Mr. B and I went to Branzino in the city for Restaurant Week with 2 other couples. The restaurant was really cute and you could tell it used to be an old house; complete with old, ornate molding and trim.
The hostess was really nice and let us sit down at our table even though we were 20 minutes early and the rest of our party hadn't shown up yet. She was not as nice to the rest of our party when they tried to come back to our table and reprimanded them for walking in without her showing them in. The waitress was kind of cold and not very observant or friendly.
The food was very, very good. I got the Tuna Carpaccio as an appetizer and a Shrimp Fra Diavlo with squid ink pasta for dinner. The tuna was ok; it really didn't taste like much but the shrimp dish was AMAZING! I could have eaten an entire pot of that....it was pretty spicy and the pasta was al dente. For dessert, we had a choice of about 5 different things and Mr. B and I both chose the cheesecake, which was just ok.
Branzino is BYOB, which probably adds another half star onto my review. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars. We'll definitely go back again when it's not RW.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
MIA
Yes, I've been MIA for quite some time and I feel guilty. Bad blogger, bad!
I've been busy with several things including 2 weddings in the same weekend, finishing up some shower gifts, birthdays, class, work and general crazy life stuff.
I have a four day weekend coming up though and I am scheduling some quality time with my blog. Promise!
Things to cover:
1. Find pictures of my hideous 'before' bathroom
2. Post new blanket and hat pictures
3. Review Tinto
4. Review Branzino
5. Talk about weddings
6. Everything else :)
I've been busy with several things including 2 weddings in the same weekend, finishing up some shower gifts, birthdays, class, work and general crazy life stuff.
I have a four day weekend coming up though and I am scheduling some quality time with my blog. Promise!
Things to cover:
1. Find pictures of my hideous 'before' bathroom
2. Post new blanket and hat pictures
3. Review Tinto
4. Review Branzino
5. Talk about weddings
6. Everything else :)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Stainless Steel Cleaning Magic
I just learned yesterday that olive oil on a paper towel works better than those stupid expensive SS wipes. Yay for free cleaning solutions!
PS--you only need a little bit at a time.
PS--you only need a little bit at a time.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Restaurant Review: Le Bec-Fin
Mr. B and I went here on Wednesday for Restaurant Week. We took the train into the city and it was a quick walk to Le Bec-Fin. We made the reservation on Open Table, which I highly recommend.
As soon as we got in the door, the hostesses were very nice and took us right to our table. The restaurant was pretty empty at 5:45. Everything about Le Bec-Fin screams posh and don't-you-dare-spill-a-thing. The carpet was super plush and there were waitstaff everywhere you looked.
On to the food...I had a 'flight' of sparkling wine and a red and Mr. B just had the red. The sparkling was really good and the red was decent. For the first course, I ordered the Forrest Mushroom Ravioli with Ivory Sauce and Mr. B had the Burgundy Snail Cassolet with Hazelnut Champagne Butter. Mine was decent; the ravioli was really thin and a tad bit mushy and overcooked. The inside of the ravioli didn't really taste like much, but the variety of mushrooms underneath were delicious! Mr. B's snails were much better and made me wish I had gotten them. I'd definitely get them again over the raviolis.
Between courses, we were refilled on bread several times and the waiters were very quick about removing plates. For the second course, I had the Seared Diver Scallop with Beluga Lentil Salad, Saffron Grapefruit Vinaigrette and Mr. B had the Olive Oil Poached Salmon with Toasted Cous Cous, Red Wine Emulsion. My scallops were cooked to perfection and they were huge--the biggest scallops I've ever seen. The grapefruit vinaigrette added just enough acid to the dish and the lentils really helped to balance the flavors. Mr. B's salmon was just ok. I wasn't impressed, but he loved it. I thought that it tasted kind of bland.
For dessert, we both had Le Bec-Fin's signature Gateau Le Bec Fin. It's a super dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling. It was topped with a super tart and yummy raspberry sorbet. All in all, it was a great dinner and we can't wait to go back. We've already planned to celebrate our next promotion there :)
As soon as we got in the door, the hostesses were very nice and took us right to our table. The restaurant was pretty empty at 5:45. Everything about Le Bec-Fin screams posh and don't-you-dare-spill-a-thing. The carpet was super plush and there were waitstaff everywhere you looked.
On to the food...I had a 'flight' of sparkling wine and a red and Mr. B just had the red. The sparkling was really good and the red was decent. For the first course, I ordered the Forrest Mushroom Ravioli with Ivory Sauce and Mr. B had the Burgundy Snail Cassolet with Hazelnut Champagne Butter. Mine was decent; the ravioli was really thin and a tad bit mushy and overcooked. The inside of the ravioli didn't really taste like much, but the variety of mushrooms underneath were delicious! Mr. B's snails were much better and made me wish I had gotten them. I'd definitely get them again over the raviolis.
Between courses, we were refilled on bread several times and the waiters were very quick about removing plates. For the second course, I had the Seared Diver Scallop with Beluga Lentil Salad, Saffron Grapefruit Vinaigrette and Mr. B had the Olive Oil Poached Salmon with Toasted Cous Cous, Red Wine Emulsion. My scallops were cooked to perfection and they were huge--the biggest scallops I've ever seen. The grapefruit vinaigrette added just enough acid to the dish and the lentils really helped to balance the flavors. Mr. B's salmon was just ok. I wasn't impressed, but he loved it. I thought that it tasted kind of bland.
For dessert, we both had Le Bec-Fin's signature Gateau Le Bec Fin. It's a super dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling. It was topped with a super tart and yummy raspberry sorbet. All in all, it was a great dinner and we can't wait to go back. We've already planned to celebrate our next promotion there :)
Monday, September 14, 2009
PT Cruiser in flight
Saturday night I was exhausted. By 9pm I was ready for bed. I was enjoying a sinfully long sleep when my sister woke me up at about 5am. I immediately thought something was wrong and I got up to see what was going on.
She said there was an accident around the corner that had woken her up. We went down in our PJ's to check out the situation. I honestly couldn't believe what I saw. The road adjacent to our house makes a 90 degree turn. The bay is right there and there's a marina on the corner. This girl in a PT Cruiser failed to turn and continued straight, over the curb, into the air and up onto the bulkhead. Her car was literally teetering and pointing down towards the water.
I can't even wrap my mind around how what I saw is possible. She had to be going well over 50 mph to be able to get on top of the 2+ ft bulkhead. She hit it so hard that she pushed it in and her oil pan burst--which sent oil spilling into the water and all over the jet ski's and boats that were just feet away.
When the cops asked her if she was drunk she said, "I'm not stuipd or Irish." Lovely. So she was saying I'm not stupid enough to admit I was driving drunk and I'm not Irish therefore I must not be drunk. How logical!!!! The girl also said that she thought she was going over the Cape May bridge and that's why she didn't brake. This is just goes show how out of it she was because the Cape May bridge was miles and miles away...not even close.
Thank God that no one was walking their dog or anything on the street or on the sidewalk when she did that. What.an.idiot.
She said there was an accident around the corner that had woken her up. We went down in our PJ's to check out the situation. I honestly couldn't believe what I saw. The road adjacent to our house makes a 90 degree turn. The bay is right there and there's a marina on the corner. This girl in a PT Cruiser failed to turn and continued straight, over the curb, into the air and up onto the bulkhead. Her car was literally teetering and pointing down towards the water.
I can't even wrap my mind around how what I saw is possible. She had to be going well over 50 mph to be able to get on top of the 2+ ft bulkhead. She hit it so hard that she pushed it in and her oil pan burst--which sent oil spilling into the water and all over the jet ski's and boats that were just feet away.
When the cops asked her if she was drunk she said, "I'm not stuipd or Irish." Lovely. So she was saying I'm not stupid enough to admit I was driving drunk and I'm not Irish therefore I must not be drunk. How logical!!!! The girl also said that she thought she was going over the Cape May bridge and that's why she didn't brake. This is just goes show how out of it she was because the Cape May bridge was miles and miles away...not even close.
Thank God that no one was walking their dog or anything on the street or on the sidewalk when she did that. What.an.idiot.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
There are still some good people out there
Of course I was in a rush to order my book for this semester. I went on Half.com, put the book in my cart and then added some other books I've been thinking about getting. I went to my cart and hit 'Quick Checkout'. BIG MISTAKE.
Little did I know that by doing this, it automatically set the mailing address without verifying it before I paid. So I hit the button to process my order and no sooner than 2 seconds later the confirmation screen popped up with the wrong freaking address. My college address.
I frantically emailed the sellers with my new address and two responded saying they changed the address in time. The first book came no problem, but I've been waiting 2 agonizing weeks for my school book and my Sookie Stackhouse books.
Monday I get a message on Facebook that this guy has my books. A student that lives at my old college house took the time to find me on Facebook and let me know that he got my books. This kid is a lifesaver! He's going to send me my books no questions asked and then let me know how much the shipping was so I can send him a Paypal deposit. I'm blown away by the kindness of people sometimes...
Little did I know that by doing this, it automatically set the mailing address without verifying it before I paid. So I hit the button to process my order and no sooner than 2 seconds later the confirmation screen popped up with the wrong freaking address. My college address.
I frantically emailed the sellers with my new address and two responded saying they changed the address in time. The first book came no problem, but I've been waiting 2 agonizing weeks for my school book and my Sookie Stackhouse books.
Monday I get a message on Facebook that this guy has my books. A student that lives at my old college house took the time to find me on Facebook and let me know that he got my books. This kid is a lifesaver! He's going to send me my books no questions asked and then let me know how much the shipping was so I can send him a Paypal deposit. I'm blown away by the kindness of people sometimes...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Another one bites the dust...
...I just found out another one of my friends is preggers. The babies are coming, the babies are coming!!! Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I'm a bad, bad blogger
...I've seriously neglected my blog the past couple of weeks. My super busy schedule has kept me from talking about everything that's been going on. I'm afraid it will have to wait another week or so because this week is another doozy.
There's been painting and crocheting and BFP's!!!, oh my! Stay tuned!
There's been painting and crocheting and BFP's!!!, oh my! Stay tuned!
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