A Night on the Town

Dear readers, we're going on an adventure! Well, technically, I just went on an adventure, and couldn't wait to get home and share it with you. As some of you may know, NYC does a promotion called Restaurant Week, where many different and wonderful restaurants around the city offer prix fixe menus (for the same price wherever you go!). My oldest friend Hannah and my newest friend Elisabeth both happen to have the same fascination with food that I do, so about 2 weeks ago, we headed to "21 Club" for what turned out to be a totally marvelous culinary experience...although I must ask you to wait to hear about it until I'm ready to try and recreate it. Completely inspired by our evening out (and learning that Restaurant Week was extended!), we decided to try a little place in Alphabet City that none of us had every been to. Well. Yerba Buena blew. my. mind. We ordered from the special Restaurant Week menu, so I'm not quite sure what would be available on a regular night, but if tonight was any indication, please RUN to Yerba Buena next time you're in New York- it is very much worth the trek to Avenue A.

(Note: please excuse the poor quality of the pictures I am about to show you. I meant to bring my camera, but was a bit frazzled this morning, and forgot, so I had to make do with the camera on my blackberry.)

We began with cocktails (as any girl's night must).  

I ordered a Hemingway (because what literary lover can turn down a drink name after dear old Ernest?), which came garnished with a lime.

It was made of flor de cana 4 rum, maraschino liqueur, fresh lime juice and fresh grapefruit juice...and it was lethally delicious.

Elisabeth chose the Poquito Picante, our lovely waiter's recommendation.

Concocted of tanqueray gin, cilantro, cucumber, cointreau liqueur, fresh lemon juice and topped with an actual jalapeno pepper, it was a remarkable combination of spicy and oddly refreshing...must have been the cucumber!

I saved Hannah's for last, because the Desert Rose was just so darn pretty!

Rose infused plymouth gin, prickly pear puree and lemon juice...topped with an actual pansy. How sweet is that (pun intended!)?

While we were enjoying our beverages, the first course arrived! Luckily for us, the prix fixe menu offered 3 options each for appetizers and entrees, so we just ordered one of each, and dug in. The pictures I have of the appetizers really aren't worth showing you, but I will describe the food (and I hope you have a snack while reading...remembering this meal is making my mouth water!). The shrimp ceviche was a surprising blend of almost buttery flounder and peanuts, which at first was a shock, but quickly made sense as the different textures melded in my mouth. I never would have come up with it myself, but nutty peanut flavor added a different dimension to the cold fish...definitely going to have to try something like it in the Itty Bitty Kitchen! We also had 2 baby baja-style fish tacos, with chipotle salsa. I know some of you may not believe this, but they were actually my first fish tacos ever! Now I understand why people RAVE about them! The last (but certainly not the least) appetizer was braised short ribs on tiny little crusts with melted Chihuahua cheese....mmmm. It was the most upscale slider I've certainly ever had! The shredded ribs were so tender they barely required chewing!

One of the (many) upsides of Yerba Buena was the excellent service. Once we had cleaned a plate, it was immediately removed, and as soon as all 3 appetizers were finished, our main courses had arrived. And boy were they worth the wait! We quickly divvied up the delicious lechon, porgo and skirt steak...its a miracle I managed to get some pictures before they were all gone!

The lechon (below) a suckling pig with yucca puree, habanero mojo de ajo and chicharron. The yucca puree was a smooth and gentle contrast to the spicy chicharron and habanero mojo de ajo sauces, and all together made for a perfectly blended mouthful.

I unfortunately don't have a picture (or a description) of the porgo, but I do remember that it was a crispy, fried, flaky white fish in another picante sauce, that added a flavor that is so often missing from white fish.

Finally, there was the skirt steak (above). What does one really have to say about a perfectly cooked, just rare enough steak, with crispy yucca balls and avocado salad? No seriously. I'm at a loss for words here people!

And then, dessert. You who know me well may remember that dessert is not my favorite part of a meal. While I love creating new desserts for other people to enjoy, I'd much rather settle in with some sour patch kids (I know, I know, you're screaming at me right now!). I'm not going to go into raptures over the two desserts I tried tonight, but I will say that even I found them delightful, and Hannah and Elisabeth seemed to really relish them! Since there were only two options, we ordered two of the pestilito de chocolate (Mexican banana chocolate brownie with mint chip ice cream), and one flan de coco (coconut custard, orange-mint salad with a pineapple sauce). I valiantly tried both, and while I liked the pestilito de chocolate better, it just didn't quite measure up to a homemade batch of brownies, eaten at the kitchen table with a glass of milk.

However, both desserts were the perfect cap to the evening. As our little group walked into the F train subway stop on 2nd Avenue, a trombonist across the tracks was playing something smooth and haunting and beautiful, and I couldn't have been happier than I was after sharing a delicious meal with delightful friends.