Immaculate Infatuation

Immaculate Infatuation recently hooked up with fellow food freak Aaron Gillespie, lead singer/songwriter of The Almost, while he was in New York promoting the band's new release Monster Monster. This kid is one of the more entertaining humans we've come into contact with. Most band dudes piss away their free time on road getting hammered and chasing tail, and while Aaron surely appreciates an adult beverage and the finer qualities of the opposite sex, he spends most of his down time holed up on the bus writing ... about food. Aaron transcribes a full culinary report from each city he travels to on his popular blog Foodisms, and we managed to squeeze some content out of him for your reading pleasure. Check out Aaron's Immaculate Artist Review, where he dishes on New York, BLT Fish, and octopus.

Formed by Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie, The Almost's new record Monster Monster is out now. It's the follow-up album to their major label debut, Southern Weather, which debuted at #39 on Billboard's Top 200, earned them a Top 10 single at Alternative radio, and a spot on MTV's Discover & Download. Gillespie wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and Monster Monster represents the culmination of two years of touring, which melded the group's individual talents into a truly collaborative effort. Their new single "Hands" is an addicting rock n roll anthem. One listen and your hands will be in the air singing along "Whoa Whoa Oh!"

Band Website: http://www.thealmost.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thealmost
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thealmost
Twitter: @aaronrgillespie

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BLT Fish

21 W 17th St.
New York, NY 10011
212-691-8888
Official Website

Man sometimes you bite off more than you can chew, sometimes you chew it and you have to spit the rest out, and sometimes you grab something to catch the crumbs and savor every freakin' morsel. I feel this way about eating in New York. As a foodie New York is like a paradise, hell it's a Mecca. Is a Mecca better than paradise? Maybe, I don't know. You get my point though.

I recently spent a couple days off in the big city and have had some wonderful culinary experiences (one of which I will tell you about), but something needs to be discussed; the authenticity of NYC's restaurants. We all know that NYC is extremely cultured. It's a melting pot of people from across the globe. When you eat in the big apple, the food actually "feels" foreign sometimes; like it's coming straight out of a French kitchen or Italian oven. Now, don't get me wrong, if you want a slice of Americana the Apple is your place, they deliver on that front as well. But, if you want to sample something unique New York is for sure your spot. NYC very much reminds me of Europe in the sense that there are separate stores for everything: a cheese shop, a butcher, the market for fruit and vegetables, the bakery etc. Every block is lined with tons of shops, markets, delis and restaurants which is a refreshing feeling as a lot of this country is filled with lame mega-mart one-stop-shops.

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I was pumped to discover Immaculate Infatuation; the site is rad and really helps you navigate the NYC restaurant scene. Not only is it informative, but also funny and fresh. Andrew Steinthal from Immaculate recently took me and a few friends to BLT fish for dinner. Although I've had lunch there a few times, I have never had the opportunity to go upstairs and have a proper dinner. BLT Fish is a true chameleon of a space. A cross between a North-East beach-side fish house and a haute seafood extraordinaire upstairs. When you walk in, it's a bit understated and boasts and iced out raw bar with all of the ocean's finest mollusks and bivalves. Take the glass staircase upstairs and this spot quickly becomes a white table cloth type joint. The menu is loaded with a mix of fresh sea food including the aforementioned epic raw bar of fresh oysters, clams, and mussels, but whelks and some different things to. The wait staff is wonderfully dressed and well informed on the wine list and seafood selections. Directly in front of us, waiters carved up whole red snapper tableside, not something you see everyday. My mouth was watering from the second we sat down.

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As appetizers, we rocked some raw Hamachi, a raw white fish that came served with a little soy citrus marinade. This was perfect and wonderful, but what shined like a freaking July in Egypt was the Grilled Portuguese Octopus. Now, octopus is interesting, it can be a chewy mess or it can be perfect and delicious. Like most foods, it's all in the cooking and BLT did it right for sure. The octopus is placed on a bed of chickpeas and roasted red peppers and as tender as it gets. I felt like I was eating a delicious fish filet, but, actually, was eating something typically chewy. We were stoked to say the least.

For our main course we got the Alaskan Black Cod, which was finely prepared in an acacia marinade and was seriously amazing, simple and elegant. We also got the Maine Sea Scallops which came situated on top a bed of endive marmalade, some awesome plating on display. Both the cod and scallops were epic man, I mean, the fish tasted like candy in the sense that it was sweet, savory and perfectly cooked. Speaking of candy, at the end of the meal they gave us each our own jar of cotton candy. Cotton candy at a 4 star restaurant in New York City? What a great ending to a tremendous meal.