Gabriela isn't the only one who loved the ribs!

Hill Country BBQ

Sunday we had ourselves some serious BBQ at Hill Country BBQ. Feast your eyes on our pork ribs, beef ribs, bbq chicken, beef brisket, baked beans, corn pudding, cornbread, and bean salad!!! oh, and a bucket of beer. Did I mention it was 12:30 pm?

Here we all are. I can safely say that Gabriela is a fan of the ribs. See for yourself!!!

Otto

At Otto they start you out with brandied cherries, some crazy delicious honey, and another tray of apricots with red pepper flakes, breadsticks and lovely rustic bread. We immediately ordered a plate of Italian meats and selected several cheeses - a gorgonzola, a triple cream, a peppercorn goat cheese, you get the idea... Then you dip your bread and cheese in the sauces. Divine.

Here's a little sample of some of the side dishes we dined on - beets, muscles, green lentils, anchovies, octopus, shrimp and chickpeas, and one other dish that I can't remember. We also had some pasta and pizza. Our amazingly fresh Caprese salad. It was heavenly.

Gabriela sampled all sorts of dishes after she woke up from her nap. She tasted the sauce from the muscles, the beets, the anchovy croutons, pizza, chick peas, lentils, caprese salad, and she may have even tasted the octopus! Gabriela is quite the little foodie!But her favorite, hands down, was the gelato which Auntie Cynthia and Uncle David couldn't feed her enough of. They were her best friends that night!! I got sad puppy dog looks (from David) when I said she'd had enough dessert. Maybe I should have cut off dessert a little earlier because at bed time that night, Gabriela was standing up and shrieking in delight at I don't know what. I don't think she'd ever tasted dessert before then.

We all had a totally fabulous time together that night.

Central Park

After a delicious Saturday brunch and a lovely nap -seriously, we ALL slept and we all needed it, especially David, Cynthia & Lane (I'm just sayin') -we decided to pick up some snacks and just chill at Central Park. We walked through the park, found a gazebo to snack in and talked and blew bubbles and just enjoyed each other's company.

This picture is just for Nana

On the way back we passed by the carousel. How could we just pass it up?!?! Gabriela had her first carousel ride. Uncle David, Auntie Cynthia and her Mommy AND Daddy joined her. I think we had more fun that Gabriela. She mostly just seemed to be wondering what the heck was going on.

Goof Balls :-)

Yakitori Totto

Manhattan was gorgeous Friday night. It was a breezy-no-need-for sweaters kind of loveliness. Since Gabriela slept most of the bus ride up, we figured she'd be down for a late night dinner, New York style. So we walked a few blocks to Yakitori Totto. You know it's authentic when the menu and all the signs are in Japanese, and the place is full of Japanese people. There was no sushi at this restaurant. Lots of different grilled deliciousness on skewers. We had these teeny fried fish with green tea powder, grilled chicken meatballs in roasted jalapeño halves, grilled scallops, lamb chops, grilled skirt steak, cold udon noodles, asparagus wrapped in chicken breast, mushrooms wrapped in bacon, mmm.

oh yeah, and ginormous entire shrimp on a skewer.

Gabriela had a blast. She was talking and talking and tasted almost everything. Her favorites were the fried fish, the chicken meatballs and the lamb chop bone.

I'm not sure what she enjoyed more - the chicken meatballs, or chomping on the chopsticks.

Okay, so Gabriela was going a little crazy in this picture. I posted it because you can see her cute top tooth that made its debut just the other day.

All tuckered out by the end of the night.

New York

My colleague Mark and I had to go in to New York for work last Thursday and Friday. I decided to spend the weekend there and Lane came up on Friday.

David, who is addicted to Kebab Palace had been talking up his new favorite Afghan restaurant, which is only a couple blocks from his apartment. Since Mark was the one who introduced us both to the Afghan madness, we decided to let David introduce us to Ariana and judge for ourselves whether it was better than Kebab Palace. In fact, in preparation Lane and I ate at Kebab Palace on Wednesday night with our new neighbors. The waiter there thanked us for bringing our friends and said we were now ambassadors to Kebab Palace.

As we walked in the door with my brother, the owner Rafi loudly greeted him (by name). He gave us menus only to take them away and serve us what he thought we should eat. We had delectable samosas - meat, spinach, and pumpkin ones, another lovely appetizer, a plate of kebab madness, basmati rice with raisins, pistachios, and carrot slivers, salad, and wine. Hands down, it was fresher, less greasy, and more delicious than our local place. I also had the chance to meet some of the ladies David works with over dinner. They were really fun, and I understand why David has such a crazy time in the office. They are just as wild as he is!

David tried to convince us to go Mangia e Bevi afterwards, this is the restaurant where people dance on their chairs and use tambourines, etc. We were all tired and protesting a little. So we walked in, only to turn around and head back out. We crossed the street and started walking home when we heard this really loud whistle. The waiter was standing outside, cupping his hands and yelling that William, the manager, wanted to buy us drinks. How can you refuse that offer?! So we turned around and went back, chatted with William, and danced a little before heading home for the night.

A typical night at Mangia e Bevi

Totally random strangers at Mangia E Bevi:
Friday evening, David and I went to Bryant Park where they had Christmas songs, an ice rink, and all sorts of booths for artisan crafts and Christmas ornaments. I bought some hot apple cider, got a super warm winter hat for myself, and a present for Grandma Grover. I was hoping to find something for Grandma Chaney also, but I didn't find anything calling her name. David and I decided to cook dinner for Lane so we made one of his favorites - green curry. mmm. It was delicious!

We did more christmas shopping and even braved the ridiculous crowds on fifth avenue on Saturday and had a late lunch at this INSANE barbeque place. When we walked in, it was like we were transported to Texas, and nowhere near NYC! You order meat and sides at these counters and they give you the meat wrapped in butcher paper. David ordered us jalapeno sausage, brisket, ribs, chicken, and more. We also had side dishes of this amazing sweet corn pudding, green bean casserole, and black bean salad. We ate and ate until we could hardly move out of the chairs. I was sound asleep in the cab home, and promptly took a THREE HOUR nap. That was some serious food coma.
Before:

After:
Thank goodness we rested up because later that evening we went out for Chrissie's b-day party. We hit up this cute sushi place on the lower east side. Hours after our late lunch none of us were hungry in the slightest, but we gladly downed a spider roll, dragon roll, and this delicious shitake mushroom and pumpkin roll. mmmm. This was followed by cake and drinks at a nearby dive bar, which was then followed by karaoke bar madness. There was lots of singing/yelling, in all sorts of keys at the same time, and it was a total blast. We got home around 3:30, at which time we decided to feast (again) on curry leftovers and the boys stayed up playing the guitar until 5 in the am!!

We had a lovely weekend in NYC with David, as usual. He introduced us to some wonderful new places. Although I got in trouble for not waiting for Lane to go to Afghani (but now we have a good excuse to go back). Best of all, David has a huge Christmas tree and is very excited about starting up an ornament collection. I brought him a DC ornament to get him started :)

Thanks for an awesome weekend!!

Nueva York

We went on our favorite Washington Deluxe bus this weekend to visit David in NYC. The special double bonus was that my mom was visiting Cynthia in Boston and they both came down for the weekend. Yay family!! (and Delfine)

Aren't David and Alex just the cutest couple!?!?

We started out at our favorite hang out on 53rd and 9th - Mange y Bevi. I've told you guys about this place before - they have dancing on chairs, dancing with waiters and tambourines at the tables. I know of no other restaurant where you get up from the table and dance your little heart out and then go back to eating dinner like it was nothing. Cynthia and I found our own little dancing spot. Later on my mom decided she wanted to get up and dance too. My favorite part, though, was when the waiter brought a round of shots to us all, and as my mom held it, she whispered scandalously, "does this have alcohol in it?!??!" and then she proceeded to down it in one gulp. It was hilarious. After we got back, we just chit chatted with David and Alex about their adventures en Cuba, and chilled.

Yes, this is at dinner. Not at a club or a bar.

And my mom was ready for the party!We celebrated Alex's birthday with requisite chair dancing, the whole restaurant singing to her, and shared a delightfully decadent and creamy tiramisu.
Saturday afternoon, we browsed and ate at the street fair. I bought my mom a little b-day present, and stocked up on accessories - a scarf, a hat, a headband, sunglasses... i was having a blast. We had a delicious thai dinner - and I couldn't believe it was my mom's first experience with thai food!!! It's definitely a favorite of Lane's and mine. We checked out a cool play in the evening that Alex got us tickets for. It was an intense drama set in Taos, New Mexico in the mid 1800's. The actors were all spectacular. And in reading the bios, we learned that practically every actor in NY has been in Law & Order. Apparently, that's your magic ticket to making it in theatre.

We finished the night with some dancing/bar action...

Sunday was so relaxing. Lane and I had a leisurely brunch and then sauntered through Central Park and met my mom and David where we shared a cheese and fruit plate and I took pictures of some of the characters we came across in the park, like this weird lady: Strawberry Fields - Before we knew it, it was time to go back.

Adios, Nueva York. More pics are on our Our Pics link...

The Rest of NY

Check our all our weekend NY pics at www.laneandelena.shutterfly.com

One of my favorites is of a random old lady with a *bright* yellow plastic grocery bag. It's so awesome, because (even though it's hard to tell in the pic) her hair is the exact shade of yellow. Not blonde people, YELLOW.

Ah, what the hell. Here she is:

:

Mesa Grill

Mesa Grill totally lived up to my expectations. We were seated right away, the food was succulent, and the service was great. We started out with Raw Tuna Nachos with Mango Hot Sauce and Avocado Crema. Yum. They were so smooth and creamy.

We had deliciously refreshing mojitos and I was so excited that all the plates were different colors - blue, red, yellow, and the menu was red. Loved it.

Sixteen spice chicken with red chile peanut sauce and butternut squash tamale with hazelnut cinnamon butter
New Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with bourbon-ancho chile sauce and sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter. This dish was absolutely incredible. It was like a crescendo of flavors... they just kept intensifying. I was inspired to try making a similar pork tenderloin at home. Wish me luck!

This was a momentous occasion that had to be photo-documented. Lane almost ALWAYS finishes my dinners. This was the first time (I think, ever) that I actually finished his dinner.

Unfortunately, Bobby Flay was not in the house. David was planning to challenge him to a throwdown.

Later that night, we met this guy named Anthony from Ireland. He had this very Irish accent and was just hilarious. When the bar was closing, the bartender said she could only serve shots. So, of course, he asked for a shot...of Heinekin, in a very tall glass.

We go home tomorrow. Hoping to spend more time at Central Park. Our weekend has been nice and relaxing so far.

Mid Weekend NY Report

We went straight to Mangia e Bevi, my brother's favorite NYC restaurant, as soon as we arrived at 10pm. This place is usually cah-razy. Picture a nice little italian joint with friendly staff, delicious pastas, a wood burning pizza oven. Now add pounding club-esque music (a la Shakira), customers dancing on their chairs, waiters passing out tambourines, and grabbing diners to dance, shall we say a little freaky with them and you have the typical Mangia e Bevi experience. It was actually quite mellow on Friday, with only one b-day party going on.


Saturday morning, we spent some time in Central Park. It was so relaxing. We chilled by this fountain and just people watched. We saw this guy playing guitar, another guy rocking out to drums. He put a bunch of hula hoops out so people could hula to drum beats.




We saw Wicked that afternoon. It was a fabulous show. Everything about it was amazing - the vocals, the set, the costumes. Definitely was worth our while.

Afterwards, we met up with my brother at a bar. David got there a while before we did. He told us how this totally drunk guy (it was only 5 pm) came in asking for a job. When the bartender broke the news that they weren't hiring, he asked for the next logical thing... uh, the restroom. He was in there a while, so the bartender asked how he was doing. This guy opens the door as he's peeing and explains how he just had 5 pitchers of beer, but not to worry, he was okay. They had to shoo him out of the bar as he tried lighting a cigarette inside... So we had our drinks, leisurely ate our appetizers, had some good conversation. As we were leaving Lane and I noticed this guy passed out on the steps next to the sidewalk. David immediately noticed him as the guy who had asked for a job. Check him out: Notice his cigarette is still totally burning.

We had an interesting night on the town. We hung out with a friend of David's from work and her friends, including Gino and Vinny from Jersey. We were going to go dancing at some Cuban place but somehow ended up at a hookah bar instead. Crazy Nueva York.


Being the Food Network nerd that I am, I made reservations for tonight at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill on 5th Avenue. Hopefully his food will taste as scrumptious as it looks on TV. I'm such a sucker.