On Wednesday the skies cleared and the humidity dropped — a perfect day for Lupa. Mario Batali's Italian restaurant on the edge of Soho had been one of our regular New York lunch spots until a regrettable first-time dinner last June. With a bad tasted in our collective mouth, we gave Lupa a rest in September. We hoped to get our taste back today.
A bottle of Nebbiolo and the freshly baked focaccia with olive oil were familiar and comforting, as was the familiar lunch menu of antipasti, salumi, pasta and more.
We started with the marinated sardines from the antipasti menu and the special salumi. The sardines are always wonderful, and this time was no exception, with a chickpea and hummus preparation. The special housemade salumi was spicy and delicious.
Marinated Sardines
Special Salumi We keep returning to Lupa for the pasta. They're all homemade, and the quality and preparations are unsurpassed. We ordered two to share, the chitarra and the gnocchi. The beet infused chitarra combined with razor clams and roe. The noodles were silky smooth; the clams were plentiful and not too fishy; the roe were not too salty. The preparation was wonderful, with a red pepper kick.
RED Chitarra with Razor Clams & Bottarga We'd had Lupa's ricotta gnocchi in the past; twice in the past. I'm not a fan of gnocchi; they're usually a rubbery excuse for sauce. But Lupa's fluffy little pillows have an airy melt-in-your-mouth consistency. Combined with puréed sausage and fennel in a sweet tomato sauce, the dish was again exquisite.
Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage & Fennel We were not disappointed by our lunch at Lupa. It's back on our "regular" list — but not for dinner. From Lupa, we walked thirty minutes to the 9/11 Memorial Museum on Greenwich Street. Deep in the cavernous basement remains of the twin towers, the museum overflows with physical artifacts, videos and audio memories. It was exhausting — as it should be.
Our dinner reservation was at Gato on Lafayette in NoHo. We had dined at Bobby Flay's Spanish influenced restaurant the year before. The cavernous space, dominated by a four-sided rectangular bar, was noisy and inviting.
Gato takes advantage of its large bar by offering a "Bar" menu, along with its "Kitchen" menu. There were thirteen tapas-like small plates to choose from, which could be ordered in rounds of three. As appetizers, we started with two rounds of bar food. Instead of coming out in rounds, the second group came out almost immediately after the first, but it worked. The perfect small bites were inventive and flavorful, each dish standing on its own. A fun way to start.
Lamb Tenderloin, salsa verde ● Seared
Yellowtail, pickled fennel, peppadew peppers
Piquillo filled with raw tuna, saffron
sauce ● White Anchovies, crushed white beans We again ordered the vegetable paella to share, as we had on our first visit — and we'll keep ordering it. Served in a cast-iron skillet, the salty-but-not-too-salty dish is addictive from start to finish, and we indeed finished every bite.
Kale and Wild Mushroom Paella, crispy artichokes, egg We ended by sharing the tarragon chicken. The larger boneless breast and the smaller bone-in thigh were crisp skinned on the outside and moist on the inside The flavorful tarragon didn't overpower. The crispy potatoes mixed with goat cheese were decadently rich and delicious.
Tarragon Chicken, crispy potatoes, goat cheese, dandelion After our first visit to Gato, we suggested the restaurant was unlikely to become one of our "regulars." After our second visit, we've changed our mind. We will definitely return. After dinner, we walked four short blocks up Lafayette and turned left on 4th Street for one last glimpse of a New York institution — at least for myself and our two sons.
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