Big Eats in the Big Apple
By Duncan Strauss
FELIDIA RISTORANTE:
We were drawn to this place for three reasons: (1) Colleen is bonkers
about Italian food, (2) the owner-chef Lidia Bastianich won the Beard
Foundation’s prestigious Chef Of The Year award, a rare victory for
a woman chef, and (3) Colleen is bonkers about Italian food. Given that
female undercurrent, It also seemed like an ideal place for dinner with
my niece Tracy Tietge, who’s spending the summer in New York City
juggling a variety of activities--including interning for Women’s
World Banking--and Nancy Barry, WWB president for whom she’s interning.
A good time--and a good meal--was had by all. Nothing overly fancy or
exotic, mind you, but beautifully-prepared, wonderfully delicious Italian
food. We all started with salads, including one of the night’s specials
that involved spanking fresh greens covered with splendid melted ricotta.
Colleen opted for the octopus salad: big hunks of grilled octopus surrounded
by grape tomatoes, water cress, olives in a very light olive oil and lemon
dressing--the best she’s ever had, she said. For entrees, two of
us had Krafi All’Istriana Con Sugo Di Arrosto, or Istrian
wedding “pillows” (like ravioli, to be a lot less poetic about
it) stuffed with fontina, asiago, and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Each
pillow was light and sinfully good--so sinful, I considered taking a double
dose of Lipitor that night. Another amazing entree--and not coincidentally,
a signature dish--was the branzino, a grilled seabass so tender it tasted
steamed, with lovely light seasonings, lemon and olive oil, served with
Yukon gold potatoes and swiss chard. Exquisite. 245 East 58th Street,
between 2nd and 3rd Ave. (212) 779-0303. www.Lidiasitaly.com
| BABBO: We’ve already established that Colleen adores Italian cuisine, but on the topic of this joint, she’s positively over-the-moon. Babbo is not only her Number One Italian eatery, but she claims it’s her favorite restaurant, of any kind, anywhere in the States. We definitely part company on that opinion--I not only don’t feel it’s the best place in Manhattan, but it’s not even the premier restaurant in this report! But having dined there the last three times we’ve been in New York, I can certainly say it’s exceptional, and I understand what she sees in it: If I were the Italian food freak she is, I might even climb aboard her heap of hyperbole. |  |
| From the moment you walk in, it’s delightful, beautifully-appointed, flowing with fresh flowers. There’s a lovely bar just inside the door with great drinks (Colleen swears by their blood orange Cosmopolitans); it’s quite pleasant to linger there and order from the menu, but we opted for a table--a reservation I had to change three times, and rather than quite reasonably telling me to, uh, buzz off, they were very accommodating. OK, the food, the food. Part of the reason Colleen was so eager to return was to again order the Spicy Two-Minute Calamari, a wildly-delicious eating experience she had last visit, and sought to repeat. And did, again savoring the sauteed, tremendously tender morsels of calamari immersed in a superb, spicy tomato sauce. Much raving ensued, and this was on the heels of her raving that greeted the Summer Beet Salad. I did some raving myself about my first dish, the Asparagus Milanese-- stocky spears of asparagus adorned with a duck egg and grana cheese; an absolute taste treat. My main dish that night, the Gnocchi with Braised Oxtail, couldn’t quite measure up to the asparagus starter, but, all in all, the meal was a real winner. 110 Waverly Place, between 6th Ave. and MacDougal. (212) 777-0303. www.babbonyc.com | |
CAFE DES ARTISTES (The Parlor): If it appears a motley assortment
of very personal reasons have driven us to some truly rarefied Manhattan
restaurants, this will only underscore that impression. We were looking
for a nice, quiet, excellent eatery to repair to after comedian Daniel
Tosh (whom Colleen represents) had taped a triumphant appearance on “Letterman.”
And we were looking to hang again with my niece Tracy, whom--freshly
graduated from bartending school--had wrangled an opportunity to strut
her drink-mixing stuff at this tiny, 14-seat offshoot of the venerable
Artistes establishment, revered for its French-based fare. (Plus, jackets
are required for men in the main dining room, but not in The Parlor.)
It worked out wonderfully well. As we sipped Trace-concocted cocktails,
we had a great, great meal, and an exceptional evening. Daniel opted for
the Prix Fixe approach, and was thrilled he did: While initially dubious
of the Chilled Melon Soup, he ended up loving it, and was even more enthusiastic
about the Chicken Breast--free-range, organic, tender, delicious and
stuffed with Fontina and asparagus--not to mention a Chocolate Mousse
that was almost hilariously rich and good. Other winning dishes at our
table included a starter of Snails on Crispy Risotto Cakes, with Sauce
Bordelaise--if you like snails, this preparation is both a bit offbeat
(the risotto cakes) and championship-level--and the Soft Shell Crabs,
served perfectly crispy, with a touch of fennel, alongside a lovely mound
of salad. Despite a couple unfortunate elements that evoked a Woody Allen
flick--like the woman sitting inches away who was spouting improbably
pretentious blather while sporting an Ascot(!) and relentlessly chain-smoking--our
experience at The Parlor was damn near parfait. 1 West 67th
Street, between Columbus Ave. and Central Park West. (212) 877- 3500.
Parlor: (212) 579-2506. www.cafedesartistesnyc.com
AQUAVIT: It’s both a mild disservice to this adventurous restaurant--and
pretty
much true--that the most prominent highlight of our dinner here was sitting
half a foot from Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest. And pretty fitting,
really, to be practically dining with such bright, talented, innovative
artists because in the Aquavit kitchen there’s a lower-profile artist
sporting those exact attributes. Chef Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia,
raised in Sweden by his adoptive parents, started cooking at six or so,
studied it officially at the Culinary Institute in Gotenborg and other
places in Switzerland and Austria, held a job at a three-star Michelin
restaurant in Lyon, France, and at 24 assumed the position of Executive
Chef of Aquavit. So if these ingredients would seem to add up to a recipe
for varied, cross- cultural, cross-culinary, inventive, fabulous food,
you’re reading the Samuelsson saga loud and clear. Somewhat pressed
for time to get to a play, we opted for the pre- theater prix fixe dinner
that may have cost us the opportunity to sample his more adventurous dishes.
But that hardly meant our table was Dullsville (especially while eavesdropping
on Shearer and Guest!) as we received such treats as stunningly superior
gravlax and mackerel (accompanied by, among other items, a sumptuous red
beet sorbet), and a poached lamb, presented in the midst of a truffle
and butternut squash tart, drizzled with sweetbread sauce. Exciting, excellent
eating, all of it. Samuellson’s bold spirit, or at least its influence,
extends into the desserts. I had a chocolate ganache that might not have
been definitive so much as re-definitive--the chocolate was in
a spectacular class by itself, and its plate companions were bell pepper
and raspberry sorbet, as well as lemon grass yogurt. Wow! 13 West 54th
St, between Fifth and Sixth Ave. (212) 307-7311. www.Aquavit.org/New
York
LES HALLES: This made it onto this trip’s restaurant
itinerary because we’ve become fans of the writer Anthony Bourdain--author
of “Kitchen Confidential” and “A Cook’s Tour,”
both spunky, snappy, ultra-candid fun reads about restaurants, good food
and numerous other topics--and we now wanted to become more acquainted
with the chef Anthony Bourdain. He’s the longtime executive chef
at Les Halles, and between this increasingly titular position, as well
as the growing demands on his time wrought by the book, Food Network series
and other projects, we guessed it’d be a longshot to find him in
the kitchen on a Saturday night. Sure enough, we didn’t see him,
but he could well have been there--all the precepts of his culinary constitution
sure were: Fabulous, fresh ingredients beautifully prepared by well-trained
(or at least well-drilled) kitchen personnel and, hey, leave the showy
pomp and circumstance to others. There were quite a few things on the
menu I found tempting--some that just sounded good in a general way because
Les Halles is a classic French bistro with all the offerings you’d
expect, others because they were dishes Bourdain had specifically mentioned,
one way or another, in “Kitchen.” But I ended up opting for
one of the evening’s specials, a Monkfish that was so staggeringly
fresh, tender and delicious that it tasted like they’d just hauled
it out of the water 20 minutes earlier. Colleen went with the Moules
Marinieres and was similarly knocked out by how fresh and tasty they
were. Among other elements of the meal, we also shared a plate of frites
that we instantly wanted to induct in the French Fry Hall Of Fame. Simply
put, Les Halles is a terrific place, a warm and friendly room, serving
great grub, refreshingly free of ‘tude or any kind of nonsense--
exemplified by their hours: Open seven days a week, noon to midnight.
No exceptions, no hassles, no B.S. By decree, no doubt, of Tony Bourdain.
411 Park Ave. South, between 28th and 29th Streets. (212) 679-411.
www.leshalles.net
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NEXT DOOR NOBU: Evidently, there are plenty of people who land a reservation or otherwise manage to eat at Nobu--but we’re consistently not among them. We made another stab to get into this touted Tribeca temple on the final day of our trip but, predictably, came up short. This was clearly a job for Next Door Nobu. As the name implies, this eatery is adjacent to the mother ship Nobu, but it’s smaller, more informal, offers much of the same menu, and reservations aren’t required. |
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We arrived shortly after it opened, got seated immediately, and proceeded to graze on some of the best food we’ve ever eaten. Although this might well be considered hackneyed by those who’ve had the good fortune to dine multiple times at a Nobu establishment, we must spend a moment or three on the Black Cod with Miso, a signature dish which may rank as the premier edible`creature comfort I’ve ever had the pleasure to, well, be comforted by. The cod is impossibly light, soft, moist, flaky, and thanks to the glistening coat of Miso, as sweet and delectable as candy. I don’t know if I could ever tire of eating this dish, but, boy, I’d sure love to give it a whirl. Early in the meal, we tasted other masterpieces, including the Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing, before we hunkered down for a sampling of sushi that put all other sushi to shame. Not that we were eating overly exotic varieties. On the contrary, in order to really gauge the caliber, we made a point of mostly ordering fairly standard varieties. And having eaten our share of exceptional sushi at some of the most acclaimed places around, from California to other states and countries (including Tojo’s in Vancouver, probably our previous standard-bearer), but we might as well have never touched sushi before-- that’s how different, how superior this was. This place has become nearly as busy and hard to get into as Nobu itself, but it’s hard to imagine a huge hassle with a more gigantic payoff. 105 Hudson Street, at Franklin Street. (212) 334-4445. www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com |
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