Category Archives: Travel

Our first dinner in New York!  Jaime had his list with him and this was one of them.  It was hard to get a reservation since they were fully booked and you need to reserve a month in advance!! So we tried to be creative and we asked the help of the American Express Concierge and they were able to get us a table at 5:30pm.  We took it immediately and were actually glad since we are used to 6 to 630pm dinner time 🙂  

Love the interiors of the restaurant! 

I like the drapes leading to the kitchen!

Our table on the left corner

Everything in the restaurant is Italian including all the servers and I love their outfits!

 OH MY GOSH!!! Parmesan Cheese!!! They give this compliments on your bread plate

Even the dinnerware is Italian – Richard Ginori – I know this from my Grandmother who loved the brand

More complimentary antipasto- Soooo good!!!

and more!!! This bread was amazing!!! 

CLOSE UP!!! SUPER YUM!! It’s called Grandmas’s bread which is a foccacia with all these yummy things on top!!

We are so lucky we had connections in the kitchen 🙂  Alec Santos!!! Brother of our good friend Caloy!!  Alec was part of the pioneering team that opened Carbone in March this year.  He came from the Lincoln prior to Carbone.   He used to be the Pasta Chef and he is now in charge of grilling meats and seafood.  He told us before he left us that he will make sure we will have a memorable dinner!! And we did!!!!!! Thank you Alec!!!!

We will wait till you open your restaurant one day, whether it be in Manila or anywhere in the world!!!  We will definitely visit you! 🙂

The foodie ordering our dinner.  He knows already what is good, so we leave it up to him to order

Everything we had was perfect and so delicious!!!!!  The best Italian meal we have ever had in New York!!!

Octopus Pizzaiolo – I don’t normally eat Octopus but this was amazing!!!!

Vongole from our friend in the kitchen 🙂 Yum!! A bit spicy but yum! 🙂 At this point, we were already very satisfied and full but food kept coming out!! And we continued to eat and eat because it was really good

Sweetbread Milanese!  

Spicy Rigatoni Vodka!! 

We did not order Ceasar Salad but this is where they make it – they do it on the spot in front of you 🙂

What do you think this is for?

Nope! Not pizza but for the Veal Parmesan!!!!

Sliced like a pizza 🙂

Oh my gosh!!! This is so so good!! The grilled corn sidings!!  It had shaved truffles on top and the corn was just amazing!!!  

Charred broccoli

Love the serve ware

As I entered I noticed this tray and immediately took a photo!! It was a work of Art just looking at it!!

They gave us one of each!!!!!!!  We tried all!!

This was a carrot cake which was my favorite and I loved the shape!  It’s not the usual round carrot cake!

All the other desserts were very good!!

Biscotti to end which was also very very good!!!  Took a bite and took the rest home!  And even three days after it was still very very good!!

They own three other restaurants in New York!!  Hoping to try them next time, but definitely will be back in Carbone – now officially one of our favorite restaurants in New York!! Thank you to Alec and the whole Carbone restaurant for a dinner we will remember forever!!

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We had to drive to New York, and on the way, we decided to pass by Philadelphia which was already on the way.  James always likes to reminisce his college days

Visiting his school

And having Philly Cheesesteak.  Jaime had a list of places to go and we had too with the help of Quentin and Vanessa, but by the time we wanted to eat lunch, they were closed already.  So we ended up going to Abner’s which was near campus as we were already at the University of Pennsylvania

James used to go here since it was convenient and near where he stayed – one block away

GIGANTIC!!  James always orders the same thing – onions, mushrooms and swiss and provolone cheese. We split this into three.  Jaime expected more but James and I were happy with this

Unsatisfied Jaime was still hungry so we went to the two famous places in Philly

Previous entry:  Pat’s or Geno’s August 13, 2010

Pat’s

We tried the one with Cheez whiz this time

Geno’s

The FOODIE is what I call my son!  I have a Chef and I have a Foodie! 🙂  They are definitely my sons 🙂

And quickly headed to New York!

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Since we were already in Washington DC, we decided to take a quick peek at Georgetown University.  It was good for Jaime to see the place too just to get a feel of the school

At the same time, we stopped by Georgetown Cupcakes!  It was my first time to hear about this place while the two boys were familiar with the place because of the reality show on TV

There was a line which never stopped from the time we entered till we got out

The cupcake sisters 🙂

WOW!

Menu that day

While waiting in line

Cupcakes being made at the back

Love the condiment counter

Love the pink KitchenAid

Heart cut outs!!!

We were just curious to try how the famous cupcakes taste like

Red Velvet and Chocolate Peanut Butter Twist

Jaime even bumped into a schoolmate from St. Paul’s who was also visiting the Campus – Mommy Carol and daughter Halisha

Click below to go to their website for more information

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Some friends drove over to Virginia- Don and Mariel

and took us to Ruth’s Chris Steak House.  I remember this steakhouse long long ago when we went to San Francisco.  They were already there even before all the other steakhouses – more than 40 years ago.  When this was bought 40 years ago, there were only 2 branches, now they have 120 locations and 12 international locations.

We shared the appetize.  Spicy Lobster! YUM!

Close up 🙂

Our main dishes 

Lamb Chops with Blue Cheese Crust

Rib Eye

Filet

Rib Eye with blue cheese crust

Barbecued Shrimp

Gigantic serving of Shoestring Fries

Mashed potatoes

Chocolate Explosion cake

Cheesecake

Click below to go to their website

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