salmaland.com » Soho/Nolita http://salmaland.com Mon, 14 May 2012 18:55:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Soho/Nolita: Parm http://salmaland.com/2012/02/sohonolita-parm/ http://salmaland.com/2012/02/sohonolita-parm/#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:36:47 +0000 http://salmaland.com/?p=3267 Not that they need more attention, but the guys behind Torrisi have opened this second modest (modest-ish) little Italian-American joint—which is predictably packed nearly all the time. Parm is excellent though—the kind of casual, hearty, filling, cheap-ish food you crave nearly all the time—and so deserves the crowds. [...]]]> Not that they need more attention, but the guys behind Torrisi have opened this second modest (modest-ish) little Italian-American joint—which is predictably packed nearly all the time. Parm is excellent though—the kind of casual, hearty, filling, cheap-ish food you crave nearly all the time—and so deserves the crowds. But dammit can’t we just one place to ourselves in this freaking city? Anyway, here’s the basic lowdown on Parm: various versions of dear old breaded, cheese-and-marinara-slathered parmigiano dishes: eggplant part, chicken parm, meatball parm, and more, available as sandwiches or platters. Terrific sides too, like roasted brussels sprouts, spicy broccoli rabe, a pork-laden “holiday salad,” and fried calamari. From 11am to noon and from 4pm to 6pm things tend to be mellower here, so you can just show up, sit at the bar, eat and drink, and merrily avoid the crushing crowds at the door for a bit.

Parm: 248 Mulberry St. between Prince and Spring Sts.; (212-993-7189)

Prices/Features: Moderately Priced, Vegetarian Friendly

]]> http://salmaland.com/2012/02/sohonolita-parm/feed/ 0 Soho/Nolita: Snack http://salmaland.com/2011/10/soho-snac/ http://salmaland.com/2011/10/soho-snac/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:34:02 +0000 http://salmaland.com/wp/?p=22 SnackNothing about "vegetarian souvlaki" sounds appealing—unless you've tried the sandwich at Snack, Soho's microscopic Greek restaurant and takeout joint. Big fat Greek butter-beans are doused in rivers of [...]]]> SnackNothing about “vegetarian souvlaki” sounds appealing—unless you’ve tried the sandwich at Snack, Soho’s microscopic Greek restaurant and takeout joint. Big fat Greek butter-beans are wrapped up with feta, tomato, red onion, and luscious cucumber-yogurt tzatziki in thick, warm gyro bread. (Only quibble: They go a little too heavy on the tomatoes when they’re not in season.) Snack’s other butter-bean creation, the lemony, arugula-packed “gigantes” salad, also rocks. Want something meatier, or smaller, or heftier? Snack has an impressively substantial Greek menu, given how tiny the space is (just four two-top tables). Winners: the savory pies stuffed with herb-spiked chicken, olives, or spinach and served with Greek salad; the pastitsio, a sort of Greek lasagna layered with bechamel, ground beef, and macaroni; and the daily specials, which might include golden, garlicky, perfectly roasted chicken.

Snack. 105 Thompson St. between Prince and Spring Sts.; (212) 925-1040.

Prices/Features:  Cheap/Vegetarian-Friendly

]]> http://salmaland.com/2011/10/soho-snac/feed/ 0 Soho/Nolita: Cafe Gitane http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-cafe-gitan/ http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-cafe-gitan/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:09:59 +0000 http://salmaland.com/wp/?p=75 Café Gitane sums up what's enchanting about Nolita—and what's so damned annoying about it. A little café on a side street with deliciously potent coffee; a laid-back, vaguely French-Moroccan [...]]]> Café Gitane sums up what’s enchanting about Nolita—and what’s so damned annoying about it. A little café on a side street with deliciously potent coffee; a laid-back, vaguely French-Moroccan vibe; glossy international magazines to browse through; sunlight pouring through the streetside windows. You could spend hours here. Except you can’t get a table, ever. (Unless you show up around 9am on a weekday morning.) Order a cafe creme and the baked eggs with basil or an open-face sandwich of chili-spiked avocado on whole-grain toast, and be reminded why you’re alive, why you’re in this crazy town, and why it’s all worth it. The couscous is better than it needs to be too, especially when you spike it with the harissa that comes on the side. But for that, you’ll have to show up at midday or evening rush hour—and, yes, wait. (In fall ’09, a new branch of Gitane opened at the Jane Hotel in the West Village.)

Café Gitane. 242 Mott St. between Prince and Houston Sts.; (212) 334-9552.

Prices/Features: Cheap/Vegetarian-Friendly

]]> http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-cafe-gitan/feed/ 0 Soho/Nolita: Torrisi Italian Specialties http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-torrisi-italian-specialties/ http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-torrisi-italian-specialties/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:13:18 +0000 http://salmaland.com/?p=2545 Sometimes in New York, you don't always get what you want, or even what you need. At least not right away. Torrisi Italian Specialties is a perfect illustration of this principle, as it is of so many other New York truths: that Little Italy needs a jolt of real Italian and Italian-American cooking; that Billy Joel was pretty slamming in the 70s; and that those little pink-green-yellow striped Italian cookie-cake things you find in ancient Little Italy pastry shops are pretty damn good. When Torrisi first opened, [...]]]> In New York, you don’t always get what you want, or even what you need. At least not right away. Torrisi Italian Specialties is a perfect illustration of this principle, and of so many other New York truths: Truth #1:  lame old Little Italy was badly in need of some deep and soulful Italian cooking; Truth #2: Billy Joel was, let’s be honest, pretty slamming in the 70s; Truth #3: Those little neon pink-green-yellow-striped Italian cookie things you find in ancient Little Italy pastry shops are pretty damn tasty.

When Torrisi first opened in 2009, from Cafe Boulud alums Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone, it was a miniscule Italian-American deli with a few tables. A bunch of swooning reviews later, the place is jammed. Every night. But you might luck out, or you might be willing to stand around and wait for a table. Do it. (No, they don’t take reservations.)

But don’t do go to Torrisi expecting the most outrageously fabulous meal you’ve ever had in your entire life (after reading all those salivating reviews), because what place ever lives up to that? Go expecting intensely flavorful, often surprising, and just basically very delicious food, inspired by Italian-American grandmas and snazzed up by a couple of starry young chefs who know what they’re doing. The nightly-changing dinner menu is $50, and there’s no a la carte ordering. Check the menu online before you go if you want. Or show up for lunch, maybe for a chicken parm hero and fried cauliflower. Oh, and those colorful neon cookie-cake things? Have those. And steal a glance at the 70s-era Joel poster on the back wall while you’re at it.

Torrisi Italian Specialties: 250 Mulberry St. at Prince St.; (212) 965-0955

Prices/Features: Moderately Priced

]]> http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-torrisi-italian-specialties/feed/ 0 Soho: Despaña http://salmaland.com/2011/10/soho-despan/ http://salmaland.com/2011/10/soho-despan/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:51:08 +0000 http://salmaland.com/?p=1392 A fantasy shop for Spanish-food fetishists, Despaña now has some tables in back where you can gorge privately on the Basque tapas laid out marvelously on the counter. Some of my favorites here are the Flautas Castañas,small sandwiches of salchicon sausage, goat cheese, and [...]]]> A fantasy shop for Spanish-food fetishists, Despaña now has some tables in back where you can gorge privately on the Basque tapas laid out marvelously on the counter. Some of my favorites here are the Flautas Castañas,small sandwiches of salchicon sausage, goat cheese, and pickled piquillo peppers on a mini-baguette, sweetened with a dab of chestnut cream. Mind-blowing deliciousness. At $5.50, they’re a bit pricey as snacks go, but one can hold you over in a happy stupor for a couple of hours. One weekend, after having just listened to a Spanish-Colombian couple rhapsodize about Despaña’s morcilla at a party the night before, I couldn’t resist going in for the Pintxo Asturiana—a tapas-size ($3.50) wedge of crusty bread topped with luxuriously tender morcilla (blood sausage) and pickled piquillo peppers. It’s not for everyone, morcilla. But once you’re a convert there’s no going back. Afterwards, walk a few blocks east on Broome to Papabubble, for swirly lollipops made by hand behind the counter, and candies in flavors like spicy mango.

Despaña. 408 Broome St. between Lafayette and Cleveland Sts.; 212-219-5050

Prices/Features: Moderately Priced

]]> http://salmaland.com/2011/10/soho-despan/feed/ 0 Soho/Nolita: Raoul’s http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-raoul/ http://salmaland.com/2011/10/sohonolita-raoul/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:00:28 +0000 http://salmaland.com/wp/?p=659 Pic courtesy of RaoulDon't show up late to dinner at Raoul's. There's no place to wait—the bar area is cramped and zoolike—and your dinner date will want to kill you. If you get the showing-up-on-time part right, you can't really go wrong at this sweetly worn-in old French bistro. The crisply seared [...]]]> Pic courtesy of Raoul's

Pic courtesy of Raoul's

Don’t show up late to dinner at Raoul’s. There’s no place to wait—the bar area is cramped and zoolike—and your dinner date will want to kill you. If you get the showing-up-on-time part right, you can’t really go wrong at this sweetly worn-in old French bistro. The crisply seared, juice-oozing steak deserves its fame; the frisee-lardons salad with a poached duck egg is the perfect starter; the oysters are a must. And the house tarot-card reader is still upstairs, just in case you want to risk messing with an otherwise perfect night.

Raoul’s. 180 Prince St. between Sullivan and Thompson Sts. (212) 966-3518.

Prices/Features: Moderately Priced

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