) else in the Wordstobeadby store, please use the discount code AWESOMENY5 for 5% off your total purchase and free shipping through February 15, 2014.

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