Italy: First Meal!

January in Italy proved to be very, very rainy. Super Rainy. Thunder-boomy rainy. But a girl's gotta eat, so we trudged a few blocks from our rental apartment to find a nondescript restaurant with outdoor (covered) seating.

My first dish in Italy was a seafood risotto. This was okay, but not great. It wasn't as creamy and decadent as I remember risotto tasting in this country (or anywhere!) I wondered if maybe I was remembering the food in Italy to be a bit better than it was in reality. This can't be as good as it gets, can it?

Ready to rock it in Rome! 

You can't go wrong with an Italian red wine, though, and I had a glass of house red. Tart, with a gorgeous ruby color, it was probably the worst thing for an overtired, jet-lagged traveler, but it still tasted lovely.

My fellow travelers ordered another risotto (with walnuts and truffles, yum), the lobster special, and a dish that I think was veal, may have been pork? Regardless, everyone cleaned their plates.

I wasn't overwhelmed by this meal (in fact, I can't even remember the name of this place) but it was very welcoming, tourist-friendly (without being tourist TRAPPY), and molto convenient! Don't worry-- my note-taking gets much better as the trip continues!

Italian, French, Russian AND English! #languagenerd

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London: Dishoom

It's never too late to talk about London, is it? I enjoyed a girls' trip last fall with my good friend LaShauna, a two-woman 'hen do' of sorts (aka mini-bachelorette party). Just the two of us traipsing around one of our favorite cities.

We met up one night with a former news colleague of mine who has lived there for almost a decade (and is on her way to becoming a British citizen)! She suggested meeting on the edge of Covent Garden at Dishoom, a mostly no-reservations restaurant that is one of the last remaining Bombay cafes in London. (They do take them for parties of 6 or more)

That no reservations thing is no joke. However, we didn't wait that long, maybe 40 minutes, and they brought out mini drinks and snacks to keep us from getting too hangry in line.
My drink was a lovely hot mint tea. Just sweet enough, and full of fresh mint.

They took us downstairs to a table in the middle of bustling room, and we started with cocktails. Mine was the Bombay Colada: a pina colada jazzed up with coriander (those seeds on top), chai syrup, lime juice, and rum. WOW. This was one of the best cocktails I've had the pleasure of sipping. The coriander made this drink sing from the tip of my tongue to the soles of my happy feet.

LaShauna ordered the Chaijito, a chai-infused take on the mojito. I tried a sip-- it is a refreshing spin on one of my favorite cocktails, but once LaShauna tasted MY drink, she made that her second cocktail (and so did I-- I had TWO Bombay coladas!)

We decided to share a bunch of dishes, including their sauteed green veggies, their red curry, black daal (lentils) and some naan bread.
Samosas to start-- flaky crust, surreally-spiced filling, YES YES YES.

That Black House daal (pictured above)-- holy shut your mouth richness. The menu says it's a signature dish, and I can understand why. Simmered for more than 24 hours, it is incredibly lush, aromatic, flavored in the most luscious of layers. I could have had just this dish and called it one of the best things I ever ate.

The chicken ruby was a gorgeous curry in what they call a 'makhani' sauce. Tender, juicy chicken pieces floating blissfully in that sacrilicious sauce. We had some naan, thankfully, to scrape up every last drop of this dish.
We ordered the succinctly-titled 'Bowl of Greens,' described as "grilled broccoli, snow peas and spinach tumbled with chilli and lime." This dish could easily have been a throwaway, but it was so incredibly flavorful that we nearly ordered another. Splitting this among three people left us all wanting more, but we were saving room for dessert.

And I doubled DOWN on dessert. I didn't just get the pineapple & black pepper crumble (which was good, but not great, a little dry).

I also ordered a dessert coffee, a Monsooned Cobbler. It is described as Malabar espresso, 'bamboozled' with spices, cognac, and cream. They served with with cream and EXTRA sugar on the side-- it does NOT need any more sweetness, but yeah, I splashed a bit more cream in there. It was super cold and super sweet. Normally I don't care for sweet coffee, but this was excellent. When I go back, I'm having just THIS for dessert!

Dishoom
12 Upper St Martin's Lane
London WC2H 9FB, United Kingdom
+44 20 7420 9320

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Eggs-cellent Eats (Morrell Wine Bar)

I had a bit of a dental emergency recently. If you know me, you know how uptight I am about my teeth. It turns out that I grit my teeth so hard that I actually CRACKED one. Yep. I'm THAT strong. Well, it made eating a bit of a challenge, especially on the right side of my mouth. I wasn't sure what was going to happen at the dentist's office (this was a first for me), so I decided to have lunch BEFORE the appointment. 

Pre-dental work wine

I popped into Morrell's Wine Bar, which at 2pm was pretty empty, and took a seat at the bar. Morrell's is in the heart of Rockefeller Center, a certified tourist destination and a convenient location for many of us working New Yorkers. 

The deviled eggs sounded delicious AND easy to eat, so I ordered them and had a glass of Chardonnay.

They also brought me some delicious bread (I stuck to the softer, oniony kind) and very cold, very hard butter. The bread was chewy and flavorful, and I made sure to keep chewing only on the left side.

The deviled eggs were truffle-scented with fried, crispy chicken skins. Soft, salty, fatty, and a teeny bit of crunch at the end (just enough for a sensitive tooth). 

How are these eggs so gorgeous?? Smooth, perfectly filled, and every bite was a delight. 

The wine was a One Rock Chardonnay from Long Island's North Fork (#drink local), and while I'm not overall a "Chardonnay person," this was great. Light and crisp and lovely.

I loved the wine with the eggs! Why don't I make deviled eggs at home? They are so delicious! Granted, they are not cheap-- Morrell is not a Cheap Eats place, but it is always well-done and satisfying. 

PS: For those of you wondering, it turned out I didn't need a crown after all, just a deep filling. And it hardly even hurt! My teeth and I are doing much better now.

Morrell Cafe & Wine Bar

1 Rockefeller Plaza  

NY NY 10020 

(212) 262-7700  

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Ristorante le Segrete (Rome, Italy)

On last night in Rome-- a torrentially rainy last night-- 2 of the girls from our group joined me for a late night dinner at Ristorante le Segrete.

The restaurant appears tiny when you first walk in, with only 4 or 5 tables fitting in the front room, but the downstairs is spacious and warm. We had a room all to ourselves for a bit!

I ordered the artichoke bruschetta there-- just your basic garlic and olive oil masterpiece in edible form, topped with the most amazing artichokes I've ever tasted. They really are spectacular in Rome!

I paired my appetizer with a glass of an Italian red (can't remember the specific grape/varietal)-- always an excellent bet in Bella Roma.

One of my friends ordered the garlic & oil bruschetta-- I think she was hoping there would be more to it.

They do look a little underwhelming in retrospect-- but she still ate them! She also got the pizza (first pic in this post), a traditional pizza margarita, with mozzarella, fresh basil, and olive oil, and a perfectly charred crust. It smelled so lovely!

Our other dining companion ordered a dish with fresh zucchini and cream sauce. I want to say these were paccheri noodles, but I'm not sure. She was quite happy with her dish.

My dish is one I try in nearly every Italian restaurant: Cacio e Pepe (cheese & pepper). It's a dish that sounds and looks humble, but packs such a savory punch. This was perfectly al dente, a great chew to them, and expertly seasoned with the perfect amount of cracked black pepper, a spice I'm learning to appreciate more and more. O, Italia-- you are always so delicious!

The food was heavenly, the service was great, and they even take Discover cards!

I loved this spot; it's not touristy, prices were reasonable, and our server always popped up at precisely the right moments without rushing or crowding us. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a more sedate spot for dinner-- get the downstairs seating if you can!

Ristorante le Segrete

Via della Scrofa, 31

00186 Roma, Italy

+39 06 6476 0557

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Butter Midtown

While LaShauna was in town for her birthday, we wanted to find a fabulous spot for a celebration dinner. Alex Guarnaschelli's Butter Midtown had opened recently, and it was on the top of my proverbial List.

We got a reservation for 7 and showed up pretty early. They weren't able to seat us right away (nor did we expect them to), so we got a seat at the spacious, welcoming bar. These bar seats are fabulously comfy, and we could take in the whole restaurant, which features communal seating as well as luxurious booths.

Our bartender, Devon, set us up right away with drinks: the Anjou & Forelle for me (pear liqueur, pear vodka, and a pear garnish) and the Calamansi (Grey Goose Vodka, fresh watermelon 'ice cubes,' mint, and Calamansi lime juice) for LaShauna. Cocktails are $15 each.

That pear cocktail was so delicious-- not too sweet, full pear flavor, and a perfectly crunchy slice of pear on the outside. I could easily have had another, but then we saw Devon make a mojito with elderflower liqueur-- and that was our second round.
Devon was great-- attentive, while working with a lot of customers, and he makes a perfect cocktail.

It was about 20 minutes past our seating time and we hadn't been called to our table, so we checked in ourselves. They sat us a few minutes later at a booth. This is when service went from stellar to sadly spotty.
We eventually got some bread and butter (herbed and salted--both stellar), and just about pounced on that.

We ordered one more cocktail (oh be quiet), another Elderflower mojito. The young woman taking our order asked if we wanted the Mount Gay mojito. I clarified that it was the one Devon made with elderflower. She looked a bit confused, but nodded...and came

back with 2 Mount Gay mojitos. We took a sip and decided that these would not work. We actually sent them back to the bar-- something I've never done!

They replaced our drinks quickly, and we tore into our appetizers.

I went with the Welsh Rarebit, which at Butter Midtown, is a toasted pullman bread with melted Wisconsin cheddar & ale sauce. The wholegrain mustard was strong and in the forefront, but it didn't overpower the delicious cheese and ale flavors, either.

LaShauna's app was the ricotta crostini-- 3 crunchy bits of bread with housemade ricotta, hen of the woods mushrooms and toasted, crackly brussels sprouts leaves. It was a small portion, but LaShauna still shared it with me. I could have eaten a bowl of those leaves, and I'm still wholly undecided on brussels sprouts in general!

LaShauna had a pork chop special for her entrée, and she loved every last bite of it.

My entrée was the wild boar, over toasted fregola (a Sardinian pasta similar to couscous, but even better, I think) and sautéed kohlrabi, which I'd never had before, but enjoyed. I tried cutting into the meat and it felt incredibly tough, but I kept sawing away. It took me a few seconds to realize the twine was still tied around the meat. Oops! Once I removed that (it was a bit tricky/messy), I cleaned my plate. Squeaky clean. I hate to say the boar tasted 'gamey,' because that's a word that normally has a negative connotation in my book, but it was definitely different from my usual fare and quite tasty. It was supremely tender (minus the twine) and expertly done.

We also had an order of fingerling potatoes ($10), and there was more than enough to share for 2. These were so delicious and craveable that I kept eating even when I knew I was getting full. The perfect texture, seasoning, and size. Bravo.
We pushed through and MADE room for dessert. I ordered the Dobosch torte: multiple layers of sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with a caramel drizzle that gave it a buttery flavor and a fabulous crunch (with a little sea salt to boot). The textures alone kept me coming back for bite after bite. I'd probably share this next time, but I would definitely order it again.

LaShauna's dessert was the house made S'more. This one definitely was NOT very shareable, but she still gave me a bite. It was FLAWLESS. My only wish is that there were more of them!
I had mentioned in both OpenTable (online reservation program) and to our server that we were celebrating LaShauna's birthday, but they still forgot a candle or sparkler or whatever they normally do for a special occasion. I was definitely more disappointed than LaShauna was, but I still wish the servers paid a bit more attention overall. This was not a cheap meal, and I definitely felt like we were getting service that was subpar compared to the on-point food and drinks.
TL;DR: Service is spotty- we actually wish we'd stayed at the bar. Despite my mentioning it twice (in Open Table and to the server), they still forgot about LaShauna's birthday, and we waited a long time for placing orders, getting food, and getting the bill. Everyone was nice, it just seemed a bit.. off. I'd go back at least once more, but I'd definitely eat at the bar.

Butter Midtown
70 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036
(212) 253-2828

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