The Nutcracker

I've been meaning to go watch The Nutcracker at the NYC Ballet for years but have not been in town or had the time to go during the holiday season, so I'm glad I finally made it this year.  I haven't seen this ballet since I was a kid, but I love the music (who doesn't??  it's Tchaikovsky!), and it's such a classic, that adult me had to go at some point.

And...now that I have, I can say that it was fun and festive, and I can see how it's a great production for kids, but adult me prefers Swan Lake.  The first act of The Nutcracker actually had relatively little ballet, and it seemed like more of a play and acting.  There are also a lot more children in the ballet than I remember (not good or bad, just an observation, but perhaps that's also why there's not as much dancing).  The second act has most of the "popular" songs, and the Sugar Plum Fairy was a lovely dancer.  As a side note, the Playbill notes definitely made me appreciate some of the dances more.

Overall, it was enjoyable and lighthearted, but it wasn't as amazing as I had remembered.  That said, for those who have never seen it, I'd still recommend going one of these years, unless you're Scrooge and hate the holidays.

Sushi Seki

We tried the Seki sushi dinner (sushi pieces with Seki's special toppings on the fish), as the non-traditional pairings seem to be the hype here.  It was good on average, but there's a lot of good sushi places in the city, and I wouldn't call this my favorite (but wouldn't mind going back to try the omakase).

What I liked -- yellowtail jalapeno and spicy scallop roll were my favorites.  The spicy scallop roll didn't come with the dinner, but we swapped it out for $2 extra, and it was worth it.  The spicy tuna roll was also better than average.  The smoked salmon sushi was flavorful; the hint of smokiness complemented the fattiness of the fish.

The tuna with tofu sauce was good but not amazing, considering that seems to be a specialty item, and the "famous" salmon with sauteed tomato was a let down for me...the flavors didn't seem to gel at all, and the salmon tasted bland next to the acidity of the tomato.  The eggplant was pretty tasty actually, but I would've preferred another fish.  And the chopped toro sushi was fine, but a whole piece of toro would've been better (obviously).  The rice was a bit hard/undercooked for me personally.  Other pieces good but not super memorable.

Roast Chicken Recipe

Back in 2013, Buzzfeed put out a wonderful "Ultimate Roast Chicken Tournament" to find the best roast chicken recipe.  Thanks to them, I don't feel the need to experiment on my own, and I'm quite happy that the winning recipe (Thomas Keller's) is super simple and requires only 3 ingredients.  Sold.  Winning recipe below for reference, but feel free to try the other 7 if you wish!

Ingredients
One 2-3 lb chicken
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Instructions
Let chicken come to room temperature (remove from fridge at least 45 minutes before roasting).  Preheat oven to 450F.

Dry chicken very well on outside and inside.  Sprinkle salt and pepper inside chicken cavity.  Truss chicken.  Then season outside of chicken with lots of salt and some pepper.

Place chicken breast side up on a rack over a roasting pan.  Roast in oven for 50-60 minutes.

Let chicken sit on cutting board for 15 minutes before removing twine and carving.

Beef & Pepper Open-Faced Sandwich Recipe

Ingredients
1 lb thinly sliced beef
2 small baguettes
5 oz green peppers (or shishito peppers)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic

Instructions
Halve the baguettes.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toast.

While the baguette toasts, heat olive oil in a medium pan and cook peppers until browned and slightly softened.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer peppers to a plate.

In the same pan, heat olive oil until hot, and then add thinly sliced beef in a single layer and cook without stirring, 1-2 minutes or until browned on the first side.  Add red wine vinegar.  Cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds to 1 minute, until beef is cooked through.

Peel and mince garlic, then smash until it resembles a paste.  Combine with mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spread onto toasted baguette.  Top with cooked beef and peppers.

Sugarfish

Pretty good value, but by far not the best sushi in NYC and not worth waiting for.  The fish selection was pretty generic; the size of fish a bit larger than average, and the flavor and freshness of fish was also average.  The rice was warm and more vinegary than usual, which I liked (I love the taste of sushi rice, but the rice flavor was a bit strong relative to the fish).  My favorite item was the crab handroll, which was the only thing that was a little bit different than most other places.

Le Botaniste

For those who don't know, this is a vegan place.  The food was decent, but I was disappointed (was expecting better based on the reviews).  We tried the Tibetan Mama Rice Bowl, Spicy Chili sin Carne, and Vegetable Tajine.  I think the chili was the most flavorful, the Tibetan curry was fine, but nothing special about the vegetable tajine.

We also tried a sample of the hummus and red beet caviar, but I didn't like the texture and it didn't taste that great, so we didn't order.  They also had samples of the quinoa cookie, which also had a strange texture, so we passed on dessert.

Bar Primi

Carbo-licious and great service.  

Piccolini -- we had the rice balls and the ricotta crostino.  Rice balls were perfectly fried and crispy, and you can't go wrong with truffle honey in general (on the crostino).  The smell of truffle was quite strong but the taste was mainly sweet (from the honey).

Apps -- tried the stuffed meatballs, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower and enjoyed all.

Pastas -- had the bucatini (my favorite pasta made better with lamb), squid ink campanelle (nice and creamy with generous portion of crab), orecchiette, and fusilli (a bit sweeter than I was expecting, but I didn't mind the different flavor profile in contrast to the others we ordered).  All nicely al dente.

Dessert -- didn't order this time around, but I remember having the tiramisu last time (it's been a while), and it was delicious but not very pretty (but that's okay).