Sugar Baby and I met up with my friends Fried Chicken and Elton John for what turned out to be a boozy brunch 
at Centro Vinoteca in the West Village. The place was actually pretty empty except for the staff and the occasional food tour that passed through every now and again. Sugar Baby and I sat at the bar and waited for my friends with bellinis and mimosas on hand. They were pretty good. Ask Sugar Baby — he really liked them that day.
Once they arrived, we were seated in the corner booth of the white tiled restaurant. There is one section of the restaurant that is completely windows – similar to a greenhouse. By the time we sat, the restaurant was receiving it’s brunch crowd.
I started with the fried zucchini fritters with a side of marinara sauce.
Really crispy and light – not oily at all. I would have preferred the marinara be served warm but it offered a nice tart contrast to each bite. They served four. I really liked the truffled devil eggs Sugar Baby and Fried Chicken ordered though. Had a bit of food envy and only managed to sneak half a bite of one before Sugar Baby devoured his.
For main, I had the steak stew over polenta with two poached eggs.
Although visually appealing, I wasn’t keen on the mushy consistency that happens after you break the yolk. The texture of the dish turns soupy once the yolk runs all over and there’s no contrast to any bite. The flavors were definitely there but they sort of all meld together.
Elton John had this amazing whole wheat pasta with mushrooms.
Yummy! I love tagliatelle pasta first of all and I love mushrooms. What a healthy delicious alternative for brunch. The mushrooms tasted meaty and earthy and the pasta had a wonderful bite. This was my favorite plate that afternoon.
Sugar Baby had caviatelle with spare ribs. If spare ribs are on the menu, you bet Sugar Baby will order it. He just finds slow roasted tender fall of the bone meat too hard to resist I think.
The spare ribs were meaty and sweet and good but I found the pasta a bit hard.
The brunch was very fun – but I think it was the company we kept. After many more brunch drinks and one round on the house, we walked out of here much later than we anticipated. Don’t even ask what we did after ;p
Centro Vinoteca, 74 Seventh Avenue South, New York, NY
