Restaurant Week!!!

Friday, friday! I didn't have any auditions to crash this morning and after a little research, I realized that the S & M retelling of Oliver called "Twist" I briefly considered singing for was even less appealing than a tap-dancing opression piece. So, I had the morning free to do our weekly Trader Joes stock-up. We are doing so great on our whole grains and no sugar plan. Except for very special occasions...like tonight...I can't wait to tell you all about it!
There was a problem with the local train on the East Side and I've never felt so crowded than in that teeny, tiny subway car. Eek. Needless to say, I took the bus home and I was sure excited to have my new cute Bible because as great as the bus is, it takes forever to get home!
I nearly missed my tap class, but I had great luck getting on an express train. This was my second attempt at Scott Thompson's Broadway Style Tap Class...so much better this week! He didn't make us do crazy pull-back combos and instead we did a routine to "Move" from Dreamgirls. So fun and I have th soundtrack so I can practice!
I came home and prepared myself for a long afternoon of waiting around for the cable guy (again! but this time for the right company). To my amazement he arrived about 15 minutes into the 4 hour window and now I have internet. All the time! No excuses for late blogging from here on out. I will say that I noticed that this week my blogs got kind of boring. I'll try to boil down the uninteresting stuff and don't worry, you can just skim...I'll never know!
I did some practicing and chose a great time to run out to WaMu for some cash...it started raining, almost freezing, and certainly got me nice and cold. Too bad I was having a great hair day. Oh well.
So, tonight we did a really fun thing. We had made plans to have dinner with Adrienne's friend Stan (the one who is an intern at Union Square Cafe and hooked us up on her birthday) and last night, searching Open Table, we realized that it was still NY Restaurant Week. It is this great tradition where most of the best restaurants serve a prix fixe menu to let us poor laymen taste what the rich get to eat, once a year! The lunches are $24.07 for three courses and the dinners are $35. Most of these places have entrees above and beyond $35 so it's quite the deal! I wish I had known earlier...next year! After reviewing several menus online last night we landed on Maya (http://www.modernmexican.com/mayany/index.htm), a modern Mexican restaurant on the Upper East Side. OH, yum! We had a 6:15 reservation. We started with homemade guacamole and Sangria...my new favorite. For an appetizer Adrienne and I both chose the mushroom tamale...amazing...and Stan had the duck puff pastry something, something. My entree was an adobo chicken breast, sliced like steak and stacked with a fried manchego cheese dumpling on top and garnished with a cilantro pesto and roasted corn. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMY. Adrienne and Stan had a tender hanger steak with chipotle sauce of some sort. Also delicious. And for dessert we shared a flan (almost as good as Mom's) and a silky arroz con leche (rice pudding). My favorite thing by far was my second drink (I know, scandalous), a mango mojito. AH, the best drink I've ever tasted. It was a really fun evening and Adrienne came out of nowhere and treated us which was totally out of control and generous.
And now we're home...Adrienne and Stan are playing Donkey Kong and I'm all caught up on my blog! Yay! Happy Weekend everyone!
Here is the full menu if you're interested:
MAYA
RESTAURANT WEEK MENU $35
January 22-26 & January 29-February 2nd
ENTRADAS
~choice of
MAHI-MAHI CEVICHE
mahi-mahi / mustard seeds / capers / horseradish / red onion / cilantro
CARNITAS DE PATO
braised duck / puff pastry / camembert cheese /
butternut squash pureé / frisée salad / chile ancho~cranberry sauce
TAMAL CON MORILLAS
steamed cornmeal / goat cheese~requesón /
chanterelle and morel mushrooms / tomatillo sauce / crispy leeks
PLATOS FUERTES
~ choice of
PECHUGA ADOBADA
adobo marinated chicken breast / roasted corn / pico de gallo /
cilantro pesto / huitlacoche-manchego cheese dumplings
HANGER STEAK
grilled hanger steak / black bean purée / grilled tomato /
caramelized onion / guacamole / chile de arbol sauce
SALMON CON PEPITAS
spicy pumpkin seed crusted salmon / mixed vegetable fondue /
creamy wild mushroom-chile chipotle sauce
POSTRE
~choice of
ARROZ CON LECHE
~ mexican style rice pudding
FLAN DE ELOTE
~ caramel corn flan