Immaculate Infatuation

Blue Ribbon Brasserie somehow feels overlooked lately. Maybe it’s because the flagship of the Blue Ribbon Restaurants is nearly seventeen years old. Maybe it’s because they open a new restaurant, sushi bar, bakery, or bowling alley every six months (all to critical acclaim) like they’re in an expansion race with Panera Bread Company. Either way, it’s time someone shined a light back on the patriarch of the family.

Blue Ribbon Brasserie is famous for a few things. The kitchen is open nightly until 4:00am, which makes it the most gangster of gangster late night eating options. The raw bar is one of the best in New York City, and whether you are getting down on some hard shell crab or half a dozen oysters, you’re going to be happy. Blue Ribbon also does an incredible fried chicken, often the sole motivating factor for an Immaculate Infatuation visit. That being said, the most impressive thing about Blue Ribbon Brasserie is its consistency. The service is without exception the best in the city. Everyone on the nightly payroll is invested in you having a great meal, and it shows, yet the attention is never overbearing. The menu doesn’t really change aside from the specials, and whatever your go-to item, it will be exactly as you remember it, even if years pass between visits. The bottom line is that Blue Ribbon Brasserie is a perfect example of why it’s great to live in New York City … bone marrow and fried chicken at 3:00am. Damn it feels good to be me.

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It’s official, we need to get to Brooklyn more often. I can’t believe we’ve been sleepin’ on Marlow. I knew it was on the second I laid eyes on this place, before I’d consumed any food or drink. Marlow my friend, you had me at hello. It’s friendly and inviting; a funky oyster bar relatively small in size but big on personality. A fitting selection of funk, soul and electro sets the mood. As I look around, soak in the positive vibe and notice all the quirky antiques and liquor bottles lining the walls, it feels like a nice hybrid between San Francisco and NY. The employees are just as much Bedford Ave as they are Mission district and look like the kind of group who’d be a good time to kick it with. Even if the food wasn’t good, I’d happily come back to hang here. The fact that the food is great is an added bonus. If your approach to life is the same as ours – work hard, play hard, relax hard – then you’ll appreciate what Marlow brings to the table. Discovering places like this is what the Infatuation is all about. Before my wedding, I’m bringing my wedding party here for whisky and oysters.

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The Mermaid Inn … this place has been a staple in the Infatuation playbook since back in 2003 when we were standing in line outside of terrible Manhattan night clubs and listening to nothing but Brand New and 50 Cent. Fortunately, we’ve matured (a little) since then, and The Mermaid Inn is not only still hanging around, it’s thriving (they recently opened an Upper West Side location). The secret to this upscale clam shack’s longevity is nothing more than consistency. The fish is always fresh and fantastic, and their lobster roll is solid. It’s all reasonably priced considering the seafood is top rate, and service is always good. These days they have even stepped it up and frequently throw down fish frys, clam bakes, and all other manner of seafood-centric specials that you can get in on. Also worth noting, they are currently running a “Blue Plate Special”: lobster roll, Old Bay fries, and a Blue Point beer for twenty dollars from 5:30 to 7:00 every evening. You can find me in the club …

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Flex Mussels? Oh right … I get it. Between the cute name and the Upper East Side location, I half expected to learn that the place is owned by Justin Timberlake Inc. Luckily, that’s not the case. Flex is a restaurant import from Prince Edward Island, which immediately gives it some credibility – “P.E.I” as they call it, is the source of some of the best mussels the world has to offer. Flex NYC’s menu sports twenty plus treatments to the bivalve, ranging from $16-20 for a huge steamy pot. Each variation is a clever combination of flavors named for and taken from regions and cultures around the world. The Southern comes in a broth with bourbon, roasted corn, country ham; The Geisha Girl has both sake and pickled ginger; The Spaniard sits in a pool of spicy chorizo, Spanish olives, and red wine. It’s a unique and exciting approach, and it works. We sat at the bar on my most recent visit, a crowded Friday night, and the service was great. So much so, that we ended up hanging late at our bar seat and polishing off more than the bottle of wine from dinner and moving into “sure I’ll try that drink you’re making” on to “you guys should totally come to my birthday party” territory. It’s a lively atmosphere and there is something amazingly satisfying about digging into a pot of mussels and a decent bottle of wine. We’ll be making more Infatuation trips as soon as they finish that Second Avenue subway.

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Lure Fish Bar needs to change it’s name. Maybe Lure Raw Bar. Or Lure Party Boat. Either would be more appropriate, and here are a few reasons why. The cooked fish entrées at Lure are almost all disappointing. Generally, they suffer from a lack flavor despite potent accompaniments like ponzu sauces, dashi glazes, and red curry broths. The raw bar, on the other hand, is a large selection of high quality seafood and is worthy of the namesake. I’m throwing Lure Party Boat out there because this place kicks out the jams like it’s 1992. Hit after hit from MTV’s Party To Go albums, slick yacht décor, and sushi on the menu make it feel like you’re at sea with Arsenio Hall or one of the Wayans brothers. Don’t get us wrong…all in all we like Lure Fish Bar Party Boat. The service is great and earns them some points but a few tweaks on those entrées would bump up our rating into the more than respectable range. We’ll come back a few more times, if only to hear some Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D on the playlist.

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