Donatella
We went to Donatella to see and taste pizza from their famous oven. The oven is the centerpiece of the restaurant. It was constructed piece by piece with materials shipped from Italy (890 pieces including dozens of volcanic-soil mud bricks and bags of Neapolitan sand and cement). The flashy gold tiles on the outside are purely for aesthetics. The wood burning oven gets hot, 700 degrees to be exact, to “create a pizza that is both soft in the middle and crispy on the ends, in the authentic Neapolitan tradition (Donatella Menu).”
We opted to do a family style meal so we could try the many specialty items on the menu.
We started the meal with bruchetta with sea salt. At $4, it is the best deal on the menu. Esentially, it is a pizza without the cheese and sauce. It was a prime example of how the oven works. It came out right away because it was cooked in less than a minute in the oven. I loved the crispy, burnt parts, which were a perfect complement to the soft parts. We almost ordered another.
The salad, mesculin with candied walnuts was composed organic mixed greens, pecorino, and this really tangy lemon dressing. It was served on a cold plate, which a nice touch. The menu said the greens were from Blooming Hill Farm, so I looked up why Blooming Hill farm is special. Blooming Hill Farm is in Blooming Grove, NY. It Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. “CSA members make a commitment to support the farm by purchasing a share, and the farmer, through their support, plans his growing season based on the resources from the local community(http://www.bloominghillfarm.com/csa.php ).” There’s a long list of restaurants that support the farm and its products. http://www.bloominghillfarm.com/customers.php. Ok, enough about the lettuce.
Other entrées we enjoyed included the MARGHERITA pizza with san marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, pecorino, basil. The sauce was sweet. While it was a good pizza, all the ingredients made the middle soggy. Try the bruchetta to get a true appreciation for the oven/pizza crust.
The roast of the day was a large pork chop on top of creamy polenta with a rich mushroom sauce. It was juicy.
Another highlight was the PACCHERI ALLA GENOVESE with braised beef & sweet onion sugo, parmigiano reggiano. The fresh Paccheri (or Oversized Rigatoni) were cooked al dente. The sauce was sweet and rich. Excellent dish.
All in all, everything came together, for a lovely meal. We arrived at 8 pm for a relatively quiet start to the meal. By the time we left at 9 pm, the crowd picked up significantly. The crowd was young. Lots of big groups. A perfect place to start out a night out with friends.
Rating:
Food – 8/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Wanna go?
Address/phone –
184 8th Ave.
NEW YORK, NY 10011
BTN 19th & 20th
PH: 212.493.5150
Web – http://donatellanyc.com/
Plein Sud NYC
Plein Sud is a French brasserie located inside the Smyth Hotel in Tribeca. The Chef is Ed Cotton, who was runner up in Season 7 of Top Chef (Washington DC). We went for an enjoyable brunch with friends and their 10 month old. Judging from the four strollers lined up in the entrance and the well behaved kids all over the restaurant, this is a popular destination for parents with little ones.
I ordered their extremely fresh Nicoise salad. I appreciated the fresh, non-fishy tuna, flavorful sardines, the crispy green beans, the fresh bib lettuce (which reminded me of lettuce I had in Hawaii on my honeymoon) the pealed grape tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, raddish for color, scallions, and a light vinagarette. The salad was a winner and I would come back and order it again.
Others at the table enjoyed scrambled eggs, buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries, and eggs Norwegian, toasted english muffins / smoked salmon / 2 poached eggs with sauce hollandaise.
I understand that this is a hotel restautant and for this reason they have to charge $14 for the bread basket with croissants, muffins, etc. Had it been provided on the table with compliments of the house (as they do at B R Guest restaurants), it would have been a nice touch.
I am intrigued by this place and would like to go back for dinner one of these days.
Rating:
Food – 8/10
Ambiance – 9/10
Service – 8/10
Category:
Food Type – French
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Wanna go?
Address/phone –85 West Broadway, 1(212)204-5555
Web – pleinsudnyc.com
Mr. Chow
Dear Mr. Chow,
Your restaurant is trendy. I was impressed with the modern decor with lots of expensive flowers all over the restaurant. We were immediately escorted to our table and greeted by our team of tuxedo-clad waiters right away. It was a nice touch to have such professionally dressed servers even though most of the patrons were in shorts and t-shirts the Sunday evening I was in your restaurant.
I thought your restaurant week menu included a lot of variety and enjoyed sharing several dishes family style. While everything was piping hot and presented elegantly, unfortunately the food was not memorable to me. I tried the Squab with Lettuce, which lacked flavor and was slightly dry. We actually left much of the dish over (I never leave the chicken lettuce wraps over at CPK or PF Changs).
The MR CHOW Noodles were overcooked udon type noodles with what appeared to be topped with the same mixture as the squab. Even if it wasn’t the same, the taste and consistency were very similar. I would have ordered differently had I known.
The best dish we had was the Ma Mignon, which was very soft fillet encrusted with peppercorn. Very tasty – cooked perfectly.
The Velvet Chicken wasn’t memorable and lacked taste.
I enjoyed the string beans (but then again I also enjoy very similar string beans at the local Chinese takeout).
The dessert for two was “intermezzo” sized scoops of ice cream and sorbet. The small scoop was not enough to warrant calling it a “third course.”
While I enjoyed the experience and the company I was with, the food just wasn’t good enough for me to recommend your restaurant to friends and family or for me to return in the near future (especially for the premium price).
Best regards,
Jay
Rating:
Food – 6/10
Ambiance – 9/10
Service – 9/10
Category:
Food Type – Chinese
Style – Trendy
Price – Expensive
Address/ phone: 121 Hudson Street (Hudson/North Moore), 212-965-9500
Web – mrchow.com
Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream, Ices – The Treats of Summer
The frozen dessert landscape has changed remarkably in recent years. While I am happy to welcome many creative new additions to the marketplace, I also enjoy the time tested traditional ice cream and other frozen treats like lemon ice. Here is my guide to frozen treats.
Frozen Yogurt
Over the last three years we have seen the proliferation of expensive “premium” frozen yogurt in NYC… it started with Pinkberry, then came Red Mango. Even though Pinkberry arrived to NYC first, it is well documented that Red Mango started before Pinkberry.
From there, copy cat after copy cat. The funniest one I noticed a couple of years ago was Red Cherry, which has since gone out of business. Red Cherry doesn’t make sense. Red Mango works because mangoes are not red. Pink Berry, the same thing, there is a chance that a pinkberry exists, but you are more likely to come across a blueberry or a blackberry. There are plenty of red cherries…
Another relatively prominent expensive yogurt place is BerryWild.
Maybe some of you will disagree, but for me there’s very little difference between the three… I feel the yogurt all tastes relatively the same. All charge about the same and have similar topping offerings.
The Pinkberries of the world have almost totally displaced an old NYC favorite, TastiDelight. I never really enjoyed Tasti-D. While we used to order Tasti-D, the premium price for a styrofoam cup of this stuff always bothered me more than paying a premium Pinkberry or Red Mango that at least come with fresh fruit toppings.
Another frozen yogurt category is “weigh and pay.” We have these places that bank on the human instinct to not be able to control themselves. There’s 16 Handles and Phileo Yogurt (by way of Philadelphia, could you tell?), which my friend calls “yogurt land.” Both offer lots of machines featuring tart and not tart flavors. They let visitors take what they want, top it with healthy toppings or candy, weigh it, pay (enough to buy gallons of yogurt from the grocery store), then enjoy.
Recently I went to Jersey and visited Bischoff’s. Since 1934, Bischoff’s has been serving up ice cream sundaes in the same way. My family has been going to Bischoff’s for three generations. My dad, who grew up in Teaneck, used to take dates there in High School.
While I enjoy fro yo as a grab and go treat in the city or the mall, it is nice to sit down and have real ice cream. We asked and they don’t even have frozen yogurt at Bischoff’s! Take a look at these two sundaes that cost a total of $16! There were four of us and we couldn’t finish either one of them.
A City Ice Cream Favorite – Mister Softee
Summer is here and you know what that means….we will see Mister Softee on every other block in the city. According to the Mister Softee website, Mister Softee is the largest franchiser of soft ice cream trucks in the United States. Mister Softee is light soft serve ice cream – creamy with lots of air. Lots of creative ways to enjoy, including the double cone. Don’t forget to dip your cone in chocolate, strawberry, etc. Check out some Mister and Ms. Softee Profiles on Midtown Lunch.
On the topic of Mister Softee, please keep in mind that not all Mister Softee trucks are created equally. If you are in the mood for Mister Softee, please look at the truck carefully. If it doesn’t specifically say Mister Softee, it isn’t (meaning, they buy cheaper, less enjoyable product and try and sell it for the same price). Check out this 2008 article on Mister Softee Knockoffs.
Real Mister Softee
Clearly not Mister Softee!
If I find some better examples of fake Mister Softee trucks, I will update. There are plenty out there, believe me.
Lemon Ice (and other flavors)
There is only one King and he’s from Queens.
I have been enjoying the Lemon Ice King of Corona my entire life but the establishment has been around for twice as long as me (over 60 years). Read my full review.
La NewYorkina Modern Mexican Ice Pops
It was a hot day, I was thirsty and in the mood for something sweet. I had enough Mister softee and fancy frozen yogurt for the week. I walked into the Hester Street Fair, and the answer was looking at me. La NewYorkina “modern mexican ice pops.” Such a simple and refreshing idea.
I asked what the most popular flavor was, and Fanny, one of the propieters, served me Mango con Chile (Spicy Mango). The $4 pop was filled with large mango chunks. The chili made for an occasional bursts of spice. If the pop isn’t spicy enough for your taste, Fany offers seasoning to sprinkle (like you would pepper flakes on a pizza).
Other flavors include:
- Fresa-Strawberry
- Tamarindo Fresco- Fresh Tamarind
- Horchata- Cinnamon Rice Milk
- Jamaica- Hibiscus
- Pina con Menta- Pineapple Mint
- Nuez- Pecan
Fanny explained that she makes the pops after hours in a local wholesale bakery after 7pm during the week. It is a simple process from the cutting of the fruit, to the freezing. literally what you see is what you get. Check out these Facebook pics of the process.
At this point, they are getting ready for the Hester Street Fair each week. I see no reason why this concept can’t go bigger with a food truck or even a well positioned storefront.
Find La Newyorkina at the Hester Street Fair, every Saturday and Sunday,
10am to 6pm.
In Summary…
There is a right place and a right time for frozen treats and we certainly have a lot of options in the NYC Metro area… Enjoy! Please comment below on any of your favorites that I missed.
New York City Street Fair Food Guide
It’s that time of the year. Last weekend as I walked my way through NYC, I stumbled across three New York City street fairs.
This guide will go through NYC street fair food options. I will divide street fair food into three categories.
- Food I look forward to eating at each fair
- Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences (i.e indigestion, a lost tooth)
- Pleasant surprises
Hopefully this guide will help locals and tourists alike to navigate NYC street fair food options.
Food I look forward to eating at each fair
I will pick up some pickles if, for some reason, I have no pickles in my fridge.
Kettle corn: I most likely won’t buy this, I have plenty of equally enjoyable Orville Redenbacher at home, but I will try a free sample.
Sticking with corn, how can you go wrong with fresh corn? I like how most use the grill to char the corn.
Another corn product is the sweet corn arepa. How can you go wrong with melted mozzarella and sweet corn?
Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences
This may be controversial but I never want a candy apple during the summer. Candy Apples are a Fall food for me. I am also afraid that I will lose a tooth when I bite into the hard shell.
Dirty hands making falafel balls and frying in oil on a dirty street, no thanks. The same applies to Zeppoles. I will sometimes try a spinach pie though.
Fear of indigestion, continued…
No desire to have one of those smoothies. How could they possibly wash all that fruit with no running water? They also use the same dirty blenders all day! If you do happen to be by a fair when it’s closing they may sell bananas and other unused fruit for next to nothing. That I will go for!
I may have a crepe or two in Paris, but not on a NYC street…
Pleasant surprises
I would try a lobster roll at lunch time!
As the summer goes by, I will add some pictures of some of the pleasant surprise food options that I come across.
Street Fair Calendars:
Locanda Verde
I wanted to enjoy Locanda Verde more than I did. I had heard a lot of buzz about the place and when it came up as an option for a casual weekend lunch with friends while in Tribeca, we jumped on it. It is a cool setting in a cool neighborhood. The food, however, didn’t match the expectation for me.
My Broccoli Rabe Sausage Grinder with spicy peperonata and ricotta ($15) sounded better on the menu than it actually tasted. I can’t point out much that was wrong other than the greasiness of the sandwich. The bread and sausage were fresh and everything tasted fine but it just wasn’t one of those sandwiches that had me saying “I need to come back and order this sandwich!” Is that too much to ask for $15 for two pieces of sausage?
The Rustic Potatoes with garlic and parmigiano-reggiano ($6) were also quite greasy.
Drinks were good, especially this spiked lemonade with pear vodka. Perfectly refreshing for a summer day. Most recommended item on the menu.
I bet a pasta dinner would be a lot more memorable so maybe I’ll give it a try again for dinner.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Wanna go?
Address/phone –377 Greenwich St (corner of N.Moore and Greenwich) , 212-925-3797
website- locandaverdenyc.com
menu - menupages.com/restaurants/locanda-verde