Sushi Azabu and Pleats

S and I have been away every other weekend lately -  Barbados and Charleston to be exact (old news if you follow on Instagram). I am still weeding through the tons of photos so the blog recaps will come then.

However, we are back on track with Friday date night. Last night, we returned to an old favourite, Sushi Azabu, a "secret" basement sushi restaurant in TriBeCa - which has gone through significant change since we were were last there 85 weeks ago (so says Instagram). 

First, it used to be a little harder to find when the restaurant above it was the Greenwich Grill. Now that's been taken over by a Japanese izakaya, Daruma-ya. A Japanese restaurant beneath a Japanese restaurant? Surely that's obvious? Second and most importantly, no more $65 prix fixe *cries*. This was one of NYC's best sushi bargains and now it's double that, folks. Thank goodness the sushi is so fresh it makes up (slightly) for the sticker shock. Over copious amounts of sake, we devoured everything that was put in front of us (yes to uni; NO to eel) and laughed over S's broken Japanese and the chefs' rudimentary English. Fun times.

Our exact seats at the counter (via) 

Continuing my obsession for all things Clover Canyon, I went Greek with my date night getup. Jeans seemed mandatory too, considering the cool change in the air. Thought let me make it clear that I am #NotReadyForFall.

Clover Canyon pleated Classical Order Top, J Brand 620 Super Skinny in Palisades (newer wash, and another) {Note to fellow shorties: I cuffed the hem as the sandal straps extended high above my ankle. It's otherwise the perfect length unaltered}

Alexander Wang Livia Sandals (super sale this weekend), Vintage Chanel flap

J Crew Three Star necklace (cluster choker version), Cartier love bangle, Anchor ring from Etsy (highly recommended seller), Giles and Brother railroad cuff

A Blue Hill Birthday

To celebrate my birthday this past week, S and I made the journey a week ago to Pocantico Hills in Westchester County for dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. 

Stone Barns is a working farm so we arrived a couple of hours before our reservation to wander the grounds. Armed with a map (and poor choice of footwear), we strolled through the greenhouse with lettuce twice as big as my head, peeked into barns with dozens of young turkeys (which won't be so young come November!), and waved to the pigs in the pen, that barely looked up from their feed to acknowledge us. These were only trumped by the sheep grazing in the meadow at a distance. Such a peaceful sight as the sun was setting on the horizon.

Crop To It

I haven't been impressed with NYC restaurant offerings of late which means apart from date night, I haven't been dining out as frequently.  Narcissa is changing that.  

I had dinner there a few weeks ago with my dear friend Kara. The meal was fantastic that the first thing I did when I got home was make a reservation to take S for date night. 

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The vegetable-forward menu was much welcome, but not surprising considering Narcissa's older sister is Dovetail, which serves one of the best vegetarian tasting menus in the city. 

I ordered the beets and duck both visits. The rotisserie beets, pictured above, has already been written about. I now hope that the duck (seen in the foreground here) receives similar accolades. I foresee many more meals at Narcissa. If I go back often enough, I might even be tempted to order other things off the menu. 

Mansur Gavriel + Laser Cut

Greetings! Time is flying and it's now March. Yet here we are dressed in thick puffer coats and fleece tights even now as our clocks have been wound forward.  

The cold can't keep us indoors even if we tried: Friday date night saw us at All'Onda, a new Italian-Japanese place close to home; yesterday we had one double date at Le Village, a quaint, French-vegetarian bistro in the East Village; and this morning another double for dim sum brunch at Golden Unicorn in Chinatown.

Blue on Blue at Bouley

S and I forewent date night last night. The poor boy was at home sick on the one day he has off that I don't each year. Such bad luck. Since he is much better today, we kept our lunch reservations at a place that has been on my NYC restaurant bucket list for ages: Bouley.

Like other Michelin-starred restaurants in town, Bouley serves a great lunch option for a fraction of what it would cost for dinner. Though Bouley stands out from the rest by extending the special lunch offering beyond the weekday to Saturdays - something I wasn't aware of till recently either!

It was a five-course tasting, which meant that between us two, we had over 15 different dishes including the various amuse bouches, palette-cleansers and petit fours. As expected, we were extremely full by the end of it. Great deal for $55+ without a doubt - especially since a lot of what we ate also appears on the more expensive dinner menu! Next time though, I'd ask to be seated in the much prettier upstairs dining room as opposed to the dimly lit downstairs section (perhaps they assumed we wanted a more romantic experience?) 

Reina

It's the last week of March and I can not wait for it to be over. Regardless of the endless amount of joy this month has brought me: eating out plenty with kindred spirits, overseas friends visiting and sending out our save-the-cards amongst others;  a new project at work is well and truly kicking my arse and tipping my work-life balance in the wrong direction. 

I intend to show you guys the save-the-dates but a fair few are still in transit. Until then, here's a recap of my weekend. 

My lovely friend, C flew in from Sydney late last week. Intending to provide her with a quintessential New York experience, I scored last minute reservations to Babbo. Nothing makes me happier than carbs, wine and great company at the end of a tough work week and Babbo really hit the spot. If you ever visit, try the black spaghetti - I could eat that dish every week. 

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When antipodean guests are in town, my M.O. is to take them to places serving dishes not that easy to come by in the motherland. So, Saturday dinner saw us at Hecho en Dumbo since Aussies need to know there is more to Mexican than oversized burritos. (There is some irony in whether NYC Mexican is really any good but until I make a trip out West, HeD is my go-to). We then crossed Bowery to a new bar, Wise Men, a place so tiny everyone was standing on top of each other blergh. Wanting to salvage the night, we popped into Madam Geneva for solid gin cocktails and even solid old school R&B. With so much Mary J and 112, I am thrilled to have finally found my go-to dance spot. 

C came with only one restaurant on her to-eat list: Red Rooster Harlem. We had grand plans to wait it out for the gospel brunch early on Sunday, but we lucked out with another last-minute table for dinner. Reservation trumped gospel this time since a lie-in was much needed from the night before (#gettingold).

I love this place - the food is top-notch and there is always something taking place in the dining room every night of the week. Regardless, we had quite the chuckle walking in since this is the Aussie version of Red Rooster:

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Anyway, here is Friday's date night outfit: 

Made out of the same fabric as her iconic wraps, this dress is a fun weekend alternative. But as much as I would like to say it's forgiving, it didn't quite the flatter the food baby I fostered after all that pasta on Friday.

DVF Reina dress in Gingko Small (similar here - buy it next week during F&F; here and here), Forever 21 necklace, Prada booties, tired eyes courtesy of work

Before I go, the winner of the giveaway last week is Sarah! The top is on the way! 

Black and Yellow

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! It's snowing in NYC and while I love love love snow, the lingering cold is driving this Summer baby nuts!

I had a shocking week at work - which is another reason why I was excited for Friday-Date-Night. This week we went to the West Village - first stop, a tried and true favourite for cocktails: Employees Only. It's one of those well-known speakeasies - an oxymoron I know - which naturally also meant it is terribly popular. The only way to guarantee entry is to get there earlier in the evening. 

My go-to drink is the Fraise Sauvage - Plymouth Gin shaken with Wild Strawberries & Tahitian Vanilla, topped off with Zardetto Prosecco di Conegliano Brut. How yummy does that sound? It's a great drink to start of the evening, especially pre-dinner.

We then walked around the corner to L'Artusi. This place is up there among my favourite restaurants in the city - so nice I was there twice in the past few weeks! The pastas and small plates are the stars of the menu - I admit I haven't ventured towards the far right of the menu. I mean who has space for any of the main courses after a pasta dish anyway? We didn't, especially when we were saving space for the desserts below:

Pineapple Sundae - scoops of flavor-intense housemade coconut gelato and pineapple sorbet sink into a base of almond cake drenched with pineapple caramel sauce. Whipped cream and sweet toasted coconut crown the sundae

Bittersweet Chocolate Budino - this silky, not-too-rich pudding is made with Grand Valrhona 70% bittersweet chocolate. It's top with vanilla whipped cream and a crisp chocolate-honey tuile. Both photos and (who can top that) descriptions via

You bet we we were so full that we had to be rolled out of the restaurant...

Anyway,  while I decided to put away the white frocks of previous weeks and go for a summery shade, the very cold night still had me dressed in double-layered tights, gloves and boots:

Zara dress (LOVE the shoulder pads!), Anthropologie beaded handbag (on sale and free shipping >$100) and necklace, Plush fleece tights beneath an awesome pair of card suits tights from a random shop in Shibuya, Tokyo, Prada boots

We are staying in tonight (go see on Instagram the dinner S put together!) so have a pint of Guinness for me and more importantly, stay safe this St. Patrick's Day!

p.s. - there is still time to enter the giveaway!

White and Pollock

I am writing this post in a rather zombie-like state having just had my arse kicked at Soul Cycle a few hours ago. While it took me the entire class to work out the jargon (tap what?), I thoroughly enjoyed it - as much as one can enjoy working out I guess. 

It is more than likely I burned off all the calories from last night's date night - which took us to Cobble Hill in Brooklyn. We had to wait for our table at La Vara, so we popped into Clover Club for an aperitif. Except that I lost all sense of what an aperitif should be and went for the hard stuff right up - the Gin Blossom. As one can expect, having a spirit-forward drink on an empty stomach meant I was VERY HAPPY by the time our table was ready. 

Alcohol-related lack of objectivity aside, dinner at La Vara was great! (side note: I am a huge fan of it's sister restaurant, Txikito which serves Basque tapas which are a personal favourite since my travels to the region last Autumn). We practically inhaled the honeyed crispy eggplant with cheese and the  Spanish migas (both pictured below); as well as a heap of off-the-menu specials that due to said "aperitif" earlier,  what they were precisely I can not for the life of me remember!   

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This week, I wore a Zara dress I've had for a couple of years and paired it with my only purchase from the Prabal Gurung x Target release recently:

Zara dress (sim), Brook&Lyn necklace, Spanx tight-end reversible tights

Prabal Gurung x Target Nolita pumps

I usually don't buy plastic shoes but these were SO FUN and remind me a lot of the now-unavailable Christian Louboutin Pollock pumps (seen on Irina here). I was pleasantly surprised that they don't butcher my feet that much so I highly recommend if they work for you. 


Otherwise, have a lovely rest of the weekend! I ticked off #2 off the March Social Calendar before Soul Cycle so I look forward to continuing to veg my Sunday away!  

Dirt Candy, Wayland and DVF

The only thing as good as a long weekend is the short week that follows. My problem was there were five days worth of work to be done in only four. As expected, the weekend couldn't have come any sooner.

Friday's date night took S and I to the East Village for a return visit to Dirt Candy. We first visited this place shortly after moving to NYC a few years back - and it promptly became foremost in our growing list of favourite restaurants in the city. 

The restaurant does such amazing and clever things with vegetables and deserves all the accolades it's received (including 2 NYT stars). On previous visits, there is usually a standout favourite amongst the dishes we order. Friday's meal of the onion!, beans! (pictured) and corn! though were each so delicious, we made return reservations even before our plates were cleared. 

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We had plans to have an early night but wine and dinner put us in high spirits (ha!), so we walked East through Tompkins Square Park to check out the cocktails at The Wayland. So unassuming from the outside, it has all the elements of a casual bar but with a seriously impressive cocktail menu.  

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I first ordered the Smoked and Roasted, which I now propose to rename "crack", because I didn't put the glass down once it hit my lips (plus I am a sucker for salt-rimmed drinks). Then I rounded out date night with the Evergreen, which is a great evening-starter if I should see one. 

I would be at The Wayland every night if it wasn't located all the way in the boondocks of Avenue C. Good thing perhaps?

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Anyway I wore this DVF dress out on Friday. Except that since I didn't take any photos that evening and I love the print of this dress so much, I give you a photo taken during our Barcelona trip in January 2013:

DVF September 2011 "Wrap of the Month", unwanted accessory: jet lag eye bags

Hope you are having a lovely weekend! 

NYC Social - February 2013

Inspired by my friend, Milster's monthly posts on things to do in Paris, I am launching a similar series of fun events taking place in New York. I hope these posts will inspire a visit to the city or if you are local, to take advantage of all the great happenings the city has to offer. 

Fashion Week: February 7 to 14

Donna Karan Fall 2012 (via)

While we eagerly await warmer temperatures to shed off our coats once and for all, the fashion tribe will be eagerly awaiting new cold weather fashion with the debut of Fall 2013 collections. Even if one doesn't have invites to the many shows around town, head to Lincoln Center as the expansive venue affords plenty of opportunity for priceless people-watching. Take your camera, who knows, an aspiring street style star may even ask to pose for you!

Sleeping Beauty at the NYC Ballet: February 13 - 24

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The Winter season of the New York City Ballet is currently in full swing with the highlight this month being Peter Martin's Sleeping Beauty. With over 100 dancers performing to Tchaikovsky's great score, this is a must-see before the company takes a break until the Spring.

The Heiress: through to February 9

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There is only a week left to see this acclaimed play set in New York in the 1850s about a young woman struggling with love and her inheritance.  Frankly I was sold as soon as I knew Matthew Crawley and Celia Foote was in this (alas I dilly-dallied and will be rushing to see it this weekend). If you don't see The Heiress before it's run ends, there is also Scarlett Johansson in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof playing till the end of March.

Bulgari Serpenti Exhibit: February 9 to March 6

Taken during our visit to Tokyo last December

If you were in Rome, Tokyo or New York recently, you may have noticed the beautiful, luminous snake installations outside Bvlgari's flagship store. In conjunction with the Chinese new year of the snake, Bulgari's will celebrate its iconic Serpenti collection with a month-long exhibit at it's Fifth Avenue flagship.  The exhibit will showcase plenty of coiled jewelry and timepieces, as well as photographs, original sketches and one-of-a-kind pieces from the jewelry house's historical archives. 

Clinton Street Baking Company's Pancake Month and City Bakery's Hot Chocolate Festival: Feb 1 - 28

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February is my favourite winter month for nothing makes my heart (and tummy) sing more than having pancakes for dinner. Shove aside any fitness and healthy-eating resolutions for Clinton Street's famous fluffy pancakes served all day. Right now I have my eyes set on the German Chocolate, the Fresh Coconut and the Raspberry ones. 

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Then you have City Bakery's hot chocolate month. Located right by my favourite shopping strip in Union Square, the special flavours they churn out this month are worth making repeat visits for. Always order the house-made marshmallows - they are pricey but at the size of a fist, well worth it. 


Here's to a festive February and let me know if you will be partaking in any of these happenings!

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Weekend Recap

Happy weekend-before-Christmas!

Ours started off with usual date-night-Friday, our first one since getting back from travels. I wore this festive DVF dress (I paid pittance for it at the recent sample sale so I suggest waiting for a markdown). Looser than her regular wrap dresses, it was perfect for a hearty winter meal at Barbuto followed by some serious cocktails at Pouring Ribbons.  Really serious. The drinks menu contained a graph which categorised cocktails in ranges of "refreshing" to "spiritous"on one axis; "comforting" to "adventurous" on the other - making it a breeze to order drinks I was in the mood for.

Suffice to say, it was a GREAT night which resulted in a luxurious sleep-in on Saturday. We had two pressing matters to attend to that day - the first: engagement ring shopping! On recommendation, we met with a dealer in the Diamond District and a few hours later, we decided on the one! My patience will still be put to the test though, as I wait the month it will take to be custom-made. 

The 2nd pressing matter: coffee and cake with darling Dea - who was lovelier in person. In my sparkliest top, Thea and I took the birthday girl out for cupcakes and probably talked her ears off! I digress a little but blogs do make the world a smaller place and I am thankful for the friendships I've made and the bonds I've built through this tiny website of mine.

On Sunday, I got well into the Christmas spirit and so, we headed out to Brooklyn to check out the seasonal holiday flea. Truth be told, there was probably more spirit in my tree-less apartment. We were home well within the hour, where I promptly put on some Rat Pack carols. A little bit of Sinatra later and all was well with the world. 

Reindeer sweater from Taipei (so many fun ones here and here!)

Comfiest boots for miles: J Crew MacAlister Shearling Wedge Boots in Nut

Rosegold Stripes Dress layered underneath sweater, bangles from Cartier, Sydney Paddington market and Hermes, Sally Hensen Salon Effects in Check Please!

MAC Show Orchid lipstick, Swarovski hoop earrings

This is truly a wonderful time of year and I hope your weekend was as good as mine. Here's wishing everyone happy happy holidays! 

Paris Recap

The final leg of my trip was a few days in Paris - a city that competes with New York for the #1 spot in my heart. I had a few days all to myself in the City of Light before a dear friend from London joined me in rounding out the holiday.

I couldn't have had a better time. Not my first trip, I had the luxury of skipping the usual suspects in favour of wandering through neighbourhoods with nary a purpose but to find some new shop to see or some nice thing to taste. 

Paying respects to legends at Pere Lachaise

Locking up my declaration of love on the Pont Des Arts

Twinsies!

Strolling through Jardin du Luxembourg 

Morning walk through the 7th

RTT appears everywhere

A "little" souvenir

Coffee, croissants and company

Pretty buildings here...

...here

...and here

Thanks to David Leibovitz and Chowhound, I ate really well, including but not limited to the following: 

• Ispahans and macarons from Pierre Herme (6th)
• More macarons from Laduree (multiple locations) and Hugo & Victor (6th) (though neither were as wonderful as those in PH)
• Marshmallows from Pierre Marcolini (6th)
• Chocolates from Patrick Roger (6th) and Jean Paul Hevin (1st)  
• Berthillon ice cream (4th)
• Gelato at Amorino (4th - multiple locations)
• Top-notch espresso from Cafe Coutume (7th) and Terres De Cafe (3rd)
• Chocolate chaud from Angelina (1st)
• Croissants and baguettes from Poilane (6th), Maison Kayser (multiple locations) and Pain De Sucre (3rd)
• Gourmet groceries at Le Grand Epicerie de Paris (7th) 
• Cheese from Fromagerie Quartrehomme (down the street from Le Grand Epicerie) (7th)
• Tea from Mariage Freres (4th)
• L'as du Falafels for its namesakes (4th)
• Chez L'ami Jean for an unforgettable lunch (the rice pudding! the charming chef!) (7th); and
• Agape Substance for the best meal one can have in Paris (6th)

Did I mention I was there for less than a week? Eeep!