Immaculate Infatuation

Restaurants like Torrisi are the reason that we spend all of our free time eating and writing about food. If you enjoy consuming as much as we do and aren’t held down by underdeveloped taste buds, allergies or religious beliefs, you’re going to love Torrisi Italian Specialties.

By day, Torrisi is the best new sandwich shop in Manhattan. Eat in or take out a gangster roast turkey or chicken parm. At night, all twenty seats are available for $50 a pop, at one of three frustratingly tough to attain prix fixe seatings: 6pm, 7:45pm and 9:30pm. The catch is, there are no reservations. The restaurant opens at 6:00, and it’s first come, first serve. People start lining up to stake their claim on a seating around 5:30. If someone in your party can get there early, you’ll have the pick of the litter. But by 6:30, it’s not uncommon for the restaurant to be sold out for the night. You can always roll the dice and do a drive by – just be prepared for rejection. Luckily, Nolita is stacked and you can always try your luck at Public, Peasant, Cafe Gitane or Café Habana if you can’t get in. We’d been trying to get here for a while now, but it’s a hard place to plan for unless getting out of work early isn’t a problem and your night is wide open.

If you’re lucky enough to score a seat, your only choice will be between two entrees, usually a fish and a meat, and which bottle of fairly priced wine to pair with it. Other than that, your fate is in the hands of the kitchen. Four small appetizers arrive at the table, one at a time, followed by a pasta, main and dessert. It sounds like a lot, but really, it’s the perfect amount of food. The service is excellent, food outstanding and overall experience truly unique. In theory, a prix fixe dinner at a low key Italian sandwich shop might not seem like something to get in line for, but trust us, it is. It’s all worth it.

… read more

Café Habana is the coolest eatery in NYC. What’s the secret behind their permanent 30 to 45 minute wait and constant mob of people hanging out in front? It’s the crack they put on top of their Mexican style grilled corn of course. Once you’ve dabbled in it, it’s nearly impossible to not come back for more. Situated on an ideal corner in the heart of Soho, Café Habana is the big ticket. People come from far and wide to witness greatness at work. They cram themselves into the tiniest spaces, literally sitting on top of strangers next to them. Comfort is not something Habana achieves in the traditional sense; it’s something they achieve through their food. Their menu is straight up dirty (in a good way). Everything is cheap. Everything hits the spot.

… read more

If you read our review of the cafe and taqueria, you know that we’re fans of the food at La Esquina. It’s easy to like fresh Mexican favorites in a casual environment. But what happens when you put a guy with a clipboard and some very dangerous stairs in between us and dinner? In most cases, nothing good. We’re not big fans of velvet ropes in restaurants. But La Esquina manages to get a pass on that, mostly because once we make our way past the doorman, through the kitchen, and into the dungeon, a race to the bottom of a tequila bottle instantly begins. Yes, we like the food here just as much as La Esquina on the street, but we love the brasserie because it makes us want to drink.

One of our all time favorite La Esquina dinners was the result of an unannounced Tuesday night visit. Smooth talking and a small diversion (smoke bomb) got our group of three dudes down without a reservation, and what ensued was a great meal at the chef’s table and a valiant attempt to drink Mexico into another agave shortage. Those are the nights that make us love this place. Even despite the weekday fashionistas and weekend crowds, La Esquina can still play host to the next great time you can’t remember.

… read more

Public is one of those joints that’s always there for you in a pinch. Centrally located and universally appealing, Public is to Nolita what The Smith is to the East Village, just with an older, more sophisticated crowd and higher price point. It’s not the hot spot it once was, but what restaurant almost ten years into its existence is? Still, there’s plenty of good action going on inside. Ever seen a dude motorboat his date at the dinner table? We did, last time we had dinner here. F’ing amazing. He was at it for a solid fifteen minutes too.

Both the food and service at Public are consistently excellent. Chef Brad Farmerie knocks out inventive, flavorful dishes that both look and taste great. It sure as hell isn’t cheap, but you absolutely get your money’s worth. Public is also a pretty well known event space. Hang out in Manhattan long enough and you’ll probably wind up at an after-party here, intoxicated in the restroom, trying to figure out how many little bars of Public branded soap you can shove in your pockets. Or maybe you can afford to buy your own fancy hand soap for your house. Must be nice.

… read more

This moment has been a long time coming. All three La Esquinas (cafe, taqueria and brasserie) have been in our heavy rotation since the days when the bridge and tunnel crowd rocked Von Dutch instead of Ed Hardy. It’s about time we got around to actually writing about them.

This review is specifically for the cafe, La Esquina’s urban surf shack – and the taqueria, a prime Outdoor/Patio Situation for People Watching. We’ve bitched plenty about the fact that there is very little in the way of good Mexican food in this city. La Esquina may not be the most authentic Mexican in town, but it is one of the few establishments to properly spin everything we love about NYC restaurants – attention to detail, high quality ingredients and smart flavor combinations – into a taco. Sure, two fish tacos at the cafe cost twelve bucks, but they’re worth every penny. Mexican food also tastes better when you’re listening to mix of funky merengue interspersed between choice favorites from The xx, Miike Snow and Florence + The Machine. Infatuation Approved grub to go along with Infatuation Approved tunes. That’s how we like it.

… read more