I’m a tumblr addict, and I loved this photo that I found this afternoon of a vintage Pizza Hut! There’s something about it that puts a smile on my face. I’m not even a dedicated Pizza Hut customer and I love it!
Tag Archives: pizza
Asellina at The Gansevoort Park
My boyfriend and I have walked by Asellina numerous times over the past few months — at first we didn’t see much of a crowd but all of a sudden we would walk by at 9 p.m. and the place would be packed. I quickly put the pieces together — Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian were filming their current season of ‘Kourtney and Kim Take New York’ at the Gansevoort Park hotel (the hotel right above Asellina). So, my guess is their fans were piling in in hopes of getting a look of their favorite celebrity sisters. It’s a good thing people were congregating at Asellina because the food is pretty good. Whether or not you see the Kardashians, I’m sure you’ll enjoy your experience at this restaurant.
The first thing I have to tell you about this restaurant is that the service is impeccable. Our waitress was very attentive, energetic and exceptionally kind. My boyfriend and I are those types of people that always asks the waiter/waitress what they recommend, what are their favorite dishes on the menu, and what plates people typically enjoy the most.
With the help of our waitress, we started off with a couple of appetizers: The Ahi Tuna Tartare that comes with robiola cheese, black truffle and spring onions, and we also ordered the Veal Meatballs.
Veal Meatballs appetizer
The Ahi Tuna Tartare was tasty but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I love tuna and I love to be wowed whenever I eat a new tuna tartare dish — this didn’t wow me. But the quality of the tuna was extremely fresh and the cheese added a fantastic flavor and texture to the fish.
I really enjoyed the Veal Meatballs (although I always feel guilty whenever I eat veal, can you blame me?) — they were nice and moist (exactly the way meatballs should be) and the cheese melted on top was very stringy and provided subtle but enjoyable flavoring. The red sauce it was marinated in was also very good — it was similar to a classic grandma’s red sauce, and you can never go wrong with that!
Fillet filled ravioli & truffle, and a pappardelle dish
For our main plates we ordered one of the specials — ravioli stuffed with fillet in a light butter sauce topped with shavings of black truffle, and our other plate was the Pappardelle which was made with homemade sausage and porcini mushrooms. The ravioli was delicious! You can never go wrong mixing butter and truffle together. Over all the dish was very enjoyable although I do wonder what it would have tasted like if the chef added a bit of extra seasoning on the inside of the ravioli. The pappardelle on the other hand was disgusting. My boyfriend has said in the past that he doesn’t like something that he’s eating, but he’ll keep eating it because he’s hungry. This time, both me and my boyfriend put our forks down and decided we needed to send the plate back. The flavors did not go well together at all and if I was forced to take another bite, it would have been torture.
Spaghetti in a red sauce
Our waitress was so understanding and suggested that we get a spaghetti in a red sauce to replace the pappardelle. That’s exactly what we did and we loved our replacement. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the red sauce was out of this world.
Even though we had one bad order, we are excited to go back to try the pizzas and flatbread — both looked delicious and we couldn’t help but eye them down when they were ordered from near by tables.
Italian Food — Good for the Soul
For me, Italian food is probably the most comforting food I could ever feed myself. When studying abroad and missing home — I would head to a tasty Italian restaurant to comfort me. The best thing about cooking this style of cuisine for yourself at home is it’s pretty darn cheap, flavorful and very basic to make (at least most dishes are).
Now that I have been to Italy — all over the place actually, this past fall I got a true taste of the country my ancestors came from — I can truly say that the sister restaurants Perbacco and Gnocco here in New York City are better than 99 percent of the restaurants I ate at while visiting the homeland. That other 1 percent is actually a random sandwich shop that I fell in love with in Florence called Antico Noe. And even Perbacco and Gnocco restaurant owner Gianluca Giovanetti says that the bread in Florence is the best — the bread = one of the reasons why Antico Noe’s sandwiches are to die for.
I’m sure you are all used to by now my raves on these two restaurants… The truth is, I’ll never stop blogging about them because 1. They truly are the best Italian restaurants I have ever been to in my entire life, 2. The menus change and the specials are always blowing me away, 3. I’m not the only one that loves these restaurants, reviews all over the internet says fantastic things!
So I blogged last week about Perbacco and that means this week I am writing about Gnocco, again! The other night I went for dinner with my Penn State friend Alexandra and her father who also lives here in the city. Her father actually introduced me to Gnocco — so I can blame him on my addiction for the food.
What did we order? I ordered the special — a pumpkin ravioli which was both comforting, light, and full of flavor. I was surprised at how much more potent the ingredients became once the ravioli began to cool. The flavors stood out more! It came with long gorgeous parmigiano reggiano cheese shaving on top. And yes, I ate every single bite. It would be a sin not to.
But first, we ordered for the table an unbelievable burrata cheese special for an appetizer. The burrata was probably the best burrata I have ever had in my life — the cheese was so silky, fluffy, and perfectly seasoned. The plate came with fluffy, crunchy bread that was toasted with (most likely) olive oil brushed on top. And of course there was the tomato and basil seasonings as well. In all honesty, you can’t find better cheese in any other restaurant.
Alexandra ordered my favorite pizza — the Tartufata — which includes fresh mozzarella, a truffle sauce, mushrooms, and speck. Alexandra is a vegetarian so she ordered it without the speck. The first time I had this pizza I ordered it because the table next to me ordered 2 of the pizzas (for two people) and the smells of the pizza were so divine they floated over to my table and I became a huge fan instantly without even having tasted the pizza.
The evening was filled with spectacular cuisine, amazing company, and fantastic wine. The atmosphere is so cozy and you honestly can’t get any better than Gnocco (and Perbacco of course).
Artichoke Basille’s, Chelsea Pizzeria
Every single time I go to the Chelsea Market, I walk by Artichoke Basille’s pizzeria. I’ve heard a lot about this restaurant and usually I hear all great reviews. That’s why I figured I would bring my mom here when she came to visit me the other weekend. My thoughts were: I always hear good things about this place, I love artichokes, the prices aren’t that bad, and it’s only a 5 minute walk from my apartment… SOLD!
We went rather early (about 6 p.m.) because I got out of work and all I could think about was eating dinner. Plus, my mom is an early-to-bed type of person and going to friday night dinner at the usual 9/9:30 time slot would never fly with her. When we arrived there weren’t that many people there so it was easy for us to get a table (I didn’t expect anything else). But I was rather surprised when I sat down and looked at the menu… The prices on the menu did not match in any way to the prices that were available online. I told the waitress this and she said that she would tell the manager. I mean, for an appetizer it was about a 4 dollar difference online vs the print version at the restaurant! I have never had this happen to me before, it’s seriously such a disappointment. I’ll tell you why too — because I was planning on having us order a few things so we would get a nice sample of what the menu had to offer. But, with the surprise of price increase we opted to order just a simple “half pie.” We easily picked the Artichoke Pizza option since it was our first time there and that’s what the waitress recommended.
I was happy that the “half pie” sort of option gave us the perfect amount of food — two slices each. The slices were also fairly big so it was definitely a filling dinner. I guess I wasn’t prepared for the style of pizza even though I read the menu… “Artichoke hearts, spinach, cream sauce, mozzarella & pecorino romano cheese.” My eyes must have skimmed over the cream sauce. I love cream sauce, especially on my gnocchi or pasta but this was the first time I’ve ever had it on my pizza. It was delicious! My one complaint: the cream sauce wasn’t spread over the pizza evenly — so I had several bites that had way too much sauce, which was actually a bit unappetizing. Other than that all of the ingredients went beautifully together! I love spinach and love putting it on practically everything. And I love artichokes! What else should I have expected since the name of the restaurant is called Artichoke Basille’s?
Homemade Pita Pizzas
At the end of the week when I have veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten right away, I’ll typically cook them up for some quesadillas or pizzas. Who says you can put asparagus in a quesadilla? And you can pretty much get away with putting whatever you want on a pizza — pineapple, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini … you name it! You probably wouldn’t put all of those ingredients on your pizza at the same time, but you know what I mean.
I never knew how convenient pita bread actually is either! I’m a sucker for thin, crispy crust on my pizza and that’s exactly what pita bread will end up being when you bake it — nice and crispy!
Last night I didn’t have much in my refrigerator, I am actually extremely low on groceries. But what I did have was: pita bread, garlic, fresh mozzarella, and a tomato. So, I split open the pita bread so I could cut out just a thin piece of it and I saved the rest of the bread for some hummus for a snack this weekend. Then I chopped up one small clove of garlic and spread it out on to the bread. Next, I grated some fresh mozzarella and sliced up a few pieces of tomato. I spread on the tomato slices, followed by the cheese and then topped it with 2 pinches of hot pepper flakes. I love my homemade pizza to be garlicy with a bit of a kick!
My little pita pizza was popped into the oven (I used my handy toaster oven) at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. It was so light, crispy, and flavorful and since it took me maybe 15 minutes to prep and cook — I know I’ll be making it again very soon!
Vezzo Thin Crust Pizza in Murray Hill
I’m not a big fan of the neighborhood of Murray Hill. To describe it to a non New York’er, the neighborhood is filled with college frat boys who have graduated yet can’t seem to leave behind the obnoxious sports bars. All of the neighborhoods in New York City ultimately make up the city that I love so much — so if Murray Hill didn’t exist then I think that would mean those obnoxious former frat boys might be in my family-oriented, charming neighborhood of Chelsea. I just cringed as I wrote that.
But since my boyfriend has yet to move out of Murray Hill (hopefully that will happen in the spring time, he might be a former frat boy but his behavior is nothing of the sort), we spend a lot of time in the neighborhood. What’s good about Murray Hill? There’s a fantastic AMC movie theater on 2nd Avenue (there’s also one on the west side right above Chelsea in the Herald Square area, and there is a Bareburger (which has also recently opened in Chelsea as well… I love their salads and I promise to write about them soon). So really, there’s nothing keeping my boyfriend in Murray Hill since everything you could want (and more) can be found in Chelsea.
But, a new discovery we have made in Murray Hill is a pizzeria called Vezzo. This small, packed restaurant has probably the best thin crust pizza I have ever had. Perfectly cheesed and seasoned, the toppings are put on top of the best crunchy thin crust! What was my favorite? While my boyfriend opted for the classic cheese pizza, I order the “Shroomtown” that included: marinara sauce, cheese, portobello, shitake, button mushrooms, and white truffle oil.
If you didn’t already know, the flavoring of truffle is a million times better when it is paired with a dairy product such as cheese. I also don’t know why, but I love the pairing of mushrooms and truffle oil. I’m also not a big fan of truffle oil, but it is more common for a restaurant to sometimes use a truffle oil since it is much cheaper. But, if you ever see “white truffle” as an ingredient you should know that that type of truffle is the best. There are two types of truffles: black and white. Personally, the white is my favorite!
It’s rare that we go to a restaurant to sit down and have pizza. But I would do it again any day at Vezzo! They do deliver as well! Since there was about a 45 minute wait at the restaurant, we will probably end up ordering delivery the next time we want their pizza. But delivery never tastes the same!
Unusual Ingredients of My Life…
Since I recently started my Tumblr… I have been able to see some of the most glorious photographs that people are taking around the world. I wanted to share with you some of my favorite photographs this week from other Tumblr accounts — they are either food related, NYC related, or overall just pictures that put a smile on my face.
Notice: I was able to spot that someone else out there in the world makes Skillet Cookies! And I couldn’t help but notice they are making it at home! (See the slide show for the picture, you can’t miss it!)
Tumblr has also given me some great ideas for creating some new plates at home. Your culinary curiosities will come alive when you join in on Tumblr. I strongly encourage everyone to explore!
Co. Pizza in Chelsea
It’s always nice to eat at new restaurants in Chelsea… especially since that means the restaurant is probably a quick walk from my apartment. (Who wouldn’t love that?) Recently, a friend took me to a pizza restaurant and I apparently have been walking by this place every single day. I had no clue that Co. existed! A gourmet pizza joint that is always crowded no matter what day of the week it is.
The first time I went I split a salad and pizza with a friend (sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the salad). I ordered the Artichoke salad, which includes: olive oil poached artichokes, arugula, capers, shaved parmesan, and lemon oil dressing. This is probably the most delicious salad I have ever eaten. The combination of the ingredients was superb! I was surprised at the saltiness of the dish, but that was what made it so tasty. The combination of the capers and artichokes was brilliant — I have never had the two together. I also loved the thin shavings of parmesan cheese — it added a rich sophisticated flavor to the saltiness and the lemony flavorings.
Last week I went with my friend Stef to Co. She’s a foodie as well, so when I told her about how amazing the pizza is at this restaurant, she was excited to join me! We both ordered different pizzas. I ordered the Popeye, which includes: pecorino, gruyere, mozzarella, spinach, black pepper, and garlic. When my pizza first arrived it looked a bit intimidating. The spinach was cooked yet the leaves were still fluffy on top of the rest of the pizza. It looked like a big pile of spinach. But once I cut into my personal-sized pizza I could see all of the other ingredients… especially the cheese! It’s best to eat these pizzas with a fork and knife. This is the first time I have ever had gruyere cheese on my pizza, and I have to say, it’s a winner! It’s so easy to make pizzas like this at home, but first you need the inspiration. I’m looking forward to baking my own pies at home that are made up of the same ingredients! Yum!
For dessert, we ordered the vanilla and chocolate gelato. Since I just came back from Italy, I have to say that I am a very tough judge on gelato now. The vanilla wasn’t that tasty to me, but Stef actually preferred it, and I enjoyed the chocolate the most, although it didn’t really have the consistency of gelato. The chocolate “gelato” tasted more like a fudgesicle. (If you have never eaten a fudgescicle, please do so… you really missed out on the best childhood chocolate popsicle.)
If you’re looking for a fun, upbeat pizzeria that has more to offer than the average-joe pie — then you should definitely be eating at Co. If you arrive before 8 p.m. you won’t have a problem getting a table. If you arrive and the restaurant is packed then you may have to eat at a “communal” table, which means you’ll sit at a long table that you will share with other parties but you’ll still be sitting with those you came with.
(click on the photos to see the Popeye pizza close up!)
Lunch in Venice, Italy
Venice was our last destination we visited in Italy. By the time we got there I think we were all pretty exhausted! We arrived in the late afternoon, had dinner in Venice, we then had a full day to explore the city, then the following day we flew home to the U.S.
While in Venice our meals were pretty simple just because we were getting so tired and because we really had no idea where to eat. So of course we ate the typical go-to foods: caprese salads, pizzas, and paninis.
During our full day the weather started out very chilly. I was actually wearing long pants, a sweater, and a scarf! Luckily the weather warmed up later in the day and we were able to sit comfortably in a small piazza to have lunch. We were so hungry we ordered right away and stuffed our faces! Here’s our late afternoon lunch in Venice: salami and cheese panini, cheese pizza, and a caprese salad…
What On Earth Did They Do To My Pizza!?
After visiting Rome, my family and I headed for a day trip to Pompeii. It’s only a few hours away from Rome, so the drive wasn’t too bad. But along the way we stopped at a little cafe that was also similar to a “rest stop” that we would have here in the U.S. Except our rest stops don’t have Italian cappuccino makers and tasty food. The “fast food” that we ordered for lunch wasn’t exactly high in trans fat — rather it was made from fresh ingredients! For lunch we ate pizza, typical I know, but what they did to our pizza sparked a brilliant idea for me to incorporate in my kitchen at home.
Our pizzas were “pre-made” but they were probably made not even an hour before we ate them. Instead of keeping the pizzas in a circular shape, they folded the pizza over into more of a triangular shape. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but instead of heating up the pizzas in an oven they popped them right into a panini maker! Since the pizza was folded over, the cheese didn’t stick or get ripped off by the panini maker. Instead, it was perfectly heated and all of the ingredients were kept safe.
I’ve always loved the idea of having a panini maker, but lets face it, I will probably rarely use it. It’s not that often that I want to make paninis. But if I was able to put the device to better use for multiple things, I think I would be more interested in buying one! This “panini maker used to heat up my pizza” idea made me think of all of the other things I could do with a panini maker… make grilled cheese sandwiches, paninis (of course), heat up pizza (duh), maybe even cook veggies, I could grill chicken, make quesadillas, and I could even grill up some Portobello mushrooms and peppers! (Damnit, I wish I bought a panini maker in college!)
So, thanks to the Italians and the way they “folded” my pizza, I have now realized that a panini maker might be a great addition to my kitchen.
