Good & Hearty Foods West of Eighth

in love with Tipsy Parson's coupes

I'm starting off with a photo of my glass of off-dry prosecco at Tipsy Parson because as Mireille Guiliano says: Wine is food. 

THURSDAY I met with my good friend, Danny for 'brunch' at Tipsy Parson. With recent service being up-and-down, I decided to stop being so modest and made a reservation on OpenTable with the self-serving note: Maître d' at ████████, looking forward to another tasty experience at Tipsy! Without having to utter a word, the maître d' directed us to the best table in the house...

A leisurely day off for both Danny and myself, we ordered casually, beginning with the soup of the day: roasted cauliflower.

a hearty soup du jour

The soup was wonderfully hearty and delicious. I wouldn't be surprised if I'd learned that the soup contained mostly heavy cream. Still recasting after a succession of holiday festivities, I decided upon having something green and leafy for my main course (but with good flavor too). After asking our server how the spinach salad, with goat cheese, toasted pistachios, pickled red onions, grilled housemade bacon and warm bacon vinaigrette was, he confirmed: It's good--bacon with bacon.

done simply; and simply good

While the thick cuts of bacon were the highlight of the dish for me, the other ingredients in the salad married well--it was a simple salad that was simply good. Nearly, but not completely finishing the dish (which was a larger salad than I'm used to having), I decided I needed some bread and placed a final order for a buttermilk-chive biscuit with honey butter.

a charming presentation

After sharing my biscuit with Danny, we headed across the street to Three Tarts Bakery + Boutique for a macaron demo, tasting and book signing where we sampled tasty macarons and prosecco while watching pastry chef (and cookbook author) Kathryn Gordon demonstrate macaron-making at home for the shoulder to shoulder crowd.

SUNDAY, I decided to use the remainder of my Cookshop gift card to bring home dinner for David and me.

While others were watching Super Bowl,
David and I were having a super feast!

condiments

From Cookshop's brunch menu, I selected a variety of dishes: pozole soup with braised pork shoulder, hominy and jalapeño crème fraîche; frittata with roasted mushrooms, smoked mozzarella and Tuscan kale; and a Cabot cheddar griddled cheese sandwich with candied pecans, honey crisp apples and whole grain mustard. (a salad of bitter greens was included as well) 

escarole and radicchio salad

David decided to start with the griddled cheese sandwich which was a hearty little sandwich filled with a generous portion of sliced apples and a plentiful smear of whole grain mustard.

griddled cheese sandwich

and its interior view

Next, we tasted the frittata--of which half, I cut into small triangles and the remainder, I saved for the following day.

kale, mushroom and smoked mozzarella frittata

The frittata was also a hearty bite and David had mentioned that it'd been a long time since he'd had mushrooms this good! Moving on, I ladled out and dressed my portion of pozole soup with the accompanying crème fraîche, pickled red onions and crispy tortilla strips.

doesn't it look good?

it gets even better...

The hearty soup was fully-flavored and had the most delicious hominy I'd ever tasted! (granted, it was my first time) As with the frittata, there was enough pozole leftover for at least a single serving. I then told David that dessert was up to him and he responded by toasting a handful of almonds and pulling out a bottle French sparkling he'd picked up on his way home that evening.

nearly like a prosecco

We enjoyed the fresh-toasted almonds with some chocolates from our cupboard and the "Veuve du Vernay" (whose label read "crisp and fresh") had a sweet aroma and taste, but it was of a natural sweetness, not a sugary one. Not bad, but it reminded me more of a prosecco than it did a French sparkling.

Tipsy Parson, 156 Ninth Avenue, Chelsea
Cookshop, 156 Tenth Avenue, Chelsea