Hendrick's Tavern: Roslyn, NY

Interior

One step into Hendrick’s front doors you feel like you are being welcomed into someone’s home. The Tavern is the restored estate home of Hendrick Onderdunk, built in 1740. The building is full of history, and still remains today now as Hendrick’s Tavern serving a variety of delicious dishes, desserts, and drinks.

As you walk through the restaurant to your table, you’ll notice the beautiful decor throughout—it’s eclectic mix of historical and modern decor. History is adorned on each wall, with vintage portraits and paintings, even antique mirrors.

The dining room and the various seating arrangements throughout are cozy and intimate, perfect for a special occasion or for date night.

Malbec tends to be a drier wine with a higher alcohol content, and its fruity notes (usually raspberries and/or blackberries) pairs extremely well with a nice, juicy steak. It was the perfect pick for dinner and even for our dessert too. I’d recommend it to pair with super sweet desserts as well, (e.g. chocolate desserts) as Malbec has the perfect bitter to sweet contrast.

***Salad special: Heirloom tomato salad***

To start off our meal, we ordered the salad special. It’s important to note that Hendrick's has daily specials, and certain items might not be available after that evening.

We ordered the heirloom tomato salad—sweet corn, red onions, avocado with a chardonnay dressing topped with fresh ricotta salata.

The salad was light and refreshing, my only wish was that I wanted more ricotta salata in the salad to add a contrast to the sweet, juicy veggies. Other than that, the salad was delicious and it’s a perfect starter to a big feast.

To accompany dinner, the first side we ordered was the Truffle Lobster Mac & Cheese. The flavors of both meld together beautifully—it’s truly melt-in-your-mouth. They use black truffle in this dish (very generous amount), and its earthiness compliments the meaty lobster and gooey cheese. I guarantee you it’s so delicious and addicting you almost don’t want to share.

Since Hendricks is known for their steaks, I took this opportunity to try my first-ever wagyu. The wagyu is 10oz. and granted it is smaller than the other cuts, but what it lacks in size it makes up in flavor. The meat is extremely juicy and tender—it was delicious with the au poivre sauce and the bulb of roasted garlic. Jose ordered the Colorado rib eye (16oz), a thick and juicy cut. The rib eye was cooked medium—both juicy and well-seasoned. Both steaks were amazing on their own, but topped with the au poivre sauce (be sure to ask), made it even more memorable.

Other than the salad, another vegetable dish we ordered was the roasted asparagus with garlic chips. The asparagus was juicy, crunchy and tender—it’s the perfect choice to complete the meal. It’s topped with more roasted garlic, added a crunch to each bite.

To finish off our feast (and feast we did), we chose the Chocolate cloud cake—Decadent slices of chocolate cake are sandwiched together with sweet, vanilla cream; it’s served with fresh, homemade whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a wafer to top it off.

The dessert was sweeter than anticipated, but with some wine still left it was the perfect pairing. Who doesn’t love chocolate and wine together? The berry notes and the bitterness of the Malbec paired well with dessert. If you ever find yourself with a chocolate dessert that’s too sweet, look no further than a delicious, bitter red wine. If you can’t find Malbec, I recommend Sangiovese.

A big thank you to Hendrick’s Tavern and to our waiter Marvin, to making our anniversary extra special. From the food to the atmosphere—Hendricks is the perfect place for any special occasion. The wait staff is very attentive, and will answer any questions you have about the menu and even suggest the best wine pairings for your dishes.

A big thank you to Jose— thank you for a wonderful evening and memorable anniversary experience. Tqmm.

For more information on Hendrick’s Tavern:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Reservations are recommended, masks required.

To make a reservation: (516) 621-1200

Hendrick’s can be found at 1305 Old Northern Blvd Roslyn, NY 11576

x Yzabelle

Sea Salt Breezes

Ocean waves, the sun's warmth on your back and sand in-between your toes —these are things that people usually associate with summer. But last December I took a chance and headed to the beach. Though it seemed like a crazy idea at first with it being winter, I went regardless and it turned out to be a memorable and awe-inspiring day. Sometimes it's the unexpected moments that leave an impression. There are times that we need to move out of our comfort zone and try something new. One thing I'm looking forward to are picnics on the beach and taking dips in the ocean.

It's good to know that the beaches are empty during the winter making it a prime location for relaxation and down time. Just remember to bundle up!

x Yzabelle

Down by the Bay

Kettle corn stand. The original had the perfect balance of sweet and salty.

My brother and Siu surprised me with a trip to Oyster Bay for the 31st annual Oyster Festival. We took the LIRR and it was an about an hour ride. It felt like Summer all over again-with carefree days spent with good company. I consider this the last hurrah for Summer even though it's gotten pretty chilly and it's already fall. Oysters and fresh seafood just scream Summer. There were various family friendly rides, but the main attraction for us was the food. We started out with Wild Bill's Olde Fashioned Soda. Their sodas are homemade and made with pure cane sugar. When you buy the mug you get unlimited refills throughout the day, we purchased the insulated mug to ensure our drinks remained cold. The flavors included orange soda, birch beer, root beet, sarsaparilla, diet root beer, ginger ale, and vanilla root beer. The sarsaparilla and root beer were my favorites. The mugs are quite big but it makes for a good souvenir. Lots of people at the festival had them, and more than once was I asked whether it was alcohol (not here folks!). I believe drinking was allowed but only off the festival grounds, but there were other non-alcoholic beverages available if soda's not your cup of tea.

The kettle corn was so good I forgot to take a picture! They had samples of each flavor available but I enjoyed the simplicity of the sweet and salty. As for the pretzels, the pictures don't do them justice. They're huge! I'd say as long as a person's face, and the pretzel was bigger than my brother's. They made the pretzels throughout the day and had them grilled before handing them out to customers. This is what I wish a NYC style pretzel would taste like.

They oysters were served with cocktail sauce, but there was a wide variety of condiments. I enjoyed them the best with a squeeze of lemon, yuzu sauce, and the spicy Korean cocktail sauce. These were definitely worth the hour and a half wait (eek!), I could have eaten WAY more than five (you can't just have one). We were tempted to get back on line to get more oysters, but the line got even longer towards the end of the day.

There were two adorable Alpacas, and I only got one of their names (Bella). I got to pet her and they were very friendly and sweet. Initially Siu and I had thought they were toys, they were so still-then they moved! Lots of blankets, vests, and other clothing items were sold by the farm. We also ended up seeing lots of unique things such as handmade lace and artisanal cooking and baking mixes. The handmade lace was all made by this sweet woman, who not only made doilies, but shawls, hangers, and anything you could imagine. We didn't get to try the English pastries but they were selling out pretty quickly (missed out on the black currant cake). But I ended up purchasing a few cheesecake mixes and dip mixes that I plan to make soon. The booth that sold the mixes are based in Vermont, they have their own Inn which has outdoor and indoor activities. If I ever get to go I was to try kayaking and their cooking classes. If their mixes were delicious I could only imagine what the food at the inn tastes like.

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Coffee Shop Vibes

I love coffee shops. There's something about the intimate setting that can spark unexpected conversation. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to finally visit Rex; I've been wanting to stop by for quite some time. Rex is small compared to some Starbucks', but makes up for it with the music, atmosphere, and coffee. My friends and I tried their cortado as well as their cookies (chocolate chip and peanut butter). Their cookies were flavorful and moist and I'm looking forward to trying their other baked goods. As for their cortado, it's one of the best ones I've had other than Abraço's in East Village.

When the Starbucks or my favorite café is crowded I'll definitely be stopping by for some good coffee with a book intact.