Light Bites

A friend first introduced me to La Pain Quotidien over the summer because she decided to have her Birthday Brunch there - the location in Union Square. The family style tables make it a warm and welcoming environment for such a thing. I went back with my Mother for champagne and snacks before a movie in the fall. Perfect for that occasion as well but we opted for a smaller twosome table to catch up amongst ourselves. This past Saturday I found myself at the location closest to Bryant Park, after no luck trying to skate; we had planned a skating day completely forgetting that it was a holiday weekend. We all got the small plates to share. I sampled the special beverage of the day, the organic ginger apple cider - it was delish! But you definitely have to like ginger for this one. I ordered the Ricotta Terrine but they were out of Ricotta - I was bummed but got the sugar waffle instead. I tend to go from one extreme to the other; however, the Ricotta had honey on it too so not too far off. I shared the black bean hummus with a friend. Would highly recommend this one for something light and refreshing, the perfect about of tomato flavor blended nicely with fresh avocado that was just crisp enough to be not too ripe. It was easy to enjoy conversation and it is that in between organic kind of restaurant if someone isn't ready for a full on vegetarian/vegan spot, this is perfect to try. The food is fresh, yummy and organic but also may introduce something new into your palate. The service was a little slow but for the kind of relaxing afternoon that it was, we didn't mind one bit.