NYC Visit, Part III
Casa MonoCasa Mono is Mario Batali's Spanish tapas restaurant in the Flatiron area. I remember recently seeing an article somewhere that Spanish cuisine is working its way up to be the new Italian, with Manchengo to be the new Parmesan. To be honest, I personally feel that Spanish food is kind of been played out a little too much in the hype and hasn't delivered enough in actual presence. When was the last time you walked around and saw your authentic friendly neighborhood Spanish tapas bar? Right. Having said that, the food, for the most part, was very good. They had a fantastic grilled baby octopus plate, and three other well executed plates - braised oxtails stuffed into pasella peppers, braised tripe with chickpeas and papas bravas. Unfortunately, although the dishes were pretty good, they all seemed to have very similar flavor profiles with somewhat cumin, somewhat smokey, etc. The one dish I didn't like, a clams and pasta dish was just way too harsh, with that minearly/bitter/astringent flavor that comes from too much white wine.
Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi in New Brunswick, NY
OK, so I go out to New York, the restaurant capital of the world, so why do I go to Jersey of all places for a meal? Simple answer? Mark and Francis of restaurantguysradio.com. These two restauranteurs also have a radio show on an AM station in central Jersey that also happens to be available in a podcast. Since I found their show a few months ago I downloaded every single episode in their archives and I have just come to love their philosophy of building a community in all aspects of their restaurants. They had a fantastic bar program (big, real ice cubes, not ice slivers!) and some of the best polenta I have ever tasted. But what really set them apart was their service, which was some of the best during my NYC visit. Not only were there some nice things from a managerial standpoint (very detailed checklists for sidework, for example), but when there was a job to do, it didn't matter whose job it was, it got done. It's such a small detail, but something that many restaurants, even good ones, sometimes fall short on.
BB King's Lucille's
Okay, so I didn't actually eat here, nor would I recommend it (I got the sneaky suspicion from the menu that most of the stuff was premanufactured and of the Sysco variety). However, there are a few things that I learned from the experience: 1) If you ever need anything, always check in with the local hotel's concierge. They will always know what's going on where and, if they don't, they'll be able to direct you to someone who does and 2) It's practically the only place in NYC you'll be able to find that allows you to dance. At 2:00 AM on a Friday night with a live blues band, I couldn't think of any other place I'd rather be.
3 Comments:
regular reader, first time commenter...
speaking of local tapas bars... we have a reasonably sized spanish community in melbourne, and one street in particular (johnston st in fitzroy) is known for its line of spanish restaurants, bars, clubs and stores. You really can drop in for 'real' tapas and a drink and a chat with the barman at some of these places.
I mention this because last year our melbourne lindy exchange coincided with the johnston street festival. turning up a little early to prep the venue for our daytime 'beer and band' gig (a fabulous, small dixie/swing style band who play every saturday afternoon for free at a bar on johnston st), i discovered the festival was on. all over the blocked-off road, with musicians and dancers and food! woe is me. having to eat lovely paella and many other goodies before dragging myself onto the kerb and into a bar to dance and drink with rowdy dancers.
...if ever there was a reason to come to mlx...? the food in melbourne is fabulous!
Heh ... well, I'm just a poor chef and with the prices for a ticket to MLX, I'd need to finagle some way of getting that cash ;)
... i understand. there's a reason i've not made it to any american camps/exchanges yet. not for want of wanting, though. :)
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