Summer Sunshine

First and foremost, Happy Father’s Day to the first guy in my life, my dad!

After our great morning yesterday, we were all excited to enjoy the rest of the day in the gorgeous sunshine. Our errands and workouts had left us ravenous so we took Kat’s suggestion and headed to Bao Noodles for lunch. Kat had read about this little restaurant online and was excited to introduce Bo and I to pho.

The restaurant is quite small and we actually walked by it on the street without realizing it. Since the weather was so nice they had all the doors open which let in a wonderful breeze.

We started out with an appetizer to subside our hunger. I chose the chicken summer rolls as they sounded delicious and are often a great, light summer appetizer since they are steamed instead of fried. The rice paper rolls were stuffed with lettuce, rice vermicelli, chicken, and fresh herbs. These were some of the freshest, most delicious summer rolls I’ve ever had! In fact, we tried to order more but instead received pork spring rolls which to our disappointment were fried and not half as good.

       For our main dishes, Bo and I couldn’t decide between a couple of options so we decided to share. We ordered chicken pho and grilled pork bahn mi. I had never heard of either of these so I was excited for the experience. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what we were hoping.

The pho came out in two dishes. one dish had the “ingredients” such as bean sprouts, siricha, basil leaves, and plum sauce.   The other bowl was a soup with chicken and rice noodles. Kat instructed us to add ingredients to our liking insuring we used enough siricha for flavor. Even after adding all the ingredients it still was a flavorless soup with chicken shreds. Between the two of us we barely ate 1/3 of it.

    

Luckily, Bahn Mi was delicious! The toasted baguette mixed cucumber, daikon, and cilantro with the perfectly seasoned pork for a perfect sandwich.  I would definitely order one of these again as it was filling and the flavor was complex and delicious. I loved the crunch that the cucumber and daikon added.

After lunch, we headed up to Central Park to meet our friends Geoff and Elizabeth for an afternoon of reading in the sunshine on Sheep’s Meadow.

 

As you can see from these pictures, it was a beautiful day in NYC yesterday! The best part was that it didn’t even break 85 degrees so that along with the breeze made laying in the park a treat. We spent two hours laughing and reading on the Meadow enjoying a few beers along the way. While this isn’t the beach, I think this is a close second and can’t wait to go back next weekend.

After the park we all split ways as Kat had tickets with a friend to see Kelsey Grammar in La Cage and Geoff & Elizabeth had a birthday dinner. Bo suggested a date night and I couldn’t have been more pleased. We’ve both been moving so quickly lately that it’s nice to enjoy each other’s company over dinner and catch up.

After showering, we walked towards Union Square to enjoy the sites and grab beer and an appetizer. Union Square had taken on a whole new identity post Farmer’s Market.     Heartland Brewery had a perfect outdoor spot that was calling our name! We quickly ordered the beer flight for Bo and a Summer Apricot Ale for me. The Apricot Ale was delicious! I wish I could get it on tap at other bars. It was crisp and fruity without being too light.

    

After our drink and enjoying more of the sights and sounds we headed to our dinner destination, Apiary. Apiary is Scott Bryan’s new American restaurant on the northern part of the East Village. We discovered the restaurant using our favorite iPhone app, Zagat. 

Apiary’s decor is contemporary, clean, and in partnership with Ligne Roset. When we arrived at 8:15 the restaurant was only half full which had us a bit worried. But, by the time 9pm came the wait was 45 minutes and the crowds kept coming. We were both elated when we saw they had our favorite sparking chriaz, Chook. Evertying about this meal was surprisingly delicious and perfectly executed. Our evening was filled with fresh, delicious food and excellent service! I apologize for the less than stellar pictures but the restaurant’s lighting was not conducive for pictures. I started with the Diver Sea Scallops eggplant caviar, chorizo oil, upland pepper cress which were filled with flavor and a large enough portion to share.   Bo started with the special of the night, crab cakes. They were plated on top of black beans and drizzled with chipotle which gave a traditional dish a new twist. The cakes were 100% crabs with a few chives.        Making a decision about the main course was easy for me as their first entree featured all my favorite summer ingredients- fish, corn, and mushrooms! The Roasted Monkfish featured summer corn, poblano chiles, chantarelles, basil, and smoked bacon. I was worried it would have a large amount of bacon but was pleasantly surprised when it was served with only a few small pieces for flavor. The monk fish was succulent, perfectly prepared, and the flavors reminded me of summertime succotash back home.      Bo chose the rabbit papardelle which included papardelle pasta adorned with tender, shredded rabbit, porcini mushrooms, summer vegetables and parmesan cheese. The dish was not heavy or overwhelming as papardelle dishes can be at times. Instead it allowed each ingredient to stand out on it’s own as there wasn’t a heavy sauce. Bo raved about this and has already requested a return appearance.

 

What a great New York Saturday! I hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed the summer sunshine!