Don Antonio's, New York

Last time we got together in the city with Petiteseour, she suggested going to Don Antonio's -- a midtown pizza place that her co-worker was a regular at.

The place was packed and we got seated in a cramped corner by the servers' station -- the first in a string of little annoyances that added up.  There was also red wine served chilled, plates piled carelessly in people's faces, grumpiness at requests like more bread, stuff taken away too quickly,

We started off with the homemade burrata, and a salad with pancetta, apples and gorgonzola.  Burrata was good (though not enough bread, nor balasamic);  salad was forgettable.

Then we order 3 pizzas for the 5 of us -- the Vesuvio, a stuffed pizza with fresh ricotta, mozzarella and salami inside, topped with red sauce, ham, more mozzarella, mushrooms, and artichokes;  the Pope's Pizza, with butternut squash, zucchini, roasted peppers, and smoked mozzarella;  and lastly was one of the day's special which sounded really good with gorgonzola dolce, a bunch of other cheeses, figs, and prosciutto, but was disappointing.  The figs were too sweet, the gorgonzola too strong. 

I liked the butternut squash and smokey flavor of the Pope's pie, but it was not a hit with Petiteseour.  Her favorite and Redneckhunter's favorite was the stuffed pie.  I liked the pizza, but Petiteseour thought it suffered from too much volume where the oven doors being constantly opened and closed and not retaining heat led to a less crisp crust. 

What really struck me to not recommend the place was really the service -- all around crappy.  We learned that Petiteseour's friend tended to go on his own and sit at the bar - clearly the way to go - table service was subpar.

Don Antonio's
309 West 50th Street
New York NY

Return to the Knife and Fork Inn, Atlantic City, NJ

One thing we like about traveling to Tampa is flying in and out of Atlantic City airport. Nothing normally brings us to A.C. so it's only in transit that we get to eat at the Knife and Fork Inn.  Now 100 years old, the joint was an old haunt of Nucky Thompson, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Vic Damone, and was in a scene in the movie "Atlantic City" with Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster. 

We ate in the bar and kept it simple splitting 4 appetizers -- crab and avocado terrine, Jersey tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad, tuna tartare, and kobe sliders topped with au poivre sauce, blue cbeese bechamel, and caramelized onions.

Knife and Fork Inn
3600 Atlantic Ave, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
Phone 609-344-1133

El Puerto Restaurant, Tampa, FL

 While we were in Tampa visiting Redneckhunter's brothers, we made a stop in Ybor City to pick up cigars before heading to the airport.  It took a while to find a cigar shop that was actually open at 11 am, despite any hours posted on shop windows - guess they're on Tampa time.  But when we did find one, Redneckhunter was very happy at his haul.  I decided to ask the proprietress where we should grab lunch - always happy to get a local's recommendation.

She directed us off the tourist-centric 7th Avenue, just a couple blocks away to 5th to the Argentine restaurant El Puerto.  The place was adjacent to another cigar store (where Redneckhunter picked up another 1/2 dozen cigars) and had chickens running around on the sidewalk outside -- both good signs. 

We got there a little before noon, and I'm glad we did because by 12:15 every seat in the place was taken, and we never would have made our flight in time!  Another good sign considering the restaurants on 7th Avenue had people out on the street trying to drum up lunch business.

I ordered the Chupe de Camarones - shrimp soup with potatoes, rice, shrimp, and a hard-boiled egg.  Redneckhunter got a lunch special - the Mini Parillada - Argentinean sausage, skirt steak, chicken breast, pork chop with a side of rice and beans.  I can't believe this was the mini version of the dish!  

A great find, which hopefully we'll return too next time we're visiting family!

 El Puerto Restaurant and Grill
1623 E. 5th Avenue
Tampa, FL 33605
(813) 248-8222

Good Enough to Eat, NYC

After rumors circulated in July about the closing of Upper West Side institution Good Enough to Eat, petitesoeur wanted to meet there for lunch before our girls' museum day.

So on a rainy Friday, we braved the line (perhaps others had heard the rumors too) and had a nice lunch -- classic sandwiches with fresh avocado, turkey, chicken, and comforting tomato soup.

And we were happy to find out from the owner that they weren't closing -- just moving!

And oh yes, pie, of course, pie. We shared a slice of blueberry (sorry no photo, it was eaten too quickly).

Good Enough to Eat
483 Amsterdam Av (at 83rd Street)
New York, NY 10024
(212) 496-0163

El Tule, Lambertville, NJ

Ever since Redneckhunter and I honeymooned in Peru, we've been disappointed with ceviche back home, until we heard rave reviews of El Tule from a friend of ours who had also been to Peru.

When you see El Tule from the street, there's no indication that it's a Peruvian restaurant.  The sign says Mexican Restaurant, with only a hand written chalkboard mentioning Peruvian cuisine.  Indeed they have 2 separate menus.

We were definitely there for Peruvian though, and quickly made them take away the Mexican menu.  We had even stopped at the liquor store to bring a six-pack of the native Cusqueña beer to the BYOB -- which the owner noticed and approved of.

There was a lot on the menu I wanted to try, but we had to make some choices.  So to get the most variety in fish, we opted for the ceviche trilogy and the tiradito trilogy.  Ceviche is marinated raw fish, so the texture gets firmer almost as if it were cooked -- the 3 varieties were Limeño (white fish marinated in lime, red onions, and cilantro), Mixto (with fish, shrimp, octopus, and calamari) - both served with those great big Peruvian corn kernels - both fresh and toasted and sweet potatoes - and Chifa (Chinese-influenced with pickled vegetables, black sesame, and peanuts).  Tiradito, instead, is not marinated -- just raw fish (like sashimi) with a sauce.  The three varieties were

yellow Peruvian pepper sauce, rocoto serrano cream, and Peruvian botija olive sauce. Everything was fresh and flavorful.  Because of our dinner companion we opted for just medium spiciness.  Even the red peppers were not too bad, not like the killer ones in Peru.

Then, so that we wouldn't overdose on fish, we also ordered a steak -- Bistec a lo Pobre, or "Poor man's steak."  We liked how the menu referred to its "beefy goodness" complemented by fried potatoes, fried plantains, fried egg, and rice.

 We were pretty full and thinking about passing on dessert when 3 words were uttered: "tres leches cake."  But since the other desserts sounded tempting too, we also got a flan and rice pudding.  Actually the tres leches was disappointing, so it's good we got the others.  The rice pudding was voted the favorite, followed by the flan, which had a nice caramelized, almost coffee flavor. 

El Tule
49 North Main Street
Lambertville, NJ 08530
(609) 773-0007

Stoudt's Brewery, Adamstown PA

I had a conference to go to in Gettysburg, PA, so on the way home we made a point to stop at Stoudt's Brewing Company and Black Angus Restaurant, which is right off Route I-76, between Reading and Lancaster PA.

The place is sort of in the middle of nowhere, but well worth the stop.  Redneckhunter was naturally excited about the beer.  He started out with a seasonal Kolsch. And later got a sampler of 4 -- the Triple (a Belgian Abbey-style ale), the Double Inda Pale Are, the Heifer-in-Wheat (their version of a hefeweizen), and a raspberry rhubarb beer (that I wanted to taste).

I was happy with housemade cheese from their own Wonderful Good Market.  We got three to try -- the Elderbritch, an aged cow's milk cheese (from local pasture grazed cattle) named after a PA Dutch prank in which grown-ups would send kids out to hunt for the elusive imaginary Elderbritch; the Ferdinand, a trappist monk-style cheese steeped in Stoudt's own Fat Dog Stout; and the best one -- the Fresh Eliana, a soft Italian-style cheese like a brined Mozzarella.  The cheeses were served with walnuts and a spiced apple chutney (which, though tasty on its own, was a little overpowering for the cheese).  The homemade bread, also from their own Wonderful Good Market was also great.

For our main dish, we shared the sausage platter for two with bratwurst, kielbasa, and weisswurst with sauerkraut, red cabbage, and German potato salad. 

 

The Stoudt family have a full complex on their 62-acre farm there with the brewing company next to the Black Angus Restaurant and Pub.  There's also a banquet hall for large events like weddings.  Behind that is the Wonderful Good Market and Black Angus Antique mini-mall, and across the street from the market is Stoudtburg Village -- modeled after a Bavarian hamlet, with shops and 60 residential units.  Must be a nice place to live if you're a big Stoudt's beer drinker to just stumble right home.

Stoudt's
Route 272 2800 North Reading Road
Adamstown Pa. 19501
717.484.4386

Saro Bistro, New York

Saro Bistro is a tiny place in the Lower East Side serving old world Balkan cuisine.  The restaurant is named after the chef's Bosnian grandmother Saro. The place is charming -- the wait staff like to tell you about the chef and his grandmother, and the type of rustic cuisine they serve. Perhaps they're even part of the family - they certainly don't seem like pros. 

We started off with a platter of cured meats, truffle cheese, alvar and tursija (which were pickled vegetables and fried corn balls - not sure which is which). 

For main dishes, we shared the kale pappardelle, which had both kale in the pasta and sauteed kale and snap peas and plenty of white truffle oil.  The fresh homemade pasta was really nice, and the greens were wonderful.  We also shared the rabbit duo -- smoke pork crusted loin, braised rabbit legs, braised red cabbage, and root vegetable puree with rabbit jus.  I also liked the homey dinnerware that everything was served on.

The food is simple, but delicious - I would definitely go back. 

Saro Bistro
102 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, NY
T: 212 505 7276

Café Integral, New York

Coffee fanatic Petitesoeur had read about this place on Serious Eats -- a one-man vertically-integrating coffee roasting operation run by 24-year-old César Martin Vega.  He imports the coffee (all from Nicaragua, where his family is from), roasts it, delivers it (on his bike!), and serves it cupped to order at his Café Integral, located within American Two Shot -- a clothing store in Soho.

When we arrived around 6-ish on a Friday, César was at the counter.  We think he was closing up, but he still cheerfully talked to us about the 3 varietals of coffee he had on offer.  He positively exudes a passion for coffee.  We opted for the Maragogype, which he brewed for us using a Sowden Softbrew.  The softbrew is like the French press in that it lets the water circulate evenly with the grounds - immersion brewing.  However, rather than pressing out the grounds, the softbrew has a much finer mesh sleeve, which you pull out of the pot leaving a cleaner brew than the press.  To me, it seemed a gentler process, much more like the delicate process of brewing tea.  You can read about more about why they like it at the Cafe.

Intrigued by the other blends we bought a sampler set.  He sells his coffee in 12-ounce Ball jars - which are refillable and more sustainable than paper bags.  For the sampler, you get three 4-ounce Ball jars - one of each varietal.  Petitesoeur took home two, and I took home the jar of Maracaturra, which was very a delicate coffee. I could drink it black (and I am not generally a black coffee drinker).

The softbrewed Maragogype we had at the Cafe was a nice smooth cup, and we loved chatting with César about his business -- so much so we ended up being late meeting our friend for dinner.  But it's absolutely fantastic what he's doing all on his own -- definitely an enterprise worth supporting!

Café Integral at American Two Shot
135 Grand Street
New York, New York, 10013