Carmine's in Times Square....Now that's Italian

If you have never been to Carmine's in New York City, then you haven't really experienced the pinnacle of family style Italian food.   This place is an absolute Landmark in Times Square.  We decided on a whim on a Saturday to battle New York City at Christmas time to see the tree and sites.

I have been to Carmine's before and know it to be a madhouse to get a seat.  So I thought I was smart and called at 9:30 am to make a reservation for that night.  I thought since we were seeing a show, an early dinner of between 4:30 and 5:00 would be a possibility but I was dead wrong.  The earliest reservation they had available was 11:00 am.  So we had done a trick once before and it had paid off this time.  We walked in and looked at the bar area.  The bar area is fairly large but packed. There are many bar stools along the very long bar and about 10 tall small tables.  These tables are really designed to hold drinks while waiting for a table but for many it could hold dinner.  The trick is all placement and timing.  First move is to scope out a table that has people eating on it.  The tables with drinks could last forever.  But with food, you know you can see where they are at in their meal.  These tables are meant for eating and leaving.  you won't find people sitting there for a long time talking because it's really loud and pushy.  So once you find your table or tables with food, you see where they are at with their meal or blatantly ask.  We scoped two and then asked both of them. One of them was not leaving anytime soon and the other was finished.  Cool, no one else laid claim to it as it would have been identified at first look.  It's New York remember?  I'm Waitin' Here!!!!

The table cleared out maybe 5 minutes after talking so the timing couldn't have been better.  A reservation wouldn't have gotten seated faster.   All menu's are on the wall.  All your classic Italian dishes are served from Baked Clams Oreganata, Hot Antipasto to all the pasta you can think of.  All the dishes are meant to be shared.  Now when I say shared, a single dish can feed probably six.  So be ready to eat.  We started off with the Carmine's salad which was a mix of fresh greens, olives, pepperoncini's, and dried tomatoes in a light vinaigrette. You can't go wrong with this other than getting scolded by some real Italians saying you have that at the end of the meal.

We also got the Fried Calamari since it is a favorite of my kids.  The batter it was fried in was not a super heavy fried batter and the marinara sauce for dipping was delicious.

For our main dishes we wanted one pasta dish and one meat dish.  So for the pasta dish, we saw the Lasagna from the previous diners and it looked amazing.   So we decided to order that.  Normally we get just meatballs and spaghetti or something like that so this was a change for us.  Again the portion is huge.  We only finished 1/2 of it but it was really good.  For Lasagna Lovers, this is a winner.  Again the Marinara sauce that is used is so tasty.  Bits of oregano and spices float in the gravy as it is layered in soft noodles, Ricotta Cheese and Chopped meat.

The meat dish we chose was Chicken Parmesan.  A staple in Italian cooking.  Plus again we didn't want to get too adventurous with the kids because if they didn't eat it, we didn't have room or space for another dish. Again, this dish was done so well.  Carmine's takes the tender Chicken Breast and pounds it so thin that it must cook through on contact.  Topped with the Marinara sauce and Mozzarella Cheese makes this dish complete.  I highly recommend it.

Eating in the bar area comes quick so we were done in less than 40 minutes from when we sat down.  No sooner were sitting back did we feel a tap on the shoulder.  A woman was there asking if we were finishing soon.  And the cycle starts over again.

Carmine's has two location.  One on 44th street off Broadway and the other is on Broadway uptown near 91st street.  For a loud fun family style meal, you won't go wrong at Carmine's.

For More Information please visit them on the web at www.carminesnyc.com/

Baldo's Lunch in Brownstown Michigan

As I mentioned in previous entries that I travel for my work.  One of the things I try my best to do is to find non chain restaurants.  Not that I'm knocking chains.  For lunch or a quick bite or even a meeting place, it's something familiar to people and for that they are great.  But I like to find non chain places to go to when I can.  Especially when I'm on the road.

One of the places that I frequent is Michigan.  Motor City. Personally I love the Detroit Metro area.  It has so much to offer and it's a real shame it gets a bad wrap.

On my last trip out there, I visited with a customer of mine with my father and we all went out to lunch to a place called Baldo's Restaurant.  They seem to specialize in Ribs but we didn't get a chance to try them.  The restaurant has a diner or expanded Pizzaria type of atmosphere.  It is well lit and the place is very comfortable.  I think it would be a great place for a large group or a meal among friends.  They have a large menu that has everything from Italian options to steaks and BBQ.

For lunch the four of us started out with a cup of Minestrone soup which was very hearty.  Nice vegetable broth and hearty chunks of veggies and beans.  Next we all split an antipasto salad that had lots of meats and cheeses on top of it which was great.

My father got for his main lunch spaghetti and clam sauce which was real good.  The sauce was a light tomato sauce with clams.  Not as garlicky as I would like it but a good dish.  The other three including myself, shared a pasta and sausage dish.  The light tomato sauce carried over onto this dish that was like my father's but the real key to the dish was the sausage. It was a real good Italian Sausage that had lots of garlic and fennel.  The combination of the sausage and the fresh sauteed peppers really made this dish a winner.

If you are looking for a good place to eat for lunch or dinner and want something casual, look for Baldo's.  It's located in Brownstown MI, which is just south of Taylor MI near the airport.

For more information about Baldo's please visit them on the web at www.baldos.com

leFarm is again leFabulous

Saturday night after Thanksgiving was a special one for me this year.  I usually don't like to make a big deal over my birthday other than I want a good meal.  And a good meal was had by the hands of the teamwork at leFarm.  Rachel Golan, who is the wife of Chef Bill Taibe managed to squeeze us in for Saturday night.  Since the opening 2 months ago, the place has been very busy.

We were greeted by Rachel who told us our table would be ready in a moment, which gave us an opportunity to sneak into the back and give a hello to Chef Bill.  We were seated and offered the choice of still or sparking water both of which are filtered right in house.  We were looking at the dishes that were leaving the kitchen as we sat there trying to decide what to get.  Everything as usual looked amazing.

Anita, my wife, started out with Marinated Beets, Fuji Apples and Womanchego cheese salad.  The beets are selected from Holebrook farm in Bethel CT and were the highlight of the dish.  Both red and white-striped beets were served and they were delicious.

I on the other hand had a hard time deciding what to eat.  Since I have tried many of Chef Bill's dishes I wanted to re-live some of them as well as try something new.  So I decided to re-live the appetizer of the Roasted Bone Marrow.  As before it was a large bone cut lengthwise and roasted to soften up the marrow till its at a spreadable texture.  It was then topped off with parsley and shallots and served with Parsley Mustard. The dish is served with olive bread that you could make a meal of alone with a bit of butter.  But this bread had other plans for this evening.

For the Entree's Anita had gotten another appetizer as it struck her eye.  Soft Polenta and salted Codfish came out in a bowl with sauteed scallions and topped with freshly shaved pecorino cheese.  The dish also had a soft boiled egg mixed in which really smoothed out the texture.

When I asked my server Frank, who has been with Chef Bill from restaurants in the past, what he thought about the lambsteak, he had a good answer for me.  He said, its not something I recommend to everyone since its not a popular cut of Lamb here.  The problem that some people have with this particular cut of lamb is that there are a few large bones located throughout the steak that you have to surgically negotiate through.  Since he knew I was a bit of a foodie, I would personally have no problem with the dish.  And he was right on all accounts.  The bones were located differently than you would find on let's say a bone in Ribeye which runs along one side of the steak.  But what you get in return is more flavor in the steak due to the fact that you have more bone to meat surface.   It just needs a little extra time with the knife but when your out to a meal at Lefarm, your not in a rush.  The Lambsteak is served upon a bed of soft Polenta and speckled with roasted broccoli.  The dish is pulled together with the sofrito which is a sauce traditionally made with small diced onions and tomatoes.  If you like lamb, I highly suggest getting this dish.

Usually I stop there when I go out for a meal but when Frank listed off the desserts, one of them sounded so unique I had to try it.  I have had Chef Bill's cornbread before but not like this.  He served the cornbread with drizzled Honey and a quenelle of maple cayenne pepper ice cream and topped with Crumbled candied bacon.  WOW is what I thought and WOW is what I said after I ate the whole thing.  It was amazing.  The cornbread is great on it's own but with the ice cream and candied bacon it just made it a savory dessert that I would get anytime.  I have heard of candied bacon before but getting to try it was a real treat.  It has the extreme flavor contrasts that you get with a chocolate covered pretzel.  Extreme salt and extreme sweet.  It worked great with this dish since it accented the cornbread rather than taking it over.

Anita had just experimented with pumpkin cheesecake over the Thanksgiving holiday and it came out great.  Since it was her first foray into this type of cheesecake, she was anxious to see what others tasted like and ordered a slice this evening.  The flavor of the cheesecake was very good and it was a lighter fluffier consistency.  It was served with Maple ice cream and a nice smear of nutella.

Again, another fabulous meal at leFarm.  If you haven't tried it yet, you have to get in there.  Make sure you check them out on the web at www.lefarmwestport.com
Also Check them out on facebook where you will see specials of family style dinners.  This is where they put all the tables together and for a nominal fee you get a constant flow of food and wine mixed with people from all over.

Smoke Em If You Got Em..........Delaware Delicacies.. in Hancock, NY

Down a long dirt road, past the transfer station off of Route 17 in Hancock NY, lies the home, smokehouse, and store of Ray Turner.  I have seen the signs for Delaware Delicacies for years while traveling the road from our place to my Mother-in-law's home for some time now.  I have always wanted to know more about this place and finally remembered a few months ago to look it up.  It was worth reading about this place but even better going there to see it.

You literally are in the middle of no where when you drive on the dirt road to this place.  The signs along the way comfort you because without them, you would turn around because you wouldn't know what exists at the end of the road.

Inside this small building is a large refrigerator, 6' display case and a smoker out back.  Ray greets me and I feel like I'm talking to someone who tried out for the ZZ Top Band and decided to go another route in life.  All over the walls are pictures of Ray with fish, eel, birds and many friends.  Out in back of his house lies the Delaware River where Ray gets a lot of his product.  His main product is river eels and trout that he catches himself with nets.  I enjoy eel and have for years only had it done from Japanese restaurants so I was curious to know what smoked eel tastes like.  But it looks like I'll have to wait another day as Ray informed me that all the local restaurants cleared out his entire supply earlier this morning.   So this leads me to believe, this guy has something good going here.  He showed me his display case that housed a bunch of smoked delicacies.  Two types of salmon, both hot and cold smoked.  He had a good amount of smoked Cornish game hens, and small chickens.  His trout was smoked whole with skin on.  I asked him why since I have had smoked trout before and it was the filet's only.  He said when you do it with the skin off, the outside gets brown, which is true but doesn't bother me.  He says when you do it with the skin on, it stays nice and white.  He also had whole slabs of bacon that he gets from a local source.  Ray said they make it so good, there is no reason to do anything else but to eat it or sell it.  So he does both.  Then on the top rack are two things I have heard about from previous blogs.  Shrimp and cheese.  The shrimp are hot smoked with the shell on and the cheese was of the Mozzarella variety.  He says the cheese takes a while to make.  36 hours of smoking at a temperature of 65 degrees.  I don't think I can get my smoker that low.  But would love to try it one day.

The kids were getting antsy and I had to make my selection.  I could have stayed all day and talked to Ray as he is a real interesting guy to meet.  So I decided on a whole slab of Bacon (duh, i'm gonna pass on that) smoked Mozzarella, two whole trout, a dozen shrimp, and a jar of Pennsylvania sauerkraut.

When I got home, I had to try the shrimp.  Well I had to try two :-).  The shrimp are smoked with the shell on and after peeling them, the smoky smell emerges.  The flesh was firm and delicious but the outside in certain spots were a little soft.  The taste was very smoky and if you have ever had smoked shellfish before, it has a unique taste to it. Its very strong and briny which I know is not for everyone.  I like fishy fish and seafood so for me it is good.  But I don't see this as tops for everyone's list.  It has inspired me to try to smoke shell fish in the future.  I will try to smoke shrimp both with shells and without.  I have also eaten Sea Scallops that were smoked and they had the same strong smell and taste but I loved it.  I will try it one day and report back to you.

In the meantime, next time your driving through Hancock NY, it's worth a trip to see Ray.   He told me to call ahead when I'm passing through to see if he has eel in stock.  I have already added him to my phone numbers.

Ray has no presence online other than blogs like mine.  So if you want to see him, here is how you do it.

Delaware Delicacies Smoke House
420 Rhodes Rd.
Hancock NY 13783
607-637-4443

He is off of route 17 at Exit 87A

Via Sforza Westport......A little bit of Tuscany in Fairfield County CT

I was very happy to have gotten home from my trip and had an opportunity to go to dinner with just Anita, my wife.  We decided to to go to Via Sforza in Westport CT which is located on the Westport Norwalk Border.   The outside looks like something you would see in Tuscany Italy (not that I've been there but I've seen photos) with it's round stone facade and rustic wood door.  Inside when you walk in, your greeted by the Brick oven that is roaring to cook all the pizzas that are so popular.

Since we had pizza earlier, we decided to get some of the other things on the menu.  Anita had started with the Insalate Principe which was an elegant mix of Endive, Arugula and Radicchio.  The dressing was bright and refreshing like the rest of the salad.  A great way to start a meal.

I am a big fan of seafood and love Mussels.  So I ordered the Cozze in Brodo which is Mussels with white wine sauce. The sauce had a good amount of garlic and parsley and it was excellent with the rustic country bread that the restaurant served to mop up the sauce.  I think I returned the bowl dry.

For the Entree's Anita ordered Pappardelle il Forno, which were wide broad noodles that were served with Porcini mushrooms, sausage, peas, in a light creamy tomato sauce.   When it cam out I personally thought it looked heavy but after tasting it, it had a nice balance.  The sausage had a nice bite to it which went great with the sauce.

I ordered the Pasta a la Vongole.  Which is Pasta with Clam Sauce.   Its a personal weakness for me.  I love Linguini and white clam sauce and have a hard time resisting it when I see it on the menu.  Plus I have had it there before and it's real good.   The dish comes with capallini noodles which i'm not a fan of.  I requested linguini and they had no problem with the change.  There was lots of garlic in the sauce and the clams were cooked to perfection.   A great meal indeed.

Via Sforza can be found on the Post Road in Westport on the Norwalk border.   You can get more information here as well:  www.viasforza.com

MIX in Las Vegas.....The Vegas trip ends with the Big Bang

MIX is located on top of the The Hotel at Mandalay Bay Casino and is the Genius that has been created by famed French Chef Alain Ducasse.  I personally have gone here about 5 times and it never gets old.  First if you come here you have to stop off at the lounge to get a drink.  The Lounge has a view that is next to none of Las Vegas.  From this angle you can see the entire strip all the way up to Freemont St.  After getting a drink, and I know this will sound weird, go to the bathroom.   The Bathrooms have floor to ceiling windows that allows you to do your business like your sitting on the edge of building.  If your constipated for some the view will scare the crap out of you.  And what a better place right?  Come on, you knew it was coming.

When you walk from the Lounge to the dining room you pass the  very large open kitchen where you can see the magic happening.  Then you come to the dining room, you see that the room is surrounded in almost floor to ceiling strings of glass balls of different size and shape creating the look as if your jumping into a glass of Champagne.  The five of us were seated and given the menu's to glance over.

While sitting and waiting, we were served a selection of warm breads that were excellent.  But what made them great was the butter that was served. One one side was a rich and creamy butter and on the other side was a fresh peanut butter.

We talked about sharing some appetizers and most of us did.  Two of us got the Bigeye Tuna Tartar with Mango Chutney and taro chips.  The tuna was fresh and bright tasting with hints of pepper.  They were great when you used the taro chips as an edible spoon. The mango Chutney added some nice sweetness to the dish but it would have been fine without it.

Another one of us got the seared Duck Foie Gras with warm Lentils.  I have to say, this is one dish I will definitely try again.  The outside of the Foie Gras was caramelized so well that it had such a different flavor from the inside of the liver.  It was like having two different dishes in one.

Also on the appetizers were Potato Gnocchi with pumpkin and crispy bacon.  Unfortunatley I was too involved in my Tuna to try this and my cousin said I was an idiot for not paying attention.  He said they were really great and adding the bacon made the dish, as bacon will do with just about anything.

 The last appetizer that was ordered was the Chicken/coconut Thai Soup.  It smelled and looked amazing.   I was told it was as good as it looked.

Now come the Mains.  I'll list them in the order in which you see the photos below.  I didn't get to try them but I can say they looked better in person than they do here.  Beef Tenderloin was done traditionally "Sauce Au Poivre" (pepper sauce) with mixed Vegetables, Pork Loin & Belly (my favorite) with grits, swiss chard and BBQ Sauce, Salmon with Apple mustard and Jasmine Rice and finally the Rack of Lamb with Japanese eggplant and tomato.  I had the lamb and it was done differently than I have had it before.  In the past I have had it served in the traditional way that had about 6 ribs with the bone frenched.  This way was served just the medallions.  I had ordered it medium rare and it was so tender.  It obviously made it easier to eat since you had no bone to deal with, but that also takes the fun out of eating the last bits off the bone.  But perhaps they was what I looked like when I was there last time gnawing on the bones like a Labrador retriever.

To round off the mains, we got Asparagus spears which were great but I wanted to call attention to the mac and cheese.  yes mac and cheese.  This is a side that I get every time I am here.  If ordered as a main dish, you wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing because it's so rich.  Elbow macaroni is swimming among a rich cheesy bechamel sauce that is dotted with small cubes of ham.  You would be doing yourself injustice if you didn't get this with your meal.

The dessert menu had a good selection but the item that has been there the most is the Mix Candy Bar.  I'm not sure exactly what is in it but the photo that you see below didn't last long.  Minutes later the plate was bare.

I highly recommend going to Mix if you have the opportunity.  If for nothing else, go to the lounge and order a cocktail and drink in the view.  it will be well worth it to step back and admire the lights dancing below.

Mix can be found at The Hotel at Mandalay bay.  For more information, go here:
http://mandalaybay.com/dining/mix.aspx

Craftsteak at MGM Grand.... Top Chef's Head Judge cooks up a winner

MGM Grand is full of some great names for dining.  Emril Lagasse has his fish house there, Joel Robuchon has two places there and so does Michael Mina.  But if your looking for a good steak at that hotel, you stop at Craftsteak by Top Chef's head judge Tom Coliccio.

Craftsteak is set up among the long hallway in the back of the casino with the other restaurants.  As you walk down the aisle from the casino, it's lays dead ahead.  Like most steakhouses I have been to, it's all ala carte.  One of the specialties the Chef Coliccio has in his menu is the Wagyu beef.  He has an assortment of cuts from USA Wagyu and Japanese Wagyu.  I've had Wagyu beef in Japan on some of my trips there and it is heavenly.  Supposedly the beef is massaged and the steer is fed beer and the finest of grains.  The meat melts in your mouth.  It even tastes better when someone else flips the bill so there was no Wagyu melting this evening.  Come on, 1/2 of the cuts were over $100 and the Japanese Wagyu topped off at $240 for an 8 oz. steak.

So this night, we went the cheap road.  Well not so cheap.  I'm yet to go to a steakhouse where the average steak is less than $40.  And let me tell you, this was real good.  I can't imagine that the Wagyu was worth paying double because the steaks that we had were phenomenal.  Let me walk you through our evening.

My cousin Mike and I were accompanied by two very good clients of ours who like us, were craving a nice steak.  We were seated in a very comfortable round booth and figured out what we would order.  One of us started with a Shrimp Cocktail that looked like the size of a small fist.  You heard the flesh snap as he bit into it.  We ordered two salads for the table.   One Farmers Market Salad and the other was Arugula and Preserved Lemons.  Both were excellent and bright tasting.  The portions for both were enough for all four of us.

The main dishes consisted of really two types of beef.  two of us got the 10 oz. Filet Mignon and the others got the 16 oz. bone in Rib Eye.  The Filet's were served to us in cast iron skillets and the Rib Eye's were served to us in Copper pans.  It was certainly an impressive display as the meat comes out this way.  I had gotten the Rib Eye and it was very tender.  The great thing about having the steaks served to us this way was that you can cut a piece and dip it in the juice that came with the pan.

The Filet was even more tender as that is the general nature of the cut.  One of the guys we were with had me try his since he was getting too full.  His steak was ordered medium well which is not the way I generally get my steak.  It was funny when he ordered it as he told the server the chef will hate him for what he was going to do to his steak.  But even cooked Medium well, the steak was so soft and tender and full of flavor.

Now as great as the steak's were and the way they should be, the sides were really spectacular.  One of our four said he really wanted the Sweet Potato Puree.  I'm not a real sweet potato guy so I ordered the Yukon Gold Puree.  We also got the chantrelle mushrooms and the asparagus to round off the sides.  The Asparagus were cooked perfectly and real soft and had some sprinkled Parmesan on the top.

The Chantrelles were a bit disappointing as they really lacked flavor.   The Yukon Gold Puree was really great and there is nothing better than mashed potatoes with a good piece of steak.  But the shining star for the sides were the Sweet Potato Puree.  As I mentioned before, the Sweet Potato is not one of my favorites.  But these were incredible.  They were cooked with Maple Syrup, brown sugar and fresh chopped thyme.  If you go here, you have to get the Sweet Potato Puree.

We also got the Maui Onions that were almost as sweet as the Vidallia onions we get in June.

We were almost full at this point.  But when we saw the dessert menu, there were too many things not to pass up.  So here is what we got.

The most unique dessert was the Orange and Basil Sorbet.   It was savory and sweet and just really delicious.    we also got an assortment of Sorbet's and a Chocolate cake that had the rich chocolate ooze out when you cut into it.  It looked so good, the only thing that got in the way was the plate.

This was truly a memorable steak dinner.  The atmosphere there as well as the servers were all excellent and always available for any questions or requests that you might have.

Craftsteak can be found at the MGM Casino.  You can get more information here: http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/craftsteak-steak-house.aspx