Friday, April 27, 2012

Top 3 Italian Restaurants & Top 3 Steakhouses

What are your three favorite Italian Restaurants and three favorite steakhouses?

Top 3 Italian Restaurants %26amp; Top 3 Steakhouses

Don%26#39;t get to eat much Italian, but I do love Carmine%26#39;s. Family style (aka LARGE portions) and good hearty fare. Can%26#39;t go wrong in this Time Square icon.

Steakhouses, you would start an argument here. I personally prefer Peter Luger%26#39;s (Brooklyn location for authenticity). Megu has good Kobe beef and the Palm is pretty good as well. I%26#39;d stay away from the chains (Morton%26#39;s, Ruth%26#39;s Chris).

Top 3 Italian Restaurants %26amp; Top 3 Steakhouses

The thing about Italian food in NYC is, IMHO, that now we have 3 or 4 ';styles'; that are very popular here:

1. Big, ';family style'; pasta orgies, with giant plates, giant personalities and giant tourist appeal. Carmine%26#39;s is an example.

2. Famous chefs and artisinal places where every yummy basil leaf and vine-ripened tomato probably arrived from a farm in Italy that morning. Not as pretentious as you think. Many are totally worth the wait, some are not.

3. ';Red sauce'; joints with red and white checkered table cloths, chianti and limited menus. The few that are left are mostly in Brooklyn and The Bronx. Might be a little dusty in the corners, but grandma%26#39;s recipes never fail.

4. Average places where you can%26#39;t go wrong. Not fancy, not pretentious, not famous and not outstanding. Just good ol%26#39; reliable places.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1302326鈥?/a> Best_Italian_restaurants_A_collection_of_threads-

Would you have any preferences?


Prefer either of these two types:

2. Famous chefs and artisinal places where every yummy basil leaf and vine-ripened tomato probably arrived from a farm in Italy that morning. Not as pretentious as you think. Many are totally worth the wait, some are not.

3. ';Red sauce'; joints with red and white checkered table cloths, chianti and limited menus. The few that are left are mostly in Brooklyn and The Bronx. Might be a little dusty in the corners, but grandma%26#39;s recipes never fail.


Sorry to bombard you with more info, but, hey, these things matter in NYC!!

I had a fantastic all-around steak experience at BLT STeak a few months ago. Really outstanding. From the popovers to the brussels sprouts (yes!) to teh desserts, everything was delectable. The service was lovely.

As was said, Peter Luger%26#39;s is a NYC steak institution, but you should be prepared. Cash only, and the 100-year-old building looks it. The gruff-but-lovable waiters serve you efficiently, but don%26#39;t want to be your friend. If you order anything but the steak as your main course, you might be mocked publicly. But the steaks certainly are amazing.

If you don%26#39;t want to ';put up with the hassle'; of old-school Luger%26#39;s attitude (which some people simply can not stand but, personally, has never bothered me at all), try one of Luger%26#39;s spin-offs:

Wolfgang%26#39;s (VERY NOISY due to beautiful low ceilings)

Ben %26amp; Jack%26#39;s (not our fave.)

...Um, any others survived? I know Blair Perrone closed...

The other famous NYC steakhouses are Keen%26#39;s (which has a bar menu), Del Frisco%26#39;, Craftsteak, Quality Meats, STK, Old Homestead...sheesh, there%26#39;s quite a herd.

menupages.com/restaurants.asp鈥?/a>


ha ha there%26#39;s quite a ';herd'; - cute.

The Palm is a chain, too.


The ';go-to'; red-sauce Italian restaurant that gets recommended here is Bamonte%26#39;s.

Honestly, I%26#39;m not familiar with the newer places, but here are two excellent threads with great recos on Italian restaurants:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k720005-鈥?/a> -Best_Italian_Place_in_NYC-

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k748524-鈥?/a>


I really like Po on Cornelia Street, and BLT Steak. Another great Italian, especially if you need something theater district is Baldoria.

Recently went to Porter House (steak) in the Time Warner Center - excellent. Pretty expensive. For more moderate in Time Warner Center - Landmarc is great! I%26#39;m happy there at the bar with a terrine of foie gras and a great glass of wine from their exhaustive selection.

Havent been yet, but Scarletti is the new hot Italian. The chef was formerly at 2 of my favorite Italian rests - Alto and L%26#39;Impero. Everything including just simple spaghetti with red sauce was amazing - and the reviews of Scarletti rave about this as well. Alto is still there and good, but L%26#39;Impero has a new name and I dont remember it.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;The Palm is a chain, too.

Yea, but I feel like it%26#39;s not as ';bad'; as the others?


Evening means Scarpetta I think.

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