Whom You Know: Peachy Picks Manana

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Peachy Picks Manana

Whom You Know first introuduced you to Manana in Tasty Tidbits:

http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/07/tasty-tidbits-manana-latest-from.html

We are pleased to elevate it to Peachy's Picks and if Manana means morning, then Peachy Deegan is indeed a morning person! We evaluated Manana with our resident Latin culture expert who traveled to Mexico City earlier this year and had quite the authentic conversation with the chef, who will be featured in columns to come.

From the moment we arrived, we were delighted with the festive cheer of Manana and Jorge Fierro, the gracious host, greeted us. Jorge is a very friendly, passionate, knowledgeable Portuguese gentleman who attended to all our requests with prompt and gracious service. Make sure you seek out Jorge when you visit Manana! We had a 7pm reservation for last Friday night and were seated promptly. We recommend making reservations or getting there early as by 9pm there was not an empty table! That is notable in this economy, but this IS the Serafina Group's latest. Whom You Know just loves the Serafina Group.

Manana is a quaint yet vibrant Mexican restaurant in the Upper East Side. Upon entering, one will notice the cleverly designed lighting and upbeat décor of the restaurants main seating area, punctuated by rich red and yellow hues. The lighting was ambient and we especially liked the cut-outs on the ceiling lit up. The set up is one long hall, and this depth offers the opportunity for private parties to have banquet tables towards the back. When we were there, two were successfully held.

Large mirrors empanel the walls. At the end of the restaurant is a bar and open space for seating or congregating with a larger party. Overall, the restaurant seemed to be bustling with activity and few tables were open during prime dining hours on Friday night. The restaurant would be a good date spot with plenty of excellent choices on the menu, including appetizers such as a ceviche trio sampler and Lobster Tacos for a main course. As for drinks, the menu has many tempting margaritas on the VIP margarita menu. Peachy preferred Suavemente, which was Tequila Inocente, fresh squeezed raspberry, fresh lime juice, St. Germain liqueur, and creme de framboise.

For starters we tried the Ceviche trio sampler, which boasts plentiful portions of red snapper, salmon and shrimp marinated in lemon and lime sauces and mixed with tomatoes, onions, avocados and lemon. This dish was served alongside fresh tortilla chips and is a must try, especiallly since the chips are homemade. They were all great but Peachy's favorite was the red snapper.

For another starter, we sampled the Tostadas de Tinga de Pollo, pulled chicken in a smoky, sweet tomato chipotle sauce on a tostada with black bean spread. The Tostadas were outstanding, leaving us wanting more. We were also served the ensalada de manana, a delightful, fresh specialty salad of mango, palm hearts, yellow and orange tomatoes in a spicy lemon vinaigrette.

Following this, we began our main courses, sampling the red snapper stew, a hearty combo of shrimp, red snapper and lobster in a red sauce with coconut spice. We then tried the Lobster and Shrimp Fajitas as well as the Filet Mignon Fajitas which were arranged as nicely as they tasted! Another must try is the side of Mexican street corn stew served in a lime, mayo sauce with chiles. For dessert, we finished with the ubiquitous Mexican specialty, Churros with spicy chocolate and caramel dipping sauces which were perfect compliments to our meal.

Recommended drinks include the La Pasion and La Canela Margaritas. For those looking to be the summer heat, the drink menu includes both white and red sangrias.

Always important, we found Manana to be quite clean, and this included the bathrooms. The entire restaurant we found to be quite eco-friendly from the LED lighting to the fun hand dryer in the bathroom (made by Mitsubishi). The bathrooms were unisex and even had an automatic toilet paper roll (made by Kimberly Clark) which we don't see so often.

Overall, Manana is one of our favorite new restaurants with unique, flavorful choices, outstanding and attentive service, reasonable prices and a lively atmosphere. Best to arrive early to ensure getting a table, as Manana tends to book quickly for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner, forgetting we were in NYC for a moment given the authenticity of the restaurant’s surroundings, vibrant Salsa music and savory dishes.

Thank you Caroline.

Peachy Deegan wore a Tibi dress on this night out:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/07/fashion-fridays-tibi.html
Necklace by Donna Ricco:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/07/rock-your-body-donna-ricco-6-strand-50.html
Hair by Erica Bennett:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/06/outstanding-service-hair-by-erica.html

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