The Boston girls eat their way across Manhattan

RRR, Mitch, Queenie and I started off our Saturday with lunch at Patsy's Pizzeria, one of my neighborhood standbys for takeout or a casual meal. The pizzas are delicious with a thin crisp crust, hearty tomato sauce, creamy mozzarella cheese and a host of fresh toppings. The salads are equally fresh and delightful, with the arugula salad being a personal favorite. Pastas stand out as well and are a great item to order when you are itching for some Italian but can't control your portion size like I can't - I especially enjoy the linguine frutti di mare.

But as usual, I digress --- this Saturday afternoon we went with a mushroom pizza, insalata siciliana (green salad with mozzarella, roasted peppers, black olives, capers, anchovies, carrots, tomatoes, and artichokes with Italian dressing) and penne alla vodka which included some bits of smoky hearty pancetta. We didn't stop until we hit the bottom of our bowls!

Now that we were carbed-up we headed uptown for a visit to Crush, a wine shop that is part of Drew Nieporent's Myriad Restaurant Group. The variety was impressive, intriguing and well-priced. I walked out with a 2004 Vacqueyras from Domain de Montvac ($15) and a 2005 Primitivo from Villa Fanelli ($8) in Puglia. I'll let you know how these wines fare in a future post.

Later that evening before we hit our dining destination we stopped off at Vino Vino in TriBeCa for a glass of wine. And what's wine without some munchies so we ordered some cured meats and cheeses from the bar. The interesting thing about this charming spot is that the adjacent wine shop sells the wines offered at the cozy yet spacious wine bar. Keep in mind wines here are not cheap, but if you are looking to impress while being able to see and talk about what you are drinking this is a great option.

Then it was on to the main event and my favorite restaurant in New York City, The Harrison! We made a pit stop at the bar where we were treated to some of their delicious cocktails. My French Martini was smooth and not too fruity but the standout cocktail belonged to RRR & Queenie's wonderful "apres ski" made with white cognac and cassis. Wow!

We each chose an appetizer. RRR picked ricotta cavatelli (braised rabbit, escarole, mint, and natural jus), peeky toe crab with avocado, grapefruit and mustard oil for Mitch, Queenie went with the pumpkin salad with toasted pumpkin seed dressing and I chose the day boat scallops with endive, vanilla and a blood orange vinaigrette. I hope the wait staff was amused by our "take a few bites and pass the plate around" method of eating our first course.

The ricotta cavatelli was amazing! The rabbit was braised for hours and so tender that it absorbed into the rich tomato sauce and the pasta was al dente and toothsome. Rabbits might have to be on the lookout for me in the future if this dish was any indication of rabbit meat (somewhere a duck is very happy to hear that!).


The scallops were also excellent. They were perfectly seared and tender without being chewy and had a refreshing citrus flair without being tart.

Our mains were:
RRR - grilled wild striped bass olives, potato, marinated onion, white anchovy sauce
Queenie - swordfish with gnocchi, spinach, chorizo, and a preserved lemon sauce
Mitch - breast of duck with quark spaetzle, duck confit, bing cherry sauce (I was jealous but hey, I ust had duck last night)
Foodie - almond crusted skate with creamy savoy cabbage and apple cider sauce

We also ordered the house specialty brussel sprouts with brown butter, toasted hazelnuts and shallots along with a butternut squash risotto to accompany our fantastic dishes. The risotto was good but our palates were tainted by the fantastic risotto we had at Del Posto the previous evening. These phenomenal brussel sprouts are a staple of The Harrison's menu and if you claim to dislike this underappreciated vegetable then you haven't had these brussels!

What I love about The Harrison is that the staff is welcoming, knowledgeable, unpretentious and friendly. The cocktails are outstanding and the food? Well, the food is new-American elevated to a whole new level. The seasonal ingredients inspire the menu and the inventive preparation along and congenial neighborhood atmosphere makes this a place you just want to keep coming back to; even if you have to travel from New England!

Foodie Finally hits Del Posto!

RRR, Mitch & Queenie decided to spend the weekend in New York at the "Hotel Foodie". When the four of us get together it's all about what we are going to eat and drink.

Our weekend kicked into high gear on Friday night with a long-awaited visit to that Batali-Bastianch mecca of high-end Italian cuisine, Del Posto. Would it live up to the hype? Is the menu more Mario or Lidia? Would I blow my entire paycheck on this meal?

The dining room was beautiful and the service was formal yet welcoming. As usual, I left the wine selection to RRR & Mitch and began to navigate the extensive menu. After much debate, many questions to the waiter and a discussion over our collective orders, here's the final decisions:

Our meal started with an amuse bouche which included a delightful whipped swordfish made in the style of baccala and served panini-style as well as a parmesan fritter along with two others I am forgetting at the moment. But on to the main event:

Antipasti:
FUNGHI Misti with Smoked Pancetta, Radicchio and Uova in Camicia - mushrooms with pancetta, radicchio and a poached egg. RRR decided to forgo the egg but I think she missed out since it added a richness to the otherwise standard roasted veggies. The pancetta was perfect and smoky and the egg really made this appetizer work

Mario's COTECHINO with Champagne Zabaglione, Lentils and Laurel - house cured sausage boiled and served tableside over a custard-like base of zabaglione with a sprinkling of lentils. While the sausage was tasty with a bit of a nutty cinnamon undertone the custard was a bit much. This would have worked better had it had some tart versus a sweet accompaniment. (RRR was a bit grossed out by the tableside meat from a sterno service but then again she's not a super-carnivore like me)

Primi:
AGNOLOTTI dal Plin in Parmigiano-Reggiano Brodo and Truffle Butter - pumpkin ravioli with cheese and just the right touch of truffle butter to make this pasta outstanding! Mario & Lidia always excel in all things pasta and this dish caused unanimous oohs and ahhs around the table. I really don't know what else to say except if you eat here you must order this!


RISOTTO with Barolo and Castelmagno - risotto cooked in red wine served over a carrot puree. Queenie was all about the risotto and we were a bit adventurous to steer away from the other lobster & mushroon risotto offerings to go for this. I was a bit concerned about how the cheese and red wine would mix with the risotto but this was like nothing I've had before and the sweetness of the carrot put this dish in perfect balance. Don't let the mediocre picture fool you - this was amazing! Nicely done Q!

Secondi:
Rare TUNA with Bresaola, Ventresca and Caponata - this was Queenie's pick and since I do not eat tuna (yes a foodie faux pas) I cannot comment on this one - Queenie want to weigh in? I did taste some of her seared foie gras but I am still spoiled from France and basically cannot eat foie gras this side of the Atlantic anymore.

PORK LOIN with Grilled Celery, Artichoke, and Cynar - Mitch's choice and since I do love all things swine I was all over this one. The pork was perfectly cooked; juicy and flavorful.

Grilled DELMONICO with Broccoli Rabe and Tortino di Ricotta - RRR chose the steak which when served looked more like a beef tenderloin; a perfectly cooked buttery beef tenderloin that is! The ricotta tart, broccoli rabe and broccoli rabe puree elevated this dish to well-beyond standard steakhouse fare.

Apician Spiced DUCK and Battuto Crudo in Brodetto - after consulting with the waiter, I chose the duck. It was an unusual preparation and I'm going to guess a nod to Lidia's Istrian roots? The duck was as tender and buttery as RRR's steak and served over a bed of tart creamy cabbage. The meat had a slight Asian-spice to it and I can really only summarize this dish as "OUTRAGEOUS"!!!! It certainly made me feel like the large chunk of change I was going to put out for this dinner was worth it and despite being the only duck freak at the table, we decided this was 'the' dish!

The dessert offerings were inviting but at this point we were stuffed and had polished off our second bottle of wine. We were given a tableside assortment of cookies and were wowed by the white chocolate concoction. Was it made with rice crispies? Oats? Who knows? Who cares! It was the perfect ending to our decadent meal.

I certainly feel like Lidia, the Queen of Italian cuisine, has more of a stamp on the menu than Mario who receives more press and this is certainly not your Italian-American pizzeria type fare. The menu tends to be more regional Italian so if you are not an adventurous eater you may want to check out the menu online first.

And while there were many outstanding dishes, the formality and high prices would certainly prohibit future visits for this foodie; especially when there's Babbo (not cheap either mind you), Lupa, Felidia and Becco - that is unless Queenie, Mitch or RRR are picking up the tab!

Pork, Pasta & Saint Nick - doesn't get any better than that?

For our Christmas Day feast we brought out some of the app's from Christmas Eve and made our shrimp & garlic intermezzo bumped from our Christmas Eve menu. After years of experimentation, we have come as close as we ever have to mastering the shrimp & garlic we've sopped up at so many Portuguese restaurants in Newark. The trick? We added a bit of tomato paste which gave the reddish orange color we couldn't get from our saffron threads. Of course with oil and tons of garlic can you really go wrong?

My main contribution to the day's meal was a recipe I found in Real Simple magazine for rustic pork ragu. I made this pasta dish to rave reviews at a dinner party with the Peteys awhile back and it seemed like the perfect Christmas Day meal: hearty, savory, rich, simple and delicious.

You basically brown the pork loin; remove it from the pot, brown some onions, rosemary & garlic (scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan) then add some tomatoes. You return the pork to the pot and cook for 2 - 3 hours which tenderizes the meat. Remove the pork from the pot and once cooled start shredding the pork and finally return to the tomato sauce. I prefer to stick to papardelle for the pasta but you really can go anywhere with this dish just make sure the pasta can hold up to the thick sauce (i.e. rigatoni versus angel hair). Plenty of quality cheese and a sprinkling of fresh parsley are the proverbial icing on the cake.