Stellah D.'s Profile

"God's Butter".

Sorella is the best thing to happen to the LES in quite some time. Tucked away behind a secretive wooden facade lies a glittering marvel. The focus here is on the cuisine and wines of Northern Italy-- a rich lamb ragu, bitter winter vegetable salad enriched with a slow cooked egg and bottarga, ephemeral tiny gnocchi bathed in a pale sauce of cream, brown butter and pears and a made to order rissotto that may well be the best in the city.

With plates ranging from $8 to $14 it's also a bargain, especially considering the quality of the cooking.

They are crazy about wine here (look closely at the décor) and the list is excellent, with 25 or so by the glass and not a bad one amongst them.

The back room features a 2 course prix fixe for $28, which is just fine and possibly better if there are lots of you. Personally, I prefer to sit up the front at the moodily lit bar and order several plates to share.

I suggest checking out Sorella soon, before it gets "discovered". It won't be long.

PS. for the God's butter" reference, see http://www.the-feedbag...

For those who long for Ryan's deft hand in the kitchen, hope can be found here

http://www.missionbeac.../  The bluebottle coffee is an added bonus :)

Home sick San Franciscans take note, today, truly superlative espresso finally arrived on the island of Manhattan.

Jamie McCormick (late of the divine Bluebottle) has just opened his very own kiosk in the heart of the immaculately unkempt East Village.

Better than bluebottle I say and you may call me a heretic for doing so. I don't care. It's the truth. Not only are the drinks beyond reproach, at Abraco Jaime is also serving food. A melting tortilla with yukon golds buried in it's creamy depths, lemon and almond tart flavored with lemon thyme. little ugly doughnuts and precious almond wedding cookies dusted palely like brides.

At lunch there are pannini filled with green market harvest, it's rumored that come nightfall they will also serve wine.

Abraco is a dream of a place, obviously borne from the dreaming of a man passionate about  both his coffee and his food--and it really shows.

It has now been irrefutably confirmed that cocktail heaven is adorned with languidly drooping giant potted palms and an exquisite, endless seeming Carrera marble bar.

I'm convinced that a kind of magic is practiced by the alchemists who reside behind that bar. The drinks they conjure forth truly manage a kind of fleeting perfection... It's a good thing too, because tomorrow the hangover that sampling several invariably inspires will truly feel worth it, at least, mine did...

PS. Happy birthday dear P, happy birthday to you.

New underground lipstick brand for the lipstick wearing faithful. Your search for the perfect shade of red (and pink and coral and nude) is finally over.

Lipstick Queen launches with two ranges, Saint, and Sinner, sheer and matte respectively. Both utterly saturated with lush pigment, these lipsticks may just spark a revolution.

Last night 6 of us went to Coi for dinner

I've been there on 4 other previous occasions, but this was the first time
we opted for the 10 course tasting menu... We sat in the soothing private dining room and had a grand time.

Daniel Patterson's cooking seeks to challenge as well as to seduce. As a result dining at Coi is an artful experience - sophisticated and yes, not always easy; for that I'm grateful. How exciting that San Francisco has a dining room of this caliber to finally lay claim to.

Menu and commentary below.

PINK GRAPEFRUIT ginger, tarragon, black pepper -
salty and fragrant, a pale orb of foam concealed pink grapefruit floating in a tarragon infused syrup. This dish was interestingly presented with a dab of fragrance along side with which we were encouraged to anoint our wrists with. Nothing like a little dining room theater to go with the amuse course...

CALIFORNIA OSETRA CAVIAR sauteed bone marrow, beet gelee -
Absolutely delicious, a voluptuous and decadent combination. The bone marrow in this dish proving a rich and surprising companion for the caviar.

SEA BREAM SASHIMI white soy, yuzu, chives -
This was perfectly balanced, the yuzu and white soy serving to frame the fish without overwhelming it. An excellent example of just how difficult it is to execute true simplicity well.

SOFT COOKED EGG YOLK spicy onion relish, bacon,Parmesan foam -
This dish elicited moans of delight from the entire table. So good I was tempted to lick the eggshell (that it was presented in) clean.

DELICATA SQUASH SOUP walnut brittle, cippollini onions,
cocoa mascarpone -
This soup was full of whimsy, the cocoa mascarpone adding an exotic and savory element, and the onions a delightful sweetness. If anything, the brittle was a little bulky in it's granularity in proportion to the soup, but it's bitter sweetness and crunch was a playful surprise.

YUBA 'PAPARDELLE' coconut milk, curry spices -
Silky and squeaky. This dish felt a little flat to me this evening, perhaps even a little under seasoned, but the Yuba was perfectly cooked and made the two vegetarians we dined with very happy.

SEARED SCALLOPS sunchokes, brown butter, caper berries -
Butter and sweet scallops, such a happy union. This dish was no exception, but it was perhaps the least inspired combination of the night.

ROASTED SQUAB endive, sauce of hibiscus, foie gras and vanilla -
Cooked sous vide and then finished in the oven, the squab was a triumph. The vanilla and foie combining with the bird to form something far more exulted than the sum of it's parts.

ROLF BEELER GRUYERE TART wild arugula -
warm Gruyere melted over caramelized cippollini onions and served atop a pate brissee, this was a charming reinterpretation of a cheese course.

HUCKLEBERRIES tapioca, maldon salt - A vivid spectrum of flavors contained in a soup-spoon. It tasted like the color purple and of eating fruit in the summer sea.

WARM CHOCOLATE-BRIOCHE PUDDING lap-sang souchong,
pickled mango -
I am not usually a fan of fruit and chocolate, preferring my cocoa to come unadorned. This dessert however dispelled my usual prejudice. A graceful marriage made of the fruit and fine dark chocolate, gently encouraged by the hint of lap-sang souchong tea.

Sustainability is the new (affordable) luxury.

Branch believes that beautifully designed things can also be sustainably produced, and they work with local and overseas designers and manafacturers to prove it.

With a range that includes a chair made of cork, and bonsai trees in breathmint tins, Branch curates a collection that is full of style and whimsy.

Branch = cute stuff that's good for the planet, finally.

Uni singing with brine, crisp salmon roe to roll and crunch between back teeth, geisha waiting girl adorned with clutching minature teddy bear and vintage silk kimono. Needle fish nigiri, slippery, but not too slippery, shiso a perfect foil. Hideo the chef is the winner of many, many awards, though from his shy smile you would never know. Ushi may have the best sushi in all of Manhattan, and best of all, almost no one seems to know.

Country is housed in a glamorous, newly remodeled 3 part space carved out of the Carlton hotel. There is a definite nod to 70's luxe downstairs in the water gilded moldings, the discreet use of cubist lucite and the abundance of chocolate leather. Upstairs however is anything but discreet, with it's vivid original  tiffany dome, and the plethora of silver and heavy cream colored moldings that reflect darling, reflect, in the radiance cast by the Ventian chandeliers encased in frosted glass.

The food downstairs is deeply satisfying. Our party of 4 sampled much of the intriguing menu, starting with a silky terrine of foie gras, the beet and black truffle salad with blood orange, giant sweet scampi with bruleed lemons and the table favorite, earthy roasted artichokes with an aged balsamic and wild cherries. Our entrees were equally as good. Well chosen produce cooked with care, from the slow braised lamb shank  flavored with pomegranate seeds and preserved fruits falling from the bone to the scallops marriage with squash, an unexpectedly perfect union of flavors.

Desserts were good, though leaning towards the homespun - sugar is the new comfort food, apparently. I really liked the wine-list too, though we were bemused by the single rose offering amidst the 200 odd bottles on the list.

Later. we got a kitchen tour for a night-cap, by Chef Zakarian's charming wife and muse. All quiet, all still, and as we stepped shyly up to the giant silvered altar, all reverence.

http://countryinnewyor...

Drop dead gorgeous, comfortable and somewhat affordable boots are my latest aquisition from here, and they are gorgeous.

I'll grudgingly confess that usually when I'm shoe shopping at least one of those qualities is sacrificed, and it's usually the last two.

At Otto Tootsi Plohound, you can have it all, and really, how often can you say that? Just don't try saying their name 3 times in a row with any speed...