I hath journeyed to the island that is long to celebrate Easter. While I did not retreat back to the island of Manhattan with colored eggs, I did leave with some amazing food still digesting in my belly.
I would like to take a moment to gush about Rockville’s Centre’s Chat Noir. I went to this place years ago and had delightful tea but since then it has expanded to include a second dining room.
Now bring on the biscuits….
First of all-THIS is their bread basket.
We officially started the meal with this cheese plate. I mean GOUDA it get any better? OK, I’ll stop. The purple slab was divine.
With the cheese plate they bring out a warm croissant that literally melts in your mouth.
For my main course I went with their deconstructed chicken condon bleu. Ham, fontina, creamy mushroom sauce, risotto. It-was-SO GOOD. The risotto was a welcome pairing but I confess I could not finish this all in one sitting. Definitely plan on having lots o’ leftovers.
My mother opted for the lobster ravioli.
That plating tho. To top it all off the prices are FANTASTIC.
I give it two paws up. If you’re in The Rockville Centre hood jaunt over to Chat Noir.
This past weekend, in honor of Stephanie’s birthday we embarked toward the historical Mecca Philadelphia. Laden with broken bells and brotherly love we attempted to eat, drink, and learn our way through most of the four days and fairly succeeded. Here’s but a small glimpse into our somewhat epic journey.
Amtrak bound and partially sweating from the unexpected humidity we landed in 30th Street Station Friday dumping our bags at the Air B&B and immediately headed to Big Philly Beerfest. The Philadelphia Convention Center is vast and so….clean. This is not my first time to a beer event rodeo-there are plenty of these festivals in NYC but in Philly there was room to move and see all of the vendors present. I was still in the midst of a cold that encouraged my face to leak often and without warning so I wasn’t the best human to be judging the party mode for Beerfest but I still give it two resounding mugs up.
Check it out if you’re in The Reading Terminal Market hood next year.
The following day we had two more adventure friends join us and then my phone turned off. Not died, do not mistake this….it turned off. Mind you, this is an IPhone X that I just got a couple of weeks ago for Christmas (thanks Mom) so you can imagine my chagrin when it straight up Irish exited on its 80% of power it still had left. Sadly, as a result-I couldn’t get any pics of the brunch at Harp&Crown which is a shame because it was delightful. Sorry Harp&Crown….next time. However, the hostess did note that they modeled the buffet style after The Roxy in NYC. The presentation was nothing short of an upcycle Pinterest board and our server was accommodating so I definitely say here here to a stop at Harp & Crown.
We went to the Apple store after brunch and magically my phone was turned back on. If your iPhone X turns off you have to turn the sound on and off and then hold your two buttons to restart. Why? I don’t know. Ask an apple genius. I’m still confused but it has remained on since.
Next stop was a cute wine bar and it had this painting near the bathroom. I was mostly smitten with the painting so I won’t tell you the name of the wine bar. 
So, apparently there was an Eagles game on and the city seemed fairly jazzed about it so we did as the locals do and wandered around to find a sports bar to yell and scream at the TV in. All of us had a players name to use as ammunition and they won. Did we have anything to do with it? Nope. But it was sure fun to pretend we did.
The bar was really classy. As you can clearly tell.
The next two days were sight seeing. The Museum of The American Revolution, The Ben Franklin Museum, The Liberty Bell, The Mutter Museum, The African American Museum, we were machines of knowledge. Here’s some of my fave moments from our serious learning.
I have also included Allison drinking wine because I like this candid shot of her and wine can be educational.
I would say we definitely had our Phil of all that is historical for right now. Until next time Philly, fly like an eagle.
You were so merry and sometimes bright. I shall always have this commemorative wine glass to remember you by……
When I was a kid, we would pilgrimage to The Catskill Game Farm every summer where I would run around like a sprite saturated in gummy juice feeding any llama that would give me the time of day.
It was heaven.
When the Game Farm shut down in 2006-the nostalgic five-year old permanently living inside of me was devastated. I was elated to know that a small piece of the essence of the Game Farm was saved when down the road they opened The Baliwick Discovery Zoo.
So now, I give you-
An adult women petting animals. You’re welcome.
Just two weeks back-I had a magical journey during Disney’s Princess Marathon Weekend. My lady bro Caitlin Bajo ran a half marathon! Her very first. We character breakfasted, spent some much needed time with the muppets, had Ratso Rizzo Pizza, and had a glimpse of some of the first topiary’s being planted around Epcot for their Garden Festival.
This fun could not have been accomplished without Jane, Caitlin, Stephanie, and Danielle as seen by our epic photo collage below.
I am one proud pumpkin mama.
I love Fall-the pumpkins, the apples, the never terrifying haunted hayrides. I sojourned to Stew Leonard’s this Sunday to pick out this bad boy.
This past week I’ve spent most of my days feeling jet lagged. Staring with tired eyes at back episodes of Top Chef to help me sleep….I realized it was because I had the privilege of directing my first short film Reunion written and starring the talented Jane Cortney, Mac Brydon, and Earle Hugens. Equally produced by Jane Cortney and Mac Brydon, with shout outs to the DP Peter Pavlakis, sound dude Eric Romary, and awesome production assistant Lilly Abedin. I think she’s discovered muscles in her arms that she never knew were there. Forget zumba, I see a future in core training holding lights on boom poles for prolonged periods of time.
Shooting for hours-my internal time clock was permanently stunted at 3am. It was a great experience as seen-
Mac Brydon and Earle Hugens pause to adopt the traditional man lean pose while waiting for their next take.
Pretty sure this was on the closer side of 2am.
And finally the elusive clapboard with my name on it. The weeks leading up to the shoot I was silently terrified of doing something I hadn’t yet ventured to do. I even bought a book and highlighted it like a fourth grade science test.
However, the experience was invigorating and fun. I will continue to try new things-
Except cockroaches covered in chocolate. I’m gonna take a pass on those.
Lords and ladies-prepareth for an icy treat only worthy of the royalty.
Seriously-someone call medieval times so they can open this establishment next door.
I dare you to eat it with your hands.
