Painter Girl Chocolates

2006 flew by as fast as a cheetah, and a cheetah is what I'm munching on as I contemplate the beginning of the new year. Well, not an actual wildcat, but "The Cheetah" chocolate bar conceived by the wonderfully creative Painter Girl Chocolates. For my birthday this year, a friend bought me The Cheetah, The Wild Pony, The Snow Leopard and The Zebra, all animal-print bars made from Belgian chocolate.

My New Year's resolution is to try to appreciate each moment a little more. I think I can start by slowly savoring a rich chocolate bar.

Happy New Year!

Boqueria

Walking into Boqueria, an authentic tapas bar, I thought the only details missing were cigarette smoke and paper strewn all over the floor. "We can't do that," joked Yann, the owner. But there was an inviting counter full of wheels of Spanish cheese and plates of white anchovy toasts, and a few businessmen sat there sipping beer and cafe con leche. I cast a glance over the packed dining area and decided to sit in the more casual section at the front of the room.

Boqueria's menu, organized by portion size, consists of tapas, embutidos (cured meats such as the beloved Serrano ham and paprika sausage), media raciones, raciones and para compartir (to share). Although there are many traditional items such as gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) and paella, there's a whimsical touch (there are lychees in the arroz cremoso).

My original intention was to try three tapas, but I was full after one and a half! I had a slice of the tortilla espanola, a nicely browned, sliced potato omelette as high as a deep-dish apple pie. (Note to olive-lovers: a small portion of green and black olives accompanies the tortilla.) I guess I was in a potato mood, so I also devoured the salt cod brandade, which arrived with fried herbs and crisp toasts.

The cook at the bar gave me some white anchovy toasts smeared with goat cheese. He was obsessed with Ferran Adria's 825-recipe cookbook, and told me how Adria had autographed it when he visited New York this fall. Although you won't find cocina de vanguardia at Boqueria, I'm sure you will be satisfied with the excellent, thoughtfully prepared Spanish food.

Boqueria: 53 West 19th St., (212) 255-4160. Happily, the restaurant does not close between lunch and dinner, so stop in for an afternoon snack.

wd-50

Has the sight of all those Christmas trees made you hungry? If so, you might want to head over to wd-50, where the current menu features sly hints of the season. This weekend, there were pine needle beans, spruce yogurt and a pine nut casserole. My companion and I celebrated Christmas Eve doing what we love most: dining out. Many others had the same idea, as wd-50 was packed even though chef Wylie Dufresne had the night off.

We almost ordered the 9-course tasting, but instead decided only to go the tasting route for dessert, ordering a la carte for dinner. But the couple next to us ordered the 9-course tasting, and we were quite envious watching all the exciting concoctions they were served! One of their courses was a miso soup served with a little squeeze bottle of... noodles! When they squirted the liquid contents of the squeeze bottle into their bowls, convincingly thick udon-like noodles were formed. The server told us that the broth had to be sufficiently hot for the reaction to take place.

Our amuse-bouche was a little pressed coin of smoked eel, served with tiny white "pine needle beans" and a swirl of tangy cranberry puree. I was going to order the rabbit sausage pine nut cassoulet but instead went for the lighter malted chestnut soup. This bowl of slightly foamy, earthy brown broth was a tableau for an ikebana-like garnish. Tufts of dried, shredded bright-orange salmon were scattered across the soup like blossoms, with green celery root and chestnut chips for leaves. It was almost too pretty to eat! My companion's choice was the cold, refreshing squid noodles with julienned zucchini, tart dehydrated grapefruit sections and sansho sour cream. The squid had the texture of spaghetti.

For entrees, I ended up preferring my companion's succulent pink ocean trout, served with a spray of Middle Eastern spices, cucumber strips which looked raw and green but which were somehow tender, and panelle. My hearty portion of cacao-nib-sprinkled, crispy-skinned bass was somewhat overpowered (to my taste) by its bed of heavy peanut-sauced quinoa. But the cacao nibs provided a delicious kind of deconstructed mole.

The dessert tasting, which ended up including an extra "pre-dessert" course, was shockingly imaginative (and wonderful!). Our waiter said that he could score us the yuzu custard from the 10-course menu, but that everything else would be a surprise.

I love savory elements in desserts, and the dessert tasting was right up my alley. The pre-dessert was a little fantasy of pineapple puree, dried apple strips and apple sorbet. Next was yuzu custard with sour herbal spruce yogurt, Sicilian pistachios and shortbread crumbles, then a plate of black currant pound cake and sorbet with a soft little meringue, a black sesame sprinkle and a swirl of black sesame gelee, and finally the chocolate/avocado dessert: a long strip of soft chocolate cream dotted with light and dark green pools of avocado and lime puree. The dessert was a meal in itself!

wd-50: 50 Clinton St., (212) 477-2900.

Tocqueville Restaurant

Tocqueville is still hot, hot, hot, even though its new incarnation has been open since February. Last night, our party of four had a 9 p.m. reservation, but a table didn't open up until after 10. Fortunately, the gracious host sat us at the bar, plying us with complimentary glasses of Lafitte Rose and all the sparkling water we could drink! Although we weren't able to move to the dining room until our entrees, we certainly appreciated the hospitality. (Service was excellent throughout the night.)

We munched on gougeres while looking over the seasonal, local menu. (A veal chop in bacon-onion sauce was the special.) Our amuse-bouche was a tiny cup of rich Parmesan lentil soup.

To start, we ordered the sea urchin carbonara (my choice), Cato cheddar salad, house-cured salmon and sturgeon, and sunchoke soup. The Cato cheddar salad was a tall pile of frisee topped with a giant slice of cheddar and a few hazelnuts, served next to some halved roasted pears. A few bay scallops decorated the earthy sunchoke soup. The thinly-sliced salmon and sturgeon was my favorite appetizer - sprinkled with peppery kaiware, it was refreshing and stimulating to the appetite (which is what an appetizer should do!). I felt that my sea urchin carbonara was actually the least appealing selection. Sea urchin is a delicate creature, and in this instance it was lost in a heavy clump of eggy, creamy noodles. (Basta Pasta does a great sea urchin pasta; the pink sauce is much lighter and the urchin is served on top in a heap, rather than being mixed into the pasta and losing its texture.)

My entree was the wild salmon wrapped in Savoy cabbage. It looked like a big California roll, and arrived with a vial of "bagna cauda" (according to the server, the sauce contained tomato, onion, garlic, anchovy, butter and olive oil), tiny Beluga lentils and spicy watercress. This preparation of salmon rendered the fish perfectly moist. Other entrees were the bloody rare "60-Second Steak" with a cake of "24-Hour Shortrib" (did I detect a hint of vanilla in the little Brussels sprouts accompanying the meat?) and our favorite entree, the hibiscus-scented John Dory.

At dessert, I was again more entranced with others' selections than my own. I ordered the toasted sesame pudding, which was something of an underwater dessert. Two cubes of pudding floated atop a lonely little cookie underneath a cold, clear shiso/elderflower broth. I immediately gravitated towards my friend's thick rectangle of chocolate-graham cracker mousseline, apologizing for my indiscretion.

Tocqueville Restaurant: 15 East 15th St., (212) 647-1515.

Salli And The Chocolate Factory

Have you ever wanted to see the inner workings of a chocolate factory? This Wednesday-Friday, you'll be granted a rare glimpse into Vere Chocolates, and best of all, any chocolates you may purchase during the tour will be discounted by 20%! Try the fruit & nut "tile" mosaics or the classic truffles made with cream and butter from grass-fed cows.

Vere Chocolates: 12 West 27th St., 6th Floor, (866) 410-VERE.

A Short Trip To Tokyo

I am presently eating myself into a coma in Tokyo. (Don't worry, I'll soon be back to do the same in New York.) You can read about my experiences at Salli Vates' Traveling Food Page.

The Traveling Palate

I've just discovered the Traveling Palate, a group which holds events highlighting various world cuisines. This month's dinner, which takes place at Kiva Cafe on Thursday, December 7, will showcase the spicy, hearty food of Ethiopia. There will be injera, spiced red lentils, braised chicken with tomatoes, ginger, allspice and cloves, and much more! To RSVP, please call (212) 587-1198.

FIKA

Take a break from the mad 5th Avenue Christmas rush, turn right on 58th Street and stop into FIKA, a contemporary Swedish coffee/sweets/sandwich shop. You'll be able to enjoy juniper-marinated gravlax, a sandwich with roast beef and Vasterbotten cheese, Swedish meatballs on baguette, and a daily soup (the other day, a delectable potato leek topped with homemade croutons). Make sure to try the excellent coffee, and accompany it with delightful sweets like kanelbulle, little cinnamon crullers coated with crystallized sugar, kladdkaka, a very sweet, dense chocolate cake with a dollop of whipped cream, or chocolate-lingonberry truffles. Soon you'll be recharged and ready for your holiday shopping! (I haven't even started...)

FIKA: 41 West 58th St., (212) 832-0028.