Colonie — Restaurant in New York

First of all, our server Paige is an absolute gem! She is very attentive and I wanted for nothing because whatever I needed would simply materialize on the table. She is very welcoming and friendly and, most importantly, she laughed at my jokes! Lol!!

I ordered PAPPARDELLE (spiced lamb sausage, caramelized fennel, castelvetrano olives, san marzano tomatoes, pecorino). Every single bite was bursting with flavor! The spiced lamb sausage and sauce were seasoned perfectly and the house made noodles were were exquisitely cooked! If I'm ever lucky though to return to New York then I'm definitely stepping by and having this again!

My table ordered the SHAVED CELERY SALAD (toasted pistachios, parmigiano, dates). Now, I can't stand celery but I found myself going back for seconds (I always try food before deciding whether or not I like it). The pistachios with the parmigiano was so delightful that I want it in every salad!

We also ordered ENGLISH PEAS (whipped ricotta, pickled pearl onion, spring herb oil, green peppercorn) we used to spread over sourdough bread and we ordered HEIRLOOM SWEET POTATOES (preserved lemon, labneh, sesame, mojo verde). The peas were a big hit with the table and the sweet potatoes were gone in a blink of the eye. I really enjoyed the crispy outside of the potatoes which gave them a great texture and crunch.

It was my nieces birthday that night. They were kind enough to bring her COCONUT SORBET (cardamom caramel, toasted coconut, honeycomb toffee, vanilla salt). Even though she shared it with the entire table, I, unfortunately, didn't have any (people had been using spoons they already had eaten from and I don't partake when that happens). From the table talk I heard, it was incredible!

For my dessert, and ordered by everyone else at the table, was STICKY DATE CAKE (salted crème fraîche gelato, toffee sauce). Let's see, how do I describe this? Is it good enough of a description to say that it was like tasting heaven? Is it accurate enough to say that the flavor was so incredible that it was like a universe was blooming into existence using my taste buds as a catalyst? I don't know if those descriptions are good enough to explain how exemplary the flavor was! All I do know is that if I had to spend every last cent I ever had or ever will have to generically modify my DNA so I could persist on only the Sticky Date Cake for the rest of my life then I would...

Brunch in Brooklyn! As a west coast boy, wandering around Brooklyn looking for good eats is an affair of the heart. I settled on Colonie in Brooklyn Heights after an unnecessarily exhaustive search through reviews and online map locations close-ish to my hotel. (admit you do all this too.)

It’s a crowded spot with lots of good Brooklyn energy and I was lucky enough to get a table towards the back of the restaurant. I started with the French Press Coffee (it was my special day after all…). It was great…as strong as I wanted it to be, perhaps a tad acidic for my taste.

I had a Kale and Gruyere scramble with jack cheese. They declined my request to make it with egg whites or any egg substitute…so if you are looking for eggs and always get that option, this isn’t the place for you. (I’m accustomed to paying a surcharge for egg whites, but definitely not accustomed to places refusing to make your egg dish with egg whites. Whites…that comes with every egg…it’s not like they were out of them…so disappointing not to have this healthy option.) I got it anyway…it as very runny which is not how I like my eggs…salted too much, and the cheese it was cooked with had very little noticeable presence in the dish.

I ordered a biscuit on the side. If a brunch place has a biscuit, being the biscuit fanatic, it’s a mandatory order for me. I’ve had biscuits, literally all over the world…this was the first time I couldn’t actually finish a biscuit. It was very heavy and tasted a bit like I was eating oil. When biscuits fail me, I begin to weep.

Colonie turns into a wine bar and they had an impressive looking cocktail menu. Had it not been first thing in the morning I would have loved to try the Watermelon Chili Margarita. (And back here in Los Angeles I’m salivating about the idea of this cocktail.)

Kudos for changing the menu up with the seasons. As of this writing, the scramble has changed on their menu. I’d give the place another shot for the evening menu and cocktails, but not offering egg whites or other healthy egg substitute as an option, plus the biscuit fail is a deal breaker for me in terms of lunch.

P.S. They also had free copies of the New York Times which they offered to bring to the table....

Was fortunate enough to have dinner at the chefs table to celebrate a birthday dinner. The staff were very cordial and everyone greeted us celebrating the birthday. Highly recommend the chef table to both interact with the staff and observe the amazing kitchen. These guys worked ultra hard and it was amazing to observe. We had the sourdough with butter, which honestly could be skipped (given we got the eggplant crostini). The eggplant caponata was solid and provided enough sourdough to get that taste. The Arctic char crudo was good but only if you really like crudo and the sauce more lemony/ citrus forward. The celery salad was very refreshing and unique although we wish we might’ve gotten the herbed lettuce salad it looked delicious. MUST get the crispy sweet potatoes it was a star. We didn’t other pasta given we arguably ordered so much ahead of mains but they looked good. As for remains the ribeye and duck were perfect, highly recommend, very flavorful and expertly cooked. The duck comes with fries. Note the ribeye only comes in medium rare. The sticky date dessert is not to be missed! The head chef spoke to several times throughout the night, which we enjoyed, and thanked us several times for being first time diners to the restaurant. We were absolutely stuffed and probably ordered two dishes too many ahead of entrees.

Our only complaint would be the feeling of short staff and for management to ensure there is more support. There are significant amount of tables inside, at the bar, chefs counter, outside, and it really didn’t feel like there were enough servers and busers to manage everything - they were all working incredibly hard though. There was a period of time where, even though we were OK with it, and just enjoying the vibe, we sat for 40 minutes before somebody attended to us to clear our entrée plates and get us going for dessert for other diners or if we weren’t in such great mood, honestly, we would’ve been pretty pissed. Had nothing to do with the other staff just being incredibly busy trying to manage the volume.

Overall, we truly enjoyed our experience, and this will not be the last time that we...