May 05, 2015

[Furst] Bites Reviews: Houston Hall

May 05, 2015/ Houston Hall/ Patrice Poltzer

It was a cold Saturday afternoon in Soho and we walked past this amazing beer hall. Against our better judgment, we ventured in. Not only was it a March Madness weekend, it was a cold Saturday and what better way to spend it than chugging down steins of beer. And that is what all the childless people in that establishment were doing. So we knew walking in that we were potentially going into enemy territory, but we were hungry and we rationalized that a beer HALL would be a place Jenson could at least roam free.

April 29, 2015

[Furst] Bites Reviews: Hanco's

April 29, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

If banh mi and pho is your kryptonite, than you need to look no further. But just because I could bathe in their pork banh mi and vermicelli shredded chicken dish, doesn't mean it's the most ideal place for schitzo toddlers.

April 24, 2015

[Furst] Bites Reviews: Provence en Boite

April 24, 2015/ Provence en Boite/ Patrice Poltzer

Furst Bites decided to get buck wild and brunch with another baby. That meant two strollers and twice the potential for epic meltdowns. We were every restaurant's dream that morning. Adding to our first world brunch problems that only people with kids understand was the question of, "What place is open at 9AM that isn't a diner." You'd be surprised to learn just how many establishments don't open until later on the weekends. I have mad respect for those places. But we needed to eat and one fab spot in our hood opens early. It's a little French place that is truly is a little slice of Paris in our Brooklyn neighborhood.

April 09, 2015

Furst Bites Reviews: The Standard Grill

April 09, 2015/ Standard Grill/ Patrice Poltzer

If you Google the Standard Grill, words like "trendy" and "clubby" will show up in the restaurant description. These are words that should actively scare you and your offspring away. And I have mad respect for that. I have many a found memories of wasting (wasting happily I might add) the day away in the beer garden and I do not ever recall needing to step over an army of strollers. That is a beautiful thing. But we decided to march on in anyway.

April 08, 2015

Furst Bites Reviews: Hill Country Barbecue Market-Brooklyn

April 08, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

If a group of toddlers joined forces to devise the perfect place to eat brunch on a Sunday....Hill Country Barbecue is probably what they would concoct. It's like we stumbled upon Frontierland in Downtown Brooklyn. The day started innocently enough. In fact, the day started with zero thought on finding a brunch place that tailored to my child.

March 27, 2015

Furst Bites Reviews: The Bridges DUMBO

March 27, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

It was a Sunday and it was the first weekend of March Madness. My request to have brunch at a TV-free venue was not going over well. And then all of a sudden I realized I did sound crazy and really, really not fun. So I immediately switched gears and went into a "lets do this properly" mode. Give me a place with LOTS of screens and lots of fried food on the menu. We had friends in DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) who were already watching the games at The Bridges. Since we were already playing outside at Brooklyn Bridge Park, it was an easy 10 minute stroll to the place. Here is our review:

March 23, 2015

Furst Bites Restaurant Review Guide

March 23, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

Once upon a time I was a die-hard Yelper and would not even think about eating somewhere until I had properly vetted Yelp. This meant combing through the reviews and then engaging in deep analysis/arguments/discussions on whether or not I thought the reviewers were just plain whack or if they were the competition trying to knock this restaurant off a pedestal. Then there would be a group vote and God forbid someone suggested a place I had not heard of, it was back to the initial Yelp vetting process. Yelp was my everything and I took it very seriously.

And then once I had a kid, I just didn't go out to eat as frequently (SAD) and now I just look for a different type of review when I eat out. And it pretty much boils down to how much of a relative pain in the ass will my kid be in contrast to all the other diners. If it is high, I usually steer clear. It got me thinking that there really isn't a review site for parents. So Furst Bites is setting out to be the Zagat for families.

March 11, 2015

Meatless (meet-less) Monday (muhn-dey)... fail

March 11, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

Meatless Monday started out strong. As in roasting brussels sprouts in olive oil, s&p, balsamic vinegar and honey strong. Mondays I am usually home all day so that is my day to leisurely stroll through the aisles of Trader Joes with no makeup on, my maternity yoga pants (that I still wear,) UGGS and do multiple drive bys on the sample station. I'm some sort of walking mom cliche and I own it...hard

March 04, 2015

Frozen (froh-zuh n) meatballs and tomato (tuh-mey-toh) sauce

March 04, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

I did a lot of things wrong this particular evening. But first, lets start with the right. I picked up Jenson from daycare, came home and immediately assessed my fridge for dinner ideas and it was pretty uninspiring. Read: condiments, a half-eaten pouch and a lonely bottle of O'Doul's as there always seems to be pregnant people in my house these days. I then went to the freezer and fished through the mounds of stuffed chicken kievs sent by my adorable (and the light of my life) grandparents....but there is only so much stuffed chicken one can consume in a week that legit has 53 ingredients listed on the back of the container.

March 02, 2015

Furst Bites on TODAY's New Community Parenting Website

March 02, 2015/ Patrice Poltzer

Oh why hello SHAMELESS PROMOTION! May I take a break from all things food and tell you about a new parenting website at the TODAY show. It officially launches tomorrow on the show but for the moment, I'd like to relish in the fact that Furst Bites is rocking the No. 1 and No. 3 spots for "most popular" content.