NYC Tastes

Hidden on the edge of the Financial District sits Temple Court; Tom Colicchio's lesser known restaurant inside the stunning Beekman Hotel.  This sleek little spot specializes in classic American food using the fresh seasonal ingredients.   I wanted to order everything on the RW menu; creamy Burrata with heirloom squash and pesto, Mussels steamed with saffron and Gnudi with shaved Brussels sprout, Granny Smith apples and sage. To be quite honest, if a dish mentions both sage and brown butter, I'm always going to order it and these little pockets of cheesy potato gnudi were the perfect vessel for that explosive flavor combination.    Onto entrees a beautiful Skate Meuniere dressed with lemon, capers and a trio of roasted cauliflower.  Restaurant Week which ends in a few days, so make those lunch/dinner plans now before time runs out. Temple Court 5 Beekman Street New York, NY 10038 

Ahhhh...summer restaurant week. The perfect excuse to take off a few hours from work and have a long leisurely lunch somewhere new.  Or in this case somewhere old- Tom Colicchio's very first restaurant Craft.  This has been a staple in my neighborhood since way back in 2002.  I was honestly a little surprised to see it on the Restaurant Week list and with such a great menu of options.  My friend and I had a little trouble deciding what to order but in the end I think we choose extremely well.  To begin Fluke Crudo with melon, pickled ginger and cilantro... ...and Chilled Zucchini Soup with sweet corn, gold bar squash and shrimp. I eat a lot  of Fluke Crudo (being that it's on just about every menu these days) and this version was excellent.  I absolutely hate cilantro so I took that off but the dish didn't suffer a bit. The melon and jalapeno gave a spicy, fruity punch to the fish and the seeds added a satisfying crunch to each bite....