Tag Archives: risotto balls

Sergimmo Salumeria

22 Aug

I have been singing the praises of my neighborhood for a while, saying that it was “up and coming.”  Thankfully, that turned out to be true.  The area between what is classically known as Chelsea and the northern area that is Hell’s Kitchen (affectionately named “Hellsea” by some) has not exactly been a great supply of food.  Penn Station and Port Authority don’t scream “Eat Here!”  But in the last 2 years (and mostly in the last 6 months), 9th Avenue between 34th and 42nd Streets may actually be going somewhere.

One welcome addition is Sergimmo Salumeria.  There is currently one in Queens, but they also just opened one on 9th Avenue between 35th and 36th Streets.  It’s a small place, but they did an amazing job decorating it and making it very welcoming.

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I had heard that this place was already generating lines out the door, and seeing as though I had never heard of it , it was time to try.

 They have some very classic Italian packaged goods, and I had to try the Espresso Coffee Soda.  It was not what I was expecting, and had some redeeming qualities, but I don’t know if I will go out of my way to drink this again.

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I decided to try Il VIP which included prosciutto di parma, fresh mozzarella, arugula, E.V. Olive oil, and fig spread.  It is VERY expensive at $14… until you get it.  Half this sandwich left me so full I could hardly walk back to the office.  (And the second half made an AMAZING addition to an omelet the next day.)

The bread had the outside crunch and inside give and fluffiness that you dream about in bread.  The prosciutto and mozzarella were unbelievably fresh and I loved the fig jam (though I wish there were a bit more of it… but I am a fig jam fan so I may be in the minority on that preference).  The arugula was also a great bitter crunch for it.  A fantastic sandwich overall.

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We also tried 2 different kinds of risotto balls, one meat and one vegetable, as well as a sampling of olives.

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The balls were lightly fried, creamy on the inside, and had good flavor.  I actually would have preferred them with a bit of sauce, but they were still good.

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The one problem with having a line out the door is that it’s hard to keep the AC pumping enough to keep diners… and sandwiches… cool. By the time I finished my first half, my second half was starting to pool onto the serving board.  

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We went back a second time and got an assortment of other goodies.

I tried the Bresalola e Arugula saald with arugula, bresaola, and shaved parmigiano drizzled with lemon dressing and E.V. olive oil.  It was absolutely delicious and fresh.

Someone ordered the chicken salad with grilled chicken, arugula, sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, and corn with lemon dressing and E.V. olive Oil.

The special that day was pork shoulder with balsamic, arugula, and cheese.

Someone else ordered the Di Fracesca Panini, which was a fried cutlet, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, and artichokes.

Overall, everything we have had here has been very tasty.  It’s a wee bit on the expensive side, but they have big portions and fresh food.  It is a novel menu for this neighborhood and I’m glad to have this in the neighborhood.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Casa Nonna

29 Jun

I had no idea what to expect when the retail space on the ground floor of my building finally got a tenant.  They advertised that “Casa Nonna” and “GoBurger” were coming.  Imagine my surprise when I did some Googling and realized that Casa Nonna was part of the BLT Restaurant Group.

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I have been a fan of the BLTs for some time, and especially love the popovers at BLT Steak.  There has been a lot of press recently about Laurent Tourondel leaving the BLT chain amidst much drama, so it’s getting quite confusing about who is affiliated with what. But nonetheless, Casa Nonna was opening in my building. Score! There is one already in DC, and I hear it compared mostly to Carmine’s.

I was surprised at how big this place is. I couldn’t even get the sprawling rooms in one photo.

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The actual bar area is smaller than I anticipated (midtown usually fills bars long before it fills eateries).

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There is a private room with a large TV.

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Some awesome pasta jars.

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A cheese case (where a waiter cleverly stood behind me and said “CHEESE!” just as I snapped this shot)

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And some very cool tables.

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But what about the food?

The first time we went, we started with garlic bread.  This was INSANELY good.  (Strangely, this wasn’t served when we came back for dinner… so not sure what went on there)

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We tried a few apps, including these beautiful meatballs (which had chili in the sauce, dammit)

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Saffron Parmesan Risotto Balls (creamy inside, crispy outside, delicious tomato sauce)

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And Sheep’s Milk Ricotta, Truffled Saba, which was awesome.  I loved the truffle sauce and the ricotta spread so nicely.

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For entrees, one order was Tuna and Tuscan Tomato-Bread Salad, Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  When this came out, the person that ordered this immediately said “I made the right choice!”  I look forward to trying this because it looked great.

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Since it was lunchtime the first time we went, there were some paninis and piadinis on the table.

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The branzino came out and both looked and smelled sensational.  It was head-on but deboned.  Nice.

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One person we were with ordered the tortellini, which was described as Little Hats of Ricotta, Tomato Basil Sauce, Parmesan. In the words of the orderer, “they had me at little hats.”

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There was also a pollo paillard salad, which was Grilled Herb Chicken Paillard, Arugula Salad, with Lemon Dressing.

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My first order was the squash blossom pizza.  I had tasted squash blossoms for the first time at Mozza, Mario Batali’s fantastic restaurant in LA.  The pesto on it was good and I really like the fried egg (though I wished there were a bit more.  The crust was crispy without being a cracker, but I can’t say the flavor was popping.

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These blossoms were tasty, but I’m not sure how much they added to the pizza.  I wanted more out of this, though it was very good.

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As for dinner entrees, we tried the Chicken parm, which was good and cheesy and with brocoli rabe.  It was a large serving and was juicy inside. The rabe was a bit spicy, and there was a bit of disappointment that it wasn’t served with a side of pasta.

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For dinner, I chose to have the gnocchi, which came with Lobster, Chanterelles, Pancetta, and Garlic Greens. It was very tasty. The gnocchi had the right amount of give and flavor, while the lobster, chanterelles, and pancetta really added a great series of flavors to the meal.

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For dessert, we had a trio of sorbetti (their flavor selections are Orange Hibiscus ~ Grapefruit ~ Watermelon ~ Red Grape ~ Cantalope ~ Lime Fresh Mint).  I really liked the red grape.

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And a trio of gelatti (flavors: Amaretto Crunch ~ Pistachio ~ Sweet Cream ~ Olive Oil ~ White Chocolate ~ Chocolate Hazelnut ~ Blackberry ~ Vanilla).  The olive oil was good, but nowhere near Otto good (you need the salt!) and the pistachio was missing some flavor. It was hard to tell the difference between the Amaretto Crunch and the Pistachio, for instance.

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I went with the panna cotta, which came with plums and a darling spiral of sugar.  It was tasty and the right texture, but the panna cotta was a wee bit bland.  I’d say the desserts overall were a bit disappointing.

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It was a nice touch that they served a nice ending of chocolate covered meringues.  They were pretty good.

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Overall, I think my opinion of Casa Nonna is swayed simply because I was expecting a BLT experience.  Compared to the BLTs, it isn’t nearly as refined nor filled with flavor, but it was good.  Bordering on very good.  It does share some resemblance to Carmine’s (though you can’t count on the portions to be gargantuan in the same way) with that big restaurant, Italian feel.

One thing I do need to say, however, is that the service was impeccable.  I think this had a lot to do with the fact that there were WAY too many waiters on staff for the nearly empty large space, so they had the time to quickly replace every fork and clear every dish.  But it was nice to see such friendly wait staff.

I look forward to seeing how this place develops.  It has definite potential, but I’m not sure if it has reached it yet.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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Culinary Walking Tour of Greenwich Village

20 Mar

For our 6 month anniversary, I gave Mike a gift certificate for us to take a Culinary Walking Tour of Greenwich Village.  Over 9 months later, we finally scheduled a date to go. 

Last Sunday we began our culinary adventure by meeting at Murray’s Cheese Shop on Bleecker Street.  I was excited to start this adventure with cheese, however, that had to wait for later in the day. 

Our guide was a perky wannabe Broadway star with terrible hair and a cute smile.  She talked a bit about the neighborhood, buildings, and history and then we went walking.

Our first tasting was at Famous Joe’s Pizza.  Our guide described it as being back to basics with fresh tomatoes, cheese, and crispy crust.  It was good, but not great.  As she said, very basic.


Our next stop was O & Co, a Meditteranean Food Merchant specializing in gourmet olive oils and balsmic vinegars.  One taste and I knew I had to come back to buy (the 20% discount for people on the Walking Tour that day was also incentive).  The balsamic tasted like candy! 




We talked a lot about the character of the area, the history, and the buildings.  This carriage house is not only huge, but happens to also be where they housed the cast of “The Next Food Network Star” for a season:

One of my favorite stops along the way was Palma.  It’s a more classic version of Meditteranean food that is more Italian/French.  The restaurant itself was charming with a nice patio out back, and I cannot wait to go back to try the fried artichokes that looked and smelled delicious as we passed through.  We were told they had great sangria, but when we stopped in after our tour, we were informed that they didn’t have it at the time.  Shame.  The coolest part about the restaurant, however, is that there is an urban farm house behind it where they host private parties.  We got to peak inside and I couldn’t help but dream of a day when I could set up a party for my friends in a place like that.  It’s not something you find everyday in NYC!



Our next stop was Faicco’s Italian Specialites (formerly Faicco’s Pork Shop… but I guess “pork shop” has less mass appeal).  We tried the risotto balls which were delicious (though not quite as good as the ones from CraftBar).  The place itself had beautiful cases of meat and prepared foods. 



We then walked down the street to Aphrodisia Herb Shoppe, which I think they said has been around since the 60s.  We were greated with the smell of spices and a cat who everyone took a moment to pet… before reading the sign on the other side of the store informing us that petting the cat was not advised.  While there, we tried some tea and I noticed that they had some special “sore throat” tea recipes.  As a fan of the mass market Throat Coat Tea from Traditional Medicinals, I regretted not buying some of this special tea while we were there.


We passed by one of my favorite NYC bars, The Blind Tiger.  We stopped in there afterwards for a drink as well, however, much to our dismay there was a private party going on and it was too packed.

The next tasting was around the middle point in the tour and allowed us 10 minutes to sit down and use the rest rooms.  We went to a modern Italian wine bar called Centro Vinoteca.  This happens to be the restaurant where Leah Cohen (of Top Chef Season 5 fame… the one who made out with Hosea) is chef.  They serve small plates called “piccolini” and quartinos of wine.  I’m not sure what the dish we sampled was called, however, it was a whole grain with squash, mushrooms, and some other delicious things prepared risotto style.  I really enjoyed it.  The menu also looked fantastic (and I want to go back to try the braised veal cheeks with cauliflower puree & artichokes) and this is where we wound up settling on for our post-tour drink.  I saw that they had a honey chestnut gelato on the menu that I just had to try.  It came with dark chocolate and creme de fresh gelato as well and we thoroughly enjoyed it while drinking my wine and Mike had a St. Germaine cocktail.  I enjoyed it so thoroughly, that I forgot to photograph it.


We passed by a really adorable court yard called “Grove Court” while walking around.  It used to be called “Mixed Ale Alley,” however, they changed it during prohibition.  Interestingly, it used to be a sign of wealth to live close to the street, so these beautiful houses pushed back off the road with these court yards were actually where the poor used to live.  I can only imagine how pricey these are now!

Our next stop and tasting was a place I have been wanting to go for a while: Milk & Cookies Bakery.  They specialize in the basics, but you can also select from a list of ingredients and custom create a recipe that they will bake for you (great for people without big kitchens or baking skills).  We tasted a chocolate chip, oats cookie that was still warm from the oven.  It was absolutely delicious.



At this point in the tour, we finally got to return to our original meeting spot: Murray’s Cheese.  We had a sampler of 3 cheeses, a cheese baked good that was delicious, and a hard salami.  All were delicious, and I was thrilled to see they offer a cheese class AND a cheese of the month club.  Their mac and cheese also looked amazing.


Our last stop was Rocco’s, a pastry shop specializing in Italian.  We tasted DELICIOUS canollis and then bought a humantashin to carry on our Purim tradition.  We enjoyed eating the humantashin on our way to the subway. 





All-in-all, an absolutely delicious and fun day!

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