Talk of the Town

I finally made it—made it as in paying a visit to one of the hippest, most talked about restaurants in this town. Opening this summer, Rosemary's Enoteca & Trattoria has been packed to the brim since it opened its doors months ago (a no reservation policy helps ensure that), and I had been dying to go.

This place certainly has the ambiance thing done right. It's spacious, luminous (floor to ceiling windows for day time and strung lights for night time) and covered in shrubbery. The green life is a nice tie in for the rooftop garden housed above the restaurant that supplies the vegetables for the various dishes on the menu.

The before and after was the main topic of our conversation. Our before consisted of three verdure and two focacce breads. The amazing trio we tried were the beets/hazelnut dish, the zucchini crudo (my favorite) and the radish/thyme dish. And since our idea of Italian dinner always consists of a "bread basket," we ordered the caprese foccacia and the foccacia di recco filled with stracchino cheese. The latter was like an Italian ooey gooey grilled cheese and some of the best bread I've tried. Last but not least, we ordered the homemade mozzarella because no good Italian feast can go without some mozz thrown into it.

Then came the middle portion of our meal and just like the middle child in a large family it was not our favorite. We all went the pasta route but were not blown away like we had been with our appetizers. The spaghetti al pomodoro, as classic as it sounds, was the best entree I tried as it transported me right back to Italy (makes sense considering all their pastas are homemade). My friends said the orecchiette pasta dish with homemade sausage was another must order. Going in for the kill, we decided to order dessert and went with the chocolate hazelnut semi freddo and olive oil cake. Both desserts were exactly what we wanted to end the night with and the perfect thing to keep the conservation about Rosemary's going.

Places of Interest:
Rosemary's Enoteca & Trattoria
18 Greenwich Avenue (at the corner of 10th St.)
http://www.rosemarysnyc.com/ 

DIY Bartender

I've always been a fan of the Do-It-Yourself concept. The part I'm not so fond of is the actual 'doing.' Send me a DIY project, and I'll make grand plans to complete it but never actually do (cue the lazy comments). That's why when I discovered The Vinatta Project had self serving wine vending machines, I knew I had finally found the DIY I might actually complete.

But once again my plans were foiled—and not by lack of ambition. The Vinatta Project's crown jewel is their enomatic (fancy word for vending) machines. When you get thirsty and the bar gets busy, you take a preloaded card, swipe, choose from the vast wine selection and wha-la—vino in hand. Unfortunately, the vending machines were out of commission during my visit. Luckily for this DIY challenged gal, The Vinatta Project also offers a DIY custom cocktail program from the same guys who run The Mulberry Project. Step 1: Pick a liquor. Step 2: pick a few mix-ins such as mango and lychee. Step 3: Sip, enjoy and repeat.

So far the score was a wash (broken vending machines -1, custom cocktail creations +1) until the food came out. The corn bread alone was reason enough to ditch those summer no carb diets. The brussel spouts and corn on the cob were roasted to perfection while the bacon cheddar burger juicy. The last pep in their food step was the chocolate cake with Cheyenne chili powder which made for a surprising but tasty combination. Inventive drink contraptions, creative cocktails and good food all in a sexy ambiance—well let's just say if all DIY projects resulted in this I'd start doing them more.

Places of Interest:

Vinatta Project, 69 Gansevoort St., 646-398-9125

http://vinattaproject.com/

The Perks of Being a Blogger

 

I started this blog as a creative outlet for my writing (and to brag about all the cool things I do). I never thought it would lead to an invite to Lulu's Blogger Event during New York Fashion Week.

The WHO was Lulu's, an online boutique featuring emerging and indie designers. The WHAT was a shindig for fashion bloggers to mingle and preview their latest assortment. The WHERE was Open House Gallery in Soho, an event space that sponsors such creative events like Park in Here (an indoor faux park to cure those with seasonal affective disorder) and The Big Cheesy Grilled Cheese Championship (a "cheesy" contest) that occurred last weekend.

As for the entertainment, there was booze, sweet treats and games. Hpnotiq, one of the evening's sponsors, provided creative concoctions using their liquor and a table full of candy and cupcakes. As for the (drinking) game, each attendee got to spin the wheel for a prize. Since I've never been on "Wheel of Fortune," I gave it my all and spun the wheel. The result—a lovely suede jacket with shearling lining from B.B. Dakota. Score!

After my turn at the wheel, I wondered around and discovered a room full of racks with trendy, colorful clothing. I thought I had died and gone to closet heaven. I learned each attendee could take home one article of clothing from one of the four racks. To figure out where to start, a map was provided with a chart of questions leading to one of four styles: Peony Vintage, Rose Sweet Heart, Spider Mum Edgy and Hydrangea Uptown Prep. Of course, I felt I could be any of the four so I quickly surfed the racks making a mental list of my wannabe wardrobe. Luckily I was in the third round so I got to choose rather early and ended up with a mint green, pleated mini-skirt perfect for spring. I left with treats for my tummy and my closet. If these are the perks of writing down my words once in a while—well all I have to say is that I need to start writing more.

Places of Interest:

Open House Gallery, 201 Mulberry St. (between Spring St. & Kenmare St.)

http://www.openhousegallery.org/ 

Lulu's Website

http://www.lulus.com

Crumbs: It Takes Two ( x Two)

Welcome to the newest addition of Double Toasted: Crumbs, a toasty blurb about a delicious dish, interesting art exhibit, cool new boutique or whatever else excites me. The first installment is on a lunch date I went with my coworker and publicist extraordinaire Roxanne.

Feast For Your Eyes

Fine Dining

No Standard Paper Menus Here

4 apps = 1 meal

   

















The lunch deal is initially what drew us to Duo, a new restaurant in Gramercy Park. It was not your typical $9.99 entree but rather their version of a lunchbox—albeit a classy one. With four variations on their light up menus, we both went for the Flatiron box consisting of mini sirloin burgers, Parmesan truffle matchstick fries, tomato and mozzarella and a market salad. IF my lunchbox tasted like this in elementary school I would've never tossed, traded or accidentally "forgotten" it. The meal was scrumptious from section to section and definitely lives up to the term 'lunch special'.

Places of Interest:

Duo Restaurant, 72 Madison Ave (at 28th St.), 212-686-7272

http://duonewyork.com/

Move Over Barneys, There is a New CO-OP in Town

Co-op, noun: a cooperative store, dwelling, etc.  

The etc. I am referring to is the new Japanese/American restaurant CO-OP in the Rivington Hotel on the Lower East Side—once again my hood breeds a hot spot. Another work dinner put me in charge of picking a fun, hip place and CO-OP immediately came to mind as a place I wanted to try. Since I have not reached the financial means to shop or live in a co-op, I settled for the next best thing.

The Cheat Sheet

Entering through the hotel, we made our way past the lounge and bar areas through the first dining room to the ultimate dinning mecca. I had especially requested to sit in the grander of the two rooms for one reason and one reason only—the portraits by famed photographer EJ Camp (the long dining room table and 30 ft high ceilings with a massive skylight came in second). On the wall hung 50 or so portraits of people of all genders, ethnicities, styles and looks. This decor lead to a game of "Guess Who," which turned into a drinking game for every person one guessed incorrectly. Little did we know that not everyone who was lucky enough to grace the wall was indeed famous. The owner had put pictures of friends, neighbors and loved ones (his girlfriend included) on the wall as well.

The Tray of Goodies

So enthralled in the game we almost forgot our whole purpose of visiting CO-OP—to eat! Small buckets of truffle popcorn a.k.a crack in a can (my words, not theirs) were passed around as appetizers as we studied the drink menu. Once again, I faced a tough decision and narrowed my choices down to the Pink Boozka, a Grey Goose, watermelon, hibiscus cocktail and the Light, a Belvedere, passion fruit, red peppercorn dust concoction. The Light came out victorious on the account of my love for passion fruit.

Gotta Think Pink

CO-OP's concept is small plates to share as their menu reads "Share. Your life depends on it." Putting our waiter to the test, we asked for recommendations as the menu was too much to stomach (pun intended). His long list of recommendations turned out to be our long list of orders. One by one our selections came and one by one they were gone. For starters, the whole table, minus me, took lobster shots (as if—I only do shots of liquor but apparently they are very popular) followed by Watermelon Salad and Papercut Salad. The latter was delicious with hearts of palm, asparagus, salsify (whatever that is) and jalapeno dressing (not wanting to be left out, the Watermelon Salad also included hints of jalapenos—olé!).

Tokyo Lobster Roll

Moving on to our taste of Japan, we ordered the raw Hamachi Crunch with—you guessed it—jalapeno, a Tokyo Lobster Roll and a CO-OP Roll which was comprised of spicy tuna topped with rock shrimp tempura. (How do you say delicious in Japanese?)

Lollipops & Buns

America's turn came next with chicken lollipops (surprisingly not bad despite the odd name), beef sliders (disappointing) and truffle mac & cheese. The m&c was one of the best dishes, and I don't even really like cheese. I suspect the truffle lured me in, but then again you can add truffle to almost anything and I'll eat it.

On a different note, I wanted to comment on the music. Not sure why I am compelled to mention it this time as I rarely comment on this matter (maybe it's the rock n' roll feeling this place gives off), but the roster of music was fantastic. Classic rock and oldies like Jim Morrison, The Beatles, & U2 blasted over the loud speakers with everyone feeling it. When Tom Petty's "Learning to Fly" came on it took all the common decency I possess not to jump on the table and start busting a move—please recall that I was with my boss and a major account. If I was with friends, said action above would have most likely occurred in a heartbeat.

So who needs a fancy store or fancy building to say they've been to a co-op? I have the best kind in town right in my backyard. After all, I'm gunning for a spot on the wall so I need to devote all my time to this co-op.

Places of Interest:

CO-OP, 107 Rivington St, 212-796-8040

http://co-oprestaurant.com/