Happily Ever Adventurous: June 2018

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Adventures on Broadway

I have always loved Broadway. When I was younger, mom would try to bring my brother, grandmother and I once a year if she could. And as I got older, and my brother's interest waned, she would take just me. So I still love Broadway.
I don't know how many shows I've seen over the years but it's a good quantity in a variety of styles. I saw Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Aida, Wicked, Titanic, Jersey Boys, and Bring in da Noise Bring in the Funk. I think I saw even more as a kid/teenager, but I can't remember the names.
Unfortunately, once I hit college, I stopped watching as many Broadway shows because they're really expensive and I never felt like I had the time to do Rush tickets since I worked 3 or 4 jobs at any given time during college (yayyy college in America).
Happily though, I discovered the Broadway lottery last year! Haven't heard of it?
It's basically a lottery you can play online for different shows. You can enter every day once a day for a show the same day (or sometimes for the next day). You're not guaranteed seats but if you do win they cost between $25 and $40 which is great if you're on a budget. The cons are you're not guaranteed seats and you can't choose what section you want to sit in. Definitely not terrible cons
Since last year, I've won three times to see three different shows with my husband.
In total, we've seen 4 shows since last January. We saw In Transit as our first fancier date (I got us a special deal through a friend of mine). It was so much fun. It's an all acapella show about people in NYC. I loved it and so did Baros.
Then in September, I won tickets to Cats which was also great. It's such a classic show that everyone has heard of it. I was really happy to see it since I had read the poems by T.S. Elliot that Cats is based on. It's got great music and wonderful singing and dancing. It's not heavily plot driven but it's a lot of fun.
A couple of months ago, I won tickets to Kinky Boots which was Baros' and my favorite musical so far. It was amazing. The actors and actresses are such talented people and we were in awe of the stage presence and quality of the production. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it. It has everything you could want in a musical.
And then this past Thursday, I won tickets to Escape to Margaritaville which is on its final weekend!

I randomly applied for the lottery that morning without even realizing what the show was about. I'm
so glad we took a moment to have a random weekday adventure. Right after work, we met in the city, grabbed some food at the Tick Tock Diner and then headed to the show.

We had some pretty great orchestra seats

The premise of the musical is two women go to Margaritaville for a bachelorette party. One woman is about to get married to a man who wants her to stick to her diet. The other woman is a workaholic who wants to change the world. On the island they meet a bartender and a musician and hilarity/romance ensues. They also meet the wise cracking hotel owner and a very funny older gentleman who used to fly a plane until the owner hid it from him.

Loved the tropical set

The show was so much fun and the musicianship was really wonderful. If you like Jimmy Buffet, islands, romance and silly moments this is definitely the show to see. I didn't know most of the Jimmy Buffet songs well but I was familiar with quite a few of them... But not enough to know which songs were Jimmy Buffet and which were written specifically for the musical. I know that a lot of the audience seemed to know the songs pretty well (there are a couple of moments that are sing along appropriate).
The show was so funny and it was great how they transitioned from one song to the next. It felt really organic and quite clever. Since it was an amalgamation of Jimmy Buffet songs, I was really impressed at how they fit the story around the songs. It has a similar feeling to Mamma Mia in that sense. Some of the transitions to songs were silly, but it fit so well. They even fit Cheeseburger in Paradise into the show beautifully. It was so much fun.

We really had a blast watching this show so I'm so glad we caught it before it goes off broadway. It's going to be touring though, so if you happen to be in a city where it will be, I definitely recommend it.
After the show, we headed a block over and went to Amorino for some rose shaped gelato. Oh man, delicious. It was crowded but it was worth it for the deliciously creamy gelato. We tried a whole bunch of flavors and got the cone with a macaron each. I got amorino chocolte, mango, coconut and blackberry with a raspberry macaron and Baros got the amorino chocolate, coconut, and raspberry with a pistachio macaron. It was so delicious and pretty to look at but I think next time we'll just get cups because the rose shaped gelato is a little messy. It's so delicious and the macaron was amazing too!!!
After that we headed home and got some sleep since I had work bright and early the next morning. It was a lovely weekday adventure!

A great way to end our NYC adventure

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Restaurant Review: YardBird

The pretty lights inside adding to the lovely atmosphere

On Friday night, at around 8pm, we headed over to Yardbird for a late dinner. We didn’t make reservations, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait long. I think you should definitely make reservations if you want to eat there during peak hours and also peak season. The food is so good that you don’t want to miss it.

I loved the low lighting and chill atmosphere. It was probably my favorite meal that trip. It felt romantic and relaxed and was just what we needed after a long and hectic day.

The hostesses were friendly and our waiter was incredible, friendly and just overall helpful. Even the bartender was incredibly chill and friendly as we waited for our table. He offered us suggestions and friendly chatter until the hostess came to grab us.

Before getting to the restaurant we knew that we wanted to try their signature Chicken ‘n’ Waffles ‘n’ Watermelon. Chicken and Waffles has always been one of my favorite dishes and we both love watermelon so we knew it was something we had to try. It’s fried chicken served with a Vermont sharp cheddar cheese waffle and chilled spiced watermelon. It also comes with hot honey sauce and bourbon maple syrup. It was a necessity.

When we got to the restaurant and looked at the menu we had a problem though. Everything sounded amazing and we didn’t know where to start. That’s where our bartender and waiter were so great. They talked us through the menu and led us to the perfect meal.

In addition to the Chicken ‘n’ Waffles, we tried the Fried Green Tomato BLT and the Macaroni & Cheese.

We started with the Fried Green Tomato BLT and it was different than I’d expected. I thought they would be little sandwiches since normally a BLT is served on bread but these were adorable and different. The base was the fried green tomato. And sitting on top of each was house-smoked pork belly, pimento cheese (also made in house), frisee (a curly leafed type of lettuce), and smoky tomato jam lemon vinaigrette. It was delicious. Neither Baros nor I had ever tried fried green tomatoes before, probably because it’s a southern classic not found as often in NJ and NY. This was a great introduction. I can’t believe I hadn’t tried it sooner! Fried Green tomatoes are delicious, especially when paired with pork belly. The pork belly practically melts in your mouth. It’s smooth and delicious and rich. The frisee added a little freshness while the jam lemon vinaigrette added a little acidity to balance the rich flavors. There were three on the plate so Baros and I had 1 ½ each although I easily could have eaten 5 of them at least!

The Macaroni & Cheese and Chicken 'n' Waffles 'n' Watermelon

The Macaroni and Cheese and Chicken ‘n’ Waffles arrived at the same time but first let's talk Mac and cheese. It’s made with trottole pasta, five artisanal cheeses and a crispy herb crust. Oh man, it was probably the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had. It was rich and creamy and the flavor of the cheese was incredible. It comes in what looks like a small bowl, but it’s pretty endless. I’m really glad I was sharing it with Baros. It was delicious but it would have been difficult to finish alone because of how rich it was .

A Close-up

Then of course we got the Chicken ‘n’ Waffles ‘n’ Watermelon. It was the best chicken I’ve had in a while possibly because it was all natural (no hormones or dyes), brined for 27 hours, dredged in flour and spices and then fried to perfection. It’s juicy and delicious and practically melts in your mouth. And the spices were spot on. The waffle was light and fluffy with great flavor thanks to the cheddar. Together with the chicken it was a perfect bite, especially with the honey hot sauce (which reminded me a bit of Mike’s Hot honey). The bourbon maple syrup was also delicious but I’m not as much of a fan of syrup in general and neither is Baros so we had a lot less of it. After having a savory bite of chicken and waffle, a bite of the watermelon was wonderful. It’s served chilled and with a little kick. I’m not sure if they soak the watermelon in spices or infuse it, but it was delicious with a hint of heat and I think a kick of mint (that’s not listed anywhere so I can’t be sure). All three elements of the dish worked incredibly well together and I’m so glad we got it. It was a great portion to share and we left not a bite on the plate. I think one person might struggle to finish unless they're very very hungry.

Such a filling portion

I think Baros and I were simultaneously sad and happy not to order dessert. Happy, because we were just the right amount of full from our meal. Any more food and we would have been uncomfortable bumps on a log and I don’t think we would have made it to the pool afterwards. However, we were sad because the desserts sounded delicious. They had a doughnut box special for National Doughnut Day that really looked amazing and, if I remember correctly, they had a peach cobbler for dessert that night too (it’s not currently on their menu though). Based on all of the other food we tried, I think the desserts would have been fabulous. So if we ever get back to Miami, or to one of the other three locations (Los Angeles, Los Vegas and Singapore), we will have to make room for dessert.

If you are by any of the locations, you should 100% try some of their southern comfort food.