Food photos I've neglected lately

For some reason, I've been neglectful of several restaurants I've vistited recently where I had really tasty food.  I'll try to remedy that now.

I finally stopped by the new wine bar in Astoria - DiWine.  It's only a couple of blocks from my apartment and I've meant to go for...forever.  Usually, when I pass by the restaurant, it's packed with loud people.  For some reason, on this night, it was completely empty.  Yay for me!  So, I dropped by and had one server all to myself.  Unfortunately for me, it was not the devastatingly attractive young man who waited on the couple who came in after me.  Oh well...

I started off with a glass of malbec, which was delicious, then I got a personal pizza.  The menu here is very meat-heavy, and I wasn't really in the mood for a big fish entree.  So a mushroom and basil pizza sounded good to me.  And it was.  It might've been a little too cheese-y (yes, there is such a thing), but the crust was good and the mushrooms were tasty.  I'd definitely order it again.  The vibe of DiWine is nice--the music isn't too loud and the lighting is all by candle (to loosely quote The Nanny, after a certain age, a woman's best lighting is by candle and/or moon...).  So thumbs up on DiWine.  I'll definitely be back, though, again, it's not an everyday place.  The prices are a little high for my neighborhood, in my humble opinion.

For my birthday, some pals and I went to West Bank Cafe.  I love West Bank Cafe.  They always have a nice wine list and very tasty food.  When we got there, our server promptly informed us that the deep fryer was down, so no fried foods.  Hmmmm.  Well, I guess we wouldn't be getting the risotto ball appetizer.  Oh well.  Instead we shared the guacamole and the truffled mac & cheese.  Yummmmm!  That mac & cheese was to die for.  I know it looks like soup in the photo, but it wasn't nearly that runny.  The pasta was orzo and it had gruyere, fontina and parmesan cheeses, with a little truffle oil on top.  It was rich and earthy and delicious.  I don't think I could ever eat an entire dish of it by myself, but it was great to have a third of it.

I was going to be a good vegetarian for my entree and get their spaghetti squash dish, but I just couldn't resist getting scallops.  Hey, it was my birthday!  :)   And boy, was I glad I got this dish!  We have another candidate for best dish of 2012.  It was yum yummy.  The scallops were served on top of a velvety celery root puree, along with some pan-roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash.  All around the dish was a pomegranate vinaigrette along with some pomegranate seeds.  Wow!  The acidity of the vinaigrette really cut through the richness of the puree and the meatiness of the scallops.  And the seeds were a great crunch element.  It was really just a perfectly balanced dish for me.  Thumbs WAY up.

For dessert, I got my uber-favorite, the frozen lemon mousse with a toasted meringue on top, and candied pistachios and fruit compote on the bottom.  I LOVE this dessert.  Plus, look how prettily they decorated it for my birthday!!   Sorry about the bite being missing, I just had to have a taste immediately.  :)

When I got back from my work travels, I met with my darling GNO angels for a dinner at Pigalle.  We used to go to Pigalle a lot, so when we went this time, we were a little startled to see the prices were significantly higher.  So we probably won't be stopping there as we used to.  Maybe it's our fault the prices went up - their volume went down when we stopped going more regularly...

Anyway, I got the fish special of the evening, pan-seared tilapia, with basil mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach.  It was very yummy, if nothing really special.  In fact, the spinach was VERY underseasoned, so I didn't finish it once the delicious buerre blanc was gone.  But the mashed potatoes were tasty and the fish was well-cooked.  Plus, sorry to be coarse, but it was $10 less than the other fish entrees on the menu!  That's crazy!

Prices did not deter us from getting the chocolate mousse cake for dessert.  We just shared it.  In the interest of fiscal responsibility.  ;)   It was rich and delicious.  We also got a scoop of coffee ice cream, which came with a little container of hot fudge.  Jeepers, that hot fudge was amazing!  I immediately put a mini-spoonful of it in my cappuccino!  Sorry I didn't get a photo...

That's all the food stuff that's fit to print for now.  I'll just end with some photos I got on various planes lately.  Not that they have anything to do with food.  I just like plane photos.  Enjoy!