for the love of food

NY gluttony

every may we take a trip to NY city to dine at the newest restaurants (and to catch a broadway matinee….visit NY’s finest museums…. walk the bustling streets….. ).  this year our friends asked to come along.   yes-all the more menu to share !

cohorts in our gluttonous adventures. emmett with friends kim & rick.

our schedule had us enjoying four days of delicious and inspiring food & drink.  highlighted here are our two favorite spots.

maialino - another jewel in danny meyers restaurant group. this one - a roman style trattoria. we had a couple of bottles of brut rose ( friuli-venezia) while waiting for our 9:30 rez. the bar - and dining room - were bustling and crowded- but not so noisy that we could not carry on a conversation. i appreciate that.

every bite of this dinner was authentic and perfectly executed. with that being said-

starters included fava bean & ricotta crostini - stuffed pig foot with lentils & mustard - fried artichokes with anchovy bread sauce ( i need to learn how to make this)- and a surprise that emmett secretly ordered - tripe with pecorino.  as he explains- if you are going to eat this anywhere - short of rome - this place will do it well. and it did ( if you like that sort of stomach lining stuff).

moving from kerner (abbazia di novacella) to dolcetto (ada nada).

next we ordered a pasta sharing course. clams & linguine and spaghetti carbonara. both were perfection. but rather than splitting - chef nick (anderer) sent out two additional pastas. one being a single ravioli topped with browned butter and filled with spinach ricotta & an egg yolk- oozing it’s loveliness upon cutting ( sorry-no photos).

when nick visited our table we had to ask what brand of dried pasta he used. beyond it being perfectly cooked al dente - it was tasty. he replied matter of factly - ‘dececco’.  well i know the italians are fond of it- perhaps it’s time for a change from ‘rusticella d’abruzzo’ at our  ASTI Trattoria ?

with a change of wine and silverware - we are ready for …….. suckling pig for 4.

presented tableside with crispy crispy skin - to ooh’s & aahh’s…..he returned to the kitchen to cut and serve over a bed of roasted and rosemaried (i’m coining it) potatoes.       

this was so s-u-c-c-u-l-e-n-t and so t-a-st-y.

absolutely no room for dessert. we order espresso & grappa.

our next favorite brought us to lunch at marea. yes - we read the buzz of michael white and his italian seafood fabulousness. but little did we know what we were in for.

we order a bottle of italy’s ‘champagne’ - a franciacorta(barone pizzini) - and begin choosing courses for our prix fixe lunch.  difficult to choose only 2 courses each -  we order additional plates to fill in the gaps. ( what gaps ? )

chef starts us out with his well known and completely decadent crostini of sea urchin & lardo !  blasted a moment to melt the lardo. you heard right.  even our occasionally “culinary handicapped” friend tasted it and loved it.

primo courses - we eat snapper crudo - wild garlic & ramp soup with razor clams - lobster & burrata salad with basil ( cheese & seafood should not go together - but this sure does)- and my favorite (that i did not want to share) octopus & smoked potato & pickled onions. oh my !

moving on from gruner veltliner - or were were already on the dolcetto d’alba  ??

secondo/pasta courses - my favorite- handmade fusilli with octopus - tomato & bone marrow ! this handmade fusilli was toothsome & old world - the octopus meaty & tender - chunks of bone marrow melted into tomato.  seriously !   i almost did not share. another beautiful dish was the handmade garganelli - tender yet sturdy pasta with pork ragu.

francesco turns us on to a cerasuolo di vittoria-classico.

secondo/pesce course - we delight in scallops with barolo poached figs & speck - skate with hen-of-the-wood mushrooms - branzino agrodolce with charred cauliflower - halibut with spring pea & morels.  yikes !

we rallied for a dolci course - i don’t know how. we order another bottle of franciacorta.

after 31/2 hours of incredible food ( thankyou michael) - informative & humorous wine direction ( thankyou francesco grosso- and i love your name) - impeccable service ( thankyou kelley)- our last bottle of franciacorta surprisingly on-the-house ( thankyou marea ) and a celebrity sighting (can’t reveal) - we stumble out of the cocoon of marea and out to the bustling streets of NY.

to the MOMA anyone ?  one opted out for a nap. ( no it wasn’t me).

the next morning we read that marea won the esteemed james beard award for best new restaurant !      we concur !

***a few other places of interest with culinary highlights were daniel bouluds new place DBGB ( incredibly made sausages of all kinds - boned & stuffed pigs foot and bone marrow)- locanda verde ( grandma’s ravioli - roasted chicken for two over a bed of spring vegetables and lemon tart with buttermilk sorbet & limoncello granita) - 10 downing street (cocktails are top notch - creative dessert menu with rhubarb & sweet pea clafouti and valhrona chocolate with salted caramel popcorn ) and always- all things gramercy tavern ( a malvasia frizzante- a funky unfiltered cider-like bubbly from emilia-romagna).

of broadway interest was RED at the golden theatre - a brilliant 2 man show channeling mark rothko.     see - it’s not always just about the food !