Del Frisco's Grille

One of my favorite steakhouses is definitely Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House.  When they opened a more casual spot right in Rockefeller Plaza called Del Frisco's Grille I couldn't wait to give it a try! 

Located right in the middle of Rockefeller Plaza (overlooks the ice skating rink), this restaurant is a welcome choice amongst a see of tourist traps in the area.  Dining campadre and I walked in without a reservation on a Saturday night around 8pm and had no problem snagging a table.  Score!

We were immediately greeted by extremely friendly waiters and presented with our menu.  You can get anything from salads and sandwiches to a classic Del Frisco's steak dinner.  While I wouldn't categorize the Grille as 'cheap eats', its definitely more affordable than Del Frisco's (the steakhouse) and is on par with other restaurants in the area (minus the touristy factor thank goodness). 

Menu at Del Frisco's Grille

If you plan on getting cocktails here, they were served strong and in generous glasses.  You'll definitely get your money's worth should you order a drink!

Birthday Steak and Creamed Spinach!

It's hubby JL's birthday today! Happy happy Birthday :)

Hubby JL is pretty easy to please - good food, good wine, good bourbon, and he's a happy man.  We have 10 bottles of really really nice red wine that we collected along our trip to Napa Valley last year.  They have stayed safely nestled in our wine fridge, waiting for special occasions to break them open for.  Well, unfortunately there weren't many blockbuster events this year to commemorate, so there they have stayed. 

Hubby's home-cooked birthday meal

I definitely wanted to open a bottle for hubby JL's birthday, and figured a nice, juicy, rib eye steak would make a perfect pairing for the Frank Family Vineyards 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Frank Family Vineyards 2008 Cabernet Saugignon

Smith & Wollensky

Even though I've been living in NYC for over 8 years, it's actually taken me this long to try one of our city's staples - Smith & Wollensky!  Admittedly not a fan of big steak dinners (I like variety in my entree!), this was a pleasant surprise.

Compared to other steak houses in the city, it's not as modern as places like Del Friscos or BLT Prime.  It feels like an old school steakhouse, but at the same time doesn't exude the same old-time bare bones feel as Keane's does. 

The service was pleasant and our server was attentive.  My only qualm was when he cringed his nose and shook his head when I ordered the Filet Mignon instead of the Rib Steak.  He can cringe all he wants, but I really enjoyed the Filet!!

Appetizers: we ordered the Fried Calamari and the Tomato with Bufala Mozzarella.  Basic choices, they were good but nothing special to note.

Fried Calamari

Tomato & Bufala Mozzarella

And now for the main event - our steaks!  We had the Cajun Spiced Filet Mignon and the New York Cut Sirloin (On the Bone).  The Filet was tender and the cajun sauce was flavorful but not overpowering.  Thumbs up!  The New York Cut Sirloin also got stellar reviews from my fellow diners.

Cajun Spiced Filet Mignon

New York Cut Sirloin (On the Bone)

For sides we had the creamed spinach and onion rings.  Both were good, and before I remembered to grab a picture, there were only bits of food left on the plate! Oops :)

Last but especially not least, what steak dinner is complete without a bottle of red wine?? We loved the Sequoia Grove 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.  Before even tasting it, I knew I would love love love this bottle.  2007 was a stellar year for California Cabernets.  To top that, this wine hails from the Rutherford region in Napa, which I have a biiig soft spot for!

Fun fact: That region yields wines made from grapes which have a distinct character referred to as "Rutherford Dust".  Don't worry, it doesn't actually taste dusty!  In my opinion it does taste earthy, mineral-y and you pick up the tannins that are in the wine.  My favorite wines are from this region, and Sequoia Grove's 2007 Cabernet was no exception.  It was so good that we got another bottle!

Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley

Smith & Wollensky is a traditional steakhouse and the food was done well.  The service was spot on.  Also good wine puts me in a very good mood, so I'll give this a...

Piggy says yes!

Piggy KL

The Palm

On the Tuesday before Thanksigiving, the bf asked me to prepare a "Friendsgiving" dinner for a bunch of his buddies, kicking off the holiday eating spree.  I prepared a fabulous home-cooked feast (including the honey glazed ham that I posted about here) and to thank me, the bf took me to dinner at The Palm!

The Palm is a low key steakhouse - laid-back feel with lots of wooden booths and caricatures on the wall.  No stuffiness here!  You could easily mistake it for an Italian restaurant but they offer a traditional NY steakhouse dinner with all the fixings (and a full bar of course)!

Loved the caricatures on the wall!  (Apologies on the terrible picture - no flash)

This year is the Palm's 85th anniversary and to celebrate they were offering a special anniversary special:

The Palm's 85th anniversary special menu

Cooking: Rosemary Garlic Steak

One of the perks of living in NYC is the endless selection of new restaurants to check out.  The downside, however, is that everything costs moneymoneymoney.  Feeling ambitious, this piggy decided to make her own fancy steak dinner for two, budget style!

One of my favorite food bloggers Jaden Hair from Steamy Kitchen (recommended to me by Piggy KL!) recently posted a recipe for Rosemary Garlic Steak.  It looked simple enough for me to tackle so I decided to give it a go (with some minor adaptions to the recipe by yours truly).  Let’s see how I did, shall we?

Ingredients
2 Steaks (approx ½ pound per person/steak is what I aimed for)
¼ cup olive oil
6 (or more) cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 sprigs rosemary
Salt and pepper

Step 1: Buying and prepping the steak
The meat department at the grocery store is definitely not an area that I'm comfortable roaming through.  After staring aimlessly at all the different cuts of meat (and trying not to gag), I finally asked someone for help.  The butcher man behind the counter recommended two cuts of grass-fed sirloin steaks.  Or was it NY strip steaks?  Aish I don’t remember…either way it was $16.99 a pound and my mother likes to remind me that I overpaid.  But they were nice and red, lean looking (the way I prefer my meat), and just the size I was looking for.

I prepped the steaks the Steamy Kitchen way: salt the steak like crazy on both sides with Kosher salt for about an hour before cooking. This will help tenderize the meat.  [Steamy Kitchen has a GREAT post here with more info and pics on her steak prep method.]

Prepping the steak - saltsaltsalt!

Cooking: Steak Tacos

Sunday football is the norm at my place these days, especially when the Giants or Jets are playing.  Lately we've been watching the games at home and I make some yummy things to nosh on.  This week, hubby requested 'upscale bar food'.  What does that mean??

Scratching my head, I finally decided on Steamy Kitchen's Steak Tacos!  Her recipe doesn't require any sauce, which really intrigued me.  One thing you'll observe from my cooking is I tend to cut down on anything very saucy or heavy.  I like to keep things fresh so the ingredients carry the dish, not the sauce or seasoning.  And so, her Steak Tacos seemed right up my alley!  I tweaked her recipe a bit, so keep reading to see how I made them!

Steak Tacos? Check. Giants? Check.  It's GAME TIME!