It Hurts So Good

Trying to find a compromising place to eat when you are on a diet but your friends like to eat sloppy Mexican and fried cheap foods can be rough but not impossible. When ADuh, Doogs and I decided to pick a restaurant to dine at a couple weeks ago, I knew I would have to input some suggestions when the first places they came up with were Tequilla’s (the sloppy nachos joint) followed by Luzzo for Pizza and they threw in taco bell for good measure. After some pondering, we decided on The Smith; a sister restaurant to Jane and located in the E Village on 3rd avenue. I figured I could have fish while ADuh can decide whether or not she wanted to stick to her diet and Doogs could..well could indulge herself.

When we got to The Smith on 9pm Friday night with a set reservation both the foyer and bar area was packed and it was a little daunting. When they couldn’t find a reservation, I started to get annoyed but they accommodated us fast enough that soon we were enjoying cocktails at a cramped table trying to figure out what to get. A Duh and I both decided on fish- me with the cod and A Duh’s with the salmon. Doogs went for the short rib (a signature fav of mine) and we decided to go with two apps- one indulgent and one with boundaries. The Greek Salad and the tomato cheese soup. The salad was actually pretty decent but the soup...well the soup was just not to be f’d with.

Think French onion soup but nix the French onion part and replace that with hearty tomaoto soup. Then swap the Gueryan cheese for Cheddar and melt it to plenty on the bowl with a nice piece of bread within to top it off. Basically it was like dipping bread into an Italian tomato sauce and it came already melted with cheese. It was kind of out of control and kind of amazing. I took two spoon fulls and had to return the bowl to its rightful owner (doogs) for fear of jumping in. My salad just didn’t stand up. A Duh pretty much did the same. The soup was definitely the best thing we had all night. Our main courses were all good but nothing to rave about. Kind of standard. And for dessert, Doogs decided to get their homemade ice cream with peanut brittle and chocolate syrup…which again, was pretty redonculous.

Point being, the Smith is a decent place- nothing amazing, nothing bad unless you want to go all out and calorie splurge. Then its like a really great bad habit that you don’t want to stop.

Un-Delich

Anyone else extremely annoyed by Rachel Ray? What started as an aversion to her annoying phrase "Delich" (which is less about the word than the way she says it) and spiraled into a "Why the hell does she have her own show on network televison?" has now become a "Please...why does she have to interrupt my normal programming with a dunkin' donuts commercial!"

I'm a frequent dunkin' donuts coffee drinker and now I have to get a severe nauseating feeling every time I go into one of the many chained stores by staring at her annoying face and hearing her voice in my head say "Dunkin!" and "Delich!"

Please please please send her back up-state!

Dreamy and low Carb

The carb craze has been going on for years from the atkins diet to the salad bar. It's pretty obvious that if you eat an all-carb diet you will probably gain weight (or..umm..at least I would!). Personally, I love carbs too much to give them up completely so I've tried alternatives like using only whole wheat bread or eating a wrap rather than a sandwich but the one thing that I could never get into was whole wheat pasta. Deep down, I'm basically half Italian. I love pasta and tomato sauce and anything with cheese but this has basically cornered me into eating a ton of frozen style meals from the likes of Amy's Organic to Lean Cuisine so I can indulge in this carb delight.

Recently, I came across the answer to my prayers. As I was browsing the pasta aisle ready to give in to the hard and cardboardy whole wheat pasta, one box caught my eye with touts of "Low Carb." I looked at the nutrition information.


The brand was called dreamfields. The type of pasta- Rotini. Although it comes in other styles as well.


What the hell- I'll try it. It can't be any worse than the whole wheat types. And to my surprise, this pasta is great. 3/4 of a cup goes a long way; it tastes just like regular pasta and doesn't make you feel like a beached whale afterwards. I'm a total fan and needed to pass on this best kept secret.