Restaurant Reccos :)

With the holidays approaching, it would be a shame not to try new places to eat (and that's not just because "Operation Make Dinner for Myself" has proven to be a complete bust)

But there's always the inevitable question of "where should we go?"
Here are a handful of reasonably priced spots I would highly recommend :)

For Italian, try Bocca di Bacco in Hell's Kitchen ... the grilled octopus app is absurdly tasty and the pumpkin ravioli with a sage butter sauce is like Christmas in your mouth ... yuummmmm

For Latin cuisine with a perfect atmosphere (and BYOB! hollleeeerr), don't miss A Casa Fox on the Lower East Side. Try the selection of mini empanadas to start and then prepare yourself for the seared calamari with chorizo and the flank steak with avocado ... holy hell, there are no words. As mentioned, it's BYOB so be sure to hit up September Wines beforehand. There's always a tasting going on so you can drink while you shop ... brilliant!!

For Thai food, there's obviously a gazillion places to go, but I really like Eatpisode. It's a BYOB spot at Ludlow & Rivington that is a perfect place to eat before hitting up Spitzer's (and the bar food there is also awesome so you can't go wrong either way!) Anyways, I digress ... if you find yourself at Eatpisode, order-up the spring rolls, the Hoi-ob soup, and the Pad See Yu. You will not be disappointed :)

For birthdays, don't forget to score some cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine ... hell, it doesn't even have to be a birthday, everyone deserves this scrumptiousness :)

That's my two cents ...
Can ya tell I've been really hard at work on my cooking skills?!?!