cheers big ears!

on sunday, my great, old friend, d.r., came to visit. he's got work to do but he came up 2 days early to hang out with me. my first visitor! 

first stop, the farm on adderley, a super cute, quaint cafe in ditmas park. i chose this place because their menu kinda reminded me of east side cafe in austin (was wrong but not disappointed). 

we both started with mimosas then followed up w/ their special bloody mary that has an olive and a pickle instead of celery. the bloody mary was super fresh, definitely not from a mix. it actually tasted like it was good for you.

d.r. and i both have a love for food so we were agreed to share everything before we ordered. following is a before and after photo of each of our dishes.

first, fisherman’s eggs, two poached eggs over smoked trout, mixed greens, potato latke,  and hollandaise:

next, sausage & eggs, housemade breakfast sausage, scrambled eggs, home fries, and salad:

and lastly, french toast w/ caramelized apples:

the french toast was our favorite but it was all amazing and a perfect, cozy spot for d.r. after the plane ride.

since d.r. was up since 4am and i didn't go to bed until 3am the night before, we went back to the apt and watched a movie. somehow, d.r. stayed awake but i took a little cat nap. our next stop was basilica restaurant near times square. 

small, cozy restaurants have always been my favorite. although that was not the plan, we seem to end up at them and they were all excellent. we started off with mussels and clams fradiablo, mussels and clams in a spicy tomato sauce. we could not get enough of the sauce in this. d.r. compared it to the mussels' sauce at clay pit in austin. yes, it was that good.

d.r. had the chicken manicotti and i had the baked ziti.

i'm pretty sure that we both agreed that this was one of the best italian meals we've ever had. i liked mine and d.r. liked his but then i mixed them together and um...utter bliss. it was so good, i didn't want to stop eating but alas, we had some swing dancing to do. i got us some tickets to swing 46, jazz and supper club. we had a great time there. there was a whole mix of people, older, younger, and they all were there to have a great time. we even had a kick line when sarah hayes and the prohibition playboys played new york. good times especially since it was cold and raining all day. i was just proud that we made it out. 

on monday, d.r. and i had a bit of a late start but we still found a place to get some breakfast food at noon. tom's restaurant is prospect heights was the place to be. when we walked up, there was already a line around the corner but it moved pretty quickly. 

the service and food was great. we both had the 2, 2, 2 combo but with different options. i had 2 eggs over easy, 2 pork sausages, and 2 lemon ricotta pancakes.

d.r.'s mix was 2 scrambled eggs, bacon, and 2 apple walnut pancakes.

i forgot to take a picture of the lemonade but i highly recommend it. everything was so good. the pancakes were fluffy and the sausage hand made. the bacon was so savory too.

we had to walk off some of this food so we headed to the brooklyn botanical garden which was a beautiful way to waste some time. there wasn't much blooming but it was just what i needed at the moment, quiet and serene.

we then headed to the union square area to do some shopping. after all that walking, and shopping, and more walking, we were hungry. yeah, i don't think we meant for this to be a food visit but that's just how things happen. d.r. was in the mood for thai, so we hit laut, which again, was cute, quaint, and cozy. we started w/ some fried veggie spring rolls. d.r. had the red curry (spicy coconut milk, bamboo, basil and vegetables) and i had their tom yam (straw mushroom, basil, cilantro, mint, pepper, bean sprouts in a spicy lemongrass broth). i choose wonton as my meat and the thin noodles. they called it thai malaysian fusion but whatever it was, it was good!

after a long day of shopping and tons of walking, this place really hit the spot in warmth and yumminess. it was a perfect end to a fun few days with a great friend. 

xoxo,

p.