I don’t know how I’m managing to post this so embarrassingly late, but my dinner with the wonderful people at Neiman Marcus’ Last Call at Craftbar deserves to be revisited. It was a small, intimate sit-down meal where we really got to know the brand and the people behind it.

For those of you who don’t know, Last Call is the outlet store for Neiman Marcus that’s stocked with merch from the full line stores, catalogs, and even Bergdorf Goodman, but at price points that will make you salivate. We’re talking designers like MICHAEL Michael Kors, L.A.M.B., Tahari, Juicy Couture and more. And ON TOP of the already reduced prices, they go all out with additional sales that are posted practically every week (I know, now I’ve pretty much been on their mailing list for a month and finally used the $100 gift card they presented me with to indulge in a cute Ali Ro dress that can easily take me from day to night).

{PS, how much do you love Danny’s fluorescent scarf? He makes them! His label, Hena et Daniel, is on Etsy.}

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If my first dinner in Toronto with Mickey Contractor and co. was any indication of how the rest of my stay would be, then I should have known it would be fantastic. We kicked off the week in style by dining at Nota Bene, a David Lee restaurant. The restaurant name is Latin used to indicate that special attention should be paid to something (or Italian for “note well”). And that you can taste — with a mix of flavors and focus on “farm-to-fork” locally-sourced ingredients, every mouthful was fresh and inviting.

Ok let’s be real: the cavatelli pasta kinda resemble, well, little maggots. But if you can get over that, the truffle oil and mushroom fusion was a perfect starter.

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I want to like Georgio’s Country Grill. Before going for the first time, I had heard good things from friends who lived near by. And when I did end up going for the first time to catch up with a friend for lunch, I liked the laidback, non-pretentious atmosphere of the place. Like you’re eating out in…well the country. But I found the food to be a little more disappointing. For lunch, I had an open-faced grilled chicken and roasted peppers sandwich.

It comes with seasoned grilled chicken, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta bread. It looked great, sure. I think I feel like if I can make it at home, it takes a little bit of the fun out of the meal. The sandwich just didn’t have too much of a kick to qualify it as anything special. I thought maybe their brunch is where it’s really at…so I went back. And I think you know by now what I ordered…

I don’t know what it is about poached eggs on an english muffin, but I can’t help but order it almost every time. They served theirs over sautéed spinach, with scallions, dill, feta cheese oreganato and a generous serving of hollandaise sauce. The problem I had with my eggs was it veered too much to the salty side. I’m not sure if it was the sauce or what, but I’ve had better. Plus potatoes on the side were just too much for one girl to handle. My friend Asma ordered the Arizona omelette, and seemed to just be mildly satisfied (maybe because the eggs she cooks herself are BOMB).

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As much as I was craving the vaca frita at Havana Harry’s, when I went back to Miami this past weekend, my friend Shahla and I decided to try something new. We first thought we’d go to Taverna Opa (a Greek restaurant where I hear there are a lot of waving napkins and smashing plates happening), but the line at the door was out of control. We decided on another Mexican tapas place, but on the way there, we came across Sustain. The decor inside was alluring enough for us to change our minds and eat here instead.

Sustain is all about locally grown, organic food so the menu changes seasonally and sometimes even more often than that. Shahla had never been, but we decided might as well be a little adventurous with our food. Yeah. Sometimes that can work out for you, and sometimes it doesn’t. This time, not so much. I think our meal started well and ended well, but everything in between wasn’t anything to rave about. We started with the squash blossoms:

This is one of those seasonal menu items. It was filled with cheese and kind of tasted like Indian pakoras (fried fritters)…I don’t know if they use cumin or coriander in it to make it taste that way to me and it was a little unexpected. This was the good beginning.

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No, it’s not just you. It just occurred to me too that I’ve been spending a lot of time in the West Village lately! I’m making no excuses for it though — it really has some of the cutest restaurants.

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I guess I’ve been spending a lot more time in Greenwich/West Village. It’s not my fault they have such cute brunch spots! The Cornelia Street Café is no exception in terms of aesthetic — it’s an inviting, chatty cafe with a very neighborhood feel and outdoor seating for sunny days. They change up the artwork monthly (when we went, it was lined with Martin Silverstein paintings). I found out later the cafe has a pretty interesting history — it was opened by three artists in 1977 and doubled as a restaurant and performing theater. People come by to read poetry, play jazz, or even cabaret. It’s now considered an NYC cultural landmark with about 700 shows a year. Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel like the food we ordered lived up to the ambiance.

My friend Shahla and I wanted to split something savory and something sweet, so we went for the Huevos Rancheros (fried eggs with black beans, cheddar cheese, salsa cruda, creme fraiche and corn tortillas, $10). I just didn’t feel like it had a lot of taste…we did order it with egg whites though, so that may be part of the reason. But it was a small portion as well. The buttermilk pancakes were a little better.

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