You Went to School to Learn, Girl….

Michael Jackson sang it best… “ABC…all about love dear.”

And love it is… I am in love with ABC Kitchen.

This restaurant is a cool, Jean Georges place, located on an obscure block north of Union Square, near ABC Carpet and Home.

A friend recommended this place to me and said it was one of her favorites in the City… ever.

I was told it was practically impossible to get a reservation. I had some luck though…  I called the week before and took an 11 pm seating on a Saturday night.  Not a big deal though, since my group and I were planning to see La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway first.

My party of four walked in on time for our reservation.  The place was dimly lit, almost glowing, with lots of seating at the bar and a cute dining room.  It was sort of a sweet romantic vibe and I leaned in to give my guy a kiss.

The only downside of an 11 pm reservation in NYC is that you don’t want to eat too much that late before going to bed.  Nevertheless, my group and I were able to order some yummy dishes from their seasonal menu to share (although we skipped on appetizers).

I plan to go back to ABC Kitchen again.  This place has delicious, beautiful food, a great wine list and ambiance.  Beyond that, I just want to try more dishes and sample some of their appetizers and salads.

House Cut Fries; Tomato, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Basil Pizza

 

Pasta with Heirloom Tomatoes

Sea Bass

 

Akaushi Cheeseburger with Herbed Mayo and Pickled Jalapeño

ABC Kitchen

35 W. 18th Street (between bway and S.Park Ave)

High-Energy

That is how I describe my mood the past two days I’ve been on the Blueprint Cleanse.

I’m on my second day of JTD (Juice Til Dinner) and starting tomorrow, Day 3, I’ll be on juices only for 3 days.  Starting the cleanse yesterday wasn’t too bad.  I tried to be good and follow the guidelines BPC sends you to prepare you for cleansing.  I cut out meat and stuck with fish for 3 days before I started.  I incorporated a lot more salads and vegetables at every meal.  The one thing I didn’t do was cut out the coffee, sugar, and alcohol until yesterday.

Day 1 went by fast.  I had my first green juice around 9 AM, followed by the PAM (pineapple, apple, mint) yum, around 11 AM.  I consumed juice #3 (another green juice) around 1 PM and #4 (the spicy lemonade, also yum) at 2:30.  At 4 PM, I had the snack.  Seriously, the PAM, spicy lemonade, and snack bars were so good.

After I had the snack, I was either on a crazy sugar high or was really feeling the benefits of the cleanse, because I felt so loopy and giddy, it was unreal.  Normally at this time, I want a salty snack or a coffee because I’m falling aslweep.  By the time I got home last night, I was pretty hungry though.  So I had the delish, raw, vegan meal BPC provided, spacing out each “course” and starting around six pm.  Surprisingly, I felt really full and satisfied pretty much all day.  I felt sort of burpy, but not really gassy most of the day and didn’t go #2 at all on Day 1.

I woke up early this morning and my tummy felt flatter even though I hadn’t gone #2 yet or even had the urge to.  I weighed myself and it seems I lost 1.5 lbs.  Nice.  I drank some green tea and rushed out of the house for an 8 AM appointment for a colonic.  When I got there, I was starving.  After a few sips of the # 1 green juice, I felt better and all hunger went away.

I was really nervous for the colonic, since I’ve never had one before.  Apparently, colon therapy is good for you and helps you to remove toxins or parasites.  It can aid in treatments for various diseases.  Also, only about 10% of Americans have normal colons (according to autopys) and colonics help to promote normalcy if you have any digestive problems at all. Also, colonics are recommended in general if you are partaking in any cleanse.  It helps to get rid of the bad and frees up room inside for digestion of all the yummy juices and raw foods we’re eating on the cleanse.

A colonic, for you newbies, is basically, where a technician or a doctor inserts a plastic tube about 1/2 an inch up your behind.  The tube has 2 branches.  One for flushing with water and one for releasing.  Basically, water is flowing in and out of your behind constantly, for about 40 minutes.  My tech, Doris was great and despite the whole experience being extremely uncomfortable, it never hurt.  <ok, if you are my friend and/or you don’t want to hear about (my) poop, then you should probably stop reading now>.   It was nuts!  It seemed like I was literally going to the bathroom or felt like I was going for 40 minutes straight, there was so much pressure.  The other thing is because she knows where the colon is shaped under my belly, she’d rub different spots to expel gas or to keep things moving along when the colon turns inside.  The whole experience ended with a massive pile of bile (from drinking alcohol) and other waste getting massaged/flushed out of me… pretty nasty.  When you’re done, they direct you to the bathroom where you sort of sit on the toilet and it all comes rushing out.  Almost like explosive diarrea.

After I was done, I was afraid I’d lose it (literally) on the subway on the way to work but I was fine.  The best thing is my tummy felt lighter and less bloated all day.  I pretty much felt amazing all day.  And as twisted as this sounds, I’m looking forward to my second colonic on Monday, to flush out everything as I finish the cleanse.

So now I’m home.  I weighed myself again when I got home and it appears I lost 2 more lbs since this morning.  I must have had 2 lbs of poop come out today

And tonight is my last day of the “food” before I start 3 days of cleansing juice only.  I do have to admit I cheated tonight and ate 1/2 an avocado when I got home (one of the BPC’s cheat foods).  I was pretty hungry when I got off the subway and I figured this is my last day of eating so I might as well go balls out.

So far, I have no regrets at all about starting this thing.  If I feel half as great on Saturday as I do today, then it will all be worth it.

The Blueprint

What do you think about when you hear the word “cleanse”?  I think the word cleanse has connotations of being washed clean and purified.  And that is what I intend to do over the next week, starting June 1.

I jumped on the cleanse bandwagon, when my friend Scott said he was going to cleanse for a few days before heading to the beach in June.  He sent me the link to the cleanse he was thinking about… one that his friends have done in the past, called the Blueprint Cleanse.

I did some research on the site and on the internet in general.  Cleansing is recommended as part of a regular heath routine to promote well being, inside and out. It is supposed to rid your body of impurities and repair your immune system.  It’s also recommended if you’ve gone on a recent binge of food/alcohol and to get you back on track (like I have the past few weeks)!

I myself am planning to ease into a 5 day cleanse by doing a partial juice/food cleanse for 2 days (Juice til Dinner), and then a Foundation cleanse for 3 days.  The Blueprint site mentions that “A three-day Cleanse helps the body rid itself of old built up matter and cleanses the blood. A five-day Cleanse starts the process of rebuilding and healing the immune system.”

To prepare for the cleanse, my friends and I are going to get Colonics of course.  Some folks that have had colonics say they’re the most amazing (although uncomfortable) thing they’ve done in a while.  We do this prior to cleansing so you get a jump start on washing out the built up matter in your digestive system making the intestines free to absorb all the vitamins and nutrients you’ll get in your juices..

I’m really actually excited to start this cleanse.  I’m looking forward to increased energy, fresher skin, and maybe even dropping a few pounds.  I plan to chronicle the next week of the cleanse for any of you who are interested in reading about it or trying it on your own.

A Craft of Genius

A good friend of mine, and local bay area radio personality, Heather Quarterman , for KKIQ came to visit me last week.  She sent me a list of things she wanted to do over FaceBook while in NYC, including “hit up one of Tom Colicchio’s restaurants, he was just named top chef in America.”

I knew I was already a fan of Colicchio’s, having dined at Gramercy Tavern before.  The hard part was whether I wanted to choose Craft or CraftBar though.  After talking to some friends, I realized that Craftbar was a little more affordable and would also be more fun. While I’m sure Craft is delicious, the clientele appears to be stuffier and a bit older.

CraftBar, to put it simply was an amazing dining experience.  The space wasn’t huge, but it is modernly decorated and was bustling inside.  There were people sitting at the bar and a nice sized dining room with probably 20-25 tables.  We were seated at a table for four and introduced to our waiter, Mark.

This is where the night started off right.  Mark, was wonderful.  Funny and charming, he had great recommendations for us from the start.  My dining companions, A, H, and Heather, are self proclaimed “fun eaters” so dinner could have been like wild Wild West.  No limitations whatsoever.  We asked Mark for suggestions and he gave us a list of recommendations that were in line with our thoughts and our palate.  He suggested some things off the extensive menu that were questionable to some of us, but we went for it anyway.

Overall, the food was amazing – each and every dish and course.  While we did have a 1 or 2 items we were not in love with, there were no complaints about anything.  Below, is a sampling of what we ordered.  I guarantee to order these in this exact order the next time I dine at CraftBar.

Spanish Octopus to Start

Smoked Pig Head Terrine, Mostarda - so freaking delish

Soft shell crab risotto

Triple Pork Delight (can't remember the real name) - Pork Belly, Pork Ravioli, Pork Loin

Lemon Panna Cotta with Kumquat

Homemade coconut sorbet and cookies and cream icecream... yum.

This place is highly, highly recommended by me.  Next time you go here, ask for Mark and tell him I say hi.

Face-lift

For the blog, not for me.  Hope you all like it!