A Little Love Shack

Happy V-Day!

This post is dedicated to my loves: C,L,&M! Thanks for being my valentines! :)

We're no strangers to Shake Shack, but it's always good and it was really convenient (from L's place at least :p). L & M went for the shack stack for the first time, and fell in love. All that fried cheese-mushroom goodness on top of a burger - yummmm! But no worries - the burgers are smaller than your average burger AND there's not just one, but TWO tomatoes, so....they're...healthier. ;) Especially if you have them with a side of cheese fries.

And hey, if we're gonna have a heart attack anyway, why not go all out? Next stop: Brenner's new hot spot, Little Brown. It was a really tough decision choosing a hot chocolate flavor - only accomplished after deciding 1-to try a sip of L's, and 2-to venture all the way back here again at some point. Ended up with the spicy chili flavor, which had an ever-so-slight spice. Walked two blocks in the cold, and by the time I took my first sip, it was the perfect temperature. L had been eyeing the sea salt caramel, and ooooh was it salty! Salty goodness. I'm definitely going to have to make my way up here again (& again) to get me my own cup...and maybe some of those pancake bites that look so good...

Drooling at the thought.


Shake Shack
154 East 86th St
(btwn 3rd & Lex)

Little Brown
1296 Lexington Ave
(@ 85th St)

Payard Patisserie et Bistro

The first thing that comes to mind when I recall the meal at Payard is: SLUGGY SLOW. The visit to Payard for dinner started at 7:30pm and didn't finish until after 10:30pm. Possible excuses? It boggles the mind...

Now that I'm done griping (probably), with good company and good food, the minutes can pass much more easily. A couple of us ordered the Seasonal Carrot Soup, which turned out to be the best part of the meal! The only complaint is that there were too few of those slightly crispy, buttery croutons that came in the soup. YUUUUM. The Roasted Chicken was moist and satisfying, but is it really worth $27? That's still up for debate. Now, the original reason for choosing Payard was because word on the street is their desserts are superbly classic French. I won't argue that. The desserts were beautiful and tasty, but by the time the super sluggy slow service allowed us to choose our desserts, our options were limited to a mere five (as opposed to the gazillion we saw on our way into the restaurant)!













I think we need to make another trip to try more desserts and pick up some macaroons.

Payard Patisserie et Bistro
1032 Lexington Avenue
Between 73rd & 74th Street

db&d

Our second visit to this establishment, and it's still just as YUMMY as we remembered. Partaking in restaurant week this time, we took full advantage of their prix fixe menu items - especially the dessert! To the left is one of our four desserts - a mix of a chocolate shake + beer (yeah, who would've thought), with three of the YUMMIest little petit fours! The other three desserts consisted of a caramelized warm apple tart (always good), a chocolate mousse, and of course, their signature cheesecake lollipop tree!
As an appetizer, I got a boring ole salad, but everyone else ordered their YUMMY pretzel-crusted crabcake (shown below). For the main course, K & I both had the seawater-soaked roast organic chicken (with one of the best-tasting mash potato sides I've ever had), while C got the cavatelli & braised short ribs, and A got the hot-smoked wild salmon.


Oh, so did I mention that everything was YUMMY? :p

davidburke & donatella
133 East 61st St
(b/t Park & Lex)

Yakiniku Izakaya Riki

What a mouthful. I'll never remember the name of this place, but you should. A completely satisfying dinner between drinks and a movie. I had the omurice pictured above right. It's been a while since I've had it, and I was quite pleased with this one!

The service here is FAST. We were in & out in no time, leaving ample time to hit up Buttercup before our film. :)

Yakiniku Izakaya Riki
250 East 52nd Street