Giorgio’s of Gramercy – Modern Italian Cuisine
Giorgio’s of Gramercy
27 East 21st Street (between Broadway and Park Avenue South)
New York, NY
(6 Train to 23rd Street, exit station via 21st side)
212-444-0007
*Reservation is necessary so make sure you call in advance to reserve your seat!
Ever wanted to eat out at a fancy restaurant but not having to compromise the money in your wallet? Well one solution to that is Restaurant.com. On this website, you can choose a restaurant on their list and buy a certificate for a fraction of the actual face value and use it at the restaurant! How neat is that. For example, you can buy a $25 restaurant certificate for Giorgio’s of Gramercy which can be found by clicking here that only cost you $15. Now if you are a Fatwallet.com member you can get 24% cash back! And for now there is a 40% instant discount if you visit the following link: Restaurant.com Coupons. So after the coupon and receiving the cash back, you will spend only $6.84 for a certificate that is worth $25! Now the catch is that each restaurant will have their own restriction in regards to the maximum amount you can purpose the certificate, the day and time to use it, a minimum that you will have to spend, and used only certificate per table/party.
Having said that, my friend and I decided to try Giorgio’s of Gramercy since they had such great reviews on Yelp, NY Mag and Zagat.
The Sweet Spot at the Sweet Spot Dessert Bar NYC
Spot Dessert Bar
13 St. Marks Place
East Village, NY
212-677-5670
Spot Dessert Bar
I must have passed by this sign way too many times and had no idea that it is a dessert bar. Located on the bristling street of St. Mark’s Place where many new and upcoming restaurants fight for survival, Spot seems to be hidden away. Apparently, Spot is plenty known within the local community through word of mouth and I will explain later. I personally don’t like it that they’re located in the basement, right beneath Pho restaurant, but on the positive note, the restaurant doesn’t get overcrowded like at a chain restaurant like Applebees or TGI Fridays.
Spot Dessert Bar NYC
Safran French Vietnamese Cuisine – Chelsea, NYC
Safran
88 7th Avenue
Near W. 16th St.
(212) 929-1778
Safran Restaurant
Safran is located in the heart of Chelsea where the restaurants are chic, creative, and very down to earth. I have always loved this neighborhood because it is very diverse with all different types of people of all ages, more so with the younger crowd, and they all dressed so fashionably — yes, creatively fashionably. Besides lots of unique restaurants and people here, there are a lot of clubs and boutique shops that you will love to visit. Only in Chelsea will you find some of the most creative, yet down to earth people and restaurants here.
Which brings me to my visit to Safran.
My friends and co-workers alike have constantly urged me to eat at this fancy establishment. To my amazement, I probably passed by this restaurant maybe hundreds of times when I take my trips to Lohmann’s or to the eye doctor. But never once thought about eating there because I am accustomed to having Vietnamese cuisine in Chinatown. A Vietnamese fusion restaurant sounded interesting to me so one day I decided to gather some of my closest friends to meet up here for dinner.
Let’s get started with the food shall we?
Devi Indian Restaurant, NY
Devi Restaurant
(Btw 5th Ave & Broadway)
New York, NY
212-691-1300
Reservation available on Opentable.com
Hours of Operation:
Dinner (Monday – Saturday): 5:30pm – 11:00pm
(Sunday): 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Lunch (Monday – Friday): 12:00pm – 2:30pm
Devi Restaurant
Please forgive me for the graininess of the photos. I did not have my camera and I had to borrow my cousin’s Sony point and shoot camera. I have no idea what the model is, but I do know that it is an old camera (3-4 yrs old) and it does not take good pictures in in low-lighting scenarios as compared to the Canon ones. It’s not me being bias, it’s just in my personal experience.
My three co-workers and I have planned this unique experience to go dine at Devi for quite sometime now. After reading an article on the New York Times I was suddenly interested to go and suggested to my co-workers to go. To my advantage, two of my co-workers are Indian and one of them had been there before. The one who has dined at this restaurant agreed that this is a great restaurant and that the food is phenomenon even for a person like me who isn’t really a fan of Indian cuisine.
Did I mention that this restaurant received a Michelin Star? For those of you that don’t know, Michelin Guide [Travel Publications], hire a team of professional food critics who goes to restaurants as an undercover and review restaurants based on a set of criteria that they have. Now according to the Michelin Guide:
The star symbols judge only what’s on the plate, meaning the quality of products, the mastering of flavors, mastering of cooking, personality of the cuisine, value for the money and the consistency of what the restaurant offers to its customers both throughout the menu and the year.
- One star indicates a very good restaurant in its category, a good place to stop on your journey.
- Two stars denote excellent cuisine, worth a detour, with specialties and wines of first-class quality.
- Three stars reward exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey, where diners eat extremely well, often superbly. The wine list features generally outstanding vintages and the surroundings and service are part of this unique experience, which is priced accordingly.
In addition to the awarding of stars, the Michelin Guide provides a written description of each locale and a variety of other symbols to give readers further insight into an establishment’s ambiance, type of cuisine and specialties, and wine list, among other factors. In addition, the guide provides a comfort rating represented by the use of one to five forks and spoons for restaurants and one to five pavilions for hotels. These symbols take into consideration the decor, service, cleanliness and upkeep of the surroundings.
Now enough of that, let me show you my dining experience at Devi.
Please click on the following link to read more.
Read more
Peter Luger Steakhouse (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Peter Luger, Inc.
178 Broadway Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211
Reservations: (718) 387-7400
Peter Luger Steakhouse (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Now this is a post that I’ve been dying to write about. I have passed by this for years everytime I cross over the Williamsburg Bridge and the area in general. My parents worked right down the street and I would pass by that constantly. I always wanted to go there since I was young but it always seemed out of reach. Well, Finechinagirl took me there for a birthday and made my wish come true!
More after the jump!
