Lavinia at Home

You want a juicy steak? This is the place. The Palm, located at the 837 2nd Ave (between 44th St & 45th St) Tel.; 212-687-2953. This is The Palm Restaurant’s flagship location and still in it’s original location. These restaurant was opened in 1926 by two Italian immigrants who wanted to call their restaurant Parma, but the city business registrar couldn’t understand their accents, so it became the Palm. The walls of The Palm are covered with caricatures of local notables and national celebrities that you won’t be able to take your eyes off the walls. The tradition started when John and Pio had no money to decorate. In a twist on the old saying “sing for your supper,” local newspapermen would draw a cartoon in exchange for a plate of spaghetti.

The Palm concentrates on an American menu – seafood and steaks. Certainly this is not the very best steak in NYC, but the food is great and the portions are huge.

When you become a member of the 837 Club, you`ll have the opportunity to earn special Club Points that entitle you to awards and special members-only benefits courtesy of The Palm.

Not a great place for a diet. But if you’re looking for a place with amazing history and a great story that screams “NEW YORK” – this is it. It’s something to do at least once in your life…and go to the original, not Palm Too across the street!

This is probably in top 10 steak places in NYC. Come and try for yourself….. if you have about $150 to spare for two.

From the moment you walk into the elegant door there are apples lining the entryway, all fresh from the farm, it smells so good! This wonderfully warm and romantic French restaurant is located at 120 West Broadway in NYC, Tel.: 212.964.2525. The decor is elegant and cozy with couches that line both dining rooms and satin pillows that fill their corners.

Once seated, you’re offered a wonderful bread selection. They have an entire cart filled with all kind different breads; you have choice of sourdough, olive, black pepper, fig and raisins breads. I highly recommend trying the one with the raisins inside and dried apple on top. The bread is delicious.

Everything from the appetizers through to dessert was just to die for. For appetizers we had Sashimi Tuna, Spicy Marinade and Braised Hawaiian Yellowtail with Ginger Aromatic Sauce. We had Maine Lobster and also had the lamb which was amazing but was a small portion. The “mashed fingerling potatoes” were complimentary of chief and have an unreal consistency and taste phenomenal.

You constantly get special additives before, during, and after your meal and the presentation is elegant. We order 2 desserts and but then they brought a series of free desserts and table was full with sweets
Chocolate Frivolous Toasted Hazelnut Dacquoise Chocolate Brûlée and Chocolate Souffle, is perfect for chocolate lovers and the petit fours that are brought out afterwards are a great French touch. When we were leaving host gave us gift bag which contains a fragrant small bread loaf. Bouley is a memorable restaurant and it’s around $100 per person (if you order by menu). I definitely recommend giving Bouley a shot! Warning: Blazers are required for men!

It’s September and most of us are enjoying the last few days of summer vacation.

Summer was very hot this year, and it was difficult to stay completely out of the heat of the sun. However, I found an article which offered a great tip for the season. It was about topical vitamin C, namely the use of moisturizer with vitamin C, and its ability to prevent UV skin damage. I am extremely light and burn very easily, so this caught my attention. I took a chance and just used a body moisturizer with vitamin C, and I could not believe the results; I did not burn. I mentioned my experience to one of my neighbors and when she returned from her vacation, she was excited. It had worked for her too. So needless to say, I take my moisturizer with vitamin C with me everywhere.

This month it seems as though everyone is getting ready to go back to school, whether it’s teenagers off to college or mothers getting the little ones ready for school. It’s an exciting time for parents and one of anticipation for students. For some young mothers, it means a few hours for themselves. Maybe you’ll get back to the gym or take a yoga class. For those rejoining a routine of exercise, check out our exercise wear at Lavinia Lingerie.

Before I go, I would like to leave you with a few helpful kitchen tips:

Until next time,
Lavinia

While on vacation in picturesque Ogunquit, Maine, we discovered a delectable restaurant called MC Perkins Cove. Nestled among the quaint shops in this beach town’s marina, also known as Perkins Cove, MC is a refreshing newcomer to this popular vacation spot and the sister restaurant to Arrows, one of America’s top fifty restaurants. Founded by award-winning chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, MC will not disappoint your taste buds.

For starters, we feasted on “Fried shrimp skewers with a carrot daikon salad and a Vietnamese dipping sauce” and “Cockle clams with roasted tomatoes, dark beer, thyme, prosciutto crisps, and focaccia”. These dishes were delicious! To be honest, we could have stopped there. The portions were quite generous. For our main meals, we enjoyed the “MC lobster mac and cheese” and “Sesame crusted deep fried Rainbow trout with Chinese fermented black beans, tomatoes, scallions, rice wine and garden herbs”. The trout was the real winner for the evening. I don’t normally like whole fish plates, but this one stands out. The fish just melted in your mouth. Accompanied by “Mark’s Mom’s corn custard”, this meal is hard to beat. The Lobster “mac and cheese” was good and had a respectable amount of lobster in it. However, it was not the best macaroni and cheese I’ve had — that award goes to 44 & X Hell’s Kitchen in NYC. And while the combination sounds decadent, I think it’s better to keep the lobster separate from the macaroni and cheese. The delicate flavor of the lobster gets lost in the creme fraiche, cheese and bread crumbs. This was the second time I was drawn in by a meal of this description. MC’s variation on this dish is, however, better than the one I tried at Norma’s, a restaurant located in the Le Parker Meridian Hotel in NYC. Overall, we really enjoyed this dinning experience and would highly recommend it. If you’re in the area, it’s located at 111 Perkins Cove Road, Ogunquit, ME (Tel: 207-646-6263). We hope you enjoy it too!