The store front is unremarkable, but inside, the bar, banquettes, red print fabric walls, paper lanterns and low lighting make you feel like you've walked into another world. Known for their dirty martinis, I quickly ordered one, though the plethora of wines by the glass, including an extensive rose list and a prosecco and blackberry sangria, almost distracted me. The martini was in a word, dirty, and as good as any you could find in the city. While I was sipping my cocktail, I noticed how much room there was between the tables. In the city you could have easily put a table on either side of us (me and my beau). I could freely get up to powder my nose and not worry that me or my ass would knock over wine glasses on the table next to us.

The menu pulls from local ingredients (seafood, greens) and Asian, Southern, and European inspiration. We opted for Spicy Shrimp Summer Rolls and Crispy Squash Blossoms stuffed with goat cheese. The summer rolls were served with a tangy and spicy sauce that in large quantities obscured the flavor of the rolls. A mere drizzle of the sauce enhanced the delicate flavor of fresh, sweet shrimp. The squash blossoms were divinely fried and filled with creamy goat cheese. These unforgettable blossoms had a perfect balance of crunchy and creamy, and sat on a refreshing bed of local arugula.

The main courses ranged from local seafood to steak frites. Having already decided we were going to taste as much as possible, we opted for lighter dishes, Grilled Swordfish on a bed of Hominy and Green beans and Pan Roasted Halibut on a bed of Local Greens and Yucca Fries. The swordfish was a bit dry, and need a hint of salt. The halibut, however, was expertly pan roasted with paper thin yucca fries, tangy tomato tapenade and tasty greens.

I had read that their key lime pie was excellent. I had hoped that it lived up to its name on the menu, dubbed The Best Key Lime Pie. We also ordered their Vanilla Brownie a la Mode and a White Chocolate and Coconut Mousse in a Tuile Cup. The key lime pie had a perfect graham cracker crust and the filling had a bite to the tang. The brownie was overwhelmingly chocolately, but was topped with smooth vanilla ice cream. The mousse was boring, but did have a wonderful coconut flavor and the tuile cup buttery and crunchy.

The trip was entirely worth it; the food at the Frisky Oyster was sublime. Greenport is a wonderful weekend getaway, and by getaway, I don't mean a transplant of New Yorkers ala Hamptons. It's a mix of Rhode Islanders, low key New Yorkers and foodies like me. If you need a place to stay, check out the Greenporter. A renovated 1950's motel with high thread count sheets, pool and hot tub surrounded by lavender and a wine bar with over 60 local selections by the glass. Oh and if you don't have a car for the 2 and 1/2 hour drive, the LIRR drops you off in the center of Greenport (approx 2h 45m).

The Frisky Oyster
27 Front Street
Greenport, Long Island
631-477-4265
Oinks: 4/5
Why Bother? : Dirty Martini, Crispy Squash Blossoms, The Best Key Lime Pie
Average Set Back: 2 drinks, 2 starters ($8-16), 2 mains ($24-31), 3 desserts ($8) 140.00
Hired Help: 2.5/3

Modern Snack Bar
628 Main Road
Aquebogue, North Fork Long Island
631-722-3655

I rely on my cousins, since they spend a lot of time there, to tell me what's new in the area and to keep me up to date on old favorites. No visit to them is complete without a trip to the BEST Italian Ice place in the tri-state area: Strollo's Lighthouse in Long Branch, NJ. We walked the half mile or so from the house to Strollo's. By the time we got there, we were dripping in sweat which made the ices/ ice cream that much the sweeter. There are always lines, but they move pretty fast. Our order for 5 adults and 3 kids ran the gamut from ices to rootbeer floats to combos of ices & ice cream. High school kids staff the three windows and are quick, courteous and great with kids.

After taking a few hours break, we went out to dinner at a new-ish (it wasn't around last summer) Brazillian rodizio restaurant (in which waiters come around to your table with skewers of various grilled meat & poultry and you pick and choose what you'd like), Rodeio Grill. It's been years since I was last at a churascaria and even then, it wasn't in the US. All of us, kids included, got the churrasco (Brazillian barbecue). I was pleasantly surprised. The first skewers to come around held chicken and sausage. Flavorful and juicy, the chicken was by far the superior of the two; the sausage was so-so. Next up, beef with bacon which may not sound like the most appetizing thing but it was delicious and a table favorite. Then there was top sirloin, both well done and rare, also tasty although the rare was just bit too rare for me. This was followed by ribs which were too fatty and unimpressive. Skirt steak was grilled to perfection and might have been my favorite. The pork loin which came out next didn't wow me although the majority of everyone else seemed to like it-- it was a bit fatty and not as flavorful or charred as I would have liked. And last but not least-- and this was by request-- was the bacon-wrapped chicken chunks. That too, was very tasty and I think was Danielle's favorite.

Aside from all the barbecue, there is a small, very basic salad bar that is included in the price of the churrasco, as well as french fries, rice, beans & fried bananas which are served family style. All of the sides were excellent.

Desserts (passionfruit sorbet & flan) were okay but nothing to knock your socks off. I'd say have another round of churrasco instead.

If you live in the area or are down the shore for the weekend, have a hearty appetite and aren't a vegetarian of course, definitely check this place out. It's worth every real.

Strollo's Lighthouse
65 Ocean Avenue
Long Branch, NJ 07740

Average Setback: 2 small ices, 2 rootbeer floats, 4 dishes of combination ice/ ice cream, 2 bottles of water $24
Why Bother?: Why not! Everything is delicious though my personal favorites are the orange, blue raspberry and pistachio ices. Or a combo of orange ice & soft serve vanilla ice cream.
Oinks: 4/5

Rodeio Grill
78 Oceanport Ave
West Long Branch, NJ 07764
732/ 571-4800

Average Setback: $18-30 for churrasco (a la carte entrees range from $10.95-$14.95) ; $3 for dessert
Why Bother?: chicken; skirt steak; beef with bacon; chicken wrapped bacon; fried bananas
Oinks: 3.5/5

NJ Transit: New Jersey Coast Line to Long Branch; taxi from station

Better luck next year, America. You're still beautiful.

On first glance, Cookshop's design is clean, relaxing and as my friend noted "calming." The wood slated ceiling may contribute, but the ample flowers and oil lamps assist. However in the rear of the restaurant, the servers and runners congregate behind a partition so that you can see just their heads as they ogle the diners. Our waiter quickly arrived, but this was not to be the trend. He was late and lax about our whole meal. We waited for every course for at least 15 minutes, and the lady sitting next too us received her line-caught salmon completely cold.

I can turn half a blind eye to service if the food delivers, but sadly it did not. As an aperitif, I ordered what sounded to be a delicious treat: Fresh Sour Cherry Lemonade with the option of vodka or gin. I opted for vodka. It arrived and it soon became clear that this tasted and looked like a 2nd rate sangria. For starters, I order Grilled Squid Salad. It had potential, like nearly everything I ordered, but fell flat. Served with roasted potatoes, paprika and black olives from a jar, the olives were too bitter and overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the squid. The largest offense was the under salting of this dish and every subsequent item that we tasted from their kitchen. There is no excuse for this. They attempt to redeem themselves with coarse sea salt in a small ramekin at each table. However, with the humid summer weather, the salt couldn't be extricated from each chunk and it was totally useless in the end.

My main was under their "Rotisserie" options. Rotisserie Chicken, Spoonbread and Greenbeans. The chicken was seasoned with thyme and under salted. The spoonbread was delicious, but $24 for 1/4 of a chicken, undercooked string beans and some cornbread mush is ridiculous. My friend ordered their Ragout of Vegetables, which set us back around $24 as well. She too thought that her selections were under salted, and for a small bowl of vegetables, obscenely overpriced.

Desserts seemed hopeful. A 2 top nearby ordered four desserts and recommended Chocolate Layer Cake and Cherry Almond Tart. The Chocolate Cake reflected every dish we were presented: Messy, gloppy and totally unprofessional for this caliber of restaurant. A mound of fresh chantilly sat onto of several shredded looking pieces of chewy, dry cake. The Cherry Almond Tart was a meager slice of a jalousie that could have been from any corner below-par bakery. All in all, Cookshop is a huge let down.

When you look at the menu and the philosophy, they set the bar much too high for themselves. If this were a diner, I'd be impressed, but at this trendy, high-priced, high-ambition Chelsea eatery, it's pathetic. They attempt to copy a menu a-la Craft. However, if you want this type of fare and have this sort of budget, go to Craft, set the bar high and you won't be disappointed.

Cookshop
156 10th Ave
New York, NY
(212) 924-4440
Cross Street: 20th Street
C, E at 23rd

Oinks: 2/5
Why Bother? : Don't
Average Set Back: 1 drink, 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 dessert $120.00
Hired Help: 1/3

With just a little over an hour in which to eat and get to the theatre, we bypassed the five minute spaceship ride to the table, since there was a line for it, and instead zipped through the Hyperspeed door, or whatever it was called. We walked through a cavernous and labyrinthine tunnel of sorts, took a wrong turn and ended up in the bar. After getting directions we found our way without further incident and were seated immediately, which was pretty amazing for 6PM. Once we ordered and knew we'd have some time before the food arrived, I took the girls (my cousins aged 8 & 9) back out so we could go on the space ship.

the line for the ride; Lauren in the labyrinth

Our vessel held 18 passengers and for a restaurant simulation ride, it was pretty cool. My eight year old cousin Lauren was bored by it while the nine year old, Kristen, loved it. (I liked it too). Go figure.

Kristen ordered the Galactic Mac N' Cheese from the kids menu while Lauren went with the Magellan Mozerella Sticks and a glass of Martian Punch. Our menu left us with not very much to choose from-- a half page of appetizers, 3 salad choices; a handful of burgers & sandwiches, and maybe about 7 entrees, all of which were pricier than average, even for a theme restaurant. I ordered the Extra-Terrestial Tilapia, or something to that effect, which was waaaay too salty. Even squeezing my lemon wedge til it was dry did nothing to help with the salt. The garlic mashed potatoes that accompanied it were room temperature and didn't really qualify as mashed in my book but otherwise tasted alright; the asparagus, other than being puny, were alright. Bea had the Cobb Salad (sorry, its martian name escapes me) which she wasn't too happy with. We also got a side of fries which were actually very good-- nice and thin (but not shoestring thin) and perfectly salted.

During dinner, there were aliens walking around the dining room as well as other worldly performers that really caputred the kids' attention (well, mine too) with tricks and physical feats. The service was friendly and fast. Go for the fun, not for the food, unless you can get away with ordering off the kids' menu.

Mars 2112
1633 Broadway @ 51st St.
New York, NY 10019
212/ 582-2112

Oinks: 2/ 5
Why Bother: atmosphere; fries; kids' menu
Average Setback: $72 for 2 dishes from kids menu, 1 salad, 1 entree, 3 sodas

I used to be a frequent diner at Planet Thailand and recall fondly the days when it was a little hole-in-the wall on Bedford Ave and not the behemoth it is today. Due to some insect related issues though, I haven't dined there in years (if you don't believe me, just look up their latest Dept of Health inspection report) but I digress. Luckily, there was SEA. Now, SEA isn't the best or even most authentic Thai around but it's reliably good, inconceivably cheap and if you don't mind the wait for a table at dinner, you can bask in its unrelenting hipness. At lunch time, it's a tranquil oasis of sunshine and $6.95 lunch deals (free wi-fi too). You can usually get one of tables surrounding the pond and watch the boat full of fresh cut flowers lazily move back and forth. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I strayed from SEA and dined at Chai Home Kitchen, mere feet away.

Chai's location alone is testament to it. That it can not just survive but actually thrive practically right next door to the wildly popular SEA says a lot about it. My friend Anna took me to a belated birthday lunch there Wednesday; she's pregnant and finds SEA too spicy for her right now. She was craving Thai and since it was the only place I hadn't yet tried but had heard good things about, we decided to check it out.

It's small but beautifully decorated with a little pond in a cement basin in a corner of the bar area, surrounded with pillows/ seat cushions and decorative bird cages hanging above. There are just a handful of tables, probably about 10 two seaters. Only a few other people were there so we sat where we pleased.

Nothing much jumped out at us from the lunch special so we bypassed that and ordered à la carte from a menu that is for the most part Thai with a few Chinese & Japanese elements. Even the menu and chopsticks were beautiful.

I had the most delicious appetizer, the appropriately named Yum Sausage, which was sliced Chinese sausage with tomatoes, mint, shallots and scallion in a chili vinaigrette-- it was refreshing with just the right amount of spice and nothing like anything I've ever had at a Thai restaurant before. Anna was disappointed that they didn't have fresh spring rolls on the menu but was quickly appeased by the vegetarian Peanut Dumplings, which the waitress suggested. As Anna put it, "tastes like peanut butter!"; they weren't that sweet but they were definitely peanuty.

Yum Sausage; Peanut Dumplings

Lychees are something I rarely see in cooked dishes. They pop up in martinis and desserts all the time, but in a savory dish? I was very curious to see them in Chai's twist on fried rice, Kao Pad Lychee. It was very similar to the traditional Pad Thai with shrimp, egg & scallion but with rice instead of noodles and of course, the lychee. It was definitely interesting though I found myself for the most part picking out the lychee and eating it separately. Anna went with the safer Massaman Chicken which was served in a bowl that didn't look so big but was deceivingly full and a mound of white rice. That was also very tasty, tho no different than any other Massaman curry you might find elsewhere.

Kao Pad Lychee

So if you're ever in Williamsburg and just want some good Thai food with out the hype and the accompanying insane waits & deafening decibel levels, just head to Chai. You won't be disappointed.

Chai Home Kitchen
124 N. 6th St.
corner of Berry St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718/ 599-5889/ 5969
L to Bedford Ave

Oinks: 4/5
Average Setback: 2 thai iced teas; 2 appetizers; 2 entrées, $32
Why Bother: Yum Sausage, Peanut Dumpling; quiet (at least at lunch on a weekday) with good service
*** CASH ONLY ***

Highline is a sister restaurant to Thai favorite Peep in Soho. And just like Peep, Highline serves up decent Thai food at reasonable prices by city standards. While Peep wins hands down in the "coolest bathrooms" category, Highline definitely has the edge over its sister where decor is concerned. The bar area was all high tech and futuristic with curved surfaces, lots of glass and white everywhere (there's even an LED ticker above the bar, though it didn't seem to be announcing much of anything) while the dining room, tho still modern, was a bit less mod with stone floor and beautiful (tho still shiny) inlaid wood tables.

the dining room

I enjoyed all of the appetizers. The foie gras turnovers didn't necessarily taste foie gras-y but they were still good. Pad thai spring rolls were a nice twist on the traditional ones, they were fried with a tamarind crust. As for mains, my porkchop was a bit fatty and I would've liked less of the barbecue sauce taste and more of the cumin and other spices it was supposed to have been flavored with to shine through. I really liked the glass noodles with shrimp & scallops that Melinda ordered. The pad thai we ordered for the table was decent. Abby's massaman chicken dish was nice and peanuty with tender pieces of chicken and chunks of potato. The noodles & tofu Jen ordered was also nice. I'm not a huge tropical fruit fan so I didn't try Danielle's salad.

westside fritters; papaya salad

pad thai spring rolls with foie gras turnovers in background; glass noodles w/ seafood

pork chop; massaman curry

pad thai with noodles & tofu in bkgd;

Desserts were all over the place in terms of yumminess. Best of the bunch was the S'mores consisting of a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a mini, fudgey, dense chocolate cake on top of a thick graham cracker (there wasn't a bit left over). The Toffee Banana Pecan Tartlette bordered on gross-- it tasted like warm mushy vegetables in a sweet crust; I don't think anyone took more than one bite of it. Somewhere in the middle was the Blueberry Creamcheese parfait which came in a graham cracker cup with fresh beries. It was pretty good but not a hit like the S'mores; about half was left over.

S'mores; Parfait

Banana Pecan Tartlette

All in all, decent thai food, nice portions, reasonable prices. The service was a bit spotty but courteous and nice.

Highline
835 Washington St - At Little W 12th St
New York, 10014
212/ 243-3339
A, C, E to 14th St.; L to 8th Ave

Oinks 3/5
Why Bother: mojitos; appetizers; noodle dishes, cool atmosphere
Average Setback: 4 appetizers, 1 salad, 5 entrees, 3 desserts, 5 drinks, 2 bottles of wine= @ $270 w/ tip