"My Salty tooth was Satisfied" at the Standard.

Standard Grill After Hours

I have just gotten home after a night with my 2 favorite Frenchies.

We met at the Standard Hotel around midnight to end up at the Boom Boom Room. They had never been, so I was excited to take them there.

We were going to have a "quiet" drink prior to making our way up the 18 floors, but were escorted to the outdoor bar lounge by my dear friend, Stephane, the manager. He suggested we sit and catch up outside and outdoors, rather than attempt to in the restaurant... which I've eaten at and must blog soon!

We sat outside under the beautiful night sky drinking our champagne and catching up. After an hour of talking and talking, I glanced at the table next to us. They had a huge order of fries on their table. I manipulatively started a conversation about french fries, and Sofia suggested we order some.... :-) I spoke about the grilled cheese on the Standard Grill menu... it's fantastic - we also ordered.

The grilled cheese is the perfect blend of class and home goodness. Crispily pan-seared on whole wheat toast, topped with butter... freshly cut tomatoes, and 2 types of cheeses are sandwiched between its buns. The juice of the freshly cut tomatoes and the cheese is the perfect match to its crispy, buttery outside. It's quality taste and fresh ingredients left me perfectly satisfied, rather than heavy and full.

The fries came by the mounds. A heaping hill of fries were dipped all night: alternating between the mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Just like the french do!

I could improve upon the fries. I would have preferred fresh, handcut fries to the seemingly pre-cut, frozen fries. Although I don't know for certain, their outside covering seemed to be that of a pre-frozen fry, rather than the crispy outside - soft inside smooth textured hand=cut fry. Although still good, i could have seen improvement.

No dessert for me. Funny, the two times I have eaten at the Standard, twice I have failed to order dessert.

I started with a glass of Moet and next with kettle on the rocks with lime. Sans sugar in my drinks. No need to drink my extra sugar. Only eat!

And as I had dinner at 6pm, this was the perfect meal to follow 7 hours later. And yes, the salty foods are in, and sweets are out for me. And this definitely satisfied my... salty tooth? Is that such a phrase? If it isn't... it is now.

5 Napkin Burger

My neighborhood spizzot!

I sat down with my 2 good friends and ordered the usual: The Turkey Burger prepared the 5 napkin way: garlic aioli house sauce, carmelized onions, hold the gruyere cheese, please.

I always request the egg-sesame bun: so fresh and tasty. Holla at its challah bread! Instead of the fries, I ordered the steamed broccoli with no butter, no salt as my side.

We started out with their mac-and-cheese, which could possibly be the best appetizer/starter in NYC.

I opted to drink their Malbec rather than champagne. I drank the red wine as a healthier option for the night: red wine is rich in antioxidants and good for the heart. I have been having very hard workouts lately, and why not support my heart with a heart-healthy drink.?

I ate half the bun, 3 scoops of mac-and cheese, and all of my turkey burger. (lean white meat, mixed with seasoning and herbs.) Ketchup and mustard are great options for condiments as they are low in calories and zero fat. I had more mustard than ketchup, and used their yummy garlic aioli sparingly.

Because I had an appetizer, I didn't order my own dessert. We shared the apple pie, warmed, a la mode. I am thankful that we all split the dessert because I would have eaten the whole thing on my own.

This high protein diet has curiously made me crave salt ALL the time. I have a sweet tooth, and for all who know me, they know, I would forgo anything salty for my savory dessertS.

Now I'm into the salt. The salty goodies!

CAFETERIA: quell your hive.

I frantically escaped the 2nd-to-last day of the Barney's Warehouse sale. I fled the scene dressed in hot flashes, hives, and a need to eat.

Donovan and I escaped the scene, charging down 17th street in search of food. I, doused in sweat beneath my 5 bundled layers, shortness of breath, and in ka-hoots with Barney's Co-Op's layout and reluctance for "human body over capacity" in a building - pigeoned my focus at every restaurant I saw: sharply, changing my focus every half second. And there it was.

CAFETERIA.

THE MEAL:

The biscuits are out of this world. They are warm, salty, & fresh. I have to say, Cafeteria is in my top 5 of bread baskets. The blend of salt (a very, very slight hint of cheese) doused in sweet, soft butter, makes this starter a possibility to be a satisfying, high-carb meal on it's own.

As I unapologetically ordered a second biscuit, I went straight to the salad list. I ordered the Autumn Greens: dried cranberries, green apple, butternut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds, and a GIANT goat cheese crouton. What's a girl to do after already having finished two biscuits? Answer: eat it. I asked for a grilled chicken breast on top to give me the protein I needed for the day. Dressing on the side. The salad was great. There is nothing better than a forkful of butternut squash, goat cheese crouton, and chicken breast, lightly dressed, with a crunchy pumpkin seed kicker. Oh la la.

As for dessert: we demanded their red velvet cake warmed. It's four tiers of cake and icing. And the serious cream-cheese icing. No whipped thin stuff. The thick, creamy sweet stuff only.

I asked for the to-go box as I could no longer feed my stomach.

The cake was just as good that night... 4 hours later, on my couch, in front of my computer.

And, yes, my hives went away as soon as I bit into my biscuit.

Mesa Grill:

I revisited MESA GRILL on 5th avenue tonight. (and yes, in the blizzard).

THE BAR: I sat at the bar with my friend had a glass of red wine. We ordered the shrimp and cornmeal tamale. It was tres bien (very good in french)! The cornmeal is thick and soft, and it's sweet and salty taste is the perfect match for its consistency. The shrimps were fresh & hot, with a slightly spicy-kick. They surrounded the tamale underneath and thin glaze: a type of creamy spicy gravy.

Their breads have always been my friend. Their corn muffins, biscuits, and bread are always fresh and warm. There is enough variety and flavors in the bread basket to take you on a ride that you will never forget.

THE MEAL:

I was quite disappointed. My fondest memories of my dear Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill seemed to taste better than this recent visit.

The quality of the food, felt cheap and heavily doused in sauces. The cheese fondue appetizer; a mere slab of melted cheese and salt was heavy and generic.

The mushroom grits were very, very tasty (a winner, paired with the Shrimp Tamale). It came with an egg over-easy... as I meekly, dipped my chip into the grits for a third time, my chip hit the plate. It was gone. The portion was the size of my left ear lobe.

My chicken entree was very juicy and the spices were excellent. The mash potaters were bland and overdone... my steamed spinach was excellent (eh hem.... hot water and spinach).

THE DESSERT:

Oh, jesus. Extremely disappointed.

My cornmeal chocolate bread pudding was the most horriblest thing in the world. The pastry chef has seemed to answer this formula wrong:

chocolate+corn+bread pudding=HEAVEN. NOT a disaster!

The chocolate was too offer its sweetness to the salty corn bread; however, it was too bitter, as a result: a salty bread pudding... a big no, no. The vanilla ice cream that came with it, left me cold, with no taste.

AMBIANCE: stark. sterile. no life. boring customers. a feeling of emptiness. a plastered waitress.

I ended the meal with this quote: "Applebee's does it better."