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Showing posts from May, 2014

Ambivalent Tastes at this Old-World Italian Restaurant

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RESTAURANT: John's of 12th LOCATION:  302 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003 It's been a few weeks since these 3 tomatoes & company went to John's of 12th Street, and I still have yet to feel inspired to blog about this long-standing, old-world Italian restaurant.  The most compelling aspect of this place perhaps is that it dates back to the prohibition era  with its mountain of candle wax drips collecting since 1937.   John's of 12th  was also featured by Food Network's Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The restaurant itself has a historical old charm and a homey dining atmosphere.  The portions are good and the food is unadulterated, not bad at all but also not much stood out that has me wanting to go back & eat more.  The best dishes of the night were the special appetizers.  My favorite was a type of Avocado Bruschetta .  It takes bread to a whole new level, rubbed with garlic and olive oil, topped with tomatoes & avocado.  The burr

East Meets Farther East

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RESTAURANT:  Sigiri LOCATION:  91 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003 Date: May 2014 If you read my bio, I made a special shout-out to Sigiri for being one of my fave restaurants in NYC. Sigiri offers incredible Sri Lankan food and a place I visit on a pretty frequent basis, so I am very excited to write this review. If you are not familiar with Sri Lankan cuisine, it can be best described as a blend of Indian, Portuguese, Dutch and Malay influences. Due to these diverse influences, Sri Lankan cuisine is the most dynamic, and fascinating to me. The spices that are used are so unique and complex (like my relationships… but that’s a different story ;) kidding….). The food is also typically quite spicy and you are reminded by the waiter every time you ask for your meal in “spicy”. They look at you like…. “are you sure you want to go there Miss? It is really quite spicy…” My response is always, “yes sir, I can handle it. J” On this particular outing, we ordered my two favorite dishes (

Food tour of Ann Arbor, MI

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Hello Everyone!  I just got back from a quick little trip to Ann Arbor, MI to visit one of my oldest friends, Andy. What do you want to do this weekend? she asked me. Eat! I answered. And eat we did. We lucked out and made really good choices when picking out meals. I have hardly any complaints. So let’s get right to it! Friday b runch Café Zola - Ann Arbor, MI   When it comes to brunch I can never decide between something savory or something sweet, luckily my companion obliged me and we ordered one of each and then did splitsies. So we started off with a Frittata Zola Italian style omelette served open-faced, with cubed sweet potatoes and caramelized onions, topped with challah croutons and tangy goat cheese. I’d never actually had goat cheese before, so I was excited to try it because I do like soft creamier cheeses. Unfortunately I do not like tangy. So after I gave it a few fair shots, I picked the goat cheese clumps out, which then my friend ate with her potatoes because