Tag Archives: italian food

Italian, Pizza, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Upper West Side

Bella Luna

March 31, 2017 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I were recently invited into Bella Luna, and upper west side Italian joint, for a complimentary meal in exchange for an honest review of the food. The menu looked pretty great, so I was excited to get in here.

The restaurant was jumping on a Thursday night. I don’t think there was an empty table in the joint. It makes sense, given the attractively priced pasta dishes ($12 for their long list of classics) set in a beautiful dining room.

We started with an order of mussels. These babies are cooked in a garlic, white wine and tomato sauce.

The sauce was awesome. In fact, we kept asking for extra bread to soak up the goodness. I was happy there was a spoon on the table, because I was eating the sauce like soup.

Next up was one of their special pasta dishes: lamb pappardelle.

Pappardelle is one of my favorite styles of pasta: long, wide ribbons. This stuff was fresh made, and the lamb ragu was great. The meat sauce also contained some diced carrots, onions and peppers. It reminded me of the Sunday meat sauces (aka “gravy,” in some circles) that my grandmother used to make when my family would visit each week. It was boldly flavored, yet not too heavy where you feel bloated after. This was definitely my favorite dish of the night.

Then we shared a pizza.

We ordered the “Bella Luna” pizza, which is topped with wild mushrooms, truffle oil, onions and fontina cheese.

As you can see, we added some prosciutto and olives to the party.

This was a really great pizza! The dough was puffy and light, but still had a good crunch with an airy, doughy bite. They’re working some magic back there in the brick oven!

Dessert was impressive, as they were offering slices of a special praline ice cream cake from the bake shop that used to be located next store (Grossinger’s; a neighborhood classic for many decades).

This was so rich and decadent. Such awesome flavors going on, and I even thought I tasted some halva in the mix, which I love. I highly recommend a slice of this if they have any left when you go.

My wife’s choice was tiramisu, her favorite, but with a scoop of their toasted pistachio gelato on top.

A genius idea, if I may say so. The tiramisu was soft, and nicely coffee flavored. The lady fingers weren’t soaked in too much booze, and it was overall very creamy and tasty.

I definitely recommend this place. It’s a great neighborhood joint with extremely reasonable prices, set up with gorgeous exposed brick and rustic wood decor.

BELLA LUNA
574 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10024

Flash Deals, Italian, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Crispin’s

March 13, 2017 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I grabbed a Groupon for this place that scored us a bottle of wine, a shared app, two entrees and two desserts.

When we stepped into this joint it felt like we had stepped into a wine bar meat shop in Rome. The warm wood decor was inviting and cozy, and starting our meal with some red wine and salumi just brought us right back to our Italy vacation.

There were no offensive limits to what we could choose from the wine and app selections, by the way. And the meats were high quality and consisted of salami, prosciutto, mortadella and brasaeola. This was my favorite item of the night.

Our entrees were both good, but my wife’s lamb shank was the winner between the two. We were limited in our selection to items that were listed for $24 or less.

Interesting though – instead of a bed of orzo, as is traditional, this featured as bed of roughly mashed potatoes. They were tasty.

I had a pork chop. It was pretty big at 16oz, T-bone style.

It was nicely cooked and tender.

For dessert we did a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, and panna cotta. The panna cotta was great. Super smooth, light and flavorful.

Overall this is a good deal and I recommend picking up the Groupon if they’re still offering it.

CRISPIN’S
764 10th Ave
New York, NY 10019

Recipes

The “Banh Mia” Sandwich

February 25, 2017 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Last night The Cake Dealer put together the most incredible sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life. A successful combination of Vietnamese and Italian cuisines – a “Vietalian” banh mi sandwich that she called the “Banh Mia” sandwich.

Mortadella, prosciutto, pickled carrots, pickled daikon, fresh cucumbers, cilantro, mayo, maggi sauce, sri racha sauce, and nduja on a baguette. If this isn’t a thing, it will be soon – mark my words. She would have lines down the block if she opened up a sub shop with these.

I was pushing for Italian bread to make the circle complete, but the French baguette is a very important part of Vietnamese banh mi, so it had to stay.

We had actually seen something similar before, in Philly, but more along the sausage route.

Although we didn’t try that sausage and pepper banh mi, I think my wife’s is better and actually makes more sense as fusion cuisine for the following reasons: (1) the mortadella is similar to the bologna and head cheese; (2) the prosciutto is similar to the ham, and (3) the nduja is similar to the pate – which are all used in the classic, traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches.

Flash Deals, Italian, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Upper West Side

Vai

October 13, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

We scored a Gilt City deal for this place: $79 gets you two cocktails, two apps, two entrees and a shared dessert.

We started with the charred octopus and veal tartare. Both were well executed and tasty.

The octopus had a great snap to it, yet it was still very tender.

My wife picked the pork tenderloin for her entree. I thought it could have had a third medallion of pork, but since it came with some shank meat and belly meat, I guess it wasn’t a big deal.

I had the roasted skirt steak (Creekstone Farm), though I could swear it looked and tasted more like a hanger steak. It had a great outer crust from the roasting process, and it was cooked to a perfect medium rare inside. However, both this and the pork entree lacked salt. Luckily there was a small bowl of flake salt at the table for adding. 8/10.

For dessert we shared this chocolate mousse cake. Very nice.

As it turns out, the general manager remembered me from when she waited tables at Vic & Anthony’s. That earned us a complimentary glass of bubbly! So nice.

VAI
429 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10024

Italian, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, Upper West Side

Machiavelli

October 13, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS CLOSED

What a fitting time, the peak of the political season in America, to dine at a place named after the author of The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli. But unlike the politics of the book or the politicians of today, the dishes at Machiavelli are not deceitful, dishonest or evil. No; they’re real, honest and borderline divine. Actually… I take that back, as a few things about this place were indeed somewhat deceptive, but in a good way. I’ll get to that in a minute though…

I was invited here for a press meal through the restaurant’s PR group, Benvenuti. I went in with my food writer friend Jay, from The Dishelin Guide, to give this place a spin (but not a political spin). Here’s how it went down:

First, the place is really nicely set up. The large black and white checkerboard tile flooring and high ceilings give the illusion that this place is massive and palatial, like Italian architecture of old. But while Machiavelli boasts great elbow room and is set in a large corner property, it still has a cozy neighborhood vibe, especially with the enveloping, throne-like bar seating (great cocktail menu, by the way), antique light fixtures and live piano music. I suppose that counts as Machiavellian deception numero uno.

The meal begins with a basket of focaccia bread that’s served with a white bean paste, lightly drizzled with olive oil. Very nice.

We started with a shared app, the carpaccio. The meat quality was top notch; really soft and flavorful. I detected a hint of truffle, and the peppery arugula was deftly dressed with a bit of lemon vinaigrette that made the meat pop with each bite.

Next we tried two of their pasta dishes, all of which are made fresh, in-house, by the way. First was the tri-color gnocchi. These were light, airy and beautiful.

Before cheese:

After cheese:

The second pasta dish counts as Machiavellian deception numero due; cacio e mele ravioli (cheese and apple) with a sage butter and lamb tomato ragu. Say whaaaaat?!?! While there was no deception about the ingredients on the menu, the marriage of cheese, apple, lamb and tomato was incredibly surprising. I highly recommend this exciting dish. And to think I was somewhat apprehensive about the apple prior to ordering…

Now onward to the entrees. First, a grilled rib eye with rosemary. This comes to the table pre-sliced and boneless, topped with a lightly dressed arugula salad (similar to the carpaccio greens).

The beef was cooked to a nice medium rare, through and through. It was trimmed of most fat, and what remained was soft, mild and edible, like beef jelly.

It was tender and juicy, but just needed a quick hit of finishing salt to knock it out of the park. The best way to eat this was to take a bite of the beef simultaneously with the arugula salad, after brushing off some of the excess herbs that would otherwise leave a bit of bitterness on the palate. I love the smell and flavor of rosemary when used in cooking; I just try to avoid eating the actual greenery. It did provide a great aroma though.

Our second entree was Machiavellian deception numero tre: monkfish that’s cooked osso buco style, right on the bone. You certainly get that characteristically hearty flavor from the process. Totally unique and wild. The flesh is actually injected with fresh herbs too, so a variety of flavors permeate the meat.

For dessert we tried a mille foglie; layers of philo dough with pastry cream between…

…And a chocolate pyramid, which was essentially a ganache with cookie crumble and a rich chocolate sauce at the base.

Machiavelli also offers a large selection of teas as well. I tried a pomegranate oolong with my dessert.

Service here is fantastic. If you happen to meet Tara, she will take excellent care of you, and she really knows the menu forwards and backwards.

MACHIAVELLI
519 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10024

Italian, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Romagna Ready 2 Go

October 10, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I was recently invited to an Instagram influencer and PR event at this little Italian joint in the village which was re-focusing its menu for the fall. I tried a few items and snapped pics for good measure.

Mushroom crostini: flavorful, but the topping was a bit too watery.

Sausage: absolutely delicious. I could eat a whole trey.

Pumpkin piadina: I wasn’t really a fan of this, which is a shame because it was the star of the show for the fall menu. It lacked flavor and the pumpkin was a bit too sweet for my savory tooth. It did have a nice texture, however, and the mushrooms were a nice addition.

We also tried some truffle french fries and truffle risotto as well, but I didn’t photograph those items. Both were very good and nice and robust with the truffle flavors.

ROMAGNA READY 2 GO
182 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10012

Flash Deals, Italian, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Bocca

October 2, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

For less than $79, my wife and I scored this Groupon deal for Bocca, which gave us $120 to spend. In reality we probably paid about $68 for the Groupon, since we almost never buy them unless there is an additional discount code.

Anyway this Italian joint had some pretty interesting items on the menu. Here’s what we ordered:

Salmon Crudo

This shit was really fresh and clean. It was a great way to start this incredible meal.

Grilled Octopus Crostini with Chorizo, Kalamata Olives and Chic Peas

The octopus was perfectly cooked, and when I took a bite with a little bit of everything together, the flavors really exploded. Such an awesome Mediterranean dish.

Strozzapreti with Nduja

This was amazing. If you don’t know what nduja is, its a spicy, fatty and spreadable sausage product that lots of people eat with bread in southern Italy. Here, however, the geniuses rendered it down with tomatoes into a decadent sauce. Highly recommended.

Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti alla Chitarra in Pepper and Cheese Sauce)

This was prepared table-side, and was absolutely delicious.

It’s a really simple dish, but sometimes that’s all you need for a winning food item. It’s no wonder this dish is all the rage in NYC.

Hanger Steak with Mushrooms

This fucker was awesome. Seriously. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, and the selection of wild mushrooms (I think Hen of the Woods and Porcini) really brought out the earthy flavors of the beef, which happened to be black angus from Creekstone Farm. 9/10.

Another thing worth mentioning is this great beer they serve.

This is right in my wheelhouse, since it’s an unfiltered, super bubbly Belgian farmhouse wheat beer.

BOCCA
39E 19th Street
New York, NY, 10003

Filet Mignon, Fusion, Italian, Japanese, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Natsumi Tapas

September 28, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

When I see something that’s marketed as Japanese-Italian fusion, the first thing that comes to my mind is Super Mario Brothers, one of the best video games ever released by Nintendo.

From http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net

But now, since having this meal, the next thing that comes to mind is Natsumi Tapas. Natsumi is the latest venture by Barbara Matsumara, and it focuses on small plates for grazing and larger plates for sharing. She consulted with Italian chef Andrea Tiberi and sushi chef Hiroyuki Nagao to create a dynamic menu that gets increasingly interesting the more you look at it. I was invited in for a press meal with Jay from The Dishelin Guide, so we got to taste a lot of stuff. Here’s what we had:

First, a nice pour of sake from this very cool bottle that houses the ice inside the center without touching the sake and thereby watering it down.

This place also mixes up some really nice cocktails too, by the way, like the EMW, which is made with shiso leaf, sake and gin.

We started with this filet mignon, which was served sliced, tataki style, with a ponzu, garlic and truffle sauce. The truffle and garlic really brought an awesome fusion flavor to an otherwise Japanese flavored dish. While this wasn’t a traditional “steak” in the sense of a steakhouse cut or portion size, I’m still going to score it since it was worth discussing. 8/10. I definitely recommend this dish.

Next up was the tuna tartare martini with avocado and caviar. The orange layer at the bottom definitely had some tobiko mixed in for a nice change-up in texture. Very smart. The mango and basil pesto sauce really made this pop with unorthodox and surprisingly good flavor combinations. Also recommended.

While the flatbread wasn’t exactly the pizza dough crust that I imagined (it was more like a puffy cracker), it did pack a lot of flavor. We tried the spicy tuna caviar flatbread. It wasn’t as much of a fusion as some of the others seemed to be, like the seared salmon flatbread, but it was really delicious nonetheless. If you’ve ever had “sushi pizza” before at some other restaurants, it is somewhat similar to that, and always a crowd-pleaser.

This bowl of green tea gnocchi with asparagus and capers in a light butter sauce was absolutely perfect. Definitely my favorite item of the night, by far. While it leaned a bit more on the Italian side, it was probably one of the better gnocchi dishes I’ve had in town. The green tea flavor was very mild, but the sauce was drinkable. I highly recommend this dish when you go here. Not only was it tasty, but it was also beautiful.

We finished our savory courses with the Squarano roll; seared tuna, seared salmon, kani, avocado, scallion, pepperoncini and green tea aioli. This was pretty tasty, and nicely nestled into the fusion realm with the addition of an aioli and pepperoncini from Italian cuisine. Really, you can’t go wrong with any of their special roll selections. They all looked great.

For dessert we tried the cheese cake tempura, which was nice and crispy outside, and soft like mashed potatoes inside. It had just the right amount of sweetness, and the berry compote on the plate was the perfect way to incorporate a sauce element.

Definitely give this place a shot. It just opened in March and the place was packed to the gills when we went on a Tuesday night at 7pm. The ambiance is comfortable, not too dim, not too bright, not too loud and very spacious, which is a welcome addition to the NYC Japanese restaurant world.

NATSUMI TAPAS
323 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10010

Burgers, Italian, Restaurant Reviews, Upper West Side

Pomodoro Rosso

July 17, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Oddly enough, my wife and I came here to try out some pasta on the recommendation of friends, but we ended up eating an American style brunch instead. We will definitely be back for a proper Italian meal, but I have to say, the American brunch was pretty good.

My wife went with the Pomodoro Sampler, which included French toast, smoked salmon with tomato and onion, fresh fruit and a poached egg on an English muffin (eggs benedict).

Everything that I tasted from her plate was pretty good. I actually went with the Pomodoro Burger, which was a cheddar cheeseburger topped with a fried egg, bacon and grilled red onions.

This thing was pretty great! I was pleasantly surprised. I’m typically not a cheddar guy when it comes to burgers. I prefer a hard, aged cheddar for eating, but for a burger I want something that melts really well. As such, that kind of cheddar isn’t the right fit for what I want from a burger. The particular cheddar used here was mild and nicely melted across the whole patty, though, so it worked. It was served on a great toasted bun that held up nicely to biting and squeezing. The bacon was crisp and just the right thickness, too.

This fuck came with a side of truffle oil and herb French fries too, which were cooked perfectly and really had a nice truffle aroma.

It was a hot fucking day outside too, so I cooled off with a beer, and my wife had a lychee and St. Germain bellini.

Oh, and I sucked down a bloody too.

We’re looking forward to another meal here!

POMODORO ROSSO
229 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10023

Italian, Pizza, Press Reviews, Product Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Staten Island

Capizzi – Staten Island

May 26, 2016 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

Many of you are probably aware of my high praise for Capizzi, a pizza, light Italian fare and wine spot on 9th Avenue near the back side of the Port Authority in Hell’s Kitchen. The food is spectacular, and the service is stellar. I highly recommend it.

Well, the news here is that they recently opened a second location out on Staten Island, which has a much different menu. I figured I would take the opportunity to let my readers know about it, and highlight some of the items from that menu that owner Joe Calcagno pointed out to me.

Casarecce, their “Sicilian Mac & Cheese,” is homemade pasta with truffles, truffle oil, fresh burrata and roasted tomato – all cooked in their wood burning oven. $18 sounds like a steal for all of that high quality stuff.

Their red snapper is served with a tequila sauce (!!!) and comes with broccoli rabe and roasted potatoes for just $25.

For the lighter appetite, the $10 arugula salad with tomatoes, onions, green apples, cranberries, walnuts and goat cheese is simply tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

You’re probably noticing that the portion sizes are all big. Bigger isn’t always better at some places, but Capizzi uses insanely high quality ingredients, so bigger is most definitely better here.

The best part is that you can still get all those awesome pizzas and high-end Italian meats here, just like the Hell’s Kitchen location. The Staten Island joint just has a bigger, more diverse menu.

All the pastas, raviolis, deserts, etc. are made in-house, fresh from scratch, every day. The genuine wood-burning oven (built by owner Joe Calcagno himself) is used to create some of the finest oven-roasted meat and fish dishes, along with those amazing pizzas that are reminiscent of old world Italy. Capizzi uses local fresh fish, produce and imports, with many of the ingredients arriving from Sicily on a weekly basis.

Joe also developed his own olive oil and started a company called Bel Evo, which is produces his all natural and chemical free olive oil, which is unlike many mass-produced olive oils being sold out there.

Bel Evo is a blend of high quality extra virgin olive oils and vegetable oils with a great, bold olive taste, with a deep green color and a thick luxurious consistency that makes it a great option for all chefs and restaurateurs. It fits nicely with salads, pastas and pizzas, and with its high smoke point, it’s ideal for sauteing in a pan.

As a little boy, Calcagno’s grandmother introduced him to the freshest and finest Italian food available, when accompanying her on her rounds of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Together they visited the best shops for freshly butchered chicken, sausage, just-baked bread, pastries, vegetables, ravioli and everything else needed for a traditional Italian Sunday dinner (God, how I miss those). He also helped out in the family garden, growing tomatoes, eggplant and peppers to be canned, and wrapping fig trees for the winter (a feat of willpower, patience and strength).

Today Joe owns a few of his own Italian restaurants, keeping his family’s tradition alive. Capizzi, the restaurants’ namesake, is a small town in Sicily (a province of Mesina) where Joe’s parents and grandparents grew up. His restaurants are a tribute to them and to a time when things were simple, with fresh-made meals that were constructed with a sense of pride.

CAPIZZI
4126 Hylan Blvd
Staten Island, NY 10308

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