Restaurant Roundup: Aozora at Montclair Restaurant Week

It's Restaurant Week all over the place - from New York to Jersey City to Montclair, NJ, the latter of which I partook in this past Saturday evening with Shaun and four of our friends for a long-awaited group dinner. The place? Aozora, a restaurant of the Japanese-European variety. And there's no better way to enjoy a meal with friends at a sleek restaurant that offers a real prix fixe tasting menu. Up front, I will say that I really, really appreciated the Restaurant Week menu at Aozora. Unlike its Manhattan counterpart, Aozora used this opportunity to showcase the best that they've got on the menu by condensing it into a three course feast that really gave me a sense of what this restaurant is all about. This is quite unlike my experience at Fig & Olive (check back for that review soon) last week, in which we fell into the trap of ordering additional items beyond the Restaurant Week menu since it didn't feature the crostini-heard-round-the-world that everyone has raved about. That's where they get ya. Anyhow, let's get down to the deets, shall we?

First up, we ordered some sushi for the table. Since the one appetizer offered didn't include a piece of sushi (don't worry, the main course did), and we were at a sushi restaurant, we felt it only necessary to partake in the signature cuisine and what a mistake it would have been to overlook it. Eel and avocado roll, spicy tuna roll and rainbow roll graced the table, and my palette has never been so thrilled with the results (this assessment does not take into account dining at Nobu). Fresh, delicate and delicious:

Next up was "the appetizer" - yup, quotes are necessary since there was only one option, but a tasting plate at that. Uni with jalapeno, seared tuna with avocado, marinated filet mignon comprised this mini-tasting plate. And isn't it fun to have an appetizer all to yourself? This one was delicious and pretty to boot:

For the main course, there were three options: angus skirt steak, wild sea bass, and a chef's sushi tasting menu. I had angus skirt steak with kalbi sauce, mashed potatoes and asparagus. Though I had no idea what kalbi marinade was, I'm so happy I jumped right in with both feet, so to speak, as the sweet yet savory marinade (my favorite flavor combo) had all the right moves for my perfectly cooked, medium steak.

Who orders steak at a Japanese restaurant, you ask? This girl. What can I say? I'm just a meat and potatoes kind of gal. That's not to say, however, that I wasn't green with envy when this gorgeous plate of sushi came rolling over to the table...

I mean, really, isn't she pretty? And as I've mentioned previously, you can always find me stealing bits of deliciousness off the plates of my co-dinner goers, and this evening was no different. Luckily, my co-dinner goers were oh so generous, and I reaped the palette-pleasing benefits. From the sushi plate, with a closer look:

 

to the wild sea bass... 

...these dishes were all of equal fabulousness, in taste and presentation. Is there anything better than your food arriving, and you almost don't want to disturb it since it's so pretty? That was the feeling with all of the Aozora items. The only disappointment of the night? Dessert. Six plates of caramel cream, aka flan, that had little to no taste whatsoever let alone any sweetness that I so crave post-dinner. I only wish that the little rock sugar lattice-looking creation could have taken over the plate because that was the only part that I found to be enjoyable. I mean, really, where's the mochi?

The bottom line? The menu was overall fantastic, if you put dessert out of your mind, and inspired me to dine at Japanese restaurants more often. If you can get it, make a reservation at Aozora right now. Unfortunately, you'll have to go on my photos above as your RW menu guide since it was nowhere to be found online. Sadly, their website is a doozy. I'm sure it cost a fortune, and yes, it is sleek and chic and all of those things. But when I just wanted to find the menu, it took 10 minutes of searching through the super-Flashed site to find it, and they didn't even have the Restaurant Week menu up (a seriously un-ok practice in my book, and one that many Manhattan digs tend to follow). Even beyond Restaurant Week, Aozora is one that I will surely revisit - and that's the whole point of Restaurant Week, isn't it?

So what do you think? Have you ever dined at Aozora? Have you been trying any new restaurants with Restaurant Week menus?

BabyCakes: A Culinary Conundrum

If you've read any of my past articles, you'll recall that I have a certain fascination with cupcakes. I'm not sure what it is exactly...the simplicity, the frosting, my obsession with personalization taken to the extreme as it's a tiny cake made just for me...I'm willing to accept any of the above. While visiting the Lower East Side on a bright Saturday, Shaun and I stopped in at BabyCakes, the chic vegan bakery hidden on the corner of Broome and Ludlow. I had heard tales regaling BabyCakes for their fabulous cupcakes, and given my history with the teeny confections, it really seemed necessary to check it out (for research purposes, of course). I went with the carrot cupcake - admittedly a stray from my usual repetoire of anything vanilla buttercream, red velvet, or peanut butter flavored. I was so excited at the possibility of finding a new, fabulous bakery that I savored the simplistic beauty of the frosting yet couldn't wait to dive right in.

After the first bite, my only thought was (please don't hate me for this)...I don't really like this. I hate to say it, but between my cupcake and Shaun's cookies I was a little disappointed that I had wasted the calories and the stomach space on it. I know, it's vegan and healthy and made from real products, not processed...but isn't there something a little off about that? These are cupcakes we're talking about, not salads. Though I was amazed at what they could do without using real fat or sugar, I can't say that I'd seek out BabyCakes again. And yes, I do realize that they are gluten-free and for those of you with that unfortunate allergy, I am truly happy that you can too bask in the joy of a fabulous cupcake. And with that stipulation, I'll admit, they were pretty good. But as a stand alone cupcake? It just didn't live up to the hype for me. The bakery itself, however, was sweet and charming and essentially the perfect little bakery.

What do you think? Is it just me? I feel as though it's a bit overrated and kind of like Pinkberry...all I could think was that maybe this place was good solely because of the upscale, urban vibe around it, but not necessarily due to the tastiness of said sweet treats (I won't go any further into Pinkberry...all I can say, Fruity Pebble topping aside, is really?). Was there too much hype before I got to experience it? Did I choose the wrong flavor? Or is it just my unsophisticated palette?

Restaurant Roundup: An Otto-matic Favorite

I've long been a Food Network fan, but never quite 'got' the whole Mario Batali thing. When I first started watching FN, Molto Mario was canceled and that was when Iron Chef America's quick camera cuts made me nauseous (I have since gotten used to this style of filming, and am now officially an obsessive Iron Chef watcher).

Never one for the long, unkempt red hair or the orange Crocs with socks and shorts look, I had only heard ravings about his restaurants, but never personally given one a chance. When a dinner date with my new pal and co-worker Lauren came up, she suggested Otto and I jumped at it (not only for the fact that I've wanted to go to Otto for years but could never afford to during my NYU days, but for the fabulous company of course). That coupled with Catherine's Mario Batali cookbook ravings was enough to put me into full-blown excitement over the famed pizzeria.

On the corner of 5th avenue and 8th street - you can see why it tortured me during my time at NYU - Otto is a rustic, yet upscale pizzeria with an old-world Italian twist. Though not an inexpensive meal, I must say that the food was (mostly) impeccable and the atmosphere was cozy, inviting and cool. Let's get down to the deets..

Near the front of the restaurant lay the pasta and dough making station. Yep, I kinda fell in love with all of those red appliances. I think they'd fit perfectly in my own kitchen actually...perhaps they'll go out on loan once I learn how to make pizza dough and (obviously) become BFF with Mario...

The Big Cheese
One of my favorite aspects of Italian restaurants are the cheese plates. I could basically eat these anytime, anywhere, especially when served with unbelievably decadent dressings and bread. Oh, and don't forget to note the fabulous bottle of wine we shared. Though the wine list offers many, many wines, ours was easily narrowed down by our one qualification - an (in)expensive red. So right there it knocked off most of the list and we scored one for $29, a price you can't beat at a place like Otto (or most of Manhattan for that matter).

We had 3 cheeses on our plate: ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, and a soft goat's milk cheese that was not in fact on the menu, but that our server highly recommended and we obliged - when ordering the latter you may just need to pretend you're in-the-know about the secret stash of cheeses.

To top off the cheese (which needed no topping, but I wasn't turning them down), we had black cherries, truffled honey (no words for this one), and candied apricots. For me, this combo of creamy, salty cheese and sweetened, decadent dressings was the best part of the meal. I mean really, truffled honey, juicy sweet 'n sour cherries, and candied apricots? Is there anything wrong with that picture? Heck, I'd go back just for the cheese plates alone. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Black cherry + creamy ricotta = a winning combo (and a sweet picture to boot)

The Small Plates
For this portion, we got marinated mushrooms and cauliflower with kalamata olives. Savory and oily (but not overly so), this was the perfect counterpart to the sweet 'n salty cheeses. Though there's a huge list of small plates, I highly recommend these two.

Tale of Two Pizzas
I know, it's like, haven't we had enough deliciousness for one night? And the answer would be no. After all, we were at a pizzeria so who were we to decline the main attraction? So Lauren and I felt it necessary for proper tasting (and research) purposes to try not one, but two pizzas. We went with the marinara and the special, a goat cheese and mushroom topped pizza. Wow.

So being raised by an Italian mother where good sauce is the almighty barometer of food, I'll admit, I'm kind of a sauce snob. So, I tend to devour sauce with a critical palette. And this one did not disappoint. The sauce to cheese coverage was perfect, especially on such a wonderfully thin crust. My one and only complaint about the pizza and the meal in general was the chiles. Why do they put chiles on the pizza? I'm of the mind that sauce should be more sweet than spicy and this was kind of a deal breaker. I thoroughly enjoyed the first slice (after all the other components were wonderful) but by the second I had a small inferno going on inside my mouth. Next time I'm going margherita or bust.

And the goat cheese pizza. I cannot tell you enough about my love for goat cheese. Though just slightly dry from the goat cheese (it's a natural occurrence that I have not yet figured out how to remedy), this pizza was absolutely delicious. The mushrooms, just like in the small plate, were delicious, and again it featured a delightfully thin crust - the only way to do pizza in my opinion.

So there you have it. A restaurant roundup of Mario Batali's Otto, an amazing pizzeria that quite honestly I can't wait to go back to. Oh, and let's not forget about Lauren and her awesomeness for 1) suggesting Otto for our first date and 2) taking lots of great photos when my camera just wasn't adjusting to the light. Love ya Laur! So will you be checking out Otto? If you have, do you agree with my assessment? Any other famed pizzerias that I should check out for comparison?