Restaurant Review: Dell'Anima

After hearing many rave reviews, Ari and I decided to go to Dell'Anima in the West Village to celebrate the two year anniversario. I had been here once before to try their apertivo, a lovely Italian tradition in which the price of a drink also buys you free appetizers at the bar. I didn't take advantage of it nearly enough when I was living in Bologna, but luckily New York has a few places with the same tradtion. Dell'Anima offers apertivo from five to seven Friday through Sunday, and at the time I went, they had a lovely salad with a light, acidic vinaigrette and a frittata. Surprisingly, the salad stuck in my mind more than the frittata, which I remember being rather ordinary and room-temperature. The drinks however, were excellent, especially if you are a fan of Aperol, the orange-rhubarb flavored Italian spirit, as I am.
In any case, we had heard fabulous things about the pasta and I had been wanting to try their dinner offerings for a while. Of course, at eight fifteen on a Monday night, the place was packed. Such is New York. We didn't have to wait long for our table, but unfortunately it was sandwiched in the very back corner between the wall and another table. It was actually easier to hear the guys next to us talking than my own voice. Next time, I think I will sit at the pasta bar and be able to see the dining room. However, our server was very affable and I decided to start off with a white lambrusco. I was very fond of lambrusco, the lightly sparkling red wine, while in Bologna, but in the States it is much harder to come by the good stuff. The white however, was like a slightly sweeter prosecco, not quite as dry and just slightly effervescent.
We began with the five types of bruschetta and the quail noci e bacche. The bruschetta came wih a basket of toasted bread and ricotta, lily confit, cannellini bean purée with lemon and aleppo, rapini pesto, and octopus panissa with lemon. Each topping came in little bowls so that you could mix and match or put on as much as you liked. My personal favorites were the octopus and the cannellini beans. The finely-chopped octopus was perfectly seasoned, and had little bits of lemon and spices mixed in. The cannellini purée was slightly smoky and spicy, and was really delicious with the lily confit on top. I thought that the confit was just a bit oily, but had a nice mellow flavor, and neither the onions or the garlic were too overpowering. The rictotta was very creamy, albeit a bit bland, but it complimented the other toppings well. The rapini pesto was a bit bitter for my taste, but I did like it together with the ricotta. We then had the quail with frisée, dried cranberries, and pistachios, which was quite good although I might have liked something a bit lighter after all that bread. I hadn't really tried quail beforehand, and this had a nice, interesting flavor which was set off well by the sweetness of the cranberries and teh acidity of the sherry vinaigrette.
We both then decided that the seafood pastas sounded too good to pass up, even though much of what I have read about Dell'Anima praised their fearlessness of offal. I ordered spaghetti with scallops, sea urchin, chives, and parmigiano reggiano. Ari chose the garganelli neri with rock shrimp, sepia, scallops, tomato and octopus reduction. Mine was divine, if only slighltly fishy. The sauce was lovely, buttery and light and it set off the creamy scallops very well. Ari's was also very good; the seafood wasn't overcooked and the octopus reduction was delicious with the tomato sauce, although I thought that the pasta itself was just slightly tough. We also ordered a side of polenta, which was divine. Creamy, cheesy, and not overseasoned, it probably would have been a better accompaniment to the venison loin, but was delicious nonetheless.
For dessert we ordered the almond cake with caramel sauce and sea-salt ice cream, which I think was my favorite part of the meal. Of course, I have an incurable sweet tooth, but the almond cake was really nice and not overly cloying. The sea salt ice cream was a perfect accompaniment to the sweetness of the caramel, and had a reall interesting flavor on its own as well.
In conclusion, I would reccommend avoiding the crowded tables altogether and going for the pasta bar where you can watch all of the action. Next time, I would like to try the more carnivorous offerings, including a venison tartar which sounds wonderful. On the whole I was quite satisfied with the food, service, and wine selection. It is certainly not a place to go if you are trying to have a real conversation, but hopefully in the summer they will have some tables outside. Overall, Dell'Anima is a great place to enjoy some people watching, a glass of wine, and some serious pasta.

Daniel

After a very long hiatus (I know, I really have not been as good at keeping up this blog as I should have been. My apologies to all readers), Ari and I went to a magical place that I knew I had to write about. Restaurant Daniel is one of four restaurants in New York City that boasts three Michelin Stars -- certainly no easy feat. We had the inspired idea to go there last Wednesday to celebrate my birthday, and I think that it may have been the most incredible meal I have ever had.
The dining room itself is lovely, adorned with paintings on the walls and designed so that each diner can see all of the others. It reminded me more of a ballroom than a restaurant. The staff was so considerate, polite, and wonderful it felt like being in a dream. For dinner, you have three options to choose from: three courses, six courses, or eight courses. We chose the three course with wine pairings, and I was still so full by the end I couldn't finish the desserts (which is saying something).
Our first course was an artichoke velouté, perfectly complemented with roasted chanterelle mushrooms. This was followed by a single scallop with broccoli tempura and fava bean purée. I then had the duck terrine with pistachios and apple gelée, which was so creamy and delicious I immediately wanted more. Ari had a trio of Spanish mackerel, which was served warm with carrot purée, sashimi-style with caviar, and white-wine poached. My favorite was the sashimi, which was incredibly fresh and light. We then got our main courses, mine a perfect and flaky Black Sea Bass with Syrah sauce and leek-potato , and Ari had a leg of rabbit with bacon, truffles, and foie gras (if you can believe it). The bass may have been the best fish I have ever had, and the rabbit was very lovely as well, roasted until it fell off the bone.
The desserts that followed were just as impressive. I ordered a warm chocolate coulant (similar to a chocolate lava cake) with warm caramel and milk sorbet. Ari got a carmelized hazelnut sablé with dulce de leche and horchata ice cream, which was my favorite. Because it was my birthday, they also sent a gingerbread cae with poached pears, perfect for November. These were followed by warm madeleines (perfect) and tiny chocolate truffles.
The wine pairings were also wonderful and a good idea for a couple of novices. Restaurant Daniel's wine list looks more likea novel and boasts several bottles upwards of $1000, so this option allowed us each to try several wines without having to wade through the endless names of vineyards. My favorite was a 2008 Resiling from J.J. Prüm which accompanied the duck terrine. Ari also had a very nice dessert wine from Hungary's Château Pajzos called Tokaji Aszú.
For a girl from the midwest who eats rather more simply most of the time, Restaurant Daniel was like something out of a dream. I would highly reccommend it to anyone who is looking for a way to celebrate a very special occasion, and though it is certainly not cheap, I think that it was well worth the money for such an incredible evening. I feel so lucky to have been able to have experienced such an amazing restaurant, and I can only hope that there will be more Michelin stars in my future. Though I may have to wait another 23 years.

Betelnut

On my last (!) spring break possibly ever, I went to the Bay Area in California with Ari, where he is from. Of course, anyone who is from there would argue that it is the best place on earth and has the best food. While I am a loyal midwesterner, I must say that I have had some of the best food I have ever eaten in that area. It was my second time there, and we went back to many of the same restaurants, because they are just that good. However, Betelnut, on Union Street in San Fransisco was new. The food is somewhat Asian-fusion, and the decor reflects that, lots of Chinese characters and red, black, and gold. I loved the palm fans waving from the ceiling and the huge open windows at the front so you could people watch and enjoy the breeze.
But most importantly, the food. Apparently Ari and his mom, Roberta, always get the same things when they go so we stuck to their old favorites. The calamari was perfect crispy and well seasoned without being greasy, and served with fried chiles and a sweet chile sauce. The chicken and lettuce wraps were good as well, though I would have liked them a little spicier. Last, the short ribs were wonderful, finished with a spicy-sweet glaze and basil leaves. Messy, but so delicious. I would love to go back and try more dishes -- they had some noodle dishes that looked particularly good. However, Betelnut was a great place to go for appetizers and watch the city go by.

Restaurant Review: Aldea

I can sum up this post in one sentence: at the end of the meal, I said to Ari, "I wish we had just gotten here so I could eat it all again". The food was unbelievable, it was definitely the best I have had in New York (although I haven't actually been to that many restaurants here). Located on 19th and 5th, at the edge of Chelsea, Aldea opened up about nine months ago and seems to be doing very well. Chef George Mendes is the son of Portuguese immigrants and has some pretty hefty credentials backing him up (Bouley, Lespinasse, Le Zoo, among others), and clearly knows what he is doing. The interior is modern and narrow, letting the food take full precedence. Next time I am definitely going to request to be seated downstairs next to the open kitchen, but the ambiance upstairs was still lovely. An eclectic mix of music played over the sound system, including the Shins. The entire staff was lovely and very informative.
But most importantly, the food. We had a hard time deciding on an appetizer, but ended up choosing the crispy pork belly with szechuan pepper, thin slices of apple, and a maple reduction ($9). The first bite was heaven. Think of the best bacon you have ever eaten, but then in addition to the crispiness, it also melts in your mouth with just a hint of sweetness and pepper. This set the tone for the whole meal, and we were both a little worried that the entrees wouldn't live up to the same deliciousness. Luckily, we were wrong and both were excellent. I had the scallops with farro risotto, cucumber, and blood orange ($28), and Ari had the Arroz de Pato ($24), a paella-like dish with duck and sausage. My scallops were perfectly seared, and the cucumber farro set them off nicely. A little yogurt provided a tangy contrast to the sweetness of the blood orange on top. Ari's Arroz de Pato was excellent as well, the sausage spicy and aged, the duck perfectly cooked and topped with duck cracklings for crispiness. Our waitress said that they snack on it all night long. We each had a glass of Aragonês & Syrah, Chaminé, Alentejo, from Portugal ($10), which was excellent. I haven't had a lot of Portuguese wine, and as expected, it was a perfect accompaniment.We finished the meal with a carmelized brioche, served with blood orange gel and creme fraiche pink-peppercorn ice cream ($10) and the sonhos ($10), or "little dreams". Which they were. The brioche tasted like extremely light French toast, its sweetness offset by the spice of the peppercorns and the sourness of the blood orange and creme fraiche. The sonhos were like the best donuts I have ever eaten, covered in sugar and served with three different sauces: chocolate, orange-mandarin compote, and apple cider caramel. However, somehow it all managed to not be overpoweringly sweet. Our waitress gave us each a glass of muscat from Greece to go with the desserts, which was really lovely and light without being cloying.
This is definitely a place for a special occasion (at least on my budget), but it was well worth every cent. They do have a three course lunch special for $20.09, which I will absolutely be returning for...and maybe someday when I have a real job I can try the fois gras terrine.

A look of complete satisfaction after the first bite of arroz de pato -- what more do I need?