Pre-Thanksgiving food and family at Il Casale

Last week, after taking the trusty Amtrak back home to Massachusetts, I joined my parents, the bro, and our cousins at Il Casale in Belmont for our annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Il Casale is the newest suburban outpost of chef Dante de Magistris, who owns well-respected restaurants in Cambridge and Boston. We entered the warm, classically rustic Italian dining room with high hopes.

Our experience was a bit mixed, although I tend to cut a restaurant some slack when presenting a large party (in this case, eight people). So first, the highlights: We started with some wine, a bottle of falanghina for the ladies and a bottle of chianti for the men (yes, it just coincidentally split that way. We all cringed a little too). To go with the wine was some peasant bread; rip off a chunk, slide it through some olive oil on your plate, and take a sip of wine. Ready to roll.

Bread? Check. Bottle? Check.

Before deciding on entrees, we ordered a variety of sfizi for the table. The plates were small and not inexpensive, but down to the plate they were incredibly high quality and flavorful. Special accolades are awarded to the burrata, a small, sunken hemisphere that looked something like panna cotta but tasted like pure cream, surprisingly enlivened by the candied pistachios on top.

Arancini, perfectly poppable

A duo of classic meatballs

The pate. We had one pate fan at the table... she got most of this.

Scampi-- shrimp and aioli and Boston lettuce

Cauliflower with some cheese and Caesar dressing

Beautiful, beautiful burrata

Then, the entrees. There were some successes here, too-- radiatore with tuna in a tomato sauce was praised, as was the daily special, radiatore with halibut (?). Dad and the bro enjoyed the veal saltimbocca, although the bro did admit he wished there were twice as much on the plate.

Radiatore with tuna and tomato

Special pasta with halibut

Saltimbocca

A side of garlicky spinach

But there were some misses, as well. My cousin HB's meal never arrived; his order apparently got lost in translation, either on the way to or in the kitchen. And my choice, a grilled pear salad with cheese instead of the prociutto, sported an unmistakably assertive porky flavor despite avowals that the dish was vegetarian. To our server's credit, she graciously swapped the salad for an arugula, fresh fig, pecorino, and balsamic concoction that was incredibly delicious. Once my second salad was on the table and HB's pasta had arrived, everyone was most certainly content.

The prosciutto version of the pear salad

My salad, 1.0

My salad, 2.0.

We had some serious dessert plans up our sleeves, so we passed on the dessert menu, paid the sizeable check, and moved on to the sweet portion of our night. Il Casale is definitely a high-quality restaurant, and it's an immensely enjoyable place to spend an evening. It's not cheap (nope, not cheap at all), and while our meal wasn't flawless, ultimately everything was quite tasty and clearly made with care. Had everything gone as planned, Il Casale would have been a four Offset Spatula shoo-in; as it is, it gets a solid three OSes with high potential to return.

Il Casale
50 Leonard Street, Belmont, MA
617-209-4942

LWF&D goes to St. Maarten, part II

So, I'm back in NYC, already missing the sunshine and sea. What better excuse to write a bit more on my travels to a tropical paradise last week?

Although St. Maarten/St. Martin is known for its food, I actually had mixed experiences with the restaurants there. As I wrote previously, Cafe de Paris and Serafina's were both delicious. One night I visited a restaurant (that will remain unnamed) that was highly acclaimed but only turned out to be "meh"; afterwards, however, I visited Carousel for some gelato, and THAT was delicious. Behold, my Rocher flavor, which tasted just like the hazelnut candy and had shards of crunchy wafer embedded within.

Just like in Italy

The next night I dined at Spiga, an Italian restaurant in Grand Case. This was the best restaurant of my trip, and as a spoiler I actually returned my final night on the island for a second go. The chef is Italian, his wife is the hostess, and the waitstaff is incredibly welcoming. I dined on the porch, absorbing the warm breezes and the amusing banter of a retiree couple seated at a table near me.

For my meal, I chose the "Caprese" appetizer, which was listed simply as "mozzarella, tomatoes, avocado, olives, capers, basil oil, and eggplant terrine, grape tomatoes, arugula, parmigiano." I was envisioning some sort of stacked dish, but what greeted me was much different, and much more creative.

So much variety

It turned out to be something like a tasting plate. There were two rounds of tomato, crowned with milky fresh mozzarella, pesto, capers, and olives. There was a fanned-out quarter of an avocado. A few fronds of arugula lay under a shower of shaved parmesan. And in the top-right corner was the eggplant terrine, which was an unattractive gray color but had an intriguing flavor that grew on me. The whole thing was fresh and tasty and very Italian.

And then there was dessert (of course!). I chose the "Chocolate" option: warm chocolate hazelnut cake, honey-vanilla gelato, and caramel sauce. It was a decadent, moist brownie-like chocolate cake, which was delicious (although to be honest I don't really remember much hazelnut flavor). The ice cream was cool and creamy and copious, all great things. And there was an interesting sesame tuile to crown things off. If you're craving chocolate cake with sweet vanilla ice cream, it was pretty much near perfect.

Decadence embodied

And so there you have it-- the food highlights of my vacation. Now it's off to Chicago for a conference, where perhaps I'll find a few more food highlights of a different sort...

Spiga
Esperance Road, Grand Case, St. Martin

Carousel
Welfare Road, Simpson Bay, St. Maarten

LWF&D goes back to colleeggggggeeee

A couple of weeks ago, I set out on the road for a bit of business travel. My first stop: State College, PA, home of Penn State. I arrived just prior to dinnertime and set off into the small college town area to find some eats.

It was Sunday, so many places were closed (!!! Guess we're not in NYC anymore, Toto...). After much menu browsing, I ended up at the Allen Street Grill; I was seated at a quaint table by the exceedingly friendly waitstaff. One order and five minutes later, and I was tucking in to an heirloom tomato stacker.

This concoction was described as: "Sliced organic heirloom tomatoes stacked with mozzarella then garnished with reduced balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh basil." What arrived was something like that. The tomatoes themselves were actually pretty fresh and flavorful, but there were a few oddities-- first, the whole thing was doused, absolutely marinating, in oil. It was drenched. Second, while basil was (logically) promised, cilantro was what actually arrived. Let's just say that while I'm not one of those infamous cilantro haters, cilantro did NOT go with this dish. Finally, the mozzarella was predictably bland; it was a good textural contrast to the tomatoes, but it didn't provide much flavor-wise.

Hefty portion, at least

No matter, because after paying the modest bill, I took off for the main event: the Penn State Creamery. It's buried deep within the enormous campus, but after consulting several maps, I finally made it to the creamery. And I was handsomely, handsomely rewarded. I tried several different flavors, but the ultimate winner was Coconut Chip: an incredibly creamy, nutty coconut base, with a few shards of fresh coconut here and there and an overwhelming backdrop of fresh sweet cream, all punctuated by crumbly ribbons of dark chocolate. It was heaven. And it was a huge portion for well under $3. Suffice it to say I clearly went to college at the wrong school.

I still dream about this

Next up: Williamsburg, PA...

Allen Street Grill
100 W. College Avenue
State College, PA
814-231-Grill (yes, really)

Penn State Creamery
Penn State
State College, PA

Travertine: All style, little substance

Trying to grab a few moments together while she's in town, SL and I met up for a very early dinner on Saturday evening at Travertine in Nolita.

It's located on a very desolate and unappealing stretch of Kenmare Street, and the open front of the restaurant let in all the street noise, including some vigorious honking wars. The restaurant itself is quite beautiful, sleek and well-put-together, with some of the nicest bathrooms I've seen in a while (seriously).

The service was a bit touch and go. I arrived first to our absurdly early reservation, and though faced with a 100% empty restaurant (literally. No other customers were there), I was directed to sit at the bar until the rest of my party arrived. Now, I don't want to get into a full-on discussion of this policy right now, but suffice it to say that when you're half of a party of two in a restaurant that consists entirely of empty seats, this just comes off as ridiculous. Furthermore, once SL arrived and we took our seats at a table, I brought along the glass of water I had been drinking at the bar and placed it on the table. When the runner came over to pour water, he poured water in the empty water glass that was part of the place setting in front of me and then stopped, puzzled at why there were three water glasses on the table. He stood for a good (awkward) several seconds, then pointed to my glass from the bar-- I explained that I'd taken it from the bar-- and then he (get this) MOVED my other water glass, which he had just poured, to put in front of SL, took away her empty glass, and left. Apparently you only get one glass per person. The whole thing was just awkward and vaguely hostile.

Anyway, on to the food. There's no bread basket, apparently, so we contented ourselves with the amuse bouche: a citrus and fennel salad. This was crisp and refreshing, if a little unwieldy to eat off the Asian spoon-- it's several bites' worth of veggies, and it basically just falls all over the table.

Kind of like Asian soup... right?

For entree, Sarah chose the pici with Italian sausage, fennel, and toasted breadcrumbs. The portion was small, but it looked like a hearty and well-composed dish.

Tiny bit of pasta for $18

My choice was the burrata. It was a medium-sized hunk of mozzarella, arranged almost like scrambled eggs on a plank of toasted white bread. There were some small cherry tomatoes scattered around along with a few shavings of zucchini and some tiny leaves of basil. Overall, the dish was enjoyable, with two quibbles: 1) it needed salt, and 2) the burrata actually wasn't that high quality. If I'm splurging for burrata, I expect the creamiest, melt-in-your-mouthiest mozzarella with a liquid cream center. This had no liquid cream center, and the cheese solids were of pretty standard quality. Again, it was tasty, but for $13 I expected just a bit more oomph.

Cheesy... just not the cheesiEST

We went elsewhere for dessert, so we paid the bill and left the still-almost-empty dining room. On balance, I think our experience at Travertine was thoroughly average-- the food was good but not spectacular, and the prices are pretty high for the small portions. The dining room is beautiful, but the restaurant's surroundings are bleak. It's kind of a toss-up as to whether I'd go back-- I'm hovering between two and three Offset Spatulas, but I think Travertine lands on the two side. There are better options in the area, especially given value for money.

Travertine
19 Kenmare Street, at Elizabeth Street
212-966-1810

Aureole is a full of (pleasant) surprises

The other day, Mom was in town for business, and so the two of us met up for an early dinner. The destination? The bar room at Aureole, a place I've been for drinks but never for a full meal. So here we were. Having a full meal. How did it go? Stay tuned!

The space itself is lovely-- high ceilings, fancy but not uptight. We had a table at the picture windows overlooking 42nd Street, a great place for people-watching if ever there were one.

To start, I asked if they did half-glasses of wine-- and to my surprise, they agreed to accommodate me! Hooray! So another addition to the Wine Century Club was tallied: a half-glass of Rousanne from California. It was tangy and actually surprisingly tasty and really with the food to come.

It went really well with the bread, which was another fantastic surprise. It looked like nothing special, but it was lightly toasted and just a bit better than normal (high-quality) white bread, especially with the rich butter. Yum, yum, yum.

Jaunty slices

For her entree, Mom went with the Herb Crusted Scottish Salmon, with Green Asparagus, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, and Warm White Gazpacho Sauce. The portion here was on the smaller side (especially for $32), but the fish earned a rave from my mom.

Prettily plated

My choice was the Farmed Baby Greens Salad, with Buffalo Mozzarella, Summer Vegetables, and White Balsamic Vinaigrette. Paradoxically, this was a huge portion and a great value at $9. The lettuce was fresh and tasty, coated with a really flavorful dressing. The other vegetables were a bit fewer and farther between than the lettuce-- a green pea here, a piece of corn there, a cherry tomato half in between. The stars of the show were the tiny little buttered croutons, which added crunch and a bit of richness. Disappointingly, the buffalo mozzarella was in very short supply and wasn't the best mozz I've ever had, but it allowed me to save room for dessert.

Veritable mountain of lettuce

And at dessert, we really splurged. Mom got the Dark Chocolate Torte with Ricotta Sorbet, Scotch Butterscotch, and Malt. Two small but powerful squares of incredibly rich chocolate cake paired beautifully with the light and creamy ricotta sorbet, an incredible flavor I could eat by the gallon. The caramel was both tasty and pretty. Overall, it was the perfect dessert for a chocoholic.

Concentric circles of awesomeness

I requested the Profiterole off the pre-theater menu. Inside the large puff pastry were scoops of Malted Milk Chocolate ice cream and a bit of whipped cream; the whole shebang was anchored to the plate with orange marmalade, candied orange peel included. The chocolate glaze on top of the pastry was almost the best part, kind of like the frosting on a donut. The whole thing was messy and decadent and perfect.

Unassuming... but lots of goodies inside

Oh, but of course, there were also complimentary churros for the table. These tiny sticks were deep fried and coated in cinnamon sugar, perfect foils for the little dish of chocolate sauce that I had to resist downing like a shot. A delicious, delicious shot.

BONUS!!

Aureole, you surprised me. Your food was good-- really good-- particularly the desserts. And your service was friendly; your bar room comfortable. And I ended up getting a big salad, a huge dessert, some churros, and a half-glass of wine that was more like a full glass for only about $23. So for me at least, Aureole was an unexpectedly good value. For that, it earns a solid high four Offset Spatula rating. I'd like to come back and eat in the dining room; I suspect it would earn the upgrade to the coveted five OS level.

Aureole
135 W. 42nd Street, between 6th Avenue and Broadway
212-319-1660

Wrestlin' bread at Zucca

Two weekends ago, AS's friends were in town and wanted to explore the West Village on Saturday night. So the six of us set out into the Village wilds to start the evening with some Italian food.

We ended up at Zucca Trattoria, a relatively nondescript Italian joint right in Sheridan Square. And I'll tell you right up front: Zucca is the quintessential middling Italian place that fills the gaping maw between Olive Garden and Babbo in the Italian spectrum. Was it great? No. Was it reasonably priced? Yes. Was it filling? Yes. Done and done.

We started with some bread and apps. The bread was fine, with my only gripe being the presentation style: They had only cut the pieces about halfway down in the loaf, and with the incredibly, persistently thick bottom crust to this bread, extracting one piece from the remaining slices involved a personal wrestling match filled with contorting arms and flying elbows. Watch our for your neighbors' water glasses. I'm just sayin'.

Look at how thick the bottom crust is!! Fo' real, yo!

The apps were a fried calamari and a burrata with mortadella. Both were well-received, although I'll say the calamari looked a little paltry when it hit the table. The burrata came with some large and flaccid roasted red peppers and some tomato slices, along with a liberal sprinkling of dried oregano.

They really liked the limp radicchio garnish theme...

Mmmm, burratta

How were the entrees? Also along the same lines-- not bad, but not exceptional. There was a seafood pasta special; a veal scaloppine; an orecchiette with broccoli rabe; a ravioli; and a fusilli with some other delights mixed in. I went for the beet salad with asparagus and ricotta salata. My thoughts: though multicolor beets were promised, the only beets that populated the plate were red; the asparagus looked like overcooked green beans; and the cheese was cheese. Did it taste fine? Sure. Was it worth returning for? No.

Special seafood pasta. Not THAT special.

Scaloppine, with mysterious fried log

Tri-color orecchiette-- the only time I've ever seen that

Ravioli 'n' sauce

More limp radicchio garnish

My beets

So, we did what we could, filled our bellies, and made our way out onto the streets to continue (start) our night. It's worth noting that the staff at Zucca was quite friendly, and they accommodated our large party on short notice on a Saturday night with grace and aplomb. Still, Zucca is the epitome of the two Offset Spatula restaurant. While it wasn't bad, in a city such as New York filled with delicious Italian places, I wouldn't necessarily return.

Zucca
95 Seventh Avenue
212-255-1980

Widening our wine bar horizons at Bocca di Bacco

Last week, on a particularly humid and balmy evening, AS and I ventured out for some food and drink. We ended up at Bocca di Bacco, a wine bar on Ninth Avenue that for some reason I've always passed by before. After a heated discussion among the hostesses, we were led to a table in the back, by the kitchen door (boo) but in the most AC-heavy part of the restaurant (yay... given the oppressive humidity and the balmy temps in the rest of the restaurant).

A bottle of wine was procured, and we started in on the bread that was placed on our table. Torn pieces of that common all-purpose bread often found around town-- flaky crust, chewy pull-apart insides-- paired well with the olive oil and started soaking up the wine immediately.

Rustic

AS started with the Fava Fagioli soup. Billed as a creamy fava bean, spinach, mushroom, and goat cheese soup, this turned out to be both very hot and very good. The highlight was a little exploding sphere of goat cheese hidden in the depths of the bowl, waiting to explode in the mouth (careful).

Green soup

For an entree, I went with the arugula & taleggio salad, paired with walnuts and a honey mustard sauce/dressing. This was quite good-- the dressing was surprisingly sweet, but with the big chunks of taleggio and the crunch of the walnuts, the whole thing worked pretty well. I would have liked an extra sprinkle of salt over the whole thing, but that's just me. I like salt.

Cheese and greens

AS went for the classic tomato and mozzarella. This came beautifully plated, clearly composed with more care than was required for what's usually a throwaway appetizer. The tomatoes were fresh, the pesto vibrant, and the mozzarella was high quality and admirably creamy. One of the better capreses I've come across, certainly.

A beauty

We debated dessert but ultimately went with Cold Stone, a few blocks away. Turns out Bocca di Bacco was a pleasant surprise-- the atmosphere is rustic but comfortable, and the food is a bit better and a bit more upscale than you'd expect. I'd certainly go back, especially since there are a few other dishes on the menu that I'd like to try, so I'd say Bocca di Bacco earns its four Offset Spatulas handily.

Bocca di Bacco
828 Ninth Avenue, between 54th and 55th Streets
212-265-8828