Matchbook Dining/Radegast Hall & Biergarten & Café de la Esquina (part 2 of 2)

I had wanted to check out Fette Sau after our day drink, as I love any and all Stephen Starr restaurants and some of my best meals have been in his restaurants: Buddakan for my 25th birthday, Jones and The Dandelion for brunch during a Philadelphia weekend with my bff LB, Morimoto for two team outings, Upland for dinner out with an old friend. I still need to check out Le Diplomate when I go to Washington D.C. in June, and Talula's Garden during my next trip to Philadelphia with LK.

Anyway, the group that I was with did not care about my Stephen Starr obsession, so I was overruled and we wound up at Café de la Esquina. I was a little sour at first, but then I remembered how good the tacos are (we were here before for a double date with friends), and was happy to be there again. Unfortunately, the entire restaurant smelled like vomit. I think someone took Saint Patrick's Day a little too far. Even more unfortunate than that was the fact that our noses got used to the smell within a few minutes.

However, the food was awesome. To start, we got the queso fundido and guacamole. LK and I split a bunch of tacos:
Pescado with grilled mahi
Pork Carnitas
Camarones BLT with shrimp and bacon


They were all AWESOME and went really well with the Haribo gummies and brownie brittle we ingested once we got home.

-GK

Matchbook Dining/Radegast Hall & Biergarten & Café de la Esquina (part 1 of 2)

As I've mentioned, my crew and I celebrate all major holidays together. For Saint Patrick's Day, we decided to do a day drink. We wanted to avoid the crowds of Manhattan, and decided to meet up in Williamsburg. I suggested going to the Radegast Hall & Biergarten after seeing that they have live music on the weekend! We all met up in the afternoon and circled the bar a few times. It was completely mobbed with people looking to get their drink on in honor of Saint Patrick's Day, March Madness, and bachelor parties! I found a table of guys who were paying and I told them "shotty your table!" They left and we had half the communal table to ourselves. The other half was a couple who was on a date, seemingly annoyed that a bunch of us took over their table and were loudly talking. Their food was everywhere and it got to be kind of awkward. A beer hall with communal seating is the last place to go on a date.

After a few rounds, we decided we had enough of the crowds, and went across the street to The Levee, a dive bar with really cheap drinks, and free Twizzlers and cheese balls. The guys in our group look to go to dive bars whenever possible, and they were really in their element here. I was happy just to get a cheap drink and eat about 10 Twizzlers, and handfuls of cheese balls. After a few drinks there, we were starving and headed out for some food.

I will continue with a part 2 post since part 1 is long enough!

Matchbook verdict: Embodies the look and feel of the biergarten perfectly. I love a matchbook with a crest, as seen with Peter Luger's matchbooks. The font is perfectly old-world German. I also love the matte paper that the matchbook is printed on!

-GK

Matchbook Dining/The Happiest Hour & Bar Sardine (part 2 of 2)

Bar Sardine is a restaurant that I have had on my restaurant bucket list for a while now, so it is perfect that they have a great menu, and adorable matchbooks. It is part of Happy Cooking Hospitality, which also owns Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey's Grocery, Fedora, and Perla Cafe, which are all restaurants I want to checkout.

The restaurant was packed despite it being pretty early for a Thursday night (I love early dinners). The happy host showed us to our table which was extremely cozy. GR got the booth while I got the shrunken stool.

-Deviled eggs with soy and black garlic
-Crispy pork belly with fried egg, pepper relish, chicharron
-Fedora burger with smoked cheddar, crispy potatoes, cucumbers, BBQ mayo 

Everything was crazy good. I absolutely love soy sauce eggs because they are super salty, and these were a bit spicy as well. The pork belly had this amazing pepper relish under it which was sweet and smoky. Pork belly can sometimes be too fatty, but this was crispy as well. And the burger. OMG. It was definitely one of the most interesting burgers I've ever had. It was crunchy, and had a really good bun, and a delicious sauce. People in tables around us kept asking what we ordered, and they proceeded to order many of the same things.

Matchbook verdict: I love the faded black font, and the all caps font on the back. It's classic and simple.

-GK

Matchbook Dining/The Happiest Hour & Bar Sardine (part 1 of 2)

Fellow Matchbook League lady GR and myself decided to check out The Happiest Hour and Bar Sardine for our latest Matchbook League Dinner. These two places are very close to each other, and pretty close to work. They are both on West 10th Street, and this is becoming one of my favorite areas.

There was a work happy hour at The Happiest Hour a few months back, and neither of us was able to go. We saw that they had matchbooks, and decided to check it out, then grab dinner after.

The Happiest Hour is definitely a tiki-inspired bar, but less Polynesian (such as Mother of Pearl)  and more Beverly Hills Hotel-inspired, with the palm tree wallpaper. I have been to a bunch of tiki bars, and have never walked away feeling like I spent my money on a really good cocktail. That is not the case here. Thought we just got one cocktail each, it was enough to make me change my mind. I ordered the Loose Lemon - lemon syrup, soda and lemon zest + your choice of gin, rum or pisco, and I chose pisco! I LOVE brandy in drinks. It was delicious, fresh and sweet. 

The bar definitely had an interesting crowd. Despite it being only 5:20 when we arrived, it was full of suit guys. I assumed that that the shackles don't come off until 6:30 or 7, but I was wrong! There was also a baby crawling around on the floor, and seeing a baby at a bar was very out of context for me. 

We vowed to come back soon, and made our way to Bar Sardine for dinner. 

Matchbook verdict: perfection all around. It looks a lot better in person than it does in this photo taken with my iPhone. I love the matte dark green paper used, and the gold stamped font. I absolutely adore the address on the back. Anytime I see an address written out like that, with No for number with a small o, I immediately think about all of the beautiful Instagrams I see with people taking photos of quaint West Village doors. Finally, the boy and girl flamingo drinking from a straws out of a glass that's in the shape of an hour glass. How fitting to the name of the bar!

 

-GK  

 

Matchbook Drinking/3 Sheets Saloon

3 Sheets Saloon is my team's go-to bar for Happy Hour. As I've mentioned, I work in digital advertising with a really great team. We are all around the same age, and have a lot of fun both at work and outside of work. Our old office used to be the traditional setup, with cubicles and different rows of desks. We moved offices a year ago further downtown and our new office has a startup layout, with everyone's desk in an open room. With this new setup, our team has gotten a lot closer, and we do team Happy Hours all the time now!

Despite us all being working professionals, we still enjoy cheap drinks like we are in college, and the 3 Sheets Saloon is always our answer to Happy Hour. I swore that when I moved from the Upper West Side where I practically lived at sister bar Jake's Dilemma, I would no longer frequent these college bars, but 3 Sheets Saloon keeps bringing us back. It helps that they keep giving free Happy Hours to different people at work that we all cash in on!

The last time we were there, it was for my fellow Matchbook League lady JN who moved to Australia for 6 months! Nothing like saying goodbye to America with a night out as one of the basic most American college bars in the city!

Matchbook verdict: Nothing special at all. There is no thoughtful design here, it's just a matchbook to advertise all of the different sister bars. I will say that the bar logos are pretty good. My favorite is Hair of the Dog, which I was last at after my Fonda boozy brunch!

-GK 

Matchbook Fail/12 Chairs Cafe

A fun tradition we have at work is to go out for a team lunch when we have a new person. Our last team lunch meal was at Quality Eats. This time, we went to 12 Chairs Cafe to welcome the newest member of the team (same person whose birthday we celebrated recently with baked goods from Mah-Ze-Dahr!) I chose 12 Chairs Cafe because it is close to the office, Mediterranean food usually goes over with a crowd, and I was really craving it! Plus, I saw on an Instagram account that they have matchbooks!

It was a large group of us (11 or so) so I was looking forward to trying 11 different dishes! For the table, we got:
-grape leaves
-roasted beets with goat cheese croutons
-hummus
-babaganoush

For my main meal, I ordered the lamb burger, topped with Bulgarian cheese and spicy mayo, and served with sweet potato fries.

When a restaurant does hummus and babaganoush well, it is my favorite thing, and brings me back to my wonderful trips to Israel. The lamb burger was great, but huge. My friend ordered an egg dish which she wound up not liking, so I gave her half of my burger and went to town on the tahini that came with her eggs!

The people working at the restaurant were the sweetest, and I became friendly with my waitress who is from Israel and new to NYC! We wound up becoming Facebook friends! When I asked if the restaurant had any matches, she wound up bringing me a huge box of Diamond brand matches! Matchbook fail!

Below is what it looks like only. I look the use of the symbols instead of words, and the hand-drawn symbols are pretty neat.

-GK

From matchgirl100

Matchbook Dining/Sweets by Chloe

By Chloe is the hottest vegan restaurant in NYC that has also expanded to Boston and Los Angeles. When I think of vegan, I think of uber healthy food that tastes like cardboard. That is not the case here. The food that I have eaten By Chloe tastes like straight up vegan McDonals. That is a good thing. It is not a vegan restaurant for healthy people, it is a vegan restaurant for people who want to eat tasty food that just happens to be vegan. If I took LK here (who is a huge meat eater), I would probably not tell him that it is vegan and he would be none the wiser.

The West Village location also has an adorable vegan bakery next store. During lunch one day at work, one of my fellow Matchbook League ladies and I decided to pop over there to try something. We knew they had matchbooks and we were hoping that the baked goods were as tasty (albeit unhealthy) as the food.

Since my friend doesn't like chocolate desserts (HUH?!), and we wanted to split something, we asked what was the most popular non-chocolate cupcake. The lady there said lemon raspberry, and started raving abut it.

We left the store and walked backed to work to sample our dessert. I took one bite and was disgusted. It was the most crumbly and dry thing ever! I don't know how ingredients work together chemically, but I can tell you that butter is a NECESSITY in order to make a cupcake moist and soft inside.

Sorry By Chloe, I think you are better off sticking to your vegan McDonalds!

Matchbook verdict: Adorable! Love the combination of fonts. The pink and white reminds me of a candy striper from the 1940s.

-GK

 

Matchbook Dining/Fonda

Fonda is a great mini-chain of restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I first found out about them through Gilt City, which I my preferred deal-of-the-day website. Compared to other sites, they feature restaurants that I would actually go to on my own. They had a good deal for brunch - 1 guacamole to share, 1 entrée each, and 2 margaritas each. LK and I decided to go one lazy Sunday to their Park Slope location, which is pretty close to us.

 

I ordered the Huevos Divorciados - Two sunny side up eggs separated by two sauces, salsa verde and ranchera sauce, served with black beans, crispy bacon, queso fresco and crema. We both had the Rosalita - their hibiscus margarita. It is bright pink!

 

The second time I went, I went to their Lower East Side location with a group for a boozy brunch. The plan here was to get brunch, come home, nap it off, and then bounce back for dinner with LK. It did not go down that way.

 

We started our boozy brunch with food to line our stomachs. I ordered the Torta de Pollo - Ancho marinated grilled chicken served in a toasted roll with Chihuahua cheese, black beans, avocado, pickled jalapeno and a mixed green salad. I then proceeded to drink everything at the boozy brunch.

 

This place is really fun, but gets super crowded, so it almost forces you to drink quicker so you can get another drink when the waiter catches you. After a few rounds of drinks, our time was up, and we made our way to Hair of the Dog. I decided to try and feel young and keep going. After a few drinks there, I decided to call it a wrap. I hopped in an Uber and made my way back to Brooklyn for a nap.

 

When I woke up from the nap, let's just say the effects of the afternoon had not worn off yet. Lee was home, and it was apparent that I was not going anywhere for the night. We cancelled our dinner plans out and brought in Artichoke Pizza, which is our go-to drunk pizza, it has been since our 3rd date! It was pretty perfect. I fell victim to a boozy brunch yet again!

 

Matchbook verdict: This is adorable. I love the font on the front, and the matchbook colors reflect the bright décor of the restaurant perfectly. I did not even notice the inside of the matchbook until recently on Instagram! There is a blank space for you to put your telephone number, and says "Cuz' I think you're hotter than chipotle..." Hysterical!

 

-GK 

 

 

Matchbook Fail/Chisai Poké Bar

Chisai Poké Bar is a sushi restaurant in my area that opened last year. As opposed to many other sushi restaurants, Chisai uses local fish, sourcing from Greenpoint Fish & Lobster and Sea to Table. This is a pretty cool concept because it ensures that its customers only eat the freshest local fish available, and helps to reduce the food's carbon footprint, which is something that more and more people are becoming concerned about.

When I was checking it out on Google, I noticed that it had matchbooks! So off I went in search of good sushi and matchbooks. I ordered the Chisai bowl, with broiled scallop, crab, truffle, cucumber and eel sauce. It was tasty but I think it had a little too much going on at once. I actually didn't realize it had truffle in it until I tasted it, and picked it up immediately. Truffle tends to overwhelm dishes, especially fish, which I prefer to shine on its own.

As the guy was preparing my food, I asked if they still had any matchbooks. He said they were out. That is a total bummer! Still, I would definitely try Chisai again. Next time, I would try the spicy tuna bowl with albacore, dash marinade, cucumber, scallion and almond. The photos of it are beautiful.

It's always great to try new foods and support small restaurants around me. My neighborhood has some of the most creative and delicious food I have had in New York City!

-GK

Matchbook Dining/Mah-Ze-Dahr

At work, one of the most fun things we do is celebrate each others birthdays. It always involves attempting to pass a birthday card around in secrecy (our office has an open layout so this is difficult), and treats from a bakery! I read about Mah-Ze-Dahr online, and then went on its Instagram to peep at its offerings, and noticed in one of the photos that it had branded matchbooks! It's gotten a ton of great reviews, is pretty close to my office, so I decided that I would buy a bunch of things for the birthday girl!

I got:
-chocolate explosion cookies (like a flourless chocolate cookie)
-cheesecake
-Nutella brioch braid
-brioche donuts
-brownies
-Mah-Ze-Dahr bars (like a dream bar)

Everything was amazing! The crowd favorites were the explosion cookies, cheesecake, and brioche donuts. I absolutely love anything and everything brioche because it is extremely eggy and rich. The word mazedar means "yummy" and Urdu, and this described our treats perfectly!

While I was there with my friend, one of the gals from the Matchbook League, we were delighted to see that they actually had matchbooks there! I told the girl who worked there about this blog, and another customer heard and we all started talking about blogs we want to write and our creative aspirations. I gave the nice girls the link to my blog, so if they are reading this, hi!

After doing some more research on the wonderful bakery, I learned that it is a collaboration between amateur baker Umber Ahmad, and chef/restaurateur Tom Colicchio through Colicchio's Discovery Platform, where he invests in small food businesses. It's great to see female business owners in the food industry!

Matchbook verdict: Slim, sleek and classic. I love the navy box that matches the navy match tips. The font is beautiful. There is a small detail in the matchbook that I didn't see upon first glance but see it now: a small circular stamp with the words "A Colicchio Discovery," a nod to their collaboration. Very cool!

-GK

Matchbook Drinking/TAO & Bathub Gin (part 2/2)

After our fail at TAO, we decided to give Bathtub Gin a shot since it was nearby. We lucked out and got a table in the back, right by the famous bathtub. We ordered a few rounds of drinks. I had the Cantaro: del maguey vida mezcal, pressed cucumber, fresh lime juice, organic egg white, agave-sage solution, fresh sage, shaken & served up. This was good but I decided to change it up for my second drink, and got the Gin Gin Mule: botanist islay dry gin, fresh ginger extract, pressed lime, cane syrup, fresh mint, served on the rocks, topped with chilled Perrier. I feel like half the time I order a cocktail, I wind up ordering something way too pungent and hate it, but this time I enjoyed both!

After those drinks, I was exhausted, and headed back to Brooklyn for a very deep slumber.

As a random side note, is it sad that I learned out about Bathtub Gin by watching Sandra Lee's old show on the Cooking Channel called Sandra Lee's Taverns, Lounges & Clubs? Sandra Lee is a 50 year old woman who cooks using all store-bought ingredients full of junk and preservatives. The Bathtub Gin episode was from 2012; I was in my early 20s and surely should have known about this bar well before Sandra did. Lame!

Matchbook verdict: I adore this one. I love the graphic - the bubbles are so playful, and the girl's hairstyle is reminiscent of a Barbie to me! This bar is a speakeasy, and the font is spot on - very Gatsby. Love it!

-GK

Matchbook Drinking/TAO & Bathtub Gin (part 1/2)

Although the matchbooks came from TAO and Bathtub Gin, the main portion of the night took place at La Sirena. 

La Sirena is the latest Batali & Bastianich restaurant, located in the Maritime Hotel. I have a lot of fond memories in this neck of the woods, as my job's old office was located right around there! I was very excited to come here. I love anything Batali & Bastianich. I have fond memories of going to Lupa as a kid with my Uncle & Aunt, Felidia in High School with friends, OTTO Enoteca e Pizzeria with my Mom in High School, Eataly multiple times with friends and family, Tarry Market with my Mom to get fresh pasta to cook with the family, and Del Posto with LK for our 1 and 5 year anniversary. My relationship with these chefs/restaurateurs goes back almost 20 years!

We went to La Sirena with the same group as Dirty French. This is a great group of people to go out to eat with because we all enjoy food, good drinks, and we laugh a lot! We did a tasting menu, and there was a ton of food! I ate:
-fluke crudo with artichoke puree
-cavatelli with pork spare rib sauce
-ravioli al'amatriciana with spring onion butter
-beef braciole with escarole ragu
-spicy brussel sprouts
-cauliflower carbonara
-crispy salt roasted potatoes
-semifreddo with grape sabayon, walnut cake, lemon sage gelato 

The fluke and the pastas were my favorite. I absolutely love raw fish in any form, and can never turn down an artichoke! The cavatelli came with this smooth pork spare rib sauce, but had a few chunky pieces of pork as well, and I was the lucky recipient of one of them. Lastly, the ravioli was stuffed with traditional al'amatriciana flavors (tomato, pecorino cheese, pancetta), but was topped with this spicy onion butter sauce.

After we were stuffed, we were looking to continue the night. This area has no shortage of great bars, but they are always packed. We attempted to go to TAO, which was packed despite it being early in the week. We decided to cut our losses at TAO, and headed out (where I grabbed a matchbook).

I will continue with a part 2 post since part 1 is long enough!

Matchbook verdict: I am so torn about this matchbook. I absolutely detest the front - it is so incredibly dated looking to me. The back however is beautiful. It is so delicate and looks like a painting. Style-wise, it reminds me of the matchbook at Macao Trading Co..

-GK

Matchbooking Dining/Flex Mussels

Have you ever heard the quote, "Friends are the family you choose?" My relationship with my Aunt RRK embodies this quote, except that I am lucky that she is my blood as well. She and I have never had a typical Aunt/Niece relationship. She has lived in Manhattan all of my life, and I spent my childhood hanging out at her apartment with my family. In high school, she would let me and my friends crash at her apartment on the weekends. When I decided to transfer back to college in Manhattan, I lived with her, my Uncle, and my kid Cousin. It was during these years that we got very close.

Time passed, and I grew up a little. I graduated college, met LK, got into advertising, and got my own apartment. My relationship with Aunt RRK continued to grow as well. When LK and I got engaged, I knew right away that I wanted her to be one of my bridesmaids. At the engagement party, when I asked her to be my bridesmaid, she laughed and got teary-eyed, and said "I will be in the Guinness World Records for oldest bridesmaid." This type of sentimental but hilarious response is one that I can only expect from her. For the record, my Aunt is gorgeous and dresses better than I do.

A few weeks before my wedding, she and I caught up over dinner at Flex Mussels. We had glasses of sangria, and shared the Dijon mussels, and the trio of donuts. These mussels were amazing. They were creamy but slightly acidic from the mustard. There was also a ton of toasted baguette served for dunking. They are also famous for their donuts. These were served piping hot and did not disappoint.

Matchbook verdict: I love the navy on pale blue with the pop of white font. The faded bucket is cool, it reminds me of taking a walk with my mom along the coast in Cape Cod, and seeing this guy forage for mussels with his bare hands. I love their slogan "Enough talk. Let's eat." My sentiments exactly!

-GK