Ageism Jr.

Sam Sifton wrote a piece in the Times on Friday, about taking your kids to Peter Luger. His take isn't actually so interesting--what I liked reading was the comments from readers. I agree with the reader that said that it really depends on what kind of kid you have. You just can't make blanket generalizations about kids--Sifton's being that kids under 10 shouldn't go to Peter Luger. Here's Clara at one of our favorite steak houses in New York, Keen's, where they doted on her.

A Reason to Choose Newark

My husband just flew through Newark this week, and called me up ecstatic. An Oyster Bar just opened up in the last several months! He is a die-hard Delta man, but since the food in their terminal at JFK is so awful (I liked the Todd English restaurant there the first time, and never again), and the upgrade seems a ways off, I'm trying to convince him to switch his allegiance to Continental.

Thank you Matt for the photos. And you can read more about it on his blog, The William Brown Project.

The Best/Cheapest Midtown Meal

A couple of weeks ago I had an event in midtown, and brought Clara along with me. Afterwards, we needed to eat quickly, and I wanted to find a place that wasn't a typical overpriced midtown restaurant. I decided on Menchanko Tei , and it was perfect. One bowl of noodles and an appetizer of dumplings was enough for the two of us. That plus the most perfect mug of draft Ichiban, and we walked out (in less than 30 minutes) for $22. 

Sushi Reunion

Matt and I lived on W. 4th Street for over 10 years, and our favorite place to eat was a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant called Cotan, just around the corner from us, on W. 3rd St. It was a magical place. We ate there probably three times a week, and became friends with the owner, Miki, and the staff. When Matt would go fishing, he'd bring back a striped bass to Miki, who would show him how to cut it up, and would serve it in the restaurant. We spent the night of the blackout there, with candles, helping him eat through as much fish as we could, since it wouldn't last without refrigeration. There was the Tuesday night group, made up of several people who didn't come together, but just knew they would all be there on Tuesdays, enjoying Miki's amazing fish. Then one day, after 25 years of business, Miki decided he didn't want to do it anymore, and he closed. And we moved to Brooklyn shortly thereafter. Now it's been five years that he hasn't had Cotan, and he worked in some fusion place in Midtown. We went to see him, but it just wasn't the same.  But, just last week, he called us up, and asked us to come to Cotan, just re-opened, in the East Village, on 1st Avenue. We went immediately, and it was just as we remembered. Yes, it's in a different location, and the awning has a new logo, but it was just as remembered i. The fish is the perfect temperature, cut perfectly...the yellowtail is still the best we've ever had. He has his chef Shige reunited with him, and one of his waitresses, who hadn't seen Clara since she was two. It's one of these places that doesn't look like it's special or charming, but it really is. 

P.S.  (If you go, the tempura udon was a big hit with Clara,  and Matt suggests you get the sushi omakase.

P.S.S.  Tell the staff that Yolanda, Matt, and Clara sent you. 

Williamsburg Find #2

I had to go to Williamsburg last week to pick up business cards for Momfilter, a lifestyle site for moms that I'm launching in September with Pilar Guzman (we were both at Cookie Magazine--she was the editor and I edited travel and lifestyle). We had to go around lunch time, so I did a little research since I wanted to try something new. I had read about Radish , which is so adorable (large Staub pots filled with stews, gorgeous sandwiches and salads), but there is no seating, and it was too hot to sit outside. Next we looked in at Cafe Colette , and we decided to give it a try. I had a kale Caesar salad, Matt had the fish tacos, and Clara had a fritto misto. Everything was really perfect, even the ice coffee to go (Stumptown Coffee). I really don't know why we can't even one nice place like this in Park Slope.

Here are my other favorites in Williamsburg:

Walter Foods 

Marlow and Sons 

And I'd like to try: 

Bakeri 

Motorino 

Postcard from Vienna

Our dear friend Ariel was just in Vienna for a quick weekend with her husband Paul and daughter Daphne, visiting their friends who live there. They went to this restaurant called Wetter, and loved it. "Great restaurant that is delicious food and very child friendly in Vienna." 

London: Lamb's Conduit Street

We had a couple of hours on our last day in London, and asked our friend Paul what his favorite street in London, right now. Lamb's Conduit in the Bloomsbury neighborhood was his first choice, so off we went. We stopped in at Oliver Spencer, a really lovely store that carries men's and women's clothing, all of it great. Then we had a quick lunch at the Spanish restaurant on the corner, Cigala , and a perfect macchiato at The Espresso Room (Paul said this is probably the best espresso in London). This area is a block away from the Coram Fields Park , which I had high hopes for, since its website looks great. From the site, it appears to be a country farm in the middle of the city, but instead it's a bit sad, with a couple of bunny rabbits in hutches, and some chickens and goats in gloomy pens. But it is a big open space nonetheless, with a large playground area, so it's just good to know it's there, if you find yourself in this neighborhood. I am linking to a neighborhood report done by Monocle Magazine, because I think it will give you a nice sense of the area. 

lunch at Cigala--Clara loved those potatoes...

London: A Birthday Party

Late on Sunday afternoon, we were invited to the birthday party of a two year old boy, who is the son of our friends' babysitter. We had such a blast: they are Indian, and Sylvia, the mom, was cooking for days before the party. The food was so good, we just kept eating, and eating. Thank you Sylvia.

London: Cheshire Street

After we had lunch at St John Bread and Wine, we drove around the East End of London. One of the places I really wanted to visit on this trip is a shop called Labour and Wait. A friend had told me about it, and it seemed like the English version of Manufactum, a store in Munich that I am pretty much obsessed with. It was really small, but had a very nice edit of things. Also on that street (Cheshire) were a couple of other cute shops. It's definitely a street to check out, as is the area around Calvert Street (I really liked the look of this cafe called Leila ), and around the new-ish Terence Conran hotel called the Boundary.

(above four pictures from Labour and Wait)

(Above two pictures from Mar Mar, right next to Labour and Wait, a very cute shop with a more whimsical, French-y vibe)

(Above three pictures from Shelf, also on Cheshire Street--great notebooks and clever kid gifts like an old-school camper)

(Above two pictures from Leila's Cafe and Shop on Calvert St.)

London: St John Bread and Wine

I already mentioned that we are not only meat-eaters in our family, but my husband has fantasies about opening up his own butcher shop and restaurant. So it makes sense that one of the most exciting restaurants for Matt to go to, is St John, owned by Fergus Henderson. Fergus has a couple of books out, the most popular being Nose to Tail Eating, and while Matt only makes the madeleines out of it, we all appreciate the philosophy behind the book (don't let any part of the animal go to waste). We went to his main restaurant the last trip, and weren't in love with it, but primarily because it was too much of a destination vibe, and had staff that didn't seem to know the menu or the wine list--and if you are going to a proper restaurant, you expect a bit more. St John Bread and Wine is more informal--you can just pop in and buy bread, granola, wine...or you can sit down to a lovely lunch. It's not very expensive (six of us ate and had a bottle of wine and bottled water for 96 pounds), and we got a booking the day before. It's also right across the street from the Spitalfields Market, which we didn't go through, but had it been a rainy day, or had we not been in a crowded market the day before, we would have. Instead, we checkout a cute shop on the perimeter of the market called Albam (men's clothing), and got a nice coffee at Market Coffee House. Oh, and I almost forgot, we had a nice star sighting at St John--Maggie Smith. 

Love the simplicity of this.

There's no kids menu here, so you need to ask alot of questions to figure out what to order for them. We initially ordered the duck egg with potato, but it turned out to have too much horseradish in it. They loved this Middle White Faggot & White Beans (faggot is a meatball that is made with offal).

The duck egg that was unsuccessful for them, but very successful for us.

Celery Hearts and Crozier Blue. Delicious.

Foie Gras and Duck Liver Toast

Spitalfields Market

Albam the men's shop

Christ Church from 1729, across from Spitalfields.

Inside the Market Coffee House, which looked like they had nice pub food and desserts, but the wait for the coffee was forever. It's good to build wait time into your expectations when you are out and about on the weekend.