Sunday In New York: "This Is The End..."

      Alright I've been blogging for quite some time today/night (cracks knuckles, twists back) but I wanted to share my brunch at Bobby Flay's restaurant: Mesa Grill. Flay was the very first Food Network "personality" I starting watching back in the day. Some will say its something of a "man crush", but they're clearly liars and cannot be trusted. I have one of his cookbooks in my room--Grill It! and just missed an opportunity to have him sign it during a book signing at the Saratoga racetrack...what I had to work! With that being said, I am more of a Tyler Florence fan nowadays, sorry Bobby. Also, Giada de Laurentiis is pretty sexy I might add whoooopsss.
      Flay also has numerous other restaurants, Bar American, Bolo (which just closed), Bobby Flay's Burger Palace, and Mesa grill in Vegas. I chose Mesa Grill because it was his first place, and I hear good things. My mom and I went there for brunch because we had a Knicks game to attend later that night; am I living the weekend dream or WHAT?? Side note: the Knickerbockers got blown out by the Danny Granger-less Pacers. If your not a basketball fan, THATS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! Even though they got dominated, my good friend Jon Gibbs would have killed a man (he's harmless, and an RA) to be at the game because hes absolutely obsessed with the Knicks, especially Landry Fields. Back at Mesa Grill (you still with me?) this is what I ordered for brunch, word-for-word from the menu:
   
Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno filled with roasted eggplant & manchego cheese with sweet red pepper sauce & balsamic vinegar

      The dish was aesthetically pleasing to the max, I mean just look at that thing! It should be put in the Museum of Modern Art...which I actually went to right before this, but for me as I dug in, it didn't taste as good as it looked. It was prepared fine, it just didn't go as well as I thought a "first meal at a Bobby Flay restaurant" would go. It wasn't bad, just ordinary? In the end, it was brunch, which is a totally different menu from the dinner menu. Maybe I'll go back one day for dinner and give it another whirl. You have not failed me yet Bobby!
      What Mesa Grill and Kraft Bar had in common I noticed, was the waitstaff. Both our waitresse...er..servers (sorry Bre) were awesome. They didn't put on that fake front, desperate to sell you something and push drinks on you like a used car salesman would old cars. No, it was refreshing to have a cool, attentive server who could give detail about a dish rather than the usual, "Oh I had that for lunch yesterday, its by far my favorite!" (liar). But if your looking for the best server and you happen to be in beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY then venture on over to Pizzeria Uno's and ask for Bre Lee to be your server; but make sure you say 'Bre', if you say 'Breanne' then your already dead...And that concludes my New York City getaway, happy eating people!!