November 10, 2008 |
BITE: My Journal
Salumeria Rosi / Dueling Dine Out Deals
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| Chef-partner Cesare Casella is everywhere in this tiny storefront-cafe. Photo: Steven Richter. |
It doesn’t look to me like New Yorkers are nursing their 401K wounds by staying home for dinner. It certainly didn’t feel like a soup kitchen crowd last week at
Center Cut in its second story aerie across from Lincoln Center. There was a 45 minute wait for a two-top at
West Branch Friday night. At
10 Downing, open after an extended struggle with city regulations, the kitchen was just getting its sea legs, with paying friends and family in the house, and every seat was full.
Of course these sightings could be signs of fickle lemmings in full neophilia syndrome, flights of trendetti flocking to be first in a brand new restaurant. Suddenly the carefree Euro spenders we welcomed this summer as they propped up our wounded economy are in shock too, mostly staying home, too bruised now to scoop up our bargain condos or lust after our mammoth steaks and signature handbags. That leaves rescuing the economy to us. Now it’s become patriotic to shop, my friends. A caring New Yorker must eat out! Restaurants are already lining up to tempt us with discounts and deals. Indeed, during the week of November 17 to 21, 200 area feeders are offering a limited number of three course menus – with $24 lunches and $35 dinners - through Open Table.com. Gotham Bar & Grill’s three-course lunch is still a bargain at $31. 12 East 12th Street. 212 620 4020. Both Nougatine (for its $24.07 three course lunch) and the more formal back room at Jean Georges with two courses at $28 are full everyday. 1 Central Park West. 212 299 3900. Dovetail’s $38 Sunday suppa’ is a lure for me. 103 West 77th Street. 212 362 3800. And we tend to favor the $35 prix fixe at Compass when we’re not lingering in the bar over lamb burgers. 208 West 70th Street. 212 875 8600. I realize that’s not news. What follows are new deals to entice us out of our lairs.
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To Think That I Ate It on Amsterdam Avenue
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| Mirrors, shadowy candlelight and a Giacobello effect on the ceiling. Photo: Steven Richter. |
Like a lot of neighbors, I’ve been peeking in, stopping by, chatting up Chef-partner Cesare Casella, sniffing his rosemary sprigs and cheering on the team endlessly rehearsing at Salumeria Rosi, half a block from my office, eager for its tiny cafe to open. I got an advance copy of the menu and it sure looked like a deal to me. Small plates priced from $3 to $6 with the Grande Selizione del Salumiere, a sane $21, and a more restrained salumi platter at $15. I stopped by and found myself eating chocolate-covered Parmigiana cream bon bons and a superlative panettone on opening day, before the dinner crowd swarmed, as Casella kept me hooked with tastes from his collection of the Boot’s goodies. “When are you coming to eat?” he asks, the über Italian (if I may be permitted a mixed metaphor), playing Cyrano of the cucina. “We are already booked for the next three weeks.”
Next night the quietest corner table in the shadowy rear is waiting for our foursome, set with butcher paper mats, a bouquet of roses and tea candles, a rosemary sprig tucked into the fold of each starched napkin. The Road Food Warrior is out front shooting a photo. Cesare drops down on the banquette. “This is the sexiest table in the house,” he exclaims, “dark with the candle and the mirror over your head.” We both look up at our refletion. I feel a frisson of the naughty 70s. He scoots off to chat up four guys perched on stools at the counter.
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The “Grande” selezione. Photo: Steven Richter.
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Our friends are late. The homemade twiggy breadsticks arrive on wrapping paper along with the house aperitif, refreshingly bitter Apernol and Prosecco with a slice of orange, marvelously transporting. I start to imagine I’m in Milan. A small leek and pancetta torta cut in four tiny triangles – it would be better less chilled - arrives just as our pals settle in at last – and then, a monstrous platter laden with what may be all the glories of the meat counter, a “grande” if not a “megagrande,” Casella’s gift (certainly not the $15 salumi on our bill). I’m confessing all this so you know we’re getting the diva-in-the-house welcome. I’m trying not to let it numb that critical edge which is numb enough already from the joy of having a salumeria right next to Jacques Torres on this so recently tawdry stretch of Amsterdam. Although the server has identified each row of blushing rose flesh, I’m not always sure of what I’m eating. Just that the parmacotto (cooked ham) and the mortadella like silk jersey are fabulous and the shiny prosciutto of Parma and salt-cured aged ham from San Daniele in Friuli are standouts. Smoky speck, peppery hard salami and chunks of rich Parmesan add to the thrilling, almost dizzying too muchness of the platter.
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| From the street, the shop is a beacon for transient foodies. Photo: Steven Richter |
Some little plates – fire-roasted peppers with anchovy and capers for example - perfect for two, don’t really stretch for four, except as a taste. But some do: the crumbed baked cauliflower, artichokes braised in white wine, roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta and garlic. Costine, “spicy Tuscan spare ribs” on the menu, should be written “costina,” that is, rib singular – a tasting portion for two possibly, since the meat falls off the bone for sharing, but the carnivore I live with would probably prefer his own. Dishes arrive willy-nilly from the small kitchen, just as the server warned, plus cherry peppers stuffed with anchovy and caper (not on the menu) and even a small tin of anchovies in spicy salsa labeled “Delicius” (sic). Love from the chef.
As I try to gauge appetites, what our friends are eating, how pleased or puzzled they look, I order two bowls of the pasta with rabbit and two orders of insalata Pontormo (named for the Florentine painter). This is Cesare’s signature soft scrambled eggs tossed with pancetta and greens that we first tasted at Vipore in the hills above Lucca after getting lost for an hour on unmarked roads, long before he left Mama Casella in the kitchen to seek his fortune in New York.
As is often the case at the end of a tasting dinner, no one really wants dessert but usually agrees to taste whatever I choose. For that reason, Rosi’s small $4 orange panna cotta and the lemon tart are just the right size as is the chef’s final extra, a chunk of pear cooked in red wine. As we try to slip out the door, our exit is blocked by a clutch of voyeurs watching mesmerized as a man and a woman stand at the counter sipping wine and sampling salumi. From the street nearing midnight, Salumeria Rosi still looks like a festival, a circus, New Year’s Eve. A Rockettes lineup of hanging hams, the hostess in her red evening gown, wheels of cheese doubled by an overhead mirror, a counterman still slicing coppa - Casella’s rosemary sprig only slightly drooping. Indeed, the energizer bunny from Tuscany may very well have figured it all out. Jacques Torres may be inspired to stay open later.
283 Amsterdam between 73th and 74th. 212 877 4800. Closed Sundays in November.
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Deals, Deals, Deals!
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| Tasting plates comes in duos at Brasserie 8 ½’s celebration.Photo: Tanja Yokum. |
Brasserie 8 ½, lavishly endowed with art – a rare Leger in glass - and a longtime favorite of mine for the cooking of Chef Julian Alonzo, celebrates 8 ½ years with a $28.50 tasting menu. It starts with the house “Signature” cocktail and includes tastings of house favorites from the chef’s riffs on brasserie classics, including pork belly croque Madonna, grilled sardine pan bagnat, short rib pot au feu and escargots with garlic butter and lamb sausage. The celebration begins at lunch November 10 and runs through dinner November 17. Single small plates are available for $8.50. 8 1/2 West 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. 212 829 0812
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Waldy Malouf himself may deliver the Sunday night skillet special. Photo: Steven Richter.
Don’t be surprised to see Chef-co-owner Waldy Malouf himself bringing seconds of the cast iron skillet special to your table at Beacon’s new Sunday Supper. He was bustling about at the wood-burning oven in the open kitchen and greeting extended families come for this bountiful deal as we arrived yesterday. Wood-roasted oysters, thin crust pizza, a fabulous salad and a demitasse of soup are served “family style.” You choose an entrée from seven options. Then comes dessert “for the table” – an ice cream sundae, cookies and wood roasted strawberries with a touch of balsamic. Definitely a deal at $44. The special wine list is a roster of thirty wines under $30 (although half a dozen are already eighty-sixed). 25 West 56th Street. 212 332 0500.
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In the Flatiron District Allegretti began offering lunch last month, including a $28 three-course prix fixe from its Provencal repertory. 46 West 22nd Street. 212 206 5555.
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Fiamma’s $50 menu de mercato is available from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and changes daily. Recently Chef Fabio Trabucci’s early-bird prix fixe offered a choice of fall vegetables salad with goat cheese or grilled calamari and mussels with fennel to start, followed by sheep’s milk ricotta tortellini, skate on fresh herb risotto or a grilled pork chop with violet artichokes, and ice cream or bamboloni with fig jam. Some people actually prefer to eat at 6 p.m. I’m told. 206 Spring Street. 212 653 0100. *Fiamma closed in January 2009.
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| Michael Jordan’s Steak House bar now offers a jumbo size burger. Photo: Tanja Yokum. |
Michael Jordan’s, The Steak House has added a hulking Jordan-worthy burger to the menu, $14.95, available only at the bar. The cellar now offers additional lower priced wines. Grand Central Terminal, West Balcony. 212 655 2300.
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It might not resonate as economical to some, but Strip House regulars will appreciate the new offering of two pound lobsters at $58 in addition to the usual four pound critters at $116. Some less expensive wines have been added to their list. 13 East 12th Street. 212 328 0000.
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Chef-owner Jose Meirelles of Le Marais has put in a new happy hour at his casual Club House Café across the street. Cocktails are $6 and beer is $4 from 5 to 8 p.m., with a selection of tapas at $8.50 each. 155 West 46th Street.
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| Photo:Tanja Yokum. |
New Executive Chef Jawn Chasten has stuffed one of Sea Grill’s mythic crab cakes from the $38 duo on the plate into a $28 sandwich available at the Sea Grill bar. 19 West 49th Street. 212 332 7610.
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At L’ybane, a new east side Mediterranean offshoot of a restaurant in Nice, the “Royal Assortment” lines up generous portions of 14 appetizers – fritters, eggplant caviar, stuffed grape leaves, dumplings and more - handsomely mounted with bits of cherry tomato and pristine greens and served with warm pita. At $40 per person for a minimum of two, this dinner would easily serve 3 or 4. 1136 First Avenue. 212 826 1111.
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The same grilled meats served on Porcao Churrascaria’s $60 to $70 per person Rodizio dinner are a bargain on ciabatta at lunch. The Picanha supreme at $12 features sliced sirloin. Linguica, grilled Brazilian sausage with caramelized onion is $10 with a portion of fried yucca on the side. 360 Park Avenue South. 212 252 7080.
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The Sunday Night Special at Vento offers a choice of pizza or pasta and a glass of wine or a 12 oz. beer for $12.95. 675 Hudson Street. 212 699 2400.
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After 10 p.m. every night oysters, clams and chilled shrimp are $1.25 each at Blue Fin, Atlantic Grill, Blue Water Grill and Ocean Grill.
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At Eighty One, Chef Ed Brown’s $42 two-course bar menu – excerpts from his luxurious and high-priced offerings - has taken on autumn ways with French lentil soup with foie gras royale, braised short ribs with polenta, and organic Scottish salmon with piperade, sopressata and olive oil crushed potatoes. It’s also available in the dining room from 5:15 to 6:30, Monday through Saturday and all day Sunday. The $28 two course Sunday brunch is new too. 41 West 81st Street. 212 873 8181.
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I haven’t been to Grayz since Gray Kunz’s abrupt exit not long after a dazzling display of Kunz artistry at lunch one day. But midtowners might want to sample the three-course $27 weekday lunch from a changing menu. Recently it offered an entrée choice of grilled lamb kebab on okra stew with tzatziki sauce or seared walleye pike with corn foam. 13-15 West 54th Street. 212 262 4600.
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Megu, acknowledging its high-end image and reality, recently introduced a $55 three-course prix fixe as a more affordable option to the regular seven course $125 dinner. 845 UN Plaza (First Avenue and 47th Street) and 62 Thomas Street. 212 964 7777.
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At Lever House, Executive Chef Bradford Thompson has designed a $38 “Jet Set” lunch that takes less than 20 minutes to arrive and possibly not that long to eat. Grilled hanger steak salad, jumbo lump peeky-toe crab cake and roasted wild striped bass are paired with a wild mushroom velouté and a salad of baby beets, endive and fourme d’Ambert, served on a porcelain tray that resembles service in first class. 390 Park Avenue. 212 888 2700.
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Top Chef Nikki Cascone offers a $25 prix fixe at 24 Prince Street, Sunday through Wednesday, dinner only. A choice of five entrees or a burger with fries and homemade pickles follows a choice of soup or salad. Then homemade treats arrive for the table. 24 Prince Street. 212 226 8624.
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New and contemporary South East Asian Pranna features a $20 “Noodles and Naan Dinner” on Mondays starting November 24, featuring a choice of noodles from a noodle-only menu and all-you-can-eat naan with a variety of dipping sauces. Wines that night will be $20. 79 Madison Avenue. 212 696 5700.
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The Insatiable Cookie Chase
Alexandra, my friend in Texas who sells cookies on line at Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams.com has dreamed up a contest with a Q & A we created together. She calls it “Feast Your Eyes on This Life” and you’ll find it on her web site today. One of the answers is missing. To find it, adventurers need to go to a Vintage Insatiable I wrote when Le Bernardin first opened in New York, “Le Bernardin Beguiles Our Crocodiles.” The missing paragraph competitors will need is “hidden” there.
Email the paragraph to Alexandra@AlexandrasCookieDreams. The contest ends on December 10 and the winner is announced December 11. Winners get an autographed copy of my memoir, Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess and samplings of Alexandra’s cookies: Three dozen for the winner, two for the runner-up and one for third place. To read my rave for her cookies, do a search on my home page for Alexandra. That will take you to BITE July 28, 2008 link. Scroll down to the bottom. To enter the contest, click here to reach www.AlexandrasCookieDreams.com/blog.
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