Donut Plant Chelsea

The Donut Plant is located in NYC's Chelsea at 220 West 23rd Street. This second location is more convenient than the original Donut Plant on Grand Street on the Lower East Side.

I had a square strawberry jelly donut ($3 + tax).

Traif

Traif is located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn at 229 S. 4th Street.

"C" and I went there for dinner because Traif is known to be bacon-centric. They even have a cocktail with bacon on the glass' rim!

It's a cozy little restaurant with an open kitchen. They have almost zero counter space so we were really impressed at the dishes this small kitchen created.

We were given an amuse bouche of Strawberry and tomato gazpacho - cool and refreshing.

Then we ordered several plates to share:

Bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates, spinach a la catalana ($7) - nice flavor and texture.

Spicy bigeye tuna tartare, japanese eggplant tempura ($9) - excellent with the eggplant serving as the "base" to hold the tartare.

Seared foie gras, fingerling potatoes, ham chips, sunny side up egg ($16) - worth the cholesterol, decadent and rich!

Shaking beef - filet mignon, red chilies, cantaloupe, mint ($10) - we were disappointed because it was a simply stir fry and not very interesting.

Hot pot of mussels, laughing bird shrimp, squid, black pepper ($12) - good, but not great

Strawberry-cinnamon glazed baby back ribs ($8) - very cinnamony and not as tender as we would have liked.

And for dessert we couldn't resist the Bacon donuts, dulce de leche and coffee ice cream ($6) - these were more like zeppoles or donut holes sprinkled with more bacon!

And we received complimentary Grilled pineapple to cleanse our palate.

Halcyon Flavors from the Earth - NC

I had the pleasure of having a business dinner at this Uptown restaurant located at 500 S. Tryon Street in the Mint Museum.

My party started with a cheese board ($14) and the Nest of spaghetti squash ($9). "J" and I had the Short Ribs ($19) while "A" and "C" had the Cider Pork Chop ($22).

For dessert we shared the Almond Bread Pudding ($7) and Doughnuts and Coffee ($8) - tiny beignets with a chocolate espresso pot du cream.

Delicious!

We loved the open kitchen and reclaimed wood tables and lighting fixtures. Plus the view over S. Tryon Street was very pretty.

Pier 9

"J" and I tried the newly opened Pier 9 restaurant located in NYC's Hell's Kitchen at 802 Ninth Avenue.

We started with the lobster macaroni and cheese ($12) which was not what we expected. It was 6 rings of pasta covered with "cheese fondue" and topped a small nugget of lobster.

"J" had the lobster roll ($24) and I had the Chicago style lobster hot dog ($17) which was a lobster and shrimp "hot dog" topped with lobster (salad) mayo with peppers, lettuce and tomato. Both were served with limp fries.

For dessert we had the S'mores donut ($8) which was a full size donut covered with marshmallow fluff and topped with chocolate ice cream.

The food was just okay, but the setting made you feel like you were by the water - clean and white with sail cloth room dividers.

Girl and The Goat - Chicago

Bread ($4 each): small round loaves served warm

Fat - liver butter, pomegranate marmalade

Ruby Rye - mustard butter, thousand island dressing

Vegetables

Sauteed green beans - fish sauce, cashews ($9) - group favorite and disappeared within minutes

Chickpea fritters - romesco, hazelnut hummus, goat feta ($11) - yummy little square donuts of chickpeas

Butternut Squash ravioli - mushroom raisin ragout, shroom creme fraiche ($13) - more like leaflets of pasta
Sweet potato gratin - rogue river smokey blue ($12)

Fish

Lamb sausage stuffed calamari - sweet garlic, sweetbread crisp, currant ($15) - very large calamari stuffed with lamb, it would have been easy to finish off a second order

Sauteed cod cheeks - mushrooms, garlic crunch ($16) - generous and tender cheeks

Escargot ravioli - tamarind sauce ($15) - didn't have much flavor

Meat

Braised Beef Tongue - Salsa Verded ($14) - very tender

Grilled Pork Ribs - scallion vinagrette - excellent and tender, the meat fell of the bone and the flavor was slightly sweet, and this was the group's favorite

Grilled Goat T-bones - salsify, sausage sauce ($17) - very mild flavor and tender, tasted like lamb

Grilled Bison Butt - veal sausage, black trumpets ($22) - also very tender and mild, great alternative to beef

Dessert ($8 each):
Bourbon apples - cranberry, miso marcona almond, maple fat gelato - layered in a jar

Bittersweet chocolate - shitake gelato, toffee creme fraiche - typical chocolate cake

Sesame semifreddo - pork fat donuts, sambal pineapple - excellent little fried pillows with a hint of pork flavor

Blood orange sorbet - parsnip pot de creme, pistachio cake, three sisters cornmeal crust - nice flavor

The overall decor was warm although it was a cavernous, industrious space.

Paris Baguette

...is located in NYC's Koreatown at 6 West 32nd Street.

They have a multitude of baked goodies.

I tried a rice doughnut ($1.40) - which is like a regular donut, but with a sweet bean paste inside. The outside is very firm and covered with sugar.

Lou Mitchell's Chicago

...is an institution in downtown Chicago located at 565 W. Jackson Boulevard.

Upon entering the hostess offers a basket of freshly made donut holes (yum). And once you are seated at your table she offers mini boxes of Milk Duds.

"I", "C" and I shared an order of coffee cake. After the delight of the donut holes we were disappointed that the coffee cake was just mediocre.

I had freshly squeezed orange juice and two eggs over easy (one must have been a twin because I received 3 yokes) with hash browns and whole wheat toast.