One of my coworkers recommended that we go to Cafe de la Presse since we were in the area (Union Square). We had popped in one night looking for dessert… but nothing struck us. Then on Friday night we were home a bit early and had little desire to wander far after a long day on our feet, so off to Cafe de La Presse we went again.
The meal began with a little amuse-bouche that I believe was a take on “ham and swish.” Delish!
We ordered the special “tarte” (crispy flatbread) with arugula, cheese, apples, and dates. It was SENSATIONAL. Dates on flat bread with cheese are one of my favorite combos.
Mike chose the squash risotto. It was just okay. Was a bit more like rice than risotto in my opinion.
I went with my fave… Boeuf Bourguignon (really I just LOVE beef stew no matter what nationality it comes from). It was very tasty, but somehow… lacking. The meat just lacked depth of flavor.
Overall, this place is good for the neighborhood but no where near a desitnation eatery.
Total Nom Points: 6 out of 10
Mike and I decided to endeavor on grilling fish in my apartment. One of my favorite kitchen tools is a stove top grill (I bought mine on sale for $50 from Williams Sonoma a few years ago but it does not appear they have it any more). It fits across two burners and makes mean pancakes on the flat side and great chicken on the ridged side. Fish was a new undertaking, however.
Now I have a large kitchen by NYC standards, however, it is poorly ventilated and the smoke alarm is in a tiny hallway right outside the room. The tragedy of this event involved me standing below the smoke alarm for upwards of 20 minutes waving a magazine. This paled in comparison, however, to the even greater tragedy of making my entire apartment smell of fish for the next four days.
I will sidenote here for a second to talk about the request that went out to all of my friends on Facebook for advice on how to get the smell of fish out of ones apartment when opening all the windows, lighting candles, febreezing, spraying air freshener, and putting out baking soda didn’t work. I got some very interesting responses. Lavender oil, scrubbing everything down with lemons, oil reeds, and roasting coffee beans in a skillet came up. The most creative response, however, came from Mike’s Aunt Helene who gave us his Aunt Meggie’s trick: Boil water in a pot and then cover it and put cinnamon on the lid. Wouldn’t you know it? It worked! The smell was hardly detectable after about 30 minutes of boiling. Good to know!
As for the food itself, it turned out pretty well. I have come to the conclusion though that I need to accept that I just don’t like salmon. Smoked is fine, but when it’s cooked I’m just not a fan. Mike made salmon for himself and a tuna steak for me. He also prepared an awesome, off the cuff soy, garlic, and ginger sauce for us to dip the fish in. We paired it with some boxed butternut squash risotto and threw tomatoes and zuccini on the grill pan when the fish was done. We then enjoyed our labors on the balcony, which was lovely.
