Best Food in Rome and NYC
 

My husband and I are staying 8 days in Rome. We are looking forward to seeing the sights and eating in great restaurants. Anyone have suggestions for great places to eat, well-known or not, in any price range? We're staying in an apartment near the Trastavere. Also we're stopping on the way in and back in NYC. We'd love suggestions for new places there, we've been to most of the "standards".

last year we ate at Pietros and La Tartuga ("the turtle") Both were great meals with la tartuga (and its tangerine sorbet a big hit). If you do a search on this site you will find a lot of good reccomendations and the address for la tartuga (it is small and off an alley). hope this helps, itsv

Trastevere is full of nice restaurants. I like very much "La Fraschetta", but I would say most of them are really nice.

For NYC - what flavors? What budget? What neighborhoods?

Good morning, Vivien
Two suggestions, both of which we have used many times.
1. Rome-ristorante NINO, via Borgognona, 11, about a 1/4 block south of the bottom of the Spanish Steps, street to right, $$$ excellant Roman dishes especially the artichokes..
2. NYC-ristorante LA RIVISTA, 313 West
46th St., block west of Times Square, $$$ excellant Italian food, especialy the roman artichokes.
Reservations are a must for both...
Richard of Lagrange Park, IL..

Has anyone been to La Pergola in Rome. Heinz Beck is the chef and I believe that it is located in a Hilton Hotel.

My wife and sister in law will be in Rome next week and are interested in this place. They know it is expensive.

dickv2 - they will be staying near the Spanish steps - I will pass on your recomendation of NINO.

JoeG

JoeG, I second the recommendation for NINO. I always make it a point to dine there whenever I'm in Rome. Their "signature dish", cannoloni Nino is outstanding, as is their tortellini in brodo and their grilled eggplant.

BC

Hi
I'm a fan of the place that itsv referred to, but it's called
La Tartaruga (via del Monte della Farina 53)

New York--which standards?
Rachou LCB bistro got a great review in today's Times, it's a scaled down version (in formality, and price) of the classics from La Cote Basque.

Italian: Col Legno, charming, very simple trattoria in the East Villag(East 9th between 2nd and 3rd)

I Trulli, southern Italian cooking, and there's garden seating (fireplace in winter)
122 E 27, www.itrulli.com

Two favorites of mine near I Trulli are Craft (very pricey) and CraftBar (less so, but they don't take reservations)
Really great food.

And also near there (it's my neighborhood, so I'm partial) is of course Gramercy Tavern, one of the best.

About La Tartaruga at Via del Monte della Farina 53:

I ate there in May of this year. It is no longer the inexpensive and informal enoteca described in earlier posts; it is a fairly formal, relatively expensive and quite good restaurant.

<<<NYC restaurants>>>

It's good to see Col Legno mentioned here. I like it as well, and it's not bad. I've eaten once at Craftbar, but not at Craft, and that's also pretty good. Another decent, basic Italian restaurant is Celeste in the Upper West Side. (Craft is not Italian, but American.)

Moustache (two branches, one in the East and one in the West Village) offers good, reasonably priced middle Eastern fare (I think that the restaurant is owned by Iraqis).

Florent. 24h (I believe) French bistro in the meatpacking district. That whole area is now extremely hip.

Honmura An. Japanese soba noodles in SoHo. I ate there many years ago and just returned a couple of months back. I was surprised by how much better it seemed to me compared to Soba-Ya (neighbor of Col Legno, which is another one of my favorite spots for a basic meal). You do get what you pay for, and Honmura An is expensive, but not super-expensive.

Cafe Sabarksy. This is the restaurant in Neue Galerie (exhibiting Austrian art) and near the Met Museum. The food is also decent, and the desserts are quite decadent. Slightly expensive though. The decor resembles that of a Viennese cafe and you also get to see various posters in the Secession style.

Once in a while I eat at a relatively expensive restaurant or a rather hyped restaurant. Found Daniel, Tasting Room, and Suba all slightly disappointing (the food was decent, but not worth what I paid).

There're many, many options in NYC. Let us know what you're interested in and I'm sure we can tell you more.

Oh, and if you need basic brunch fare, a good option is Le Pain Quotidien. I still can't figure out if this is a French or a Belgian chain. They've a website. And I think that I've sort of unconsciously been to nearly all their restaurants in NYC (they've one in SoHo, one in the Village, at least two in the Upper East Side (one near the Met), one near Central Park West, one in midtown West, one by the ABC carpet store, etc.).

111op-
Funny you mentioned Soba-ya. I go there with my NY friends every time I visit them (like once every 2 months).

I haven't been to Pergola; believe it's a bit out of the way.
Near the Spanish Steps, the restaurant of Hotel de Russie is excellent. Even better when you go in summer and can eat outside.
On the Piazza del Poppolo, Dal Bolognese is good; full of Italian businessmen; do make a reservation.
I also liked Gusto, a modern Italian restaurant opposite the mausoleum of Emperor Augustus.

Le Pain Quotidien is Belgian, by the way.

I go to Soba-ya nearly every week for lunch during the weekend, actually. I'm a fairly loyal customer. They're not truly excellent but very good value for what you pay (that's what I find, anyway). Usually the restaurant is packed after 1pm.

When I first went to LPQ, I liked it but thought that this was another one of these faux French things (like Balthazar, Pastis, etc.), so I secretly detested this whole concept. I guess there's something comforting about knowing that it's actually a European/Belgian chain. :-) I remember looking it up once when I found one in Paris and wondered which came first.

Pain Quotidien is one of my favorite places for breakfast or lunch, in Antwerp and Brussels. I think it's a great concept.
And thank you for the NY info; going around Easter with my kids, so I'll keep this!

I hope that you enjoy your trip, Tulips. I eat out all the time and so keep a close eye on restaurants in the city. I've to admit, though, I've been less vigilant than before. For me the difficulty is always finding good value -- last night, I had three decent tapas dishes for $30 with tip and no drinks. Good food, but not really good value, in my view, so it's a place I won't be going back any time soon.

Let us know what you're interested in and I'm sure that we'll be able to tell you more.

Anything not French! We have enough of that at home in Belgium. I haven't been for a few years, but used to like places like Union Square Cafe. We're going with children age 11 and 12 who like Japanese food (Nobu is a favorite), steaks and burgers. Serendipity is on their list; is that just for desserts, or for dinner too?

That's funny. I've not been to Union Square Cafe or Nobu or Serendipity. (Actually the full name is Serendipity II or III or something like that, I think, for reasons I can't fathom.) I nearly made it in to Serendipity, but there was a long line. My friends decided to wait, and I just left. It's where the Cusack/Beckinsale (sp?) movie is set. I believe it's more of a dessert place, but I could be wrong.

I can't say that I'm an expert on steak houses. I've been to Peter Luger once and did find it good. Apparently Jean Georges has a new take on the steakhouse in the new Time Warner building. I believe that there was a review of this in the Times or in New York Magazine -- I seem to remember looking at the headline. It didn't sound too positive. You might want to look into it. Daniel Boulud has an expensive take on the burger in db bistro moderne (he's the chef of Daniel). The burger comes with foie gras, I think, and I forget how much it costs -- $40? I've not been but it was quite the rage when it opened, and it's probably still popular.

At one point there was a very good Philly cheese steak dive in the Village (sorry, I forget the street, but I believe it's across from the Japanese restaurant Cotan/Kotan). Try to search for it and see if you can find it. I remember reading testimonials there that claimed that people would come in from far away and buy loads. I did like it, and this was not expensive (maybe $5 or something)? I've not checked it out since I stopped taking German on Saturdays in NYU, so it's been a year or two.

Ok, here's an article from New York magazine about the Time Warner restaurants:

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/...646/index.html

I've not read it yet. There's a companion article about the steakhouse, which I also haven't read.

But a quote: "Jean-Georges Vongerichten?s V Steakhouse aims to reinvent the genre, but leaves you hungry for the real thing."

So in terms of steak houses, you may be wise to stick with the usual suspects. Peter Luger is always highly praised -- that's in Williamsburg though, but these days, that area is hipster central as well. (Or depending on your point of view, the whole scene is over -- the Times has had several articles on Williamsburg, and we all know what that means.)

Cheesesteak: BB Sandwich Bar -- voted Best of NY in 2002 in New York Magazine.

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/urban/gu...heesesteak.htm

Thanks! I'll look into that. If you ever need any Antwerp restaurant info, let me know.

Thanks -- I spent a night there in June. It might be a while for me to make it to that part of Europe again, but I hope to again.

I took a quick look at the NY Magazine article and found the following Jean Georges quote funny:

"Eighteen years in New York, and I never had a one-star review; I don?t even know how to do a one-star restaurant. The hardest part is the staff. Nobody wants to work in a one-star place. In a way, it?s easier, though,? he continues. ?When I got three stars at Spice Market, the expectation was so high and people said I had an affair with Amanda Hesser.? He laughs. ?Now they have no expectations.?

I don't know. I still haven't eaten at his main restaurant. A few years, I ate at Vong and hated it. I liked lunch at Jo Jo though. Spice Market sounds intriguing, but I can't imagine doling out $$$ for Asian street food.

Hi
From what I recall, Serendipity III got its names from its three original founding partners.

I didn't care for Vong either the one time I went there, I thought it very overpriced for what it was. I also once went to Jean Georges for dinner. It was good, but I didn't aspire to going back esp since there are so many other places that thrill me. I've never understood the consistently rave reviews of Union Square Cafe.

The four best, no-holds-barred, no-expense-spared, restaurants in NYC, imo if I had to name only four, are Alain Ducasse, La Grenouille, Gotham B&G, and Felidia.
One lauded place that I've yet to try is Nobu.

But at lower price rungs, there are also many wonderful places of good value and great food.

Interesting. Of your top four, elaine, I've only been to Gotham once for dinner. I remember a really great soup, but that was about all I remember of it. If I remember correctly, the restaurant became famous in the 1980s, and it seems to be popular again.

I don't know Felidia at all. Interesting. Will have to look into it.

But you're right that there're just tons of choices in NYC.

Two more suggestions: Salt, which I enjoyed, on MacDougal. Clinton Fresh Food (Wylie Dufresne has long since departed for WD 50, which I've not tried), but I just went there again recently and found it pretty good. I wouldn't call it excellent, but I think that dinner worked out to be about $60 (?) per head, so it wasn't bad given NYC prices. Salt should be around the same price. Both are new American, I suppose.

111op-
Since I used to visit my NY friends on weekends only, we would go to Soba-ya on Sat or Sundays. Yes, that place gets crowded quickly. We were usually the ones waiting outside the restaurant at 11:55am for the door to open at 12noon! Maybe we were fellow diners at some point in time!

Have you ever tried the Japanese take-out place across the street? Their okonomiyaki is pretty good.

We most probably were. My hours, though, are a little unpredictable -- I'd stagger in sometimes at 3:30 before the place closes at 4.

I've tried the take-out place you mentioned. I did like it, but I've not tried it again recently. The problem for me is that there's usually nowhere to sit around there.

If you're in NYC again and want to try ramen places, there's a new one on 1st Avenue and 10th Street. This is a slight variation on the usual fare -- the chef seems really interested with poached eggs, and the food seems pretty good (a slightly more upscale version of the Japanese original -- the chef was trained in some culinary school, I think). I forget what the name is though. There's also Rai Rai Ken on 10th between 1st and 2nd. Also Ony on 6th Avenue near West 4th.

Across from Rai Rai Ken is a dessert place/bar called Chickalicious. I was there once. Interesting desserts paired with wine.

I tend to eat at ramen establishments a lot because they're the cheapest and the food is filling.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Someone asked about the type of restaurant I was looking for in New York. Since we are somewhat familiar with the city, we have tried some of the more well-know places. We now seek to try places with exceptionally good food, mostly for the evening meal, and really enjoy the new or unusual.
Price is not a huge concern, but that said, we don't usually patronize the really high end unless it's a special occasion. I'd say about $100. for two (without alcohol) is about where we'd set the bar, the same goes for Rome.

For really unusualy Italian, I should have suggested Babbo, but it's really hard to get a reservation and it will come in at more than $100 for two.
Really exceptional though.

Felidia mentioned above was the first reataurant started and owned by chef
Lydia Bastianich, she's had cooking shows on tv. It's still hers I believe. Her son Joseph started Babbo with Mario Batali, also seen on tv. They own a number of restaurants, Otto is another one, at 1 Fifth Ave.

Less expensive than Babbo and Felidia is one I mentioned above, I Trulli, features the food of Apulia (southern Italy). Very pretty garden setting.

<<<More on NYC restaurants>>>

Hi vmcg, if you're interested in looking into something that's perhaps a little more bohemian and less formal, I think that you may be interested in the Lower East Side restaurants. As I mentioned, Clinton Fresh Food is still going strong. It's hard to say if it's worth $100 for two, but, if you've not tried it, I think it's worth a try.

If you're adventurous, you can even mention out to Brooklyn. The Smith Street area is now full of restaurants. You may have read that "The Grocery" managed to score a 28 rating in a recent Zagat survey (along with places like Daniel). I've yet to try it.

I think that these places will offer interesting dining experiences and allow you to see gentrification in action. I find it fascinating to see how these formerly dangerous (?) or abandoned neighborhoods are now revived. It seems like the sort of thing that will only happen in NYC. Also these restaurants are not super-expensive.

I've eaten at Otto (actually their gelato is interesting -- including one based on Olive Oil) and Babbo.

Another old standard is Po (on Cornelia) -- didn't Batali have something to do with this too?

I've also eaten in Lupa, which I found quite good too. I've not been in a couple of years though.