Wellll...
Today I couldn't decide where to go...Paris, Napa, Venice, Panicale... tough decision, for sure. But since I'm hungry, I choose more food in New York. Why not get the stomach righteously growling? Why not lust once more after those amazing flash fried mushrooms?
We were only in the city for two nights, so we really packed it in on that last evening. Since we hadn't had much of a lunch, or breakfast, for that matter, we were really ready to chow down by late afternoon... We had stopped for a small bite while visiting MOMA, but that was hours ago. Back in our hotel room, we freshened up and headed out for a glass of wine and some tapas. It was a nice evening, with lots of people milling about... we stayed in the West Village, so there were plenty of places to check out.
I was looking for this tapas place again, but we just couldn't find the one I wanted. What we did find, was this great little pizza by the slice place on Bleeker Street. Johnny almost started crying when we peeked in the window. This is his idea of heaven on earth. He is a man who loves his flatbread. Pizza, foccacia, bruschetta... Johnny can't get enough. So the sight of this awesome array of thin pizzas, topped with various goodies, and available by the slice..., well, we had to stop in. I was plenty willing, knowing this would be an appetizer stop, with dinner still to come later on. I told you, we were going for it.
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| It reminded us of places we love in Italy. |
We were greeted by a delightful young woman, who gave us the rundown... we each picked what we wanted to share, along with a couple of glasses of the decent house red. We were the only customers, since it was between lunch and dinner time, so we had the place to ourselves. I don't like to "take-out" much, so we grabbed a small table in the tiny garden area in back. It was small, but sweet, and I imagined it after dark, with all the little lights on. As we found our way out back, we enjoyed seeing the small dining rooms....
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| Small, and really kind of cool...Garden to the left... |
The waitress who had taken our order brought us our wine, and we were able to chat a little with her. She is from Rome, and we chatted about our favorite spot, Pizzeria Remo, which she knew of, of course. Then off to heat up our slices...
Johnny ordered a cacio and pepe slice, while I went for potato and rosemary:
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| Warm and melty, just the way we like it! |
The thing that just
rocks this pizza, is that the crust is super thin and slightly over done, so it's crunchy when you bite into it. It's gooey and not too hot... oh, yum. Also, the slices are cut into 3 pieces, so it makes it so easy to share. I loved that it was served just on parchment paper.
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| Potato and rosemary, raise your hands! |
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I mean, really. This isn't even fair. Cacio cheese and almost too much black pepper.
And melty. |
Please, will someone open a place just like this in my neighborhood? Inexpensive, tasty, lots of veg options, and good wines by the glass. There was a regular menu, too, but for a grab and go, or just a tasty little bite, this was perfect. When in the area, We say go, man, go!
So after our mini pizza break, we walked around for some time, checking out the halloween decorations that were everywhere, since it was just a day or two away. We enjoyed window shopping, stopped for another glass of wine, and had a grand time, as we looked for somewhere to have dinner. Eventually, we stumbled across a restaurant we had eaten at back in 2007, when we were last in New York. We loved it then, and decided to go for it again.
I know what you're thinking. "Janelle. You are in freaking NYC! There are zillions of great restaurants to try! Why go back to someplace you have already been to?!? And, oh, what about that whole 'food truck' thing you wanted to check out?" Oh, I had big plans, let me tell you. But it was getting late, and dark, and we were hungry... so. Call me a weeny, I don't care.
Sant Ambroeus has a few locations, and they are known for pastries and gelato, among other Milanese sweet treats. We like that it was walking distance, and had a small area to dine outdoors. It's on a corner, with seating all along the sidewalk, so we had fun watching West Village life go on all around us. Shocking that we had a lovely meal outside, and two days later, the whole city was cremated by an early freak snow storm. But at 9pm on the night we were there, it was really nice.
After deciding on wine, a Barbera D'Asti, we started with a "carciofi" salad- thin slices of artichoke heart, dressed simply with lemon/olive oil and served with arugula and shards of parmesan. (Let me stop here for just a moment. I will order this type of salad every time I see it on a menu, hoping that
someday I will get what I really want.... the salad we had with my Mom & Dad at the restaurant Edi Piu in Lastra A Signa, near Florence. Sigh... We must go back there some day.)
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| Carciofi salad. Ok, but I can do this at home. |
I won't make excuses... we both love pasta. Get over it. Wait, maybe I need to get over it, and quit feeling like I have to make excuses. I shout it from the rooftops... "WE LOVE PASTA!" So anyway- I ordered the luscious and wonderfully rich Ravioli Alla Zuccha. Here, they used pumpkin, and served it with crushed amoretti cookies in a browned butter/sage with balsamic reduction... ooooh. The slight tartness of the balsamic really worked with the sweetness of the pumpkin.
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| Silky richness.... |
My lovely husband, god bless him, went for the Risotto Al Tartufo. As well as all flatbreads and pastas, Johnny does enjoy his risotto. He is fantastically predictable. Just give him carbohydrates and he is happy. Works for me, because there is always some other pasta-type dish I want to try on all the menus. The risotto was great, not too truffle-y.
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| Beautiful. Just a little parmesan, please. |
We really went for it and ordered two veggie sides, roasted brussel sprouts and asparagus. I do these at home all the time, but am always game to have them served to me. And may I say, they really won me over with the brussel sprouts. These were just hammered, the way I love them...
almost too much, but no. We grew up eating them this way, cooked to within a breath of being burnt. If you know anyone who says they hate brussel sprouts, cook them just like this.
They will be converts. Brussel Sprout converts. Hehehehehe.
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| Just like Mom makes. |
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| Roasted asparagus...good, but nothing super special. |
It was an enchanting evening, with lots of people out and about, getting ready for Halloween, (not snow, poor bastards), and we really enjoyed our meal. I stand by our decision to eat here -
again.
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| We may just go back next time, too. |
So, you want to know what we did next? I kid you not, we went back to I Tre Merli for another bowl of Flash Fried Mushrooms with Truffle Oil. Well, we really went for dessert, but who the hell were we kidding? We were lucky to get a table, and as soon as we looked at the menu, it was all over. I just looked at Johnny and said it.. "I really want those mushrooms again. Is that so wrong?"
I will never find them here, so what's a girl to do? Over the top? I think not. We are very good when we are at home, eating right, walking our multitudes of miles every freaking day, being careful with our pennies. Johnny was totally up for it.
Mushrooms it was, my friends.
Let's just have a second look, shall we?
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| Crunchy, crunchy, salty, creamy, yummy, yummy, yummy. |
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| Seeing this makes me want to cry. I am dead serious. |
Yeah, it was sweet. And we actually did share a dessert. A chocolate thingy that was really good, and a perfect end to our culinary adventures in New York.
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| Dessert was all chocolate-y and warm. |
Until Panicale, we are trying very hard to watch our pocketbooks and waistlines, so we'll see what happens. In the meantime, I sure enjoy going back in time to relive some great meals, don't you?
