NYC Crumbs

Sora Lella: A Little Taste of Italy in Soho

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:31:00 +0000

New post up at: http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/10/9/sora-lella-a-little-taste-of-italy-in-soho.html

New post up at www.nycrumbs.com

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:54:00 +0000

New post up: A truly inspired meal at Marea and dining with (ok, just next to) Meryl Streep

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/9/26/a-truly-inspired-meal-at-marea-and-dining-with-ok-just-next.html

New blog post up - Taiwan 2009 - The Full Food Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:15:00 +0000

New post up on www.nycrumbs.com

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/8/1/taiwan-2009-the-full-food-tour.html

Taiwan 2009: Gorgeous Scenery - Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:47:00 +0000

New post up:

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/7/3/taiwan-2009-gorgeous-scenery-taroko-gorge-sun-moon-lake-alis.html

Taiwan 2009: A day of hot springs and great cuisine at Spring City Resort

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:23:00 +0000

New post up at www.nycrumbs:

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/6/13/taiwan-2009-a-day-of-hot-springs-and-great-cuisine-at-spring.html

A mountain of food at the 9th Annual Taste of the Lower East Side

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:05:00 +0000

New blog post on nycrumbs.com

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/5/8/a-mountain-of-food-at-the-9th-annual-taste-of-the-lower-east.html

Japanese comfort food @ Sake Bar Hagi (a midtown izakaya)

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:04:00 +0000

New blog post on nycrumbs.com:

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/5/3/japanese-comfort-food-sake-bar-hagi-a-midtown-izakaya.html

Lunch Street-Cart Style with David Chang

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:06:00 +0000

New blog post on nycrumbs.com:

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/4/24/lunch-street-cart-style-with-david-chang.html

Spanish tapas and sangria @ Pata Negra (my favorite East Village winebar)

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:41:00 +0000

New blog post on www.nycrumbs.com:

http://nycrumbs.com/posts/2009/4/20/spanish-tapas-and-sangria-pata-negra-my-favorite-east-villag.html

Interesting food links for the week

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:04:00 +0000

New blog post at nycrumbs.com:

Interesting food links: magic ratios, easter brunch bunnies, bird cooking spaghetti, serving wine on tap, undiscovered NY, experiential dining at Alinea

Luxury Japanese-Influenced Desserts @ Luxee, Pho and Banh Mi @ An Choi

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:04:00 +0000

New blog post on www.nycrumbs.com:

Luxury Japanese-Influenced Desserts @ Luxee, Pho and Banh Mi @ An Choi

Washington, DC in Pictures and Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:45:00 +0000

New blog post on www.nycrumbs.com:

Washington, DC in Pictures and Highlights

Ocho Rios, Jamaica Trip in Pictures & Quick Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:35:00 +0000

New blog post on www.nycrumbs.com:
Ocho Rios, Jamaica Trip in Pictures & Quick Recap

New Post: Adventures in Buenos Aires, Argentina - Part 3: Wrap-up

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Adventures in Buenos Aires, Argentina - Part 3: Wrap-up

New blog address!

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:06:00 +0000

I finally bit the bullet and decided to revamp the ol' blog so please direct your RSS feeds/bookmarks over to: www.nycrumbs.com. :)

Adventures in Buenos Aires, Argentina - Part 2: La Vineria de Gualterio Bolivar

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 04:22:00 +0000

I made a reservation for La Vineria de Gaulterio Bolivar after having done a lot of research and concluding that this was one spot not to miss. The chef did a stint at El Bulli (which is the first place I'm planning to go to celebrate once I've accomplished something grand in my life :) ) and offered an experimental tasting menu for under $60 USD composed of 9 playful and unique dishes and wine pairings.

Amuse-Bouche: Pimiento liquid ravioli, provolone croquette, basalmic vinaigrette "bread"

After this amuse-bouche was brought out, I knew we were in for a real treat of a meal. I loved how playful this plate was - we were instructed to eat the items starting from the basalmic vinaigrette bread which was a crispy, thin bread shell encasing a tart and sweet bead of basalmic vinegar. The next item, a provolone croquette was creamy and rich and led nicely to the sudden explosion of pimiento flavor in the liquid ravioli which burst in our mouths.

Ensalada de brotes, germinados , vegetales crudos y cocidos (Salad of sprouts and raw + cooked vegetables)

I'm not sure how they managed to make 30+ vegetables behave so beautifully together. This was such an interesting mixture of flavors and textures and the dressing was light and added quite a depth to the dish. I'm hoping that this dose of nutrition cancels out the intense amount of beef I just had to consume while in Argentina but I'm guessing that's probably quite wishful thinking.

Here's Kristina, my lovely dining companion, enjoying her salad.

Goat cheese foam with a slow-cooked egg and truffle oil

I'm unfortunately not a huge fan of goat cheese so this dish was a bit underappreciated by me but it was definitely rich and very interesting.

Seared scallops, pumpkin puree, lamb jus

My favorite dish of the night - I would never have paired scallops with pumpkin but for some reason, the combination was just perfect. The scallops were perfectly seared, the smooth silkiness of the pumkin complemented the texture of the scallops and the lamb jus balanced out the sweetness of both components.

Octopus with tomato foam and olive oil powder

This was really, really delicious. I love olive oil powder the two other occasions I've had it before (at WD-50 and Moto) and I think it lends a very subtle and interesting sort of creaminess to any dish it's added to. The octopus was tender and well cooked and I'm not sure how much the foam contributed but alas, that's the nature of "air" as they've taken to calling it.

Salmon with pineapple juice, cherries and ginger

I didn't care too much for this dish - it was nicely cooked but I'm not a big fan of fruit juices paired with fish.

Seared beef, crispy potato skin + potato foam

Oh, Argentina is full of such delectable beef that it's hard to go a single meal without trying some. This dish definitely fulfilled that desire and the potato accompaniment made me smile. Instead of a big pile of fries, this dish came with a thin potato skin layer encasing a mound of potato foam.

A palate cleanser right before the dessert courses

I can't for the life of me remember what kind of foam this was but I remember it was incredibly refreshing and light.

Orange and almond cake, chocolate ice cream, goat cheese

Great mix of savory and sweet items on this plate and the orange and almond cake was delicious if a little dry.

All in all, I had a great meal for a great price and I highly recommend that the next time you find yourself in BA, you place yourselves in the highly capable hands of the chefs at La Vineria de Gualterio Bolivar.

Address: Bolívar 865, entre Independencia y Estados Unidos

Transport Subte C, Independencia/24, 29 bus.
Telephone 4361 4709

Adventures in Buenos Aires, Argentina - Part 1: Accomodations, a cooking class at Teresita's and Recoleta Cemetary

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:12:00 +0000

It's been quite a long hiatus after a particularly intense last year (starting a new company definitely puts a pause on lots of things in life unfortunately - sleeping is definitely cramping my style). I figured a good way to start off the new year was with a series of nice, long posts on my latest adventures in Buenos Aires.

This was my first time in South America and I had an absolute blast. I'd heard such great things from a bunch of friends and was completely prepared to be blown away by the food, the tango, the spanish/italian influenced architecture and all-around great lifestyle and I was definitely not disappointed.

After a 14 hour flight with a barely made connection in Santiago, I escaped the blizzards and sub-freezing temperatures of NYC and made my way into the fierce summer heat of Buenos Aires. I chose to make my homebase in San Telmo after reading countless descriptions of the neighborhood's bohemian qualities, charm and historic appeal. Unfortunately, I found certain parts of the neighborhood quite run-down and felt that I would have been uncomfortable walking around late at night on certain of the narrower and darkened streets. San Telmo is also quite far from most of the neighborhoods I spent most of my time in (by cab, about 15 minutes from Recoleta and about 20-25 from Palermo - thankfully, cabs are insanely cheap - probably the equivalant of $0.35USD per minute) The next time I visit, I'd probably choose to stay in either Palermo or Recoleta but in any case, I stayed for a few nights at the Moreno Hotel which was an absolutely gorgeous modern boutique hotel with huge rooms and an incredibly nice staff. A shot of a portion of my room (which is larger than my entire apartment in NYC!):

A map of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires (San Telmo is near the bottom):

Cooking in Buenos Aires:

One of the best things I did in BA was take a cooking class at Teresita's. The class was held in Teresita's gorgeous B&B about an hour outside the city in a leafy, quiet suburb. Teresita's resident bbq-master and driver, Buddha, picked up a bunch of us and drove us out to the house which was to me, the perfect B&B hideaway.

From top-left clockwise: The neighborhood, the living room, the kitchen, Buddha bbqing in the yard

We were all there for a 5-hour empanadas and asado (bbq) class so on to the cooking we went:

In sequence: kneading the empanada dough, rolling it out, making the filling, stuffing, wrapping; the asado; dulce de leche crepes seared with a flaming hot iron

The filling was a combination of ground beef which we picked up at the local market that morning, onion, chopped hard boiled egg, raisins, olives, scallions, aji molido (ground red, dry spicy peppers), cumin and sweet and hot paprika. One thing I found really interesting were the two ways the empanadas were cooked - one by baking and one by frying and then sprinkling with sugar. I thought the baked empanadas were delicious - really dense and moist but greatly preferred the fried ones which were lighty, airy and had a great balance of salty/sweet which I love. I do have to admit we ended up not learning much about the asado as we all settled in to drink wine and eat the empanadas that we'd spent all afternoon making. The class was so much fun and incredibly relaxing. This was my first time actually playing with dough and I think that this is a habit I'll find hard to break. Since any good meal really starts with good people, it was very lucky that we ended up with a fantastic group. I met Kristina, a lovely, accomplished and incredibly creative woman who heads up a ballot initiative non-profit in DC, a wonderfully funny family from Hawaii, a
charming duo from Denver and a serene and deeply tanned peace corps worker on her way to visit her sister in NY. Kristina and I ended up hitting it off and spending a lot more time together in BA so more on our adventures later. All in all, I've completely resolved to do as many of these cooking classes in different countries as I can.

Recoleta Cemetary:

Of course any trip to BA would be incomplete without visiting the cemetary in Recoleta where Eva Peron is so famously buried. I wasn't sure what to expect but this was unlike any other cemetary I've ever been to - there was a really muted, beautiful atmosphere and wasn't overrun with tourists as I was expecting since it was so huge. I noticed a lot of cats sleeping on the cool marble tombs and crossed paths with quite a few black cats.

Full flickr set here

Aw, what a nice review

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:44:00 +0000

My friend Outer Borough Eater found this extremely flattering snippet in one of the newsletters he receives from NFT (Not for Tourists guidebooks):

:)

A Feast for the Senses @ Perry Street

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:34:00 +0000

There's a ridiculously good lunch deal out there in the wide, wide world of Manhattan restaurants and I've finally taken advantage of it. I'm talking of course, about the $24 lunch menu at Perry Street. This is the place to go for a meal with a dizzying array of colors, flavors and textures working together in harmony and appealing to nearly all the senses. Even better yet, you get to have your meal in a gorgeous, minimalistic dining room with an appealing hazy glow that evokes lazy afternoons spent whiling away the hours with a good book by an open window.

The Decor: (8.5/10)

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The Food: (9.5/10)

Amuse Bouche: Strawberry Gazpacho
I believe this was blended with tomato? Beautifully smooth and refreshingly tart with just the right touch of strawberry in the aftertaste - I could easily see myself drinking an entire jug of this.

Arctic Char Sashimi, Lemon, Olive Oil and Crispy Skin
Really fresh fish, beautiful colors and the crispy skin on top gave the dish a great textural component.

Crab salad with edible flowers, scallions, cucumber, radishes
Simply AMAZING. I'm usually not fan of overly complex dishes but somehow, every single component of this crab salad was balanced and contributed to the overall deliciousness of the dish. The crab was really creamy and seasoned perfectly and offset by the bright, summery flavors of the scallion, cucumber and radishes and the edible flowers lent a distinct sweetness to the whole affair. Isn't this also one of the most gorgeous presentations you've ever seen? I could barely bring myself to eat it.

Hangar Steak with creamed basil and fava beans and an onion ring
The steak was really moist and tender and worked well with the creamed basil and fava beans but this dish wasn't particularly interesting. I did like the crunchiness of the onion ring though and how it fell apart in layers.

Chili Oil-Poached Red Snapper
I was a bit worried that this dish would be too spicy for me but it wasn't at all - the chili oil lent a very mild flavor to the beautifully flaky, poached fish. The combination of the earthiness of the radishes and the distinct flavor of the red snapper really worked well together and the colors in this dish are again, incredibly striking.

Peach Melba
A perfect simple, summery dessert - white and yellow peaches covered with a noraspberry puree and a milky granita.

Chocolate Pudding, Devil's cake, Whipped cream and Crystallized Lavender
Appallingly good - it seems like a rather simple dessert but it's somehow elevated beyond the ordinary. The pudding was creamy and dense and full of chocolatey goodness and perfectly offset by the thick, fluffy whipped cream. The crunchy crystallized lavender bits were really pretty look at and also quite good though really intensely strong (take just a few bits with each biteful or else they get overwhelming).

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Conclusion
This was easily one of the best dining experiences I've had recently and I'd definitely frequent Perry Street more often but the location makes it a bit of a trek to get to on most weekdays.

FoodistColony Review
Blogsoop Review
SavorNY review

Seattle & Vancouver Trip in pictures & Quick Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 02:44:00 +0000

Seattle:

Noteworthy Food Experiences:

Ponti Seafood Grill: Amazing seafood (I've never had such great salmon before in my life in a beautiful, bustling dining space)
Vivace coffee: Hands-down the best cappuccino I've ever had - the perfect ratio of dense milk frothiness to espresso
Pike Market: Gorgeous produce, quirky handmade goods, very characteristic of the unique Seattle vibe

Vancouver:

Noteworthy Food Experiences:

Granville Island Market: Gorgeous produce, delicious artisanal goods, more different types of tea than you ever knew existed, great wine
Mondo Gelato: Yummy gelato in fun flavors like Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and all the classics!
Richmond Night Market: Feel like you're in a real Asian night market without ever leaving North America - this place is just so much fun :)

A taste of the Bar Room at The Modern

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:13:00 +0000

As a prelude to the Arcade Fire concert at the opening of the High Line Festival, Connie, Nicky and I were wandering around the bleakly corporate area of Midtown near Radio City in desperate need of some good food. After much deliberating, we decided to pop into the Bar Room at the Modern to get a sampling of some of their interesting and beautifully presented dishes.

The Decor: (7/10)

Shot of interior courtesy of The Wandering Eater

The interior of the Modern is really quite pretty - clean lines, artfully placed plants and plenty of room around tables.
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The Food: (8.5/10)

Every dish on the menu is a small plate broken out into 3 sections: section I (primarily cold plates), section II (primarily hot plates) and section III (half sized entrees).

Roasted Long Island Duck Breast with peppercorn crusted apples and toasted pistachio-truffle dipping sauce ($16)
Since I'm slightly obsessed with duck, I ordered this dish of course and was so incredibly glad that I had. There's something about the combination of incredibly tender roasted duck and the crunchy tartness of apples that creates a nearly heavenly sensation. The toasted pistachio-truffle dipping sauce was just the icing on the cake and lent the dish a really mellow, earthly flavor.

Slow Poached Farm Egg In a Jar with maine lobster, roasted jerusalem artichokes and sea urchin froth ($17) Wow. There's not much else to say about this dish - you just really need to run out and get a few jars. There's been this craze surrounding egg dishes that I've totally bought into:

At Degustation:

Slowly Poached Egg with jamón serrano, chorizo, smoked cheese and rice cracker crusted asparagus

At Inoteca:

Truffled Egg Toast (photo courtesy of Kathryn)

At WD-50:

Carrot-Coconut "Sunny Side Up"

And the list goes on and on over at NYM's list of the top egg dishes of NYC

But back to the matter at hand:

Beer Braised Pork Belly with sauerkraut and ginger jus ($19)
Ah, pork belly... it's really hard to go wrong with this dish - I'm not a huge fan of sauerkraut but it really worked with the sweetness of the beer braised pork belly. Everything was perfectly cooked and everything on the plate served a purpose.

Roasted Garlic Gnocchi with wild mushroom, sage and crispy sweetbreads ($17)
Really tender, flavorful gnocchi and deliciously crunchy sweetbreads. The sage was also fried which lent a nice texture tot his dish.

Beignets with maple ice cream, caramel and mango marmalade ($10)
Ah, beignets... these were a bit too soft for my taste but the sauces more than made up for it. There's just something so deliciously decadent about swirling caramel around maple ice cream and topping it off with a big chunk of fried dough...
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More info and reviews:

FoodistColony aggregated reviews
Blogsoop aggregated reviews

Trekking through Spain, Ireland, Portugal - April 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:59:00 +0000

Madrid

Cordoba

Seville

Ireland

Lisbon

Taste of the 5 Boroughs: An Ode through Ice Cream?

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:53:00 +0000

Contrary to public polls, I have returned from my trip alive, well and completely in one piece :) The original plan was to go through Spain & Portugal but alas, things change and I made a 6 day detour to Ireland (quite possible my best decision ever). I'll be sorting through the pictures and putting up a brief travelogue over the next week but just wanted to do a short update and point to this extremely funny representation of the taste of the 5 boroughs through ice cream:

5 Boroughs Ice Cream Flavors
Interview with Founders

Gotta love the UES flavor :)

Flirting with Spain @ Degustation

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:56:00 +0000

I know, I know - I've mentioned my newfound love for Spanish cuisine several times already on this blog but ever since my trip to Barcelona back in November, I haven't been able to get the memory of it out of my system. So, this past weekend, instead of doing the responsible thing and finishing up my taxes, I booked the airfare for my triumphant return trip to Spain! I'm going in mid-April (3 short weeks from now!) from 4/13 - 4/29 and so far, the plan is to hit San Sebastian, Madrid, Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada (maybe) and end up in Lisbon. If anyone has any recommendations for any restaurants/activities in any of these cities, please funnel them to me. :)

On to the food... in an effort to 1) try out a place that has been gushed over by foodies from all over and 2) whet my appetite for all the spanish goodies I'll soon be consuming, I headed over to Degustation on tuesday night.

The Decor: (9/10)
What a gorgeous dining room... when we walked in, we mistakenly walked into Jewel Bako (pictured on the right) since it shares a space with Degustation (the two restaurants are literally right next to each other, separated by a hallway). On a tuesday night around 7, the place wasn't really that busy - there were probably 5-6 other diners there with us that night so it felt like we had the undiluted attention of all three of the chefs standing behind the counter including the young, infinitely talented and unbelievably (and quite distractingly) good-looking Chef Wesley Genovart. It's really remarkable that he's turning out such interesting food and running a critically acclaimed restaurant at the tender age of 27 (I can't believe I'm turning 25 next month... I think I seriously need to pick up the pace!) I really love the whole concept of eating at a counter and watching all the culinary magic happening in front of you. My only gripe with the dining space was that it felt a bit stuffy but that might have been due to the time we were dining and a less than bustling dining room.

Interior Photos from the New York Times review of Degustation and Jewel Bako

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The Food: (8.5/10)

Slowly Poached Egg with jamón serrano, chorizo, smoked cheese and rice cracker crusted asparagus
This is going right on my list as one of my favorite comfort food dishes. The texture of the slowly poached egg (courtesy of the increasingly popular sous-vide method of cooking) is incomparable to that of an egg cooked by any other method - silky smooth, creamy and jiggly all at the same time. The rice cracker crusted asparagus had great flavor and was meant to be dipped into all the lovely, dribbly egg. I think the jamon serrano really brought a great dimension to the dish. Ultimate takeaway: this dish gave me the first hint of the chef's deep love of spanish flavors and inventiveness.

Corn and onion croquetas with saffron aioli
I love croquetas and these were four perfect representations of their kind - all beautifully crispy on the outside and creamy and soft inside. The saffron aioli was delicious and complemented the sweet corn innards as well as being a great visual accent.

Seared scallops, fried artichokes, vegetables in jamon serrano jus
I don't normally like scallops all that much but this dish has gone a long way in changing my mind about them. We ordered this to try out the fried artichokes and we weren't disappointed. The scallops were delicately sweet, had a deliciously seared flavor and nearly melted in our mouths. The fried artichoke was just as wonderful as I remembered it being (I discovered and ordered them way too often in Barcelona) and acted as a nice, crispy, salty counterpoint. I don't think the vegetables really contributed much to the dish overall but sneaking some into your diet is a good thing, right? (just kidding - I make it a point to eat plenty of veggies)

Squid stuffed with braised short ribs and lentils
Another signature Degustation dish - grilled squid stuffed with braised short ribs and lentils? What kind of wacky combination is that? Miraculously, this is a winning combo. The short rib was so tender and the squid was perfectly grilled so the combination of the two resulted in an explosion of flavor and soft textures. The lentils lent a really earthy quality to the dish though the bits of chorizo sprinkled throughout made them way too salty.

Crispy sweetbreads + cucumber dill greek yogurt with chilies
Wow, I had no idea sweetbreads could be so good... I foresee a mass tasting of them coming up. The sweetbreads were really delicately fried so the texture was perfect and the pretty green cucumber dill greek yogurt sauce drizzled all over the plate gave them a cool, refreshing taste.

Ribeye with a red onion marmalade, molasses and bone marrow foam
I have to say this really isn't the prettiest dish I've ever seen but it was seriously good. The meat was barely cooked and so tender it was remarkable. The bone marrow foam was an interesting touch - apparently the chef loves the flavor of bone marrow but finds the texture disgusting thus the incorporation into foam form. The foam combined with a really tasty red onion marmalade and molasses equated to seriously good flavor.

Suckling pig
Yum - crackling skin, tender meat, enough said. Nothing extraordinarily innovative here but it was delicious :)

Apple Tart Tatin with greek yogurt
The dessert portion of the menu was limited to the apple tart tatin and a cheese plate. With my notorious sweet tooth, I opted for the ooey, gooey goodness of the apple tart tatin. This was a really nice ending to the meal though not overly exciting.
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More info and reviews:

NY Times Review
SavoryNewYork Review (with chef interview)
Aggregated blog reviews via Blogsoop

Openings: Ed's Lobster Shack & East Village Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Aesis) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:03:00 +0000

From DailyCandy:

Ed’s Lobster Bar

"There’s a good chance that the menu in heaven looks something like this: lobster roll, lobster pot pie, grilled lobster, and — aw, what the heck — another lobster roll.

Paradise gets a step closer tomorrow when Ed’s Lobster Bar opens in SoHo.

Ed McFarland, longtime cook at Pearl Oyster Bar, is now going it on his own. And not a moment too soon: The east side has been itching for a proper seafood shack.

Ed’s is charming and unpretentious: long dining bar, a dozen tables in the back, gray wainscoting, and oceanic scenes on the walls. A fitting home for the simple, magnificent crustacean.

Right. About the lobster-rific menu. It includes all the heavenly wishes and a raw bar, clam chowder, steamers, PEI mussels, seared scallops, and New York bouillabaisse. And just about everything falls between $10 and $20.

Yes, pinch yourself. No, you’re not dreaming."

222 Lafayette Street, between Spring and Broome Streets (212-343-3236)

East Village Ice Cream

"There are really only two kinds of people (lunatics, geniuses) who would dare open an ice cream shop in the dead of winter.

But East Village Ice Cream, a bite-size, creamsicle-colored store just opened by a Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory alum, is a case of mad brilliance.

Everything in the tiny gem of a shop is handcrafted in carefully curated, ever-changing flavors: mango made from fresh fruit and brown sugar; pistachio with bits of toasted, hand-mashed nuts; and sweet, rich coffee that revives better than any cup of joe. Calculate the beneficial effects of vanilla with caramel or strawberry with rainbow sprinkles on your seasonal affective disorder.

Before you know it, you’ll be scarfing down amazing Scharffen Berger chocolate-chocolate chunk in zero-degree weather, wondering whether you are a lunatic or a genius.

Or a little of both."

218 Avenue B, between 13th and 14th Streets (212-673-6030)