Bar Ameri-can't

Every Sunday night, I fall asleep to "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" on the Food Network. Puffy tacos, green chile burgers, and even Asian dumplings, is there anything he can't do? Well apparently, YES.

Went to Mesa Grill a few years back, and wasn't particularly impressed, but decided to give him another chance and headed for brunch at Bar Americain. Was in such a rush that morning, I forgot to bring my camera! Had to make it work with my blackberry.

Love restaurants with open kitchens

And the shellfish cocktails: shrimp-tomatillo, crab-coconut and lobster-avocado were delish
But NOT the shrimp and grits with bacon, scallions and garlic (all I tasted was mush and salt)

And certainly NOT Miss Stephanie's biscuits and cream gravy, sausage & scrambled eggs

No disrespect Iron Chef Flay, but even Ronald McDonald can cook up a better breakfast.

Add to that a bloody mary and a mimosa (mandatory, of course), and the bill came out to $94.67. The best thing about our botched brunch? The bread basket. Now that's just wrong!

***Bar Americain: 152 W. 52nd Street New York, NY 10019 nr. 6th Ave.
http://www.baramericain.com/

OMG DBGB

Stepped out of a cab on the corner of Bowery and Houston and spotted Georgina Sparks! For those of you non-Gossip Girl viewers (you're totally missing out), Michelle Trachtenberg.

Still excited over my celebrity-sighting (I know, I’m a New Yorker, we’re supposed to keep it cool) we headed to DBGB. Can we say the best-burger-I’ve-had-in-a-restaurant-on-the-East-Coast-ever? I’m only saying that to cover my bases since Shake Shack and In-n-Out are technically fast-food joints, and Father’s Office is all the way over in LaLa Land.

We ordered the Yankee with Vermont cheese (no bacon)...
... and the Piggie topped with pulled pork from Daisy May's on a cheddar-cornbread bun.
Tried to work the camera to find just the right lighting, but after several takes, our impatient selves couldn't wait any longer to try the food! We stopped fidgeting with the settings and dove in.

Topped off our meal with a coffee-caramel sundae. I’m pretty sure this replaces Momofuku Ssam Bar as my boyfriend’s new favorite restaurant. Sorry David Chang!

The New York Times also just published a review today.

***DBGB Kitchen & Bar: 299 Bowery St. New York, NY 10003 nr. 1st St.

http://www.danielnyc.com/dbgb.html