June Favorites

June Favorites

Instead of posting my favorite items at random, I’ll be featuring my favorite things once a month. I mean let’s get real, how many favorite things can one girl have? This month’s items range from a new favorite television show to a drugstore mouthwash! I hope you find something new from this month’s list.

1. Crystal Light Pure: I know that drinking my calories is never a smart choice but sometimes I crave something more than water. When I want a glass filled with flavor and zero artificial additives I’ve been adding a dash of this to my bottle of water. The lemonade flavor reminds me of childhood summers and is perfectly tart!

2. YogaRat Towel: Practicing yoga outside means lots of sweat and slipping all over my mat isn’t the most productive way to practice. This towel is super absorbent and I’ve been using the hand towel version which is only $9.99 and 15”x24”. Their mat size is only $29.99 which means it’s almost less than half the price of Yogitoes.

3. HBO’s The Newsroom: If you miss West Wing, then this is a new series for you.

4. Nest Candle in Grapefruit and Bamboo: Family pictures, my mother-in-law’s beautiful oil paintings, and burning candles are just a few of the things that make our small New York City apartment feel like a home. These candles are rich and burn longer than the average candle, especially for the votive’s size. Thus far these small votives, which still fill the room with a warm and comforting scent, have burned 25 hours!

5. JCrew Tippi Sweater in Linen: This is the perfect sweater for cold offices during the summer and cooler days come Fall and Spring. I love the bright pops of color that it adds to my black crop pants or white jeans. I found it this weekend at JCrew on sale for $49.99 before the additional 30% off! It’s hard to resist such a staple at that price!

6. Essie Clambake: While bright colors always seem to chip too quickly, it’s hard to resist a fun orange-red color like this that screams summer and blends perfectly with every bright item in my wardrobe. It was the perfect way to ring in the Fourth of July!

7. Crest 3D White Multi-Care Mouthwash: Between my sips of iced coffee and red wine, it’s tough to keep my teeth white and sparkly. I’ve never invested in a dentist office treatment like Zoom Whitening but this mouthwash has brought a luster to my teeth that I haven’t seen in ages. I use this twice daily after brushing and flossing and find that it works just as well, if not better than white strips.

8. Jack Rogers Hamptons Thong Sandal: For the past few years I’ve relied on these chic leather sandals to serve as both commuting shoes and perfect weekend wear for exploring the city and allowing us to easily go from exhibit to Central Park and then into a nice restaurant for dinner. The soft leather is very comfortable and they have worn wonderfully, even for someone who has always been “tough on my shoes.”

9. Origins Clear Improvement Mask: Summer in the city means lathering on sunscreen before days exploring the city or long runs along the water. While sunscreen does a great job protecting my skin it is horrible for the larger pores along my nose and chin. This mask fights the guck and somehow miraculously removes it from my mores while absorbing the extra oil in my T-zone. I use this twice a week during the summer and once a week during the rest of the year to keep clogged pores at bay.

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Raymi

This weekend the Diamond family is all together in the city! Clearly we ended our evening with rooftop drinks at Birreria which included a surprisingly good live band and strong fans that circulated cool air throughout the large, open air space. 

photo (10)It’s always a treat when our family’s come to visit as it gives us an opportunity to enjoy a new restaurant or two, take in a show, and do things that we don’t always have time to do! 

This weekend’s agenda is already jam packed as they are only here for 48 hours!

  • Two delicious dinners in our neighborhood
  • Broadway matinee of Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Metropolitan Art Museum to see a few new exhibits
  • Shopping
  • Possible trip out to Brooklyn and Red Hook

Last night we kicked off the weekend with dinner at a new restaurant in Chelsea from Richard Sandoval, Raymi. Located only a few blocks from us at 43 West 24th Street, the restaurant transports you as soon as you walk through the large doors to a more relaxed atmosphere through the use of unique design elements, lots of bright white and blue, an open ceviche bar, and high ceilings.  (This picture and more are available via http://ny.eater.com/archives/2012/06/raymi_1.php)

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When we arrived, Bo’s parents were enjoying a glass of wine in the bar area at the communal high boy table. The five of us enjoyed the first round of drinks there while catching up and cooling off from the hot day. It’s safe to say that Raymi can make a name for itself on the drinks alone! Their cocktail menu includes multiple pisco based drinks such as their pisco infusions and pisco based cocktails. The pisco infusions range from purple corn, green tea, to pineapple sage as well as over 20 other flavors. We went for the cocktails last night which were all amazing. My favorite was the blackberry-thyme machacado which featured Pisco 100, simple syrup, lime, and muddled blackberries and thyme. It’s important to note for future reference, that they have a happy hour from 5-7pm which includes these amazing cocktails for only $8 along with beer and wine for $4 and $6!

IMG_3282 After enjoying our cocktails we moved into the dining area so we could enjoy dinner at a table versus a high boy. We were seated in the front dining area which was pleasantly full for a restaurant only 2 weeks old. The entire time we were in the dining area there wasn’t a single table empty for longer than it took them to clear and reset the table.

We were greeted with the large menus featuring an array of Peruvian specialties along with a few pan-Asian and New American dishes, ensuring that the menu featured something for every palate.

 

Unfortunately, this is where the restaurant’s young age started to show. While the waitress in the bar area was fabulous, answering all our questions with a smile and being attentive and even apologetic when a bottle of wine took to long to bring up from the cellar, our dinner waiter was clearly inexperienced  and not accustomed to serving guests in a fine dining establishment.  He looked like he wasn’t one day over 16 and he never properly greeted us, sharing the menus highlights, or even offering to take our order until we brought him back over 20 minutes later. We felt horribly but eventually spoke with the manager. We had such faith in the restaurant’s cuisine since we’ve loved Richard Sandoval’s other NYC restaurants (Zengo and Pampano), that we weren’t going to let one waiter ruin the experience.

The manager quickly apologized and not only replaced our waiter with the waitress who had previously served us in the bar area, but also promised a complimentary bottle of wine and dessert.

From this point on the evening was exactly what we wanted and expected from a restaurant of this caliber: flawlessly executed, creative dishes along with attentive, friendly service.

Bo and his mom chose four appetizers for our group to share while the rest of us were caught up in conversation. Their choices were perfect and just large enough for each of us to have a bite from each plate. Ordered below in order of my preference:

  • TUNA  NIKKEI  white soy-yuzu / avocado / daikon / cucumber / nori
  • PRAWN  andean black bean glaze / aji verde / huancaina crema
  • HANGER STEAK  aji panca glaze / creamy ocopa sauce / rocoto salsa
  • GRILLED OCTOPUS & CALAMARI  aji panca / mortar potato / radish criolla

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The flavors of each dish were spot on! The skewers were rubbed in a delicious smoky spice while the ceviche featured more of the Asian influences through the use of daikon and nori.

Meg and I decided to share an entree and appetizer for our main course which worked out perfectly. We both love scallops and therefore couldn’t resist the SCALLOP GRATIN, which are waitress raved about being her favorite dish. The scallops were pan seared heavily only on one side which meant that parmesan crust didn’t overpower the scallops.

IMG_3287We chose the hot rock ceviche as our entree, based on the ingredient list of shrimp, octopus, sweet potatoes, corn, and catch of the day. While this was a delicious Peruvian take on the traditional French bouillabaisse, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

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That, or maybe it wasn’t truly large enough to share between two people. I was able to enjoy a true taste for the flavors but not the seafood. The true fish winner was the Salmon Nikkei which Bo’s mom ordered.

While we would have never ordered dessert at this point as we were all pleasantly satiated from both the flowing wine and delicious food, the complimentary dessert was a very nice and tasty gesture. These desserts were definitely not your standard sorbet or crumble. Each one was innovative, delivering complex, unique flavors through both the ice cream or sauce and the main part of the dessert. Ordered once again in order of preference:

ARBORIO “RICE PUDDING
LUCUMA “ICE CREAM SUNDAE

DULCE DE LECHE “PANNA COTTA” spiced cookie / burnt meringue
PERUVIAN CRISPY DONUTS

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Overall, the food and experience was wonderful especially considering the restaurant is only two weeks old. Their happy hour specials alone will draw me back there with co-workers and girlfriends in no time but I also expect this to become one of the restaurants we frequent for special occasions and out-of-town guests! While the service left a bad taste in our mouth, the food was able to carry the service and we feel confident that they’ll address the service aspect over the coming weeks!

Question: In your opinion, can food make up for a bad service experience?

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Free Yoga in Bryant Park

Tonight, I finally made it to Lululemon’s free yoga in Bryant Park! image

It took me more than a year to make it south 10 blocks from my office to practice yoga under the evening sun and lush trees of Bryant Park. imageLuckily, tonight’s class lived up to the hype. Each Thursday, Lululemon offers a free hour long yoga class on the Bryant Park Lawn from 6-7pm. A different local yoga instructor serves as the guest instructor each week, bringing with them their own unique practice and sharing it with at least 200 people.  imageI was surprised how many people came out in tonight’s heat. Regardless of the 90 degree weather the lawn was packed with people ready to relax and let loose after a long day of work. In order to make it even accessible for people, Lululemon provides complimentary mats for participants and a large cooler of water to keep everyone hydrated. image

Even though tonight’s instructor who was visiting from Pure Yoga, really like his ab sequences as you can tell from the above picture, I loved every moment of the hour long class. The heat helped me move deeper into stretches and the slow flow of the class helped relieve some tension in my hips, lower back and legs. I took it easy tonight since I have my first long run of marathon training tomorrow morning and I want to feel loose, not exhausted.

For more information on this great event which is held weekly through September 27th, check out Bryant Park’s website. In addition, Lululemon also offers a free yoga class on the Bryant Park Upper Terrace at 10am each Tuesday. While I doubt I’ll ever make that class due to my work schedule, I hope to drag a few of my girlfriends and fellow runners to this class this summer while the weather allows!

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