Genji Sushi
424A East 14th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A (East Village/Stuyvesant Town)
New York, NY 10009
(212) 388-1127
Train: 4/5/6 to 14th Street/Union Square; L to 1st Avenue
Bus: M14 to 1st Ave or Avenue A


I only started eating sushi in college, but since my first foray with yellowtail & scallion rolls and nigiri maguro (tuna), I have branched out considerably. I usually only eat sushi with a few people (my mom, sister#3) because I’m very particular, and I really prefer omakase (literally translating to "entrust"), sitting at the sushi bar allowing the chef to serve you with the freshest fish in the order he believes best.

That said, I've been craving sushi, but recently I've been dining with friends who seem fond of all food types, but with whom I’ve never eaten sushi. Interestingly enough, rarely does anyone seem like me when it comes to sushi. I did some research since I chose the restaurant, and I found a small article in New York magazine's food blog "Grub Street" that seemed like the perfect spot.

The neon sign outside screamed cheezy, but the cozy interior, with about 6 tables in the restaurant, and 3 seats at the sushi bar, was welcoming and not cramped nor crowded. The adorable hostess sat us immediately; fortunately, I had made a reservation since there were a number of patrons waiting to dine.

On my first visit, we were waiting for a friend to arrive, so we ordered edamame. Service was kind, but inefficient, and tables were passed over and forgotten, particularly ours. When our delayed friend finally did arrive, it took over an hour for our water and green tea to be served, our bottle of wine to be opened (oh, did I mention Genji is BYO? Very appealing... but after what felt like hours - ok, minutes - of waiting, I finally asked the waitress for her corkscrew and opened the bottle myself), for glasses for the wine to arrive and for our order to be taken. The edamame certainly didn't hold us over, nor was it that remarkable.

When we finally did order, we began with the sea urchin (uni) tempura, which surprised me because the sea urchin was still relatively raw (which most restaurants cannot get right) while the tempura was crispy, a bit heavy, and not greasy, but the ratio of batter to sea urchin was disproportionate, and the sea urchin flavor was lost in the mess of batter. Next we received the Mountain Fuji, a cucumber roll, topped with a heaping dollop of spicy tuna sprinkled with tempura crunchies, which was the perfect appetizer to share. This was followed by a piece of nigiri salmon toro (belly), which was delightful and fresh.

We waited for our next course to be served; in the meantime, the table next to ours was seated, served multiple courses and finished before we even saw our entrees. The restaurant did recognize this and apologized, and we were served a complimentary appetizer (the same Mountain Fuji that we had just finished), but it just left us hungrier for the rest of our food.

My three dining companions shared a number of Genji’s special rolls, including the Genji Roll, a shrimp tempura roll, the Special Roll, as well as a yellowtail-jalapeno roll. I ordered a la carte sashimi of ama ebi (sweet shrimp), baby yellowtail, striped bass, scallop and uni (sea urchin) as well as a spicy tuna roll. Everything we ordered was quite good; the rolls were less imaginative than you’d hope for “special” rolls. Service, despite the diminutive size of the restaurant, continued to be terribly slow; we had to ask for tea and water multiple times before receiving any.

This feeling was just enforced on my second visit with two friends, where I tried the dish similar to the Mountain Fuji, but with spicy real crabmeat on an avocado roll. However, my spicy crabmeat, which was sparse, unlike its spicy tuna counterpart, was served over a cucumber roll by mistake. I didn't point it out because I didn't want to wait another hour to eat. The a la carte fish was of the same freshness, although salmon toro was not available on this visit.

Although displeased with the service, we certainly were not displeased with the bill. With tip and tax, the total on each visit were both around $25 per person. Of course, being BYO helped. Next time I'll just be sure to invite a friend who I haven't caught up with for a long while.

The Stanton Social

99 Stanton Street between Ludlow and Orchard Streets (Lower East Side)

New York, NY 10002

(212) 995-0099

Subway: F/V to 2nd Avenue; J/M/Z to Essex Street

Bus: M14A/15 to Houston Street; M21 to Allen or Essex Streets

I love to plan dinners with friends, and with the new year upon us, I thought it would be a fortuitous 2007 to begin the year with a close-friend dinner. I chose The Stanton Social because I had heard good things, I love sharing and tasting, and I figured it may not be too expensive for a group. Also, the reservation was easy to get for a group of 8 on a Wednesday at 7pm (using OpenTable).

Although I arrived 15 minutes late, I was still the first one there, but my dining companions followed soon after. The restaurant was also incredibly accommodating when my table of 8 became 10. A modern loungey entrance greets you as you enter on the main floor of the restaurant with comfortable banquette-like seating on your right, although this sleek look was hampered by a makeshift coat check and coat rack on this cool January night. We were seated on the second floor where a full bar sat in the center surrounded by a dining room. When side-by-side, the chairs at our table, although incredibly comfortable and inviting, didn't allow space for one to be seated at the table without pulling the entire chair out and letting everyone on that side in; I found this annoying and therefore, didn't want to get up the entire meal in order to avoid disturbing my fellow diners.

Everyone at the table was starving, so we decided to order three dishes for every two people; we could always order more as needed. When I asked our server what he recommended, he told me that the French onion soup dumplings were the most popular item on the menu. This annoyed me. I didn't ask for the most popular item; I wanted to know what HE recommended. Strike one against the waiter. (Aside: one of my friends there had tried the French onion soup dumplings before and didn't feel they were worth ordering again.)

We divided the table in half to make ordering and sharing easier. Our side of the table decided on red snapper tacos with mango & avocado salsa, duck confit empanadas, "old school" meatballs with herbed ricotta crepe manicotti, charred squid lettuce wraps with three sauces, braised short rib soft tacos with refried white beans, manchego and tomato relish and finally the dry-aged grilled hanger steak served with pillows of blue cheese. Dishes were served as they were ready and were slightly difficult to share amongst five people, but each person was more considerate of the next, and we made do. What the waiter did not explain was that it's possible to make each dish to serve the number of people you're with (strike two) -- so if the dish generally serves 3, you can ask for a serving for 5 at an additional cost.

We received the red snapper tacos and duck confit empanadas immediately, and I thought the tacos were fresh, flavorful and delicious especially with a squeeze of lime which added a brightness. The empanadas were dry, including the filling, which was disappointing. This could have been remedied, or at least helped, by the blood orange sauce that accompanied it, but one of the busboys took the dipper away before I was able to decide either way.

The charred squid were wonderful, a touch spicy, tender, not chewy or rubbery at all, and had been seasoned and marinated well. Each of the sauces that came with the lettuce wraps added a lovely accent that piqued our tastebuds, and had us wondering what each flavor was (without peeking back at the menu). When we were out of lettuce, I was happy to just munch on the remaining squid. The short rib soft tacos was more filling than we expected, and it was a perfect dish to share amongst our group. I enjoyed the "mini-taco bar" feel that the accompaniments gave to the dish. The short-ribs had been braised well, so that the meat was tender and had the depth of flavor that you would expect.

Our final dishes, the meatballs and hanger steak, came out together. The meatballs were soft and quite good in a bold tomato sauce that almost hid the manicotti which it all sat atop. The manicotti were good, but I prefer manicotti in a more structured tube than the soft crepe that this one had. The hanger steak was also good, cooked medium-rare as requested; however, the blue-cheese pillows that were found in the dish threw off the entire flavor of the meal (and I like blue cheese!), and I wasn't able to get rid of it from that point on. Everything else that I nibbled on the rest of the evening was plagued with the lingering flavor of that rancid cheese.

Although we were all pretty stuffed by the end of it, we decided to try the cookie sampler, which was a disappointing end to a decent meal. The waiter did not indicate which cookies were which, and it was basically trial and error as we went through the plate... mostly errors.

We had some problems with our bill, where our server overcharged us, but he rectified the situation as soon as I said something. Service was slow, and a bit bumbly, but this seems to be the vibe that The Stanton Social tries to achieve. I never felt hurried by the staff; in fact, I felt that I needed to hurry the waiter a bit.

The Stanton Social definitely has things going for it: cool owners, some good dishes, a well-decorated great space (I loved the antique hand mirrors on the walls that gave a vintage twist to the modern look)... and most importantly, a rather inexpensive tab, food-wise: only $35 per person. Keep in mind, we did not drink (I had a raucous evening involving too much Jameson the night before), and there was no raw bar on this occasion, but if you're looking for a fun place to go with a group, definitely keep The Stanton Social in mind.

REDD
6480 Washington Street at Oak Circle (Napa Valley)
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-2222


One beautiful Saturday, the husband and I decided to take a road trip up the coast with my mom. We decided to change the route on the way back into the city and drive through Napa with a few pitstops at some vineyards. Since it was getting late, we decided to grab some dinner in the adorable town of Yountville. OK, fine, I had the entire day planned, and I specifically planned our final vineyard to be in or near Yountville so that I could check out Thomas Keller's temporary new restaurant, Ad Hoc, before it was gone. Fortunately, Ad Hoc had a cancellation at 7:30pm. Unfortunately, it was 5pm, and we were ready to eat. I had researched no backup plans, since I believed at 5pm, we'd have no trouble getting into Ad Hoc. We drove from restaurant to restaurant, and fortunately stumbled upon REDD.

There were no tables available in the dining room, but we were seated at a perfectly comfortable table in the bar. Simple decor creates clean lines throughout the restaurant, from tables, to bar to restaurant dividers. After being seated, we were served delicious bread and even more delicious local butter.

As we perused the menu, practically every dish on the menu sounded delicious. It was difficult to make a decision, especially after hearing the even more delightful specials. To begin, we chose the sashimi of hamachi with sticky rice and edamame in a lime ginger sauce; Carnaroli risotto with Maine lobster, lemon confit and white truffle oil; and a special appetizer of Nantucket Bay scallops with potato gnocchi over a butternut squash puree. Amazingly, each of the dishes was amazing. The hamachi was above and beyond fresh and the lime-ginger sauce brightened the entire dish, giving it more personality than a typical sashimi appetizer. The Nantucket Bay scallops were sweet and tender, perfectly cooked and caramelized, making them almost indistinguishable from the similar-sized potato gnocchi, light fluffy pillows of potato without any gummy or mushy texture. It was perfectly balanced with the slightly sweet butternut squash puree. The risotto was also delicious with sweet chunks of lobster with each al dente bite complemented by tangy lemon confit. The waft of white truffle oil delighted the nose before each bite.

Entrees were also quite good, although not as exceptional as the appetizers. To get a full idea of what REDD had to offer, we went with the New York steak (medium rare) and shortribs served with creamy spinach, fingerling potatoes and bacon; a special of veal and ricotta meatballs with homemade fettucine; and an appetizer special as an entree of crispy sweetbreads with olive oil mashed potatoes in a cornichon sauce. The steak, served sliced, was perfectly cooked and delicious. It was evident that the meat was an excellent cut, well-aged and flavorful. The braised shortribs, however, were less than stellar. Braised, Korean kalbi-style, the shortribs were fatty and could have used more time braising for the fat to have melted away and for the meat to be more tender and flavored. The sweetbreads were delicious, but the accompanying potatoes were too heavy to balance the dish. The cornichon sauce overpowered the components of the dish; perhaps they spooned too much on the plate? Finally, the actual veal and ricotta meatballs were excellent; however, despite my love for white truffle oil, the white truffle oil overpowered the entire dish, and it was hard to distinguish the flavors of the rest of the pasta.

Service was fantastic; our server was incredibly attentive and knowledgeable. We never felt lacking in water, wine or food. She wasn't obtrusive nor obnoxious as you sometimes find in nice restaurants.

Overall, the meal was professional and well-done. My mom was impressed with not just the food, but the service. REDD's excellent food, sleek and modern look is definitely an interesting addition to quaint Yountville.

La Ciccia

291 30th Street at Church Street (Noe Valley)

San Francisco, CA 94131

(415) 550-8114

By Muni: J Church to 30th Street

Since I've been spending way more time in the Bay Area than in New York City recently, I've spent an inordinate amount of time on Chowhound.com. Because of my love for food and restaurants, I can spend hours and hours perusing the posts, and I've even started to post myself. But I take everything with a grain of salt, since I don't know these people, and similar to Zagat ratings and comments, I never know if I can really trust those who post and their food tastes. That said, there are some names on the San Francisco Bay Area Board that I'm beginning to trust after reading many, many of their posts, and upon one of those user's recommendations, I made a dinner reservation at La Ciccia, which he deemed one of the best new restaurants of 2006.

La Ciccia specializes in food from Sardinia, an island off the Western coast of Italy sitting in the Mediterranean Sea. I've never been to Sardinia nor Italy -- quelle horreur! -- but I imagined the possibilities to expect from La Ciccia with Sardinia's Italian and Mediterranean influences.

The restaurant is cozy with perhaps 12 rustic tables, and we were seated towards the back near the kitchen. There is a small bar where you can also sit, sip and/or dine. Most of the other tables were occupied, and with the cool breeze coming in through the front door, I was happy to be seated in the rear.

I tried to order "family-style" since a number of dishes on the menu plus the specials sounded excellent. We began with a special antipasti platter of prosciutto di Parma, prosciutto di San Danielle, housemade head cheese and pancetta. All of the meats were delightful, particularly the flavorful headcheese. My mom thought the pancetta was unbearably fatty (I ate the portion she tore off), and although successful platters like this are a dime a dozen, everything was fresh and tasty. Soon after, we received our next dish, a special white pizza with sauteed oyster and porcini mushrooms and shaved black truffles. The husband thought he'd be able to pick off the mushrooms, but since they were sauteed, the juices melded with the cheese and seeped into the perfectly chewy yet crisp crust. It was an amazing combination, although I felt that the black truffles were slightly subdued.

We followed these with a pasta course, housemade tagliatelle with crab, which we shared. This dish was memorable. Delicious, sweet chunks of fresh Dungeness crab in a slightly spicy tomato sauce enveloped each chewy noodle... this was exactly what I had imagined, but better.

Our main courses included a whole dorade baked with salt, pepper and fish stock and a ravioli special stuffed with butternut squash and orange zest. The orange zest threw us off a touch, since the flavor hit as you swallowed each bite, and I think it overpowered the delicate flavor of each ravioli. The delicate dorade was perfectly cooked and absolutely excellent. My mom had never had dorade before, and she was amazed at the light flavor of this local Mediterranean fish.

We finished with dessert, a poached apple dish with vanilla gelato both of which were heavy on spice particularly clove (my husband actually felt like he was "eating a clove cigarette"). However, we certainly did not let the less-than-successful dessert bring down our elation on the overly successful dinner. Additionally, the service was prompt and more homey than formal. The waitstaff were more like friends who made excellent suggestions and brought what you needed without being stiff.

I know it'll be hard to get back here since a) I don't live in San Francisco (yet), and b) there are so many amazing restaurants in the area, but my goal is to try La Ciccia again at least once a season to truly get the local, seasonal flavors in excellent, well-priced dishes.

‘inoteca
98 Rivington Street at Ludlow (Lower East Side)
NY, NY 10002
(212) 614 0473
www.inotecanyc.com

For some reason, our large dinners with friends are always on the Lower East Side these days. The fact that Lower East Side restaurants are generally quite small is why I find this awfully ironic. On a recent Wednesday night, my 13 closest friends and I shared a table in the wine cellar at ‘inoteca. I hosted a dinner party in the same space a year and a half ago and was generally pleased with the food, the wine, and especially, the space. The wine cellar is a scrappier version of Oceana’s private wine cellar and a great deal for anyone looking to have a large dinner party on a budget. The cellar is reserved for large parties and both times I used the space, there was another large party set up adjacent to our table in a pseudo shout match fashion, table versus table. There is a slight catch to acquiring this relatively cheap party venue – the mandatory tasting menu. Although the set menu makes ordering, eating, and calculating the tab a much simpler procedure, it would have been sort of nice if the food was actually good.

Given that we also paid for one additional person’s 4-course meal (first course, second course, cheese course, and dessert) because a friend wasn’t able to make it to dinner last minute, as well as the number of people who were eating light that night, I figured there would be plenty of food, which ‘inoteca serves family style, for each person. This certainly was not the case. Plates were delivered from one person to the next, like a well-oiled assembly line running at top speed, with each person taking a small morsel and passing the plate on. I was starving, but there was no part of me that wanted the beets and orange salad and I knew from my first helping how bland the romaine, radicchio, and ricotta salad actually was. Since I do not eat pork, I skipped most of the charcuterie plate except for the bresaola which was decent.

The second course consisted of meatballs (polpette), polenta, a dish called lasagnette di melanzane which was halfway between lasagna and eggplant parmesan, and panini sandwiches, either sopressata and goat cheese or roasted vegetables and ricotta. The paninis’ bread to meat/cheese ratio was pathetic and a crime for anyone who would even consider doing the South Beach Diet. Although pathetically boring, the paninis were plentiful. The eggplant itself was tasty, but not nearly as good as I remember the $4 eggplant parmesan at Joe’s pizzeria in Mamaroneck, NY being during my teenage years. I treated ‘inoteca’s dishes like a takeout order of mediocre Indian curry and rice by mixing the eggplant and polenta to create a halfway pleasant meal.

If I had known what to expect of the cheese course, I would not have dared to call the panini pathetic and would have waited for the following course. There was barely enough fruits and cheeses to feed about 6 people and the entire table was starving from being underfed and overall dissatisfied with the skimpiness of each dish. Skimpy, as in its ability to satiate. A meal should always be satisfying whether it be exactly what you were in the mood for or not. Satisfaction isn’t only about no longer feeling hungry. It’s also about believing that the chef combined and balanced the flavors and textures of a meal well. At least well enough to leave you feeling content afterwards. Unfortunately, I was left with an overwhelming emptiness following my first three courses.

Things improved slightly once the bite-size nutella paninis were served – they were devoured in record time and only about one or two people had the fortune of having two and not just one panini. The best part of the meal, unfortunately (or fortunately), was the last thing served to us and it was delivered in a tiny shot glass – affogato, a mix of espresso powder with hot water, chocolate ice cream (or gelato), and whipped cream.

We didn’t have time to discuss the meal or even the affogato because before we knew it, the two hours we were allotted the table had expired. The check arrived wrapped up in yet another tiny glass, this time a drinking glass. The meal was less than $65 per person including the bottles of unremarkable wine we had drank to help forget about the even less remarkable food.

I guess you get what you pay for.