Mind Over Stomach

A close friend of mine who also knows my taste buds very well recommended Crispo. My go-to foodie friend and I decided we needed to try it for one of our weekly dinners. We made a reservation on Open Table, got the time we wanted. Showed up at the restaurant, had the option to sit outside and we did because it was a beautiful evening. We looked at the menu and oooh-ed and aaaah-ed it like crazy and debated on what we should order. Our waiter was helpful in deciding what to order based on portions and how hungry we were. We ended up ordering 3 appetizers, a pasta, and a half order of a different pasta.

The bread and drinks came out and then the appetizers started coming out. My friend asked the busboy for some Parmesan cheese, he said “you want to buy it?” and we said no that we wanted it for our bread/appetizers. The woman that seated us came over and asked if we wanted Parmesan cheese and we said yes and she informed us that they do not provide Parmesan cheese but we could purchase it because it’s expensive and imported. We asked how much it was and she said $5.50. We confirmed that it would be enough for us to use for our entire meal not just appetizers and she said yes. Next thing you know, she brings out a ladle of grated cheese and says “here’s the IMPORTED cheese” (yes she emphasized imported). We continued on with out meal, a bit confused and asked our waiter what the deal was. He said it’s a policy because the cheese is so expensive so not provide it and it must be purchased. We didn’t comprehend but continued to eat our meal.

Next thing you know, they bring out our pastas and the busboy has a grated cheese device and asks if we want cheese on our pasta. My jaw dropped. We couldn’t put words together. WHAT? NOW we can have cheese and it’s grated differently? I don’t get it. Ask the waiter what the deal is and he says because it’s so expensive they only offer Parmesan for the main courses but not appetizers and bread. They try to regulate how much cheese is used. Still don’t understand. He tells me his manager deals with people asking all the time and it’s the owners policy. I ask to speak to the manager. Before she comes out he brings us two glasses of limoncello and emphasizes that it’s not a big deal but feels bad and wants to offer us something. (Limoncello is gross. Even in Italy, specifically Positano where it is made or as they say IMPORTED, I didn’t drink it)

So the manager (the woman who sat us who also brought us the $5.50 cheese) comes out and asks what the problem is. I explain to her that it makes no sense that we could have cheese with our entrees and not our appetizers and she explains that it’s expensive and imported. She proceeds to tell us that the same cheese we paid $5.50 for was the cheese that we had grated on our pasta. Wait wait what! You’re telling me I paid $5.50 for this earlier and now I can have an unlimited amount ON MY PASTA? I really don’t understand. She tells me it’s the owners policy for the past 7 years and they’re a small restaurant and are trying to save costs. I explain that there are hundreds of small restaurants in NYC and they are no different. If anything, they stand out as being absolutely ridiculous for this policy. The manager refused to remove the $5.50 on the bill and timidly walks away as I can’t seem to understand or grasp what she has to say and she doesn’t seem to really be behind it anyway. I was absolutely disturbed I enjoyed my food, but I couldn’t believe that we paid $140 for a meal that did not include Parmesan on our appetizers and we were charged for it.

I’ve been to top, high end, more expensive, more scene-y and exclusive restaurants throughout New York City and the world and never in my life have I received such poor customer service in someone demanding we pay for cheese that would otherwise be provided to us during the main course of our meal. I am absolutely repulsed and demand a better explanation.

Crispo
240 West 14th Street

My friend told me she was a regular here so we decided to go together as she highly recommended numerous dishes. We sat at the bar and had a drink before we were seated. The place was pretty empty at 7pm on a Thursday night. Our bartender was very nice. We were hoping to sit outside but the host said it was going to be a 15 minute wait (after our drinks) so we decided to sit inside. The service was very sub-par, pretty unfriendly people. We ordered a selection of veggie things to share. To be honest, I don’t even remember which dishes they were which clearly means they were not memorable. We did have the side of brussel sprouts which were excellent. I love brussels so much. I don’t know, overall it was a little pricey for nothing so exceptional. Cool ambiance, I give it that.

Extra Virgin
259 West 4th Street

Venturing down to the South Street Seaport is very rare for me. Yes, born and raised in NYC, and this is a neighborhood that I don’t know my way around at all – and could get completely lost down there. Luckily I was running late, so I was able to leave it to the cab driver to find Acqua

Cute italian restaurant on Peck Slip. Sounds like it belongs in the Hamptons or something, but no, it’s in the city! AN array of wine bottles lined the shelves, and it was a very clean Italian-looking restaurant. Our waiter was extremely friendly and helpful. When telling us the specials, he would repeat them. It’s funny how when you hear specials you tune in to specific words and often miss the first word and ask for it to be repeated – luckily he automatically did that.

We did a lot of sharing. We shared a few salads – all mozzarella-esque with tomatoes and deliciousness. it was extremely fresh. Everything in the restaurant is either made fresh there (including their pastas) or organically grown. We had four different pastas. The gnocchi with pesto and gorgonzola was a bit disappointing. No, I’m not a fan of gorgonzola but everyone agreed it was the least delicious dish of the meal. The rest of the pastas were delicious and flavorful and none had an overbearing amount of cheese. I was very impressed.

Not sure how much the bill was because luckily I didn’t pay – but it was a really delicious meal and if you have any reason to go to the Seaport, check this place out!

Acqua at Peck Slip
21 Peck Slip

Irving is my favorite street in New York City. One day, when I grow up and own my own business and all – I hope I can afford to live in a nice apartment on Irving. That’s a dream that would be lovely if it came true.

Irving is also the home to Pete’s Tavern – one of the oldest bars in the city. I’ve walked by plenty of times, had drinks there but never thought I’d eat there. It just didn’t seem like it was worth it until I was convinced otherwise. “They have great chicken parm” I was told. Meant nothing to me – I’m a veggie but let’s check out the eggplant parm. If you’ve read my past posts, you know I’m constantly on the hunt for good eggplant parm and Beppe really won my heart.

Sat outside, with amazing people watching. Nicest waiter ever. So friendly and helpful and just accommodating. I ordered the eggplant parm with a side of angel hair (sauce on side) and a side of steamed broccoli with garlic. People watching galore, and my food arrived and looked delicious. It also tasted delicious. Not mushy or chewy eggplant and the perfect amount of sauce/cheese. The angel hair was el-dente and they listened to my “sauce on the side” request. Broccoli was steamed, fresh and perfectly seasoned with garlic.

Between the tasty food, wonderful waiter, manager coming by to see how we were doing and the lovely location & people watching – I was impressed. Seeing as it’s been around many years, hopefully they’ll stick around until I can afford to live on Irving and become a regular there.

Pete’s Tavern
129 East 18th Street

It’s hard to believe this used to be a bodega. A sketchy bodega to say the least. So when Bluebell Cafe opened up, I took many double takes to determine if I should check this place out. It was hot and sticky outside and all I wanted was a delicious cold iced tea. Our very nice waitress came over and took our drink order and told us the specials. The second she said “watermelon” included in a salad, I made it clear we definitely needed that. I love fruit in salad. She brought out the salad and it was sooo delicious. So refreshing on a hot day.

For a main course, I had the veggie sandwich without mushroom and extra pesto. It was delicious and not too cheesy or anything. I wish it came on the french bread that the caesar sandwich came on – that was more exciting looking. The veggie sandwich came on basic bread, and I wasn’t into the crust. It was very tasty though – as were the fries it came with.

Our waitress was really sweet and provided great service (including refilling the iced tea clearly knowing how parched we were). Cute ambiance – similar to Penelope, as it was very homey. I hope to become a regular at Bluebell.

Bluebell Cafe
293 Third Ave

I had no idea where we were going but was starving and looking forward to a good meal. I was surprised when I walked in that there was a side dining room as well as a back patio. We were seated at the corner back table – there were two heaters in the room but of course I was in the coldest corner (I usually can tolerate cold, but not that night…) They didn’t have diet coke – only diet pepsi. They had 6 chairs but not 6 sets of utensils/dishes/menus on the table.

Our waiter seemed nice but that didn’t last long. I shared a side of broccoli with garlic and oil which was really tasty but a bit too greasy. Then I shared the eggplant parm that came with a side of spaghetti (I substituted with angel hair) and a salad (I substituted for a caeser salad). The salad was overloaded with croutons but otherwise good. The angel hair was doused in marina sauce – honestly more sauce than pasta. The eggplant parm was just not good. Too thick, too saucy, too cheesy and overcooked and mushy. I was completely unsatisfied considering I barely ate all day and was really looking forward to this meal.

The waiter forgot to put in one of the orders of food and stumbled on his words when we asked what happened. He really didn’t know what to say and refused to fess up. The food came out and was THE largest portion of pasta I’ve ever seen. The whole meal was like family style subpar food plopped on plates that was overpriced, well, because we’re in the Hamptons so of course they can jack up their prices. NEVER again.

La Parmigiana Italian Restaurant
Southampton, not worth knowing the address.

As a veggie, you would think this would be a go-to place for me but oddly enough, this week was my first time there. Walked it, cooler ambiance than I expected – very clean, fresh, and “green.” Four of us were seated and our very friendly waitress informed us that the special soup of the day was a honeydew gazpacho which sounded delicious but when I searched the rest of the menu I wanted so many other things. We decided to share a few dishes because we wanted to try everything!

We started off with drinks. They only had beer/wine/sake so I ended up with a mojito made with sake. It was good, not great. I’m really not a sake fan but hey, it wasn’t bad. We shared the hummus plate which was perfect texture & came with carrots, cucumber and wonton chips. Then we shared spinach & cheese wontons , veggie dumplings, and scallion pancakes. My favorite dish we ordered were mixed veggies and lettuce (to make wraps). So many different flavors of deliciousness. I wasn’t crazy about the veggie dumplings but everything else was great.

Great service, great food, cool ambiance, and finally found a restaurant that has all that AND is decently priced. I hope they deliver to my ‘hood!

Gobo
401 Avenue of the Americas

After a show in Williamsburg, we were starving….we stumbled upon this place and decided it was going to be our dinner spot. The service was fantastic. They were right there when we needed them, constantly refilling water with ice (always bothers me when there is no ice) and just really very pleasant waiters. I asked many questions about altering dishes because they had meat/fish in them and the waiter was more than helpful and willing to change things for me. I had a great glass of wine, and unfortunately don’t remember what it was. I had the Grilled Baby Octopus salad with Baby arugula, avocado, cucumbers, shallot-jalapeño vinaigrette except that I got it without the octopus and avocado. So yes, it was a very simple salad but I was starving and the dressing was great. For my main course, I had the Noqui (aka Gnocchi) with summer vegetables, crisp pancetta, cotija cheese (without the pancetta) and it was outstanding. If you haven’t figured this out by now gnocchi is one of my favorite things ever and usually it’s super heavy. This wasn’t at all. So many delicious tastes.

My friends got the prix fixed meal and loved what they had as well. The risotto (Gorgonzola piccante, braeburn apples, roasted poblano chiles) which was delicious. Considering we stumbled upon this place, it was really quite a treat. When I get back to Williamsburg one day, I will go back here. And you should go too…

Miranda
80 Berry Street (yes, in Brooklyn)

My friends randomly picked this place and I had never heard of it. I don’t know this neighborhood and find there is no reason to need to know this neighborhood. It’s barely an upgrade from Murray Hill.

You walk in and it looks like a cheese shop and then you look further back and it’s a restaurant with about 10 tables. The host told us it would be a 30 minute wait on a Wednesday night, so we waited and had a glass of wine at the bar. Cute bartender. After over 30 minutes, we were still waiting and other tables were being seated, so we asked what the deal was and he said that they seat people based on party size because it’s so small. So they sat a foursome before us (we were 3) even though they got there 20 minutes after us. Not cool. Finally we were seated at a mini table where they gave us a foot stool as one of the seats. Not cool. Finally got another chair after lots of huffing and puffing.

We ordered the large sample platter and small cheese platter. it was delicious. Everything tasted great. The food was really very good. The spinach dip, tabouli salad, hummus, tzatziki and all that deliciousness. The waiter was not friendly, not interesting in telling us what was “the best” and what we had to order. Just very unfriendly people.

The food is really good though. A friend told me she gets take out from there, which is much more appropriate considering the space/service is so worthless

Kashkaval
856 9th Ave

I love the ambiance at Public– such a cool space and fantastic service. I’ve been here for brunch a few times, never dinner. The first time I came I was waiting for my friend to arrive, the hostess said there wouldn’t be a wait if he arrived soon. I rushed him and by the time he came, there was no table but she said we could sit at the bar. It was a spacious bar, a really awesome bartender and we were more than happy sitting there. Amazing people watching especially from the bar where there is a mirror high up on the wall that allows you to look up at people.

We shared a few dishes: Coconut pancakes with fresh ricotta, mango salad and ginger-lime syrup (very good!) Ginger spiced lychee french toast with lemongrass dark palm caramel and pomegranate mascarpone (OUTSTANDING) and a side of Quinoa hashbrowns (which were good, not fantastic). We had really delicious drinks including a spiked hot apple cider. I really love this place and would love to go back for dinner but there aren’t enough veggie options for me!!

Public
210 Elizabeth St