Burgers in Hell's Kitchen, Fine Dining in San Francisco & the East Village

Island Burgers
Still more eating experiences in the USA. This place is highly recommended, a small, but chic and comfortable burger joint in Hell's Kitchen. The most interesting thing on the menu is the long paragraph explaining, and apologizing, as to why they do not serve French Fries. It has to do with the fact that their space does not have the ventilation that a fryer would require. I ordered the Cowboy (barbecue sauce, onion, bacon, cheddar, ranch, sourdough) and anything labeled "Charasco" is a safe bet. One very big problem though, NO BEER!
Island Burgers, 766 9th Ave (bet. 51st 52nd Street), New York, NY 10019 Tel: +1 212 307 7934

Myth
I was a bit turned off when they asked for a credit card number for the reservation and told me "you must cancel within 72 hours, or else your credit card will be charged $25 per person". Um, OK. A bit snobbish, no? As if they would have trouble filling the table if I didn't show. Just to be safe, I gave them a made-up credit card number. This place was recommended to me by someone whose palate I trust dearly, therefore it was a must. I had the Seared Sweetbreads with Bacon, Quail Egg, Toast and Black Trumpet Mushrooms as an appetizer, which was fantastic, and Garganelli Pasta with Foie Gras Cream, Maitake Mushrooms and Marsala, which was even more delightful. I finished it off with a juicy Seared Duck Breast with Oranges, Corn Cake, Chanterelles, Spinach and Port Sauce. The wine was of course very overpriced, so we opted for the under $25 special, something from the 5 Vintners Winery, and it was perfect. I suppose I would recommend the place, but I was very turned off by the reservation bit and the helmet hair Asian hostess who seemed like she had an attitude. I really liked the interior.
Myth, 470 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133 Tel: + 1 415 677 8986, Web: www.mythsf.com
Price: $60 each, wine & tip included
(reservations strictly enforced!)

Enoteca Barbone
Ah, good old Avenue B, my old stomping ground. I remember when I moved to 11th Street and Avenue A in 1996, the only place in operation on Avenue B after 8pm was a laundromat which sold porno magazines and pot. Now, the street is bustling with restaurants, cafés, and bars. "The Hobo Wine Shop" is what its name translates to (or maybe it is someone's name), is a place with a serious Italian wine list that I can appreciate! Although, the usual excessive markups made most of the affordable-in-Italy items prohibitive. They even sold one of my favorites, Tenuta dell'Abate Giffarrò, but I was not about to shell out $55 for it, especially when I sell it for around $20. The menu was simple, similar to what you would find at an "innovative" restaurant in Rome. Think Italian with a spin of NYC funkiness. They did not go overboard with the silliness in naming the food, and that was good. The asparagus fries were delicious, and the polenta with truffles, fontina cheese, and a fried egg was even better. I ate the chicken liver ravioli with balsamic onions, which were especially nice. I highly recommend this place. The atmosphere is seductive and the service was cordial. We washed it down with a nice Montefalco di Sagrantino from Scacciadiavoli, a bargain at $30! This time when the weasly waiter came over to pour out my wine into my glass I told him that he needn't bother.
Price: $60 each, wine & tip included
Enoteca Barbone, 186 Avenue B (bet. 11th and 12th Street) New York, NY 10009 Tel: +1 212 254 6047, Web: www.barbonenyc.com

The Parkside, Corona Queens

Now that I have been living in Italy for about 5 years, I have started longing for what was my first introduction to Italian culture: good old down home Italian-American comfort food. You know what I mean: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Fettuccine Alfredo, Eggplant Parmigiana, Fried Calamari with Marinara Sauce all cooked with obscene amounts of garlic. This stuff does not really exist in Italy. Many of today's Italian restaurants in the US feature creative cuisine based on international tastes, a spin on what one might expect to eat in Italy. It is very rare nowadays to get a good old-fashioned Italian restaurant with a big fat smiling man man smoking a cigar grabbing your arm and seating you at a checkered-cloth covered table. Think big trays of food in the window, obnoxious middle-aged waiters, gaudy decorations, and the customary old lady sitting in the corner.

Lucky for me, that craving was soon to be satisfied. My dad told me that he wanted to take the family to the Park Side Lounge in Corona, Queens. His Italian-American friend grew up down the street, and he was kind enough to introduce it to my dad a few years back. Of course, the next thing I do is google it, and it was interesting to find out that the owner is an alleged mobster, but nevertheless very respected in the neighborhood. This place was the real thing, something straight out of Goodfellas. I could hardly wait. My dad told me that it reminded him of the restaurants in Italy. I am not sure in which way, but he was paying, so the family and I took him up on his offer. I was also interested in seeing a part of New York that I have only seen from the window of the 7 train. Corona is supposedly the most ethnically diverse "region" in the world, and there are something like 167 nationalities represented there. I didn't even know that were that many countries! We get to the restaurant and it is packed with people with, well, the kind of people who you would expect a mafia-owned restaurant to be packed with. My dad had an inside tip, and said that you need to "shake hands with Alberto", the host, and slip him a $10 bill in order to reduce your waiting time and get seated in a nice part of the restaurant. Sure enough, one greased palm later, and we were brought up to the "Marilyn Monroe" room. It was nice and quiet, and stocked with round tables, velvet curtains, and the all of the pictures hanging up had, well, Marilyn Monroe in them. The piano music drowned out by thick New York accents in the background. It could not be more perfect. The crowd consisted of fat men in suits, women with way too much make-up, couples out on a date, and us.

Without looking at the menu, I knew that I was going to order Calamari (pronounced "galamad" in New York) with Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella in Carozza. The calamari came with a bucket of marinara sauce, just like grandma used to make. The Mozzarella in Carozza was of course, good. Take a huge chunk of fresh mozzarella and deep fry it, how can that not be good? I then sampled my dining partners' (i.e. mom, dad, brother, and sister) dishes. The stuffed artichokes, which were nothing special, and the Zuppa di Clams, or, Clam Soup (note the interesting combination of Italian and English employed here), was more like clams covered in Marinara sauce, yet very tasty. Then came the old "Italian" specialties that I had missed so dearly, even though I live in Italy. The Penne alla Vodka was rich, creamy, and not too heavy. I thought it was spectacular, and the portion was not nearly as vulgarly large that I expected it to be. Thanks to that I was physically able to move on to the Broiled Short Ribs with Barolo Red Wine Sauce. By the way, the wine list was non-existent. With heavy, rich food like this you would require a similarly robust wine to counter it. I ordered a glass of Cabernet, and besides the fact that I think it actually was pure Cabernet, it was very good. The short ribs dripped off off the bone and required little chewing. And this is America, so I can take a piece of bread and wipe all of the delicious sauce off my plate without worrying about making a "brutta figura" (doing dippy, or, the scarpetta, is a big no-no in Italian restaurants, in Italy). Unfortunately, the short ribs left me too full (not to mentioned satisfied) and I was unable to order dessert. Next time.

Overall Rating: 7 out of 10 (good)
Cost per person: approx. $40 USD with wine & tip
Will I be going back?: Yes, it makes a nice place to go to with dad when I am in town
Contact / Arrival Details: Park Side Restaurant, 107-01 Corona Avenue (bet. 51st Ave. & 108th St.), Corona, NY 11368 USA, 1 718 271 9871 web: www.parksiderestaurant.com.

Sushi in Brooklyn

I just got back from a fantastic 22 day trip to the USA, where I continued my eating and drinking adventures. The striking difference between eating in Italy and the USA is the variety of cuisine. US fine-dining establishments try too hard to be more creative and daring, whilst Italian restaurants stick to the tradition (rightfully so, it works). This is due to the fact that the Italians do not need to be creative, as the things they have been eating throughout the years have always been good. I ate at about 7 or 8 establishments during my trip to the USA, and I plan on writing about each one in separate posts. The first stop was Bozu in Brooklyn, a Japanese tapas bar in the trendy Williamsburg section. I have probably eaten at about 20 sushi restaurants in my life, and although I like it a lot, it tends to not fill me up and leaves me requiring a "pizza chaser" at the end of the evening. This all changed after eating at Bozu, where the individual "pieces" were the size of racquetballs. I first tried it back in August, and it became my favorite sushi place, and secured a place on my top favorite restaurants of all time.

The interior was perfect for a first date. Dimly lit with dark furniture, and a stylish round bar. We were seated right away by a very kind maître d', who promptly offered us cocktails. I am usually turned off by US restaurants when they pressure their patrons into drinking (due to the hefty mark up), but I had to try to $8 house mojito made with shiso mint, and I was glad that I did. It brought out the creativeness that I was going to need in order to properly navigate the menu. Ordering was a bit of a chore. I barely eat sushi anymore, so I am not experienced. We decided to order a lot of food, and just divide it up amongst ourselves. There were 6 of us, so this would give us ample opportunity to sample most of the menu. I was hoping that there would be an Italian wine that we sell at The Roman Wine Company on the menu, so I could do a little pairing and promote the site. But since there wasn't, we opted to pair the meal with something that it was meant to be paired with, sake, the Japanese beverage made from rice. I wish I could comment more on the sake, but we just ordered the one that was suggested to us. I was never a big fan, but my maturing taste buds were able to appreciate it as it mingled with the raw fish in my mouth.

We decided that this experience was going to be a tour de force, and to all order huge dishes. It was the holidays, our gym memberships were to be renewed in the next 3 weeks, and those who were fortunate enough to get holiday bonuses were itching to spend them, as there were only 2 days before Christmas and most of the shopping had been done. The "snacks" section of the menu offered several appetizers, and we ate them all. The stuffed mushroom and rice croquette were particularly noteworthy, until the rolls arrive. The "Italian Onigiri" was something along the lines of a dream, sun-dried tomato and olives, food from my adopted country, transformed into a Japanese delicacy. Then came the Guacamole Roll. Forget about chips and dip, something about this roll made you think of silk and butter. I can almost describe it as a all-emcompassing remedy to the bad food that has been shoved down my throat in the past. Then, as in every multi-faceted feast, came the clincher, pure culinary genius art. The eel-shiso and cucumber roll and boiled shrimp, tempura flake, and spicy mayo roll. I don't know how to describe them, but think of crunchy flakes with the perfect amount of flavor and disintegrate gracefully as you chew them. Once you start enjoying the taste, you are introduced to the tender filling. It actually gave me second thoughts about swallowing.

Then came the "bombs", which we're essentially chunks of sushi. I do not know why they call them this, nor was I able to distinguish them that well, apart from the una bomb, again, with eel, shiso mint leaf, and wasabi cream sauce. The spicy version had a tiny gob of that wonderful spicy mayo. I suggest the party bomb, that way you get to sample all of them. There was not one thing that we ordered that I did not think was exceptional.

Overall rating: 9.8 out of 10 (Exceptional)
Cost per person: $50 USD / wine included
Will I be going back?: Undoubtedly
Contact / Arrival Details: Bozu, 296 Grand Street between Havemeyer & Roebling, Brooklyn, NY 11211 USA, tel. 1 718 384 7770, web www.oibozu.com (take the L train to Lorimer Street, follow Metropolitan Avenue under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and make a left on to Havemeyer and a right onto Grand)