New York, NY

The Little Owl ~ 90 Bedford, 212.741.4695


We were so excited when we found out about the Little Owl on Food and Wine. I was looking for somewhere special to take L. for his birthday while we were in New York and I did not want it to be over the top; but, instead I wanted it to be small and intimate with outstanding food. After stumbling on the piece on Food and Wine, I started searching the Internet for other tid-bites about this place and was pleasantly surprised to read about how fantastic it was. I had a feeling that I found a gem but we would never be able to get in. So, I took it upon myself to email one of the owners, Gabriel, and he replied that it would be a pleasure to have us. So for the next month we talked about the Little Owl and about how excited we were to eat there!

We arrived to find the Little Owl in a quaint part of the West Village on a corner in a special little neighborhood. We were pleasantly surprised to find out how small it was and we loved that the kitchen was somewhat exposed to the dining room - the brick and timber style was right up our alley, we actually dreamed about how we would love to claim it as our own kitchen at home. Upon sitting down, we immediately asked the waitress for a suggestion for wine and the only stipulation was that it was not from California (I do not like to order wine from CA when I am traveling - we have it all the time at home), she suggested one from the Chinon region of France and since we were recently there we went for that as well as a order of the ever-so-famous sliders, to nosh on while we looked over the menu. The wine and the sliders arrived just in time as we were starving and we had made our final decisions. We ordered the Heirloom Tomato Salad and I ordered the Broiled Halibut and L. ordered the New York Steak and the Spiced Fries. The wine was flavorful upon the first few sips unfortunately, it did mellow out more than I would had liked it, too. It was not big enough for the steak that was going to be arriving shortly and I had wished we would had been told this upon ordering. I did mention that I like big and juicy wines as well that L. was particular to merlots so if we could get something inbetween that would be great - my opinon this was not inbetween - oh, well next time! By this time, though, we were half way thru the bottle and knew we could not say anything. The sliders were out of this world - very nicely flavored and the little buns with asiago cheese on top were light and fluffy - a great combination! I LOVED my halibut which was served with a corn and pea salad and a pesto vinaigrette. The Corn and Pea salad was incredibly fresh and flavorful and the crunchiness of the broiled halibut really added a nice bite to it, the vinaigrette wrapped it all together into a nice little package - I am hungry for it just thinking about it! The New York steak was cooked to a nice medium rare perfection and the radicchio, pancetta and balsamic reduction definitely complimented the meat, as well the spicy fries were a very nice recommendation - definitely a new and fresh twist on one of our standard Steak Frite loves! We were definitely too full for dessert; but, being L.'s birthday we knew we had to have something sweet to celebrate, so we opted for the warm chocolate brownie cake served with espresso gelato. It arrived at our table with a nicely lite birthday candle and looked incredibly pretty in the dimly lite Little Owl. Dessert definitely did not disappoint us and even though we were very full from dinner we managed to finish every last drop! The cake was moist and full of dark chocolate flavor and the espresso in the gelato complimented the chocolate very well! Overall, we loved our meal, the wait staff, the atmosphere and the Little Owl. I give it a 4 1/5 fork rating only because we were ultimately not happy with the wine. We talk about how we need to fly out there again soon, if not for anything else but a wonderfully romantic and satisfying evening at the Little Owl - you must hurry there before everyone else hears of it as well! A definite gem tucked away in the West Village!

New York, NY

Annies ~ 1381 Third Avenue, 212.327.4853

After a long red-eye, what we needed was a good breakfast to kick start our weekend in New York! We were staying in the Upper East side and decided to just check out the local neighborhood - lucky us! We stumbled upon Annie's. Two strong coffees was the first thing to order and it was just what we needed. Nothing like hot steamy coffee that tastes great to really get you going. I am a picky hollandaise sauce eater, I know the real from the fakes. I was definitely craving the Eggs Bennie, so I had to embarrass L. and ask for the token sample - DELICIOUS! L. ordered the Eggs Florentine and I had the Traditional Eggs Benedict - our usual. Both dishes were great! The eggs were cooked perfectly, slightly runny but not overdone and not under-done. The sauce was actually made with butter and lemon juice and I might add just the right amount of lemon. It was served with fries which were not soggy but very crispy and a nice addition to the eggs. Our waiter, unfortunately, I did not get his name, was fantastic! We thought he was from NY, but, he was from Orange County, which we still find hard to believe because he was super funny!! Ask for the really funny guy from Orange! If you live in NY - they deliver as well.

I give Annie's a Big 5 fork rating!