Showing posts with label mediterranean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mediterranean. Show all posts

7.19.2016

HONESTY is the policy: Rosemary and Vine


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When asked about Rye, New York, Tania Rahal, the co-owner of Rosemary and Vine, revealed that the people are honest and straightforward. She mentioned that they are direct and generous at the same time, not afraid to compassionately share their opinions.

The Rosemary and Vine restaurant fits right in. Transparency is very important to the restaurant’s team and mission. Wholesome, fresh, seasonal, organic, and local ingredients are key to the vegetarian Mediterranean-inspired menu. The open kitchen is also paramount to the concept of the table service eatery, allowing guests to see food preparation and indirectly involving them in the process. With that, Rosemary and Vine’s food tastes honest.  Including a mix of family recipes and dishes cultivated by Consulting Chef Erica Wides, summer is on the menu.
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Honesty begins with the starters, a blend of classic and fresh. Start with a cooling and textured gazpacho blanco, complete with a vibrant soft green color, a result of luscious cucumber, grapes, and deep roasted almonds.  Try a smoky babaganoush topped with sweet-tart pomegranate seeds that add a crunch to the sinful eggplant spread. The homemade hummus, a family recipe, is bright and smooth, earthy and meaty, perfect with crisp pita points. An avocado crostini is complex and hums with tangy feta, sweet peas, a layered charmoula, and moments of mint. 
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Rosemary and Vine’s summer flatbreads exude color and bright flavors that combine to be satiating and familiar. The Sarah similar to, but steps above, run-of-the-mill pizza, the Ella smooth with thick ricotta, spicy baby arugula, but accompanied by a crunch from buttery roasted pine nuts, the Yasmine with lemon notes and creamy hummus and fatoush greens. Each one demonstrates discernable fresh seasonal ingredients.
Owners Berj Yeretzian and Tania Rahal
Salads come in all colors, too— textured with lentils or quinoa; colored with cucumbers, tomatoes, or kale; made fresh with sumac dressing or apple cider vinaigrette. 
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Entrees are an amalgamation of a vegetarian paradise and Mediterranean flare that is far from intimidating, but still includes the aromas and flavors of another world. The saffron- scented Moroccan tagine attracts regulars because of its robust warm spices with hints of sweetness supported by delicate butternut squash and zucchini and hearty chickpeas served on couscous.  A truffled summer garden fettuccini is perfect for the scalding summer temperatures, as it remains fresh with earthy grilled asparagus and fatty pine nuts, while the radicchio adds a bitterness balanced by the bursting sweet summer corn. The thick flakes of Sartori Parmesan binds the pasta dish together; its salt brings out the sensuous truffle butter. Other entrees include Turkish braised eggplant ragout, family recipe falafel, five-cheese mushroom lasagna, potato kibbeh, and a Provençal frittata.
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No summer meal is complete without dessert. Abborio rice pudding is laced with spicy cinnamon, bourbon vanilla beans, and the distinct flavor of almond milk, just sweet enough, while the dark chocolate pudding speaks to mature decadence.  The warm chocolate cake is a dessert in between, still luxurious with cocoa powder and 70% dark Valrhona chocolate, but made playful with sweetened strawberries and light whipped cream.
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The restaurant offers a mission-based curated beverage list, including sustainable, small batch production Mediterranean wines; delicate and refined wine cocktails; select draft and bottled beers; coffee by Coffee Labs, a small-batch, local independent roaster in Tarrytown, NY; hot chocolate by Valrhona; and organic teas by Serendipitea.

Rosemary and Vine came together through the vision of owners Berj Yeretzian and Tania Rahal, to bring a taste of their native home to their new home in Rye, New York, culminating in a beer and wine bar offering delicious Mediterranean, vegetarian fare. The eatery has transformed through the sincerity of its clientele, but its constant has remained: honest food.
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7.19.16
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5.29.2016

SPRING has sprung: Vai Restaurant


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We have been teased with sunshine and warm weather, and even oppressive intense heat. On those pleasant sunny Sundays, New York City streets are flooded with revelers, soaking up the sun and inhaling the first tastes of spring. Brunch culture flourishes as windows open to the rising temperatures, sun filters in spaces, and outdoor seating becomes a must.
With the change in the season comes a change in the brunch menu at Vai Restaurant. With the expertise of Chef/Owner Vincent Chirico, the small upper west side Mediterranean-inspired restaurant celebrates the season with the freshest ingredients that sing spring with euphonious and delicious melodies.
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Chef Chirico presents fleshy bright delicate Muscat grapes, fragrant Thai basil, salty cured meat, and voluptuous burrata in a chilled appetizer, and satin soft fingerling potatoes piled with succulent and perfect charred octopus with just enough heat to compete with spring weather in a warm appetizer.
Textures play tag in a sumptuous hamachi crudo, decorated with silky avocado and grapefruit gems ready to burst at the touch, while deep green asparagus and velvet pink fat-lined meat nestle runny bright yellow egg yolk and wide briny flakes of cheese.  
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A shallow bowl of pearlescent white polenta supports a plump poached egg hidden beneath earth tones of ramps and mushrooms, laced with large chips of cheese.
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And dessert is just as smooth and fresh, light but decadent with an ombre of chocolate and just enough sweetness to end.
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Each of these offer a taste of spring amongst the other dishes featured on the menu. Not only is spring highlighted in the seasonal ingredients that are featured on the brunch menu and brunch prix fixe, but also the textures and aesthetic of the dishes bring to mind that whimsical playfulness and flirty feeling of the season.
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5.2016
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