Grilled Pumpkin Soup, Oyster Sliders and a Black and White Eclair

I love New York.  I am so glad I do not live there anymore, but I really do love it.  We had such a fun weekend, and the weather, although not cold and Christmas spirit-inspiring, was fantastic.  The food was even better.  We went to a lot of places, and I don’t think all of the walking we did was even close enough to cover the intake.  First stop was Mas (La Grillade)  http://www.maslagrillade.com, which is a new restaurant down in the Greenwich Village that opened in September as a sister restaurant to Mas Farmhouse (www.masfarmhouse.com) , which is just around the corner.   Here, the chef, James Beard Winner Galen Zamarra, “feels that the basic technique of cooking over an open fire is the best way to honor the inherent natural properties of food”. While I don’t really understand all that, the food was amazing!  I had a grilled romaine salad as a starter and then the grilled pumpkin soup with broiled goat cheese croutons, bluefoot mushrooms and chives and rosemary oil.  It was amazingly delicious and a wonderful evening with great friends.

Even though we live in Charleston and have fresh oysters practically in our backyard, Corby heard about the oyster sliders at The Dutch (http://thedutchnyc.com), so of course, we went to try them.  While I did not partake in the consuming of the oyster sliders, the restaurant had a great atmosphere and wonderful feel, and the look on Corby’s face while eating said slider- I am assuming they were pretty marvelous.

And last, but certainly not least, and probably my favorite of all was the Dominique Ansel Bakery (http://dominiqueansel.com) down in Soho, we went to check out on Sunday morning.  We unfortunately shared a black and white eclair- I say unfortunately because I wanted it all for myself and then maybe three others to go with it.  It was the best eclair I have had in a very long time, and I feel like I am well-versed in all things eclair, as they are my favorite.

All in all, I feel like I got the best NYC experience.  We walked everywhere, tried several new restaurants, had amazing dinners and wine and saw lots of old friends, got delayed for almost two hours at Laguardia for no apparent reason, and got in late last night exhausted and happy to be home.  It was perfect.