No comparison — same dish, two different places: pasta bolognese

Il Cantinori

I told you I’m obsessed with the tagliatelle with bolognese sauce at Dell’Anima. Obsessed. It is sooooooo good. I keep imagining the bite of that pasta, the buttery meaty sauce…..*sigh*

In an attempt to relive that experience, I had the tagliatelle with bolognese sauce at Il Cantinori Saturday night.

The dish was good but the peas sort of ruined it for me. It added a sweetness to bolognese sauce I wasn’t planning on. The pasta I have to say was very similar to that of Dell’Anima and definitely tasted freshly made — it had the same bite and consistency so I was very happy about that.

Ok, truth be told, I ate the entire thing but the bolognese sauce at Il Cantinori, although good, did not hold a candle to the bolognese sauce at Dell’Anima.

Il Cantinori, 32 E. 10th Street, New York, NY

10 Downing

10 Downing

I have been dying to try 10 Downing as the restaurant has gotten some good reviews. I made reservations there Thursday night with my friend Mermaid.

We started with the charcuterie platter.

On the platter: chorizo (delicious), chicken liver (way too livery for my taste although Mermaid liked it), rilettes (a version of pate that is chopped — it was ok but I felt it could have used more seasoning as it was a tad bland), duck proscuitto (not so good and too thickly sliced), mortadello (a version of italian bologna — way too smokey and it was cubed instead of sliced thin) and an assortment of pickled vegetables. I would not order this again if I were to revisit 10 Downing.

We shared three dishes. The duck meatball cassoulet with flageolets (a white bean).

The meatballs were good and the slow cooked white beans were tasty and added a smoothness to the dish but I have to admit, I am a HUGE fan of the duck meatballs at Perilla and they are the standard by which I compare all meatballs to. Yes they are that good at Perilla. So the duck meatballs at 10 Downing were good but truthfully I would not order them again as they did not leave me with any kind of impression.

We also had the squid ink agnolotti (literally translates to “little purses” — pasta that is similar to ravioli) with fresh peekytoe crab meat and roasted peppers in a lemon butter sauce.

The pasta should have had a rich briny flavor to it because of the squid ink but it didn’t and though it was cooked al dente the small purses were perhaps a bit too thick for me. I did enjoy the fresh crab meat chunks and the roasted peppers. Overall the combinations all went well together in this dish.

Our final dish was the marinated brussels sprouts with anchovy vinaigrette, soft poached egg & parmesan.

Our server broke the egg for us and mixed the dish tableside. This is by far the best preparation of brussels sprouts I have ever had. The parmesan adds the right amount of nutty saltiness to the dish while the runny yolk creates an instant sauce, clinging to each small round vegetable. They were perfectly cooked and quite delicious.

The restaurant is wide open and surrounded by glass windows so there’s a very nice airy feel to the place.

10 Downing, 10 Downing Street, New York, NY

Sisters — but not much in common

L’Artusi

I previously raved about Dell’Anima and how amazing the pastas were. The same owners of Dell’Anima opened a larger sister restaurant, L’Artusi, and I was determined to try it since my experience at Dell’Anima was so amazing. Wednesday I went there for dinner with my friend “Sister From Another Mother” (SFAM).

The restaurant itself is visually appealing and spans two floors. The main floor is more bustling as the bar is located there while upstairs is more intimate. We were seated upstairs.

To start, I opted to have the scallop crudo (crudo means raw) drizzled in sea salt, lemon and olive oil.

A very simple preparation and the scallops were unbelievably sweet. I am truly a believer that if you have simple, delicious and fresh ingredients, a dish can be phenomenal without a whole lot of bells and whistles. That was the case right here.

SFAM ordered the octopus with chorizo and potatoes. It was a good dish but nothing I have not tried before. I did not take pictures but the octopus was well cooked and the chorizo definitely added a kick to the dish. SFAM deemed it a bit too spicy for her so I obliged by cleaning the plate for her .

For main, I had the spaghetti and meatballs as I had read in a review that L’Artusi’s version was quite good.

The meatballs were firm and flavorful and the pasta was cooked al dente but although the red sauce was tasty, the sauce was really oily. After you got through the pasta there were literally pools of oil scattered throughout the bottom of the bowl.  However it was the better of the two pasta dishes we ordered.

SFAM got the bucatini with clams. Bucatini is like spaghetti only it’s hollow. The use of this pasta made it a little difficult to eat as the dish is oil based.

The dish was lacking in a way. We couldn’t put our finger on what it was but all I can say is that I’ve definitely had better pasta with clams elsewhere. It was a fair rendition, nothing out of the ordinary however.

I liked our meal but it was nothing compared to it’s older sister Dell’Anima. I still crave the pasta bolognese from Dell’Anima and I can’t say I feel the same urgency to return to L’Artusi…..ok maybe for the scallop crudo?

L’Artusi, 228 W. 10th Street, New York, NY

A note from the Hungry Korean

I wanted to explain the discrepancies in the quality of my photos on this site.

Sometimes it is not appropriate to whip out a camera and take a photo, flash and all. It could be the company I’m with or the ambience of the restaurant; some restaurants, such as Ko Restaurant (David Chang), do not allow photos of their food to even be taken.

With that said, if I can, I do try and take photos with my camera since the quality of the photos are much better. However, there have been/will be times where a full on camera and flash does not feel appropriate and then I will use my iPhone camera since photographing is less conspicuous and flash-less.

Thanks. Happy eating!

A treat for all senses

Falai

Went to one of my special restaurants on Saturday and took my friend Strawberry. She is a fellow foodie and I knew she had to try this place. The restaurant serves up beautiful food — it looks like art. The combinations of each plate is a treat for your senses. It’s not only beautiful to look at but the chef prepares these amazing textural and flavor combinations as well.

We were served a choice of three breads. We both chose the black cabbage roll.

An amuse bouche was served — an amuse bouche is a small tasting of food and is meant to “tease the tongue” of the diner. Ours delivered. It was a parmesan marshmallow.

The marshmallow was infused with parmesan, was light and melted in your mouth. It was topped with a parmesan crisp and caper.  The combination in flavor and texture was surprising and whimsical. We loved it.

For appetizer, Strawberry had the sliced veal tongue with horseradish foam and lilies. The plate was visually amazing: it looked like a flower garden. Sadly I took a picture with my iPhone but the frame came out blurry.

I had the chicken liver with fried polenta and mushrooms.

Wow. This was really delicious. The chicken liver had a rich liver-y taste and was smoothly spread over the fried polenta. The contrast between the crispy polenta and the soft spread chicken liver was fabulous. That “crisp” you see is not parmesan as I originally thought but very thinly sliced wheat bread that is then frozen and made crispy. To the left was the earthy mushroom. I didn’t really find them to have much flavor but they added a different textural element when added to a bite of chicken liver and polenta.

For main, Strawberry had the famous Falai spinach and ricotta gnudi. It’s basically small puffs of pasta, lighter than gnocchi but larger in size. It’s quite good. The spinach flavor is strong, which is what you want in a dish like this or the cheese can be too heavy and overpowering. The balls of gnudi sit in brown butter with fried sage as garnish.

Freshly grated parmesan finishes off the dish.

I had the parmesan risotto with pioppini mushrooms, sweetbreads and white truffle oil. Observe the loveliness. The sweetbreads are covered in real gold leaf.

The mushrooms sit below the layer of risotto. Although the truffle oil enhanced the dish, it could not save it. The risotto was undercooked and therefore crunchy and lacked the smooth thick creaminess usually found in well made risotto. The sweetbreads did not taste fresh and believe it or not, I could actually taste the gold leaf. It was a strange foreign taste I did not like at all.

Overall the meal was excellent and I have always loved Falai for the presentation and the experience to my senses and tastebud. There was plenty more on the menu I want to try so I will be back as soon as I can.

Falai, 68 Clinton Street, New York

Chipped Beef down on Freeman’s Alley

Had brunch with my friend Mermaid on Saturday at Freeman’s. We shared an order of the artichoke dip and while she had the hamburger, I knew that I had to try the chipped beef. My friend Scarf once ordered this at brunch and gave me a bite — food envy ensued and I have been waiting to try this dish ever since.

The meat is very tender. It’s a filet marinated in butter and garlic.  The meat sits over grilled sourdough bread and is topped with a fried egg. The entire thing then gets a healthy dousing of a thick butter cream sauce. Heartattack on a plate…

I thought the meat itself was well seasoned and quite tasty but I found the cream gravy very salty and very heavy. The egg was a bit over cooked as you can see in the picture, it wasn’t runny enough. All in all, I couldn’t finish it because it was simply too salty. I picked out the pieces of meat and left the rest. I was disappointed.

Freeman’s, 191 Chrystie Street, New York, NY

My new pasta heaven

Dell’Anima

Thursday night found me having dinner with my friend Jewels and Half Hopi at Dell’Anima. This restaurant is known for their bruschetta and their home made pastas. I’ve never been to this restaurant but it’s very cozy and cute inside. There is a chef’s bar in the back where diners can sit and watch their food actually being prepared.

We all started with salads. My two friends had the peppery arugula with shaved parmesan while I had the endive salad with anchovy viniagrette.

The dressing was very tart with a hint of anchovy and shaved parmesan over the top. It was a unique and tasty salad but after several bites, the tartness of the vinaigrette got to me a little.

My friend Jewels had the garganelli pasta with funghi trifolati mushrooms, lemon and parsley.

The mushrooms were earthy and the lemon added a brightness to the dish that was pleasantly surprising.

My other friend Half Hopi had the octopus salad.

The octopus was very tender, not chewy at all. The chorizo that accompanied this dish added a nice spicy aftertaste to each bite. This dish had a delicious meaty flavor to it.

I had what I believe to be the best dish of all: tagliatelle pasta with bolognese sauce.

The pasta was absolutely decadent. If you have never had freshly made pasta, you need to get over to Dell’Anima now. You can really taste the difference with fresh pasta — the texture is really amazing. The pasta was perfectly al dente; wasn’t too crunchy, wasn’t too soft.  It had the perfect bite. The bolognese sauce was not your typical meat in red sauce. It almost tasted like meat in butter sauce. I am not quite sure what the sauce was made of but it had a very cheesy buttery flavor to it. I now have a dish to crave every weekend. Great.

The downside to being so addicted to Dell’Anima’s pastas? The place is quite small and reservations are hard to come by. Simply put, I haven’t been so wowed by a restaurant in a long time.

Run, do not walk, to Dell’Anima.

Dell’Anima, 38 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY

Just in time for Easter

Now this is a version of your typical chocolate Easter egg I’ve never seen before.

An actual hen’s egg shell around a chocolate praline center. Except the most curious thing about this tasty treat is how did the chocolate get shoved in there? There are no cracks or signs of entrance.

Buy these here.

New but old plates

A plate designer is taking what could be considered “flawed” dishes and making them beautiful.

He takes cracks in plates and draws pretty flowers growing out of them.

I find it quite charming.

Buy (and see other versions) at HORNE.

Soup dumplings make me happy

This Sunday I went to my favorite soup dumpling place with Scarf and Sopa, Joe’s Shanghai. It has been said that Joe’s serves up the best soup dumplings in the city and really, after you taste them, there’s no need to even try them anywhere else.

We started with an order of pork and crab/pork soup dumplings.

Each dumpling is filled with meat and a rich, luscious and deep flavored broth. You carefully place a dumpling in the spoon, nibble a tiny little hole on the top of the dumpling and suck out the piping hot broth. Once you’ve gotten every drop of that tastiness, you spoon a little soy sauce over the rest and enjoy what is probably one of the best dumplings ever. It’s so delicious!!!

We also ordered a side of pea shoots sauteed in garlic (good) and sliced jellyfish (Scarf’s surprise contribution).

It was my first time trying jellyfish and I have to say, I wasn’t a huge fan. It has a very strange gelatinous but crunchy texture to it. It was perfectly dressed in some vinegar and salt like mixture, however.

We also had the Shanghai fried noodles with pork. The noodles are thick and perfectly chewy and coated in a fried brown sauce. Surprisingly the strands of pork scattered throughout the dish were also very tender. I would definitely get this dish again.

Best part about this lunch is that the prices are also Chinatown prices: cheap. For all that food, the bill came to $15 per person, or $45 total. We walked away full and satisfied customers.

Lines can be long and they do not take reservations so show up, take a number and wait for your number to be called. Once it is, they will direct you to one of several communal tables and your feast will begin. You will not be sorry.

Joe’s Shanghai, 9 Pell Street, New York, NY