Our Monday lunch reservation was at Mario Batali's Lupa on the edge of Soho, one of our regular New York lunch spots. On this occasion the restaurant was packed with people and pumpkins.
A bottle of Nebbiolo and the ever present freshly baked focaccia with olive oil set the stage.
The antipasti and salumi menu offers a wide selection — the salumi is outstanding. But we were once again drawn to the wonderful marinated sardines, now sans raisins and pine nuts.
Marinated Sardines There were many new offerings on the pasta menu, including a seasonal pumpkin cappellacci. But we had enjoyed a stuffed pasta at The NoMad, so we opted to share the tagliatelle with mussels and then the casarecce with short rib ragù.
Black & White Tagliatelle with Mussels & Jalapeno
Casarecce with Short Rib Ragù We keep returning to Lupa for their pastas and these did not disappoint. The house made tagliatelle was pleasing to the eye and even more pleasing to the palate. The jalapeno did not overpower and gave the dish a perfect kick. Our waitress described the short rib ragù as "fall off the bone." We bet it did. It was delicious. Another lunch at Lupa; another perfect meal. Monday evening we had tickets to the first of our three plays — This Is Our Youth at the Cort Theatre.
The three character revival, starring Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Tavi Gevinson, is set in a studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the early 1980's. In his New York Times review, Ben Brantley muses, "You may remember that this is what it feels like to be on the cusp of adulthood with a whole wide world waiting to eat you up." I'm not sure that we did, but we both agreed with Brantley that the production was sensational. We have difficulty finding an after-theatre restaurant in the theatre district, so we made a reservation at The East Pole on 65th near Lexington, on the way "home" to our apartment. The stylish Upper East Side restaurant has been described as "veggies for the blazer set." Their amuse-bouche of grilled radishes certainly fit.
We shared a veggie starter, the whole roasted cauliflower. It was delicious, bathed in a cauliflower purée.
Whole roasted cauliflower, toasted hazelnuts, white wine raisins But since I wasn't wearing a "blazer," instead of veggie main courses, we ordered burgers and fries!
Bacon cheeseburger, duck fat chips, pickles If you offer a cheeseburger at a fancy Upper East Side restaurant, it had better be good. This one was sensational. The burger was amazingly tasty and perfectly prepared — charred on the outside and pink on the inside. The fries followed suit, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Even the pickle was great. A tip of the hat to Simon Katz for recommending this high class burger joint. We will definitely return. Copyright © 2014 TwoForTheTable.com |
