I went to Chef Eric Korn's new restaurant called Wolfert's Roost. They were having a Harvest Dinner for the Irvington Farmers Market. Some of the things on the menu for the dinner were going to be in his actual restaurant. He has a catering business called Good-Life Gourmet so he can't be at his restaurant all of the time. That's why he has Chef Jennie Werts. Jennie will be running the restaurant when Eric is not there.

When we got there and sat down at the counter they put a snack platter in front of us. The snack platter had seasoned goldfish crackers, spiced nuts, pickled vegetables, and olives. The goldfish were cooked with herb-infused oil and cheese. You could taste the cheese but not the herbs really. The pickled vegetables were a combination of sweet and bitter which was interesting. Then there were the spiced nuts. They had cayenne pepper in them but they were also a little sweet. It was kind of Moroccan. Last in the snack bowl were olives which are my favorite. They were sour and I like that personally.

My dad and I had three appetizers, two entrees, and three desserts. We split them all. The first appetizer was a Torta di Spaghetti which was like a spaghetti pie with shredded pork in a tomato sauce. The spaghetti pie was hot and soothing. It was good. The pork was meaty and stringy and went well with the spaghetti. The second appetizer as a fried broccoli with cheese and apricot jam. The broccoli was super crunchy and delicious. The cheese could have been a little better. It was too creamy and a little overpowering for me but my dad really liked it with the apricot jam. The third appetizer we had was a bitter greens and bacon salad with apples, spiced pecans, and maple vinaigrette. The bacon was thick cut and had a lot of flavor and the pecans were nicely spiced.

Next were the entrees. The first one we had was the fish. It was served with quinoa and had broccolini and rainbow carrots. The broccolini looked like asparagus but tasted like cauliflower and felt like broccoli. The next entree was fried chicken that had lemon, basil, and raw honey on it. The outside of the chicken was crunchy and spicy and the inside was moist. The skin had cayenne pepper on it which made it spicy.The lemon flavor on the outside was really strong and with the honey on it, the flavor burst in your mouth.

Finally, we had the desserts. The first dessert was an apple crisp with bourbon caramel, toasted almond, and pretzel crumble. It was crunchy, dreamy, and sweet. It had cinnamon in it and would go really well with pumpkin spice cookies. The next dessert was a banana sundae. The bananas on top tasted like like sweet plaintains and the caramel went well with the bananas. We had an extra dessert which was a pound cake with lemon curd. Wolfert's Roost is a really good place to go and you should go there once it is open!

This summer, my family took a cruise out of Miami. After the cruise, we stayed with some friends there. On the Monday we were there, they had to work late. My dad looked up places for us to eat. We went to a place called Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. The owner Michael Symon is an Iron Chef who has been on TV a lot so he decided to open up this restaurant. When we got there we ordered drinks. My dad got a homemade cherry rosemary soda. It was sweet but you couldn't taste the rosemary. It also tasted like chai, a Chinese tea. The menu was different from regular menus. Usually menus have sections like appetizers, main courses, and desserts. But this one had sections by sizes like small, medium, and large. We ordered a few small and medium dishes. We ordered a wood-oven roasted double yolk farm egg, shrimp ceviche, cauliflower with parsley sauce, crispy pig ears, pork belly, gemelli, and steamed mussels. The farm egg was really yolky and it had a nice crust but it needed seasoning. Next, the shrimp ceviche had a very citrusy taste to it and the shrimp was just right. Then right after that we had crispy pig ears. They were the most sensational thing in the world! They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They were so good that we ordered an extra order to bring home to our friends. The cauliflower came after that. At first I thought I wouldn't like it but it was amazing. The pesto gave it a nice kick and the cauliflower was soft. The pig ears and that were my favorite. The mussels came next and they were soft, chewy, and rich but they were normal mussels. I don't have anything special to say about them. Then we had pork belly which was soft and fatty on the inside. It had good seasoning but I thought it was too fatty. The gemelli was a pasta that had ground chorizo. It smelled rubbery and I thought it was disgusting but my parents liked it. I think I would give this restaurant a good Zagat rating.

For my mom's birthday, we went to The Inn at Pound Ridge which is owned by Jean-Georges who is a famous chef in NYC. Most restaurants only have one floor but this one had two. The outside dining had a beautiful landscape. When we got to our table, we were served bread and dipped it in olive oil. The olive oil here was better than any olive oil I have had before. The bread was soft inside but the crust was crunchy. We shared one appetizer. It was a spring pea guacamole with warm, crunchy tortillas. It also had lime juice for a kick. They added sunflower seeds to it which made it crunchy with the sweet peas. When I dipped the tortilla in the guacamole, it was warm, crunchy, and spicy. My mom, my dad, and I split three main dishes. We wanted to see our waiter's recommendations about what he would pick. He said the same things we were going to order! The first dish we had was a slow cooked halibut with sweet peas, crunchy potatoes, and spring garlic. The halibut was soft and had the right seasonings. The potatoes were soft and had a nice crust on the outside. The second dish was a bacon gruyere grass-fed burger with russian dressing and yuzu pickles. The pickles were sour and the bacon and burger were just right and tender. Our third dish was a grilled beef tenderloin with spinach and tempura onion, and housemade butter sauce. The butter sauce was made with scotch bonnet hot peppers. The grilled beef tenderloin was chewy which made it good. The spinach was soft and slippery just like it's supposed to be. The tempura onions were crunchy on the outside and soft inside. When I dipped my fork in the butter sauce, it was really spicy but good. For dessert, I had a salted caramel sundae with candied popcorn, peanuts, and fudge sauce. The caramel ice cream was a sweet and salty combination which made it good. The popcorn and peanuts were so good that I dug through my bowl for them. My overall experience was really good because the food and scenery were both enjoyable. Happy Birthday Mom!

On the last night of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, my family decided to try one more restaurant before it ended. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in town called Cafe of Love. The owner's name is Leslie Lampert. She happens to also be the owner of our favorite local soup place called Ladle of Love. Now it's time for me to talk about the food. For the appetizer, I had a potato-crusted crab cake. The crab was perfect and the potato crust was crunchy so it went well with the crab. After I had my crab cake. I tried the soup my mom ordered. It was a Moroccan tomato bisque. Everyone was trying to guess what was in it. I guessed cumin and I was right! Next for the entree, I had the oven-fried chicken. It came with a kale-radicchio-brussels sprout slaw and curry sweet potato fries. The chicken was crunchy but they baked it in an oven. It was crisp even though it wasn't fried which is amazing. The sweet potato fries had curry which made them taste interesting. We also ordered a side of truffled chick peas and a side of brussels sprouts. The chick peas were SO GOOD! They were crunchy and I could taste the truffle oil on them. The brussels sprouts were sauteed which made them taste great. My parents said the meatballs there are amazing but we didn't want to order too much food. Last, for dessert I had the signature almond crossaint bread pudding. It had just the right amount of sugar that it needed. I could taste the nutty almonds. I would recommend going there, Restaurant Week or not, because they have amazing food and dining. Maybe you can fall in love with someone because it's called Cafe of Love!