A different kind if satisfaction!

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it" Proverbs 3:27

One of our resolutions this year was to give back to the community. Not just sign a check and donate gently worn clothing as we done in the past. But due to the hustle and bustle of our daily lives we had yet to find "the time" to do more than just that.

So when hubby told me he was spending a few hours with his friend Ali at the shelter I was equally excited and confused. You see, these are two guys who are used to spending their Saturday nights eating at fancy restaurants and drinking at hip bars  spending their evening with Mrs. Vicki, a tough  no nonsense loving lady who along with her husband handle the day to day of The Hoboken Shelter in the basement of St. John's Lutheran Church.

http://hoboken.patch.com/listings/hoboken-shelter

This shelter houses an average of 50 people per night and feeds up to 200 every night. 

We wanted to donate our time to the shelter where we knew they needed the most. Our first step was to bring in as much as we could from the list of "needs" on the wall (hubby took a picture of it during his first visit) and 2nd was to set a day in which not only we served but also prepared (insert hubby the chef here) the evening meal. 

I'm happy to say we are blessed drought to have been able to provide the mayor it's if the "needs" list, and we are looking forward to cooking & serving our first meal at the shelter this coming April 12th.

I know we might not aways be able to donate as much as we did, but at least I know we can donate our time as much as possible. 

So look around you, see how blessed you truly are in this life; and take a second to say thank you for what you have. And if you can o(r want) take a few hours of your week and use it to bring a smile, a hope to someone who's in need of it; trust me when I say it will bring you a satisfaction unlike any other.

Until we meet again!

Where did the taste go?

This is not my first time here; however it is my 2nd disappointment when ordering the tasting menu. I made the reservations as a surprise wedding present for friends who were en-route from Geneva to their honeymoon in Cabo and stopped in a layover  for 22 hours in NYC; and who always wanted to visit Daniel. We got the tasting menu, an 3 bottles of wine selected by the Sommelier to accompany our dishes.

The point of visiting a place such as Daniel, is for you to try things that you would not everywhere else. Selecting its tasting menu should be an explosion of flavors that only gets better as the evening continues. However out of all the courses, only two were good; one of these been the amuse (not part of the tasting menu the other the lamb which was perfectly executed.  There were numerous dishes that were  unimpressive, such as the bland arctic chard and few that were outright over powering with so many entwined flavors like the Scottish langoustines that you could not appreciate the minuscule langoustine pieces itself .  The highlight of the night were the selection of cheeses course right before dessert. If I may say so, this has been the best selection outside of Europe I have had thus far; the fun fact? most cheeses were from the North-East region of the country! Also their Beer ice cream was to die. 

The bread! now that's a selection I could eat all day & night. They are baked freshly from their own bakery, and the top ones (for me at least) were the sweet garlic rolls , the olive rolls

 I do have to say or server (who name escapes me) as well as the sommelier were a true gem, who made our dinner a much better experience. 

Perhaps I just happened to choose an off night (twice); we all have them, even the chefs at Daniel; however it cannot erase the fact the it was a  truly disappointing experience for a place named on the top 13 most expensive & tastiest menus in America. 

We met with dear friends who made it a point to have a 22 hour layover in NYC to meet us, and that's what really mattered. In the end, our evening was a fun one, and we created experiences that only we know how

Until the next time we meet!

XO