Pravda

February 27th-

I was perusing the Zagat Bar and Nightlife book, and happened upon a section entitled "Vodka Bars". My heart raced! Oh my god.....this could be my nirvana! We picked one to try first...Pravda. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go that weekend. This only increased my curiosity and desire to experience all that was Pravda, and made it the first priority of the weekend to follow. Well, the next weekend finally came, and off to Pravda we did go. You enter as if you are going into some private basement, and when you open the door, you enter into Eastern Europe.....and are greeted by someone with a Russian accent....what a fantastic cozy, romantic, cool vibe! There are two dimly lit bars, one as you enter, and one pretty private one upstairs- both are inviting. The dining area pretty much feels like a big hip bar....in a good way.........very casual, but chic. You could come here in vintage clothes with long black gloves, all decked out, or casual in jeans and a jacket.....or most perfectly, in all black. The menu consisted of mostly cocktails and vodka from all over the world, and even some infused versions exclusive to Pravda. There was only a small portion devoted to food, but with what it offered, you didn't need any more. I was dying to try the homemade potato chips with creme fraiche and caviar.....so we ordered those first. Oh my god! With vodka......there is not better complement. I was the happiest girl in the world.....I had vodka, potatoes and dairy.....and we just started. The first vodka I tried was the fig....it really did taste like a fig newton to me. Nathan had the black currant.....it was bright pink and a little too sweet, I thought. After that, we went straight for the Russian stuff, I moved on to the Kutskova, because I liked the way it sounded when I said it, and Nathan to the Jewel of Russia Classic. Mine was way smoother. As for food, we ordered the crispy potato pancakes with Scottish smoked salmon. They were delicious.....not too greasy and heavy like a lot of potato pancakes I have eaten. Of course, I had to order the beef stroganoff. It came with a biscuit instead of noodles, which Nathan preferred. It was a more original way to present the dish, but I still like the noodle version better. The mushroom sauce was divine, but the beef itself was a little tough. My mom still holds the record for this dish, I'm afraid......not that I wouldn't eat it again, because I would eat it this very second if given the opportunity. We wanted to linger, but the vodka was now hitting me and we had to go......but I am already dying to go back. There are so many things on the menu I still need to try. If it were around the corner from my place, it would be difficult to convince me to go anywhere else. I haven't been this excited about a place since Jane, with her heavenly fried poached egg over beef carpaccio.
Pravda, I am in love!

Tiffin Wallah

February 21st-

Saturday, we had the day off and I was in the mood for Indian food, so we made our way to Curry Hill, and landed at Tiffin Wallah. We have been here before, and liked it, so we thought we would try a few other dishes. The inside is clean and modern, and always full of Indians. The menu is huge. Today as I looked around, it seemed that everyone was ordering dosas. Nathan ordered the paneer masala dosa and liked it very much. I thought it was good as well, but dosas aren't my favorite thing.....too much bread for me. I ordered the paneer masala with rice and raita. My entree was a bit sweeter than I like, and had big chunks of green peppers in it. I don't really like green peppers. I like the flavor, but not the consistency. It seemed to be more south Indian in style. All in all, it was ok. It won't be the restaurant I have to visit everytime I go to Curry Hill. I will keep searching. I still like Indigo on the upper west side the best.

The Kitchen Club

February 14th-

For Valentine's day, we struggled to find a restaurant that didn't bind you to a prix fixe menu. I hate prix fixe. Your options are reduced, and you are committed to a certain amount of food.....always too much for me, which either leaves me feeling guilty that I wasted it, or gluttonous because I didn't. We finally decided on The Kitchen Club. They had a prix fixe menu, but also let you choose from their usual offerings. That I can handle. We had been here once before, but it had been so long ago, that all I remembered was that the food was good, and there was a cute little French bulldog who sauntered around from table to table looking for samples. It was crowded when we arrived at nine thirty, so we were led to the tiny bar area, (Chibi's Bar), in the back to wait for our table. My first order of business was to see if the Frenchie would be dining with us that evening. It wasn't difficult to locate him, since I had to literally step over him to get back to the bar area. I was happy. The wait was short, and we were seated and handed the menus to look over. We ordered drinks, Nathan, red wine and sake for me, which took so long to get to me that they gave it to me for free. Nathan went with the prix fixe Valentine's day menu, while I ordered, as you can guess, from the regular menu. First, came our appetizers....dumplings, the specialty of the house. We had crab and duck with ginger. Both were good, but we agreed, the crab, (which happened to be on the special menu), was better. Nathan had the steak, which was good, but nothing to write home about. On the other hand, my miso black cod was melting in my mouth! It was pure perfection! After our entrees, they brought out dessert. The menu said it was to be chocolate cake with espresso gelato. I felt bored. I've had this before. That is, until it arrived and I put the best piece of chocolate cake I have ever eaten into my skeptical mouth. It wasn't the sickening sweet taste of sugar that I remembered from chocolate cakes in the past. It was bittersweet heaven! The gelato was a good complement. We left the restaurant happy.....and I even got to feed the Frenchie (Chibi)!