staying in the borough (restaurant now closed)

everyone remembers rocco dispirito - the arrogant chef who partnered with legendary restauranteur jeffrey chodorow to open rocco's - aka "the restaurant" from the TV show that documented its building/opening. other than leaving behind the legacy of mama's meatballs (which really are delicious), rocco kinda dwindled away (probably for the best - his boyish good looks couldn't live up to his ginormous ego, and he's short).

since rocco's, the space hasn't garnered much attention. it transitioned to another restaurant, caviar & bananas, i think was the name - whatever marketing person thought of that name should be fired.

more recently, it became borough food & drink. i believe the idea was to serve NYC-style cuisine using local ingredients as well as sell those same favorites. i think it even had a market at some point. i'm not sure if the local ingredients have been a success, or if the restaurant is a success at all, but there's something about it...

let's start with my likes (besides the fact that you can always get a reservation and it's not outrageously expensive):

1. our server was actually passionate about some of the dishes. when the guy we had dinner with ordered the borough steak, our server actually said, "it's just your average strip steak," to dissuade him from ordering it (our dining companion still ordered the steak, and he said it was good). he recommended a salted caramel sundae that was delish.

2. the cocktails on the front page are not that creative (especially in this era of creative cocktails), but they're good.

3. it's bustling without being crowded. and the music is good.

4. the host - he's hipster-dorky (that should say it all).

my dislikes:

1. it took 23 minutes for my passionate server to bring me my cocktail.

2. the pool table area in the back.

3. the hipster-slow service (what is sorta hot in the host is completely unattractive in a server).


but i still would go back. it's close enough to my apartment. the burger is good. it has mac n cheese as a side dish (the first time i had it, it was really good; this time, it needed salt). and i like a server who's really into the dishes... it helps an indecisive person like me.

borough food & drink (CLOSED)
12 east 22nd street btwn broadway/park ave
new york, ny 10010
212/260.0103
note: this restaurant is closed.

friday night cocktails!

yesterday, the S.O. realized he could get out of work to have dinner with his high school buddy (a real estate tycoon AND model in from dallas for a weekend). they left choosing the venue in my capable, but overplanning, hands. the criteria: people watching, outdoor option, food the picky S.O. will eat. after lots (and lots) of thought, i settled on morandi, keith mcnally's (balthazar, pastis, schiller's) somewhat newish italian joint in the west village.

basically, it was perfect: a sweet, adorable hostess; a not-offensively-crowded bar to wait at (we didn't have reservations); a generally attractive crowd, plus a celeb-sighting (carla gugino); opened french doors leading out to a quasi-sidewalk cafe; and who doesn't like italian?

the food was fine. it didn't impress my standard outlets (New York magazine, the New York Times, Chowhound), but the S.O. and his buddy really liked it. the baccala fritti, their take on fish & chips and a friday night special, was delicious (actually the fries were just average, but the salt cod... YUM!).

the space was great (rustic, warm), there were cocktails and good wines (i loved the negroni and the S.O. loved the Tuscan red), and never a shortage of people to watch.

plus it was walking distance to horrible buddha bar. i wouldn't have gone except it was the birthday boy's choice. we had two bottles, and i requested another carafe of soda water. our waitress (a petite blonde idiot) flat out said, "No." i asked the DJ to play better dance music. he might as well have said no ("i don't play commercial crap"). we walked around TWICE looking to recruit attractive girls for the birthday boy, and the best we found were these cheezy blondes, both wearing trashy-cheap outfits. the only ok parts were the guy at the door who was actually friendly rather than stoic and aloof. and the guy who showed us to our table, who maneuvered around buddha bar's ugly patrons with major skillz.

morandi
211 waverly place between seventh avenue south and charles st
new york, ny 10014
212.627.7575

buddha bar
17 little west 12th street between ninth ave and washington st
new york, ny 10014
212.647.7314 (but why you'd want to call is beyond me)

photo credit: Robert Presutti for The New York Times