A Salt and Battery

I knew this was going to be good when I realized I was the only person in this tiny Greenwich Village shop that didn't have an English accent. Listen, I'm not trying to say that good Fish and Chips are hard to find, I'm saying that excellent Fish and Chips is beyond a rarity in the realm of fried food, but yet A Salt and Battery gets its right.

Jef and I first heard about this place from an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and knew it must have been amazing since they dominated Bobby.

When you first walk into the shop the first thing you'll probably notice is how tiny the space is, then you see the menu on the wall and probably hear the hiss of delicious fish and chips (don't you dare call them fries!) being dropped into hot oil.

The menu is genius in it's simplicity, you chose a type of fish (I believe there are 6) and either the small or large portion. Do you want chips? Duh. A large to be precise. Then you wait 10 minutes and before you know it, the food can't hit your lips fast enough.

The fish is tender and flaky with a crust that is crispy but light, and not overly greasy (I don't know how they do it!) with the perfect tarter sauce and the chips. Oh the chips. They are freshly cut with perfect thickness and that combo of crunchy and mushy that I LOVE.

While having national fame, this place keeps true to its roots, providing authentic fish and chips to Americans who love fried food for a reasonable price. Most fish filets are between 5.75- 6.25 and chips are 3.75 - 5.25.

A Salt and Battery

112 Greenwich Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 691-2713

http://www.asaltandbattery.com/

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Novita

Oh. My. Goodness. If you weren't dining with Leah and I on Monday night you missed out on an incredible meal. This was the personification of perfection. Seriously, perfection.

Nestled away off of Park Avenue, there is a little Italian eatery, Novita (pronounced no-vee-TA), which has quickly become my favorite Italian restaurant in NYC.

Everything from the service to the decor is straight up Italian. The wine selection is impeccable and the food is unbelievable.

We ordered a lot so bare with me, I'll go over my favorites, but I promise everything was delicious and thoughtful...


Appetizers

• Carpaccio di manzo con tartufi neri - Kobe beef carpaccio with arugula, parmigiano and black truffle
• Insalata di carciofini - Fresh baby artichoke salad with mushrooms and shavings of parmigiano
• 
  Squash blossoms - battered in cornmeal and deep fried stuff with ricotta cheese and served with prosciutto (pictured left)
• 
  Tuna wrapped in phyllo dough - flash fried and served with reduce balsamic vinegar and a spicy aoli sauce**

Entrees

• Branzino con carciofi - Pan-roasted sea bass with artichoke fricassee
• Salmone alia griglia - grilled salmon with crisp potato carpaccio, sweet onions and black olives**
• Vitello alla Milanese - Veal Milanese-style with rucola and tomato
• Spaghettini neri ai frutti di mare - Black spaghettini with mixed seafood in spicy tomato sauce
• Strozzapreti al pesto - Homemade strozapretti with pesto, pinenuts and shavings of parmigiano
• Orecchiette con salsiccia piccante - Orecchiette with spicy sausage, broccoli rape, and tomato sauce

Dessert

• Sorbetti misti - Homemade mango, strawberry, and lemon-mint sorbet
• Tortino di cioccolato - Individual warm chocolate tart with pistachio sauce and white chocolate gelato
• Tiramisù - Espresso soaked biscotti layered in mascarpone cream and cocoa**
• Cheesecake - Homemade with marscapone cheese, served with a raspberry sauce
  

As you can probably see we had a large party in tow (Leah's mom's friends were with us and I'll say this, dining would not have been complete without them, they are a RIOT! Soo much fun!!), anyways we ordered A LOT, but I will just talk about my favorites...

Tuna with phyllo. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Basically they take sushi grade tuna and wrap it in phyllo dough, then flash fry it so that the outside is warm and crispy and the inside is still rare. Served with a balsamic reduction and spicy aoli, this is the perfect way to start the meal off! I would order two, its just amazing.

For entrees my favorite was the salmon with potato carpacchio, onions and olives. My salmon was cooked perfectly and the skin was left on (in my opinion the most tasty part) and the olives and onions added the perfect hint of sweet and salty that I crave. It was light, delicious and served along side some sauteed vegetables.

Dessert. Ah, dessert. The final frontier. It's hard to mess up dessert, but it's also hard to make the perfect tiramisù and yet Novita in their infinite wisdom has perfected this after dinner treat. It's the perfect blend of the strong espresso taste and the light, fluffy marscapone cream. Definitely a must.

Overall, the dinner was great, the wine never stopped flowing, the company was to die for and I didn't walk out completely stuffed. It was just, perfection. Appetizers range from $10-15, entrees from $16-25 and desserts from $8-10.

A special thanks to Leah and her mom for this fabulous night!

Novita
102 E 22nd
New York, NY 10010
(212) 677 - 2222
http://www.novitanyc.com/

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Hal's -- Atlanta

Today we have a great post from my number one publicist, Bethany. We we talking last week and she brought up an excellent point: there are foodies all over the country and not just where I am. I had thought about this earlier in the year but never capitalized on it -- GUESTS POSTS! I know a few people sent in recipes and I promise they will get posted, I wasn't as diligent as I should have been, but you will see your name in bright text, no worries.

Without further adieu here is Bethany's review of Hal's in Atlanta!

“YOU’LL COME FOR THE FOOD, YOU’LL COME BACK FOR LIFE”.

Their slogan speaks for itself, I ate at Hal’s for the first time last week and I can honestly say that Hal’s is one of my favorite restaurants in the whole city. It might be Atlanta’s best kept secret. Walking through the doors brings you back to an era-gone-by where “supper clubs” and “speakeasy’s” ruled the country. Warm, dark and cozy is hard to find in Atlanta these days, especially paired with an energetic nightly band that serves up a mixture of Motown music and anything ranging from big band New Orleans style jazz to Beale Street blues. Hal’s golden era atmosphere mixed with superb culinary creations of steaks and seafood was just what I was looking for.

Enough about that and on to the food….for an appetizer we ordered two things, the first was Oysters Bordelaise which are lightly dusted, flash fried oysters in a buttery crab sauce (this was amazing) and the second was Shrimp Remoulade with crab covered in a tangy Creole sauce. Next we had the Iceberg Wedge salad’s (Melissa I thought about you and how much you would love this). This was not any old iceberg wedge, it was the best one I have ever had. Covered with creamy blue cheese dressing, crispy bacon and tons of baby blue cheese crumbles. Sounds basic but I assure you there was nothing boring about this wedge, it was a tasty explosion of goodness in every bite. For the main course we had a 14 oz. bone-in-filet which was cooked to a “rare medium plus”. I like to think of myself as a steak connoisseur and this was melt in your mouth delicious. The bone gives it great flavor and it was cooked just how I like it…absolute perfection! The sides I would recommend are white truffle macaroni and cheese and of course asparagus.

It's moderately priced with most appetizers under $10 and entrees ranging from $21 - $35, so good for small dinner for two, or a party of twenty I recommend Hal’s to anyone in the market for a restaurant with a great atmosphere paired with an even better meal.

Enough said: Hal’s slogan got right…this is one restaurant I will be returning to for life!

Hal’s
http://www.hals.net/
30 Old Ivy Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30342
(404) 261-0025

Many thanks to Bethany and this great post, especially when I am feeling a little under the weather :)

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