I read a couple months back that the revamped Torrisi Italian Specialties would have a special 20 course historical tasting menu available with reservations 30 days in advance. I went to a talk at the New York Public Library last year that featured former NY Times food critic William Grimes and his new book called Appetite City. The NYPL has a huge archive of menus from NYC restaurants dating back hundreds of years. You can really learn a lot about a society from what they ate. I highly recommend the book. The Chefs from Torrisi utilized the same archive to come up some dishes based on these old menus with their own twist. We recently went to their newer and more casual restaurant, Parm, and enjoyed it very much.

A couple days before my birthday, The Ulterior Epicure came out with his review of the menu and got me even more excited!! There is also a great photo set on Flickr (much better than pics below) with more thorough descriptions of each course. Sorry we didn’t take notes during the meal.

It was $125 per person, but actually the Monday after the price went up to $150. After we were seated by the friendly staff, we were informed that there is an optional wine pairing for $75 pp. Yikes! We just shared a bottle of wine instead. Shockingly, the cheapest bottle was $50. I guess they plan on making a profit through wine sales instead of food?

There are two seatings a night for the special tasting menu so we had the earlier one at 6:45. I don’t think we could have handled the 9:30/10 seating. Since they have a set number of diners and we all arrived at the same time, the food starting coming out immediately. They still had a couple of tables available for their $65 four course prix fix. I am pretty sure they only had a max of 10 tables (mostly two tops) and a handful of seats at the small bar. The space is SMALL, but there is just enough room between tables.

The first couple of dishes were bar snacks that came out quite quickly one after another. We were warned.

They started us off with a mocktail called “Our Americano.” Since they only have a beer & wine liquor license, they can’t serve full-on cocktails. Although I don’t drink Americanos very often, I am familiar enough with the flavor of Campari. This definitely had that same unique taste. A refreshing way to start.

Pretzels- These tiny little pretzel balls were served fresh out of the oven. They were sprinkled with some salt and caraway seeds. A great salty snack with the mocktail.

The Quail’s Olive- An olive course. Or is it? Fortunately, it was not or else CT would probably have gotten up and left due to her hatred of olives. These were actually compressed quail eggs dyed with squid ink that looked exactly like your standard whole black olive. Both egg and olive flavors are usually quite strong, but in this preparation each was muted perfectly.

Smoked Sable Cigarette- It consisted of gnocco fritto, sable, cod roe, and poppy seed “ashes” served in an ashtray. When I first heard about this course when the menu was announced I was a little apprehensive since no one eats cigarettes. Remember the massive fail of the edible “cigar” Chris made on Top Chef last season? I am not really a fan of cream cheese but it was a small cigarette, so it was ok. The crunchy fried dough with the creamy cheese and just a hint of salty fishiness from the sable and roe was delicious.

Clams and Oysters on a Half Shell- I forget what type of oyster it was, maybe a Bluepoint? It was topped with a chili pepper mignonette that was very good and packed a nice hit of heat. I believe the chili pepper was locally grown. I think the clam was a Littleneck that was served with a beer foam on top. It was also very fresh and delicious.

Buckwheat Caviar Knish- I loved the antique silver serving dish. Tiffany’s? I am by no means a knish aficionado, but this was a very good bite. Topped with caviar, how could it not be? I made sure to get plenty of toasted kasha stuck to the bottom to add some extra crunch. I tasted some of the kasha on its own and liked it very much. Great roasted toasty flavor.

Escargot Casino- It is hard to see the actual snail on the skewer. It was wedged on with some house-smoked bacon. It was a tasty bite that was mostly bacon flavor, but the snail did add some texture. I appreciated that they used a classic escargot dish as the serving dish. They were really creative when designing the menu!

Chicken and Cashews- A nod to that classic Americanized Chinese Food dish. I am pretty sure we always ordered Chicken and Cashews when eating Chinese food growing up. Here they used the chicken “oyster,” which some consider the best piece of meat on a chicken. It was poached and then lightly fried and rolled in chopped cashews & oyster sauce. Those forks are Tiffany too. As expected, it was really delicious! Rich meat and crunchy nuts was a great combination.

Brighton Beets- A nod to the Russian population in Brighton Beach. A simple yet delicious beet course. I believe the beets were locally grown(starting to notice a theme here?) and served on pumpernickel cream. I think there might have been some slivers of pear too.

Mackerel in Crazy Water- The mackerel crudo was served in a tomato broth aka “Crazy Water.” The fish was light and fresh, not too fishy. The best description of the broth comes from Serious Eats, “The amazing broth tastes like the best gazpacho you’ve never had.” Yes, CT & I made sure to get every last bit of broth in our bellies. We would have picked the bowls up to get the broth faster, but since we were “dining” we stuck to using our spoons.

The next two courses were served simultaneously since they were both a nod to Delmonico’s, considered to be the first restaurant in NYC.

Foie Gras Newberg- CT was quite ecstatic when this was served. Although she is much better versed in duck liver than I am, we both agreed that this was of the best preparations we ever had. They did a great job taking the “liveriness” out of it, while not making it too cloyingly sweet. It was served with a couple of slices of toasted brioche on the side.

A closer shot was needed. Such a beautiful presentation.

Delmonico Tartare- This was an amazing beef tartare plated beautifully with an expertly place spread of cornichon slices and a “bernaise egg yolk.” It was served with some thick potatoes slices that were surprisingly quite crunchy and a little heavy on the salt. However when eaten with the tartare it was a great bite.

Dancing Ewe Sheep Ricotta and Ramps- Simply this was the BEST GNOCCHI I HAVE EVER HAD! Super light and buttery, it just dissolved in my mouth. While I could care less about ramp season, they were a nice touch to bring some roughage to the rich dish.

Lobster Cantonese- An Italian twist on a Chinese dish. Spaghetti with lobster and I believe a bit of crumbled sausage with toasted breadcrumbs. It was almost carbonara-like. With the first taste I thought they may have made a call to the bullpen and brought in Michael White to cook this dish. Very close to the pasta served at Ai Fiori or Marea. I was very very happy with this course.

Ravioli Caruso- The last of the pasta courses was a ravioli filled with chicken liver puree. Fortunately for me the liver wasn’t too minerally, so I went ahead and ate this perfectly cooked pasta pouch.

Jewish Lamb- We were actually presented with the whole lamb chop at the table before it was carved up, but we were too busy to take a picture. It was cooked with a Manischewitz glaze that had just the right amount of sweetness, unlike when drinking the wine straight from the bottle. The lamb was very tender and delicious. I believe it was served with some fried sunchokes and potatoes.

Bitter Greens- How appropriate on the last night of Passover to be served bitter greens. This was a small salad of radicchio and other unknown greens tossed in a light vinaigrette as a palate cleanser. It did exactly as advertised to counteract all of the butter/pasta/meat we just ingested.

Cheese Danish- Like the lamb, the entire danish was presented tableside on a nice marble plate, but I didn’t get a picture. We were each given a quarter piece to start. The base danish was light and flaky, while a somewhat funky cheese was used on top which was then topped with a slice of pear. When I think of cheese danish, I think of Entenmann’s classic cheese danish that has a sweet cheese. The stronger flavor cheese worked like any good cheese course would. I actually needed a second picture to show you how gooey the cheese was. After we finished, we were given the option of having our second piece. Of course we said yes, haha. Diet starts tomorrow.

(2nd) Palate Cleanser- Green Apple Italian Ice. Cool and refreshing with just a hint of apple flavor.

Maraschino Float- Again, I need to borrow from the Serious Eats’ description “A maraschino float made with housemade maraschino cherry soda…with an edible evaporated milk straw… and a malted root beer candy bar …sour cherry vanilla ice cream with pretzel breadcrumbs.” What a dessert! Super creative and everything was delicious. I am not the biggest maraschino cherry fan, then again not many people are, but it worked.

Pastries- A whole bunch of mignardises were served on a beautiful antique platter. Apple fritters, pizelle cannoli with Salvatore filling, fried pastry, pine-nut biscotti sandwiches, custard cakes, celery cake with grape jelly, sesame saltwater taffy; and chocolate-mint truffles. We were pretty beyond full at this point, but we made an effort to at least try each one (for the sake of the blog). I couldn’t appreciate them, so it wouldn’t be fair to pick a favorite.

We ordered some espressos to aid in the digestion.

Our parting gift was a little box with a rolled newspaper. Inside the box was a classic rainbow cookie while the newspaper was actually a copy of the menu. A very nice touch.

All in all, the special 20 course historical tasting menu at Torrisi was FANTASTIC. Not only were was all of the food cooked perfectly, the service was top notch. Definitely the same level at some of the Michelin starred restaurants in NYC. Eventhough the price has now gone up to $150, I would still say it’s worth checking out once. CT and I will definitely be back for the $65 prix fixe. Thanks again CT for such a wonderful birthday treat!

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Post tags: Nolita, special occasion, tasting menu

We arrived right during the thick of a busy weekend lunch service, so there was a bit of a wait for a table. Fortunately, there was plenty of room for us to hang out at the bar for a drink. We decided to share the Salumi e Formaggi platter ($13) to tide us over until the table was ready.
According to the menu; the salumi was coto, chorizo seco, soppressata picante and the formaggi was pecorino brillo, fontina, manchego. There was also some olives, fruit spead (fig?) and walnuts. It was all very good with the chorizo being my favorite. Only CT’s Mom and I had the olives and they were quite good and had a fair amount of chili flake mixed in. Everyone else’s loss, hahaha. This definitely kept our stomachs at bay until we could have our lunch.

As Teresa’s is well known for their pizza, a couple of us tried them.

TL got the Bistecca Pizzette ($15). It had fontina, organic eggs, skirt steak, potatoes and mushrooms. This was quite the perfect brunch pizza. He made a comment that the mushrooms were especially good.

CT ordered the Quattro Formaggi Teresa ($16). It had ricotta, gorgonzola, fontina, fresh mozzarella, organic pork sausage and caramelized onion. She had trouble deciding which pizza to get but once TL ordered his she figured she would order the other pizza she was interested in. Fortunately, TL is not shy about sharing. I believe she liked her pizza a lot. Good quality ingredients = good pizza!

Since CT believes a pizza must have tomato sauce in order to be properly classified as a pizza, not a flatbread, she got a small bowl of marinara sauce on the side. She mentioned that it was very good sauce that was jazzed up with too many ingredients. The chef just let the tomatoes shine.

I order the special pizza of the day, the Pizzette ($16). It had ground plum tomatoes, pineapple, prosciutto cotto, jalapeno and gorgonzola. I definitely got my fill of ham between the starter we had at the bar and now this pizza. While I was taking a risk with the pineapple, since the beginning of April isn’t exactly the season for it, most of the pieces were ripe and juicy. There was a lot going on flavor-wise, but it worked. I don’t usually eat gorgonzola on its on, but the funkiness of the cheese worked well against the salty ham, sweet pineapple and tomatoes. While I wouldn’t have been offended if there were more jalapenos, they brought just a touch of heat to wake up my taste buds.

As you can see from the upskirt, there was a little bit of char, which I always like on my pizzas.

ML got the Insalata ($15). It had green leaf lettuce, tilapia, hearts of palm, orange supreme. red onions, goat cheese, pistachio and white balsamic dressing. She seemed quite happy to have a “lighter” lunch.

CT’s Mom asked our friendly waitress if they had any of their famous lasagna prepared since it wasn’t on the lunch menu. They did so she ordered that for lunch. She remarked that one of the reasons she liked Teresa’s so much is that they are almost always very accommodating like that.

All in all, Teresa’s Caffe was an excellent choice for a leisurely Italian lunch. Everyone was quite happy with their choices and we all left stuffed! Although there is a good chance I will never go back since CT’s Parents are moving, if I find myself in Princeton and hungry I know where to go now.

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Post tags: Princeton

This time around there were a bunch of new vendors than in the past, which helped freshen things up a bit. Amazingly, most of the tables were already taken up by 11:30, but we were able to find one for ourselves without too much difficulty. There is a group of three “secret” tables, but I’ll let you find them yourself.

CT decided to get something from a new vendor called Mayhem & Stout. Pretty sure she just chose them because of their name, haha. They offered a couple of different pulled meat sandwiches. She chose the pulled pork sandwich ($10). It was quite a hefty sandwich filled with a good amount of juicy pork topped with some shredded brussels sprouts and a couple squirts of their “Dragon” sauce (similar to BBQ). While the pork was nice and tender, I thought it was a little lacking in the flavor department. I would have appreciated some more sauce on it. While I am not sure I would get it again, it was worth risking it to try a new vendor I never heard of before.

I was in a Jewish deli kind of mood, so I went to another newcomer to MSE, Mile End. While I have never made it out to their original Brooklyn location, I did enjoy one of their sandwiches at Meatopia a couple years ago. They recently opened up a second location in Manhattan that isn’t too far from CT’s volunteer spot, which I foresee us visiting soon. At MSE, they were offering their original Smoked Meat sandwich or Smoked Turkey. I went the Smoked Meat. It came on rye with mustard and a pickle on the side for $12. I was impressed that they had a mechanical bread slicer on site for the rye. CT in a nod to Midtown Lunch used her Metrocard for perspective. It was a small sandwich, but considering it was all meat, it was plenty large enough. The meat was some of the best “pastrami” I have ever had. It was well worth it knowing the work and ingredients put into it. I was also impressed with the payment system they use, Square. They turned an iPad into a cash register. After swiping my card, they turned around the iPad to let me add a tip if I chose so and to then email the receipt to myself. Pretty cool!

We decided to visit one more stand to get something to go with our sandwiches. Arancini Bros. called our names with their unique rice balls. They offer a half dozen different flavors of rice balls each day for $4 each. Again not cheap, but worth a try for baseball-size globes of deliciousness. I heard about them before, but also had not visited their Brooklyn location.

We got the Nero di Seppa, which was squid ink risotto and spicy shrimp. They earned a lot of points for creativity. It was very good. The rice was cooked perfectly although not necessarily full of squid ink flavor. The shrimp added a nice sweetness to each bite. I was quite impressed by how thin the outside coating was since the ball held together quite well.

The other ball we got was the Roasted Corn Jalapeno. It was also very good and packed with cheese. After splitting it in half, it was quite evident how much gooey cheese was in it. The jalapeno was a bit muted since I think they want to try to please all palates, but added enough heat to know it was there.

All in all, we were very pleased with the latest version of Madison Square Eats. It didn’t look like that much food, but once we dug into those rice balls, they hit us like a brick wall, but in a good way. When we return, it will be hard to not visit some of those same booths. Good thing MSE is around until the end of the month and open everyday until 9 pm. What are you waiting for? Go now!

Mad. Sq. Eats
Worth Square
(bet 5th Ave. & Broadway and 24th & 25th Streets)
11 am – 9 pm
Everyday until June 1st

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Post tags: food market, Madison Square Park, pulled pork, rice balls, smoked meat

The Chef that night was Chance Bear of Francesca’s Cucina in Syracuse, NY.

Since it happened to be the warm week on the calendar, the cocktail hour was held outside in the backyard of the house to take advantage of the weather. The week after it went back to below freezing at night. 2012 has been such a crazy year weather-wise!

There were four different hors d’oeuvres passed around.

Tomato Crostini with Tomato Jam and Roasted Garlic–Onion Spherification. The tomato was the most interesting part of this little bite since it was similar to a fruit roll up. It had a nice, intense tomato flavor. Although the roasted garlic and onion was not very sphere-like, it did pack quite a punch of intense garlic flavor.

Shrimp and Clam Ceviche with Blood Oranges and Candied Limes on Grilled Toasts. I think the Chef had issue with the toasts because the ceviche ended up being served on top of a plastic cone filled with breadcrumbs. Most people did not think what was in the cone was edible since the spoon sat on top until the servers explained that it was. The ceviche was bright and fresh with plenty of acid from the citrus. I had a little taste of the breadcrumbs. They were not good. Somewhat mushy and bland. Sometimes you have to think on the fly when a dish doesn’t come out as expected and adjust as the Chef did, but it doesn’t always mean it will be successful.

They had two different cocktails for us to enjoy with the little bites. They were each very unique, but I think the wrong kind of drinks for the crowd. A sparkling wine would have been better.

A very green Saffron-Basil Martini. I only had a sip as it was quite strong and very herby.

Francesca’s Spumoni Cocktail. I am pretty sure this one was just vanilla vodka on the rocks.

Buffalo Mozzarella Stuffed Ricotta and Fontina Arancini with Braised Grape Tomatoes. I can never say no to some arancini. It was a nice bite; crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The braised tomatoes were a nice tangy yet sweet contrast.

Pan-Seared Old World Gnocchi with Chianti–Leek Marmalade. As mentioned in the past, I find gnocchi to be very difficult to execute whether it is for one person’s order or as a passed hors d’oeuvres. These gnocchi were a little firm, but not too leaden considering the presentation. The marmalade was sweet from the wine and leeks, but not overly so.

Once we were seated, we found some questionably shaped fresh baked bread. Turns out it was a fish hook to signify our seafood dinner. However, from a different angle it looked highly inappropriately shaped, haha.

Harvest Minestrone with Local Vegetables and Garlic–Cannellini Bean Broth. This very light soup was an excellent start to the meal. It was given a little more heft once we decided we should put the vegetables on the left into the soup and eat all together.

Roasted Garlic Marinated and Hickory-Grilled Swordfish with Lime–Ginger Crème Fraîche, Pickled Micro-Beets, and Bull’s Blood Salad. This was first presented with a little bowl on top because the Chefs actually “injected” some hickory smoke with a hand-held smoker on top of the fish and covered it. I hardly ever eat swordfish as it tends to be heavy and more susceptible to toxins. However, this preparation was light and fresh but unfortunately a little too small as you can see. The sweet chopped beets added some good texture to the dish.

“Pasta Sabbia” Hand-Cut Linguine with Bread Crumbs and Pesto and Basil–Infused Olive Oil. I’m not sure if the Chef was trying to make a play on an Alfredo pasta, but I felt this was pretty meh. The pasta was kind of mushy and sad.

Fava Beans with Charred Calamari and Smoked Heirloom Pomodoro Sauce. When I read this on the menu, I was pretty excited since it was a squid dish. It ended up being one large piece of squid that was pretty chewy(which I didn’t mind), but just ok. The fava beans were pretty al dente though which was not enjoyable.

Braised Wild Striped Bass in Parmesan Broth with Soft Polenta, Fried Pecans and Walnuts, and Crispy Fish Chips. This was quite an interesting dish to wrap up our meal. The bass was perfectly cooked. I don’t remember the broth having much of a Parmesan flavor. While pretty standard, the walnuts were good and interesting combination with the fish. The crispy fish chips(you can see one in the bottom left of the picture) were packed full of salty/umami goodness. I could probably eat a whole bag on their own.

“Zeppole di San Giuseppe” Pistachio and Ricotta Cream–Stuffed Zeppole with Sweet Marsala Sabayon. We ended the evening on a high note with this dessert. After all of the savory dishes, I really appreciated the sweetness of this. I ate the whole zeppole, so that should say a lot since I am not a dessert person.

All in all, this time around at James Beard was a little bit of a disappointment especially since the whole family (minus my other sister in Florida) was able to get together to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. It just goes to show that not every dinner that occurs at the James Beard House is a “winner.” Regardless, we all had a good time with the company. Happy Birthday Dad!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: James Beard House

We tried going before one of CT’s volunteer sessions previously, but the wait was too long for us so we went to La Esquina instead. We then read that TC really enjoyed his chicken parm hero during a visit with Yvo, so we knew we had to try going again real soon. This time around, we left a lot earlier to allow for plenty of waiting and eating time. As it turned out, we were seated immediately after arriving around 12:15 on a Sunday. It helped that it was only two of us as the space was extremely small with mostly two-tops, some bar stools and a couple four-tops. The tables were pretty close to each other, so you have been warned.

We “checked the sign” when we walked in and the light was GREEN!

That meant we absolutely had to order the fried calamari ($12) since it was available. It was mostly rings with a few tentacles and some green bell peppers. Everything was lightly coated, but still nice and crunchy. It came with marinara sauce and house-made Tabasco mayo. Both sauces were very good.

Was it the best fried calamari I ever had? Probably not. Was it good and did it hit the spot? Yes. I don’t think fried calamari can ever be a destination worthy dish, but if you are already there and the green light is on, you should get it.

We also started with the Sunday salad ($6) to be “healthy.” After asking our waitress, she told us it was basically the super simple salad you got from the generic Italian restaurant growing up. It was a pretty small portion, so not really for sharing, but we did anyway. The salad was overdressed and unfortunately the bread we hoped would accompany and remedy this never came. We could have asked, but I am sure it would have cost extra. Regardless, it was a good salad that brought me back to the days of going to Tony’s Touch of Italy with my parents.

We shared the Chicken Parm on a Roll ($9). It was indeed one of the best chicken parm sandwiches I have ever had. The perfectly blistered, melted mozzarella and tangy tomato sauce along with the perfectly fried chicken was pretty great. However, the roll began to quickly disintegrate under the heft of sandwich and juice from the tomatoes. I would spend $3 more to get the hero roll next time.

I decided we should get the Saratoga Club ($12) since it also had gotten great reviews. It consisted of some of the best chicken salad and crispy bacon topped with potato chips that I ever had. The bread was toasted perfectly, so it held up the various layers quite well. Super savory with just a bit a sweetness from the tomato slices. It came with a small slice of a half sour pickle; my personal favorite. You should definitely try this!

All in all, Parm was as good as expected. We enjoyed everything we got and can’t wait to return to try some of the other menu items. Maybe a meatball parm or baked ziti? Prices were a bit high, but not unreasonable considering the quality of the ingredients and the neighborhood. Hopefully, they will also be back at Yankee Stadium this year too.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chicken parm, fried calamari, Nolita, Torrisi Italian Specialties