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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You obviously know by now that we’re not vegetarians. At times, this site feels like little more than a lengthy discussion about skirt steak and pork parts. Why then, are we giving so much love to a restaurant serving only raw food? Because while we may not be vegetarians, we are devoted hedonists, and Pure Food and Wine is all about pleasure. That and every musician we know talks about the place like it’s the Carnegie Hall of restaurants.

A few years back, Sarma Melngailis decided to show New York that a raw food restaurant doesn’t have to mean serving carrot sticks and lentils to a soundtrack of Ben Harper songs. Pure Food And Wine opened, and in the process she’s become an icon among those passionate about the raw lifestyle. Her restaurant, cookbooks, and One Lucky Duck takeaway business have all been extremely successful, and it’s because, raw or not, the food is incredible.

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Casa Mono is a small Spanish restaurant on Irving Place – part of the Mario Batali empire, though probably not as well known as Babbo or Del Posto. This review is a simple one … come here with people that love food and will try anything. This is one of those rare places that, if you sample a lot of things, enjoy a bottle of wine or three, and listen to what your waiter suggests … you will have a complete and satisfying dining experience. A note to keep in mind – this is not a place for a quick drink and an appetizer. For that, there is Bar Jamon, adjacent to Casa Mono, and it’s always packed. Now you know.

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We’ve been spending a lot more time in Brooklyn lately, and it’s not the indie music scene or girls in ironic glasses drawing us in (please god let that trend end soon). We know we aren’t exactly breaking any news by telling you there are outstanding restaurants all over the borough, but now that some ground has been covered in Manhattan, we’re ready to start expanding the Infatuation empire. It’s business time in BK.

Prime Meats has been on our list for a while now – we love Frankie’s Spuntino (owned by the same people), and we love meat. We also happen to be big fans of old timey things, and Prime Meats was meticulously designed to feel like it came from old timey New York. There’s a beautiful antique bar, the staff all look like extras from Gangs of New York, and you should know that, just like in the 1890’s, they only take cash. The menu is heavy and meat-centric, but most everything is incredible, especially the steaks and anything that sounds German, which is pretty much everything. Before you go, know that this is the kind of place you make a night of. You will likely wait a long while for your table, will likely drink far too many vintage cocktails, and will more than likely want to die from eating so much. As long as you plan accordingly, you should come away happy.

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New York’s sushi joints can really be broken down into three tiers. Tier one is made up of places that serve sushi-boner inducing fish that melts in your mouth and makes the other places look silly. Think Sushi Yasuda and Masa. These are the priciest of pricey, but every once in a while you can find a tier one diamond in the rough that won’t do a Madoff on your bank account. Tier two consists of sushi restaurants that are a bit more hit-or-miss, but a hell of a lot more affordable. These places tend to focus more on specialty rolls, but great sushi and sashimi can be had. Poke and Yama are tier two type places. The third tier consists of sushi best saved for lunch at your desk or a light meal in a pinch…we’re talking one step above the boxed stuff at Midtown delis. Ordering in this situation should be strictly confined to rolls only. Don’t get too cute, you’ll regret it.

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