Craft Restaurant

Saturday night, after hours of reclaiming our apartment from the Christmas decorations and clutter, Bo and I decided we deserved a date night reward. However, deciding at 7pm on a Saturday night that you want to go out to dinner in New York City isn’t the easiest thing. Even the lowest rated restaurants seem to be packed on this night of the week when anyone and everyone in New York City seems to dine out. There is even a weekly post dedicated to restaurants with last minute Saturday night availability each week!

image It’s pretty incredible and insane at the same time. Therefore, last night as we paged through the New York Magazine’s recent restaurant edition, where Adam Platt proclaims his favorite 101 New York restaurants, we figured we had no chance in hell squeezing into one last minute.

Lucky for us, we were wrong!

Just down the block from our apartment sits the 5th restaurant on his list, Craft. Last night, they were able to graciously offer us to the last two seats at their beautiful bar, next to the plating area.

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The atmosphere at Craft was sophisticated but not stuffy. It struck the perfect balance between being a serious and sophisticated space without reaching the level of a coat and tie restaurant. I especially loved the leather layered wall which brought a warm brown hue to the restaurant. In addition, adding to the atmosphere and experience, every waiter, hostess, and bartender we encountered was beyond friendly and very helpful.

When enjoying dinner at their bar, the bartender also serves as your waiter. Luckily last night our waiter and bartender for the evening was very knowledgeable about the menu and his service was impeccable, in line with what you would expect of a restaurant of this caliber. He never hovered but was still attentive and served everything in a timely manner.

032Upon sitting down we were quickly greeted by their bread basket. Very basic in nature, the hunks of wheat and white bread and salted butter were delicious.

033 The kitchen presented us with an amuse bouche, a cauliflower soup with a truffle oil drizzle.

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The soup was rich and creamy so the small portion was the perfect amount. In fact, the people next to us requested that this soup be made into an appetizer portion after seeing ours. I have no idea how they ate such a large portion.

Whenever we go to restaurants, we each often order items which we rarely cook at home. The appetizer menu featured two items we rarely conquer: artichokes and quail.

The artichoke and fennel salad was simple but delicious, cooked tender and drizzled in olive oil and fennel seed, paired with peppers and tomatoes.

037Bo’s quail with aged balsamic was perfectly crispy on the outside but tender on the inside and seasoned perfectly. Though we were only one course through our meal, the appetizers stood out as they ensured that Tom Colicchio carries his mantra from Top Chef, “season your food” to his restaurants through the food.  Even the simplest of foods were seasoned perfectly and each flavor lasted on our tongue.

038Choosing an entree from the Craft menu is an arduous task as they provide way too many options. Twelve options across both meat and fish left us both clueless as everything sounded delicious. Therefore, we trusted our waiter with our entree. We asked him what the most popular fish and meat dishes were. After his description of the steelhead trout with lemon and the guinea hen and black truffles we knew we couldn’t go wrong.

The trout, cooked rare, resembled salmon more than trout when first presented. I was a bit hesitant as I wasn’t sure I’d like trout this way but after one bite I was convinced and confused. The lemon and caper flavor was perfect for the meaty trout. While it was delicious, it reminded me a bit too much of capers and lox to order again.

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Bo’s guinea fowl on the other hand was rich and delicious with a nice pan jus. The dark meat was more like duck confit but with more gamey taste. According to the waiter this is one of the dishes that has made Craft so famous. In addition to these two entrees, we enjoyed the hen of the woods mushrooms and brussels sprouts on the side. I would go back tomorrow for those mushrooms alone if I could.  They were sautéed in garlic and butter and then quickly seared to a light crisp under a broiler. 040After seeing desserts plated all evening, there was no way we could pass up an evening treat. We couldn’t decide between the donuts, which are the house specialty, and their delicious arrays of sorbets so decided to indulge and order both. Much to our waist line’s appreciation we also agreed that we would not eat all of the dessert. We each limited ourselves to one spoonful of sorbet and one (or two) donuts. This worked out perfectly, and while it wasn’t the price conscious choice, it left us full but not sick. 

The sugar and spice donuts are homemade and delicious but didn’t stand out in my mind. Many restaurants have donuts on their menu and these were nothing special. In addition, the dark chocolate and the lemon curd dips were just too strong for the sweet, delicate donuts.

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The surprising winner was the sorbet and ice cream. We chose three flavors: earl grey, coconut, and roasted pear. Our favorite was the coconut sorbet and our least favorite was the way too strong earl grey.  042Whether you’re visiting New York City or are a long time local, I highly recommend snagging a table at Craft for your next special evening. Their seven course tasting menu, priced at $120 per person, would make the perfect evening with a special group of friends or loved one!

I am already looking for an excuse to return to Craft Restaurant!

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New Year’s Eve in Cozumel

When we decided to head south of the border for a New Year’s Eve vacation with our friends Ryan and Amy, we all wanted to have a relaxed vacation which meant we spent very little time doing research or making reservations ahead of time for any of the meals or activities.

This worked out just fine until New Year’s Eve. We wanted to go “off campus” for our New Year’s Eve dinner versus going to the included prix fix dinner and show that our resort hosted.

After spending an hour on Fodor’s and with our Cozumel guide book we had a list of three restaurants which sounded like perfect options. Unfortunately, our first two options were fully booked except for an 11pm availability. We decided to try La Cocay, a Mediterranean restaurant in Cozumel.

Located on a small quiet residential block, the restaurant is in a small converted home and courtyard. Very cozy and inviting, we knew this would be a perfect New Year’s Eve restaurant for our small group.

Copy of 017 Copy of 022 We were immediately greeted with a glass of champagne and their prix fix menu.

003 The menu gave diners an option of three appetizers, main courses, and dessert in addition to the two welcome tapas. For 890 pesos, or $64, this was a wonderful deal versus what we would normally pay for a similar experience in New York City or Savannah.

The tapas and champagne were the perfect way to start our meal and both were delicious, especially the smoked salmon with capers.

002Between the four of us we were able to sample all the appetizers as Ryan chose the soup, Bo and Amy indulged on escargot, and I went with the salad. The mixed green salad was the unanimous winner and was not only plated beautifully but was bursting with flavor. Topped with baked goat cheese, the mixed greens, apples, and pears were held together by a spiralized beet and then dressed in a tangy pomegranate vinaigrette.

004 The escargot was good but too rich for my liking.

005 Ryan said the crab soup was delicious as well and included a large baguette crouton and plenty of seafood.

006 The main courses were where the restaurant truly showed their skill. The scallop entree, paired with a sweet potato and pumpkin puree was beyond my wildest dreams and is a meal Bo and I would love to recreate back in New York. The scallops were cooked perfectly, tender on the inside and seared to a nice crisp on the outside.

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Ryan’s rib eye was cooked to perfection and exactly what he wanted. Much to our delight, it was also large enough for him to enjoy while also sharing a few bites with the table.

008 This dining experience was phenomenal due to the wonderful food and even better service. We truly felt like a guest in their home and a personal friend the entire evening. The staff was very attentive, never letting a wine or water glass get less than halfway full.  One of the most memorable parts of the evening was when the staff confirmed that Santa indeed vacations in Cozumel after his arduous Christmas tasks.

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Copy of 023 A Fayetteville native, Santa comes down to Cozumel for two weeks post Christmas each year and has become a local favorite while he’s in town. He carries candy canes and happily obliges photograph requests!Copy of 029

Copy of 035It was a wonderful evening and the perfect way to celebrate the New Year before returning to our resort for a New Year’s Eve beach party complete with drinks, party hats, and a DJ.  051 062 075

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Casa Mission Restaurant in Cozumel

Good morning from Cozumel! We both woke up early after eight hours of margarita induced sleep and have enjoyed some time on our balcony hammock watching the sun rise. The couples are splitting up today and the men are doing an advanced two tank dive while Amy and I are going through the PADI association for a resort dive certification.

002 Last night we ventured out of the resort for dinner in Cozumel. Luckily we had some direction based on a recommendation my personal trainer provided.

Casa Mission is a $7 cab ride away and is a large gated restaurant which takes diners back to colonial Mexico through it’s artistic murals, rustic architecture, and beautiful gardens.

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We were quickly escorted to a table near the live band and a very animated parrot!

006 019 The menu features both authentic Mexican dishes and fresh seafood dishes alike. We started the meal with their house margaritas which were made with fresh strawberries and were delicious!

007 After our margaritas we enjoyed a few appetizers, ceviche and shrimp with avocado. The shrimp with avocado was odd and more like shrimp smothered in thousand island dressing. However, the ceviche is my favorite dish I’ve tried in Mexico thus far!

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Between the appetizer and main course we were served the lime soup. This soup was more amazing than we could have ever fathomed. It literally was a comforting chicken soup with tortilla strips in place of noodles and two giant lime halves in the bottom of the bowl. It was spicy and delicious in a way we could not have imagined before. In fact, when we saw “complimentary lime soup” on the menu we all rolled our eyes, not sure what to expect. Boy were we wrong!

014 Enjoying dinner with good friends means you can share everything, including your main courses! Amy and I shared the seafood platter which came with grilled lobster, fish, and shrimp. The portion was the perfect size for two of us and the shrimp was the real winner. If I returned to Casa Mission I’d order the ceviche appetizer and the shrimp entree!

015 The boys each enjoyed the lobster special and the Mexican combination.

016 017 If you’re down in Cozumel and looking for a delicious dinner or lunch spot, we highly recommend Casa Mission. The shrimp, ceviche, and lime soup are their specialty but everything was amazing and for the four of us to enjoy three courses and two drinks a piece it was only $120!

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