VinDivine - Living it Up John & Janine Style

Pazza Notte

OK first things first. No whining (or unsubscribing;) about this being the first post in a month, and then NOT having it be SF-related. We’re gonna start cranking out local slop real soon! Oh yeah, Happy New Year!

So, do ya wanna kick-ass thin crust pizza? Well DO YA PUNK? Look at me when I’m talking to you! Hey, outside of Napoli itself, NYC is home to the thin crust ‘za. Ya got Ray’s, Jimmy’s, Johnnys’ whatever. But Pazza Notte is The Don. He kicks the others’ scrawny asses.

We discovered this cute little spot the last time we were in nyc, and scurried back over there as soon as we got into Manhattan last night, after 36 hours in a little place called Crazyville (aka Janine’s hometown).

P-N is located on 6th between 55th and 56th in Midtown. Nice place, not too fancy but nice and comfy. This ain't no pizza joint - it’s an Italian restaurant but the only thing we’ve had is their thin crust ‘za. It’s nice and dark, good vibe and usually pretty crowded, with lots of booths and …wait for it…a bar! ☺ Which we bellied up to of course.

So we get a couple pies, a Margarita and a Fungi, figuring we’d just have some of each since we really only wanted one ‘za, but they don’t do ½ and ½ (and they don’t do slices either, but there’s no way you only want one slice).

We each polish off Piece 1 like a pair of rabid coyotes. Not a word uttered between us. Second slice? Slightly more appreciation of the spices, sauce, and killer paper-thin crust. We may have even taken the time out to mutter “Mmm. This stuff good.” or something like that, we both had our mouths full. Then we do the swap – I hand over a slice of marg for a slice of ‘shroom. It’s like Lather. Rinse. Repeat. We each polish off two slices of the other pronto. Then we start to pick around, all nice and polite. Even sharing. “Here have some more of mine. Please. I could never finish it.” “Thanks, sweetie, here have some of mine too…” Then suddenly we’re both down to the last slice and it’s like we both go Cybil: “What the hell are you looking at?! Keep your f’ing grimy paws off my pizza!!” And that’s just how good this stuff is.

They also have some 2-1 drink special that for some reason we didn’t seem to qualify for, maybe it’s only if you drink well booze. Anyhoo I think it happens every night and runs until close. Kick-ass TC Za and Twofers? Woo Hoo! 

Pazza Notte
1375A 6th
New York, NY 10019
(212) 765-6288

Sir Harry's Bar - NYC

We had to be at the Waldorf Astoria for a convention so right after we took a moment to try out their old-school bar Sir Harry's. We don't have a problem with old school bars, given the choice we like new, hip, trendy but hey, a cool bar is a cool bar. Hey we love the Pied Piper at the Palace. However, Sir Harry's...not so much like the Palace.

Sure it has that old school vibe, dark mysterious place, tables with the wooden inlays of checker board (like anyone's gonna pull out the checkers and start playin'), old-fashioned carpet, chairs with wheels on them (classy!) and you're outta-towner drunks. Oh yeah.

Guy to our left: Digging his finger's in the bar gravel until his fave gravel is gone, so he starts to dig in ours! Reason #1 for NEVER EATING BAR GRAVEL. Guy to his left, WAY overweight, screaming at the top of his lungs, outtatowner, walking right up to the 42" TV, blocking everyone's view so he can "hear" what they're saying. Helloooo, it was close captioned, that doesn't mean get "close". But he was so drunk he couldn't follow the bouncing ball. Then this guy proceeds to go to a random table to eat that bar gravel. Reason #2 for NEVER EATING BAR GRAVEL.

Anyhoo, it's a bar if your desperate for a drink, or you just want to people watch...

Sir Harry's Bar
The Waldorf Astoria
301 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022 at 50th St.
212-872-4890

The Beacon - NYC

We musta walked past this place no less than a hundred times. It's a few doors down from our fave hotel the Chambers. Janine had a meeting downtown and after running the loop in CPark we were hungryyyy. So we asked Joseph, our superman concierge where to go for a quick fun lunch. "The Beacon!" he cried. Ok, sounds good. So he walked us a few doors down, came in wink, wink, "Hi hon, can you VIP these lovely people?" Love the Joseph. When did VIP become a verb?

What looked from the front like your generic-run-of-the-mill NY restaurant with little-to-no character ended up being this cavernous 20's like cool place. Seriously shock for the J&J, I mean look at the logo, would you run in?  We're immediately whisked down into this pit-like room to a huge table and treated like royalty. They thought we might be in it for the long-haul but we were short on time. Too bad. If Janine didn't have a meeting it mighta been an all dayer. We did have to stop an order of complementary oysters coming to the table. a) didn't have the time, b) who sends oysters? That was very nice of them.

Nothing really "light" about this menu. This is like the place where all the media moguls take their clients out and PIG out. No, CHOW down. No, strap the feedbag on. No, gimme the vomitorium. No lie. We searched the menu for that quick lite salad to no avail. But we did find the greens. We split a HUGE salmon salad, light on the salad, heavy on the slab o' salmon. We also got the seared tuna nicoise both salads very good and very large.

We couldn't let this yummy grub go on without a glass o' trusty ole Rosé to wash it down with but we had to ask our waitress (training wheels on, oh boy) about 5 times for it. Hmmmm, don't put the training wheels on the VIPs beacon! Kidding only kidding.

All in all, a GREAT find in midtown. Not sure what the after work bar scene is, perhaps next time!

Quality Meats - NYC

We go to NYC a lot, maybe once a quarter and sorry to say VinDiviners, that you're not going to get new hotel recos from yours truly. Why? Cuz we stay at one cool, happenin' place, that's right, The Chambers Hotel. And it's because of the treatment we get from everyone there, especially José, the Concierge who WALKED us to this new restaurant in the rain to make sure we got right in and got a table. José is the man. Not to mention Joseph, who walked us and "vip'd" us at the Beacon. Love you two.

Now onto Quality Meats. When José first recommended it, we were like, "Is he taking us to some big ole' Chicago syle, cigar smoky, fat guys sittin' around a table undoing the top button of their pants typa place?" With a name like Quality Meats that's why we thought. Boy were we wrong. It's very industrial, jam packed with pretty people. Cool lighting, small place, very cozy. The Smith & Wollensky Group owns this and if you've ever been to one of those meateries, you know it's gonna be the bomb.

But whoa, they only had a 12oz filet mignon (filet, shocker huh?) and we weren't hungry enough for two of those. But we did have a chuckle at the 64 oz. Ribeye for two. Wow. They also serve 3 Filet medallions all cooked in their different ways. Sharing? You KNOW we love the share plates. So we ordered up one of those and it was a lip smacka. We also ordered up the Sashimi of Hamachi which I wouldn't order again cuz...and to top off of protein bonanza we had the Sauteed Spinach, very good.

Funny? What's up with NYC and all of the conversations that happen about climbing the corporate ladder? Guy next to us was on a date (she didn't take her overcoat and scarf off the entire night, wassup widat?) He looked like George Peppard way before The A-Team, maybe in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Anyhoo, he's chattin' up his chillin' lady (literally), talking about how he's the star of his sales team. In fact, he was psyched his manager said he's not "on the team" he's "outside the team". Was that a compliment? This guy sure thought so...LOL. Tool. And of course ALL THE DUDES are suits. Don't blame QM for that.

Drinks? Wine by the glass this time. John the Roshambo Zin, love that wine. Janine: a Ferari Carano Blend. The wine list is pretty ridiculous. Finished it up with some porto, yummy, yummy.

Quality Meats
57 West 58th Street (6th)
New York, NY 10019
T: 212.371.7777
F: 212.317.9362

The Modern - NYC

We've had some CRAZY travelling between NY and Boston of late. Good for us and good for the VDVers cuz we've got some new sh-- to talk about. NO, not about Boston! Well...you guys do have...uh...I mean, I really love your...whew. lol. Anyway, kids, we are naturally talkin' about NYC. Wanna hear about it - here we go:

The Modern is rockin'. Mod, you could say. Damn I loved the Mod Squad. Especially Peggy Lipton (she's the blonde)...Anyhoo, why did we not know about The Modern sooner? For chrissakes, we stay a mere two blocks away at the Chambers each time we're in NY! Ahh, that's why - 'cuz it's next to a MUSEUM. Yipes! Culture!! I mean, we're too busy rooting out the best of the best wining & dining for you guys to get all cultural and stuff. But, since it is right in the MOMA, they use all of the designers' products to pimp the place out. It's a nice, large, bright space with an enormous bar (see below) and café area separated by frosted white glass panels from the main, fancier dining room. Very clean, white, bright. I said it was Mod! Another shining star for Danny Meyer of Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern fame. Wow, he hit it with this one.

The centerpiece? A ginormously long bar made out of slabs of unfinished white marble. For those of you who know the J&J, we are huge aficionados of the Mod look and we notice stupid little things like this. White marble unfinished for a BAR no less? The drink spillage alone would ruin it! Of course our bartender knew that there was a blahblahblah-thane coating on it to prevent this. Whew! We got our breathe back and ordered drinks. And spilled a little on the bar just to test it out. (For those of you who don't know us we are also fans of a long bar, see our equation on the District post.)

The food was another story. Small plates...nah...microscopic plates really. Kiddie-menu size. Those freeze-dried 'if hell freezes over' packet size. Tiny. OK, I think you get the picture. BUT, whatcha get, you're gonna like. Danny wouldn't let us down! Does it matter what we had? Not really but I'll tell ya anyway cuz the menu is constantly changin'. First off, the menu is 'American Nouveau' so a nice range of meats, fishes, and the like. Our faves - Black Angus Beef Tenderloin - RARE of course, if they serve salmon or scallops of any kind when you go, mmmm, mmmmm. Make sure when you go you try a bit of meat, fish and poultry cuz it's all gonna be great but just make sure that for every two people you get at least 5 plates.

Oh, and bonus for the J&J. Bandol Rosé on the menu. And as opposed to the food, served in full-size portions! Wooohooo! Drink a bottle...no...two!

The Modern Restaurant
11 West 53rd Street
New York (212) 333.1220

 

Four Seasons Bar - NYC - Midtown

This place, on 57th St. between Madison & Park, appears like it was created by someone who had beau coup cash and petite peu good style…"Hey, I'm a windbag with a boatload of dough to spend, let's see what type of cold, lifeless, cavern-like place we can build, then shove sticks up the asses of the bar staff. Oh! Then let's charge $32 a glass for Moet Rosé! That'll keep out the riff-raff.” And all the fun people too!

A quick aside – is it pronounced ‘Mo-ett’ or ‘Mo-ay’? I've heard argument both ways, since it has that umlaut dealy over the 'o', that you them pronounce the following consonant. But then it doesn't sound all Frenchy. So who knows.

Back to the story: They weren’t done yet! “…Then, let's light it up so brightly that guests will need to wear sunglasses inside even on a cloudy day, and let's mirror the back wall to double the light! And to cap off the un-cozy vibe we're shooting for, NO BOOTHS. That’ll really top-off the hospital cafeteria ambiance."  Well, brother, if that’s your cup of tea, shuffle on over to the Manhattan Four Seasons bar. The Bar, as they call it.

Wow folks, the San Francisco Four Seasons Bar ROCKS on this one. How do we know? We go there to knock a couple back after we work out at the Sports Club LA just next door!

BTW: Just read that the Prince of Saudi Arabia and Bill Gates offered $3.7 billion for the chain. When I saw them mention the prince, I thought “Hey, maybe they’ll glam this place out in purple and start piping in some righteous tunes!” Oh, wait. Different Prince. And Bill Gates? Well, we all know his design sense. 'Nuff said. And like we said, expense wasn’t what was spared here, it was good taste.

Overall rating: 3/10. Skip it!
Bar Gravel rating: 6/10. Fresh nuts, lotsa pistachios. That’s what saved ‘em from total rating annihilation.

The Bar at Four Season Hotel
57 East 57th Street (cool address anyway)
New York, NY 10022

Florent - Meatpacking District - NYC

Preface: Oops. I am an idiot and for some reason didn’t post this on Marathon Day.  So, just pretend.

As you can see we're busy blogging on this marathon morning instead of, well, running it. Okay, poaching it for the last 12 miles (well, actually miles 13-25, since it is tres uncool to go through the gates if you are a poacher). Could it have been the 8 Vintage Margaritas we had at Town Bar last night?? Naaaaaaah. We'll watch it on TV, go Lance Armstrong!

After a late lunch at Bicé yesterday and agreeing with each other that should be our dinner, where did we find ourselves? At Florent in the Meatpacking District, known for their Steak Frite, late hours and cash-only!

Think 200 people jammed into a hot steamy diner the size of a French elevator. SMALL. We were like "...as charming as it is, there is no way on God's green earth we're waiting in line for this..." when all of a sudden this hostess basically hip-checked a dozen losers ;)  outta her way and chose…US! Like celebs we were led to the last 2 seats at the bar. And we weren’t even sporting our VinDivine motorcycle jackets (on sale soon, fans!) Anyhoo, we bellied up to the counter and ordered, not moules, coq au vin or even onion soupe, but what we heard was a specialty -  Steak Frite  - plus a burger. Rare. And what convinced us this place was really French? When ya order rare, it comes r-a-r-e. Oh yeah, and lots of very reasonably priced good red wine. What? Us without red wine with our meal - very rare.

The food was solid fuur suuuure. Have your expectations in line – this is a great place for very good food and friendly prices. Not a fancy atmosphere. Pretty basic food treatment. Ya get whtacha order. I like that. The steak was very traditional French steak frite – entrecote cut, done rare to order, excellent fries. Nice and crispy on the outside, still some tender tot-meat on the inside. Mustard came on the side without me asking. And the burger was rare baby! Bordering on raw in the middle, but that doesn’t scare us! Hey, it’s not like we were in the UK or anything. Service was efficient  and friendly, even though the place was slammin'.

This place has been around for years, waaay ahead of the meatpacking popularity explosion. Like back when they actually packed meat here. Open late and very popular. And for good reason. A great vibe, great food, fair price. Go hungry and take cash. No credit accepted.

Restaurant Florent
69 Gansevoort St.       
New York, NY 10014
212-989-5779

Gilt - NYC - The Palace Hotel

Ok, folks, Johnny saw a blurb in Wallpaper about the re-vamp of what used to be Le Cirque in the Palace Hotel. We used to stay there on expense account in the dot-com day (thanks Peacock!). Ah, those were the days.

Anyhoo, this place, is, well, just bizarro. It's something like the Sistine Chapel meets the Pompidou, no kidding. There is this spider-man like, panel covered, purple lit jungle-gym in the middle of this 12th century looking room which has paintings and sculptures of cherubs and such. Put down the crack-pipe designers, put DOWN the crack pipe. We heard from the bartender that they wanted to "warm it up" with something modern and since the room is historical they needed to use something freestanding. Ok, a purple jungle-gym it is.

And what a crowd, we were the youngest by a factor of 10!

Camera cut to: Randolph and Mortimer from that Eddie Murphy movie Trading Places. Both with hankies coming out of their gold-buttoned jackets. Who wears a hanky?

Fade to: Two couples hanging at the bar, one of the woman sounded like Stephen Hawking with a Strong Island accent. She was wearing a turtle-neck so who knows? And loud? Tone it down lady, no wonder the two men are talking to each other, you're annoying! She looked like Annette Benning: "I WILL sell a house today".

Cut to: The fur-coat couple. Woman looked like she just came from the arctic-circle. Hey lady, it's 50 degrees out, you don't need a chinchilla on your back. Figures, she orders a "Russian-River Chardonnay" and proceeds to scoop about 9 ice-cubes into it. Hey, maybe in her arctic land that's how they roll.

The only food we can comment on is the bar gravel Johnny demolished. He was successful at picking out all of the pistachios and gave them a thumbs up! We hear that the new chef is amazing and maybe next time we'll try the eats.

All in all, GREAT people watching, great bartender and great fun!

Ono Restaurant - Meatpacking District

OK, First Things First: Who in their right mind would open a restaurant named 'One' next to one called 'Ono'?! I reckon' some crafty bastard that wants to siphon some customers! Well, your trusty guides through all things wine & food, J & J, certainly didn't fall (but almost did) for that trick. We're pros - that's why you pay us!

Anyhoo, Back to the Matter at Hand, as Ice T would say. Ono. Owned by the uber successful China Grill Management who also own Hudson Cafeteria and all of the Asia de Cubas. Wow. Located in the hip trendy Gansevoort hotel (which still seems to be happenin') this place is cool but me thinks a bit long in the tooth. Could be past it's prime, and all that. Super obnoxious crowd of badly dressed, cigar smoking wankers at the bar. And not that many other people around.

That said, we had some fabulous grub, very happy, friendly service and the design is cool. We ate in the bar area (duh, really you guys?!) vs. the dining room since the DR seemed a bit dull. The bar part  has a cool round bar, big outdoor space and you can get the full menu.

We had the very good robato grill stuff: Shitake mushrooms, CHICKEN MEATBALLS. Did I say CHICKEN MEATBALLS? Yummy. Double up on those puppies. Pretty good sauces as well. Other than that, the sashimi and nigiri were fresh and tasty. Janine (anti-sushi/sashimi/nigiri/anything raw) even got into the spicy tuna.

The highlight? Janine observing a few models (where was I ?!) trying to figure out (and failing) how to flush the fancy-shmancy Phillipe Starck toilets. Wow.

Ono Restaurant
18 Ninth Ave.
New York, NY 10014

Town Bar - Midtown

I think we've told you how much we love Chambers Hotel in NY, but the bar in the hotel (small) is great. Why you ask? Because Town introduced us to the Vintage Margarita, which is a margarita up, fresh lime and a wallop that'll blow your doors off! This is a picture of the restaurant, we've not been yet, but you get the idea.

Cool vibe (small), you can go into the chic lobby of the hotel with your drink. But hang out at the bar a little bit. We were there one night and John walked by Boomer Esiason and said "Hey, Phil Simms is here!". Ouch. Sorry Boomer. Thank god we had Josh on speed dial to ask him why Boomer was really famous other than the half time show. I had to tell John it was Boomer, bummer. He still looks great though.

So start or end your night here, hanging with the hot and trendy and getting your drink on.

Town
15 West 56th St.
New York, NY 10019
212.582.4445