Felidia Ristorante

What can I say? Felidia is my favorite NYC restaurant so far, and it's going to take something spectacular to outshine this classic Italian restaurant. The admiration for it's founder is national at the very least, and Lidia Bastianich was honored by NYC with the title of Grand Marshall in this year's Columbus Day Parade on 5th Avenue.

The menu is seasonal and because our reservation was in Fall, we were treated to the regular Fall menu, plus a list of offerings made exclusively with Winter squashes as the main ingredient(have you ever heard of a Fall squash?). We started our meal with a special charcuterie offering that included Kobe beef cured in coffee, duck with juniper berries, several types of pork with savory curing agents and all were served with dried fruits and aged balsamic. While I ordered a warming and filling Delicata and barley soup from the special menu, my companion ordered the pear and fresh pecorino ravioli that is a staple on the Felidia menu, so creamy and delicious. All items are described on her website linked at the bottom of this review.

My entree was also selected from the squash menu and was a Blue Hubbard risotto with Humbolt Fog goat cheese and a smattering of watercress with a single demitasse spoonful of 25 year old balsamic which was ceremoniously opened and poured at the table. Why didn't I insist on licking the spoon? It was clearly one of life's lost moments. My dinner partner ordered lamb cooked two ways. His plate was layered with fresh steamed vegetable tidbits, two perfectly cooked French cut lamb chops and an osso buco of lamb, better know as the neck that had been braised to perfection. Mashed butternut squash finished the offering. On Christmas Eve 2005 we had an equally wonderful experience with a perfectly cooked roast duck, and the year before was every bit as good. Our starter at that time was foie gras cooked 3 ways. Unfortunately, that is no longer on the menu.

http://felidia.lidiasitaly.com/index2.htm

Patsy's

John's, move over, Patsy's get's my vote for a great Italian style pizza in NYC. The restaurant is family friendly, moderately priced, comfortable and considering there is no carpeting, you do not need to yell at your companions to have a conversation.

Their regular pizza is the star. The sauce is sweet as though every tomato in it was vine ripened. The mozzerella was fresh, rather than the aged mozzerella of typical restaurant pizzas. Together with the fresh basil leaves you have a little slice of heaven in your hands. The dinner rolls seemed freshly baked and had the texture of a sourdough although they were sweet.

If you are a meatball and spaghetti fan, you will not be disappointed by the veal meatballs; if that was beef, they fooled me completely. The cheese ravioli with pistachio sauce was lovely and delicate in taste. They were rich yet subtle in flavor. Click on the first photo for adresses.

Risottoria

I've peered into the window of this small, West Village restaurant on my last 3 trips to NYC. This time I finally crossed the threshold into the dining room and risotto bar. Small may be an understatement for this risotto, pizza and paninni emporium. The tables are no more than 1" apart and have to be moved completely to allow a diner to be seated at the banquette that lines the main wall. If truth be told, I resisted since the recipes as listed on the menu looked very non traditional. What a breath of fresh air. The sweetcorn and porcini risotto with truffle oil was delicious and I am now encouraged to start experimenting on risotti at home. The truffle oil was a bit heavy handed, but my dinner companion had no complaint when it was scooped from my plate and drizzled over his porcini risotto. Both risotti were competently executed with a generous amount of porcini in each dish.

The roasted beet salad with walnuts and truffle oil was less stellar. The combination of the earthy beet and earthier truffle oil sounded appealing, but in reality, it was overkill. The restaurant is located on Bleeker Street just a block south of John's Pizzaria.