Last night, Leslie and I got together for dinner at Cafe Blossom’s Carmine Street location in the West Village. Over glasses of rosé, we caught up and tried to remember the last time we’d had some solo time. (Four months ago.) This is a frequent conversation for us as a result of busy lives, but thankfully the universe aligned and we were able to sit down for a date.
The menu is a little different from Café Blossom’s Upper West Side location; we ordered two appetizers and an entrée, sharing everything. The trumpet mushroom scallops with cauliflower purée and sweet onion jam were delicious, and just smokey enough.
At our server’s suggestion, we tried the seaweed caviar canape with avocado, shaved white cheese and truffle oil. This was also delightfully smokey! The cheese was Daiya (my favorite non-dairy brand) and the seaweed really tasted JUST like caviar.
For our main, we ordered the mushroom phyllo pastry with smoked tofu potato salad, sautéed bell peppers, asparagus, basil, jalapeno cashew cream. My favorite part of this was the tofu potato salad, which tasted just like the real thing. I must recreate this!
Overall, our dinner was good, although not entirely hearty. The last time I dined at Blossom, I left quite satisfied; I guess it’s just one of those restaurants where what you order is either generous in portion size or quite light.
Looking for a sweet treat, we wandered into Pop Bar, home of “gelato on a stick.”
Guys, I wish I’d invented this! They had all kinds of pre-made gelato and sorbet popsicles, and you have the option to dip your pop into dark, milk or white chocolate. Then, you can top it with nuts or coconut. Move over, dip cone from Dairy Queen!
I ordered a mixed berry sorbet with dark chocolate and pistachios; Leslie tried a pistachio gelato with dark chocolate and coconut. They were delicious, and such a fun way to end the night! We were 12 again, melting messes and all.
When was the last time food brought you back to your childhood?