New World Flavors [Eat]

The Pearl Brewery strikes again! Nao which is located at the Pearl Brewery is a restaurant and a Culinary Institute of America's classroom, dedicated to explore and create new flavors from Latin America.

NAO changes its menu every other week. They usually dedicate 10 days to a Latin American country, culture and cuisine. This time they were celebrating Argentina.

I ordered the tasting menu, for only $39 you choose between 2 appetizers, 2 main courses and 1 dessert.

For the appetizer, I ordered the Tres Empanadas (beef leeks and provolone cheese, salsa criolla and herb salad).  The whole combination made this plate exquisite.

For the main course I went with the Bife de Chorizo (beef sirloin, ash roasted peppers and onions, topped with chimichurri). I ordered my sirloin cooked medium rare and it was delicious.

Last but not least, the dessert which was a delicious Alfajor de Dulce de Leche is a classic Argentinian cookie. The cookie was stuffed with dulce de leche and strawberries, topped with chocolate and a scoop of cream on the side. A small bite of each ingredient and you are in heaven.

NAO also offers a late night menu that contains mostly comfort food, but with the unique touch that only this restaurant provides. We went there to celebrate one of my friend's birthday, everyone was happy with their dishes, especially with their desserts.  
Overall I give NAO 4 stars out of 5.

Arcade Midtown Kitchen [Eat]

I have a to-do list which includes, restaurants, events, traveling and more. Today, I am going to blog about a restaurant that I’ve scratched off the to-do list and which I really enjoyed.

Arcade Midtown Kitchen is a new American cuisine restaurant, located at the Historical Pearl Brewery.I am all about first impressions, which gladly Arcade passed. As we arrived I spotted young professionals and a crowd that ranged from 25-50 years.

The restaurant had a great atmosphere with a packed bar and full tables, and it was only the middle of the week. 

On my way to the restroom I had a pleasant surprise, Zoltar from the movie "Big" (starring Tom Hanks) was there. It gives it the perfect touch, since the restaurants' name is Arcade.  Plus it's quite intimidating.

I surely do love a restaurant with an extensive list of wine and Arcade is not the exception, so I ordered a white Zinfandel since it's great with sea food. We started off with the Chile and Lime Calamari, as an entrée, it was so good that by the time I wanted to take a picture of it, it was all gone. From that moment I  proclaimed myself a calamari fan, this has been by far the best CALAMARI I’ve ever tried.

For the main course I order the Ancho Chile Salmon with Mango Mojo and my date ordered the George’s Bank Diver Sea Scallops. Both dishes were finger licking good!

Sadly, this time there was no room for dessert, but I will definitely go back for the calamari and tryout some other dishes.

I totally recommend Arcade Midtown Kitchen.