23
Nov

Santa Caterina – Amalfi

by ccwynne812   {4:29 pm}

SANTA CATERINA HOTEL – AMALFI

Via Mauro Comite, 9, 84011 Amalfi Salerno, Italy

Rating: 8.7

Hotel Santa Caterina

Hotel Santa Caterina

On our second evening one of my friends who organized most of the trip suggested we get tickets to a classical music festival in neighboring Ravello. Between Ravello and Positano lies Amalfi which is home to one of the most beautiful hotels – the Santa Caterina hotel.

View from our table

View from our table

Situated higher on the mountain and built directly into the rocks, this Art Nouveau villa features some of the most spectacular views of the coastline. Down below the main hotel there is a gorgeous pool and private beach, which can be accessed by glass elevators. All good reasons to be voted Top European Resort in 2012 by Travel and Leisure Magazine. We stopped for dinner on our way to the concert.

Inside the Restaurant

Inside the Restaurant

Open Patio

Open Patio

 

We were immediately greeted by another lovely silver champagne cart and sipped some bubbly rosé as our meals arrived.

To whet our appetites everyone was served a small appetizer of a breaded beef over a potato puree with a balsamic reduction. This was very tasty although we were all a bit schnitzeled-out from Vienna.

Amuse Bouche

Amuse Bouche

Next I had the ricotta and salami stuffed zucchini flowers. Zucchini flowers have a very mild taste but they are ideal vessels for delicious fillings. In this case they were filled to the brim with creamy fresh ricotta which was seasoned with the salty flavor from the salami. Then to tie the whole thing together they were battered and fried.

Zucchini Flowers

Zucchini Flowers

As my entrée I went with something lighter – a carpaccio of beef with fine sheets of parmesan cheese, black truffle oil and slices of black truffle.

Beef Carpaccio

Beef Carpaccio

I also snuck a raviolo off of someone else’s plate – ricotta stuffed in a fresh lemon cream sauce – rich and yet light and bright.

Lemon Pasta

Lemon Pasta

After our meal we took a few bottles of red wine to the Ravello festival which was the perfect night cap to the evening. Anyone traveling to Positano should absolutely make the trip to Amalfi to enjoy a meal at the Hotel Santa Caterina. One thing to keep in mind is that while dinner is very romantic and candlelit, as night falls it becomes impossible to enjoy the view. I would recommend possibly also trying the hotel for lunch.

Unobstructed Views

Unobstructed Views

View of the Pool. Photo Cred: http://www.lhw.com/hotel/Hotel-Santa-Caterina-Amalfi-Italy#proprecommendations

View of the Pool. Photo Cred: http://www.lhw.com/hotel/Hotel-Santa-Caterina-Amalfi-Italy#proprecommendations


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21
Oct

Chez Black – Positano

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

CHEZ BLACK – ITALY

Via del Brigantino, Positano

Rating: 8.5

Chez Black is an open, casual, beach front restaurant located right on Spaggia Grande overlooking the Mediterranean. The interior looks exactly like a wooden ship with heavily lacquered woodwork, which, in combination with the ubiquitous presence of mermaids in Positano, and the name “Chez Black” gives it a slightly piratey feel. But never has a pirate ship ever had such amazing food as Black’s beachfront eatery.

Spaggia Grande

There are many restaurants with amazing views (if not all?) in Positano but you can immediately tell that Chez Black is one of the more sceney spots and is definitely one to check off your list. The family also dominates the waterfront because they also happen to own the famed night club “Music on the Rocks” at the other end of the beach.

This description might sound a bit kitschy but it is also quite charming. An artist painted the classic landscape in pale watercolors right on the beach in front of us and it didn’t even feel all that touristy despite the location and reputation.

We had a reservation for our first day in Positano which worked out perfectly because the sun was a bit spotty so we indulged in a leisurely, wine-filled meal. One of my favorite things about all of the restaurants in Positano is that each one has their own personalized version of the traditional ceramic dinnerware. Each design adds a bit of unique flair to the meal.

Creamic Plates

Appetizers to share included three pizzas and few orders of Caprese salad. The pizza, as you can imagine, arrived piping hot and fresh out of the oven. The crust was thin and crisp and the ingredients incredibly fresh.

Pizza with Mushrooms, Artichoke & Prosciutto

The Caprese salad, again, featured gorgeous tomatoes that only Italy can produce and creamy mozzarella that actually had the flavor of a cheese as opposed to the white rubbery substance we get here.

Caprese Salad

As my entrée I had one of the more creatively presented dishes I have seen. The uni pasta arrived to the table in a vessel shaped like a gigantic sea urchin. Be careful because the spines will actually prick you. The pasta itself was just slightly al dente, covered in a heavenly combination of garlic, olive oil and of course sea urchin.

Sea Urchin Dishes

Inside the spikey pod....

The meal was flooded with chilled rosé and frozen limoncello and could not have been more perfect or more relaxing.

 

 

 

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18
Oct

Villa Rosa – Positano

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

VILLA ROSA – POSITANO

Via Cristoforo Colombo, 127, 84017 Positano Salerno, Italy

Rating: 6.5

Villa Rosa is a very understated little bed and breakfast in Positano which we chose because of the location and views of the coast. The décor is very simple and predominantly white with arched doorways and hand painted accents. With just 22 rooms, and incredible location, this teeny spot fills up quickly. The service is very friendly and I think you would be hard pressed to find any complaints about Villa Rosa.

Breakfast on the Balcony

What makes it truly special is the breakfast with a view. Each morning your breakfast is delivered to your private balcony so that you can take in the unparalleled views while sipping your (full fat) latte.

For a comfortable experience without compromising on views and that won’t completely break the bank, Villa Rosa is a very good choice.

 
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17
Oct

La Sponda – Positano

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}
LA SPONDA, LE SIRENUSE HOTEL – POSITANO

Via Cristoforo Colombo, 30, 84017 Positano Salerno, Italy

Rating: 9.2

Le Sirenuse

After a whirlwind visit to Vienna we continued onto the next leg of our trip – Positano. I had been wanting to go to Positano for as long as I can remember so was incredibly excited to finally make my dream a reality. Hours of semi-painful post wedding travel later we arrived to Villa Rosa, our little bed and breakfast, in the heavenly town just as the sun was setting. We unpacked our bags (or those of us who had them, anyway, no thanks to Austrian Air) and got ready for dinner.

Villa Rosa is conveniently located directly above the famed Le Sirenuse hotel which made it very easy to visit (often) and take advantage of their restaurant and Oyster Bar. We walked across the street to dinner at La Sponda. The gorgeous restaurant is lit by over 400 candles to give an unbelievable glowing, romantic ambiance. The outdoor space where we were seated overlooks the picturesque landscape for which Positano is so famous. The opposite mountain is covered from top to bottom but little homes, hotels and restaurants and the entire slope illuminates in the evening.

Positano at Sunset

Once seated, we were greeted by a friendly gentleman wheeling a massive silver bowl full of bottles of champagne and prosecco towards us. A wave of relaxation washed all of the stresses of travel away. We were given some much needed chilled raw vegetables to nibble on as we examined the menu.

Fresh Veggies & Champagne

Our first bites were a savory cream cheese crème brûlée and a mini caprese salad in the form of a mini layered trifle with pesto.

Creme Brûlée

Caprese

My friend who organized most of the trip also happens to have an eye for good wines. She selected two delicious accompaniments, one white and one light red, for our meal and both went well with all of the dishes.

I shared two appetizers to start. One was a seafood casserole in a cast iron pot filled with all the local fruits of the sea – lobster, octopus, squid, etc. The second was the crab tart which was almost like a mini crab quiche.

Seafood Casserole

Crab Tart

My main course was the lobster tagliatelle in a red sauce. The lobster was cooked perfectly and still tender, the sauce had a rich flavor that was deeper than most tomato based sauces. The combination was surprising for a seafood dish but delicious.

Lobster Tagliatelle

We were accidentally given an extra order of the risotto which was lucky for us because it turned out to be one of the best dishes. The rice was perfectly cooked and the creamy tomato sauce and topped with halved cherry tomatoes with more ripe tomato flavor than any tomato found in the US.

Risotto

We were given a little palate cleansing sorbet and then moved on to dessert.

Sorbet

The desserts were works of art. The chocolate dessert with coffee gelato was a ball that melted when warm chocolate sauce was poured on top. Inside was chocolate cake and some other surprise layers.

Chocolate

Another beautiful one was the meringue filled with raspberry that cracked to reveal the fruit.

Raspberry Meringue

 

Crack!

As if that weren’t enough we were also given plates of petit fours to taste as we paid our check. A truly decadent meal.

Petit Fours

On several of the nights we also had a pre- or post- dinner cocktail at the Oyster Bar, which also has a beautiful, warm, candlelit ambiance and definitely worth a visit.

Oyster Bar

Oyster Bar

Le Sirenuse should definitely be on your to-do list for your visit to Positano whether you are staying at the Hotel or just visiting for a drink.

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16
Oct

Figlmüller – Vienna

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

FIGLMüLLER IN WOLLZEILE – VIENNA

Wollzeile 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria

Rating: 6.5

After a beautiful evening at the gorgeous Palais Liechtenstein for the rehearsal dinner, a few of us managed to peel ourselves out of bed for some more cultural activities. We managed to have the fastest viewing of Gustav Klimt that the Belvedere Palace has ever seen and then sprinted to make our lunch reservation at Figlmüller.

Figlmüller was recommended to us by the bride, who is originally from Vienna, and said it was her favorite schnitzel in the city. It was opened in 1905 and is currently managed by the fourth generation of the same family. Their schnitzel is a pork version that is extremely thin and crispy. The breading sticks to the meat without bubbling.

It is located on a tiny side street with cobblestones and looks just like any pub. The family takes pride not only in their legendary product but also in the quality of the ingredients. They personally know all of the farmers from whom they purchase their pork. They also have their own vineyards and produce wines to pair with your meal.

These people take their schnitzel seriously and it shows.

Schnitzel & Potato Salad

Green Salad

Bread Basket

For dessert we made our way to the Sacher Hotel which is famous for their chocolate Sacher torte. This was the one item on my list that I had really wanted to eat in Vienna so was thrilled we had a minute to squeeze it in before the wedding. While the torte is quite chocolatey and flavorful the texture was much dryer than I would have thought. I prefer a much richer, dense texture for chocolate deserts. The Sacher is a gorgeous hotel but I regret to say that their torte leaves a lot to be desired.

Sacher Torte

Rehearsal Dinner

Gorgeous Rehearsal Flowers

 

 

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15
Oct

Café Central – Vienna

by ccwynne812   {9:00 am}

CAFE CENTRAL – VIENNA

Herrengasse 14, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Rating: 6.8

Photo Courtesy of: www.travelinhappiness.com

This summer I was very fortunate to be invited to a friend’s wedding in Vienna. Being a lover of travel I immediately accepted this once in a lifetime invitation and started planning a whole trip out of it with some of my best friends. We began the trip in Vienna for the wedding followed by a few days on the Amalfi Coast. Most of the two days we spent in Vienna were consumed with the wedding, which was quite the extravaganza. However, we did manage to sneak in a few cultural activities and meals.

My first meal in Vienna was lunch at Café Central where I met everyone immediately after disembarking my flight. The others had a slight head start on me and this was the perfect meeting spot between sessions of our guided tour.

The café is located in the former Bank and Stockmarket building in the Palais Ferstel (named after its architect). It opened in 1876 and throughout the early 19th century was one of the places to see and be seen among Viennese intellectuals. Today it is popular among tourists and locals alike.

The café has a grand feeling with high arched ceilings but not quite as over-the-top as the Baroque architecture which is found all over the city.

Photo courtesy of: www.londonthrucafes.com

We ordered some lunch but were really interested in the dessert. Vienna is known for its desserts – and not much else in the culinary world except schnitzel.

I had a light chicken salad which was perfect for a light lunch…until completely thrown by the wayside for dessert.

Chicken Salad

I also sampled a schnitzel which was about as light as a schnitzel can be and also, ironically, resembled the United States.

Schnitzel

On to dessert. We ordered about half the desserts on the menu which were also beautifully displayed in glass cases at the center of the restaurant. I was only able to capture a couple of these beautiful creations before being destroyed by a shower of forks.

Hazelnut & Chocolate

Apple Strudel

Chocolate Chocolate

Cases and cases...

And cases...

Café Central is a perfect spot to stop while sightseeing in Vienna and have lunch or even just dessert.

Vienna

 

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13
Oct

SakaMai – NYC

by ccwynne812   {3:19 pm}

SAKAMAI – NYC

157 Ludlow Street (nr. Stanton) New York, NY 10002

Rating: 8.7

A few months ago I was asked to be a part of the US launch of a site called Tabélog which is a Japanese food website similar to yelp but much more sophisticated and has a massive following in Japan of millions.

I was introduced to SakaMai by way of a blogger event that Tabélog hosted for all of their NY blogger participants. They rolled out the red carpet for us and had quite a spread of unique small dishes that were truly delicious as well as a curated selection of sakes. We were introduced to the owner and chef in a very interesting group conversation.

Natalie Graham the owner and creative director and actually comes from a design background.  One day she decided she wanted to open a restaurant for fun and teamed up with Tanner Fahl to open SakaMai. They brought in Japanese chef Takanori Akiyama who has been working a chef in NYC since 1995 after being formally trained in his hometown of Kyushu, Japan.

SakaMai is essentially a sake lounge with excellent food. I wanted to return for a full meal after sampling the treats at the blogger event.

The first thing I noticed as I entered SakaMai the second time around is that the clientele is primarily Japanese. This is always a good sign. The space itself is long and narrow and has a very “zen” feel to it with exposed brick, rustic worn wood and very simply set tables. There are bars in both the front and the back with seating and some high tables for cocktails.

The menu is Japanese but not really sushi – of course there are raw items on the menu but it centers more around composed small plates.

In the interview with chef Akiyama during the Tabélog event, he said that he strives to make each dish even more interesting than might seem just by reading the description on the menu by using “surprise” ingredients. I would say hat he is successful in this strategy across the board.

We began with some very interesting cocktails. My two friends each started with a bourbon cocktail that incorporated a snifter full of smoke created by a blow-torching a small pile of aromatic wood chips. I began with a tangy yuzu infused vodka tonic.

Mixology at its Finest

The first dish to arrive was a torched uni on top of a crispy buttery toast with a sprinkle of Parmesan Reggiano. The cheese gave the creamy, earthy flavor of the uni a unique accent.

Uni Toast

Next was the cream cheese anchovy. Anchovies are an acquired taste so this may not appeal to everyone. The white anchovy topped a miso cream cheese square on a nori sheet. This was good but perhaps a little too much cream cheese.

Cream Cheese Anchovy

The truffled vegetables came next. This was essentially a big fresh salad of some lightly warmed veggies and radicchio topped with shaved truffle. The dressing plus lots of truffles would make anything taste amazing.

Truffled Vegetables

The Kanpachi was next – a clean slice of fresh fish dressed with shiso ribbons, myoga, yuzu, a little wasabi and a shoyu glaze.

Kanpachi

The best dish ensued – the signature dish of “egg on egg on egg”. A bed of creamy scrambled eggs topped with sea urchin and sturgeon caviar served in an elegant porcelain dish resembling a sea urchin. We ordered two and I claimed an entire one for myself. Not only is this a beautiful dish but the delicate flavors of the three types of eggs play beautifully off each other.

Egg on Egg on Egg

The pork buns at SakaMai will rival any in the city. The fluffy bun is packed with a chunk of tender, juicy pork. This one is particularly good because it is so meaty and there is enough to last you until the last bite of bun. It is also a good ratio of meat to fat.

Pork Buns

The filet and bone marrow steak tartare is another excellent dish. The deep red filet is seasoned nicely seasoned and very finely chopped. The bone marrow is added on top of the toast to provide a little richness.

Steak Tartare

Lastly, we were served the croquettes which were little balls of lobster with Iberico lardo and some miso in a pool of lobster foam.

Croquettes

To top off the meal – one of Banksy’s latest and largest works is directly next to the restaurant. Any art lover would be excited to visit!

Banksy: Night Vision Horses #Betteroutthanin

I highly recommend SakaMai for  delicious and quiet meal with friends or for a date with a more adventurous eater.

Some Shots From the Tabélog Event:

Conversation with the owner, chef, sake sommelier

Carrot Custard with Summer Truffle

Sliders

Salmon Sushi Balls

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05
Oct

Bantam Bagels – NYC

by ccwynne812   {12:31 pm}

BANTAM BAGELS – NYC

283 Bleeker Street, New York, NY 10014

Rating: 6.5

Bagels!

Fridays were basically invented to be cheat days. Anything you want to eat is acceptable on a Friday and no one will judge you. If you order that bacon, egg and cheese on a croissant for breakfast on a Tuesday you will definitely get some comments from fellow co-workers but Friday is a total free-for-all and you don’t even have to be hungover to justify your sinful selections.

When a co-worker mentioned Bantam Bagels this week we all immediately knew that it was going to be a Friday lunch order. 96 bagels later (for 8 people) we knew the decision was a solid one.

Bantam is the donut hole of the bagel world. It is the sushi of carbohydrates. It is a one-bite wonder (or two if you have a small mouth) filled with cream cheese and topped with some sort of tasty accessory such as “everything” or a baked tomato slice. Their selections change on a regular basis and they kindly provide photos with detailed descriptions on their website and also have a monthly special/seasonal bagel. We pretty much ordered every single variety on the menu.

Weekend Brunch

Grandma Jojo

Favorites included:

Weekend brunch: an everything bagel filled with Lox cream cheese.

Buffalo: Celery bagel filled with a smokey chicken, blue cheese and hot sauce cream cheese.

Grandma jojo: an Italian spiced bagel filled with pesto cream cheese topped with a marinated tomato slice.

Bleeker Street: Pizza dough bagel filled with marinara, mozzarella cream cheese and topped with pepperoni.

Hot Pretzel: Pretzel bagel topped with coarse salt and filled with mustard and sharp cheddar cream cheese.

Cookies-n-Milk: Brown sugar walnut bagel with a sweet chocolate chip cream cheese.

 

Cream cheese...

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02
Oct

L’Absinthe – NYC

by ccwynne812   {6:29 pm}

L’ABSINTHE – NYC

227 E 67th St, New York, NY 10065

Rating: 8.3

Courtesy of: www.labsinthe.com

I don’t usually like to make a big deal of my birthday but of course I am always down to celebrate for any halfway decent reason. This year my birthday fell on a Monday but I was fortunate enough to be taken out for a surprise dinner. Being half French I was extremely excited not only to have some of my favorite traditional dishes but mostly to see my favorite and rarely seen dish, quenelles, on the menu at L’Absinthe. I don’t think this was an accident.

The restaurant itself transports you directly to Paris, maybe a side street in the 6th near Les Deux Magots, with its warm lighting and leather booths. The walls are covered in posters of famous nouveau artists and potted palm plants bring a little bit of the outdoors inside.

Since opening in 1995, L’Absinthe has remained a favorite of many an Upper-East-Sider. The menu includes everything you would expect to see on a traditional bistro menu and the chef has mastered the flavors of Parisian cuisine. Chef Jean-Michel Bergougnoux who hails from the likes of London’s Connaught and New York’s Lutece was recently named Chef of the Year by the Maitre Cuisiners de France.

When I first sat down and excitedly scanned the menu I saw some surprising items that I have rarely seen outside of France proper.
The first thing that caught my eye was the periwinkles. The last time I had periwinkles I was sitting at a beachside café in the South of France with my Grandmother and Greatgrandmother – must order. They arrived to the table in a pile on crushed ice with some mayonnaise, cocktail sauce and lemon juice. I was a little nervous that they would be fishy and slimy without the mask of butter and garlicky pesto that typically distracts from the fact that you are eating a glorified slug. However, the little guys had more of a texture of a creamy kumamoto oyster than anything and dipped in a little mayo really were a tasty little nibble.

Periwinkles

Another one of my favorite dishes is boudin noir, or blood sausage. It is traditionally served with roasted apple and this one also came with a bit of finely diced carmelized onion and a silky mashed potato which was a perfect combination – a little bite with sweet and a little bite with savory. The sausage itself has a deeply rich flavor and is absolutely delicious but a slightly acquired taste. We ordered a salad to have something green on the table as well which was perfectly fresh and just fine.

Boudin Noir

The main course was what I was really looking forward to. Quenelles are one of my absolute favorite things and this was pretty much the sole reason why we were dining here. The perfectly formed little seafood souffles were bathed in a creamy, frothy lobster bisque and were topped with a whole lobster tail, a chestnut for texture and a quarter moon shaped crispy puff pastry. Just perfection. This dish requires a fork, a knife and especially a spoon.

Quenelles

Our other entrée of rabbit leg was also very good but I mostly focused on the one I just described. It was served atop some roasted vegetables with a black olive tapenade type sauce. We also had a side of wild mushrooms which were great.

Rabbit Leg

Of course no birthday dinner at any real French restaurant would be complete without a delicious confection, but more specifically, a dessert souffle. We ordered both a Grand Marnier and a chocolate version both of which eagerly rose over their their little ramekins awaiting a generous drizzle of crème anglaise.  A delicious end to a delicious and rich meal – perfectly suited for a memorable birthday.

Grand Marnier Souffle

Chocolate Souffle

Birthday Flowers!

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23
Aug

Carbone – NYC

by ccwynne812   {8:16 pm}

CARBONE – NYC

181 Thompson St  New York, NY 10012

Rating: 9.1

Old Friends and New

Carbone was at the very top of my list of places that I absolutely must eat at this summer. Check. Worth it? Absolutely.

Even months after opening Carbone remains near impossible to get in and I had to pull a serious favor to get a table. But once you’re in, it’s glorious. Most of the tables are set for larger groups rather than 2-tops and they definitely try to encourage a certain energy. Carbone is meant to be a play on the old school Italian style of cooking and dining but everything from the music, to the ambiance, to the upbeat attitude of diners and servers alike ooze New York City.

Instead of “waiters” Carbone has “captains” which are far more sophisticated. Our captain just happened to be an amazing women who not only looked like a seriously badass Bond girl (yes, you Andrea) but she also managed to convince a neighboring table of boisterous real estate execs to send us a really nice bottle of Brunello (or two). Now that’s a woman to have in your court!

As soon as we were seated (shockingly 5 minutes BEFORE our actual reservation) we were greeted by a man wielding an entire wheel of cheese. With a little knife he placed a chunk of salty cheese onto each of our bread plates. The table is also set with tender tomato focaccia and slices of cured Italian ham to eat with it.

Ham & Focaccia

The menus arrive and they are so big that they serve as screens to momentarily shield one from their neighbors as they carefully decide on their plan of attack. Although it is not a huge menu in terms of options, everything on the menu is definitely huge.

We started with the raw seafood tower which was far more than I could have expected. This is not your average shucked seafood with a little cocktail sauce. Everything on the icy tower is seasoned with some sort of special sauce or delicately sliced and arranged on a little plate. Of course the most impressive was the giant spiny sea urchin holding court at the center which was served with some magical crunchy gremolata-like topping.

Seafood Tower

Next were the small plates and salads. Heirloom tomatoes were the special of the evening and our captain told us they were some of the best she had had. Obviously we deferred to her judgement and were not disappointed. The juicy colorful plate was topped with fresh pesto and came with a side of homemade mozzarella that needed to be cut into pieces with little mozzarella scissors. I didn’t even know they made those.

Heirloom Tomatoes

The grilled octopus was perfectly cooked and very tender. There seemed to be some sort of glaze which added a little sweetness. On top were some fresh tomatoes and vegetables and underneath was more of a jam of vegetables which included some peppers so I avoided it.

Grilled Octopus

Grilled Octopus

The caesar salad alla ZZ is made directly in front of you which in my experience generally means it will be pretty good unless they overdo it with the salt. Andrea nailed it. The salad was fresh and crisp with croutons that were big enough to be crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside – much like a personal mini garlic bread.

Caesar alla ZZ

Grilled Octopus

As with any real Italian meal, there is a pasta course. Since we were being healthy we limited ourselves to just 2 (just kidding). Linguine with clams seams to be everyone’s favorite so that was a natural choice. While I am not usually partial to the dish this one was pretty decent because the ratio of pasta to toppings seemed more balanced than usual to me. The spicy rigatoni alla vodka on the other hand was delicious. Just the right amount of spice and despite looking like there was barely any sauce the flavor was certainly there.

Pastas

Pastas

We were just about full at this point and not even halfway through the meal. Next came the double lamb chop which required an entire cart to be wheeled over in order to butcher it into a more manageable size. The meat was perfectly cooked borderline-rare with a little fat marbling through and charred on the outside.

Double Lamb Chop

Double Lamb Chop

One of the non-negotiables on the menu is the veal parmesan. This giant finely pounded and breaded veal chop arrives to the table and then is cut just like a pizza. This is not one of my typical orders at an Italian restaurant but the quality of the ingredients made this one damn good.

Veal Parmesan

Veal Parmesan

It didn’t stop there. For sides we ordered fried zucchini strings and “the corn” whatever that meant. little did we know but the corn arrived shaved off the cob, mixed with some seasonings and topped with a generous pile of shaved summer truffle. Not at all what I was expecting but definitely a nice surprise. The zucchini strings I found to be a bit too heavy on the batter and they would have been a bit better with a lighter version. Tasty nonetheless.

Zucchini Strings & Grilled Corn

No one wanted dessert so we ordered 3. The cheesecake we were assured was the best we have ever tasted. It was in fact very light and delicious.

Cheesecake

Given that it is summer and peaches are in season we had the peaches with a creamy zabaglione type sauce.

Peaches

The carrot cake was also very good and arrived to the table like a shark fin topped with cream cheese frosting. It was light but not dry and didn’t fall apart when attacked by several forks.

Carrot Cake

Carbone is the type of restaurant that is best attended with a group. Order a bunch of these over-the-top decadent dishes and share everything with some delicious wine. You are bound to go home satistisfied, sleepy and stuffed like a little raviolo.

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