REVELutionary

i'm a brunch girl. it's one of my favorite things about the weekend. especially if it includes a drink or 4. what better way to spend the day...

i had plans to go to the high line today -- which was awesome-- so i decided to throw in some brunch beforehand in the meatpacking. i don't know the area well at all, so any place i was going to choose had some risks associated with it. i settled on revel, a cute, mainly-outside restaurant/bar. their 25 dollar brunch special came with 2 drinks, which were fabulous. well, i take that back slightly. my first drink was a white wine sangria, which i wouldn't ordinarily choose to order at brunch, but the thought of alcohol infused fruit was seductive. unfortunately, fruit to them was apparently just a tiny sliver of orange... sad. i had the bloody mary next, which really was fabulous. not too spicy, and not too weak... a perfect sunday afternoon drink.

for my meal, i had a burger with gorgonzola. it came on a really tasty roll. usually i don't like to eat the rolls that burgers come on, but i decided to save the top half to eat with the aioli that came on the side of my plate. and the french fries were the perfect combo of crunch and mush. perhaps that's the wrong word, but you get the idea. they could have gone easier on the salt, but that's a small fault.

the reviews i had read before going on yelp basically gave me the impression that you go to this place for the drinks and the ambience, not the food. i'm a sucker for ambience, especially if it's outside... so i braved it, and i'm happy to say that i would go back for the food and the lovely outside seating arrangement. there's a bar in the back garden also, so i think it would be a great place for summer drinks as well. i really appreciate it when you can tell a restaurant puts effort into the comfort of their space, and revel gets an a plus for that. the back brick wall in the garden had trimmed ivy and beautiful flowers growing on it. there was a bird feeder too, which was a great touch, some nice little trees.... it was reminiscent of a green house, and was perfect for a warm july day.

i wish coffee had come with the 25 dollars too, but it wasn't necessary in my mind... not nearly as essential as the drinks.

my overall rating is 4 stars, and i will certainly be going back.

ooo paprika

my dad told me i should get a side job as a restaurant critic for a magazine... i said non possible. annie told me i should turn my gchat statuses into a blog. so, i'm starting a blog- ok, duh.

i like to eat. i really like to go out to eat. and i'm nearly compulsively obsessed with trying new restaurants. probably one of my most commonly used statements is ''let's go somewhere NEW''. that's how i like to live my life, and it's quiet an easy way to live in ny, with sooo many places to try. i'll never accomplish one of my life goals of trying every worthwhile restaurant in the city. so for now, i'd like to try every place in the east village-- who knows how long that will take....

this brings me to my dinner tonight. paprika on st. marks. fantastic value and fantasticer food. i admit, i was there for the early bird special, but hey i was with my dad- who was also the one footing the bill. still, the menu is very reasonable, but most certainly worth it to get there before 7 for the 15 dollar prix-fixe-- app plus entree. i had the arugula salad with goat cheese- who doesn't like goat cheese-, walnuts and pears. i should have asked for the dressing on the side-- it was a bit too much oil for my tastes, though it was good oil, i'm just not an oil type of girl. i feel it coating my arteries. yuck. but it tasted good, so i'm putting that thought to the side. for my main course, i had the gnocchi with mozzarella cheese. i LOVE gnocchi. really really do- and this was no exception. good amount of red sauce, and the mozzarella was really fresh. could have been from italy by my taste buds. for desert - because it's not really a meal if you skip desert- i had lemon sorbet, you know, the kind that comes in the lemon peel. it brought me back to my childhood days. i don't know if they made it themselves, it was pretty standard. good way to end the meal though. oo, and i cannot forget the delish olives they brought while we were ordering. i'm truly a sucker for kalamata olives, so you can imagine my excitement when there were 20 sitting in front of me. too bad i had to share with dad. they were mixed in with sundried tomatoes, another fave. really good, and probably the reason why i had enough gnocchi to take home to eat tomorrow- coupled with the bread and olive oil of course.