Bits of my weekend - Volume 12 A Visit Down South!

For my birthday Adam bought a plane ticket for me to visit my dear friend Deb in South Carolina. I've been counting down the days until this trip! My parents flew in to help Adam with the kiddos and I was on my way!

I had such. a. great. time.

I just love this woman. There's a reason we've been friends for 11+ years.  She's golden. Here's a glimpse into our weekend! (and, it'll be no surprise...there are  lots of pictures of food...:-) )

Their beautiful front porch. For this New Yorker it was a novelty. It even had a swing!!

Saturday morning: One of my favorite breakfasts!

Then we were off to the gym - trying to make a way (calorie-wise) for the festivities to come!

(note: this gym was SO impressive! A movie theater/cardio room, FREE childcare, pool...the amenities go on and on. And the price per month?!?!?!  Let's just say it's 1/3 of my NYC gym membership.  Geeesh)

Mmmm, lunch. Nachos.

Yes, this is a peach-shaped water tower, despite the fact that it looks like someone's rear-end when you drive by it.  And now I digress from my junior high moment of levity.  ha ha.

Saturday evening was Girls Night out. Started with...

pedicures!

Then we drove into Augusta, GA to have dinner here:

Oh. My. Word.  Okay, look - I'm Puerto Rican. I grew up eating REALLY delicious pork. But the pork chops with carmelized onions, apples and feta cream from this place brought tears of joy to my eyes. Yum.

They're known for their towering slices of creative cakes too.

then in true Girls-Night-Out fashion, we were off to see:

Overall opinion of the movie: Eh, it's alright. Probably didn't help that I just saw Inception a week ago and my mind is still reeling from that. Hard to live up to those standards. But worth the money.

Sunday morning:

Deb's mom had these waiting for us on the kitchen counter, bought from a local Mennonite farmer's market. I don't know WHAT it is about Mennonite people, but every where you go, if their baked goods are for sale -buy it. It's ALWAYS GOOD.

We drove in to Charlotte, North Carolina to explore/be tourists before I flew out early Monday morning.

On the way, I asked Deb if we could PRETTY PLEASE eat at the Cracker Barrel.

Gotta love the rocking chairs outside. All those calories in the "Old Timer's Breakfast" never tasted so good!

Driving in to Charlotte we noticed ALL the water fountains were purple. I googled it on my phone. The reason: McDonald's was introducing their new purple colored smoothies, now available on their menu.  Really?

 And then I thought to myself, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

We met up with some friends who live in the area for light dinner and coffee at this impressively trendy cafe' in Charlotte's artsy-fartsy area known as NoDa. (for NOrth of DAvidson)

It's called Amelie's French Bakery. It is here that I encountered this fabulous treasure:

I have a hit-or-miss camera phone - so sorry it doesn't look as decadent and luxurious as it really was. This, my friends, is a chocolate Creme Brulee'.  Yum.

The layout of this place is so whimsical and creative. I found myself missing what was going on at our table because I would get distracted by all the pretty things  - everywhere.  They have the most unique chandeliers/light fixtures.  Here's a few shots of my favorites.

tile mosaic one

kitchen utensils chandelier

marbles, stones and gems

classic yet whimsical

sassy lighting!

So pretty - ooo la la!

Then I flew back in to NYC this morning.  It's so good to see my babies, but I will absolutely cherish this extravagant weekend with the bestie.  Good times.

Much love from Hamilton Heights!!

PRUNE: the wonder...

I'm going to try to be moderate in my "gushing" but you gotta know the background story I have leading up to my first visit to this place.

I'm a big fan of Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin AND Anthony Bourdain (mostly for his writing, perspective on food, world travels, and utter New York-iness).  So there I was, tired after a long day of child-rearing when I plopped on our couch to catch a rerun of Bourdain's show No Reservations. This particular episode was New York City!! I chalked that up to Divine Providence and got comfy to see his "behind the touristy scenes" insight of the city I love so dearly.

One segment he, Ripert, and Scott Bryan (another 3 star chef - but I don't know much about him/his food) went to this place downtown called "Prune". True to the nature of the show, you get Tony's raw narrative of what a place is really like and this restaurant caught me. He said it was a place that chefs could go to after their shifts for REALLY good and unpretentious food. It's run by the fabulous Gabrielle Hamilton (whose nickname was "Prune" when she was little girl). She was committed to not getting lost in the glamor that is the NYC food scene, but cooking simple (read: BRILLIANT) dishes that she, herself, loved. I was hopeless.  I NEEDED to eat there. I didn't know when that would possibly happen.

::fast forward to quite a few months later::
For my birthday a dear WONDERFUL incredible friend of mine named Cathy told me she was taking me out for dinner but didn't tell me where we were going.  Imagine my reaction when we walked on 1st and 1st and she turned me towards a very simple store front and said "Ta Da!! Surprise!" 

I saw it.  PRUNE!!! I could NOT believe she even remembered my whining about needing to eat there..what...at least 4-5 months earlier?!

I was giddy.

We sat at our little table in the small dining space. Minimally decorated, you could tell the details were deliberate. Antique-looking mirrors, metalic painted light bulbs coming out of the walls and about 3 staff members serving the whole dining area. And...an OPEN kitchen! yes - you could peek right over the "breakfast bar" looking thing and watch them make your meal if you wanted to. Not that there'd be much space to do that, though.

We slobbered over the menu and decided to pick whatever we liked and share every thing.
Here are the very poor pictures from my sad little camera phone. But hey, it's something. :-)

See those innocent looking Garbanzo beans to the left? Oh, don't be fooled. They're bad. Very very bad.

I still dream about these roasted marrow bones with big crystals of sea salt and sharp parsley/shallot salad. (and they really CAN'T be good for you.) Cathy got the sweet breads in lemon, caper and bacon sauce. Well, we both ate both. yum

This was a whole baked fish stuff with lemons, fennel and garlic. I don't even remember what kind of fish it was. Let's call it "Magic Fish". In the middle is a white bean and wildmushroom creamy goodness.  Cathy got the seared duck breast on micro-greens.

The wonder that was dessert. This is ricotta ice cream (SOOO rich and creamy) with salted caramel croutons and freshly made caramel. (like the the real-deal, runny caramel, not the thick processed gooey stuff. Which, for the record, I don't scorn when served in my home - but it would have RUINED this work of art.)

Now, I hear people gush about this place for its brunches. But that makes me REALLY skeptical. It's New York City - the most amazing Brunch Capital of the World.  I think where Prune shines is it's "normal" food. The food we ordered.

Executed brilliantly, muted plating, ridiculous simplicity and REALLY great taste.  And 5 extra points from me for being a place that I can walk into in a t-shirt and jeans and still eat sweet breads made by a master. (and it won't break the bank either!!)

If you are in NYC. Go there.

Now.

...what are you waiting for?  :-)