Tuesday's Takeout

This takeout actually comes from Friday, when a long weekend led to happy bosses and my leaving at noon. Hooray long weekend!! So in attempt to diversify from ordering Posto yet again, and still score a cheap lunch special, (the highlight of getting out early) I walked across the street to grab some thai at Lantern. A sizeable appetizer and entree is $8, and I went with shrimp Pad See Ew and spring rolls. I added the Thai iced tea, my fav hot day drink, and they served it to me in a giant soup bowl, which was nice to sip all weekend long.

Tapas y mas brunch

While Zoe was having her huevos rancheros at Esperanto, I was devouring the same dish at Pipa, just down the street from our apartment. Pipa is tapas for lunch and dinner, but serves an amazing brunch, although with no bells or whistles to speak of. Coffee and mimosa's not included. The huevos rancheros were the best I have ever had, with creamy black beans spread on a puffed up fried tortilla lying in sweet yet spicy tomato sauce. My only problem was that I woke up early to go jogging with the intention of rewarding myself with a satisfying brunch, and though it was delicious, too small. Next time I will definitely order sides, or the amazing looking calamari appetizer that I saw pass by...
Pipa's decor happens to be done by my favorite home store, ABC Carpet and Home, and there are hundreds of chandeliers dripping from the ceiling- with price tags telling you to dream on.

Shrimps, subs and snacks

This week I revisited one of my fav restaurants, Gemma, in the Bowery Hotel, and discovered that I actually do like zucchini- when done right, as their taglioni with shrimp in a light sauce with fresh tomatoes was. I've been wanting this meal again ever since.
Defonte's is around the corner which is scary for my scale considering how much I love their stacked thinly sliced fried eggplant subs. Friday I tried the breakfast sandwich which is basically a tortilla espanola with with ham, cheese and fried eggplant piled on a sub. I know!! It sounds crazy but was delicious. And large enough for me to share...which I did of course...

Finally, we get to my favorite snack- Stacy's pita chips and hummus. I go through bags and tubs of this, alternating flavors as the mood strikes. Right now I'm on a multigrain/ garlic addiction kick. Yummmm.

Nina’s Argentinian vs. Motorino

I don’t ever tire of pizza because there are so many different styles in NY, as Katie and Jessica wrote about recently. We're spoiled. I’ll even admit I used to eat the deep dish at UNO’s before the calorie posting started- don’t look!! This week, though, it was classic Neapolitan style from Motorino in Williamsburg, and an Argentinian spin from Nina’s Argentinian Pizza on the Upper East Side.

Round 1: Toppings -
I ordered the special of the night at Motrorino with slabs of fresh mozzarella, salty black olives, spicy soprassata, and cremini mushrooms, and while the tastes went together perfectly, the pizza was 35% crust so there weren’t nearly enough. At Nina’s the recommended pies were the Piola, with ham and parmesan, or Con Chorizo, so we went with the Piola and a Classic. I have to give Motorino this round; I’m not sold on the ham/pizza combo, though I devoured the Classic.

Round 2: Dough/crust -
At Motorino, you get bites of great charred crust and pockets of air, making it chewy and light but doughy enough to soak up the flavors of the toppings. Nina’s is pillowy, and baked so that cheese and sauce reach to the edge and the crust is crisp but never overdone. Tie.

Round 3: Overlooked condiments -
Nina’s gives you bread along with a dipping sauce of soft eggplant soaked in olive oil that I want spread on everything. I neeeed this recipe. Motorino has a spicy crushed red pepper oil to dip all that extra crust in, and their regular olive oil is excellent quality on its own, but I’m giving this one to Nina’s.

Okay, so that was a tie, but all the better reason for you to check both out!

Dallas Delicacies

I am very much not from Dallas (Houston born and raised) but ended up in college a short drive from it around the same time I started actually trying foods outside of my Tex-Mex/ Chick- fil-a/ pretzel high school diet. This was a phase we went through where we ate soft pretzels, honey mustard and Nacho Cheese Doritos for lunch daily…there’s the school cafeteria for you. I was back recently for a wedding and sampled a few of my old favorites, and made a new one.
The best Lebanese restaurant I have ever eaten at is actually in Dallas, called Ali Baba. Somehow in a place as diverse as New York I’ve never found another as good. The zataar pie is fluffy, hot pita bread spread with an herb mix with olive oil oozing off the sides and sesame seeds sprinkled across it.


Café Brazil has several locations there and serves everything under the sun which is great when you want breakfast in the middle of the day, as I always do. I tried the Migas; scrambled eggs, tortilla strips, chorizo and cheese…so hearty and filling but not the prettiest dish to look at!


Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen surprised me as an excellent Texas BBQ and home cooking restaurant that was all about local farms, dairies, and wineries. I love that Texas has embraced this movement, and the smoky cheddar cheese grits with big kernels of fresh corn will make anyone a believer.



But you didn't think I'd actually leave Texas without some Tex-Mex did you? Thank goodness the rehearsal dinner was at Mattito's where chicken fajitas, refried beans and queso quenched my cravings.

Baguettes and Brandy

Previously, I worked in the garment district where your lunch choices are limited and chain-run, until a magical place called Macaron Café opened. Within a week, the entire office was out midday getting coffee and crunchy- edged, chewy-center macarons and chatting with the charming French staff. They just opened a location by my office uptown, and I couldn't wait to grab one of their baguette sandwiches and enjoy it in the park, where I pretended to be in Paris and prolonged going back to work.

Saturday, we crossed the bridge to DUMBO and tried for Vinegar Hill House, but it was a two hour wait, so we walked over to Superfine, a seasonal restaurant housed in an old loading dock. The menu changes daily with local deliveries of produce, so they just bring a big dry erase board over to your table with the options. The cinnamon sugar rimmed sidecar was fantastic and fantastically strong.

Sketchy Sustenance

One of the hardest things we’ve all had to adjust to, in moving from Texas to New York, is the lack of proper Tex-Mex food. Luckily, we found a go-to for when we need a good chile con queso fix. El Rio Grande is conveniently located in between our work and apartments, and happens to have the best queso and margaritas in the city, not to mention the fact it’s the only restaurant in New York I’ve found to serve “green sauce,” a cool, addictive concoction of avocado, cilantro, jalapeños and tomatillos. I’m such an enthusiast that I found myself there twice last week.

My husband and I used to live on the UWS and had the best Italian restaurant right across the street from us, Celeste, intimate and inexpensive enough for a great dinner any night. We moved downtown and had been missing it for a year, before finding out that they also owned Fiore, a mere subway stop into Williamsburg with a similar menu but roomier space. Ah, the wide open pleasures of Brooklyn.

I’m Lynsey and every Tuesday I’ll be drawing the things I love to eat.