2/16/12

Don't Be a Square, Go Cuban

Ok, I'll admit the title is a little cheesy, but with the breadth of different flavors present throughout the NYC cuisine scene, I find good, authentic Cuban to be underrepresented. Good thing I found Cafecito in the East Village to quench my craving for fried plantains, mojitos and bistec empanizado.

Owner Manny Garcia invited me and a guest to check out his menu, all recipes crafted by his mother and slightly updated for modern times, on a recent Tuesday night. A tell-tale sign that a restaurant is good is obviously a wait. When we arrived, not only were people waiting for tables at 8:30 pm, but the bar area was packed with folks sipping mojitos and other concoctions. The only thing missing was the live music, although this place is tiny even by NYC standards, and I have no idea where a band would even go.

We were welcomed with mojitos (yum!) and seated once the crowd died down a bit. For an appetizer, we sampled the Saboricito De Cuba (which I'm assuming means "taste of Cuba") that came with a papa rellena, 2 empanadas, a frita cubana and 2 croquettas de jamon mariquitas. There was a lot of fried happening on this plate, but it was all delicioso. The papa rellena was my favorite, but honestly everything was superb.

Saborocito de Cuba

For entrees, I ordered the cod special with yellow  rice and fried plantains and my guest had the house special Churrasco with chimichurri sauce, lime cured onions, yellow rice and black beans. Though slightly oily, the cod was tasty and light. The rice was moist and who can dislike fried plantains? Really? These were amazeballs. The churrasco was slightly overcooked and chewy, but also tasty. The beans and rice together were a classic combo and I kept stealing beans because they were so yummy.


Cod Special with Yellow Rice and Fried Plantains
Churrasco
At this point we were already on round 2 of mojitos and our stomachs were verging on way-too-full. However, Manny would not let us leave without dessert (a man after my own heart!). He brought out both the Flourless Chocolate Cake and the Flan. I used to have a thing with flan; didn't like the jiggle. However, it's come to grow on me, and this was a prime example of great flan. The caramel glaze on top was a nice touch--not too sugary. While not Cuban per se, the chocolate cake was our favorite. It was served with ice cream and dulce de leche and was so light that it just melted as soon as the fork touched my lips.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Flan

To top everything off, Manny sent over two small glasses of tres leches liqueur. The milky drink was the perfect digestif to end this meal; it was like drinking cake. I'm going to have to find me a bottle of that sometime very soon.

From the substantial crowd and relatively affordable prices (apps. $5-$14, entrees $14-$20), to the wonderful selection of Cuban sandwiches and the fried plantains, I'd give this joint 2 thumbs up. You can catch them on Scoutmob for a $10 discount through June (check the coupon on the app for details). For the negatives, expect to wait a while for a table even if you make a reservation, and be weary of consuming a lot of grease and fried foods.

If you're really feeling like you need some more Cuban in your life, Manny wants to share his Cuban Bread Pudding recipe with all my awesome readers. If any of you make it, be sure to come back and let everyone know how it came out!

Cuban Bread Pudding

The raisins should be soaked in the rum overnight, or at least for several hours. You
can use individual ramekins or a single taking dish.

1 cinnamon stick, ground
6 tb raisins
1/4 c aged anejo rum
1 c sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in 1/2 lengthwise
1 qt heavy cream
1 whole nutmeg ground
10 egg yolks
2 c cubed slightly stale Cuban or fresh bread
3 tablespoons sugar

To prepare the bread pudding: Soak the raising in the rum overnight. Place 1
tablespoon of the sugar on the work surface. Scrape out the vanilla bean seeds onto
the sugar and smear around to coat the seeds. Place this sugar-vanilla mixture in the
saucepan and add the cream, vanilla bean, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 1/2 c of sugar.
Bring the mixture to just under a boil. Remove immediately from the heat and let steep
for 20 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until
thick and pale. Slowly whisk in a small amount of the hot cream mixture to temper the
egg mixture, stirring continuously to prevent the eggs from cooking. Add a little more
at a time until the egg mixture is warm. Slowly pour the tempered mixture into the
remaining hot cream and whisk until smooth. Pass through a fine strainer.

Strain the rum from the raisins, reserving the rum. Sprinkle the raisins in the bottom
of (whichever container you are using) add the bread cubes on top of the raisins, and
sprinkle the bread with reserved rum. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes before baking.
While resting occasionally push down the bread lightly with the back of a spoon so it
absorbs more of the custard.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the mixture in a baking pan lined
with a towel (to prevent the pan from sliding). Add enough boiling water to the pan to
come about halfway up the sides. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil.

To serve, sprinkle the top with about 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Using a handheld propane
torch, caramelize the sugar all over the surface (alternatively, place under a very hot
broiler).

Remove the pan or ramekins and allow the tops to harden for a minute.

Cafecito on Urbanspoon

2/1/12

Want an Extra Fifty Bucks?

Buy your groceries at Citarella? Frequent the make-up counters at Bloomingdale's or Macy's? Fancy a bagel with lox from Russ and Daughters? If you do any of these things and/or enjoy Broadway shows, shop at H&M, visit The Museum of the City of New York or The Met, dine at Dos Caminos or Plein Sud, you best pay attention.


American Express has launched their Get More NYC statement credit promotion and it's pretty simple. You spend $200 at at least 2 participating NYC merchants during the month of February and you get a $50 statement credit! They have limited the promotion to only 20,000 registrations so I'd highly recommend registering today. Once that's done, you can start planning what damage you are going to do at Banana Republic, Anthropologie, Ricky's NYC, etcetra, etcetra. Now the only question is, what will you do with that extra $50 in your pocket?

It's Baaaaaaaaack

It's February 1st and that can only mean one thing. Time for the 20th annual Hot Chocolate Festival from City Bakery! It may be pushing 60 degrees today, but that's certainly not going to stop me from salivating over delicious flavors planned for the month like caramel hot chocolate (2/11), beer hot chocolate (Brooklyn style 2/17 and Dublin style 2/24) and the mysterious leap year hot chocolate (2/29), all with a giant, fluffy, homemade marshmallow of course.


Check out the full calendar of flavors here and comment on which one you can't wait to try. Also don't forget to sample their peanut butter cookies (my favorite for only 75 cents!). Happy sipping!

1/30/12

AWESOME GIVEAWAY: Two Tickets to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since the hit revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened on Broadway (and a year since we held a ticket giveaway for the show). Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe has vacated his role as J. Pierrepont Finch for bigger and better things (an upcoming creepy looking motion picture it seems) and teeny-bopper heartthrob Nick Jonas has taken over the reins of the lead part, much to the excitement of thirteen-year-olds everywhere.


Rounding out the rest of the cast is Beau Bridges as J. B. Biggley and Rose Hemingway as  Rosemary Pilkington. Michael Urie, of Ugly Betty fame, plays the scheming Bud Frump, and Anderson Cooper still narrates (prerecorded unfortunately).


All my readers are in luck! I'm giving away another pair of tickets to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway! The tickets must be picked up at the box office the day of the show. There are 4 easy ways to win and each comment counts as an entry. Please include your email in any comments so I know how to contact you if you are the winner.

1) REQUIRED - Follow this blog by clicking on the button on the right panel and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.

2) REQUIRED - Leave a comment below letting me know why you want to see this show and who you will bring if you win.

3) Follow me on Twitter @yaelleah and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.

4) Tweet or blog about this event and let me know with a link to your tweet or blog in a comment below.

One winner will be chosen using Random.org on Friday 2/3. You have until Friday 2/3 at 12 p.m. EST to enter the contest. Good luck!


I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of entries in this contest - a record breaker for sure! With that said, there can only be one winner. Congratulations Kristin! She was the 95th commenter and wins two tickets to see Nick Jonas in How to Succeed! Kristin, please check your email for details.

For those of you who did not win, THANK YOU for entering and STAY AWESOME! You can still save 40% on tickets through Feb. 29 using the discount code HSFAN105 at broadwayoffers.com (restrictions and black out dates apply).

1/27/12

Love Me Some Cheap Theater

I don't know if you've noticed, but there are some AWESOME Off-Broadway shows out there right now. I have so many on my want-to-see list, it's ridiculous. From Rent to Million Dollar Quartet, The Fantasticks to Traces, there's something for everybody!


While we await the big spring Broadway openings, I would highly recommend taking advantage of a current promotion available at more than three dozen shows called 20 at 20. Basically, you have 20 days to see amazing shows like the aforementioned for just $20. The 20 days started Jan. 18th (sorry for the late notice!) and goes until Feb. 6th. The way to get your $20 tickets is to show up to the box office 20 minutes before curtain and say you want your 20 at 20 tickets. It's that easy!

Plus, if you manage to see 7 shows over the course of the promotion, you get a free dinner for 2! Whatcha waitin' for?

Wining and, Well, Wining

Day drinking is a New Yorker's treasured pastime, but day drinking classy wines from all regions of the world in the humongous Javit's Center is an experience not to be missed. I attended the New York Wine Expo last year, and this vino-fest was beyond awesome. This year, the grand tasting will feature wines from 175 wineries and a renowned lineup of seminar speakers. The event will take place Friday March 2 - Sunday March 4, with Sunday being for trade only.



Good news! All of my readers are entitled to a $15 off discount on tickets for Friday night using the promotional code: AWESOME. But hurry, this code expires March 1! You won't want to miss an afternoon of day drinking and insightful seminars like "Wine 101: Taste Like a Pro with Wine Spectator," "Wine Spectator Presents...Portugal – Discover a World of Difference" or "The Rhône Valley: A River Runs Through It…with Mark Oldman." Cheers! Hope to see you there!

1/10/12

Tiramisu! Get Your Tiramisu!

It's not secret that I love the NYC food scene, but when I get to partake in it for no charge  is when I get excited. Savoia Restaurant in Caroll Gardens, is new to me but certainly not new to serving up classic Italian Cuisine in the big apple. After moving to Brooklyn from Chambers Street after 9/11, Savoia is family run and emphasizes the Italian experience, offering rustic decor and even waiters with true Italian accents. Most of their ingredients are imported direct from Italy, with perishable items locally sourced from organic farms and other food purveyors. Yelp reviewers rave about the brick oven pizzas, the paninis and even their brunch specials.



If you're in the neighborhood today, Savoia is celebrating their 10th anniversary by giving away a free glass of wine and piece of tiramisu with your dinner order. Also, they will be having a demonstration of how to make their Rigatoni alla Norma today at 5, complete with a tasting of course.


Check back soon for my review of Savoia and if you go today come back and comment how much you loved the tiramisu!

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