Sloane’s first book, I Was Told There’d Be Cake (buy it on Amazon for $9.97) blew the f*ck up. When your mom, girlfriend and little sister are all independently reading and raving about the same book, it’s gotta be good. Her witty collection of autobiographical essays about life went on to become a New York Times best seller. Sloane’s follow-up, How Did You Get This Number (Buy it here), came out last month. We haven’t read it yet, but judging by the press its gotten so far, we’re pretty confident it’s another book club grand slam. Hopefully that short relationship with our buddy got some ink. To keep up with Sloane and her daily rampage of noise, make sure you’re following her on Twitter.

Sloane’s “Perfect For” Picks

Classic NYC Establishment

Raoul’s (180 Prince St.) – “It is impossible not to be a happy New Yorker in a booth at Raoul’s. Never had a bad time there, great scallops and the hostess Alice is probably the friendliest woman in Manhattan. I don’t eat meat so I’ve never had the famed streak frites but hi, I’m not blind.”

Impressing Out of Towners

Locanda Verde (377 Greenwich St.) – “In general, out-of-towners are disproportionately impressed by Tribeca. But this place kind of makes it worth it for everyone involved. Especially on a week night. They have a good wine list and even if they didn’t: the desert.”

Vegetarians

Baohaus (137 Rivington St.) – “Only because they have a tofu “pork” bun and vegetarians have been completely deprived of the whole pork bun thing. Even pescaratians. Fish and carbs apparently don’t get along outside of a fish taco. So Candle and Blossom are both much better restaurants but the veggie pork pun here is great.”

Quick Eats

Mekong (18 King St.) -”Mekong is a defacto home-away-from home because about half my friends live in walking distance and, well, majority rules. It’s not thai food to end all thai food but it is really damn good, open late and I’ve never had an issue with snagging a table outside or being with a large unruly group. “

Chronic Brunch

Good Enough To Eat (483 Amsterdam Ave.) – “Any place that automatically serves strawberry butter before you sit is a good place. Their “gramercy omelet” is pretty perfect. There are other brunches that will fill your stomach with better pancakes, cholesterol and a side of regret (Egg!), but none look like the state of Vermont had an orgasm, put tables in it and is now seating…”

Bonus? Hmm…

Best Cookies:

Levain Bakery (167 W. 74th St.) -”Half a block from my house. Sometimes I go in there and just get a coffee if I’m feeling especially masochistic. “

How about West Coast places? That might be fun.

Le Pigeon in Portland. La Taqueria in SF. Nishimura in LA. Or yeah, I guess French Laundry. I mean: it’s French Laundry. They should engrave “you can die now” on their silverware.

Sloane’s Twitter People

@colsonwhitehead – Some authors should never tweet, but Colson has made the form his. I guess “form” is a big word for it. But he’s got whatever it is down.

@david_lynch – Lately his tweets are kind of practical and promotion-based. I like them better when they make you feel like you’re an extra in Blue Velvet.

@pfro – For her fresh current events commentary and general celebrity outrage.

@pitchforkmedia – Because not all of us work in music and know everything about everything.

@kandellSPIN -A pal who’s never failed to make me laugh with his tweets. No pressure, Steve.

Food Rundown:

French Onion Soup
The best part of the menu here are the appetizers, and really the only reason Cafe Lux didn’t get slapped with a Wasting Your Time and Money tag. A well executed soup, albeit on the small side. Sweet, warm and tasty.

Country Salad
Aside from the little cup of French onion soup, this was the best thing I ate all night. The combination of poached egg, bacon and frisee with a nice thick bacon vinaigrette dressing will do it for me every time.

Luxemburger
We heard raves about this guy from the Infatuation faithful, but we couldn’t figure out why. A very standard restaurant burger, served on a bun that was a bit too thick, lettuce, tomato and fries. It was so undercooked we had to send it back, and that’s saying a lit considering we like our cows bleeding.

Tuna Burger
Very similar to the stellar one served at Cafe Cluny, this is one sandwich Cafe Lux does right.

Pan Roasted Chicken
Numbingly average is how I’d describe this attempt at roast chicken. It lacks any kind of crispiness and overall was pretty sloppy.

Pan Roasted Halibut
Wow, talk about a huge bust. This thirty dollar entree, which our waitress pitched us as one of their specialties, was a total mess. A stinky piece of fish atop a soggy bed of “thai style pickled vegetables” aka cole slaw doused in a lemon vinaigrette. Avoid.

NY Strip Steak Frites
A small, eight ounce Creekstone Farms dry aged cut of beef that was actually cooked just right, served up with some average shoe string fries. The meat was tasty, but every steak frites I eat pales in comparison to Raoul’s .

Food Rundown:

Selection of Spreads
Yogurt, “caviar”, chick pea, and sundried tomato spreads served with plenty of pita triangles for dipping, which did not go unnoticed. I am sick of being forced to eat artichoke dip off a Splenda packet because a restaurant was stingy with the grilled bread. Thank you Kefi, for this bounty of bread from which to enjoy your dips. They are all tasty and should be on your table. We’re not sure why “caviar” is in quotes, but we’ll leave it alone.

Grilled Octopus, Bean Salad
A brawny grilled octopus arm sitting atop a salad of chickpeas and some other very small beans. The octopus is perfect, and the salad is so flavorful that you’ll exert valuable energy trying to fit many tiny beans on one big fork. Difficult but worthwhile.

Fried Calamari
I was expecting this to be very mediocre. I had Kefi pegged as a place where grilled calamari would be the way to go, rather than the fried version you can find at any restaurant on this block. I was pleasantly surprised. The calamari is incredibly tender, and they show restraint with the batter – just enough for a crunch.

Flat Pasta, Pulled Braised Rabbit, Graviera Cheese
This is a really good dish, but you need to be into rabbit to enjoy it. If you’re not sure, don’t go there. The rabbit is really well cooked, and is delicious, but the taste isn’t for everyone. You’ll also find some bones, so be careful. Other than those warnings, this is a huge plate of food. The super-wide pasta noodles and thick Graviera cheese make this almost like a rabbity pasta casserole.

Sheep’s Milk Dumplings, Tomato, Pine Nuts, Spicy Lamb Sausage
One of our favorite things to eat at Kefi. These are dumplings made from sheep’s milk and served in a bowl with lamb sausage and all kinds of other goodness. Lighter than you might expect from the description, and something you need to eat when you’re there.

Grilled Branzino, Potato, Olive, Tomato
A perfect piece of branzino – light but tasty like a piece of grilled fish should be. The combo of olives, potatoes, and tomatoes on the plate ensure you won’t go home hungry, and it costs less than twenty bucks.

Lamb Burger
Usually a special. If they have it, order it. It’s good, and you’re going to need a fork.

Make sure to visit Pat’s website www.patspapers.com, and sign up for his daily newsletter that rounds up headlines from around the country, cuts through the clutter, and delivers a tidy rundown to your inbox first thing in the morning. It’s a national version of Pat’s popular NY1 segment, “In The Papers”, and it will make you smarter.

Pat’s “Perfect For” Picks

Quick Eats

Freddie and Pepper’s Pizza (303 Amsterdam Avenue) – “It’s nice when your neighborhood pizza shop is known for something more than a regular slice. Freddie’s Bacon Spinach Tomato pie is excellent.”

People Watching

Pastis – “Consistently buzzing since the days when the Meatpacking District was best known for its butchers.”

Fine Dining

Mas (Farmhouse) – “Fine dining and great service, but without the stuffiness of many restaurants in the top tier.”

Serious Take-Out Operation

Chirping Chicken (Amsterdam Ave. location) – “The amount of take-out and delivery food they move through this store is amazing. Great taste and quality, and a bargain compared to almost everything in the neighborhood.”

Outdoor/Patio Situation

Gabriela’s – “For weather like we’re having now, the dining room is just fine. But the margaritas and Mexican food at Gabriela’s are a particular favorite when enjoyed on a summer night in the Columbus Avenue restaurant’s big sidewalk seating area.”

Pat’s Twitter People

@palafo – “the NY Times newsman who curates links from his newspaper and elsewhere.”

@joshrobin – “NY1 political reporter is quick with the Twitter updates when there’s state or city news.”

@newyorkology – “smart tweets from the web site that has info for tourists and New Yorkers alike.”

@alex_segura – “he must be worth following because he’s my most frequent re-tweeter. (And he finds interesting stuff from others too.)”

@JimmyFallon – “A lot of celebrity tweets seem to come from publicists. It’s not hard to see that Jimmy’s tweets are his own.”

Since I have a number of kosher friends in my life, I’ve dined at places like Tevere (easily my favorite), Solo (where Top Chef winner Hung had a stint as head chef) and Prime Grill (most overpriced, average steak in Manhattan), all of which generally left me feeling unfulfilled and, well, broke. For the price of a lot of these places we could be eating at Eleven Madison Park and properly indulging. Always keeping an open mind however, when a Kosher friend and devoted Infatuation reader wanted to take us to her favorite Kosher spot to see how it measured up to our standards, we were down to give it a go and head to Mike’s Bistro on the Upper West Side.

Mike’s Bistro is a big deal in the world of kosher restaurants. Although its appearance might suggest differently, this is a popular special occasion spot, especially with the younger generation. It’s plain and rather boring decor give Mike’s the feel of a glorified basement. Excessive wood (not in a cool rustic way, but in an ordinary kitchen cabinet way) and bright lights are a bit of a turn off. Good thing the food isn’t. A clear Italian influence makes this menu more ambitious than most kosher spots and I’d happily return.

Food Rundown:

Portobello Mushroom and Arugula Salad
Dressed in a Caesar style mushroom dressing and a port wine reduction and served with red onions and enoki mushroom, this salad got mixed reviews at the table. The dressing wasn’t too heavy, and is nice for a Caesar style. All in all, this serves as a good palate cleanser between bites of the other heavy items on the menu. Then again, any crisp salad could have done the same.

Handmade Duck Gnocchi
We devoured two ENTREE sized portions of this dish as an appetizer. Enough said.

Beef Cheek Ravioli
This appetizer special was good, not great. It could have used more filling and less pasta. It was prepared nicely al dente though.

Cassoulet
Traditional cassoulet is a stew made with white beans and various forms of pork. For a kosher version, Mike’s Bistro uses a duck recipe that does not disappoint. The combination of the duck, smoked veal, white beans, cranberry beans, and chicken sausage create some intense layers of flavor that even an avid pork lover could appreciate. I would definitely order this again.

Fresh Cod Fritters
Cod/salmon cakes are the kosher version of a crab cake, and this one was only OK. The fish seemed fresh and there was a very nice panko crust, but I though the portion was very small for the price. In addition, the fritter itself was a bit dry.

Braised Boneless Short Ribs
You know how we feel about our short ribs here at the Infatuation. That said, these aren’t the best we’ve ever had, but they were damn good. As usual, the meat was rich, tender, and nearly falling apart. We’re not sure where the sauce was though, as the plate could have used a little more.

Black Angus Rib Eye Fillet
Trying to not think about the fact that we could be enjoying just about any steak of our choice at this price point ($45) is tough. That’s pretty much all I could think about the entire time. Overall, the meat was well prepared and the reduction they poured over it was quite tasty. Is it worth $45? No dice. Is it better than the steaks at Prime Grill? Absolutely.

Sauteed Duck Breast
The skin on the duck breast was nice and crisp and the meat was perfectly cooked. The confit leg was falling off the bone. Love the yam fritters and the cranberry port sauce, but not sure what they were thinking with the braised red cabbage on the plate. There was way too much cabbage and it was way too sweet. More yam fritters please.

Braised Lamb Shank
I wasn’t impressed with the lamb shank at all, and thought the seasonings were off and the flavor of the braised kale was completely overwhelming. Also, the meat was too fatty.

Food Rundown:

Spiced Edamame
We never send things back, but this was awful. We took one bite of this edamame and that was all we needed. Look, I get this whole fusion business, but it’s completely unnecessary to mess with edamame. Steam the beans and toss them in salt. It’s that easy. The “three peppercorn and ancho chile” seasoning was downright disgusting.

Taco Trio Tasting
This taco trio consists of one skirt steak, one chicken with mango chipotle sauce, and one pork with pineapple red pepper-scallion salsa. The skirt steak itself was good, otherwise all the other meats we found boring and dry. Props on their mango chipotle sauce though. That’s some good stuff.

Citrus Roll
The focus is on quantity over quality in the Citrus sushi department. This roll of Alaskan king crab, tobiko, cucumber and avocado is massive, but uninspired.

Spicy Tuna Roll
Another huge roll. The tuna is definitely fresh. It just lacks excitement. The radish sprouts and cucumber dress up the roll up all pretty; it’s just that this roll left us full and empty at the same time.

Angel Hair
Angel hair pasta in pink plum tomato sauce with Monterey Jack cheese, turkey meat balls and chicken chorizo sausage. My dining companion loved it. She rambled on about drunken college nights and turkey meatballs back when she lived down the block. I had one bite and that was plenty. Next please.

Lemon Black Pepper Linguine
I get it. The uptown crowd eats way earlier than the downtown crowd. Still, 9pm is way too early to be out of every popular entree. First, I wanted the skirt steak, which I’ve heard is great, but they wer sold out. Next up, I thought I would play it safe and try the salmon. No dice, they just sold the last one. Ouch! Ok, on to the specials. I gave the linguine a whirl with wild shrimp, sea scallops, julienne veggies in a New Mexico chili sauce. It didn’t look like much when it arrived; multicolor pasta dressed with a dark orange, unappetizing looking sauce. Fortunately, this was the best thing I tasted all night. The scallops were surprisingly great and contrasted very well with the spicy chili sauce.

Dovetail has been written up everywhere as one of 2008’s best new restaurants, so when it came time to pick a place to go with Mom and Grandma for my brother’s birthday, Dovetail was the call. Though I’d read a bunch of reviews that said the service at Dovetail was terrible, we experienced the complete opposite and were treated like royalty from the moment we stepped foot in the door. Our server was the man, and it felt like we had three of our own bus boys taking care of our every need. Left over crumb on your lip? No worries, they got it. The food was consistently great across the board and everyone at the table enjoyed their meal.

Dovetail is expensive, but not obnoxiously so, and once you’re inside you won’t remember you’re on the UWS, as the exposed brick and rustic artwork give the restaurant a very downtown feel. The food and service are both great, and overall, Dovetail is highly recommended.

Food Rundown:

Crab Ravioli
You’d be kicking yourself all night if you passed up on the crab ravioli at a place like this? You need this in your life immediately. God damn this is good stuff! Three nice, plump crab filled raviolis smothered in brown butter, chorizo, and sweet potato? Yes please. I still think about this dish on a daily basis.

Lamb’s Tongue
It’s served breaded and is crunchy, super savory, and really good. Don’t pass this appetizer up. Also, the muffalatta (mix of Italian meats and cheeses) that comes with it is excellent.

Roast Sirloin with Beef Cheek Lasagna
You can’t go wrong with a well roasted piece of sirloin. Especially when it’s paired with this very unique and sweet beef cheek ‘lasagna.’ Everyone tried this. Everyone approved.

Halibut
It’s not the most visually stimulating dish on the menu but it happens to be one of the best. As one of their signature dishes, they cook this light piece of white fish well and the addition of the spinach ravioli with it works nicely.

Scallops
I could have eating a double portion of this, easily. Three nice sized (but not huge) sea scallops smothered in butter, truffles, potatoes and pears? Uhh, more please!

Brioche Bread Pudding
Served with caramelized banana, bacon brittle and rum ice cream, if you’re going to Dovetail it’s absolutely mandatory you end your meal with this. This is one of those desserts you’ll be thinking about/craving on a daily basis.

*Note
They didn’t have either the Idaho potato gnocchi with veal short ribs and foie gras butter or the pork belly with spinach and fried egg appetizers when we went. I’ve heard that both are out of this world, so you may want to give them a try if you go.