Valentine's Day!

#11 Try a new restaurant every month
#95 Buy flowers once a month

Valentine's Day allowed me to tackle TWO of my (favorite) 101Things...trying a new restaurant and getting flowers! J surprised me in the morning with a gorgeous and colorful bouquet that he arranged himself!

For dinner, we tried a new place called Almond, located on 22nd street between Park and B'way.



From the delicious looking menu (we decided not to do the special V-day Pre-Fixe), J and I each had steaks au poivre which came with a mountain of delicious stick french fries. We also shared a really yummy mac and cheese. We each had a glass of very good french red wine, a Pinot Noir for J and a Syrah for me. All in all, a wonderful V-day meal!

5 Guys Burgers

#16. Try to find the best burger in the city

So Justin and I first tried 5 Guys Burgers in Maryland last year when we were visiting for a wedding and we so happy to find out that there were locations in NY, since we were head over heals for these amazing burgers. Somehow though, we never made the trek for another taste until a month or so ago when a new location opened up right by our apartment (we are nothing if not lazy). Now it's become more of a regular rotation and who can blame us? With freshly made beef patties and all the delicious and unique toppings you could want for, not to mention the amazing fries, this place is definitely tops!

Here's a pic of J trying his first 5 Guys burger:

Pass the Mimosa...

#11: Try a new restaurant every month
#14 Go to brunch once every 2 months

The past couple months, I've really been into Brunches - they're more special than our regular weekend diner trips and can even include drinks! What's not to love? So far I've tried 4 brunch locations.

Essex

This place was awesome, the benchmark of all future brunch places perhaps. The place not only looks awesome, but has a delicious selection and free drinks (they say 3 drinks included, but they keep refilling your glass over and over so you can really get more if you so choose.) I had the eggs benedict over spinach, so good. Here's their brunch menu.

Craftbar

I was very excited to try out my first Tom Colicchio restaurant, but unfortunately I don't know if brunch was the correct time to go - though honestly, I think I just ordered the wrong thing for me. Drinks were not included, but I decided to drop $11 on a delicious mimosa anyway. Then I ordered the Frittata, but wasn't a fan of it sans ketchup (how I generally eat my omelettes/scrambled eggs) or salt and pepper, none of which were supplied at the table. That being said, I would definitely go back to try their lunch or dinner. Here's their brunch menu.

Dos Caminos

The new reigning brunch titlest? Possibly! Our Dos Caminos brunch was just as good if not better than our Essex brunch!! The menu had a dozen things I wanted to try, all very unique and inventive PLUS you got a free drink, which included a Prickly Pear Margarita, which is the drink I always get at Dos anyway and packs enough of a punch to count as 3 weaker drinks. All in all, this brunch made me a happy camper. I had the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict with Avocados served on Cornbread with a Chipotle Hollandaise - AMAZING. Here is the full brunch menu.

Normas

This was a special brunch for my sister-in-laws birthday with the whole fam. Biggest negative to this place? No booze. Otherwise, the menu is full of interesting possibilities and it was a very hard decision! I ended up trying the Waz-Za, which is a waffle with lots of fruit and brulee berry topping. It was really good, but my general issue with such sweet breakfasts is that after about half, I don't want anymore (even if I'm not full, I just am more of a savory girl I guess.) There were many other dishes I would love to try should I go back though! Here is the full menu.