Blogs : Manhattan Digest

Carnivores in Rapture at Salumeria Rosi

Since Salumeria Rosi opened late last year, most of the buzz has been about its salumi, as you might expect. It doesn’t disappoint. Cured and prepared meats from the Italian specialist Parmacotto—coppa (pork collar), pancetta (pork belly), guanciale (pork jowl), bresaola (dried beef), various kinds of prosciutto—are eliciting deep sighs and barnyard noises.

Rosi’s porchetta Toscana is pork loin seasoned with garlic and herbs, rolled in a layer of pork belly, then steamed and slow-roasted. On a meat platter or in a sandwich, it’s “porky deliciousness at its best,” declares MMRuth.

More recently, hounds have also been exploring dishes from the kitchen, overseen by Tuscan chef Cesare Casella (Maremma). Among these small plates—assaggi, or tastes, the menu calls them—pancia is a standout. This is pork belly cooked in its own fat with cicerchie beans, dandelion, and crispy skin. c oliver pronounces it perfect. She also loves the costina (spicy, slow-cooked spare rib) and trippa alla parmigiana (stewed honeycomb tripe), each “sumptuously, unctuously delicious.” guttergourmet goes for an exemplary traditional lasagne with pork-and-beef ragu and béchamel, and zucchini-pesto risotto topped with almonds (“summer in a bowl”).

Salumeria Rosi [Upper West Side]
283 Amsterdam Avenue (near W. 73rd Street), Manhattan
212-877-4800

Board Links: Salumeria Rosi
Porchetta anywhere?
Top 10 dishes in Manhattan?
Salumeria Rosi

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True Thai from the Original Wondee

New York Chowhounds are disappointed but no longer surprised when they order Thai food done Thai style, then end up with sugary dishes short on spice. Wondee Siam, the founding link in a Manhattan minichain, is the rare Thai restaurant that will take you at your word if you ask for the real thing, reports Pan.

He requested authentic Thai food, not too sweet, and was rewarded with “possibly my best ever Thai meal in Manhattan.” Highlights included yum ta lay (seafood salad) with superfresh squid, scallops, and mussels, and pork with fresh turmeric and lemongrass sauce, recommended by the waiter. “Everything was sneaky spicy–moderate at first, but ended up buzzing our mouths,” Pan says. “Just an excellent meal, with delicious, balanced flavors.”

In addition to insisting on Thai-level seasoning, make a point of checking out the specialties on the plastic menu card on every table. MrsCommanderson singles out mieng ka na, a dried pork salad with chiles, peanut, shallots, lime, and more, which you can wrap in Chinese broccoli leaf: “It’s amazing!”

Wondee Siam [Hell’s Kitchen]
792 Ninth Avenue (between W. 52nd and 53rd streets), Manhattan
212-459-9057

Board Link: Wondee Siam–What to order?

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Worthy Sandwiches, Grilled Cheese to Chinese

Murray’s Cheese, in a no-brainer business move, has diversified into grilled cheese sandwiches. From a counter right at the front of the flagship Bleecker Street store, guttergourmet chose the Little Stinker: the semisoft, Taleggio-like Grayson from Virginia’s Meadow Creek Dairy paired with Niman Ranch ham and pressed between two slices of caraway-seeded rye. He sums it up in three letters: “OMG!”

Among the other choices are the Greenwich Village (fontina, prosciutto di Parma, roasted garlic, pesto), the Spaniard (Manchego, quince, jamón serrano), the Delicate Flower (fontina, puréed artichoke, prosciutto cotto), and the Smoke That Turkey (roasted turkey, maple-smoked Gouda, Hawthorne Valley Farm sauerkraut).

In Midtown, the lunch crowd is eating up hefty heros from Papa Perrone’s, a pizza truck previously acclaimed for its Sicilian rice balls. sam1 says its meatball-Parm sandwich on garlic bread is “huge, insanely tasty, and heavy,” and enough for two lunches. (He also tried the pizza, once: “possibly the worst pizza of my life.”)

Another hound-worthy sandwich has resurfaced in Midtown at Mantao, a week-old reincarnation of the sorely missed Province in Tribeca. The new place, like the old one, tucks Asian-accented fillings—spicy pork, grilled chicken with cilantro, short rib with kimchee, among others—into griddled northern-Chinese-style wheat buns. hungrytaf is sold: “OMG so delicious! Ate there with a co-worker and we both flipped out.”

Murray’s Cheese [Greenwich Village]
254 Bleecker Street (at Leroy Street), Manhattan
212-243-3289

Papa Perrone’s [Midtown]
E. 55th Street (between Park and Madison avenues), Manhattan
917-880-1432

Mantao [Midtown East]
235 E. 53rd Street (between Second and Third avenues), Manhattan
212-888-2490

Board Links: Little Stinker-Greatest Grilled Cheese on the Planet
Pappa Perrone’s Truck
Anyone tried Mantao Chinese Sandwiches?
Province to Become Mantao Chinese Sandwiches

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Rewriting the Indian Cookbook at Graffiti

Graffiti had financialdistrictresident from hello. For her, that “hello” was a starter of green mango paneer, a slightly spicy, subtly mango-ey, delectable appetizer.

As it happens, that dish sums up nicely what Jehangir Mehta, a former pastry chef at Jean Georges, is up to here: using Indian flavors as the starting point, but bringing them together in surprising ways. “There is nothing here you would recognize as Indian food,” cautions bombaybeauty, “so don’t come looking for that. But all of the dishes have an Indian spice or flavor deployed in some subtle, unexpected, delicious way.”

She loves a salad of watermelon crowned with mint chutney sorbet. “The combination of chill and spice is startling and wonderful,” she says. And for dessert, strawberries with a rich/savory touch of truffle oil, accompanied by pepper ice cream that “chases the flavors off the palate with a bit of bite.” Other good bets are foie gras–raspberry crostini, and chickpea-crusted skate with mint-yogurt sauce.

Graffiti’s been open almost two years, but Chowhounds haven’t had much to say about it—possibly because they couldn’t wedge their way in. The notoriously teeny Terroir and Dirt Candy are enormous compared with Graffiti, financialdistrictresident says: “You could hardly walk in the door and I don’t know how the servers do it.”

Graffiti [East Village]
224 E. 10th Street (between First and Second avenues), Manhattan
212-677-0695

Board Link: Praise for Graffiti

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Amazing Spinach Gnocchi with Gorgonzola

“Get some. Now.” That’s Slob’s urgent advice on the spinach gnocchi in Gorgonzola sauce at Malatesta. Yes, he likes it. Where most other Gorgonzola sauces overwhelm, to Slob’s taste, this one “got it RIGHT,” and each gnoccho is meltingly tender, “like a delicious little cloud.”

Around this time of year, hounds crave Malatesta’s spaghetti alla chitarra, a simple, seasonal knockout made with tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil. It’s quite good, Slob allows, but “couldn’t hold the gnocchi’s jockstrap.” suse sidesteps the jockstrap question but seconds Slob on the gnocchi, saying it is “amazing.” She also describes memorably delicious grilled calamari, tagliatelle with ragu, and grilled lamb chop. “Lots of good food, really,” she concludes.

Malatesta [West Village]
649 Washington Street (at Christopher Street), Manhattan
212-741-1207

Board Link: The spinach gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce at Malatesta..

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