Aldea

For Mrs. Pattis Magician and Ms. Pastry Chef's birthdays, we went to Aldea to celebrate. This George Mendes restaurant focuses on Spanish and Iberian Peninsula cuisine. Seafood is showcased here as well as any seasonal ingredients. You may choose to dine a la carte but the $75 4 course meal is ideal if you prefer to get more bang for your buck. You get to pick any snack, first course, main course, and dessert from the menu. The dishes are not made smaller if you choose the prix fixe. So if you're a big eater, this would work very well for you. For myself, I had some issue finishing all my food but that's just me.

Before I continue, the prices listed below are the a la carte prices. However, we did choose to do the prix fixe.



To start, the snack I picked was the Croquetas de Bacalhao ($11). These creamy little balls of bechamel and fish was light as can be. The side of roasted garlic aioli was nice addition of strong garlic flavor without overpowering the lightness of the croquetas.

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Spain Inspired Dinner

Often times, after a wonderful food filled trip, I come back missing all the delicacies I've tried. This was just the case after my France and Spain trips. Besides, I tend to pack my suitcase with lots of food based treasures to bring back with me. Obviously, some things can't be taken back with me but I do what I can.

So after Spain with my dear friends, I missed those tapas that we shared and enjoyed together. We definitely ate very well on that trip. In fact, too well since I gained weight even when I walked 6-8 miles a day! Anyway, above are some of the dishes that I recreated in honor of my recent trip.

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Barraca

This post is extremely old. I mean prior to my Spain trip old. But what can I say? I like to post about everything worth posting about. So Barraca which gets mixed reviews all over the internet was chosen as a place for us to gather and talk about the Spain trip. We were still in the planning stages and needed to settle flight, hotel, etc. So as tradition goes, we went to eat the cuisine of the place we were going to visit.

Once we arrived, we were quickly sat at our reserved table. People were being turned away at the door because the wait was too long. I guess that's a good sign, right? It was a busy night but we managed to juggle the papers, books, and food all in one sitting. The waiter even quipped that we should be there to eat, and not to study. Hah! Was it that obvious?



Anyway, here is the recap of the food we had. Above are the gambas al ajillo ($13). Although larger than normal, the shrimp dish was lackluster. There was no abundance of garlicky oil to sop up using the accompanying bread. Actually, the dish lacked the pungent garlic flavor one would expect from this dish.

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Toro

For my birthday with a group of friends, I decided to do tapas. It's easier to share and I get to try a bunch of different dishes. While I was trying to pick a place to try, I read a lot of Toro. This Boston restaurant got rave reviews and had opened a location in Manhattan. I jumped on the opportunity since it was a larger space and allowed for bigger groups to dine together.



When we arrived, the hostess graciously informed us that a larger table and cancelled last minute. That group had booked the special chef's table but we were allowed to sit there and order from the regular menu per our original reservation. We jumped at this opportunity because we got to sit closer to the kitchen and away from the crowd of the people waiting. It worked out wonderfully.



We looked over the menu and ordered a variety of things from each section. So please enjoy the wonderful pictures of the delicious things we ate that night.



Chorizo Iberico de Fermin: Spanish sausage ($15), Paleta Serrano de Fermin: Spanish ham ($17), Jamon de pato: aged duck ham ($15).

Delicious Spanish meats but skimpy of the serving size based on the price.

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