The best pizza grows in Brooklyn. We know this. Perfecting your dough craft outer-borough style before bringing those pie skills to the big time seems to be a theme these days, so it comes as no surprise that with a brand already established in Williamsburg, Mathieu Palombino’s Motorino (which the NY Times awarded “best new generation pizza”) recently opened up their first Manhattan annex in the East Village. Their small pizzeria is in the old Una Pizza Napoletana space on 12th street’s mini restaurant row. Having an award winning oven already in place, Motorino has hit the ground running. The masses will now get a taste of Motorino’s unbeatable margherita and signature soppressata pies.
A few things to note before we get into it. First, this is a review of the Boqueria on 19th St., not of the newer SoHo location, and not of both. Boqueria Soho has a different dynamic and clientele. Second, let us preface this by saying that we’ve been coming to Boqueria for a while now, and we generally enjoy the place. The only problem we have is that it’s slowly becoming to Spanish food what Sushi Samba is to Japanese. What does that mean exactly? It means that it’s on the short list of venues for Girls Night Out, and that the food is hit or miss. Don’t get us wrong, we’re absolutely fine with going to a restaurant loaded with girls, but consistency is what we crave and Boqueria seems to be all over the map these days. The best bets on the menu tend to be the more simple items like Brussels sprouts, pan con tomate, and anything with chorizo. The wine list is good and reasonably priced (plenty of bottles priced under forty dollars), and the churros are pretty excellent. Maybe even better than the ones that dude sells on the L train platform. At the end of the day, the good at Boqueria is definitely good, and if you stick to the right things, you’ll probably walk away happy. Then again, when we’re craving some Spanish food we’re probably headed to Bar Carerra, Mercat, or Casa Mono instead. For the purposes of this food rundown, we’re going to stick (mostly) to the stuff we liked.
They say the Ocean occupies 71% of our planet’s surface, right? Well, it feels like Oceana occupies 71% of 49th street. This tribute to the sea is massive; probably the biggest seafood restaurant in NYC. Whole fish on ice, crab legs, clams, mussels, oysters and the rest of their impressive raw bar greet you at the door and set the tone. Light blues, sea greens, and different shades of white give the room a tasteful, aquatic feel. Everything in Oceana, from their comfy booths to amicable service makes you feel at ease. Overall, the food is fine; simple and straight forward. It’s an ideal place for lunch during the week, dinner before a trip to the theatre with mom, or to cure a king crab craving, which I get often. Strange? Probably. Oceana is a welcome addition to Midtown’s clusterf*ck of expansive dining halls, and especially enjoyable if you’re not the one paying.
As a true cheese-a-phob (that’s right people, aside from cheese on pizza and the occasional mild cheese sauce, I avoid the stuff like the plague), you can imagine my reaction to the suggestion of eating anywhere related to Artisanal, the Mecca of all things cheese. However, after some arm twisting, I found myself walking into its grand, high ceilinged, chandeliered sister restaurant, Bar Artisanal. Imagine my surprise to find that while it stays true to its namesake with an extensive selection of cheeses, Bar Artisanal offers an expansive variety of non-cheese options as well. So much so, that it took me multiple visits to taste enough of the non-fromage items to write a well rounded review. Both the food and the service can be hit or miss, but the good outweigh the bad at this small plates French bistro. I look forward to my next visit.
Jimmy’s No. 43 was an unknown to us until a few weeks ago, even though we watch sports at the bar directly above it now and again. One of our informants recently tipped us off to it, and it turns out that just below the street on 7th you will find a dark and cozy joint that feels like it’s straight out of Eastern Europe. Welcome to Jimmy’s.
Jimmy’s is all about craft beers, both domestic and imported, and it’s apparently a well kept secret that they also serve amazing food. The interesting part is that there is much more to Jimmy’s than just that. A visit to their website sufficiently demonstrates their passion for not only beer and eating, but also for their community. You’ll see that they frequently host awesome things like tap dancing classes (“tappy hour”), beer tastings, home brewing demos, and a local oyster night every Thursday. This isn’t a bar, this is a community college for hedonists.
We’ve since stopped in for a few sessions of beer drinking and face stuffing, and the verdict is in, the food is indeed excellent. It’s the perfect cold weather night out – a handful of beers, a hearty meal, and an early bedtime. We’re glad we stumbled in … it’s going to be a long winter. Looking at the schedule of events at Jimmy’s, we should be tapping our way to a master brewer certification by spring.
