The General

EMM Group, the people behind Catch and Tenjune, just opened their new spot The General last week.  Talk about getting the word out - I got emails about the opening from all sorts of sites such as Urbandaddy, Eater, and Thrillist.  All right all right, let's give it a go then shall we?

One of my dining compadres called earlier in the week to make a reservation for 4 people for Friday night.  We were told that only 6:30pm and 9:30pm were open.  Ok...looks like we're gonna have to go with 6:30pm on this one.  Late dinner reservations on a Friday really means an ugly Saturday morning so yes, lets eat first before kicking off any kind of Friday night festivities.  (Although, after we finished up and were leaving a bunch of tables were still open and available.  I will never know how these things work...)

Upon arrival, I was amazed at how big the space was.  There's a huge bar area up front with lots of tables and a decently sized dining room in the back.  The General had bold wall paper, funky lights, and modern chairs which added to the fun and super lush feel of the place. 

Given all the space and the scarcity of people rushing for 6:30pm dinner (just me huh?), I was surprised when the hostess tried to seat us right on top of the only other table seated.  No exaggeration, the chair of one of the girls at the other table was touching the chair at our table.  When we asked to be placed in any of the other 296 remaining seats, I was even MORE surprised when we were given push-back and left standing (!!).

Grotto

On the edge of LES and Chinatown, the hidden gem Grotto awaits visitors looking for a great meal.  This space is practically hidden with its sign barely at eye level - I kept walking past the restaurant until the sign finally caught the corner of my eye!  I eagerly took the stairs leading down to the restaurant below street level.

Inside, its a fantastic space with dark wood and an almost speakeasy / 1920's feel.  Although the primary dining room is a touch narrow, it adds to the coziness of the space.  Out back there is a garden area for outdoor dining when the weather is nice.

My blurry picture of the main dining room

The outdoor dining area in the back garden!

There is a cocktail menu as well as a full menu offering antipasti, salads, pastas, and main courses.  After making our selections, I couldn't help but dig into the bread basket.  Loved that there was a variety in terms of bread selection! 

I love bread baskets - esp if there is variety!

Touch 'n Go Post: Stanton Social

Every year, its tradition that on Vday I have a lady-date with one of my bffs.  Last year, we went to Peter Luger's and Taureau (couldn't decide so we did both over two days!), the year before it was Chinese New Year so we took a hiatus, the year before that we went to our favorite bar (that sadly closed down) Telephone bar, and the year before that, well, I can't really remember that far back.  This year, we went to The Stanton Social.

Inside of Stanton Social (pic from yelp)

It was a great spot with gorgeous atmosphere and dark lighting so I didn't take any pictures of my dinner (for fear that nearby diners would dump my phone into my cocktail) so I'll just make this a quick post with pictures which I've pilfered from other sites and yelpers.  

Its menu is designed to be tapas/small plates style so my bff and I shared 5 items and a dessert:

French Onion Soup Dumplings (pic from yelp)

Brunch @ Little Giant

As much as I dislike making my way down to the LES ( its just so hard to get there!), I inevitably find myself heading there all the time for all sorts of reasons.  Recently, thought, its primarily been food and drink related (no shocker here). 

This past weekend, I made my way there for an early brunch at Little Giant.

Front facade of Little Giant

I love that you can make reservations here (even for brunch).  Readers take note though - even though their website says they open at 10am, we had to wait outside until they "opened" at 11am.  Not sure what that was about, but just wanted to give you all a heads up that if you have an 11am reservation and get there early you may end up waiting outside for a bit until they're ready.

The Fat Radish

A year ago, a charming little restaurant called The Fat Radish opened its doors on Orchard Street.  The fare is British and their website advertises a simple, healthy menu with seasonal ingredients.

I had a 9:30PM reservation for Saturday night and while waiting for our table, spotted Ben Towill, the chef and a partner of The Fat Radish, celebrating the restaurant's 1-year anniversary with dear friends and champagne.  How fun!

Even with a reservation on the later side, we waited 30 minutes for our table.  They didn't seem to be efficient in turning over tables as I noticed ours had been empty for nearly 10 minutes before we sat down.

For starters, we ordered the Scotch Egg and the Duck Rillette Terrine.  I recommend both!  The Scotch Egg was unusual in that the whole egg was crusted with meat and fried.  I'm a sucker for anything fried (or heck, even double-fried!) so I enjoyed it, but I think frying it took away from showcasing the freshness of the egg.  The Duck Rillette Terrine had a subtle smoky flavor and was served with onion jam and crispy bread.  The smokiness and soft texture of the terrine was fantastic!

Scotch Egg

Duck Rillette Terrine with Onion Jam and Crispy Bread (Source: StarChefs.com)