This little Sicilian shop has some pretty tasty shit! My friend and I tried their potato pizza, their tomato garlic and anchovy pizza, their meat arancini, and their orange olive oil cake.
Everything was awesome. For me, the favorite was probably the potato pizza with the tomato slice close behind. These were in the Roman style for pizza, which I love to see done right like this.
They also sell some nice looking sandwiches, and great, difficult to find groceries like Castelvetrano olive spread and pistachio cream.
BEST SICILY BOTTEGA
87 Beaver St.
New York, NY 10005
What a waste of money. I was really excited about this place, but everything was so overpriced and underwhelming that I’m not sure I’d ever go back, not even to the upstairs salumeria (when it opens next month).
Roscioli is a famous eatery in Rome, which my wife and I loved when we went nearly 10 years ago. The NYC location just didn’t meet expectations. As you can see above, it was a fixed menu with additions available for a starter and wine pairings. The meal begins with a watered down negroni of sorts, and some nice bread.
The first course of panzanella and burrata was the best of the meal. Bread soaked in tomato and onion juice with cheese. Can’t really go wrong.
The added tuna appetizer for $28 was a total rip. It tasted like mediocre poke; occasionally stringy, cheap fish. Skip.
Then there was a blob of glue-like risotto. Meh.
The pasta was good, as expected (carbonara). But for the price and portion size I can think of a dozen other places off the top of my head that are just as good if not better.
The meatball sucked. Mushy, no character. I’ve had better free samples as Costco.
Then there were two hunks of slightly rubbery cheese with a delicious aged balsamic. I was hoping for that crunchy crystallized texture from the cheese. Nada.
And finally, runner up for best part of the meal (tied with the pasta), a humble tiramisu. I love this shit, but at $150 a head all-in (no wine pairings, and with tax and tip) they need to step up their game.
Over all, this place is a pass for me. It’s too bad Motz’s burger joint wasn’t open yet next door. I would have followed up a bad meal with a good one.
First, check out this badass Ride & Review video HERE:
My wife wanted to check this place out for their pork and pasta dishes, and I was interested in their artichoke and rabbit dishes. We tried all of it. Here’s how it started:
Two lovely cocktails, a classic negroni and a martinez, for me.
Vitello Tonnato was on special, carpaccio style. I had to try. It was great!
We also had their grilled artichokes, which were amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had them grilled before, but I’m a huge fan.
This stracci pesto pasta was like a pile of lasagna noodles.
Fucking fantastic! I absolutely loved it.
This pork dish was belly, roasted and then grilled, with a tangy plum BBQ sauce, of sorts. Very unique.
The fried rabbit was incredible. Perfectly seasoned, and it came with a big hunk of fried sourdough. This could easily replace chicken and waffles if served with some whipped ricotta and a spicy Calabrian chili honey.
For dessert, a perfectly executed tiramisu.
We will definitely be going back for the fried calamari/fritto misto and fried zucchini. The plates coming out looked nuts!
My buddy Herb (@thesocialpause) invited me and The Cake Dealer here to help promote and take pictures of the new Sagaponack menu item for the 4th of July holiday weekend: A massive Korean inspired seafood boil, chock full of shrimp, mussels, lobster, manila clams, andouille sausage, corn and potatoes. It was a monster of a dish.
We made a huge dent in this, especially with the help of our other friends Jae (owner and chef at Nowon) and his wife Rebecca (an Instagram food buddy of ours from WAY back). We probably could have finished if we didn’t eat so much other stuff before it came out. At $35/pp this seafood boil is a steal, though. Look at this mountain:
Here’s what we had BEFORE the boil came out:
Two raw starters (fluka tartare and salmon crudo):
Some fried goodness (chicken, calamari, artichokes):
Tons of seafood (Spanish style shrimp, escargot style oysters, manila clams, and broiled oysters):
For dessert we had creme brulee topped with strawberries and a Thai tea milk cake (the cake was INCREDIBLE!).
I can’t wait to go back and try more. They have ‘nduja mussels as well as a hanger steak frites that I’d like to try in particular.
First, check out my kickass Ride & Review video HERE:
My wife and I finally made it over to Da Toscano with my buddy and his girlfriend, who are huge fans of the place. We went big, so I’ll get right down to business.
For starters, we had the broiled oysters, which were bathed in crab fat butter. Absolutely delicious.
Then we ate five pasta dishes. Yes, five. My favorites were the lamb neck agnolotti and the orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe sauce.
Insane. So much flavor coming through in that orecchiette from the pickled cherry peppers. And the agnolotti were like little buttery packages of meaty deliciousness.
The squid ink spaghetti with crab and Calabrian chili was delicious as well. Perfectly executed.
The Scialatielli with sour beer and clams was incredibly unique and delicious. We really enjoyed this.
The gnocchi was our least favorite.
For our main courses we went with the veal strip parm and the Bistecca Fiorentina style porterhouse.
The parm was perfectly crisp and delicious.
The steak had a slight age on it from Allen Brothers, and it was rubbed with a porcini mushroom spice. 9/10!
For dessert we had the bomboloni with foie gras, peanut butter and jelly. It was pretty good, but we ended up liking the olive oil cake better.
I highly recommend this place, and I can’t wait to go back to try more stuff.
This was an epic beast feast for the ages! $125 per person, not including wine/drinks, was a steal for all of this food we got:
Everything was fantastic, especially the head cheese, liver mousse, and pig!
The amount of potatoes we were given was pretty wild.
I highly recommend this meal for large groups. It was awesome! I can’t wait to go back and try more items from the regular menu, like the pasta and veal porterhouse.
First, check out this kickass Ride & Review video HERE:
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My wife sent me an Instagram post from this place about a special burrata and mortadella app they were running. When I realized how close it was to our place, I called up and grabbed a reservation for dinner later that day. The food on their account looked awesome, and I’m always looking to try neighborhood joints like this.
The meal was incredible. First, let me say that the table bread was so good! They had an onion focaccia and some Italian bread, served with olive oil (watch the video to see it).
We started with that special burrata app, which had spicy salami, prosciutto and mortadella along with the burrata.
Next up, fritto misto, with calamari, shrimp and zucchini. LOTS of the seafood. Great portion!
We also had the grilled calamari, which is marinated in olive oil for a day before being grilled. This was lovely.
For the second half of the meal, we did two pastas and their smoked mozzarella chicken parm.
Although the cheese wasn’t bubbly or melted out, the dish was still really great. The chicken was pounded out enough to be tender, but not so thin that it lost juiciness.
The first pasta was a Sorrento style long, thick ribbon called scialatiella.
I love a thick pasta, and this was easily one of my favorite pasta dishes of the year.
Cavatelli with sausage, peas, and mushrooms in a white truffle cream sauce was next. This was so damn tasty. Cavatelli is typically my favorite pasta shape. All the pasta here is hand made in house, and really well made at that.
For dessert we tried the panna cotta. This was so smooth, creamy and delicious. The berry compote on the bottom was just the right amount of sweet acidity to cut that rich creaminess.
What a meal! We plan to be regulars here, and we can’t wait to go back. Check out the bottom line of the receipt. That shit had me cracking up!
