I didn’t take great photos here, but the food, atmosphere, service and overall vibe is outstanding. The martinis are great, first off.
Second, the bread service is incredible. There’s semolina Italian bread, focaccia, and cacio e pepe babka, all service in an edible sourdough basket with whipped butter and a labneh onion dip.
We started the meal with a nice array of seafood to share: lobster tails, ebi shrimp cocktail, razor clams, baked cherrystone clams, and caviar service.
The pasta was killer. We did the butternut squash agniolotti, the frutti di mare spaghetti, and the baked shells. The baked shells tasted like French onion soup! Wild!
We also did some scalloped potatoes along with a burger and fries that they generally only serve downstairs to the exclusive Crane Club members. A real nice steakhouse style classic, and the fries are perfectly crisp and well seasoned.
For the mains, we tried the aged rib eye, the dover sole, and the parmigiano-aged NY strip steak. All of these were excellent, but the real stand out winner for me was the strip steak. It was so tender, so perfectly cooked, and so uniquely flavored. I can’t wait to go back for more! 10/10 for that baby, with a solid 9/10 for the rib eye.
For dessert, we tried the banana layer cake, the apple crisp, and the cheese cake. It was hard to choose a favorite here, but I think I was leaning toward the apple crumble the most.
I can’t wait to go back here to try more shit. This place is a real winner, and it makes for a perfect replacement to Del Posto.
Leonetta is Chef Ed Cotton’s new restaurant, located in Murray Hill, where the old Brother Jimmy’s used to be located.
Ed Cotton was on Top Chef season 7, and he also heads up the kitchen at Jack & Charlie’s as well, which os one of my favorite places to eat.
My wife and I came here after the new year to run through the menu. Here’s what we tried:
Grilled Octopus Salad
This was a warm salad that ate almost like a salsa. The octopus was cooked perfectly.
Lamb Tartare
This was one of our favorites of the night. The lamb was super tender, and the added items really made it pop, especially the pomegranate seeds.
Tuna Puttanesca
This was my favorite of the three “raw bar” items that we started with. The Kalamata olive and raw tuna combination was divine.
Next we moved on to a pasta dish made with tiny rigatoni and lamb ragout.
The stewed/braised lamb was really delicious. My only critique here would be to make the chic peas fried crispy for some added texture.
We did some charred broccolini on the side here, which was the best broccolini I’ve ever had. Great char, cooked perfectly, wonderful bright flavors.
For our mains, we started with the 14oz strip steak with zataar-seasoned steak fries and harissa ketchup.
This was cooked perfectly. Although there was no dry-aging involved, the flavor still popped due to the seasonings. This is an easy 8/10.
We also tried the fried pork shank shawarma with pickles and zataar-spiced pita bread.
This dish was a home run. The exterior was fried to an amazing crisp. The skin crackled as you cut it.
The meat was cooked perfectly, and paired well with the street-style red and white sauces, like you might see at a halal falafel, lamb, chicken and rice cart.
On the side, we did some roasted mushrooms, which were absolutely delicious. Ed always nails the mushroom offerings.
For dessert, we tried the special panna cotta.
This was topped with orange caramelized pistachios. I absolutely loved it, but it did have a thicker than expected texture. Almost thicker than Labneh or Greek yogurt.
The cocktails here are amazing, so don’t miss the opportunity to go downstairs to Leo’s Famous, their beautiful lounge with a fireplace, for a night cap.
I can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu.
Wabi Nori is a new sushi hand roll place that just opened near us on the Lower East Side. They have a nice $10 cocktail happy hour, which also offers some reduced price snacks as well. We tried the karaage chicken, the fried calamari, and the soft shell crab. All of these were nice, but I think we liked the chicken and crab the best.
They have pre-set menus for the hand rolls (3, 4, 5 and 6 count). We did the 6-count, and my wife was able to swap the scallop out for a second crab roll since she is allergic. It would have been cool if they let her pick a different protein of equal or lesser value for the swap, rather than making her double up on a roll. For example, the eel roll is $8 a la carte, and so is the scallop. Why not let her replace the scallop with eel instead of making her choose a second crab or tuna? Seemed weird.
Anyway, the tuna and scallop were my favorites, with the lobster close behind.
The salmon, yellowtail and crab were also nice, but nothing was on par with that final piece / hand roll that you get at the end of a nice omakase. Not bad, though, for $38.
I hit up this little taco spot with some friends while riding around on our nerdy ebikes. I have to say it was really great. A little pricey at $5 per taco (before you add the crispy cheese), but totally worth it.
Best: El Pastor (gringa style with crispy cheese)
Awesome pastor tacos, especially with that slice of grilled pineapple on top.
Second Best: Bistec en Pasilla
This was really nice. Excellent spiced flavor on the meat, and tender through and through.
Third Place: Chicken Tinga
I usually don’t get this unless I need a change. It was still good, but I wish I had tried something else instead. Next time.
CHELA & GARNACHA
33-09 36th Ave.
Astoria, NY 11106
If you’re not already aware, I’ve been getting pretty deep into the ebike culture and community here in NYC. I run the NYC Zooz Club and I helped create Electric Wednesday with Mike Rios of S3 Crew. Electric Wednesday is the glue that holds the various riding clubs together here in NYC. We’ve created something really special.
And, since I know you’re ultimately here for food and not bikes, I have been using it to go to and from restaurants in a new series I created called Ride & Review!
Finally, if you’re interested in buying a Chimera, you can save $150 by using my discount code at checkout. The code is JOHNNYPRIME.
I own the founders edition, bike number 5, in full titanium.
It’s costly, but now Austin, the creator of the bike, offers a Shadow Chimera, which is made of black steel. That will cut your price nearly in half. DO IT!!!
I finally got a chance to ride over to Jin Mei to try their famous dumplings. At $5 for 15, these fried pork and chive dumplings are an absolute steal!
The skin is a little thick, but not super chewy or gummy. The crisp from the frying process adds great texture to the tasty and generous filling. I will definitely be back.
JIN MEI DUMPLINGS
25B Henry St.
New York, NY 10002
When my wife and I first walked by here, they let us try some falafel for free. It was delicious, so we were sold. I ran it back when using the Too Good to Go app, and for $7 I got this awesome box of chicken shawarma over rice with a salad.
I’ll definitely be back to try more stuff, especially the Philly cheesesteak. I’ve been searching for a good one in the area.
My wife and I took a short trip to San Diego to celebrate a friend’s retirement from the Navy, so we spent a bunch of time walking around, eating and drinking our way through the city.
Here’s what we tried:
Donut Bar
This spot was pretty good. We liked the lemon pistachio better than the raspberry cheesecake.
Tacos El Gordo
Great spot for tacos, and reasonably priced considering that this place gets a lot of hype and crowds. The al pastor tacos was the winner for us, but we also tried cabeza (face), lengua (tongue) and tripe.
Mike Hess Brewery
The barrel aged Vietnamese coffee stout was our favorite.
San Diego Burger Co.
This wasn’t that good. Skip this joint. I had high hopes, but the patty was a little under seasoned and the bun was dry and crumbled.
Dinner at Greystone Prime Steakhouse is detailed HERE.
Senor Taquero
This spot was probably my favorite place to eat of the entire trip. I wish we had some regular tacos here too. They were so cheap (3 for $7.99)! The rolled chicken tacos and adobado burrito were killer. The churro had a nice vanilla pudding type of filling inside.
Ballast Point Brewery
We had a short pit stop here while we were waiting for Swagyu to open. Speedboat was like a corona with a lime in it. Refreshing.
Swagyu
This was great but pricey at $23. I’d much rather have gone back to Senor Taquero to try the tacos.
The World Famous I-Bar
This is where the retirement party was held. The bar was the inspiration for the scenes in the movie Maverick that take place in the Air Force bar on base. Very cool spot.
Not bad for a weekend trip! We hit a lot of spots.
This spot is pretty good. I might go back for the fried chicken bites and perhaps to try the burger, which looked good when it came out to another person’s table.