Atlantic City Surprises

     It had been at least 7 years since I had been to Atlantic City and I was in for some pleasant surprises.  Yes, there still exists some seedy areas but many of the Hotels are renovated with happening pool and restaurants scenes and lucky for my group a new hotel- The Chelsea.  Seated between the Hilton and the Tropicana this little known gem not only is well positioned, has a great art-deco decor and a fabulous restaurant.  We were celebrating my daughter's 21st birthday and decided to head down to Atlantic City with family. After a bit of research George found The Chelsea.  It is a boutique hotel that although does not have gambling has lots of other amenities for when you want to get away from the gambling scene.  The birthday girl wanted surf and turf but did not want to go to a chain restaurant-so lucky for us the restaurant in the hotel fit the bill.
     One of the nicest features of  Chelsea Prime is that it has a view of the ocean and at night you can see it shimmering along with the boats in the horizon. Outside the restaurant is a seating area in front of a fireplace which lends itself to cozy before dinner cocktails. If that is not appealing the bar area also has ample seating while you wait for a table-which was not too long.
     The restaurant is open and spacious unlike the restaurants that are squeezed into the casino or mall areas.  The service was quick, knowledgeable, and attentive.  The menu as promised had plethora of choices of surf and turf and everyone joining us quickly made their choices. Probably the best suggestion of the night was from our waitress who recommended the Seafood Plateau

for 4 (we needed 2 of these). This had the freshest, most delicious assortment of shellfish-jumbo shrimp, raw clams and oysters, crab legs, ceviche, and chopped marinated crab.  This alone is worth going to The Chelsea.  The entrees that followed were cooked to perfection whether the NY Strip Steak or the Black and Blue Tuna-everyone was more than delighted. As it is an ala carte menu the side dishes offered were traditional for a steak restaurant and each one did not disappoint. The potatos and creamed spinach smooth and well seasoned and the broccolini done aldente. The selection of wines was top shelf and because we were full lattes and sorbets were the choices for dessert. They brought out my daughter's sorbet with a little fanfare perfect for the occasion adorned with a candle.
     As we were leaving we noticed that they had some private parties set up for dancing and lounging on the other side of the restaurant. So, for a small boutique hotel it has exactly what their discerning customer wants.

Where to go in Chelsea NYC

So here was the dilemma-where to go to eat before the Michael Buble concert at Madison Square Garden? My daughter and I were starting to celebrate her birthday a week early and so we wanted to eat somewhere special. The places near MSG tend to be either chain restaurants or glorified pizza joints. I knew she wanted to eat Italian food and the better options in that general vicinity we have flushed out-Carmines since she was 8, all the Felidia restaurants have been visited and we even have slurped up some pasta at Frank Sinatra's old haunt Patsy's.  I was counting on a turn for the better weather wise -after the winter we have had-so I narrowed my search to something we could walk to from Penn Station. Lo and behold in the Chelsea section I found Crispo 240 W. 14th St between 7th and 8th Avenues. Luckily for us the day was unusually warm so the 20 block walk was both envigorating and eye-appealing. On the way down we window shopped and poked into a few stores that caught our interest. When we arrived at Crispo we were cheerfully asked whether or not we wanted to dine in the garden. We eagerly accepted along with the other guests that were being seated at that time-I guess we all wanted to enjoy the weather while it lasted.  The menu had so many great appetizers and salads that at first we had a hard time deciding where to start. Bruscetta with fresh ricotta and Carmelized cauliflower with pine nuts and currants were chosen.  The bruscetta was crispy and nicely seasoned and the smooth ricotta made a nice balance in texture. The cauliflower mix of tastes with the carmelization made it sweet. Before we knew it our entrees had arrived-Ricotta Gnocchi with spinach and fontina and Papardelle in a pork bolognese sauce. Both pasta dishes we homemade and the portions were just right not heaping as many places tend to do. We both found the dishes delicious!  In keeping with our celebratory mood we decided to end the meal with cappucino and fresh zeppole with chocolate sauce perfect for sharing.

We had just enough time to catch the subway 2 stops up to the concert!