Kathleen "Yelp Empress" M.'s Profile

Second (and sadly last) HOY stop: Nouvelle

I'm typically not one to get a lot of pedicures during the fall/winter months, but I had been really wanting to check out Nouvelle since it opened about a year ago. It's located right behind Octane, and I had dreams of squeezing in a pedicure while I worked away. Alas, I wasn't able to make those dreams a reality until Hawt on Yelp came along!

Alayna, the owner, is an absolute delight. Incredibly friendly and exceedingly talented. She's created a beautiful spot here: no fluorescent lighting, very urban chic... I loved it. More polish color choices than I've ever seen in my life: it took me about 10 minutes to choose just one. Once I did, I was whisked away to a comfortable chair and a delicious milk soak for about 10 minutes. Once my feetsies were nice and soft, I moved over to another chair where the actual pedicure takes place.

And this is where Nouvelle won my heart. Instead of those often-more-uncomfortable-than-good massage chairs you typically get at salons that just pound on your back in a rather unpleasant way, Nouvelle has chairs that I want to buy and put in my home. Not only are they quite pretty on the eyes, but oh-my-god-COMFORTABLE. Once you get in they rotate back so that you are comfortably reclined and your tootsies are up in the air, making it easier for the nail technician as well. It felt like laying in the most comfortable hammock ever, with all of the pressure taken off my hips and back. I could have stayed in that chair for days.

Alayna has magical hands: even when performing the not-as-fun tasks like clipping and filing, it felt like a massage. Plus, there was a lot of actual massaging. And it was all amazing and incredible thorough. When have you ever had a technician go over your heels with a buffer TWICE?! As in, she did one, then the other... then went back for another round! I took a glance down at my feet about halfway through and was absolutely in shock. Without polish, this is the BEST my feet have ever looked. I was tempted to have Alayna stop right there and let me flit out of the salon with un-polished toes, for the first time in at least 8 years. I was way too excited about my new nail polish color to stop her, and with the polish my 10 little piggies are all lookin' pretty fly.

So yes, it was a miraculous pedicure, probably the best I've ever had. I still can't stop touching my heels and remarking on how smooth they are. I'm forever ruined: I just can't see returning to one of those dingy spots in my local shopping center ever again.

Yep, Chef Liu's has moved in to the actual shopping center, and the new digs are pretty classy. A nice, open space, much warmer than the majority of spots on Buford Highway (and I mean that both in terms of temperature and ambiance). This may be a good spot to take BuHi virgins, as it's all quite clean and lovely, with real menus. Woo!

The xiao long bao was quite delicious, although the first few I tried to pick up lost their broth before I could get them to my spoon. :( That may be indicative of my shoddy chopstick skills, but I did notice our second batch held itself together much better. The scallion pancake was much heartier than others I've had in the past, and the flavor was great as well.

About 15 cups of tea (I wish I was kidding) later I was out the door and back out in to the cold, stomach filled with soupy dumpling goodness, and all the much happier for it.

As I walked in to Java Jive for their seasonal pancakes, I had to tell myself not to hype things up too much. There was no way Java Jive could live up to my pumpkin pancake go-to in DC: Billy Martin's. Billy Martin's has been around since the 30s and is steeped in history: JFK proposed to Jackie there! Oh, and their pumpkin pancakes are PHENOMENAL. I was there pretty much every single weekend last fall solely for their goodness.

So what does this all mean for Java Jive? Well, they had a tall order to fill.

My consensus? Screw JFK. Sure, my old pal Billy Martin has an incredible thing going on up in DC, what with the intimate booths and the Irish setting, but Java Jive is it's own little thing of beauty. A 50s diner kind of feel, complete with old advertisements, vintage furniture, and a bunch of old pastel ovens in the waiting area. I loved the bright, cheery feeling. We waited for a few minutes, sat down, and ordered up some deliciousness.

The pumpkin pancakes were all I was hoping they'd be: rich, fluffy, and bursting with pumpkin flavor. As I told my dining partner, I like to be slapped in the face by pumpkin, none of this subtle crap, and Java Jive delivered. Plus, the cinnamon syrup really took things above and beyond.

So yes, go, and get the pumpkin pancakes, if you still can! As good as they were, I know I'll be back to sample some of Java Jive's other offerings: it's just too cute not to!

Friday, raining, disgusting amount of traffic, and a not very happy me. I was already in the shopping center and figured that a nutella crepe certainly couldn't hurt my mood.

I opened the door to Crepe Revolution and was totally shocked at the surroundings. I don't know why, but I had expected a super casual, flourescent light kind of place. Instead, it's rather upscale, with wood accents and a beautiful bar (score!!). In some ways, it reminded me of one of my all time happy places: a teeny tiny crepe joint in Burlington VT. Add in the free wifi (thanks Skyblox!) and you've got yourself a killer spot.

The greeter/hostess/order taker was super friendly and just had one of those faces/smiles you can't help but be attracted to. And not attracted in *that* way, you pervs, but instead in the way where you can't help but smile back, and you kinda want to be her friend. Hey lady, want to hang out some time? I swear I'm cool... sometimes. We could eat crepes together! Or, you know, anything else: you're probably sick of crepes. Ok, moving on!

I ordered up a nutella and strawberry crepe, and it rang in just a smidge above $5. All in all pretty reasonable for a mid-afternoon sinful snack, especially in a place with digs this nice. While I waited a man (I assume the manager) made sure I was taken care of, and quickly I was on my way back out the door with crepe in hand. And, as you'd expect a nutella and strawberry crepe to be, it was delicious. Absolutely smothered in the good stuff with big fresh strawberries. Totally lifted my spirits.

Despite the distance, I'm really starting to love this West Village complex and all that it has to offer. Yep, I'll be back.

After returning to Midtown Tavern on several Friday nights over the last year, I can safely say it's a solid spot. Karaoke is a guaranteed good time, with a laidback crowd and a fun group of folks singing: the right mix of those who are actually talented and those who are more performers than singers.

Also, must give mad props to the food. The grilled asparagus is absolutely insanely delicious, although I don't feel like you get the right portion for the price. Still, I find myself ordering it, a lot. I've never had a bad meal.

One star reserved because I've often had some problems with the mixed drinks being very much on the weak side, with so much ice packed in all you get is about 3 sips out of each glass. So yeah, stick with the beer.

Like others have mentioned, this place is straight out of a high school cafeteria in terms of ambiance. Luckily, in terms of food, it's in a different eschelon.

I was (properly) instructed to order up the shrimp cocktail, and I also got a papusa. Oh, and a Tecate. 'Cause everything tastes better with a Tecate. The shrimp cocktail was ginormous and oh-so tasty, with lots of avocado and lime to go along with it. Quite impressive. The papusa was also delicious, but nothing mind blowing: just good old fashioned comfort food. Yeah, they qualify as comfort food even to those of us who grew up with biscuits and cornbread... so what? All of this (with tip) came to about $18, which is a little bit more than I was expecting. By no means an expensive meal, for sure, but I can guarantee you you're not paying for the atmosphere. However, I know that if ordering strategically (ie, a couple of papusas and some water) you could get out of here for under $10, no problem.

All in all, the food is tasty and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to try out some of their other options, as they've got a crazy long menu. Oh, and free chips and salsa, of course.

I am, admittedly, a Sephoraholic. It's a paradise for my crazy makeup loving self and I could easily spend hours in any of their locations.

Sadly, the location at Lenox is not all sunshine and rainbows. First of all, it is always PACKED. No fault of their own, but even at noon on a Tuesday they're busy. How can they fix this? Uhm, hire more salespeople! Not a hard equation to figure out. And what makes things worse is that the salespeople that they *do* have seem to be more interested in their own makeup than tracking down the perfect plum lip color for me. Lame-o. I have made laps around this location that creep up in to the double digits without being helped, whereas at other locations I am greeted almost immediately, nearly hounded. And not to stereotype or anything, but I could understand the cold service if I was some pre-teen who obviously isn't going to purchase anything and just wants to play with the makeup. But no, I spend serious cash here, and I expect a little lovin' in respect. If not I'll just make my way down to Bloomingdale's and spend my money there.

Today, however, was a downright mess. I had a rather large return due to some emotional shopping a while back, and I'll note here how thankful I am of their lenient return policy. However, when I'm returning something, I don't need the attitude. I've never received so many dirty looks before, even from someone who appeared to be the manager! If you don't want to have to take stuff back, don't have a return policy. Then, to add insult to injury, they gave me cash back since i paid with a debit card. Kinda weird, and no big deal, until the cashier started counting out the money: all in small bills (at least 30 ones). And yes, a rather high amount of cash.

So thanks, Sephora, for the great makeup. But I think I'm going to stick with another location or the department stores from now on... I don't like people looking at my wallet and assuming I'm a stripper.

Bulgogi in a taco. Take a minute and think about it. No, I mean *really* think about it.

You should be salivating right now.

The tacos at Hankook live up to your imagination. Deliciously flavored and complex, even my rather plebian tastebuds were able to enjoy all of the various ingredients and the ways they mulled together. The taco was no doubt the highlight of the meal, which I wasn't expecting as I am a serious lover of some of the other things on offer (namely veggie pancakes and bimbimbap).

The bimbimbap was a HUGE portion, chock full of tons of veggies and a sizable smattering of sauce. If you want it more on the mild side, be sure to ask in advance as the sauce comes already served on top. Loaded down with bulgogi, shrooms, cucumber, sprouts, seaweed, and a fried egg, all for $6. In my mind, an incredible deal. The veggie pancakes were delicious and I am absolutely obsessed with their tempura sweet potatoes (ko kuma). Not the traditional orange sweet potatoes, but something different, and something delicious.

The atmosphere is nothing... don't go expecting anything in that department. Luckily, the food speaks for itself.

Right now they're only open until 3pm but starting on November 2nd their hours shift from 11 to 9. And as I go back for more visits, expect a star to be added to this review.

Lovely little shop, with just about everything you could ever imagine, all made out of chocolate. They've got gifts for everyone you know: fire trucks molded of chocolate, hostess platters, fruit dips, single-serve truffles. And all at incredibly reasonable prices.

Need 100 chocolate sea shells? Not a problem. And they'll only be $16. Try beating that in the "big city." Plus, you won't find friendlier service or a more delightful smelling place anywhere.

Yes, admittedly, I screamed my girlie little bootie off. There may have even been some jumping up and down out of fear occurring. But I just can't help it. Yes, I know it's fake and that the chainsaw man won't *actually* saw me in to itty bitty pieces, but I can't help but squeal when he jumps out at me unexpectedly.

Even if you don't get scared out of your gourd, you can, at the least, appreciate the effects and sets at this place. 2-story tall werewolves, creepy spiraling bridges, people flying above you: it's all pretty impressive. I was at first more than a little turned off by the admission fee, but learned why the price was so high when walking through the place. No expense was spared in creating these intricate and impressive visuals.

You should definitely leave some space between your group and the group in front of you to help keep some of the surprises sacred, even if that means backing up the line behind you. And be sure to wear clothes/shoes you don't care about, as there may be some climbing through tubes and such that'll get things a little dirty. Plus, you don't want to pee yourself in pants that you can't throw in the wash the minute you get home.