The American Airlines planes keep getting smaller, but our early morning flight to LaGuardia was uneventful. We walked out of the airport into spectacular fall weather and taxied to our Upper East Side apartment. After unpacking, we took an exhilarating walk to our traditional first Big Apple lunch at Alfredo 100, on 54th street, between Madison and 5th Avenue.
We took our usual table in the bar area, ordered two classes of Chianti and two dishes to share, and toasted our upcoming week of glutony.
As per usual, we started with the grilled octopus and calamari salad; the tender seafood and the lightly dressed frisée were as good as ever.
Polipo e calamari alla griglia — grilled octopus, calamari, Italian frisée, red onions, blood oranges Also as per usual, we shared the pappardelle, with its al dente ribbon noodles and rich gooey cheese; the perfect comfort food for a perfect fall day.
Pappardelle mozzarella e pomodoro — large homemade noodles, mozzarella, tomato-cream sauce Our dinner reservation was at Little Park, Andrew Carmellini’s latest restaurant, inside the Smyth hotel in TriBeCa.
Little Park is the Smyth "coffee shop." The decor is Howard Johnson, with a monotone brown replacing the orange — and without the fried clams.
Little Park is a seasonal restaurant highlighting ingredients from local purveyors. Its menu of small and mid-sized plates, featuring organic vegetables, free-range poultry, grass-fed meats, line-caught fish and heirloom grains, are meant to be shared. So we started by sharing the "fall menu" squash tart and cipollini onions.
Squash Tart — brown butter, sage, maple vinaigrette
Cipollini Onions — bone marrow stuffing, green peppercorn, quinoa Both dishes were unique, enhanced by their fresh ingredients. The onions, with surrounding quinoa, were addictive. A good start. We moved on to the arctic char and Long Island duck.
Arctic Char — melon, pickled grape, jalapeño
Long Island Duck — turnips, cherries, sausage The char preparation was perfect, with its crispy skin and jalapeño kick. The meaty duck, with its layer of fat, was sumptuous. Both dishes were excellent. Little Park was moderately priced; with a bottle of wine, our check was comparable to what we pay in St. Louis most Saturday nights. And if Little Park were in St. Louis, we would return many Saturday nights, season after season. Copyright © 2015 TwoForTheTable.com |
