BEST of 2014

As I said in my metaphorical toast— it’s been a delicious year. So many foodie ventures! I’ve indulged in yummy things on the East and West Coast (sweet and savory). I baked, sampled, tasted, ate, and gorged on so many delightful eats. But here are my Best of 2014!

New Recipe

Let’s face it—I like to try out new recipes especially when it comes to baked goods. These are the recipes that really took the cake this year!

Caramel Cake

Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Banana Blondies

Bite

I had a lot of bites this year, like a lot. Between Taste of Tribeca, Taste of Hope and all the other chowing down I do, there was no shortage tasty bites, but these were my faves.

Pumpkin Fig Cheesecake

Sugar Couture

Avocado Smash

Little Collins

 

Drinks

Even though apparently I sampled a whole bunch of flavorful libations this year, one spot had my favorite sips.

Fig and Olive

Appetizers

Appetizers can sometimes really steal the show. The starters at these restaurants made for delectable beginnings.

Central Kitchen

Flea Street Café  

Brunch

As that in-between time, brunch menus can offer the sweet and savory stuffs of both breakfast and lunch. This year however, my taste-buds danced for savory brunchy dishes.

Duck Confit Hash

Park & Sixth Gastropub

Shrimp and Grits

The Bistro at Grove Square

Dessert

Dessert is my most favorite time of day. Love salty, but I have a weakness for sweet thangs, and this year, these two desserts really satisfied my sweet tooth.

Snickerdoodle Sammie

Bareburger Hoboken

Pistachio Crème Brûlée

La Nonna

Dish

It’s practically impossible for me to pinpoint the best dish I devoured in 2014, as there were so many extremely delicious, covetable and dreamy eats.  But I stumbled on this one as something I thoroughly enjoyed this year.

Pancetta wrapped Scallops

Battello

Most Memorable Meal

It’s hard to say what makes a meal memorable. Is it the delicious dishes, the fresh ingredients, the agreeable atmosphere and service? Or is it the sheer thrill of caloric ingestion? There is one place that comes to mind that most definitely checks all of the boxes for my most memorable meal in 2014.

Brenda’s French Soul Food

Can’t wait to see what tasty things are to come in 2015!! Don’t forget to follow along on facebook, instagram, twitter, and yelp!

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tasting with a VIEW: Battello

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Stunning views steal breath. The night glitters with magic— the dark sky kisses the reflective water, twinkling, and the fall air drifts in, circling the high ceilings of Battello in Jersey City.

It is the perfect setting to be seduced. Open widows and glass let the still outside in. Vaulting rafters allow whispers to vanish, evaporate into intimacy and stay warm in the ear. Dotted Edison bulbs dangle just right, like tangible stars.

The menu speaks of a different kind of intimacy. A repetition of ingredients guarantees a closeness of flavors and feelings. The variety is pleasant, but the theme is to elevate: to inspire with the insipid. Many menu items seem done to the point of overdone; Battello wants to prove otherwise.

The Shipwrecked cocktail is a sweet note amongst its bitter companions, fresh with strawberries and savory with vibrant basil.

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A doughty crabcake sits on a bed of electric green slimy seaweed and capped with thick fennel. Each layer plays to the one beneath it, matching stringy texture, layering salt, fish and fresh.

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Smoky octopus, blackened with grill marks and effort, is brightened with green olive tapenade, briny and rough. The saltiness is soaked up by heavy grilled potatoes, creating a balance verging on innocuous.

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Added salt brings out the disguised sweetness of the autumn squash and the tender too cooked short rib dispersed through the curled edges of cavatelli. A monotonous blandness that weighs the dish down, flat-lining something that was destined for deliciousness.

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Pillowy gnocchi bathe in Bolognese pronged with spicy sausage and tangy acidic tomato. The browned pasta melts in the mouth, leaving fat chunks of crumbly sausage and not enough feeling.

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A four-bite braised short rib stands tall on a slab of smooth mashed potatoes and silky greens. The juices are sweet like fall fruits left with time, instant age for the fatty meat.

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Two delicate pancetta wrapped scallops sit triumphantly on red quinoa gravel, briny with green olives and sweet with gems raisins. Decorative pretty puffs of toasted almond supply another level of earthiness to the quinoa, highlighting the sweetness of the scallop.

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Dessert is a trio singing sweet songs with a melody too saccharine for honeyed ears. Almond ice cream lays thick on crunchy layers of cold granola, nuts, and the bluest of blueberries to make a tiny parfait. But bitterness invades with a round of dark chocolate gelato, towering chocolate mousse and a soft rectangle of dense brownie. A sole praline profiterole, salty and sweet, paired with a tart macerated strawberry, finish the group.

The airy atmosphere breeds romance—dim lighting, refined rustic notes, and glass, lots of glass.  Though luscious textures and refined ingredients are the language of the food at the eatery, a little piece of love is missing in some of the dishes, leaving them soulless.

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photo op: BIRTHDAY weekend

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This weekend was my birthday, and as I ought to, I celebrated with food. Despite being a slug most of my birthday weekend, we managed to make some tasty treats with a little bit of apple and a ton of butter. I was dragged out of the house to a lovely birthday dinner on the water and returned home to the most beautiful surprise birthday cake—three layers and all. 

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Thanks for all the birthday wishes. And cheers to another year.

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