I love a good Mexican Restaurant but in my experience, I have not been to one recently in my neighborhood of Yorkville that gave Mexican food justice. However, that changed recently when Epazote opened.
     The restaurant is authentic Mexican with “Day of the Dead” photos on the wall, but has a French touch in some of the menu options due to the fact the owner Jacque, has owned and operated Jacques Brasserie on the upper east side for years.
A Mexican restaurant is synonymous with good cocktails. There were various kind of Margaritas and a specialty cocktail made with Mezcal called the Epazote cocktail.
The first course was the freshly made Guacamole made to your taste called the guacamole azteca ($13), made in front of you in a mortar and pestle.

     The “Los Taquitos” , mine was the De Ternera Bohemia ($14) made with veal cheek and braised in beer, Poblado peppers, cilantro and sweet onions was delicious and a must have.

    Our main course was the “Polo Con Mole” ($24) which was very flavorful and the mole sauce was fantastic. It consisted of roasted chicken skin and all, bathed in homemade mole sauce served with a side of spinach souffle, a touch of France.

     Epazote has a good dessert menu that offers way more than traditional flan which is usually the case in a Mexican restaurant. We were offered a Gala Apple Crumb Tart ($9) with jalapeño chocolate ice cream and Homemade churos ($7) served with Mexican abuelita chocolate sauce.

For more info and the complete menu please visit
http://www.epazotenyc.com

Epazote
1606 First Avenue
New York, NY 10028
(212) 968-1704

     In the midst of Fashion week recently I was looking for a place to relax, have some home cooked food, and since I’m Russian The Love Cafe & Bar turned out to be the perfect place. There are many Russian restaurants in the city and Brooklyn if you choose to venture out of Manhattan, but many of them are Americanized or are fusion and don’t have that authentic flavor I was looking for.

     Owner Margherita, overseas the kitchen herself and prides on using the freshest top quality ingredients and uses many family recipes that have been in her family for decades. A native of Odessa, and a Florida transplant, having owned a successful Crepe shop in St. Augustine, named Sarah’s after her grandmother is an expert in Russian comfort food. Our favorites were the Borscht Soup ( Homemade vegetable soup with beets served with sour creme) $3.95, Vinaigrette Russian Beet Salad $8.95, Olivier Salad, a true russian classic ( carrots, pickle, dill, Hard boiled egg, potato, peas in mayo dressing) $8.95, so delicious I took some home! The Perogies ( $8.50) were delicious as well. Some of the house specials include the Chicken liver pate platter, the stuffed cabbage , the Hungarian Goulash, and the Beef Stroganoff.

     For Dessert Margherita made us the La’ Belle crepe. This chocolate crepe is served with either chocolate or vanilla sauce and topped with vanilla ice cream topped with a special sauce. FYI, it’s huge so ask for spoons to share. There is a large dessert menu to choose from as well.

     While dining at Love Cafe I did spot several Russian models in a corner nibbling on Margherita’s food, as they were probably looking for a tasty ,comfortable break from fashion week as well.

Love Cafe & Bar
430 2nd Ave. New York, NY
(917) 473-0508
Open 10 am – 11pm

   We discovered Hecho en Dumbo ourselves this past week after hearing many things about this Mexican restaurant ,starting with it’s Brooklyn beginnings and how it outgrew itself and made a move to the super trendy restaurant row on the Bowery. Chef Daniel Mena, who hails from Mexico City believes in sticking to fundamentals when preparing his favorite dishes.
We started out with the Guacamole which was very fresh and served with house made yellow corn tortilla chips. The appetizers are served tapas style so we ordered a few and shared them all. My favorite appetizer was the Burritos de Res, small flour tortillas filled with steak, stewed in fresh lime juice with caramelized onion, and black bean puree served with fresh guacomole ($18). The Tacos Alcalde ($16) was delicious as well. This seafood mix of smoked sable fish, octopus, and fresh shrimp folded into a trio of flour tortillas with peppers, onion, and melted queso chihuahua would make any seafood lover happy. Being a seafood lover I chose the Pescado A La Talla as my main course. The freshly prepared grilled sea bass spiced just right was amazing, filled with mexican rice and vegetables.
The dessert menu was very good as well. I tried the Pastel de tres Leches($6), a fluffy sponge cake soaked in “three milks creme topped with whipped creme and caramelized pineapple.
While food is key ,the drinks have to be good to make for a great dining experience and the Margaritas did just that. I had the classic Margarita with Don Julio, salt, on the rocks and she made it strong but very tasty. The spicy margaritas are delicious as well. The vibe is a friendly, yet sophisticated place to come for dinner and cocktails night out.

Hecho en Dumbo
354 Bowery New York, NY
(212) 937-4245
http://www.hechoendumbo.com

Photos by: Jessica Chou