I hope you all have had a great weekend. In case you missed it, we’ve been busy this weekend. Our fun has included
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Other highlights include drinks at the Standard Beer Garden with great friends, dinner at Garage, my first acupuncture experience, finding a great summer dress from Ann Taylor Loft for FREE thanks to a gift card, and a wonderful catch up chat on the rooftop with Melissa. Now we’re curled up enjoying How to Make It in America (great recommendation Lauren). Parts of it are similar to Entourage but based in New York City and more about real, scrappy people versus lucky people. The theme song is fabulous as is the cast. You can check the video out here– How To Make It In America intro theme song – I Need A Dollar By Aloe Blacc http://youtu.be/cvfIGPiZL-g
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| Gorgeous night in NYC |
But, now I want to back track to Friday night. I mentioned that Bo wanted to keep it just the two of us and enjoy a date night. He surprised me with reservations at BLT Fish. Located between on 17th street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue this little unassuming nook was the perfect date spot. Downstairs is a separate restaurant, BLT Fish Shack which is a casual raw bar that specializes in fresh shellfish and staples like shrimp in a bag and chowder.
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| Bears like fish. |
We loved the feel of the downstairs portion and hope to come back soon once we’re in the area. But, Friday night they quickly escorted us up to the third floor for our meal. The second floor of BLT Fish is dedicated to private dining special events. Upon exiting the elevator we felt like we’d been transported to another restaurant. There is a retractable glass roof that makes the restaurant feel open and adds to the dimension. It has a classic open kitchen design with both table and booth seating. The focus point of the restuarant was a huge, gorgoeous floral centerpiece that broke up the room. After being escorted to a perfect corner nook table we were served fresh biscuits. They come out warm with maple syrup butter, and a cute little card with the recipe on it. Since they shared the recipe with us I thought i’d pass it on to my readers:
Makes 8 biscuits.
1 1/2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
3 T shortening
3 T butter
1 T chopped chives
1 C sharp cheddar
1 1/4 C cream
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne.
Cut the shortening and butter into the flour mixture. Do not overmix
Do leave the butter and shortening in small piece
Toss in the chives and the cheese.
Toss in cream, just until the mixture comes together. Do not mix too much.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes.
After the biscuits we chose a delicious wine to complement the meal. The next taste was a tuna herb amuse buche and was better than any simple tuna salad i’ve ever tried! Based on these two tastes alone we were definitely excited. Having never been to BLT Fish before we didn’t know what to expect but based on the service, wine and first two tastes alone Bo had decided that this may be one of the most underrated restaurants he’s seen on Zagat.
We both had two different appetizers in mind and decided ahead of time that we would NOT be going 50-50. 🙂 I have a crazy love of octopus and rarely have the opportunity to enjoy it. Therefore, I chose the grilled Portuguese Octopus with chickpeas and roasted red peppers. It had nice chunks of tender grilled octopus surrounded by a vinagrette and mache. The vinagrette complemented the smoky charred flavor versus covering it.
Since Bo has a soft spot in his heart for gnocchi, Bo chose the ricotta gnudi with seared rock shrimp morels and spring peas. The translucent rock shrimp were melt in your mouth tender while the gnudi was sauteed perfectly- browned on the outside but soft inside.
Everything on the menu sounded delicious but I knew I didn’t want a whole roasted or salt encrusted fish for my main course. Lately everytime we’ve enjoyed fish it’s been crispy (red snapper on the honeymoon, the huge fish at Butter, our last dinner Esca). We took our waitress’ advice and went split two of their most popular dishes for our main courses: Acacia Marinated Alaskan Black Cod and the Belgian Dover Sole.
I was a bit apprehensive of the cod as it seemed very typical due to it’s Japanese flavors. However, what I tasted surprised and delighted me. The cod was as tender and moist as any I’ve had, with the sweetness of the honey as a nice gentle additional flavor. As described by our server, it melted in our mouthes. The second I put my fork into the tender filet it flaked into perfect pieces. The dover sole was the best browned butter caper sauce we’ve ever had.
We would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is looking for a special dinner destination which will delight their date with wonderful service, simple flavors which are impeccably executed, and a treat of sweet apple cotton candy as an after dinner treat!
