Zagat Dinner Club

In May of 2010, the “ZAGAT Dinner Club” was founded by Nine girls who vowed to get together once a month and go to a different restaurant in New York City from the published ZAGAT guide. We would choose the restaurant alphabetically; The first month, the restaurant had to start with letter “A” the second month letter “B” and so forth. The term “going strong” is an understatement when it comes to this group of Feminine Weapons. We're on to round 2 of this alphabet game!
The Hooka F Afterparty

The Hooka F Afterparty

Letter F: Fonda

Letter F: Fonda

Letter D: David Burke Kitchen - December 2012

Letter D: David Burke Kitchen - December 2012

#EatDownTipUp

A group of amazing young New Yorker’s recently came up with the concept: “Eat Down. Tip Up.” to help out Downtown NYC. It’s a social good campaign that uses social media to help people impacted by Hurricane Sandy in NYC. 
The idea is simple:
1. Go out to eat downtown
2. Tip double
3. Share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. (#EatDownTipUp)
The premise is that small, local restaurants were hit exceptionally hard by the power outages and flooding. Businesses lost their entire food stock, equipment, and revenue. Employees lost wages. The really unfortunate shops have structural damage and are still closed. There are also lingering challenges as business is much slower and yet to return to normal.  We’ve been talking to some small business owners and employees who have been hit pretty hard. They love this idea & could use the help! Check out their stories at http://www.eatdowntipup.com/restaurantstories/
The initiative has received great press in the past week:

We supported the campaign at dinner Letter C last night at Cacio Pepe Restaurant. Join us!!

October 23: Breeze Restaurant - Thai-French Kitchen Hells Kitchen: 661 9th Avenue @ 46th Street Although the service was mediocre, we enjoyed our dinner at Breeze. At $35 per person for appetizer, entree and cocktail, this event was one of our cheapest eats yet. We started out by sharing the Springs Rolls, Edamame, and Mushroom Dumplings. Although fried, the Mushroom Dumplings were absolutely delightful and highly recommended by all of us. For entree we each enjoyed our own, sharing tastes of our pickings with each other. The Sea Bass was listed on the menu as a New York Times favorite and although it was good, it was served awkwardly with foam from the boiling process. The Vegetable and Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai was delicious, although one boyfriend thought it left the breath kung fu kicking. Bring your tooth brush! The Spicy Fried Rice isn’t worthy enough of an order. And if you like hot sauce, ask for it. It was a highlight of the meal for me.  Cocktails were good and strong, especially the sake ones.  The atmosphere was thai-funky. The drink menu is in the form of a record and checks are delivered in CD cases. If only the music selection matched the style…  Overall, the restaurant is recommended if you’re in Hells Kitchen and looking for an inexpensive, yet somewhat trendy treat. I wouldn’t rush there, but add it to your list to check out some time in the future.  ZAGAT DINNER CLUB REVIEW: FOOD 22, DÉCOR 16, SERVICE 15, COST $35 (cocktail, appetizer and entrée) ZAGAT REVIEW: FOOD 21, DÉCOR 15, SERVICE 18, COST $28 Christina Weber, Hostess

October 23: Breeze Restaurant - Thai-French Kitchen

Hells Kitchen: 661 9th Avenue @ 46th Street

Although the service was mediocre, we enjoyed our dinner at Breeze. At $35 per person for appetizer, entree and cocktail, this event was one of our cheapest eats yet. We started out by sharing the Springs Rolls, Edamame, and Mushroom Dumplings. Although fried, the Mushroom Dumplings were absolutely delightful and highly recommended by all of us.

For entree we each enjoyed our own, sharing tastes of our pickings with each other. The Sea Bass was listed on the menu as a New York Times favorite and although it was good, it was served awkwardly with foam from the boiling process. The Vegetable and Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai was delicious, although one boyfriend thought it left the breath kung fu kicking. Bring your tooth brush! The Spicy Fried Rice isn’t worthy enough of an order. And if you like hot sauce, ask for it. It was a highlight of the meal for me. 

Cocktails were good and strong, especially the sake ones. 

The atmosphere was thai-funky. The drink menu is in the form of a record and checks are delivered in CD cases. If only the music selection matched the style… 

Overall, the restaurant is recommended if you’re in Hells Kitchen and looking for an inexpensive, yet somewhat trendy treat. I wouldn’t rush there, but add it to your list to check out some time in the future. 

ZAGAT DINNER CLUB REVIEW: FOOD 22, DÉCOR 16, SERVICE 15, COST $35 (cocktail, appetizer and entrée)

ZAGAT REVIEW: FOOD 21, DÉCOR 15, SERVICE 18, COST $28

Christina Weber, Hostess

Dinner B2…

is scheduled for Tuesday, the 23rd at 7:30p. We’re still in need of a reservation. Anyone have a suggestion for us? The restaurant must start with the letter B. 

ALDEA Reviewed by: Natasha Barinas

Portuguese was a first for the group.  Many of the club members weren’t familiar with the cuisine but with the high reviews and Michelin star we believed there couldn’t be any selection not worth tasting. I wished I wouldn’t have believed the hype and entered with such high expectations since I was quite disappointed with the cuisine even though the service and décor were superb. I was expecting the food to take me to Portugal through my taste buds but instead I felt the menu was a bit generic and food was overpriced for what it was. Credit should be given to George Mendes for providing tasteful dishes but I wasn’t amazed by any of my choices. Sorry to say but the only things I enjoyed about this modern restaurant were the atmosphere, drinks and wine selection. 

My dishes: Started with CROQUETAS DE BACALHAU served with roasted garlic aioli.  Very bland. Main dish ordered was NEW BEDFORD DIVER SCALLOPS served with trumpet royale mushrooms, radish, citrus.  This was tasty but I felt overpriced for what it was. $31 for 5 scallops, no thanks.

Recommendations:
  • SEARED SKATE
 served with warm heirloom tomato, Iberian beans, zucchini, brown butter
  • THE CHALLENGER-Plymouth Gin, Grilled Grapefruit, Luxardo Marschino, Lemon 

ZAGAT DINNER CLUB REVIEW: FOOD 16, DÉCOR 22, SERVICE 24, COST $85 (cocktail, two glasses of wine, appetizer and entrée)

ZAGAT REVIEW: FOOD 25, DÉCOR 22, SERVICE 24, COST $65

9/28: Letter A at Aldea: Randee, Danielle, Natasha, Christina, Leah, Jessica, Michelle and Patricia (missing Pam)

9/28: Letter A at Aldea: Randee, Danielle, Natasha, Christina, Leah, Jessica, Michelle and Patricia (missing Pam)

9/28: Letter A at Aldea

9/28: Letter A at Aldea