NYC Tastes

The Flatiron is really becoming a great area for after work drinks.  Places like Barbounia, City Crab and  Beecher's have always offered great food and drink specials....now add Craftbar to the growing list. Stop in Monday through Friday from 4:00- 6:00 for a small but tasty happy hour.  There are two wines offered a night, the white being a dry, light Muscadet. For just $3 a peice the Oyster Po' Boy and Veal Ricotta Meatball Sliders are both an excellent choice. The oyster comes dusted with cornmeal and fried, topped with a crunchy vinegar slaw and a spicy old bay aioli. It's got a strong mix of salty and sour, perfect for me but not exactly Mr T's favorite. He preferred the Meatball...soft and moist, covered in a tangy sauce and a big slice of aged provolone.   It was a filling and homey bite that reminded me of the veal meatball sandwich from one of my Italian favorites Parm. Total cost for a a glass of wine and two apps an incredibly r...

Tom Colicchio's more casual offshoot of Craft has been in our neighborhood for years.  Aside from a glass of wine here and there it wasn't until last week that we actually stopped in for a full meal.  The place was absolutely packed on Saturday night but we were able to get two seats at the bar. We skimmed the drink menu and were both happily surprised to see some incredible beers...Cigar City Jai Alai, Westbrook Citrus Ninja and Imperial Biscotti Break Natale were just a few of the great beers on the list.  After settling into our drinks we began with an Autumn Squash and Kale Salad. I found this salad to be very strange.  Each piece of Kale was shredded into long lengthwise segments which made it really difficult to get a big satisfying bite.  This combined with a smattering of under cooked cubes of squash on top made for a most disappointing dish. The Skate fared better than the salad with a delicate brown butter sauce on top and crispy roasted brussel...

I love Top Chef. Let me say that again I Looove Top Chef!!! It is one of my favorite shows in the whole world. Which makes it odd that we have never gone to any of the Craft restaurants even though most of them are in my neighborhood and Tom Colicchio started all of them. So the other day I was heading home and walked past ' Wichcraft . I decided today was the day to try out some Tom cooking. I grabbed the menu and immediately decided on a fantastic sounding roast beef sandwich. As I approached the counter and ordered I was informed that the sandwich was actually no longer on the menu. Needles to say I was a little sad but I quickly changed my order to the slow roasted pork sandwich with coppa , pickled pepper relish & fontina on grilled country bread. The sandwich itself was pretty good. Everything was obviously very fresh and the melted cheese and pork went really well together. Unfortunately the pickled relish was way too spicy for me. It was covered in red pepper...