Remember Il Punto? I went to this press event there a few weeks ago, and I said I’d be going back to try out a full meal. Based on the press event, where I enjoyed nearly all the fried offerings I had, I decided I could bring my seafood-averse boyfriend for a meal while we took a break from nearby Comicon. Unfortunately, when we sat down and perused the menu, I noticed that the menu was heavy on fish, and boasted nearly none of the items I’d sampled during the press event. Hmm.
Luckily, my boyfriend is an incredibly good sport, and he wasn’t that hungry, so this worked out in my favor (I feel really guilty whenever I bring him somewhere he can’t/won’t eat very much; my maternal instincts come out in full force). I opted to start with this Italian cured-meats platter, which came with anchovies, olives, soppresatta, braseola, prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, basil, marinated artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, mortadella, some parmesan… It was pretty good, and quite large, but it felt like something was missing. Better bread, perhaps?
Oddly enough, while I was sitting there, taking pictures and then waiting for my boyfriend to finish taking a portion for himself, the hostess zoomed over and began serving me. She asked me what I would like, and I hesitantly said, “Um, a little bit of everything, please,” because I didn’t know how to react. So this is what she served me. Well, I DID say a little bit of everything.
I also ordered housemade oversized rigatoni with bolognese (you can’t really tell in the picture, but you know how normally, rigatoni can be slid onto your fork tines – which is how I eat it usually – and it will take up about 2-3 tines, but not cover the whole fork? These were double the size of my fork). It was meaty and delicious, soft, and I really enjoyed this. Piping hot and long strands of cheese grated freshly on top at the table, it was great, really tasty. Even BF enjoyed it, commenting how the sauce was not too sweet nor tart.
This time, a waiter zoomed over while I was in the middle of taking pictures (yes, he could clearly see I had a camera out) and tried to serve us, but I politely and firmly declined, “Oh, actually, we’d like to serve ourselves.” I did this for a few reasons: not just because yeah, I like serving myself, but because BF was not going to be eating much and to put food on his plate that he won’t eat is a huge waste. I’ve learned this through years of waste. If you put food on my plate, I will eat it, because I was brought up to never leave food on my plate. He eats until he is full and not a bite more. (Unless it’s really good, then he might eat a little bit more, but he doesn’t stuff himself literally silly, the way I sometimes do.) Also because I was still taking pictures! Sheesh!
The service was fine, and the decor is fine. BF surprisingly made a comment about the prices (he is not one to complain about money or even look at the bill most times, actually, something that annoys me to no end) and said it was kind of expensive – I believe it came to about $60 including two glasses of wine for him, tax and tip. I would agree that it’s expensive except if you really break it down, it isn’t that bad, two glasses of wine inflates the tab quite a bit.
Yvo says: I really enjoyed my pasta dish, and while I was a bit disappointed to see practically none of what I’d sampled at the press event on the menu, there were the cured meats to fall back upon. I would recommend this place to anyone in the area (it’s not a destination restaurant), but be warned that much of the menu is seafood/fish, so if that’s not your thing, you may want to pass.
recommended, especially if you’re at Jacob Javits and are tired of convention food
9th Avenue, between 38th and 39th Streets
212~244-0088
website
Rochelle says
Cured meats!
<3