Holy Hot Sauce, Batman!

Just around the corner from my work... How many times have I said this now? Yes, really, my office is just around the corner from some amazing restaurants, I swear. Being only a block and a half off of one of the more famous pedestrian malls does have it’s advantages. Or, disadvantages, as I start looking at how much I’ve spent on food since I started working downtown!

Nonetheless, just around the corner from my work is a GREAT Mexican cantina, called Viva Taqueria. Normally, I wouldn’t be so blasé about labeling a restaurant as Mexican. As my husband loves to tell me, most “Mexican” food in this corner of the U.S. is more accurately described as “Tex-Mex.” If you want the real deal, and great food to boot, either go to Mexico, or visit San Francisco’s Mission district and go to “Gracias Madre.” But, that’s another blog post in the future, during guest city month.

So, one of the other girls and I walked down to get takeout. Their menu is small, but has enough so that everybody has something to choose from. Combinations are endless, though, and vegetarians and vegans can easily dine here, with just a word or two to the server - and on most orders, you wouldn’t even need to do that.

I ordered their Super Beef Nachos, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I could also order extra sour cream and guacamole is two ounce and four ounce quantities. As I am a condiment whore, I was excited that, for once, I would be able to enjoy my whole plate of nachos without being bummed out that I’d already finished the yummy sides. Their menu lists these nachos as “chips, refried beans, cheese, jalapeños and salsa fresca, with beef, sour cream and guacamole.”

And before I get any further, let me discuss their hot sauce. There have three flavors: green, red, and orange. Yes, I typed that correctly. They list it as colors, but really means that green is their mild, red is their medium, and orange is their hot. The girl I walked down to Viva with literally filled up about half of a medium soda to-go cup with the orange. But, I can’t really fault her for liking the hot stuff - she’s from Texas. I got a small container of all three so that I could try them all.
Once we were back in our comfortable office, I commenced demolishing the entire plate of nachos. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you. The beef was flavorful and the cheese insanely yummy. Oh, and honestly, I could eat their guacamole straight, just with a fork out of it’s container. It was that good.

As for the hot sauces, I found the green to be a little bit sweet and the red was only just a little tingly on my tongue. The orange was just this side of habanero-spicy, but induced a very nice sinus clearing heat. Just the kind I like.
I have been back numerous times, both as take out, and once to actually sit in and enjoy the atmosphere. I would highly recommend Viva to anyone who needs a quick fix of hot sauce, or just some really great refried beans.

First Day of Work Equals Celebratory Sushi! Doesn't It?

After my first day of work, I was beat. Not only had I gotten downtown forty minutes before I was scheduled to start work - mostly due to me not being able to read a bus schedule - but I had also put in a nine hour day after two and a half weeks of sitting around on my butt, “vacationing.” All of the new terms and things I had to wrap my head around left my brain mushy and I was not up to cooking my standard gourmet meal. 

So, I convinced the husband that sushi was a perfect idea, and there was a place right around the corner! Kyushu is nestled into a strip mall, between an Applebee’s and an out-of-business Blockbuster. 

A few other couples were there - not too many people. It’s a definite hole-in-the-wall place.
We half watched the hibachi demonstration - it’s the same everywhere. Once you see it once, it loses a whole lot of something. One little kid was scared by the giant fireball they do in the beginning. I think she may have gotten a little singed because she was awful close the the work surface. If you’re into hibachi, or know someone who has never seen it, it’s a treat to watch your friend rather than the chef.


I ended up ordering three rolls because it wasn’t all that expensive. They came to me on a very prettily arranged plate. I eyed the small ball of wasabi. I was not impressed with it’s size. I’m a big fan of spicy food that cleans out the inside of your sinuses, so I LOVE wasabi. The amount they game me ended up being juuuust enough to please me. 

The first roll I tackled was your standard Avocado roll. I really should know better by now than to order these. I’m much more a fan of sushi rolls with rice on the outside, not nori. I have to admit they were pretty bland, but that’s pretty much what you get across the board, I suppose. 

The second roll was an Ithaca Roll, which I will never again order from this place. The main ingredient was octopus and it was very much on the chewy side. I know octopus hard to make, but if it’s going to be your “signature” dish, work on the prep a little more. 

The last roll I had was a Philadelphia Roll, which they actually managed to pull off pretty well. Normally you drown in cream cheese in those things, but this one was light and the smoked salmon was light and very flavorful.

All in all, I’ll probably not be going back as I’ve heard there’s a much better sushi place that delivers. The only thing stopping me from ordering there tonight is that Husband is on a home-cooked meal kick. I’ll have to suffer through until he’s done with it. Can’t wait to review the other establishment, though!

Tapas on the Town

Finally, this week, I get to write about a dinner meal that I had. My husband and I, and a work colleague of the husband, all trooped down from campus to “Just a Taste,” which is located just off the Commons. I had been looking forward to trying this restaurant out, as I walk by it nearly everyday, but had never been able to go in. I hate to start off my review with a negative comment, but I have to. Just a Taste is only open for dinner! I was very disappointed when I first realized this. To me, tapas is also a great meal for lunch - not just dinner.

However, as the work colleague was willing to get out of Collegetown for some eats, we stopped by Just A Taste. We got there early - which is what I recommend you do as well. They do not take reservations and seating (at least inside) is incredibly small. Definitely not for the claustrophobic.
There are two things that you should know about this restaurant, in addition to their no reservation policy. First, they have a rotating menu. You can view a sample menu online, but there is no guarantee that any of the dishes on that sample will actually be served that evening. Second, they also tout themselves as a wine bar. I will have to disagree with them to a point. For me, a wine bar is for tasting new wines. While they do have a few flights, they do not have a lot of wines by the glass. I saw some very interesting wines on their menu that I would have loved to try, but they were only sold by the bottle and as I was eating with two teetotalers, I wasn’t about to get roaring drunk.

So, since we got there early, we were seated immediately and with a pretty good people watching view. The front of the restaurant is very small. I was told there was also a outdoor deck to seat customers at as well, however with the weather being hot and sticky for most of the summer, none of us thought sitting outside was a good idea.

To start us off, the three of us ordered their cheese plate. From what I understand, this changes from time to time, to highlight new cheeses. We had a delicious, if slightly salty, manchego cheese and another, softer cheese that I couldn’t remember the name of to save my life. Served with jam, almonds, and toast points, it was a nice, if a little messy first course.

The boys both ordered the Cuban Soya Beef, and I ordered the Roasted New Potatoes, the Sauteed Brown Butter Squash, and the Grilled Asparagus. While I only had a bite of the beef, which was a little too rich for my tastes,  the boys both zoomed through theirs, and made appropriate “yummy” noises.
The roasted new potatoes were excellent - very simple, very rustic. They sort of melted in your mouth. The squash was prepared in a way I’d not tried before, by sauteing in brown butter. I definitely plan on trying to recreate the dish. The last dish I tried were the grilled asparagus. I was disappointed when the dish arrived to find fat, green stalks. Although, when we went, it was after the season, so I’ll give that dish a pass. It would have been fantastic two months earlier. 

All in all, the food was interesting, if rustic, and the idea of an every changing menu is very intriguing to me. I’m sure I’ll be back soon to try some new dishes. However, Just a Taste doesn’t muster up to my expectations of a wine bar, so I’m not sure I’d bring my wino friends with me.

Post Tomorrow, I Swear!

After a very long weekend visiting and celebrating, I haven't had time to finish up my post for today. I'm going to try really hard to get it done tomorrow. Thanks for understanding! 

Lunch on the Commons

During the whirlwind of a month leading up to our move to fair Ithaca from dreary Connecticut, I interviewed for several jobs, all in one day. Let me tell you, driving five hours one way for one interview - totally not worth it. Driving five hours one way for two or three interviews, getting closer to worth it.

Eventually, I managed to score two interviews in one day. I planned them far enough apart that I was able to take a break for lunch. As lunch is usually my first meal of the day, I usually try to plan for time, accordingly. I had scheduled a leisurely two hour block of time.

Simeon’s is on a busy corner of the Ithaca Commons, and has a great set of windows to people watch out of. I actually ended up people watching the people inside, but probably only because there were closer and much, much louder. It was interesting to watch and listen to power lunches and casual acquaintance conversations mingle.

I studied the menu fairly intensely, as it was really something to behold - especially for lunch. There were salads, burgers and a vast array of sandwiches. Okay, so it wasn’t the biggest menu I’ve ever seen for lunch, but it seemed carefully thought out and well-executed, if nothing else.

Keeping in mind that I was going to need one hand free to read my book (“Tips for Eating Alone” - there must be another blog post in there somewhere!), I chose their Asian Shrimp Salad. Their online menu describes it as: “Spring greens, julienne peppers, carrots and red onion tossed with an Asian vinaigrette topped with 3 jumbo glazed shrimp & crispy noodles.”

I also order a glass of wine, at the suggestion of the server. I honestly wish I had written down the name of the wine. It was so good, and it was on a special that day - it wasn’t normally sold by the glass. I was very impressed by the claret color of it and the dry bite to it.

When the salad came, I had to make a face. It was piled so high, with the shrimp perched precariously on top, that the server was having a hard time getting up the two stairs to the mezzanine that I was sitting on without dropping the whole plate to the ground. I had an equally difficult time not knocking he whole thing to the ground when I went to dig into it.

All that being said, it was an amazingly flavored salad. The dressing that it was tossed in was both spicy and tangy on my tongue. The greens and other vegetables were fresh and I’m pretty sure local. The only complaint I had about the salad was that the shrimp were rubbery. I do have to give some leeway to the chef on this - shrimp are a tough little creatures to cook. But, if this is a staple of your menu - it’s on the dinner menu as well - then learn how to cook the shrimp a little better.

However, it was an enjoyable lunch.Thinking that my meal was over, I was surprised when the server came over, carrying a wire rack full of frosted shot glasses. She explained that they do desserts in shot glasses. I chose the white chocolate cheesecake. I was very impressed with the velvety texture and deep flavor of the cheesecake.

The bill came for me all too soon - not because the server was pushy, but I was lost in my own world reading and didn’t realize how long I had been sitting there. While the wine, salad and dessert was excellent, I was very surprised by two things. The first, that the cheesecake was free. I don’t know if it was a glitch, as I haven’t been back yet. The second, that my “special” glass of wine cost me $13. Now, I don’t begrudge the pricing of wine, but when you tell me something is on special, I expect it to be under $10.

All in all, though, the wine was good, the salad fresh and tangy, and the dessert creamy and excellent. I will definitely be going back for dinner at some point, to sample their dinner menu, but I will be ordering wine from the menu where I know how much it costs. Enjoy this place, though, it’s nice for a slightly upscale lunch or for a date night dinner.

A Pub for Lunch is a Pub for Me

When I first started at my new job in a downtown office, I told myself that I was going to be good. Both in the monetary sense and the eco-friendly sense. I was going to ride the bus to work and pack my lunch everyday.

With the fantastic TCAT system that Ithaca employs, I have stuck to the first half of my pledge. I’ve actually found riding the bus to be a calming experience. I’m not sure it will stay that way once the students are back this Fall, but, at least until then, I’m enjoying it.

Packing my lunch lasted all of one day. The fantastic smells from the around the corner were wafting towards me in a very enticing way. My second day of work found me at Kilpatrick’s Publick House for lunch.

I walked from the sidewalk, into what seemed to be the side door. I found out it was actually, “technically” the back door, as Kilpatrick’s adjoins the Hilton Garden Inn, with whom they share the building with. I found it to be slightly odd set up. I couldn’t help but think that on a very busy night, that door would bottleneck very easily if there were to be an emergency. However, I didn’t let this thinking deter me from promised to be an delicious meal.

I was led to a nice table near the window, which was especially nice as the weather was looking very doom and gloom. I was hoping to get a quick glance at the promise of hail later in my lunch time.

The menu, while small, was surprisingly foodie oriented. I was expecting burgers, fries and fish and chips. While they had all of those, there was also a baked brie platter and a spinach salad with candied pecans. I was rather impressed.

I settled on their Build Your Own Burger item, mostly because I was craving to meat. Basically, this item is just a burger on their handmade foccacia bread and you can add toppings from their list: lettuce, tomato, red onion, herb mayo, hickory smoked bacon, sauteed mushrooms, and your choice of cheese: cheddar, Swiss, provolone, or American. As I was starving, and everything sounded good, I got everything. The whole kit and caboodle. My choice of cheese came down to the fact that I’m a Vermont girl at heart - I wanted cheddar. I forgot to ask if it was Vermont cheddar.

The most important thing to me about getting and enjoying a burger in a restaurant is their ability to under-cook the meat. I’m one of those people who like their beef rare. Most burger places are so afraid of food poisoning, salmonella, etc, that the make a hockey puck out of a perfectly good piece of ground meat.

(There are people who, when given the choice about the rareness of their ground beef, will still request a hockey puck. I had one friend who would literally say that to the waitperson: “I want it hockey puck well done.”)

Getting back on topic, when the burger came, it was fantastic. Very, very messy, but utterly great. It was juicy and all of the toppings were well cooked and flavorful. The only problem I had with it was there was maybe too many toppings. As I reached the last few bites of my burger, bits were falling out, a little tomato and onions, but it wasn’t too much.

The one thing that I like the most about this burger was a a little thing, but I’d never seen it done on before. The sauteed mushrooms were glued to the top bun of the burger by the melted cheddar cheese. It was a nice surprise to not have to chase the mushrooms around the plate and just enjoy them with the burger.

I am very much looking forward to going back to this restaurant soon. As it’s within a rock’s throw from my building, I’d say that I have a pretty good chance of going again. I think it would also be an interesting visit during the evening to sample their choice of beer - something I really can’t do during a lunch visit.

Welcome, and Hello!

I feel I should introduce myself.

My name is Jen, and my husband (Ben) and I just moved to Ithaca, NY so that he could pursue his career. Ithaca so far has been lovely, beautiful and a little bit hot! I understand that I shouldn't complain what with the snow that's going to be here in only a couple of months.

But, as you can imagine - this town has some breathtaking views.

But, this blog was not destined to be about waterfalls and nature.

After my first week here, I have already visited five restaurants and I'm dying to tell people about them. Naturally, I decided to blog about it. Little did I realize that this city was a foodie Mecca when I first signed up to move out here.

There are literally close to a hundred restaurants up for one's perusal within city limits. It's an absolute treat to be near so much food. I, of course, realized that I was in over my head - I was a foodie in a superfoodie city.

Hence, I will try to entertain you with my restaurant reviews, food pictures and the occasional recipe from my own kitchen - we do have an excellent farmer's market here.

If anyone has any must eat-at locations, feel free to let me know - I'd love to do a request review.

Until I get the hang of this whole gig, my plan is to blog once a week, on Sundays. I'm a little early this week, but not by much.

Thanks for reading!