September 28, 2007

Strawberry cake

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It was Yves birthday last Monday. My parents bought him a cake with fresh strawberries to celebrate on Sunday. Yves doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday so we just ordered mediteranean food from Sahara, it was delicious but a bit more expensive than we are used to paying in Bay Ridge.

Posted by luluvision at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2007

Sienna's First Dim Sum!

Saturday we ventured out to Chinatown to meet up with Pete and Joy at Golden Unicorn for some dim sum! Of course, it had to be the muggiest, yuckiest day but we survived.

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Ok, she's not really looking at the har kow here. She just woke up from a short nap near the end of our meal so I wanted to document her first dim sum outting. We ended up taking her out anyway.

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I don't remember what we were looking at and laughing at.

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Shortly after this shot, Sienna spit up on Joy. LOL.

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And the cart ladies all loved Sienna too!

After dim sum, we went for our traditional bubble tea at Tenren. We went to the park so we can feed Sienna her lunch and called it a day!

Posted by luluvision at 09:11 AM | Comments (2)

August 20, 2007

Band Meeting 1

Friday I met up with the band and went out to dinner at Loreley's. The food was delicious!! I started off with a wheat beer that I don't remember the name of, especially since they had so many different ones! We were sitting outside and at the only table that didn't have a covering so when it started to rain, we had to go inside.

We ordered warm pretzels and potato pancakes to start off with. I expected more from the pretzel, it was just ok but the potato pancakes were huge! It was really just an oversized hash brown but I love me some hash browns!

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For entree, I got brats (I had too! So much talk about brats lately). They were delicious! Pete got beef roast (also delicious), Tammy got Chicken Paprika (YUM) and Joy got the butcher plate (the bacon wasn't salty at all!)

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I'm afraid the pictures aren't the greatest, we were so into wanting to eat I took them really fast. The food came really fast too so we didn't really linger too long in there. There was a slight issue with the bill, well, really with the waitress. We inadvertently left her only a 10 percent tip, we misread the bill total so the waitress asked us if there was anything wrong with the service since we only left a 10% tip and 'new yorkers usually leave 20.' Well, that really pissed tammy off and she told her off a little bit but was civil about it and gave her another $10. Besides the fact that she was really only serving us at the end since we came in from the back patio. HA!

Anyway, we were still in a good mood and topped off the evening with cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine and I got a delicious pistachio (my favorite!)

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Posted by luluvision at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2007

Lunching in Fort Greene

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Tuesday me and Sienna went to have lunch with Brenda, who was on vacation for the week. We went to Chez Lola. It was so delicious!! Surprisingly Sienna was a bit antsy even though I fed her and changed her right before we left to meet Brenda. After we ordered, I took her out of her seat so she could have a look around the restaurant. She loved it! I wish I took pictures of the restaurant, there was so much to see. Lots of oranges and textures (the wine rack was made out of a mattress spring!) Once our dishes came, I put her back in and ended up giving her a paci and she fell asleep! Good girl! I ordered the salmon basil omelette (salmon, goat cheese and scallions) and Brenda got the Croque Madame. YUM!!

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We went for a walk in Fort Greene Park after lunch. What a nice park!! We went around a few times and it's hilly so I got quite a workout. I need to do more of those! LOL. I was so tired when I got home!

And if anyone is keeping tabs on the sleep situation, Tuesday and Wednesday night we had trouble putting her down. We put her down on the earlier side since she really hasn't been taking her afternoon naps and she just didn't want to go down. Then last night we had the AC on because it was so muggy all day and she went down easy and also on the earlier side! She fussed a little bit during Goodnight Moon but did not cry when Yves put her down in the crib. A successful putdown for Yves! Yay! So it seems the AC has a lot to do with how easy she goes down. Of course if it is really cool out, it won't be necessary but from now on, even if it's just a bit warm, we are putting that sucker on for her!

Posted by luluvision at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2007

BBQgasm

Warning! Don't read if you are hungry or a vegetarian! ;-)

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Joy took me to Hill Country in the Flatiron for some BBQ. YUM! They give you a meal ticket and you wait on line and order by the piece or pound. We each started with a piece of pork rib, beef rib, brisket and shared a sausage. We chose deviled eggs, baked beans and mac and cheese for the sides. The standouts were the brisket and the beans. The brisket was so moist! And the beans were so tasty, made with bourbon! Everything was good but the beef rib was a real disappointment, way too salty.

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Before

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After

At the beginning of the feast, we talked about going back for more, like trying the cornish hen. By the time we were half way through, we knew we were done. Joy was very disappointed in us. Oh well, at least there is more to look forward to when we go back!

Posted by luluvision at 09:22 AM | Comments (1)

July 15, 2007

Good Food and Good Peeps

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Yesterday we met JW and Rod Cone for lunch at Castro's in Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill. It was delicious!! We ate outside in the back and it wasn't crowded and really laid back. We ended up staying a little bit to feed Sienna after paying the bill and they didn't care. We will definitely be going back!

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(sorry for the different color temperatures in these 2, I can't seem to get it right!)

And to remind us of how big the portions were, here is my Flounder Torta, platanos and Yves' chicken enchiladas!

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Posted by luluvision at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2007

The best Banh Mi EVER

After Sienna's 4 month check up on Tuesday, we met up with Joy to get lunch at Ba Xuyen where I read that it had the best Banh Mi (vietnamese sandwiches.) I had tried to find this place a couple of weeks ago and thought it was on 40th and 10th Avenue for some reason so of course, did not find it when I also checked 9th avenue and 8th avenue (but further down). The only review I fully accept is my own so even though I read this place had the best Banh Mi, I was still skeptical. Well, it's true. This place has the BEST BANH MI EVER! Even though I had the grilled chicken version and not the original version with pate and pork, it was still the best grilled chicken BANH MI EVER! The bread really brings it all together. I'm not that good being descriptive so here are pictures.

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Even Yves says it was worth the trip and you know Yves is not as big a foodie as I am (and I'm not as big a foodie as Joy.)

Posted by luluvision at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2007

Patties!

Last week we went to Kings Plaza strictly to go have patties at Golden Krust (which I only learned was there a few weeks ago) only to discover it was closed due to the marshal seizing it. What a downer! Especially when you have the taste of patties in your mouth even before getting there. So yesterday we headed over to Prospect Park to Christie's patties on Flatbush. They say it's the best patties in Brooklyn. It was quite tasty but I'm not sure it's the best. We'll have to test that out. ;-)
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I decided to try a veggie pattie, which according to Yves anything but beef is a sacrilege. It wasn't bad despite the peas. The sauerkraut gave it an interesting flavor.

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And of course had to have a beef one too!

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Sienna's first ting. too bad it was empty.

Posted by luluvision at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2007

Outta This World

Last night was the June mixer. We were originally supposed to have it at Puck Fair but since it was their anniversary celebrations, the bar was mad packed from what I heard, I hadn't even made it to the bar! My cell phone started vibrating madly during dinner with accounts of people getting turned away and so many people that it was spilling out to the front. Long story short, we ended up at Grassroots Tavern, a nice dive like bar on St. Marks. I only say it's dive like because the bathroom was pretty decent. Last night's mixer was the biggest crowd we had in a long time. It was also Bill's last mixer as a New Yorker. A bunch of us chipped in and got him and Laura a gift card to Morton's Steakhouse (with locations in NYC and Chicago-which is where they are going), I made chocolate chip cookies and Alison bought cupcakes from Billy's. Below is our first ever group photo in honor of Bill's departure.

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I'll post the scan of the card I made in another post. Here was my mix, also in honor of Bill cuz he's outta this world!

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1. Theme From Space Island • !!!
2. Stars All Seem To Weep • Beth Orton
3. Sky Starts Falling • Doves
4. Shooting Star • Elliott Smith
5. Full Of Stars • Turin Brakes
6. The Moon • Cat Power
7. Honey And The Moon • Joseph Arthur
8. When The Stars Go Blue • Ryan Adams
9. Space Ho's • Danger Doom
10. Every Planet We Reach Is Dead • Gorillaz
11. Down With Moonlight • The Rakes
12. If Only The Moon Were Up • Field Music
13. 7 Stars • Apples In Stereo
14. Man In The Moon • Voice of the Beehive
15. No Stars • Figures On A Beach
16. Lost In Space • Fountains Of Wayne
17. Jesus Came From Outta Space • Supergrass

I lovingly got teased for sewing my cover this month and cutting out stars for my track list. And of course it didn't stop when they learned I made the card for Bill and Laura and baked cookies. HA!

Posted by luluvision at 03:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2007

Mooncake

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Last Friday was a bumblebee birthday/Christmas dinner and we went to Mooncake Foods. YUM! Everything we had was just delcious! You can see the menu here. The people were super nice too. For starters we had the crawfish dumplings, chicken wings with honey and soy and lobster and mango summer rolls.

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It was really dark in the restaurant so it was hard for my camera to focus. Plus I will spare the rest of the bumblebees and not post their pictures mid eating. For the entrees, I got the fish special, grilled tilapia with ginger and scallion. It came over vegetables and a side of brown rice. Do I have to say it? Ok, YUM! Joy got the Shanghai homestyle short ribs, Denise got the grilled chicken with garlic lime and Ruth got the lemongrass shrimp. For dessert, we shared banana cheesecake and key lime pie. And the price was right too!! Didn't put a dent in my already thin wallet! I would definitely go back here again!

Posted by luluvision at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2007

Cook and baking palooza!

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I got this spiced carrot muffin recipe from an old issue of Everyday Food. I made them for Yves on Superbowl Sunday because he likes carrot cake and figured he would eat the majority of them. I don't know why I thought that, he rarely snacks. I think he ate like 3 and I ate the other 9!

We finally picked up a food processor last week and yesterday I made hummus (no picture). It was so easy and delicious!! So much cheaper than buying it at the store! And I also made falafels!

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These were really easy too and I baked them instead of frying them. I was concerned that they might not taste as good baked but they taste just as good. I also made a yogurt sauce but it was a little bit watery. I'm really enjoying the food processor!

I got out of bed at around 5:30 this morning. I couldn't really sleep and couldn't get comfortable so I decided to get up. I farted around on the computer a little bit and then decided to make chocolate chip oatmeal muffins since I ate all the carrot muffins!

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And the only thing I don't have to remind Yves to eat is the Oatmeal Scotchies I made during Christmas and then the Superbowl and more today. I added some chocolate chips and pistachios.

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It's been really cold the last couple of weeks. I started getting a cough mid week and it really makes me nervous. Coughing makes your blood pressure rise and I already have high blood pressure and taking meds for it! I'm keeping myself home all weekend to make sure it doesn't get worse. I'm sure everything will be fine with the baby and I'm just worrying for nothing. I mean I saw Dr. W. on Thursday and told him about my cough and he didn't seem too concerned.

Posted by luluvision at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2007

Nobu Two!

Last Thursday I went to Nobu as part of Restaurant Week. We went last summer as well and really enjoyed it. The menu was basically the same except for the dessert. So the only new picture I took was the dessert. I got the rock shrimp tempura again (YUM!) and for the entree I got the black cod with miso (YUM!). Pete also got the rock shrimp tempura and this time he got the sashimi plate. Oh! We also each got a piece of sea eel too. It was delicious! When you order unagi, you usually get fresh water eel so I was curious about the sea eel. The waiter explained the difference, which totally went in one ear and out the other but basically it had a gentler, fresher taste. The dessert was a chocolate spice cake with a bunch of chocolate and some currants. I LOVE chocolate but I didn't really care for the spice cake. I liked the summer dessert better.

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Posted by luluvision at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2007

Good Fork

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Red Hook, Holga 2005

Yves took me out to eat Saturday night to this restaurant in Red Hook that got great reviews called Good Fork. We went down there a bit earlier to perhaps take some night shots of the area since I've hardly been out to shoot. Well, I got sidetracked. I had forgotten about the Fairway that opened up there. I went inside to use the restroom and ended up picking a few things up. It's HUGE! Yves was initially upset with me for going shopping but really, it was so big that it took me awhile to find the restroom and them to leave. It really just took me less than 5 minutes to pick up the few items I bought. In the above picture the Fairway is in the building to the left of the streetcar. Although I was super excited about the Fairway, it was kinda sad that a parking lot is now in the place where the streetcars were. At least they didn't dump the streetcars, we saw them behind the market but there weren't any lights back there so am not sure if they altered them in any way.

Well, back to the food at the restaurant. Excellent! It's a really small place, cozy with wood veneer, I guess? Anyway, for appetizers we got the homemade dumplings (pork and chives) and crab cake. YUM. For entree I got the korean style steak and egg with kimchee fried rice. YUM. Yves got the scallops with roasted brussel sprouts. YUM. The host was really nice but I really wasn't that thrilled with our waiter. He wasn't terrible but he wasn't the best either, he just seemed indifferent.

Posted by luluvision at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2006

Merry, Merry!

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Merry Christmas!
It wasn't as festive as Christmases in the past since my in-laws weren't here. My father in law didn't want to come to the cold from Jamaica but the funny thing is, it's been unseasonably warm here. But we made the most of it. When we woke up, we went out to the store to get bagels and things so we can come back and relax and open presents. Yves got me a waffle maker (YUM) and wireless headphones so I can watch TV in bed and hear it while he is asleep. And a gift card to AC Moore. Can't wait to use it! I got him the gorillapod, which he was using all day, and a new drill set that came with a flashlight and some other thing and a bag.

The Chopards came over around 2ish. I made Jamaican beef patties with the pie crust instead of homemade crust like I did last time. I wanted to make homemade crust but I couldn't find Crisco in the market. Note to self, look in the oil aisle instead of the baking aisle. It seemed to have gone over pretty well tho. For dinner I made chili (a big hit), baked ziti (store bought sauce so it didn't taste as good), broccoli, salad, bread, and rice for the kids. They brought over dessert, pecan pie and cupcakes. I never had pecan pie and to be honest, I was a little disappointed when she said it was pecan pie since I'm not a big pecan fan, unless it's dipped in chocolate. Well, it turned out to be delicious!! The filling was apple. I also made chocolate covered pretzels as well.

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Yves used his gorillapod to mount the camera on top of the china closet to take this dessert shot. See Skippy sitting next to me? They gave Yves pajamas and a gift card for Old Navy/The Gap, me a gc for AC Moore (YAY!) and a gc for baby. They ordered other stuff from Amazon but it hadn't come in time. All in all it was a pleasant day!

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My patties!

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Maia and the toy we bought her

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Eli and the toy we bought her

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Skippy and Rozee waiting for everyone's return from viewing the "studio"

Posted by luluvision at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2006

Foodgasm continues

It seems like my blog has become a food blog of late. It's no wonder my blood pressure has gone up a tad lately. The doctor upped my meds a slight bit but I'm convinced it's because of the food I've been eating and not because I'm going into my third trimester.

Last Friday, I met up with Brenda and Richard for brunch at Clinton Street Bakery. They are known for their pancakes and biscuits and for a long weekend brunch wait. There was actually a slight wait at 2 pm on a Friday but Brenda and Richard were late anyway.

I almost went with eggs when I got there but since I was drawn to the place because of their pancakes, I got the pancakes. Blueberry...

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I have to tell you they were only ok. I think I should have went with my mood at the time and gotten the huevos rancheros because I'm still thinking about them. HA. I also got the buttermilk biscuit, also only ok. Maybe because it was so late in the day?

Brenda got a spinach and goat cheese omelette and her potatoes were awesome!
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Richard got the Angus burger since burgers are all he eats now and he said it was the best burger he ever had. I ate up his homemade potato chips and they were really good!

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I'll have to go back and try their eggs and get it out of my system.

Posted by luluvision at 04:11 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2006

Getting all domesticated

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I like to bake cookies but I never made 6 different kinds before. And the numbness in my fingers from pregnancy was more evident after I was done baking. It was fun, tho! From top left to right, Peanut M&M cookies, double chocolate chunk with walnut, chocolate chips with walnut, carrot cake cookies, oatmeal with butterscotch and white chocolate chips (Yves' favorite) and pistachio and dark chocolate M&Ms (my favorite). I had a bunch of left over yogurt containers and was given the idea of filling them up with goodies and to give them away. Originally I was going to make chocolate covered pretzels (which I still plan on doing) but somehow talked myself into doing something more time consuming by baking cookies. I decorated them and gave them to Yves to give to his co-workers.

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I thought they came out really cute! They don't hold as many cookies as I thought they would but I also gave some to our first floor neighbors (but not the 2nd floor since I hate them)and brought the cookies out to karaoke last Tuesday and also gave them to my brunch guests that I had on Saturday and Sunday. Which I also cooked for! See how domesticated I got? I picked out 2 recipes from Everyday Food, a ham and potato bake and buttermilk biscuits. I also made Spinach-Artichoke dip but I got that from Rachel Ray Cooking magazine. They were all big hits on Saturday that I just made the same thing on Sunday! They were all so easy to make. Now to pull out the magazines to figure out what to cook for Christmas!

Posted by luluvision at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2006

FOOOD-gasm

I was very exciting when Joy told me she had off from work. A playmate! Yay! I knew I didn't really have to do much convincing to get her to come with me to check out some restaurants that I've been reading about. Thursday's plan was to check out The Smoke Joint. I've been on the lookout for real great BBQ in the NY area. Dinosaur doesn't count, it's so far up north, it might as well be in Jersey! But alas, when I got to the front, the doors were locked. A quick phone call and I found out they weren't opened for lunch, only dinner. Maybe after the New Year. Sigh... But not to worry! I quickly came up with a backup plan! Ruthie's! Joy had mentioned wanting to try this place on a friend's recommendation (I don't know why it only got an 8.6 on citysearch). I'm sad that I didn't have my camera but take my word for it, it was fantastic! (Not that pictures will tell you how good it was). It's just a little hole in the wall place on DeKalb, it has about 5 tables. I got smothered pork chops with rice and a side of mac and cheese. Joy got fried chicken with potato salad. WOW! My pork chop was perfectly cooked and the gravy....oh my goodness...the gravy was AWESOME! The mac and cheese was good but not as creamy as I usually like it. Joy's fried chicked was great! I am not a big fan of fried chicken but I ate the whole piece she gave me. The potato salad had a nice zing to it. And the service was great! The woman was super nice.

So since we were only down the block from Juniors and since I haven't had their cheesecake in ages and Joy agreed to eat half of a slice with me, we made our way over for dessert. Half an hour later, roll me outta there! Joy didn't keep up with her bargain of eating half of it (tho she claimed she never agreed to eat half of it) and it was thicker and heavier and richer than I remembered. Well, I think I filled my quota of Junior's cheesecake for the next 15 years.

Ok, now I got pictures! Friday we were going to try DiFara's. A place that I've been wanting to try for awhile and recently won #1 pizza in TONY. We ended up waiting 45 minutes for our sausage and mushroom pizza but it was worth it. It was fun watching him work. He grates parmesan cheese fresh and cuts the mozzarella fresh for each pizza as well as the toppings you want. He takes the pizza out of the oven with his bare hands and cuts basil on top with scissors. Take a look, doesn't this picture make you drool??

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I didn't take pictures of him working. I felt like it would distract him or something. Me and Joy finished the whole pie and she was feeling as stuffed as I did yesterday but I felt fine.

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Posted by luluvision at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2006

Gimme FOOD!

I managed to get out of the house on Friday evening to go out to dinner for Joy's bumblebee birthday. We went to Roberto Passon in Hell's kitchen and it was delicious!! Now that is Italian food!! I forgot to take pictures of the appetizers but we had one of the artichoke specials (YUM!), fried calamari with fried zucchini (good but my least favorite of the apps), Crab Cakes in Warm Shiitake Salad and Spicy Red Pepper Sauce (MMMMM!!!) and Caesar salad that was fantastic!!

Here are the entrees. Sorry for some blurry pictures, I'm not used to Yves' new camera.

I got Salmon with spinach:
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Dee Dee got grilled chicken stuffed with cheese:
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Joy got one of the specials, something like veal osso bucco:
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Ruthie got striped bass with broccoli rabe:
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And for dessert we got Profiteroles with Hot Chocolate Sauce:Passonblog5.jpg
I didn't think I would ever say this but I believe they put too much hot chocolate sauce because it melted everything really fast.

Needless to say I only ate about a quarter of my salmon but happily took it home to have for lunch on Sunday.

Posted by luluvision at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)

November 20, 2006

Don't call me baby!

So I totally spaced and forgot to put up my mix from last Tuesday's mixer. That's what happens when you are 20 weeks pregnant. Oops, did I say that? Well, if you can't guess from my mix, yep I'm knocked up! But I'll save the details on that for another entry. Here is the music!

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1. Make Me Mommy • Ben Folds
2. You Mama You • Jude
3. Mama Roux • Sandie Shaw
4. Mama & Papa • Supergrass
5. Break Your Mama's Back • Slow Runner
6. Mama's Room • Under the Influence of Giants
7. My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist • Tarkio
8. Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives • Voxtrot
9. Ganja Babe • Michael Franti & Spearhead
10. Baby I Don't Care • Transvision Vamp
11. Say Baby • Davíd Garza
12. ...Baby One More Time • Fountains Of Wayne
13. The KKK Took My Baby Away • The Ramones
14. Don't Call Me Baby • Voice of the Beehive
15. Baby C'mon • Stephen Malkmus
16. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby • The Smiths
17. Baby I • Amy Millan
18. Sweet Child O' Mine • Luna

I couldn't resist the picture I found of my niece Elianna. Not sure how old she was but this was a couple of years ago. We had the mixer at Cheap Shots in the East Village. Before that I met Joy for dinner. I was in the mood for pasta and since Sal Anthony's was close by we went there. NEVER AGAIN! It was the worst Italian food we ever had! The calamari was old and rubbery and we had to wait for our entrees for over half an hour. My linguini and clam sauce was rubbery too. Joy's pork chops wasn't bad. Oh! What a waste of calories! Anyway, Cheap Shots was fun with an air hockey game.

Posted by luluvision at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2006

Havana

Last night I went out with the Bumblebees for my birthday dinner. Yes, I know my birthday was in July but it's hard to coordinate schedules and 2 months late is not that bad for us.

We went to Havana Alma de Cuba. I forgot my camera so no pictures. Me and Joy had gone there a earlier this year and the food was so delicious I made it a point to come back with the bees.

For appetizers, we had Fufu con Camarones, mashed green plantinas with sauteed shrimp and garlic. YUM! And we also got a seafood salad with shrimp, calamari and little tiny scallops. YUM! For entrees, I got the ropa vieja, I love that dish! They put the beef in a bowl made of plantain chips and it came with rice and beans. I even had leftovers! Joy got the roast suckling pig, I think. It was some sort of pork and it was delicious! DeeDee got one of the specials, seafood casserole and it had clams, shrimp, lobster and other good stuff. Ruthie got filet of red snapper with a crunchy green plaintain crust in a sofrito sauce. That was good too! I also got a side of vegetables to be good. For dessert we all shared warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I don't think I have to say it but YUM!

I got some cool birthday presents too. Joy got me the book Me and Marley, she said pet owners seem to love the book. She had sandwiched the book between 2 tiles that I had wanted from her during the summer. Ruthie got me a set of scented candles and a knitting kit. DeeDee got me this wire coiling gizmo for my beading and some knitting accessories. I thought it was cute that they got knitting confused with crocheting cuz I don't knit. Well, I guess I'll give it a try now!

Posted by luluvision at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2006

BK BREW!

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Last night we went to Brooklyn Brewery for a free tour and tasting courtesy of Tammy. She's so super cool she ordered 3 pies for everyone. Yum and Yum. The beer was quite scrumptious, I do have to say! I got my buzz on, that's for sure. I'm not a big beer person but their wheat beers were delicious (forgive me Makers Mark!) and super cold. Everyone that worked there was super nice too. Yves didn't really drink so he safely got us home.

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Posted by luluvision at 11:48 AM | Comments (1)

July 22, 2006

Nobu & Whitney, happy together

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Pete made lunch reservations at Nobu as part of restaurant week. I was very excited as I have never been to Nobu and man I can't wait to go back!! Besides the food being wonderful, the service was really impeccable! They had a special menu for RW. I had the Rock Shrimp Tempura with creamy spicy sauce and the Assorted Sushi for entree. Pete had the Sashimi Salad and Blackened Cod with Miso Sauce. We also got extra rolls, I got Eel Cucumber (although I wish I just got Eel sushi instead of roll) and Pete got salmon and toro sushi. The Toro was too die for! It just melted in your mouth.

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Pete's Sashimi Salad on top and my Rock Shrimp Tempura

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Pete's Cod and my Sushi

More goodness when the entrees come. I know I was told to not get the sushi at Nobu because I should try their hot stuff but since Pete was getting the Cod, I didn't want to get the same thing and the only other thing was the Tenderloin of Beef with Teriyaki or Pepper Sauce and I didn't want that. But the sushi was fabulous, melt in my mouth goodness! The Cod was absolutely delicious! And for dessert there was Japanese cheesecake with fruit compote. YUM!! The cake was spongy and light, not like your typical cheesecake.

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I didn't want it to end but we needed to be off to the Whitney to see the Hopper exhibit. Seeing the Hopper paintings and illustrations up close and personal was just breathtaking! Unfortunately, no photography inside!

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Posted by luluvision at 11:35 AM | Comments (1)

July 12, 2006

It's all about the EATS!

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I had lunch with Richard for my birthday yesterday and we went to Trailer Park. What kitschy fun! They had a whole bunch of retro fun stuff and I definitely want to go back just to continue looking at everything. Richard ordered a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. I had the chicken salad sandwich and couldn't resist the TATOR TOTS. Man, haven't had tators in ages! I also had a mango margarita.

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For dinner, I opted out of the group dinner that I usually have for my birthday so me and Yves went to Alma in Cobble Hill/Red Hook. They have a roof deck and this is the view.

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It was a bit hazy cuz it's been so damn HOT and HUMID but the view looks better in person. I ordered a mojito and man, it was HUGE!

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Yves had the chicken enchiladas with mole sauce and I had the fish with corn meal crust. They were both delicious! And it came out like probably 10 minutes after we ordered. I think we were in and out of there in an hour! Which is fine because of the alcohol and the heat, I was getting damn HOT! LOL

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Posted by luluvision at 09:56 AM | Comments (2)

June 17, 2006

Renegade

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That's Karen Duffy being interviewed.

Went to the Renegade Craft Fair with Brenda and Pete. Me and Brenda got there around 12:15 and they ran out of goody bags already! wow! I was able to resist buying the ton of cute stuff until I got to the Repro Depot. They had scrap fabric, $16 for a pound. I ended up spending $23 and the scraps were actually pretty big.
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Then I couldn't resist these skull and crossbone charms and kissing charm from Sacred Kitsch Studio.
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Then we found these awesome first aid buttons from Scraps of Paper. The woman said she found this Better Homes and Garden First Aid book from the 70's. Pete bought like 10 buttons (including a Nancy Drew one) and bought the last one of a guy giving a piggyback ride to another guy. The crabby button is from Fishcakes.
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Then I couldn't resist this laughing bunny pouch from Sewing Stars.
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It was fun to walk around and see what everyone had. Some things were hard to resist but then I ran out of cash and was getting hungry. Pete took me to this polish place called Raymund's Place.

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YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Posted by luluvision at 08:54 PM | Comments (2)

June 10, 2006

Hip Hop Chow!

After the Guggenheim on Friday, I went to the East Village to have dinner with the bumblebees in celebration of Ruthie's birthday. And if I don't make this post this weekend, I won't hear the end of it from DeeDee!

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We went to Hip Hop Chow. The food was wonderful! Everything we had was delicious!

The appetizers were scallops and fried shrimp. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the fried shrimp was light and crispy.

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The entrees:
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DeeDee got Oxtail although that wasn't her first choice. She didn't regret it

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Ruthie got catfish made 2 ways

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Joy got the fried chicken

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I got the Five Spice Duck. YUM!

For dessert we shared homemade coconut puff. It was perfect, not too sweet.
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DeeDee asked the waiter if we could meet the chef and he was kind enough to take a picture with us.
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The restaurant wasn't very busy for a Friday night and while it's too bad they are still a secret, I kinda like it a secret! But you should definitely go!

Posted by luluvision at 10:41 AM | Comments (1)

May 30, 2006

Meat and Fire equals good times

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You know I love BBQs and since we always lived in an apartment, we were never able to have our own BBQ and I was always sniffing around for BBQ invitations. Well, Elke and Oliver were nice enough to invite us to their Memorial Day weekend BBQ at their place in LES. They don't have a backyard but a nice large patio area.

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Love this silhouette

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fire! fire!

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Coronas tasted good!

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delicious pasta salad

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aftermath

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pretty flowers

Posted by luluvision at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2006

Fatburger Round 2

Yesterday we made the trek once again into Jersey City to eat at the 'last great hamburger stand' for the 2nd time. I have to say, it tasted a lot better than the first time and the first time was good too. Yves and Tammy joined us on this round.

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my burger

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Yves enjoys the fries

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Tammy seduces her burger

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Pete shares a laugh with his burger

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Joy finds out the egg and bacon weren't on her burger because she didn't order it

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Pete and Joy heading down to the Path station right before our little half hour detour to Newark. ON PURPOSE

Posted by luluvision at 01:01 PM | Comments (1)

April 22, 2006

Heaven in a bottle

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Oh Mint and Honey Sweet Leaf Tea, we are together again. I was so excited to discover that Sweet Leaf Tea now had an online store and I immediately placed an order for 2 cases of 64 oz bottles. It came out to $6 a bottle with the shipping, which wasn't terrible. It came on Thursday and boy was I a happy camper!

I first discovered this wonderful tea (Snapple has nothing on them except being everywhere) while in Austin, Texas for the Austin City Limits Festival in 2004. After walking for what seemed to be forever, in search of a restaurant we never found, me and Joy stopped off at a convenient store to get something to drink. Being a big fan of mint, I immediately grabbed the Mint and Honey green tea. Joy got the Raspberry tea. Oh, heaven! It was the perfect mixture of mint, not too much and not too little. The honey gave it the perfect sweetness and it was love. It was easy to find in Austin because that's where the tea is from. Back in New York, I had to special order the tea from a health food store in Queens. I horded those 2 cases for months and was too lazy to place another order. I was sure they would have expanded more by now but at least I have the online store for those emergencies.

Posted by luluvision at 11:45 AM | Comments (1)

April 09, 2006

Pizza! Pizza!

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Spumoni Gardens

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Totonnos

Last week or so, Yves had Friday off so I took him to the "World Famous Spumoni Gardens" in Bensonhurst.

Today we went to Coney Island, it was opening day. Nathan's had a long line so we decided to be a bit healthier and go to Totonnos.

Both different and both equally as delicious! We are still missing the thin crust goodness of Lento's in Bay Ridge. Also different than these 2 but also equally as delicious!

Posted by luluvision at 07:02 PM | Comments (2)

March 17, 2006

Hello Joe!

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Today was the grand opening of the much awaited Trader Joe's store near Union Square. I was much too busy shopping and trying not to bump into too many people inside to take anymore pictures. It was packed! Joy, Richard and I lunched on Indian food before heading over. We thought going at 3 might be ideal, most people would be at work. HA! I don't know where all those people came from, I didn't see too many young college kids, they were mostly my age and older. Don't you people have work?! Or did you all take off of work like Joy? Haha. I mostly bought snack munchies. The wine store was not yet open.

Posted by luluvision at 06:09 PM | Comments (1)

March 10, 2006

BBQ hangover

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Last night was the inaugural meeting of the Bite of the Month Club and we started it right at Dinosaur BBQ. Fan-freakin'-tastic! We started off the evening with some appetizers. Fried Green Tomatoes (original style of course!), Creole Spiced Devil Eggs and Jumbo BBQ Chicken Wings with the Hotter garlic chipolte sauce. The picture above shows all this (sorry it's crappy! Too close + flash + hungry = crappy picture!) and as you can see, the wings certainly are jumbo!! Everything was delicious and we ate it all!

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My dish after giving half my brisket out!

Next was our entries. We all got combo plates that involved ribs and some other meat. I had the beef brisket with mac and cheese and creole potato salad, Joy had chicken with mac n cheese and beans, Bill had sausage with BBQ fried rice and Syracuse salted potatoes and Laura had pulled pork with beans and fries. Do I have to say it again? Ok, DELICIOUS! By far the best BBQ in New York City! The ribs just fell off the bone! I have to say, my favorite of the other meats was the sausage. So flavorful without being salty.

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Joy eats!

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Bill gets ready!

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Laura's in there!

We did pretty good in finishing our dishes and Laura and Joy had to take a mid-meal smoke break. Needless to say, we were all in food comas.

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And can you believe we managed to find room for dessert? We got the Chocolate Box pie which involved dark chocolate filling in an oreo cookie crust.

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Posted by luluvision at 06:57 AM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2006

Not Of This Country

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Yesterday was the January mixer and we had it at Kettle of Fish. It was a long night and I didn't get home until 2 AM! I haven't done that in ages! My comrades to the end were Richard, Alan and Brenda. My mix this month is called "Not of This Country" and it's mainly British bands but there's also Aussies and Scots and Swedes in there too!

Track list
01. My Little Brother Art Brut
02. Apply Some Pressure Maximo Park
03. Hi - Skies The Morning After Girls
04. We Get Low The Dead 60s
05. Groovy Train (Terry Farley Mix) The Farm
06. Summertime In Wintertime Badly Drawn Boy
07. Fallen Angel Elbow
08. Ashes Embrace
09. What Else Is There Royksopp
10. I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer The Cardigans
11. Hide And Seek Imogen Heap
12. Margerine Melodie Stereolab
13. Another Sunny Day Belle and Sebastian
14. Here Comes A City The Go-Betweens
15. What Katie Did The Libertines
16. The Perfect Kiss New Order
17. Disco 2000 Pulp
18. There's No Other Way Blur
19. Pregnant For The Last Time Morrissey

Posted by luluvision at 08:26 PM | Comments (3)

January 14, 2006

Road Trip to Jersey City!

Last year at the Coachella festival we enjoyed the delectable delights of In and Out Burger. I do admit to enjoying it (we went twice for goodness sakes!), Tammy and I felt that Fatburger was way superior. To our delight, I do believe it was Pete that found a Fatburger location in our area! A road trip to Jersey City was talked about for months and months. It finally came into fruition yesterday, January 13, 2006. Yes, Friday the 13th. Unfortunately, our dear friend and drummer, Tammy, ended up having to blow us off to {gasp} work! Here are some pictures of our goofy adventure.

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Goofing off on the path train.We had only 1 stop from the WTC path to Exchange Place.

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We made it to Fatburger! Joy is ready for some serious eating.

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I couldn't resist getting their homemade onion rings.

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Joy got the chili cheese fries and a fatburger with cheese, fried egg and bacon!

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We shared their "real strawberries" strawberry shake. I'm not a big shake fan but it did taste really good and did have real strawberries.

Fatburger, we'll be back!

Posted by luluvision at 10:26 AM | Comments (1)

January 12, 2006

A New York institution is gone!

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Yves and delicious Lentos pizza.

I was VERY, VERY, VERY upset to learn about the closing of my favorite pizza place, Lentos. See the story here. I guess some people were upset over the closing of the 2nd Avenue Deli but I think this closing is way more sad. I mean, I had no clue they were going to close! If I had, we would have made a final hurrah there to last a week! Last time I was there, I was talking with a customer who knew the owners and he mentioned something about family troubles but did he mention closing? I DON'T THINK SO! Sniff, sniff. Where are we going to get delicious thin crust pizza now?

Posted by luluvision at 04:38 PM | Comments (1)

January 01, 2006

It's a brand new year!

I actually hate New Year's Eve. I don't believe in the whole stigma about having to go out and celebrate when everybody and their mother are out getting drunk. Just because the calendar says it's a new year doesn't mean you need to go out and feel like a loser just because you don't. But I don't want to rain on anyone's parade so I won't go on a tirade.

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Today we went to dim sum in the neighborhood with Mom, Dad, Yves, JP and Pete and Fredo joined us as well.

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This is my favorite dim sum dish. I'm not sure what it's called in English. It's basically carb and carb! It's this fried bread wrapped in a rice noodle with a soy sauce type sauce on top. I love it!

After we ate, we went back to our apartment and played Bogus and Loaded Questions. Bogus is a game where each player takes turns reading true or false statements and you bet on whether it is true or false. The first person to reach 1 million dollars is the winner. Loaded Questions is a game where you have to answer questions about yourself and the opponent has to guess whose answers are whose. They were both real fun!

Posted by luluvision at 09:43 PM | Comments (2)

November 10, 2005

Alfama!

Last night I went to Alfama, a Portuguese restaurant in the West Village. OH MY GOODNESS! Everything was absolutely delicious! Every single thing! The appetizers, the wine, the dishes, the dessert! We started off with the cheese plate, 5 wonderfully stinky cheeses and this awesome apricot sauce. Next was the flaming chorizo!
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Joy and Stone both got the filet mignon that comes out raw and you cook it to your liking on the stone granite it comes out on. Freakin' awesome!
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I got the pork with clams and I've never tasted pork so tender that it melted in my mouth! Nuno got the chicken dish that tasted a bit Malaysian and also melted in your mouth!
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That being said, I can't wait to go to Portugal for the truly authentic deal!

Posted by luluvision at 11:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 25, 2005

Happy 1 year!


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Last night's mixer marked the one year anniversary of cd mom. I can't believe we made it this far! We usually have the mixers at bars in Manhattan but since this was special, Nuno offered up his backyard in Sunset Park. It was a beautiful night! Filled with beautiful people, food, music, drinks, we couldn't have asked for a better evening! Of course we had so much fun doing these silly head shots at Richard's birthday that we had to do it here too!

Posted by luluvision at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2005

Meat

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We went to Churrascaria Plataforma last night for Richard's 40th birthday. For those that are not familiar with the place, it's a Brazilian steakhouse where men walk around the restaurant with big skewers of meat. The price is not cheap but if you love meat, it is well worth it. Everything was delicious! I was so amazed at how big these ribs were, I had to take a picture. Then afterwards, we went to Tribeca Tavern to meet up with some other folks for some drinks and silliness. as you can see from this picture:

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and this one:
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Posted by luluvision at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)