January means Restaurant Week in NYC again and, since this very well may be my last winter restaurant week in this fine city, I felt the need to participate. Luckily I can always count on my foodie friend, Mel, for outings such as these. She’s far more responsible than most 25-years-olds, so I left the details up to her. She chose Butter in the East Village, she made the reservation, all I did was show up and eat. But we all know I can eat like a champ. Well, actually, I’ll let you be the judge:
Braised Octopus.
As usual, my date was more adventurous than I as she ordered, and thoroughly enjoyed, this braised octopus dish. I had a bite and, for my first taste of octopus, I must say… I liked it.
Pasta with spicy lamb sausage & yellow tomato sauce.
It looks like mac and cheese, but it’s really a tomato sauce. Clever! This spicy lamb sausage was divine. Potentially my favorite item of the evening.
Roasted salmon with braised lentils
It’s tough for me to overlook a salmon dish on a menu, so I didn’t. And this one came with lentils. It was crispy-skined and flakily tender; me likey.
Braised pork shoulder with a pretzel crumb crust.
This was a heavy dish, but my dainty date devoured it like a baller. By the time dessert came, I was loosening my belt. Classy, I know.
Ginger cookie ice cream sandwich.
But who could resist a ginger cookie ice cream? Not this girl. I’m not made of stone. Although the cookie might have been. It was really quite difficult to eat with a spoon, and this was not the sort of establishment where I could dive in with my hands (much to my chagrin). So’s not to embarrass my date, just my own cutlery skills, I fought the cookie hard and won. I won.
Lemon sorbet with kumquat marmalade.
I didn’t try this lemon sorbet, although it looked tasty and much easier to ingest than my dessert. The savory portions of this meal well made up for the challenging finish. If you’re feeling fancy in the Village, check out Butter. It’s buttery. 🙂
Eat. Read. Ask. Do. Be. 