Peconic Bay Winery - The Long Island Wine Trail

If you can brave the traffic on the Long Island Expressway, then consider a trip to the Long Island Wine trail. Wineries dot the trail so you can easily pop into several wineries. The tastings are not cheap, at about $12 for 3-5 tastes, but the pours are generous and the wines are quite impressive. The view from the wineries are also worth a look. Long Island's wine trail cannot compare to Napa Valley but it makes a nice day trip from New York City. We enjoyed the wine tasting at Peconic Bay Winery, the service, and the atmosphere. They sometimes have live music, so if that's not your thing, plan accordingly. To get there: http://www.peconicbaywinery.com/

Momofoku's Compost Cookie (NYC)

The compost cookie is made with pretzels, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch, coffee grinds, and chocolate chips. One bite and you'll appreciate this perfect blend of ingredients, salty and sweet, moist yet crunchy -- it's impossible to eat just one. Momofoku Milk Bar's other cookies (blueberry cream and cornflakes, marshmallow and chocolate chips) are also worth noting. If you're lucky, try their day old cookies for a discounted price - they are still moist and you can try two cookies for the price of one regular priced cookie. These cookies can't be beat. http://www.momofuku.com/milkbar/

Lunch at Jean Georges' Nougatine

Now that Restaurant Week is over in New York, it's hard to find a restaurant that offers fine dining for great value. Luckily for us, Jean Georges is offering a $26 lunch special at Nougatine. For starters, we had the Tuna Tartar and Shrimp Salad with Avocado, both of which were light and delicious. Then we had the Pan Roasted Snapper with Squash, Tomatoes and Herbs (pictured to the left), and a Beef Tenderloin with Spinach and Potatoes. The snapper was cooked perfectly and the tomato sauce was sweet and salty. The beef was tender and tasty. We ended with a lemon ricotta cake, which was good but a little dry and a chocolate molten cake, which was divine and rich. Service was a little slow, but for $26 each and a view of Central Park, what more do you want? To book a table: http://www.jean-georges.com/

Aquavit NY

Before stepping into Aquavit, my only experience with swedish food was at the cafeteria at Ikea. Needless to say I was excited about venturing deeper into Scandinavian cuisine. Ordered from the Restaurant Week menu for $24.07. Started with the herring plate (a sampling of herring consisting of pickled herring, curry, fresh herbs and one more I can't remember, but it was all delicious and flavorful). Meatballs with lingonberries and mashed potatoes were next. Definitely better than Ikea's meatballs - more tender, less salty and not overwhelmed by gravy. Could've been more juicy. Also tasted the seared salmon, which was divine. It was cooked perfectly and the tomato vinaigrette sauce was perfect. If I had to pick - the salmon was the winner. Ended with the Artic Circle dessert (a creamy goat cheese parfait with passionfruit curd and blueberry sorbet). Loved this -- not too sweet, great texture and the perfect amount of tartness. Also tried the chocolate mousse with peanut powder and grape sorbet. This was like a twist on peanut butter and jelly (but much better). It was light and airy, not too sweet and the sorbet was refreshing. Aquavit is definitely a winner for Restaurant Week.

Matsugen NY

Had lunch at Jean-Georges' Matsugen the other day. Such a huge modern space - it's a shame hardly anyone was there, which makes me wonder how long this place will last. They offer a $24 prix-fixe menu, but I didn't want to fill my stomach with miso soup and seaweed salad. So we ordered a la carte. Started with the homemade tofu and yuba (tofu skin) appetizers, both were pretty good, though you probably could get the same quality tofu for half the price in a tofu shop in Chinatown. For entrees, we had the Matsugen soba (pic above) (a soba salad mixed with yam, egg, bonito, myoga, cucumber, wasabi, okra, sesame, scallion and seaweed) and the cold soba with kamoseiro (duck soup) and a side of goma dare (sesame dipping sauce). Both dishes were pretty good. I liked the goma dare sauce - not a common soba dipping sauce. I'd like to think that I'm a soba connoisseur as I ate soba almost everyday when I lived in Japan and I've eaten at many of the soba restaurants in NYC. So when I say the soba here was pretty good, you should trust that it was. Was it so great that it's worth the $$? Well, there are plenty of other soba places in NYC that serve the same quality soba, if not better, for slightly less. Check out Soba Koh, Soba-ya, Sakagura (serving soba at lunch only), and Soba Nippon. If you're in Tribeca and are craving soba, then you won't be disappointed in Matsugen. To reserve a table: http://www.jean-georges.com/

Adour Alain Ducasse

Had the pleasure of dining at Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis in New York last night. The dining room is intimate and elegant. The meal and service were fantastic from start to finish. We started with a cucumber granite amuse bouche to cleanse the palate. For an appetizer, we had the Tender Ricotta Gnocchi with wild mushrooms, sauteed lettuce and crispy proscuitto and the Sweetbread "Meuniere," Egg Purse with wild mushrooms and brioche. The gnocchi was so light and airy. The sweetbread was tender and flavorful. For entrees, we had the Roasted Atlantic Halibut with razor clams, calamari and a green vegetable condiment (above pic) and the Grenadin of Milk Fed Veal with carrot contrast, "Laitue Farcie," and veal jus. The halibut was cooked perfectly and the sauce was divine. The veal would have been better if it was more rare, but overall it was tasty. We ended the evening with the Contemporary Exotic Vacherin (mango marmalade, coconut, and passionfruit emulsion), which was refreshing and tart with a hint of sweetness. We also had complimentary macaroons and chocolates, which were a nice touch. There is no recession special here so I would highly recommend Adour for a special occasion or if you just have plenty of cash to burn. To make a reservation: http://www.adour-stregis.com/