Via Carota in Late Summer
September 28, 2015 § Leave a comment
From an impromptu dinner at the Via Carota bar sometime in late summer:
Juicy, fresh heirloom tomatoes with bottarga and scallions; thinly sliced beef carpaccio with porcini mushrooms, sharp parmesan and black truffles
Garlic scapes with grilled polenta and pancetta, something that would be equally great for breakfast (maybe with the addition of a fried egg)
Two classics – the fried rabbit with rosemary and garlic and the pappardelle with wild boar ragu, a killer pasta dish
Beautifully set panna cotta with olive oil, sea salt and macerated sour cherries – a perfect dessert with great texture and not too much sugar
Our view from the beautiful bar
Here and there
June 6, 2015 § Leave a comment
Scotch eggs and steak tartare with Christine at Dead Rabbit, where she first told me she was going back to California 😦
A relaxing night in with Spunto
My first time at i Sodi with Artemis – an enormous steak with arugula and rabbit prepared porchetta-style with spinach
Enjoying a beautiful plateau and more oysters at John Dory with Christine and Laura
Trying a new dish of scallop and ham crudo at Momofuku Ssam Bar to celebrate Laura’s decision to attend Yale’s architecture grad program
An old reliable while dining solo – steak tartare and red wine at Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen
El Luchador – a new lunch option near the office with outdoor seating
Hot pot during a brief trip back to Edison, NJ
More solo dining while on staycation – the omakase meal at Blue Ribbon Sushi and lunch at the Lupa bar
Shots from the beautiful China: Through the Looking Glass exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (GO)
Pork belly appetizer from Han Dynasty
Christine’s good-bye, hosted by Artemis and one of my favorite wines of the night
Excited about the next few posts coming up…whenever I manage to get to them.
Recently…
December 17, 2014 § Leave a comment
Xi’an Famous Foods hand pulled noodles with pork for the 25th birthday, thanks to sister Laura (in Chinese culture, noodles symbolize a long and prosperous life when you eat them on your birthday)…
Another hearty dinner at Via Carota with Cindy, including a cheesy cauliflower gratin and a ridiculously large slab of pork belly with almost candy-like cipollini onions…
Cauliflower gratin and brussels sprouts with parmesan
Fried rabbit, Berkshire pork belly with cipollini onions and pappardelle with wild boar ragu
Willamette Valley pinot noir and Bluepoint oysters with a college friend at 8th Street Wine Cellar right by Washington Square Park…always so nice to catch up over some vino…
Belated birthday dinner at Do Hwa, an old favorite in the West Village for Korean food, with my sisters. We always order the same thing here – the salmon sashimi and avocado salad, seafood pancake and the spicy pork BBQ ssam…
Escaping the office for an impromptu pasta-filled dinner at Andrew Carmellini’s Bar Primi in the East Village…
roasted beets gorgonzola, walnut, frisee and truffled mushroom crostino
octopus alla griglia patate, red hots, oregano
bucatini lamb amatriciana; short rib raviolini tomato sauce, basil; fiore di carciofi smoked bacon, pecorino
Late night drinks and steak tartare with roasted tomato mayonnaise at Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar…
Via Carota
November 26, 2014 § Leave a comment
A first look at the new West Village, Italian-French bistro-esque eatery by Jody Williams of Buvette and Rita Sodi of I Sodi. The new place is definitely much roomier than Buvette, except they crammed as many tables into the space as they possibly could, and though the fluorescent lighting is a bit strange, the food, friendly and attentive service and casual, neighborhood atmosphere more than make up for it. We started with a bottle of reasonably priced, toasty and surprisingly, slightly funky, Montepulciano, the black kale + pork sausage (always good to get some roughage) and winter vegetable lasagna, which tasted like a delicious cross between a potato gratin and a lasagna and really hit the spot for a cooler night.
Black kale with pork sausage and winter vegetable lasagna
On the mains, we’d already heard great things about the chopped steak, or svizzerina, which Grub Street described as a bunless burger, but it seemed to both of us to be more like a beautifully seared beef tartare, basted in softened garlic (which you can also rub all over the grilled bread that comes to the table), rosemary and olive oil. Pure, unadulterated beef flavor and definitely straight up rare on the inside (as a warning to those who are a bit on the squeamish side). My mussels over grilled bread were just this side of over-salted but again, exactly what I was craving from the brisk weather. Comforting, saucy and a great balance of sweet and acid over lovely charred crusty bread. It was also refreshing to see that the entrees were decent sized portions and from what I remember of the menu, all under $20 (more in the $15-$16 range). I will definitely be going back to sample more of the pastas, vegetable dishes and a fried rabbit that looks ridiculously tasty.
Mussels with tomato, oregano and grilled bread; chopped steak and a bottle of Montepulciano
There’s no website for Via Carota (53 Grove Street between Bleecker and 7th Avenue) just yet and they don’t take reservations, but if you happen to be walking around the West Village on a cold winter night, it’s a great place to stop by, sit at the bar, order a couple dishes and just dig in.
Notes on Food 