Ikea! Trip!

Oh no! I've been caught.

So we went to Ikea with our favourite adopted orphan child/general pack mule, Kevin. In addition to the random non-food related things that are inevitably acquired on such a trip, I bought frozen Swedish Meatballs and Salmon Pate in a Tube. And we ate hot dogs. In the plural. As in, we ate three apiece. Except for Keerthi, who opted for two hot dogs and the hugest cinnamon bun ever. Here you see her attempting to juggle her omnipresent gold clutch with the remnants of said cinnamon bun and the two hot dogs which she proceeded to DROWN in condiments. But those hot dogs were good. So good. I want one now. But instead all I have in my kitchen is:
-a lot of 50 cent dinnerware
-inexplicably unsealable ikea tupperware
-frozen Swedish Meatballs
-Salmon Pate in a Tube
I think Kevin summed the Ikea Experience up the best when he said:
"how could i say no to the walk of hell to port authority, a smelly mass of new jersians, awful cafeteria food, and hauling around keerthi's shelves? i'm there!"

Ikea
www.ikea.com
1000 Ikea Dr
Elizabeth, NJ 07201
(908) 629-0318
(Free bus service available to and from Manhattan Port Authority on weekends)

A look back at Hearth (Manhattan Dining)

When my parents came to New York (ostensibly to help me move in), they fulfilled all parental culinary obligations by taking me out to a series of restaurants far out of my student budget limits. And I'm FINALLY blogging a few of them.

First off, Hearth.
Hearth is a place I've wanted to try for awhile. I've walked by, admired the menu online, and drooled over the Amateur Gourmet's reviews.
So off we went to Hearth for dinner.
The bar and main dining room were filled with the usual twenty-something with martinis in hand, but we were thankfully led to the narrow back room where the kitchen is located -- much better.

To start, we all shared an really yum appetizer of fresh sardines. Yes, sardines. I LIKE sardines. And these were really good, fresh, with a citrusy-vinegary dressing/sauce on them.



We all also had our own individual appetizers (Soup and Salad for the parents and I believe i had a Rabbit Rillette but I'm not entirely sure). These were decent, but not earth shattering.

For my plat principle i had the duck pappardelle. It was good, a stick-to-your bones type of pasta, but a little salty. I'd order it again, but the crappy cameraphone photos of it were, unfortunately, a little TOO bad, even for me to post. Instead, I give you my Dad, suspiciously examining his food.



And then we met the Chef. Who I, sadly, didn't take a picture of. But he was very charming and he knew about food blogs! So points to Hearth for that.

Dessert was good, and they were very sweet about making a few changes for me (I subbed out my peanut butter ice cream because, well, I didn't want to die)

But then, disaster. The coatcheck somehow managed to lose my favourite black sweater. Really sad, but they DID send me a check for it last week, so I suppose everything worked out in the end.

So all in all? Hearth may not have been the most orgasmic meal ever, but it was comfy, well-prepared food and I'd proabably visit again.

Hearth
403 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10009
(646) 602-1300
Sun-Thurs 6-10pm
Fri-Sat 6-11pm
Reservations accepted.