new york is great

......because of something called restaurant week. local restaurant's have a price fix menu for ten days. $21.15 for a three course meal. had it not been for some other friends we would have missed it entirely, for the third year in a row. thankfully, we got to participate and hit one of our favorite places - applewood. it is one of our a special occassion place that prepares the food with mostly organic & local ingredients. the couple that owns & operates it lives here in the neighborhood and have been known to put their kids to bed in the back room where they set-up a pack-n-play for such purposes. anyway, the food was fabulous & the company was delightful - no kids makes for much for fluid interaction. i like to judge the quality of a restaurant by something as simple as their green salad & vinaigrette. this one was tangy..... then i had the mushroom risotto. creamy & delicious. so good. my partner in crime had the duck breast which melted in your mouth - which is remarkable if you like duck, which i don't. we add the supplemental cheese platter before the dessert in true french fashion. for a cheese lover the blue cheese cheesecake spread of a small piece of toasted baguette....makes my mouth water all over again. then came the vanilla bean bread pudding. oh my, oh my!!!! of course, what would have been an affordable special night out ceases to be affordable when you add the supplementals & the bottle and a half of wine (they actually have 4 half bottles on the menu.....perfect for just a sip with cheese). it was nice to splurge.......the kids won't mind rice & beans for the next month!!!