Lavinia at Home

Looking for a new place to dine? We recommend Circus, a Brazilian restaurant with delicious food and great atmosphere. Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (132 E 61st Street, between Lexington & Park avenues; Tel. 212-223-2965), this charming restaurant delivers your taste buds an exotic treat if your up to the challenge. The service staff is friendly and attentive, offering great suggestions for those unfamiliar with Brazilian fare.

Following a warm reception, we were served warm bread with herbed butter. For appetizers, we enjoyed the CASQUINHA DE SIRI, a lightly warmed Peekytoe crab with a lime, coconut and chive emulsion, and the RABADA, a form of Shepard’s pie made with layers of braised oxtail and yucca puree, avocado and cilantro dressing. Main course were excellent and included the MUQUECA DE CAMARÅO, jumbo shrimp gently braised in coconut milk, tomatoes, lemongrass and coriander and the PICADINHO, diced beef sirloin, sautéed rosemary scented baby bananas, rice and a poached egg. For drinks, we had tasty CAIPIRIHNAS, a traditional cocktail made with lime, Cachaca and sugar over ice. They were so good, we ordered a second. Overall, Circus deserves a second visit. We hope you enjoy the experience too.

If you’re at the New Jersey Shore and are looking for a casual place to eat at the beach, you may want to try Avon Pavilion, an ocean side restaurant located in Avon By The Sea at 600 Ocean Avenue (Tel.: 732-775-1043). It’s an enjoyable place to dine with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, beach and local housing, serving seafood, pasta, chicken, steak and ribs along with some great specialty dishes. While they don’t have a liquor license, Avon Pavilion maintains a B.Y.O.B. (bring your own bottle) policy, which reduces the impact on your wallet if you plan to enjoy a bottle of wine at dinner. Its doors are open for business annually from Mother’s Day until early September.

Keep in mind that it is ocean side. If the weather is cool and windy, you may want to bring a sweater or try another establishment as they do not often roll down all of the plastic curtain shields.

In terms of food, they kick off the dining experience with their version of bruscetta, featuring a zesty mixture of tomatoes, black olives and onions with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Off of the menu, we tried one of their house specialties–Crab Cakes–for an appetizer. The generously-sized crab cakes were delicious and are also available served as a main course. The black pepper crusted tuna, sashimi-style, was also a tasty appetizer. For dinner, we had the dover sole and halibut. However, our favorite was the San Tropez shrimp, a bow-tie pasta dish with spinach, black olives and a smoky garlic flavor. The pistachio-crusted halibut was a special-of-the-day, served with a raspberry sauce and slices of strawberries provided a nice contrasting flavor. Served with our main courses, we also had a vegetable melody and a choice of saffron rice, red bliss potatoes and linguine. And while we were pretty full after our main meals, the dessert tray was too delectable to pass up. We ordered a selection of desserts. My favorite was the apple shortbread tart served with a warm caramel sauce. Yum!

I think June is such a transitional month, there is such a swing of weather temperature this time of year, and the question is always the same as we shuffle through our wardrobe “what to wear“. Well I’m delighted to say that when it comes to our foundations & garments at Lavinia Lingerie & Activewear, you don’t have that problem so check us out. If you are like most of us, you’ll be at the gym trying to lose those “winter gains” our active wear is easy, light and attractive to wear.

With the start of the warm weather approaching, enjoy this refreshing dish of yogurt and cucumbers.

Start with a quart of plain yogurt; add 2 cucumbers cut small, now add some mint chopped fine, a dash of garlic to taste, and a pinch of salt.

Great dish for the summer months.

If you don’t have enough yogurt make your own…

1 quart of milk

3 table spoon of plain yogurt

Bring to a boil and let cool, not too cool, you test the temperature by dropping milk on the wrist or by using the tip of your little finger and count to 10, the milk should sting slightly. Pour the milk into a glass or crockery dish, add the plain yogurt and stir thoroughly, cover with a towel. The milk should jell in about 5 to 7 hours. Place in refrigerator..

Enjoy!