Friday night and The Spotted Pig

This is going to be one of several highlight posts from our trip to NYC since we really do pack a lot in during every visit. Let’s start with Friday night, shall we?

We arrived at my sister’s apartment in Williamsburg at nearly 9pm, very much ready to eat. After checking a few spots for available seating, we ended up having dinner at Fanny - a small French bistro offering humainely raised meats and organic/local produce. My entree was way too salty but I’d come back there if I lived in the neighborhood. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals and I like supporting businesses that try to do the right thing (although 2 strikes and they would be out). After quickly polishing off our meals (and a glass of wine – or 2 for some) we hopped on the train to Manhattan to see Eugene Mirman at Comix. The opener/host was pretty funny, Eugene was hilarious and then Andy Kindler came on. Man, what a drag. He was clearly unprepared and the only thing that made it less painful were the oversweetened obligatory vodka cranberries I consumed (two if anyone’s counting). We left the show with a bit of a buzz and headed where else… to another bar!

THE SPOTTED PIG

The Spotted Pig is a gastropub featuring seasonal British & Italian dishes using local ingredients when possible. The atmosphere is super funky – there are pictures, plates, signs and lots of color all over the walls. This place gets pretty packed on a nightly basis. With bright colors and lots of people everywhere, the place had so much energy that I actually forgot that it was past midnight and that I was going on very little sleep.

I ordered the Doc’s Draft hard apple cider right away. I’ve never tried it with ice before (I think it sounds weird – who drinks “beer” or even juice with ice?) but it was surprisingly refreshing. Just make sure to drink it faster than it melts.

We just came for drinks but after scoring a table and being presented with food menus, everyone’s eyes lit up. Mine focused on the pot of pickles. Figures.

I ate a pickled shallot (!!!!!) It was dark and I was just grabbing veggies out of the dish. Oops. It wasn’t tooooooooo bad.

Adam has never tried deviled eggs and ordered one.

He didn’t share it with us, so I’ll take it that it was good

I think Derek ordered some roasted almonds…

… and I don’t know where that came from but for some reason I ordered a plate of shoestring fries.

Whoa, that’s a lot of fries!! They were a little hard to eat since they were so thin, but somehow this batch was devoured. Yeah, be impressed!

My sister and her boyfriend, Derek:

I had fun being the photographer for the night

Dessert, anyone?

Rhubarb tart

The chef definitely went too easy on rhubarb – this was mostly crust, which regardless was nutty and delicious.

The flourless chocolate cake was to-die for. Smooth and rich. Yum!!

We got home nearly at 3am. Definitely worth being a little tired the next day.

Check back later for other posts on our weekend trip!