Dines Out for November: Featuring a Jazzy New York Date Night...

This month’s edition of Dines Out features a very special Jazzy New York Date Night! During our New York trip last month, we earmarked one evening for a romantic dinner, followed by late-night jazz at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola. We had an amazing evening, and I’m very excited to share the details with you today. New York has a reputation for being an expensive city, and that can definitely be true. However, there are some great dining deals to be found if you do a little research. One of the best deals I’ve found is the Sunday evening Lobster Louie menu at David Burke’s Fishtail, located in the Midtown East section of the city. Chef Burke has several restaurants in the city, and we've enjoyed all that we've tried.

Lobster Louie was the perfect menu for a couple of hungry Texans! We eat a lot of Gulf shrimp and oysters, but lobster isn’t something we get to enjoy very often. For just $38 per person, this Sunday-only menu provides a prix fixe three-course dinner featuring a lobster appetizer, lobster entrée, and dessert! That’s truly a bargain for fantastic food served in a gorgeous setting. We entered the lobby and were warmly greeted and quickly escorted to the upstairs dining area, which feels like dining in a gorgeous Manhattan home. We started out with cocktails and some piping-hot popovers while we looked over the menu. I wanted something refreshing, so I chose a fizzy Strawberry-Basil Mojito. Michael chose the wittily named Tequila Mockingbird, which featured grapefruit, basil and tequila.

We looked over the menu and selected our three courses. Michael chose the Lobster Dumplings with Moroccan Glaze appetizer, the Baked Stuffed Lobster entrée, and Carrot Cake with Fresh Citrus & Spiced Whipped Cream for dessert. All three courses were amazing, and they definitely didn’t skimp on the lobster. His lobster was a showstopper: a whole lobster split and was stuffed with jumbo lump crab, baby shrimp, and chunks of sweet lobster meat. His entree very easily would’ve been worth the price of the meal on its own.

I chose the Chilled Lobster Cocktail appetizer, Lobster Risotto with Sweet Corn and Leeks entrée, and Black Forest Chocolate Pudding dessert. My appetizer was for the lobster purist: a chilled lobster tail served with lemon mayo and spicy cocktail sauce for dipping. Perfection! The risotto was fantastic too – creamy, with plenty of sweet lobster  – which worked perfectly with the sweet corn kernels. My dessert was sinfully good. It featured brownie chunks, brandied cherries, pistachios and spiced whipped cream atop creamy homemade chocolate pudding.

Before we knew it, our fabulous lobster dinner was over. We  jumped into a cab and headed over to Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola to listen to some late-night jazz! 

Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which is located inside the Time-Warner Center at Columbus Circle. We love going to Dizzy’s, because they offer something for all of the senses: fantastic jazz music, amazing nighttime views of Manhattan, and great Southern-inspired food! We arrived 30 minutes prior to show time and were quickly shown to our table. We enjoyed the music of Kenny Barron & His Platinum Band. Mr. Barron is a Grammy award-winning jazz pianist, and we thoroughly enjoyed his band’s hour-long set. We had a fantastic table right in front of the stage, so we had a great view to go along with the music.

After the show, we capped off our date night with a late-night bite and a nightcap. Michael had The Dizzy Gillespie -- a mojito made with mint-infused rum -- while I opted for the fruity seasonal Fall red wine sangria. To go with our drinks, we shared a nicely composed Cheese and Charcuterie plate. It featured cornmeal crackers, crostini, tart jam, spicy sausage, and imported ham. This late-evening nosh was the perfect ending to our Jazzy New York Date Night. 

After our nightcap, we made our way back downstairs. We stepped outside and enjoyed the cool Fall temperatures as we soaked in the nighttime views of Columbus Circle and Central Park South. Nighttime in New York is quite magical! If you find yourself in New York over a weekend, I hope you’ll give our Jazzy New York Date New York Date Night itinerary a try. We loved it…and we know you would too!

Disclosure: David Burke Fishtail and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola hosted our meal and show to facilitate inclusion in this feature. All opinions expressed are my own. Photographs are copyrighted by Michael K. Garcia; they may not be copied or otherwise used without prior permission.

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