Gusto

Gusto, you had me at Burrata!

Every Thursday, Gusto (pronounced goose-toe) receives a shipment of burrata from Italy. We may need to be at Gusto every Thursday from now until – well, forever!

Fork and Spoon fell in love with Roman cuisine and burrata this past summer while in Roma with our wonderful friend Mauro. Since returning from our vacation we had been aching for true Roman cuisine – Gusto certainly does not disappoint.

The restaurant is on busy Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich Village. The atmosphere is welcoming and comfortable. Dark tables, comfy seating, not too noisy, fabulous staff!

In the kitchen of Gusto is the fabulous Saul Montiel. What a vision. What a fabulous menu. He isn’t one of those stay in the kitchen and hide chefs. That being said, he isn’t one of those always out of the kitchen chefs that make you stop to wonder who is actually doing the cooking!

The menu is wonderful. So wonderful it is really hard to decide what to order. We wanted everything!

We decided to go with a few appetizers and a pasta – oh, and dessert, but we didn’t really need to say that, did we?!

First up, Carciofi alla Giudea. SMall artichokes, deeply fried. Crispy crunchy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. Slightly different than one would be served in Rome where you see gigantic artichokes completely flattened. These were hearts, which had advantages – not as many tough outer leaves. A squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of salt, and life is beautiful!

 Then, Raviolo con Uovo e Pancetta. Made in house and fabulous. One big, beautiful raviolo stuffed with buffalo ricotta (also flown in) and an egg. Sitting on top a piece of crispy pancetta and fried scallions. What a flavor combination. Tender pasta, creamy ricotta, rich egg yolk, salty pancetta – heaven on your fork! Did I mention it swims in sage butter? No? Well, ‘nuf said …

And the special antipasti this night, stuffed zucchini flowers. Ugly to photograph, delicious on your tongue! Cheesy and gooey inside, lightly battered and fried. Crispy and tender and so summery and wonderful!

Let’s not forget our reason for coming to Gusto! BURRATA! FLown in every Thursday, diners come just to have a fix taste of this creamy delicious cheese. firmer on the outside (like mozzarella) and soft on the inside – well, if you haven’t tried it you absolutely must. It is amazing! Served simply with fresh tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. We could have had just this, twice, maybe three times and called it a night.

We shared Tonnarelli con Cacio e Pepe. To die for. Tonnarelli is a fresh, square-ish pasta, the perfect foil for the pepper and pecorino romano cheese. Oodles of salty, sharp cheese against the peppery bite of freshly ground black pepper. So simple and so perfect. What else is there to say – except jump in!

And for the first time in the history of our friendship Fork refused to share a dessert with Spoon. I told Spoon, ‘get your own. I will not share.’ Fork had tasted this dessert before and knew this was not something to share, not even with your best friend. Fresh peaches roasted, amaretto added in and simmering until it begins to thicken, brown sugar for a bit of sweetness, to gild the lily mascarpone cheese, really cold mascarpone cheese. Sweet peaches, drowning in an almondy syrup. It is enough to make you soon!

Go, taste, enjoy, relax, no one rushes you. Try everything. Go back, try it again. When you’re at Gusto, you’re with family. Enjoy!

Gusto ~ 60 Greenwich Avenue ~ New York, NY ~ 646.502.9901

LIC Market

Trying to beat the heat.

Trying to beat the heat and eat someplace fun.

Wanting to try a new place.

Fork and Spoon decided to try LIC Market - now celebrating their 1st anniversary. We had heard wonderful things about LIC Market and decided to begin our exploration of Long Island City with LIC Market.

It is very difficult to park here, so plan on driving around for a bit.

As you walk into LIC Market, you are in the retail area of the business. They sell teas and pickles and jams. They also sell coffee and tea to go. After you walk through this space there is a dining room in back. A very small dining room. So crammed full of tables that diners actually have to get up so you can sit down.

The lunch menu is small, but the most of what is on there is enticing!

Before we start on the food, let’s get the iced tea situation out of the way. The iced tea comes in a large glass, probably 16 ozs. There is maybe – a big maybe - 4 ozs of tea and the rest ice. Now this wouldn’t be bad if the iced were bottomless. It’s not. It’s $2.50 per glass. I don’t know about you, but I resent paying $2.50 for 4 ozs of iced tea and a glass of ice – FOUR TIMES.

Back to the food.

 

Our first sandwich was fresh mozzarella, grilled radicchio, arugula and basil on French bread. This was very good. Fresh Mozzarella was slightly salty. The bitterness of the grilled radicchio was nice with the peppery arugula. It could have used another - something – vinegar, oil, just another layer of flavor.

Our second sandwich was slow cooked pulled pork on souman bread, gruyere, pickles and a mustard dressing. Almost a Cuban and very tasty. The bread alone was fabulous. THe pork melt in your mouth tender. THe gruyere and pickles giving it that homey spin with a touch of salty and sour. 

 

On the side we ordered rapini with roasted tomatoes. Rapini is a cross between broccoli rabe and broccoli. Same shape as a broccoli rabe but not as bitter. This was really delicious. The tomatoes and oil and rapini were GREAT on the mozzarella sandwich!

When asked if we wanted anything else, we asked about dessert. The waitress handed us back the menu. The lunch menu. Did she think we wanted another sandwich? When we mentioned that we were looking for something sweet, she said they might have an oatmeal cookie left, but that they don’t serve sweets.

SIGH …

LIC Market ~ 21-52 44th Drive ~ LIC, NY ~ 718.361.0013

Seersucker

Fork and Strawberry Fork have been trying to make a play date for ages. Something – or someone – always gets in the way.

We are both MAD for fried chicken. And when I received an email from Seersucker letting me know that every Tuesday is Fried Chicken night, the necessity for a play date became far more urgent!

They don’t take reservations. Strawberry Fork and I arrived just before 6:00 on a Tuesday night and were let in at just after 6:00. Slowly but surely every table was full and people were waiting at the bar and outside. Even with this crowd, you are never rushed or pushed out the door. 

The staff is very friendly and knowledgable about the menu. They are ready with suggestions, but don’t hover over the table while you’re deciding. There is both sparkling water and tap water available. The sparkling is free and very crisp, served in a great light blue bottle that is constantly refilled.

As a starter, we shared the Southern Snack Tray. a large rectangular plate arrived laden with goodies – Surryano Ham, deviled eggs, pickled veggies, crudite, homemade chips and pimento cheese. The deviled eggs were great, creamy and  slightly spicy. The pickled veggies were great, but you really can keep pickled okra. It is more slimy pickled – if that can possible be.  Surryano Ham is simply a domestic version Serrano ham and nice with the deviled eggs and pickled veggies. The homemade chips were crisp and salty and perfect for scooping up the pimento cheese – which I had convinced myself – taste untasted – would be awful. It was far from awful. As a matter of fact it was pretty darn good – spicy, the pimento flavor really coming through, nice sharp cheese flavor.

Needless to say, we both had the Fried Chicken. This week’s fried chicken was a spicy fried chicken – and spicy it was. A half chicken, fried with a crispy crust and moist and tender on the inside, served on a slice of white bread – I wish I knew what the white bread was for, but that’s besides the point! Along side the fabulous fried chicken were 2 sides – savoy cabbage slaw and potato salad. The potato salad was nothing to write home about. The savoy cabbage slaw was slightly sweet, crunchy and cool. Really nice with the heat of the fried chicken.

We decided to share a dessert. We ordered the Salted Chocolate Brownie with Bourbon Caramel and Vanilla Ice Cream. Not enough caramel. I don’t think the brownie was salted, but the caramel. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great. The better choice would have been the skillet pecan pie. It looked amazing!

Although Seersucker is only open for dinner Monday through Saturday and for brunch on Saturday and Sunday, it is totally worth the time you may need to wait for a table.

Seersucker ~ 329 Smith Street ~ Brooklyn, NY 11231