restaurantgirl

This weekend we stumbled upon a truly peculiar cocktail at Double Down Saloon, the New York spin-off of an infamous Las Vegas bar.  This artful dive bar serves up a house-infused bacon vodka.  Committed to his peculiar vision, the owner has special bacon flown in from Kentucky, which he then fries up and soaks in high-quality vodka to create a "Bacon Martini" or Bloody Mary.  And if bacon vodka wasn't sufficiently audacious, each martini is topped with a juicy stick of Slim Jim to gnaw while sipping.  Bartender Joan likens the libation to "a good scotch."

Address:14 Avenue A, just above Houston St.
Phone: (212)982-0543
doubledownsaloon.com

Chef Todd Mitgang's first week out of the gate at Crave Ceviche Bar promptly yielded a dish of the week: a very good sign indeed.  His inventive twists on the traditional result in champagne-soaked arctic char and "black and blue" veal cured in sherry vinegar and crushed olives. 

The menu at this beachy midtowner winningly deceives with an appetizer labeled "traditional shrimp ceviche."  Though anchored in a straightforward marinade of lime juice, jalapeno and cilantro, succulent shrimp are tossed with terrifically charred nibbles of corn, tangy hearts of palm, and tomatoes. But what really sets this dish apart is the salty crunch it receives from a whimsical sprinkling of ancho chile-spiced popcorn.

Address: 946 Second Ave., nr. 50th Street
Phone: 212.355.6565

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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The newest Italian to descend on the "boot-saturated" West Village reveals a determined kitchen with ingenious little twists on food that manages not to take itself seriously.  With Felidia, Savoy and numerous stints as Batali's sidekick on Iron Chef America, Centro Vinoteca is Anne Burrell's solo show. 

While it's still too early in the game to jump to any conclusions, I'm compelled to bask in the sheer delight of their truffled deviled eggs.  Now twice bitten, these nibbles proved themselves to be no fluke.  Let's break them down, shall we?  Behold, these hardboiled whites; deceptively simple groundwork for wickedly creamy puffs of black truffle-specked yolks, doused with truffle oil & sprinkled with fresh chives.  Here's the clincher: they're a mere $4.  I'll never see a deviled egg quite the same way again.

Address: 74 Seventh Ave., at Barrow St.
Phone: 212.367.7470

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
**Don't forget to subscribe for Restaurant Girl's Weekly Newsletter**

As I plow through the perpetual blizzard of new eateries, I've discovered many a dish that aught be devoured immediately.  Thus, I'm officially kicking off my newly inducted weekly edition of "Dish of the Week", or in this particular case...dessert. 

Seeing that summer's in full and much of the New York dining set have, for better or worse, made the Hamptons their weekend escape, I've sifted through the lot and happened upon a dessert so divinely dreamy it's just wrong.  That's right...dreamy.  While the parking lot mayhem at dining fixture Nick & Toni's may compel you to continue farther East to The Clam Bar in Amangansett (a worthwhile & laid back alternative), the peach & walnut tarte is inarguably worth clamoring for a parking spot.  As we sunk our spoons into the gooey depths of this blissfully warm nibble of summer, silence fell over our table.  A dense, flaky pastry shell was the perfect platform for a mess of supple chunks of fresh peaches & crunchy bits of walnut, all topped with a intense nectarine ice cream.  But pastry chef Molly Harding didn't stop there.  Oh no, she went beyond the call of duty, drizzling the already toothsome creation with caramel sauce.  While dinner at Nick & Toni's is anything but a bargain (an appetizer of sheep's milk ricotta, speck & honey goes for $18), the nearly transporting whisper of this $12 sweet nothing seems like a bargain.

Address: 136 North Main St., East Hampton
Phone: 631.324.3550
Weekly Hamptons Fix: The Beach

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
**Don't forget to subscribe for Restaurant Girl's Weekly Newsletter**