Jack's Wife Freda

Last month I made my first visit to the charming restaurant, Jack's Wife Freda. Some friends and I stopped in for lunch and instantly felt right at home.

Jack's Wife Freda is a cozy restaurant located on the very lively Lafayette Street in New York City. The name Jack's Wife Freda was inspired by the owner, Dean Jankelowitz, maternal grandparents. The menu is "based on the recipes of Dean's grandmother and his wife Maya's grandmother." The menu is a combination of the grandmothers recipes using South African and Israeli influences.

 The menu has breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, wine and beer. Check out the full menu here. One of the most popular items is Freda's Matzo Ball Soup, so that is what I had to try and fries of course.

 My friends also choose some delicious dishes like Chicken Prego, grilled chicken breast with smoked paprika aioli and watercress served with hand-cut fries, and Mediterranean Breakfast, 2 eggs any style, chopped salad, labne, avocado and pita bread.

Chicken Prego

Mediterranean Breakfast

Freshly Baked Croissant

Jack's Wife Freda is located at 224 Lafayette Street NY, NY 10012. Next time you are in the mood for some South African and Israeli cuisine head on over!

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Queens Comfort

If you are ever in the mood to completely clog you arteries while enjoying every bite, Queens Comfort is your place. Queens Comfort is a hot spot with the locals and that's exactly how I was told about it. My friend and Astoria local, Phanavanh, introduced me to Queens Comfort last weekend and since then I swear I want to live in Astoria. I maybe exaggerating a tiny bit about moving, but the food was just SO GOOD.

I was planning on reading over the menu when I sat down in the tiny, crowed restaurant but my mind was instantly made up when I glanced at the plate next to me. I said "I'll have that!" The server walked away and I said to Phanavanh "I don't even know what I just ordered." Fear not though, I do have an eye for amazing food after all!

Fried Mac N' Cheese

After a short wait, our food arrived. Phanavanh dove into some fabulous Chicken and Waffles and I had a breakfast sandwich with the best tots ever. The sandwich was scrambled egg, cheese and fried sausage patty with a dollop of a tangy cranberry sauce on an English muffin. OH MY GOODNESS. It was mind blowing and I didn't want it to end. But eventually it did, so we paid then bill and went and got mani pedis. Five star day all the way.

Chicken and Waffles

Breakfast Sandwich

 Queens Comfort is too cool for a website so you'll just have to go there and experience it for yourself. They are located at 4009 30th Ave. Astoria, NY 11103. Call them at 718-728-2350 and have a great time! 

That's my girl Phanavanh AKA: the girl who takes me to the best places!

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Umami Burger

Umami Burger known for their many locations in California. They have now moved East and opened a location in NYC, so last weekend my friend Jill and I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Umami Burger is "The art of creating that perfect mouthful...Experience it for yourself..After one bite you'll accept no substitutions." They like to call it "What you wanted before you even knew that you wanted it...Where YUM is the new WOW!" I couldn't agree more.

After a short wait we were seated and started studying the menu. After reviewing all of the unique burger combinations, I decided on a bacon cheese burger called Manly Burger. Jill went with the Umami Burger that was topped with shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomato and crisp Parmesan. To see all the delicious burgers click here.

MANLY BURGER

UMAMI BURGER

yummy fires!

Jill and I enjoyed these burgers so much! Umami Burger is located at 432 6th Ave. NY, NY 10011. Go get your burger on!

Molly's Cupcakes Are All The Rage

 Love cupcakes? Me to. Glad we got that settled. I actually have such a passion for cupcakes that I went on The Cupcake Tour of New York last winter and now I am going to tell you all about it. Pumped? Me to!

At Molly's Cupcakes not only do they bake up some of the most delicious cupcakes in the city, but they also are giving back to schools in the community with every cupcake sold. And that my friends, makes everything much, much sweeter. A portion of  all sales are donated to schools in the community and cupcakes are donated to school functions and fundraisers. So amazing, right?

 The outside of Molly's Cupcakes is painted like a yellow school bus and inside resembles a classroom that we all wish we could have attended in the 3rd grade. The swinging chairs and walls lined with board games are just a few of the fun accents that lie beyond those bright yellow doors. This unique shop is the perfect excuse for  an afternoon break where you can enjoy a cupcake, latte and a quick game of Chutes and Ladders. This is also a really cute date spot. What is better than cupcakes and board games?

The Game Wall

At Molly's Cupcakes the cupcakes are baked daily in small batches. The cool thing about this shop is if you don't want to try one of there featured cupcakes, you can build your own. Check out the build your own menu below:

So, you don't feel like picking your own cupcake and frosting? No problem. Some of their popular cupcakes are Carrot, Red Velvet, Cookie Monster, Cake Batter, Cookies N Cream, Blue Berry Cheesecake and Mixed Berry. They also have other sweet treats like ice cream, cookies, pies and bars in house.

Molly's Cupcakes

 "Molly loves to party. So invite her to your next one."  At Molly's Cupcakes you can per-order cupcakes for any event...even your Wedding! For more information on Molly at your wedding or upcoming function click here. 

Molly's Cupcakes

 Molly's Cupcakes is located at 228 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014 and thank goodness they are open late to satisfy your after dinner sweet tooth. Today make it a date with Molly and trust me, you won't be sorry.

Annie and I at Molly's Cupcakes.

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Brunch at Clinton Street Baking Company and Restaurant

Clinton Street Baking Company and Restaurant has been voted "Best Pancakes" by New York Magazine two times! But lets not get it twisted, this place is much more than just a pancake joint.

In 2001, husband and wife team Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman, began a journey to be known as having the best baked goods in the city that were hand-mixed in small batches. Today they have most definitely achieved their goal and the success tastes so, so sweet. So sweet in fact, their customer are willing to wait for the goods. The normal wait time for brunch on a Saturday morning is a few hours...and people do it with no hesitation.

When you walk into the tiny restaurant, you see the kitchen and everyone that works in it, all the patrons enjoying their food, the freshly bakes goods in the small case and the employees who look really thrilled to be at work. The case in the front contains all kinds of yummy goodness such as: muffins, cakes, pies, scones, cornbread, etc.

The Brunch, lunch and dinner menu consists of many mouthwatering options like Pancakes with Warm Maple Butter, Clinton Street Omelette and the Fried Chicken Sandwich. For a first-timer like myself deciding what to order was a really tough decision. Luckily, my friend Angela was along for the journey and we shared the Fried Chicken Sandwich and Brioche French Toast. 

So let me guess...this all sounds fantastic but you don't have time for a 2 hour wait for brunch? No problem Clinton Street Bakery delivers. They also have takeout and a fabulous way to pre-order cakes and pies for your next event.

Clinton Street Baking Company and Restaurant is located at 4 Clinton Street NY, NY 10002. For more information visit their website here.

Backyard BBQ in Astoria

This is how we do it.

 The Strand Smokehouse in Astoria, Queens is finger lickin' good. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the city I call home, my friends and I traveled the distance for some good ole' BBQ. The Strand Smokehouse was recommended to me by a friend so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

This spacious smokehouse is lined with long wood picnic tables, huge open windows and is full of people who just love a good BBQ joint.  Among the many unique things about this place, the one that I can't forget about is how they serve water. The water is served in bottles of Jack Daniels in the middle of the tables. Ha!

There are two ways to dine at The Strand Smokehouse. If you go during brunch hours there is table service and if you go after brunch (4:30PM on weekends) its more cafeteria style. We hung out at the bar and waited out the brunch crowd and then lined up for the delicious BBQ.

 Luckily, we jumped in line right when it started to form, otherwise we would have been waiting for a while to get some of this grub. When you get to the front of the line you choose from the Daily Cut & Sides Menu. These change daily but the meats range from pulled pork and beef short ribs to smoked salmon and leg of lamb. The sides also change daily but they have things like mac & cheese, potato salad and jalapeno corn salad.

Chicken BBQ with Macaroni Salad

Brisket and Ribs

Mac & Cheese and Corn Bread

Blueberry Soda

The Strand Smokehouse is located at 25-27 Broadway, Astoria, NY 11106 and the food is so tasty! For more info on The Strand Smokehouse visit their website here.

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Greek Freak

     Two weeks ago my "main squeeze" Annie, made an appearance to the always eventful neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Needless to say we were all happy she made it. Being the very busy lady that she is, she could only pencil me in for 23 hours and boy did we make it count. We started off the evening in the pouring rain watching one of our favorite bands, The Lone Bellow, at the free summer concert series Celebrate Brooklyn! Rain lead to frozen yogurt at 16 Handles (read my post about it here). And that is how we ended up here:

    After a night of laughter we were ready to eat again the next morning and that is when we turned to Anthi's Greek Speecialties at Smorgasburg in DUMBO. In typical Annie and Olivia fashion, we got two things and split them: a Chicken Gyro and a spinach pie called Spanakopita. It was delicious!

     To check out the full menu click here. If you can't make it on Sunday's to Smorgasburg,  you can visit Anthi's Greek Speecialties at 614A Amsterdam Ave. New York, NY 10024 or call them at (212) 787-1007. In conclusion, go be a Greek freak and enjoy this great food!










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