Nino’s Tuscany

CT and I were recently invited by my parent’s to the holiday concert of the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall. My Dad has been involved with the symphony for years so he usually goes to bi-annual concerts held at Carnegie. Over the past couple of years, my appreciation of classical music has grown, so I enjoy seeing and listening to these young musicians show their talents.

After every holiday concert, there is a small reception nearby at the New York Athletic Club for donors. There are a variety of hors d’oeuvres and even carving stations with turkey and filet of beef. The food isn’t anything special, so we just have a little to eat with our drinks and then go out to dinner afterwards. The room we were in this year was especially small, so moving around was difficult, let alone trying to take pictures. Trust me, you aren’t missing much.

My Dad decided on Nino’s Tuscany, which was nearby. I guess Per Se’ was fully booked? For those of in the NYC area, you may have seen the TV commercial that shows Nino performing every role at his 5 restaurants with the tag line, “Nino can’t be everywhere, or can he?” Regardless, he obviously can’t be everywhere since we did not see him when we arrived.

That night we were also celebrating Uncle D’s 70th Birthday. I admittedly forgot which birthday it was for him, since he looks so good for his age. Happy Birthday!

Aunt B was also in attendance with her friend from out of town, D. Since we were such a large group, I only took pictures of what CT & I ordered. I try to only bother my parents with taking pictures of their food, hehe.

Everyone ended up eating more than expected at NYAC, so CT & I decided to share an appetizer. We decided on the caeser salad for two made tableside. It was kind of funny because the waiter made the salad off to the side, so presentation gets a big fat zero, ha. It was a good caeser especially since it was not overly dressed, but not remarkable.

For her main, CT chose the Penne stracsicate aka penne with meat sauce. She was happy with her choice especially since she took some home for lunch the next day.

I decided to try one of the more unique dishes on the menu, Galleto al mattone (spicy, Cornish hen, marinated in white wine, rosemary, garlic flattened under a brick, char-grilled, served in a light wine sauce). The last time I had Cornish game hen was at the Diwali feast. Obviously, this was totally different. The hen was nicely cooked with crispy skin, yet still juicy meat. The mashed potatoes were nice and smooth, but had zero seasoning. The flavor of the hen and some added salt helped fix this. The other side of broccolini was good.

We all passed on dessert since we were all full and pretty tired. New York on Sunday nights during the winter is so depressing. It gets dark so early!

All in all, it was a nice meal to end the lovely afternoon and to celebrate Uncle D’s birthday. Would I ever return to Nino’s? Probably not. If you do go, be sure to say hi to the 80+ year old piano player that is there most nights.