Dine Around Downtown

The 10th Annual "Dine Around Downtown" took place today at the Chase Manhattan Plaza. It's a downtown tradition showcasing the finest restaurants in Lower Manhattan. We had an opportunity to sample signature menu items from $2 - $6, this was a great deal considering the cost of the appetizer and entree prices for these restaurants! We arrived about a hour after it started, and it was prime lunchtime! There were lots of people just looking around and eating. We were initially overwhelmed by the amount of choices and the number of restaurants (50!) that were represented at the food fair. The delicious smells and smoke from the grills were enticing us to stop and sample their food. Here are a few things that we tasted (and loved!)

Here is the lump crabcrake with roasted corn and cherry tomato relish from Fraunces Tavern Restaurant (54 Pearl Street).

The Grill Room (2 World Financial Center, 225 Liberty Street) offered the Seafood Ceviche and Thai Chicken Salad. Both were excellent options. I had several people come up to me and ask me what my dish was! The seafood cerviche was piled with shrimp, squid and mussels on top of a crunchy circular nacho. It was sprinked with onions, green onions and lemon juice. Ooo lah lah!


I also tasted the mango sorbet from Ciao Bella Gelato (2 World Financial Center, 225 Liberty Street). Also quite delicious. My friend Yani sampled several dishes which she described as "great" and "yummy" - Sweet Corn and Shrimp Chowder from Delmonico's Restaurant (56 Beaver Street), Shepard's Pie from Jim Brady's (75 Maiden Lane) and the Aqua Fresca drink and Custom-Made Sundae at the Chase Plaza Cafe (1 Chase Manhattan Plaza). My other friend Laura tried the kobe ravioli but it looked kinda nasty with the brown mushroom sauce. (Name of restaurant will be withheld). However she said it tasted better than it looked. Hmmm. The third girl in our group, Kendra, tasted the Austrian Cheese Cake from Bouley Bakery & Market (130 West Broadway). I'm not sure what was Austrian about it unless they were referring to the small size...

Finally the best find I had was discovering that there is a Roy's restaurant in New York! http://www.roysrestaurant.com/ It is a wonderful (but expensive) Hawaiian/Asian fusion restaurant in Lower Manhattan. We first tried it on our visit to Honolulu and we thought it was awesome!! According to their website, they combine the freshest local ingredients with European sauces and bold Asian spices. Their cuisine is mainly seafood so prepare yourself for a yummy seafood feast! Their menu is very similar to the one in Hawaii and they offer a prix-fixe menu option in NY as well. (I'm going to write a separate posting on our foodie experience at Roy's in Honolulu!)

Lastly, on a celebrity note.....(sadly, no picture this time), we passed by a booth in which Katie Lee Joel was signing her book. I recognized her as the first host of Top Chef on Bravo channel. She's also a food writer, cookbook author and television personality (all according to the Downtown Alliance brochure). There, my celebrity sighting of the week. (I only say celebrity since she is married to Billy Joel, the musician who is certainly a celebrity).