Our Wednesday lunch reservation was at another one of our favorites — Lupa. Our trip to the Big Apple is incomplete without a visit to Mario Batali's cozy space on the edge of Soho.
We know the drill at Lupa. We ordered a super Tuscan from the extensive list of Italian wines, we ordered three courses to share from the familiar food menu, and then we settled in with freshly baked focaccia and olive oil.
Our first course was the marinated sardines. They were addictively tangy, complimented by sweet raisins. A wonderful dish.
Marinated Sardines with golden raisins & pine nuts We shared a pasta special as our second course — homemade cavatelli, bathed in a spicy pork shoulder ragù, with red chili flakes for a bit of a kick. Lupa's pastas are always perfect, and this dish was no exception.
Cavatelli with pork shoulder ragù, mushrooms, carrots, onions, red chili flakes, pecorino We finished with unbelievably plump and tender sweetbreads. They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Crispy Sweetbreads with endive & fennel As with Le Bernardin, superlatives do not do Lupa justice. Again, you have to taste the food. After lunch, we did a bit of shopping and a lot of walking, before heading back to our apartment and then back downtown for the first of our three plays — The Realistic Jones at the Lyceum Theatre.
The four-person play had received rave reviews. Charles Isherwood extolled in The New York Times, "Plays as funny and moving, as wonderful and weird as The Realistic Joneses, by Will Eno, do not appear often on Broadway. Or ever, really." We beg to differ. The acting was very good, with a top notch cast of Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts and Marisa Tomei. But the script itself was lacking. It rambled for ninety minutes and then ended. Yes it was weird, and sometimes funny. But it was far from wonderful and even farther from moving. We do not recommend. The advantage of a ninety-minute one-act play starting at 7:30 is that it allowed us to make a 9:30 dinner reservation. After a short walk, we arrived at Betony on west 57th, between 5th and 6th avenues.
Betony had received excellent reviews. Its executive chef had worked under Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park for almost six years, rising to executive sous-chef. We were psyched. After the hostess had led us to a table in a somber, sparsely populated upstairs dining room, we were re-led to a nice table at the front near the bar. Betony's four column menu lists small bites, first courses, second courses and desserts. After ordering a Gamay from the hefty wine menu, we decided on a small bite and a first course, to be followed by two second courses. We started with the lobster rolls and the hot foie gras. The lobster rolls were reminiscent of fast-food crab Rangoon. The fried "rolls" were filled with crème fraîche, which vaguely tasted like lobster, but there was little if any actual lobster to be found. It was a terrible dish.
"Lobster Roll" - crème fraîche, salt & pepper The hot foie gras was stuffed with ham hocks, hidden by kale, and bathed in a ham hock consommé. One of Betony's signature dishes, it was good, but not great.
Foie Gras - ham hock, kale We shared two second courses, the poached lobster and the skate wing. The lobster was good, but nothing special. The "sautéed" skate wing had been dredged in flower. This overpowered the delicate fish and the even more delicate green curry sauce. It didn't work. It was fried fish without the tartar sauce.
Poached Lobster - asparagus, almond
Sautéed Skate Wing - cucumber, green curry We didn't have a bad meal at Betony, but it certainly didn't live up to our expectations or its reviews. As an offshoot of Eleven Madison Park, we found it "Ho-Humm" at best! Copyright © 2014 TwoForTheTable.com |
