Talk of the Town

I finally made it—made it as in paying a visit to one of the hippest, most talked about restaurants in this town. Opening this summer, Rosemary's Enoteca & Trattoria has been packed to the brim since it opened its doors months ago (a no reservation policy helps ensure that), and I had been dying to go.

This place certainly has the ambiance thing done right. It's spacious, luminous (floor to ceiling windows for day time and strung lights for night time) and covered in shrubbery. The green life is a nice tie in for the rooftop garden housed above the restaurant that supplies the vegetables for the various dishes on the menu.

The before and after was the main topic of our conversation. Our before consisted of three verdure and two focacce breads. The amazing trio we tried were the beets/hazelnut dish, the zucchini crudo (my favorite) and the radish/thyme dish. And since our idea of Italian dinner always consists of a "bread basket," we ordered the caprese foccacia and the foccacia di recco filled with stracchino cheese. The latter was like an Italian ooey gooey grilled cheese and some of the best bread I've tried. Last but not least, we ordered the homemade mozzarella because no good Italian feast can go without some mozz thrown into it.

Then came the middle portion of our meal and just like the middle child in a large family it was not our favorite. We all went the pasta route but were not blown away like we had been with our appetizers. The spaghetti al pomodoro, as classic as it sounds, was the best entree I tried as it transported me right back to Italy (makes sense considering all their pastas are homemade). My friends said the orecchiette pasta dish with homemade sausage was another must order. Going in for the kill, we decided to order dessert and went with the chocolate hazelnut semi freddo and olive oil cake. Both desserts were exactly what we wanted to end the night with and the perfect thing to keep the conservation about Rosemary's going.

Places of Interest:
Rosemary's Enoteca & Trattoria
18 Greenwich Avenue (at the corner of 10th St.)
http://www.rosemarysnyc.com/ 

Speedy at Your Service

It pays to have friends in high places or with really good connections. On a chilly Saturday evening, my friend Lauren invited our friends Nicole, Ali and myself to a restaurant opening in Brooklyn. Fortunately the trek to Brooklyn was overshadowed by the potential for amazing Italian food (this I knew from Lauren as she had already had a chance to taste the chef's creations and approved.)

Tucked away in Clinton Hill and housed in an old auto parts store, Speedy Romeo, was a mix of rustic and cool. Named after one of the owner's family's racehorses, the night was anything but rushed. The interior was welcoming featuring brick walls, retro furniture and antique treasures with a wood burning oven and open views of the kitchen as the main attraction. 

Since this was the opening, the waitress explained the menu section by section giving recommendations along the way. Pizza was a given (the wood oven tempted us the minute we walked in). To give the other items on the menu a chance, we gazed over the selection and decided on a combination of apps, pizza, entrees and sides to share. We started with the mozzarella salad made of smoked eggplant, mozzarella, chili oil and toast. For pizza, we went classic with a margarita and adventurous with The Kind Brother—wild mushrooms, grilled mozzarella, farm egg and sage. The egg scared me at first but ended up being the best part of the pie.

[Insert picture of Kansas City Strip entree and baked potato side & green beans side]

While I usually try to snap a picture of all the dishes—especially the good ones, the steak with salsa verde and the sides went too fast (who said girls can't eat?!). So use your imagination and take it from me—the steak was juicy and the salsa only made it better. The sides were the perfect complement to an an amazing entree.

With the intentions of trying one thing from each section of the menu for the restaurant opening's sake (that's the excuse we are going with for now), we ordered the chocolate cake.  This cake was no average square shaped chocolate dessert but more along the lines of a upscale s'more. No food coma and tightening of the pants could stop us for devouring the dessert.

As the night winded down, the only thing left to settle was the bill, which I consider the most dreaded part of any dining experience (unless you are Donald Trump). Then having a friend with a good connection paid off again—literally. The owners made every drink, dish and dessert on the house as a 'thank you' to their family and friends for supporting their latest food endeavor.  Well this post is my thank you to them. The food was worth every penny—even if the penny didn't come from our pocket books.

Places of Interest:

Speedy Romeo, 376 Classon Ave. (at Greene Ave.), Brooklyn, 718-230-0061

http://speedyromeo.com/index.php

When a Deal Becomes a Steal

I'm signed up for every deal type of website under the sun from Groupon to Living Social to KGB (it's like my version of Extreme Couponing). Everyday I glance over the numerous offers from all my email blasts only purchasing a deal when I'm familiar with the company. That all changed when a Groupon crossed my path for $30 worth of Forcella, the Neapolitan pizza joint in Brooklyn, for $10 bucks.

I had never heard of the restaurant but read some good reviews and decided to give it a go. I asked my friend Lauren to accompany me on my discount Italian adventure. As we wandered mere steps from the L train, we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into as the path we chose was not exactly the nicest part of town. Our fears quickly subsided upon entering the quaint pizzeria. The entrance was covered top to bottom in various pizza boxes from Napoli giving off a quirky vibe. The rest of the restaurant showed off its charming side with a 'mirror, mirror on the wall' theme and a small, Italian cafe feel with paintings and photographs.

We learned the restaurant was BYOB but luckily there was a liquor store across the street to pick up a bottle of vino. To compliment the wine, we ordered a variety of bruschette. The trio included sundried tomato, artichoke & olives and pecorino & garlic. Once we polished off our app, we decided to order a few pizzas to share. 

After a tough decision, we settled between a combo of Margherita Regina (cherry tomatoes and bufala) and Decumani (mozzarella, truffle, argula, pecorino) and good ol' classic Margherita. The fluffy wood burning pizza was so full of flavor it didn't last on our plates very long. Just as our stomachs were about to burst, the manager, a Native Italian himself, brought over a chocolatey dessert. Another molto bene dish. If Groupon continues to offer deals, scratch that, steals like this I won't be hitting the unsubscribe button any time soon.

Places of Interest:

Forcella, 485 Lorimer St., 718-388-8820 (newly opened location in Manhattan as well)

http://forcellaeatery.com/