Market Table

Had an AMAZING dinner last night withKimmi K. at Market Table, a spin-off (sort of) of The Little Owl located in the old Shopsin's space at Carmine & Bedford. We decided to just grab a seat at the bar and eat up there. We each started with a cocktail - mine had cava, framboise and rose. It was certainly refreshing in last night's stagnant air. The other one wasn't quite as delish - their take on sangria which was made with cava and Maneschewitz. For our meal we split 3 apps (we were too full after that for entrees!): scallops wrapped in bacon on a puree of cheesy grits (well, maybe not grits but I can't remember what it was but it had FANTASTIC FLAVOR!), an heirloom tomato salad (a fav of ours carried over from the Little Owl) and the crispy calamari (light and tasty, although the dipping sauce was a bit too tangy for me - I'd skip it next time and try something else since EVERYTHING sounded wonderful). Pairing it with wine we went for the Orvieto Classico - a STEAL at $5/glass. Our bartendress Erin was super nice and very attentive. Cool crowd, a great room and ambience. I'm DEFINITELY going back IMMEDIATELY to try the crabcake sandwich and hush puppies. They officially started taking ressies today so GET IN THERE before it becomes impossible!

A 60's Style Date

Just opened on the L.E.S. is DRV-IN, NYC's only drive-in theater. $75 gets you seating for up to 6 people (I recommend making it a snuggly date for 2) in an 1965 Ford Falcon convertible with a choice of one of 3 movies (you get to keep a copy of the dvd you choose) and popcorn and bottled water. Showtimes are nightly at 7pm & 10pm and need to be booked in advance. Movies will progress throughout the next 40 days from the 1960's to the 2000's.

Minimal Minimus

I just got a great tip from the airfarewatchdog daily email. It was a link to a company called Minimus that specializes in products sized 3 oz. or less that are T.S.A. approved to fit in your carry-on quart ziplock baggie. I'll take 3 tubes of the 1 oz. Banana Boat sunscreen - spf 15 please!

Schiller's Liquor Bar

Yesterday I FINALLY made it to Schiller's Liquor Bar for brunch. This is the only McNally I hadn't been to, mostly due to it's location. In summary - the food was great (the croque-madame ALMOST matched that of Pastis) however the space was dirty (I can't even tell you how gross the wall was next to my seat) and it was WAY too loud. Now I can officially say that even though I hate MePa, Pastis is still the best McNally hands down!

Goooo Donatos!

Congratulations to the Donatos for winning BB8! You guys ROCK! Danielle, if you are reading this honey, you were my pick to win from Day 1. Dad better share the money with you!

Fall Concert Preview

A few notable shows have been announced for the Fall that may be worth checking out:

Morrissey is playing 5 nights at the Hammerstein Ballroom in late October. Tickets on sale Saturday at 10am.

James Blunt is playing September 19 & 20th at the new Highline Ballroom (tickets already on sale) beginning the day after his new cd "All The Lost Souls" drops.

Elliott Yamin returns to NY on November 20th, also playing the Highline Ballroom (tickets already on now)

Sinead O'Connor plays her hits and songs from her latest cd "Theology" on October 23rd at the Beacon Theater (tickets already on sale)

Bruce Springsteen brings his first full scale tour with the E-Street Band since 2003 to MSG October 17th & 18th. Tickets on sale through Ticketmaster Monday morning.

From Spain To Italy

Last night I went with The Lady to a wine & cheese class at Murray's cheese shop. The topic was A Rough Guide To Spain and featured 7 wines (2 whites, 1 rose, 2 reds, a muscatel and a sherry). I have to say I was very impressed from start to finish. Both of the instructors - Kerin Auth (wine) & Nora Singley (cheese) were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and their parings overall were very well thought out. The classroom space was cozy and intimate and crowd was a good group of diversepeople. Definitely worth $65 and I will be returning to try another one.

After dinner we headed over to one of the latest dining hotspots, Centro Vinoteca. This was when our night took a turn for the worst. I really can't say too much good about this place. Upon walking in, the maitre d' wasn't really making anyone feel welcome (I think he just cared more about floating around looking good and he wasn't even that attractive). We were promptly shown to our table (I'll give them that) which was seated directly under a speaking BLARING the most FRANTIC music. We asked to move upstairs but because they were sold out the manager told us he would turn the music down. Sadly, that didn't help much - the place is SUPER loud regardless. Next up - our waiter. Terrible again. He had no real knowledge of the wine or food which made ordering laughable. We ended up starting with 2 picolini (small plates) - zucchini & parmigiano fritters with a spicy tomato sauce ($5) and white bean puree with prosciutto ($4) - both very unremarkable. Next we split an appetizer - the grilled sea scallops with watermelon, watermelon rind pickles, dandelion greens & watermelon radishes ($15). To me this dish was one of those disaster dishes that show up on Top Chef (the scallop/watermelon/onion combination did not work for us AT ALL). Finally we made it to the pasta course. I went for the bucatini all’amatriciana ($12) - too salty and with no kick at all. The Lady had the pici pasta with sweet & spicy sausage ragu ($14). This dish was even worse than mine - the sausage had little flavor and the pasta tasted almost rubbery. All I can say was this place is BARELY a step up from Morandi. In terms of the chef, I guess being Mario Batali's right hand on Iron Chef America does not really hold as much weight as I thought it did.