Tag Archives: cafe

American, French, Restaurant Reviews, Upper East Side

Cafe Commerce

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

Chef Harold Moore recently re-opened Cafe Commerce on the upper east side. I came up with my friends Jay and Jeremy, who you know better as “The Dishelin Guide” and “NYC Food FOMO” on Instagram. We tried a bunch of shit.

First, I started out with an ODB (dirty gin martini with blue cheese olives and olive brine) at the bar. This was delicious, so I had another with dinner.

To start, we went in on some beef carpaccio, which is served with horseradish, mayo and capers on top of a flat tater tot. Incredible!

These scallops with mushrooms and escargot butter were a smash hit, too.

As a middle course, we did the rabbit papparedelle with bacon and olives. This was really nice, but it could have used a pinch of finishing salt on top.

For the mains, we went big. First, Harold’s famous roast chicken. This is huge, and comes with a side of whipped potatoes and foie gras stuffing.

You can see the potatoes in the video, along with the other side of nduja Brussels sprouts that we ordered.

Next, we had the Thursday night rack of lamb special. This was the winning dish, hands down.

It came with a decadent fig and pistachio mustard glaze that paired nicely with that perfectly cooked lamb.

Last up, Harold’s famous coconut cake. A massive slice!

Everything here is great. I can’t wait to go back to try more stuff.

CAFE COMMERCE
964 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10021

Burgers, California, Diner, Restaurant Reviews

Shari’s Cafe & Pies

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This roadside stop in Red Bluff is like an improved mom and pop style Denny’s. We stopped in mainly to try the pies, but we couldn’t resist trying some of the savory items too.

First, the marble rye patty melt:

This was nice, and I liked the idea of it, but after coming off of the perfect patty melt at Pinecrest Diner in SF, we were underwhelmed.

Philly Style Prime Rib Dip

This was okay. Nothing to go nuts over, and a bit light on the meat. The fries and tots were good though.

Now on to the pies.

The butterscotch pie was probably the most well liked at the table. Really great texture and flavor.

I wanted more from the s’mores crunch pie, but ultimately I would house these, slice after slice, with ease.

The strawberry and rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream was perfection. I usually don’t love fruit pies but this one was fucking fantastic.

Definitely stop here if you’re driving by. Stick with the pies!

SHARI’S CAFE & PIES
128 Bell Mill Road
Red Bluff, CA 96080

New Orleans, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Pirate’s Alley Cafe

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Pirate Alley is an awesome little alley behind the church at Jackson Square in New Orleans’ French Quarter. We discovered the cafe there  back in 2009, and it’s the reason we love absinthe.

I don’t really write bar reviews, but this is a great place to have a drink. That’s all I got!

PIRATE’S ALLEY CAFE
622 Pirate Alley
New Orleans, LA 70116

New Orleans, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Cafe Beignet

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This little courtyard spot on Bourbon Street is a great place to sit outside with a coffee, a beignet, a yard of frozen hurricane, or whatever else the fuck you want. It’s also a good place to watch the barrage of drunks stumble by on Bourbon Street, while listening to some free music. This was the perfect place to wait for our table to be ready next door for dinner. I smoked my pipe, and my wife and I sipped on some drinks.

CAFE BEIGNET
311 Bourbon St
New Orleans, LA 70130

New Orleans, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Cafe Du Monde

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A must-do thing in New Orleans is to have a beignet (or three) at Cafe Du Monde. There’s always a massive line, so go later at night, after dinner (make this your dessert), and you should have no trouble seating yourself. Order three, have a chicory coffee and dig in. But don’t spill any of that sugar cocaine on your pants!

So delicious. Basically, these are French zeppole.

CAFE DU MONDE
800 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70116

Recipes

White Mexican

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You’ve all heard of the drink known as the “White Russian,” which was reincarnated by “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski. Essentially it is vodka, Kahlua and milk/cream.

My twist on the drink swaps out the vodka and Kahlua for Patron Cafe, a coffee and dark chocolate flavored tequila (hence the Mexican element). You can still use the milk or cream for the “white” element, but if you want to add a nutty flavor you can go with almond milk and then hit it with a dash of sweetened condensed milk for thickness.

American, Burgers, Hawaii, Restaurant Reviews

Cafe O’Lei

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Cafe O’Lei

Then it was time for lunch at Cafe O’Lei. This joint is nice inside. It’s on the second floor of a strip mall type group of storefronts right near S&Q’s. There’s a big bar in the center of the restaurant, and some interesting paintings by local artists on the walls:

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Here, I really wanted to try either the prime rib or the roast pork entrees, but they are only offered at dinner time. Instead, I had my first official burger of the trip. It was cooked almost correctly – slightly over medium – but the large helping of ooey-gooey cheddar cheese really took this burger up a notch.

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My wife and I shared a pair of crab cakes. These were sweet, using snow crab meat, fruit and avocado in the preparation. Very nice. Meaty and crispy.

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My wife had the Mahi Mahi fish and chips, which were expertly batter-fried to a light, golden crisp. The fries here were top notch, by the way. Really nicely done.

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