Hi friends, welcome back! We recently had the best time celebrating Jon’s birthday! He had an especially great day because his birthday fell on a Saturday. We started the day off our favorite way, by going out for coffee. We were hoping to try out a new coffee shop in our neighborhood but they weren’t open at 10 a.m. on a Saturday, so we grabbed some New Orleans coffees at the tried and true Blue Bottle Coffee. We walked around sipping our coffee and found a shady spot in the Seaport District to sit down and take in the morning.
Jon chose Jack’s Wife Frieda for brunch and we got a table outside under a big fan (it was almost 90*!). This was my second time at the restaurant, but first to this location, and it was just as good as I remembered! I opted for the Rosewater Waffle topped with Lebanese yogurt, mixed berries, and honey syrup. Jon ordered the Duck Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sandwich with duck bacon, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and tomato jam. We also shared the Kefta Kebab persian meatballs with tahini and pine nuts. This meal was surprisingly quite filling.
We went shopping at Brookfield Place after so Jon could pick out some birthday presents and then we walked home, cooled off, facetimed with family, worked out, and then it was time to head out for dinner at Scalini Fedeli. This restaurant was INCREDIBLE! It wasn’t the type of place to take pictures, which was quite difficult for me, but I had to get at least one picture of the dessert. This restaurant had a five course prix fixe meal that was $79 a person, but we both thought it was an incredible value based on the service and amount/quality of food served. We could pick the first course, second course, and dessert, but the appetizers were selected by the chef.
For our appetizers, we were brought fresh bread and butter, smoked salmon on bruschetta, fried zucchini, and perfectly cooked shrimp.
For our first course Jon and I both chose the Tagliatelle “Bolognese”, a traditional meat sauce with crispy sage & whipped ricotta. It was some of the best pasta we’ve had, and we’ve had a lot of pasta! It was so good that we couldn’t help but eat every last bite.
The second course was protein, and I ordered the Genovese – Toasted pignoli (pine nut) crusted salmon in a white wine sauce finished with fresh basil, over pecorino and zucchini puree. It melted in my mouth, but I was so full from the pasta dish that I could hardly eat any. Jon ordered the San Domenico – 14 oz. roasted pork chop in a mascarpone – vodka sauce with chives and he thought it tasted excellent. We definitely underestimated how much food was included in this prix fixe.
The first dessert was a lime & coconut sorbet with rum glazed pineapple. Everyone received this dish and it was very light and refreshing.
For my dessert, I chose the “Panino”, crisp pistachio and hazelnut caramel wafers layered with hazelnut gelato. The rich gelato paired with the delicate and sweet wafers tasted heavenly.
The birthday boy chose the warm flourless chocolate cake topped with fleur de sel (rare sea salt) served with pistachio gelato and amarena cherries from Emilia Romagna, Italy. As you can see, the quality of ingredients and presentation of the dishes was top notch! We both thought this was possibly the best meal that we’ve had in NYC. If you are celebrating a special occasion, Scalini Fedeli is the spot to go!
We finished the night opening presents and in a food coma. We had the best day celebrating Jon’s birthday! Here’s to many more!!
