Bar Basque

"J" and I visited this new restaurant in NYC's Midtown located at 845 Sixth

avenue for Restaurant Week.

For $35 per person we had a great 3-course meal. We both started out with fruity cocktails (Vanilla Strawberry and Rasberry Smash, $12/each).

"J" had the beet salad and I had the crispy egg salad.

For entrees "J" had the short ribs and I had the suckling pig ($8 supplement) and we ordered garlic spinach as a side dish ($8).

For dessert we shared the chocolate flan (tasted like pudding) and meyer lemon cake.

Bonelle Pastry Shop

This is one of my favorite bakeries in NYC's borough of Queens because they have one of the best lemon meringue tarts I have ever tasted. The lemon curd is not too sweet and not too tart. The meringue is perfectly browned and the crust is delicate.

For $3.50/tart this is a great dessert deal!

Back to Le Pain Quotidien

...at 70 West 40th Street near NYC's Bryant Park for a little treat...a mini lemon tart ($1.50). They don't have a box small enough for these babies so they packed it in a regular box. It barely took up a corner of the box! But it's good for a little dessert after lunch.

Perilla

...is located at 9 Jones Street in NYC's Greenwich Village and is owned by Harold Dietrl, winner of "Top Chef" Season 1 .

Perilla was offering a special summer prix fixe 3-course menu for $35. I apologize in advance for the extremely dark photos.

"M" started with a glass of Rose ($10) and I with a glass of Riesling ($11).

"M" had the Hearts of Palm & Bibb Salad - with manchego cheese, mango and toasted macadamia nut vinagrette.

I had the Steamed Bouchot Mussels - with cilantro, coconut milk and sour yellow curry. Very plump and succulent mussels in a wonderful sauce. I used the hearty bread served to soak up some of the sauce.

For our entrees we both had the Thai Style Fried Chicken with mini bok choy, scallions and chili jam. The chicken was very moist and flavorful, although the crust was not very crisp. But the portion was so large that neither of us finished and took home the drumstick/thigh.

For dessert "M" had the Local Berry Crisp with almond streusel and ginger ice cream. It was served in a cute little pot. And the blueberries were still whole.

I had the Lemon Pudding Cake with poppy seed brittle and honey thyme ice cream. It was more cakelike than a pudding and refreshing, but not tart.

And they served dainty peanut butter cookies afterwards when the waiter brought the check. What a nice way to top off a wonderful meal.

LA Story - Bouchon Bakery

I have mentioned in previous posts that I am a Thomas Keller groupie. If you don't know who he is then you probably won't share my enthusiasm with this post.

Anyway, Chef Keller recently opened an outpost of Bouchon Bakery in Beverly Hills at 235 N. Canon Drive.

The Cafe is located downstairs next to the pretty garden courtyard. Here you can have a quick meal or drink without reservations.

Ascend upstairs to the restaurant where high ceilings, a mirrored wall and a raw seafood bar welcome you to this white table cloth oasis.

"L" and I both started with iced tea ($3.50/each) - each served in their own little decanters. And we shared a chocolate croissant ($4.50) which was served warm - it was flaky and buttery.

"L" had the Croque Madame ($17.95) with a salad which was very good. I wanted to test the kitchen and ordered the Poullard Roti - roast chicken with wilted greens and mushrooms. The skin had a nice crispness and the inside was juicy and moist.

For dessert we shared a slice of lemon tart ($9.50). Based on the size of this slice the full tart must be the size of a pizza pie. It was excellent!

Once again Chef Keller lives up to his reputation.

Landmarc

There are two outposts of the restaurant and we went to the one at the Time Warner Center at 10 Columbus Circle in NYC's Midtown.

We were seated near the windows overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park and given a basket of bread and olive oil. "J" ordered a raspberry Smirnoff and soda and I ordered a glass of Cava ($10 each).

"J" stated with the smoked mozzarella & ricotta frittersfried zucchini & spicy tomato sauce ($11) - which our waitress described as little pillows of deliciousness...and indeed they were....lightly fried delicate cheese orbs.

I had the smoked duck & fontina tarte flambée grilled flatbread, red onions & watercress ($13) - this was large enough to be an entree. The duck reminded me of slices of pastrami.

"J" had the Landmarc hamburger with french fries & field greens ($15) - the burger was medium rare and tender. The burger was a house favorite as it was ordered by the two parties on either side of us.

I had a large order of mussels with french fries ($26) with my choose a sauce: shallots, parsley & white wine. The mussels were delicious, the sauce was wonderful for dipping bread and the wonderful crispy fries were served in a huge basket that could have fed 4 people.

Visa Signature had a special offer for cardholders - if each person ordered both an appetizer and entree (which we did) we received a complimentary Dessert Platter (regularly $16) - this had one of each of their mini desserts: crème brulée, blueberry crumble, nutella eclair, lemon tart, chocolate mousse and tiramisu. I love sampler platters because you get to try everything! And in addition, our delightful waitress brought us cotton candy which had a hint of orange. The cotton candy was our favorite and we devoured it.

I would definitely return to try the other menu items even though I have now tried everything on the dessert menu.