Restaurant Review: Aquagrill

They say that "fish is brain food". If that's the case, then one of the best universities in the city is undoubtedly Aquagrill, located at 210 Spring Street on 6th avenue. If fish and seafood are your cup of tea (the restaurant has, in addition to the main menu, over 20 varieties of oysters + a full raw bar) and you're willing to spend that extra dollar, then hop the fastest form of transportation you can and get to this place for a culinary experience you'll never forget.

When judging quality of food and quality of service (the two most important qualities of a restaurant experience), Aquagrill was pretty much split 50-50. We had a reservation and showed up on schedule, but weren't seated until ten minutes after our reservation time. The service was, in my Dad's words, "slow and disorganized". Granted, the restaurant was very crowded, but there were plenty of servers and my Dad also said that they shouldn't seat more guests than the kitchen could handle.

Balancing out the somewhat lousy service, however, was some of the best food I've had in a long time. The menu was mostly seafood, but really had something for everyone (steak, chicken, salad ect...). The quality of the meal was simply extraordinary, and my family and I all took tastes of each other's dishes (the apple tart dessert, seen left, was my favorite). All in all, the experience was a positive one, and I would go back to this restaurant in a heartbeat.

Just one piece of advice; if you decide to try this restaurant (which I strongly encourage), remember to make your reservation at a time when the crowds are likely to be smaller (we went on Saturday night- not such a good idea), then just sit back and let the good times roll.

Aquagrill Restaurant, New York City

The Avengers: $207.4 Million Opening Weekend!

The Avengers, the movie that put together marvel superheroes, like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk, broke box office records this weekend. The total weekend gross is $207,438,708 domestic(US & Canada). The highest grossing opening weekend for any box office film, domestically. The previous record was held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, at $169,189, 427.

The Avengers made $80,813,985 on Friday, $69,577,990 on Saturday and $57,066,733 on Sunday. Friday's total was the second highest grossing Friday ever. Saturday and Sunday totals where the highest grossing for any box office film, on those days. The film is also fastest film to reach $200 million domestic, in three days. A record previous held by the Dark Knight, in five days.

Internationally, so far it has made $654,838,708 at box office and is on pace to reach $1.0 billion in next few weeks. The film was released in 39 foreign countries a week before the US. Where opening weekend box office records were also broken in counties such Mexico and Brazil.

It's no surprise, The Avengers is doing blockbuster numbers. But the $200 million opening weekend gross, was not expected. One reason is that, the movie pretty much scored very high praise from most critics and audiences. The film received 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and A + from Cinemascore, a market research firm which surveys audiences after the see the films. Many people tweeted about seeing the film 2 or 3 times, just this weekend alone. Another reason is the film saw more money from many 3D sales.


Source: Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes

Styles of Sachertorte

Every nation has at least one food that typifies their culture. For Austria, the pastry role of its signature cuisine is filled by the famous sachertorte, a dense chocolate cake whose layers are separated by coatings of apricot jam. When I was in Vienna in October of 2010, the Sacher Cafe, claimed inventor of the torte, was just a few blocks away from the hotel. In addition to enjoying a slice at this cafe one evening, I also sampled varieties from a few other locations around the city. It was interesting to see how the different places made slight changes to the pastry (i.e. one place used three layers of cake instead of two, another used a slightly tarter jam ect... ect...).

If you can find Sachertorte in your area, I would recommend trying it. The Sacher Cafe also runs an export business that ships the cake around the world. Check out their website for more details.

Sacher Cafe- Vienna