Hi everyone! I must apologize once again for my long absence. I have been on a major job search looking for a new family to turn their kitchen over to my very capable hands. Lo and behold! I found such a family! Now that I can relax into a new position, I can turn my attention to sharing my culinary adventures with you here. But believe me, you are always on my mind......
Last night I had the rare pleasure of getting together with three of my very good girlfriends and we went to a restaurant called "Josie's East". There are two of them - one on the east side and one on the west side of Manhattan, "Josie's West"....bet you didn't see that title coming!!!! They also own a restaurant called "Citrus" which I absolutely love. But that is a different post.
The chef is called Louis Lanza and his style is one that I seek out when dining and practice in my own kitchens. The word I love to use is "clean". Flavors that are pure and bright and you can taste the ingredients without them being muddled by an overabundance of sauces or butter or any type of nonsense. Not that I consider butter "nonsense" by any means. To quote Tom Colichio, each ingredient "sings"! Chef Lanza uses organic ingredients and the menu is quite diverse, catering to vegetarians, carnivores and seafood lovers. (Why does the phrase "seafood lovers" make me feel like I am talking about Red Lobster?)
So I arrived at a cozy table for four and ordered their wonderful and refreshing White Sangria. It was bright and delicious and tasted of fresh pineapple. We all ordered from the $29 prix fixe which is a great deal for three generous courses. Caroline and I ordered the Beet Salad which had all my favorites - arugula, beets, candied walnuts, creamy feta cheese and white truffle oil. It was very delicious but it came with a bizarre dressing (on the side) which tasted like bottled Russian dressing. I didn't understand how it went with this salad so I ordered a simple balsamic vinaigrette which was much better. My friend, Stacey, was the winner of the best ordering for apps. She had the Thai Chili-Seared Wild Shrimp. They were perfectly grilled shrimp sitting on little soft flour tortillas which had been topped with delicious guacamole. These can be served at a cocktail party as canapes and I am definitely stealing this idea! Although the shrimp were chili seared I didn't detect any heat which made me personally happy as I don't care for spicy foods but if I had wanted that heat I'd have missed it. Sheryl's butternut squash soup was hearty and filling and she said she could've eaten a whole bowl of it for dinner by itself. It was garnished with toasted butternut squash seeds and had a swirl of pesto for extra excitement! It's both vegetarian and dairy free (just like Mama makes it....me being "Mama" of course).
Next was the main course and we all ordered the same - Ancho Rubbed Grilled Scottish Salmon. I must say that the menu offers many tempting offerings such as Vegetarian Meatloaf, Organic Angel Hair Pasta Pomodoro, Grilled Gulf Yellowfin Tuna, and all manners of burgers. The portion was huge and the salmon was cooked perfectly. Again, like the shrimp, the ancho rub on the salmon was very mild and I loved it. But if I wanted spicy, I might've been disappointed in the lack of heat. I suppose you could request it spicier if you wanted to. It came with a grand scoop of amazingly smooth and flavorful sweet potatoes and asparagus. The asparagus got lost in the shuffle, unfortunately. It was cooked perfectly, still crisp as it should be, but underseasoned. I think a dash of salt and pepper would've done the trick. I was going to ask for salt but our rapid fire conversation-four ladies who haven't gotten together in a while trying to spill all of their news at the same time, topics veering in twenty different directions-distracted me from my salt desire so I just ate my bland asparagus obediently.
Finally the dessert! This did not disappoint in the slightest. Again we ordered different things so we could taste a couple of choices. Stacey and I had the Macadamia Oat Crumb Apple Pie with vanilla soy ice cream. Sheryl had an assortment of sorbets and Caroline had the Three Berry Ginger Pie with vanilla soy ice cream. The portions were huge!!! Our apple pie was amazing. The crust was crunchy and flavorful and the apples were perfectly spiced and had a nice al dente texture. I love adding nuts to a crust. My favorite blueberry pie recipe has crushed pecans in the crust. The soy ice cream had a silky beautiful texture and exploded with vanilla delight :-) A perfectly ripe strawberry sat on the side of the plate as a garnish but it was delicious too. I enjoy a good berry in the middle of March. I tasted Sheryl's mango sorbet and it was like biting into a fresh mango....magnificent! Then I reached across the table (as Beckers stop at nothing for a bite of food and the boarding house reach is part of the dining experience) and tasted Caroline's berry pie. It had a very strong ginger taste which was a bit overwhelming. I would tell the pastry chef to perhaps have a lighter touch with the ginger when making the crust (which is made with spelt, oat, barley, and brown rice flours). The poor girl had a terrible allergic reaction!
Other than our friend turning the color of an overripe tomato, the experience was a very satisfying one. We were served good coffee and fancy teas with our dessert and the service was excellent.
Check out Josie's NYC at http://www.josiesnyc.com.
Go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather! Spring has sprung! Hooray!
Peace and love,
Robina
