Come for the Meatballs, Stay for the Pizza

Only two years ago, Michael Chernow and Daniel Holzman revolutionized the restaurant scene and opened The Meatball Shop in NYC's Lower East Side. Serving a variety of meatballs and sauces, The Meatball Shop has been wildly successful, and for good reason. Those meatballs are DIVINE. The atmosphere is bustling and fun, especially at 3am, as the small restaurant is a favorite amongst those who have been out on the town all night (myself included.)

Due to my intense love of the Meatball Shop, I was slightly skeptical when The Meatball Factory opened in the East Village last October. I was worried that the "meatball thing" was getting a little too trendy and that this new Factory would try to be just like the Shop.

Always willing to be proven wrong, I accepted an invitation from a fellow food blogger to try out The Meatball Factory a few weeks ago. I mostly wanted to see if their meatballs could hold a candle to Chernow & Holzman's, so I grabbed Patrick and off we went to The Meatball Factory on a rainy New York City night.

The restaurant wasn't very busy when we arrived but I instantly liked how warm and cozy it was inside. Dark wood and dim lighting set the mood for our meal, and then the food started to arrive to the table. First, the restaurant's namesake.
 
We had the Turducken Meatballs (house blend of Shady Farms turkey, Bell & Evans chicken, Hudson Valley Farms duck confit, sage & allspice) with Dragon's Lair Sauce (green curry peanut sauce with red bell pepper and thai basil)

 

and Hog Wild Meatballs (raised heritage pork shoulder, ground heritage pork shoulder, Nueske’s cherrywood bacon fat, mascarpone and a dash of red chili paste) with Pepper Monkey Sauce (Dave’s roasted poblano bbq sauce- a smokey & tangy blend of roasted chiles & tomatoes, cider vinegar, & molasses.) 

I LOVED the Turducken Meatballs. They were tender and delicious and the Dragon's Lair Sauce was one of the best sauces I have ever tasted on anything. I had to restrain myself from picking up the bowl and drinking it, it was that good. On the other hand, I wasn't crazy about the Hog Wild Meatballs. I found the consistency to be a little bit chewy and too dense. The BBQ sauce was okay, but nothing special. Needless to say, I focused most of my attention on the bowl of Turducken balls. YUM!

I did try to save some room for the rest of the food we had coming, the Shrooming Pizza with Roasted wild mushrooms, baby arugula & truffle time cream sauce and the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with maple syrup and red chili sauce.

The pizza was even better than the meatballs. I loved how thin the crust was and the mushrooms were earthy and perfectly cooked. The pizza was gone faster than it had come out, and we moved onto the Brussels Sprouts.

While Brussels Sprouts are my favorite vegetable, I tend to like them a little bit on the lighter side with just a touch of salt, pepper and olive oil. These were very tasty, but the maple syrup weighed them down and made them a bit too sugary. Don't get me wrong, we finished every last one, but I would have liked them better with less on them.

Even though this meal had us incredibly full, we knew we still had dessert coming, the Hot Tin Roof Sundae (Daves malted hot fudge & sea salt caramel along with candied nutmeg walnuts over marshmellow gelato.) I know I mention this in almost every post, but dessert just isn't my thing. This one wasn't much different, but it was still pretty tasty. The walnuts added a good amount of salt to the dessert, which I like, and mixed with the caramel I almost enjoyed it, but I left most of the dessert-eating to my sweets-loving boyfriend. But not before I had him snap a photo of me with a rare dessert that I actually liked!

Overall, I really enjoyed our meal at The Meatball Factory. I was glad we gave it a chance and was even pleasantly surprised that short of the name, The Meatball Factory is not trying to be The Meatball Shop. The Shop's meatballs are more of the rustic Italian variety and while the Meatball Factory is definitely riding on more of the trendy meatball wave, some of the food is good enough to sustain it. Some dishes were certainly better than others, but Patrick and I both liked the food we had and would go back again for more. Especially that Dragon's Lair Sauce!

How do you feel about the meatball trend? Shop or Factory? I'm still very strongly in the Shop camp if I had to choose, but it's best not to compare them, as they are two very different restaurants.

Let's Eat!

-The Fabulous Foodie

Rizzuto's in Stamford, CT

I recently had the pleasure of trying Rizzuto's, a brand new restaurant in Stamford, CT. The Rizzuto's name has been around awhile with location sprinkled all over Connecticut, but the Stamford location just opened about a week ago. I took my good friend Katelyn there for dinner for her birthday since she lives in Stamford and I have to say, we had a truly wonderful experience there that I want to tell you about.

I made a reservation on one of my favorite websites, OpenTable, for 6:45pm and called the restaurant ahead of time to ask them to bring a slice of cake with a candle out for Katelyn after dinner. The host on the phone was SO nice and helpful, I knew our dinner was going to be great. Kate picked me up at the Stamford train station and we arrived right on time for our reservation. The host, who I assumed was the one I had spoken to on the phone, said "Rachel, Party of 2?" and then gave me a "this must be the birthday girl" wink.

We were shown to a table for 2 and I took in the fun decor of the restaurant. Cozy and inviting, I was already loving it before we even had our first bite of food. Our waiter, Mike, came over to greet us and take our drink order and he was energetic, friendly and warm. He talked to us about it being the first week that the restaurant was open and made us feel so welcome. 

Kate and I decided to share the Meatballs, Cesar salad and Eggplant Rollatini to start, then I had the Cavatelli & Sausage and Kate had the Rigatoni. We also shared a bottle of Pinot Noir. I didn't take pictures of any of the food, but everything was truly delicious. I was super impressed especially with the meatballs. I have had too many bad meatballs in my day and know how easy they are to screw up, but these were awesome.

Our waiter Mike was one of the sweetest waiters I have ever had in my life. You could tell he loved his job and we thought he was wonderful. Then I noticed him lighting Katelyn's cake behind her back and looking to me for the nod of approval to bring the cake to the table. I found this SO sweet and Katelyn was totally surprised!

Here is our adorable waiter singing Happy Birthday to Katelyn:

By the end of the meal we were completely stuffed and happy. We sat talking for over an hour after we had finished our meal and not once did they rush us out of make us feel unwelcome. The owner of the restaurant, Mr. Rizzuto himself, came over to as us how our meal was and we told him the truth. It was absolutely wonderful!

How important is good service to you in the grand scheme of your meal? Would bad service ruin a wonderful meal? Would amazing service save terrible food? Let me know!

Let's Eat!

-The Fabulous Foodie

Solid Italian Fare at La Carbonara

From the outside, it looks like any other New York City restaurant, so it was by the fate of the OpenTable gods that we landed at La Carbonara for dinner one night a few months ago. Patrick and I took his friends from Maryland out to dinner to this Italian spot on 14th Street between 7th & 8th Avenues and from the second we walked in the door we fell in love with it.

Now don't get me wrong, I always have been and always will be Max's biggest fan, but since we moved to Chelsea, the trek to either Tribeca or the East Village seems far when we're craving pasta, so we've found a new home at La Carbonara. Let me break it down for you. The cozy atmosphere gives diners low lighting, a noise level that is never too loud even when the restaurant is packed (and it is always packed), and small wooden tables far enough apart for privacy but close enough together to feel like you're sharing a meal with 100 of your closest friends. The staff is incredibly attentive and welcoming and the decor makes you feel like you're having a comfortable dinner in your Italian grandmother's dining room. This restaurant makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and I haven't even gotten to the food yet.

(photo credit: La Carbonara)

As I said, we took some of Patrick's friends here a few months ago and everything was wonderful. But the meal I want to tell you about took place last Friday night. Patrick and I (once again) both had rough weeks at work and decided we owed ourselves a good dinner date. We chose La Carbonara because we were craving some pasta and we loved it so much the last time we had gone. We were shown to our table by the same man who had served us last time, presumably a manager, an incredibly nice Italian guy with a ponytail and beard. We soon found out he'd be our waiter again, and his service was flawless. He checked on us enough times to be helpful but not so much that it was overwhelming.

We decided to split the Oven-Baked Eggplant with Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella to start. I love that this dish is baked and not fried, and was really in the mood for this savory treat. It arrived to our table in a small bowl and the aroma nearly knocked me out of my chair. I couldn't wait to dig in!The eggplant was both crispy and soft in all the right places, the cheese was melted to perfection and the sauce rivaled the best I'd had. On the whole, we made a phenomenal appetizer selection.

For some reason, I was really craving seafood. While Patrick went with the Rigatoni with Veal Ragu, I scanned the menu and was really hoping there would be a stand-out seafood special. I was not disappointed. Not only did they have a pasta dish with mussels, shrimp AND lobster, the pasta in said dish was black squid ink pasta, one of my favorites! They had it paired with a spicy marinara but I opted for a garlic white wine sauce. I couldn't wait for our food to arrive! While we waited, Patrick sipped on a crisp white wine and I indulged in a glass of Prosecco.

Our food was finally ready, and I knew it was coming because I could see the lobster on my plate from across the room! Patrick's pasta looked great:but I was very happy with the plate that was placed in front of me:And of course when the busboy brought over the chunk of Parmesean with the grater we kept him at our table for a good long time grating cheese over our dishes. What is a plate of pasta without a mound of cheese on top?

I am proud to say I finished every last bite of the incredible dish. The seafood was so fresh, the pasta was cooked exactly to my liking (al dente!) and I always have a good time cracking open lobster (even though, to this day, my dad cracks it open for me when I get lobster with my family.) I was in heaven! I tried Patrick's pasta, and it was also very good, but braised meat is not my favorite. He definitely enjoyed it though.

La Carbonara has quickly become one of our favorite places in the city. When a great atmosphere is paired with both wonderful service and delicious food, you really can't go wrong. We'll be back for sure, and we'll send new customers to this great spot too!

Where is your favorite place to get pasta in the city? Do you like fancy Italian at places like Del Posto? Or do you prefer good down-home pasta at places like Max and La Carbonara? Let me know, I'd love to hear what you think.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Are You Ready For Some Meatballs?

I will start off by saying that no one, NO ONE, will ever make better meatballs than my dad's mother used to make. Now that we've established that fact, I can move onto the best meatballs not made by a member of my family. I heard about The Meatball Shop this past summer after it opened early in 2010, and I've personally been to the Lower East Side spot twice.

For those of you New Yorkers who are unfamiliar with this house of meatballs, I ask you, "Have you been living under a rock?!" The Meatball Shop guys (I am referring to co-owners Daniel Holzman & Michael Chernow) are everywhere!

Recently they were featured on The Jimmy Fallon Show. More on them later.

As a side note, I've been following another NYC foodie blogger named Megan whose blog is called This Girl Can Eat. If you haven't read her blog, you're missing out! I saw the post she did on The Meatball Shop and she mentioned that they were going to be putting on a 6-course meatball feast at the James Beard House and that tickets were still available. I immediately tweeted at her to find out if she was going, and such was the start of a lovely foodie friendship. We ended up getting tickets to the event and meeting up to enjoy the meal together. It's true that we both prayed the other wouldn't turn out to be a total sketchball, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had a ton in common.

I'll spare you the details of two foodies bonding over meatballs and just tell you about the meal itself because It. Was. Fabulous.

We checked our coats and were shown into the James Beard House through the kitchen. But what's this? The Meatball Shop guys themselves are in the kitchen preparing the meal? So cool! We both stood there and geeked out for awhile before continuing into the main room for some Prosecco. We stood around getting to know each other and out of the kitchen came the first 3 courses:
1. Miniature Maryland Crabmeat and Potato Chip Meatballs with Old Bay Dipping Sauce
2. Miniature Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
3. Reuben Meatball Sliders with Sauerkraut and Thousand Island Dressing

Words can't even describe how incredible these 3 meatballs were. The Crabmeat and Potato Chip meatball tasted like the best crabcake I'd ever had. The buffalo chicken meatball tasted like the best boneless wing I'd ever had. And I was plesently surprised by the Reuben meatball because I'm not a huge fan of sauerkraut. They were all amazing!

At this point my dining companion wanted to go say hi to the Meatball Shop guys because she has been exchanging messages back and forth with them, so we stepped back into the kitchen. We found Daniel Holzman hanging out in the kitchen with his mom and he couldn't have been happier to talk to us. Talk about gracious! This guy was so nice! We chatted with him for a few minutes and we could tell he was genuinely a nice guy. I'm always happy when the good guys find success. They deserve it!

We finished up our chat and headed upstairs to the dining room for the main courses. We were seated at a table for 6, but we barely said a word to the other 4 at our table. Maybe it was rude, but my new foodie friend and I had only just met and we had so much to talk about!

One by one, the meatballs (and wine!) arrived:

Mushroom–Lentil Soup with Chicken Meatballs paired with Fattori Runcaris Soave

Mediterranean Lamb Meatballs with Braised Kale and Classic Tomato Sauce paired with Cesani Ireos Chianti

Spicy Pork Meatballs and Spicy Meat Sauce with Soft Polenta paired with Parusso Barbera d’Alba

Every course was better than the one before it, but they were all delicious. The wines paired perfectly with the meatballs and by the time I was finished, I was satisfied and happy.

I looked on the menu and saw that there was 1 more pairing left:
Walnut Meringue Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Ice Cream with a Port ToddyI only planned to take one bite so I could write about it honestly. And then once I took a bite, I was only going to take ONE more bite. And then, the whole darn thing was gone. Whoops. It went so perfectly with the spicy Port Toddy that oozed with cinnamon that I couldn't help myself. It's hard to say I'm "not a dessert person" after I basically lick my plate. Oh well, c'est la vie!

After we finished the meal, Daniel & Michael got up and thanked everyone for coming. We stood up as we realized that a glass of Prosecco, 3 glasses of wine and a port toddy meant our heads were spinning and giggled ourselves all the way back downstairs. We saw Daniel on our way out and he personally thanked us for coming and not for one second did I sense anything insincere about him. He is truly an awesome guy who has not let his overnight stardom go to his head. Like I said before, these guys deserve all the success they have coming to them, and I wish them nothing but the best. Keep those meatballs coming!

At lunch, they announced that 2 more locations would be opening, in the West Village & Williamsburg. Amazing! I can't wait for many more meatball meals at The Meatball Shop.

What are your thoughts about a restaurant that only focuses on one type of food? Love it? Hate it? Can't live without it? I fall into the last group in that list. I can't wait for more foodie adventures, but it will be hard to top this one!

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Ciano: The Food Shines

I'd been hearing about Shea Gallante's new restaurant, Ciano, for weeks. Email newsletters, Twitter updates, NY Times' Diner Journal articles... everything promised delicious, non-pretentious food in the Flatiron District.

When I logged onto Open Table, my go-to source for restaurant reservations, I was excited to see one single 8pm reservation left for Ciano's opening night, November 5th. The menu looked fabulous, and the restaurant seemed very promising.

As soon as Patrick and I stepped in the door, I was impressed with the warmth of the restaurant and the inviting decor: low lighting, candles, bustling but not too loud. After waiting a few minutes, we were shown to our table, a cozy two-top, and our meal began.

Right off the bat, we could tell the waitstaff didn't quite have their act together. But, we both realized it was opening night of a new restaurant, and we'd be patient. We ordered two glasses of wine and started to look over the menu.

Immediately, we both decided we had to try the veal meatballs. When our waiter finally came over to our table after waiting about twenty minutes, we were told they were out of the meatballs. No problem, we ordered the Scallops with Brussels Sprouts.

After waiting about another twenty minutes, the waiter came back over to take our dinner order: we decided to share both the Pappardelle with Duck Ragu and the Slow-Roasted Lemon-Rosemary Chicken.

When our scallops came to the table, I was impressed with how delicious they looked.

At this point, we were starting to get slightly annoyed at how impossible it was to get our waiter's attention anytime we needed anything, but then we tasted the dish. The soft, tender scallops were bursting with flavor, and the Brussels Sprouts added the perfect texture and taste to the dish. We both let out a long "mmmm" as we attacked the dish until there was nothing left. "Okay," I thought "maybe they have some work to do on the service front, but this food is GOOD."

After another very long wait, our main courses arrived to the table. The delicious smells were overwhelming, and the presentation of the food was beautiful. Patrick ordered another glass of wine and we started to dig in. At first we ate slowly to wait for his wine, but minutes ticked away and it never showed up. When we finally did get the waiter's attention, he assured us the wine was "being poured." We continued to eat, but the wine never showed up. We were finished with the food before the waiter came back to the table, at which point Patrick pointed out that his wine had never shown up. The waiter apologized, and we canceled the wine order.

In spite of the wine debacle, I must say, the food was incredible. The pappardelle was perfectly-cooked al dente, the duck ragu was absolutely delicious and the chicken was quite honestly the best roasted chicken I have ever tasted. Juicy, tender and flavorful, the skin was crispy and the taste was amazing. We finished every last bite, and agreed that the food was fabulous.

Now, we all know how I feel about dessert, but the salt from the meal actually left me craving a taste of sweet, so we thought we'd look over the dessert menu. We asked our waiter to bring some over, and he said he'd be right back with them. 5 minutes passed. 10 minutes passed. 15 minutes passed. The waiter was nowhere to be seen. Before we knew it, another waiter brought over our check, and told us to have a great night. I guess that was the end of that!

We paid the bill and still left a nice tip, because we were sure the waiter was trying his hardest and we realize that opening night is difficult.

Because the food was SO good, I decided to give my feedback to the restaurant on their Facebook page. I wrote that I was disappointed in the service, and waited to see if a response would come from the Ciano team. I only half-expected to hear anything.

Well, let me tell you, not only did they write back promptly, but I heard directly from Shea Gallante himself! He wrote me a personalized, long Facebook message apologizing for the service, assuring me that it was the pains of opening night, and letting me know that this is not the experience his team is striving for. He wanted to know what he could do to make me happy.

Mr. Gallante, you've already done it. We were initially upset with the service, but I do understand that opening a restaurant is difficult, and the service shown on opening night doesn't necessarily predict how the service will be moving forward. Your food was absolutely delicious, and your personal response to me made up for the service we received on opening night. We will be back to Ciano to again eat your amazing food, and we will certainly give the waitstaff another chance.

Chefs and restaurateurs, take notes from Mr. Gallante. He knows what he's doing in the kitchen, and he knows how to treat his patrons.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

FoodParc: A Gourmet Food Court

When I heard that there was going to be a new restaurant in Chelsea that puts a gourmet spin on the food court theme, I have to admit that I was a little skeptical. Visions of MSG-laden Chinese food & 3,000-calorie Cinnabons danced in my head.

I asked my friend Sarah to meet me at FoodParc (6th Ave between 29th & 30th) last night because I wanted to see it for myself. She loves food like I do, so it was an easy sell. From the minute we walked in the door, our mouths were hanging open in delight & surprise.

First of all, there were so many things to choose from! Sandwiches, salads, delicious-looking Asian-fusion dishes, smoothies, coffee, even a bar! I was instantly excited. Then we realized that for the actual ordering, you use a touch-screen computer with a built-in credit card machine. Cool! Once we made our selections (a process that took no less than 20 minutes) we paid for the food. I ordered half of an Eggplant Parmesan sandwich & a shrimp eggroll, and it only cost $9! That was a very pleasant surprise.

I then opted to receive a text message when my food was ready. Sarah & I took our receipts and watched as our order numbers appeared on a giant TV screen. Once my order was ready, I instantly received a text message and they called out my number for pick-up. Talk about efficient!

Once we had our lovely bags of food, we went to sit by the window. I opened the boxes and was delighted to find that the food looked incredibly delicious.

And it was! It truly tasted as good as it looked. Both dishes were piping hot and not the least bit greasy. The egg roll was crunchy and flavorful while the sandwich was cheesy and delicious. The only downside to the entire meal was that the tomato sauce on the sandwich was just a tad bit too sweet for my taste, but it still tasted so good!

I am very excited to visit this restaurant many more times to try everything on the menu. I noticed there was a build-your-own burger station that also had not only a BLT menu, but a grilled cheese menu as well. This place is too good to be true!

What is your opinion on one-stop shop dining? Do you prefer restaurants that stick to just one thing, or do you like this "food court-style" dining trend? If you live in NYC, have you tried FoodParc yet? Do you plan to? I'll definitely be returning.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Adventures in Cooking: Italian

Living in NYC makes it very difficult to find the motivation to cook. Being Lactose Intolerant and extremely allergic to butter is often the one thing that pushes me to cook, because most delicious dishes use butter.

One meal that I absolutely love is Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti with Garlic Bread, but there is usually a stick of butter in each serving, and the pasta is sometimes also loaded with heavy cream.

But not this time.

I told Patrick (my boyfriend) that I would be making dinner a few nights ago, but that he had to be okay with "fake butter." Because he's awesome, he didn't mind at all, so I stopped at Trader Joe's to buy all the ingredients.

Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken
1 bunch broccoli
1 pound box ziti
5 cloves garlic, minced
grated Romano cheese

Directions
Melt butter in deep skillet. Add oil and garlic. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low for 20 minutes. Cut broccoli into small bite size pieces and steam in microwave for 8 minutes. Cut chicken into thin bite size pieces and cook in the butter, garlic and oil. Remove chicken when done and saute broccoli in butter, garlic and oil for 5 minutes. Sprinkle broccoli with Romano cheese. Add cooked ziti with broccoli and chicken, and add more Romano cheese.

Of course, I substituted Smart Balance Light Original Buttery Spread in place of the butter because it is dairy-free. After tasting the food, you'd never even know.

Below is a picture of the result. As you may already know, I can't live without cheese. Thankfully it doesn't affect me the way butter does, so of course I covered both the garlic bread and the pasta with tons of cheese.

I could have taken the garlic bread out of the oven a few seconds earlier, but I actually really enjoyed how crunchy it came out.

After the meal, I thankfully didn't feel sick at all. Just full & happy. Do you ever substitute ingredients when you cook? Is it for health reasons? Allergies? Can you even taste the difference? I can't wait to try some more recipes that call for butter and trying this delicious non-dairy substitute again. The recipe made so much pasta that Patrick and I both had it again the next day for lunch. Yum!

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie