Italian | Citybuzz - A Vidicom and Christy Ferer Guide to Travel

Eat/Drink

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+ Shelter: Argentine & Italian food with a rustic winter feel

Williamsburg: not a place for asking questions. It’s a place for sitting at a slab of oak tree beneath a stuffed goat, and digging on some scrumptious meat pastries... At least it is at Shelter, a spacious Williamsburg lair of whiskey and Argentine-Italian edibles, now open. El Almacen and Rosarito Fish Shack. Same folks behind those created this—a kind of hunting lodge of pizza and empanadas. Which... is a strange combination, yes. But after running the following equation—Pizza + Empanadas + Moose Horns + Whiskey = A Damn Good Time—mathematicians have determined the whole thing works just fine.

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+ Eat Breakfast Any Time Of Day At Buvette

Buvette is an exquisite French-Italian breakfast cafe where you can meet for food and drink anytime of day. Located in the West Village, this unique restaurant serves a wide variety of food. You can either go in the morning and eat a fluffy brandade with fresh squeeze orange juice or sit down for dinner with steak tartare and a glass of champagne. Another satisfying feature includes a French and Italian list of wines that makes Buvette a place where breakfast and wine can coincide.

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+ Ereka Vetrini on Parm NYC: The ONLY place to get chicken parm.

No need to travel to Italy for the perfect Parm, just head down to 248 Mulberry Street and taste the goods! Classic chicken parm sandwiches with a little downtown new york twist. All of the ingredients they use are locally grown which is part of their Italian motto. Each piece of chicken parm comes with a side of lasagna which is hands down the best lasagna in all of the city. Their secret for making awesome lasagna? Easy: they toast each side of the lasagna so that every bite provides the necessary crunch.

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+ Grom with Ereka Vetrini

Grom is a high quality gelateria The idea is to apply to the artisanal gelato production, a principle common to all the best restaurants in the world: the purchase of absolute top quality raw materials. With this purpose in mind, at the end of 2002, Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom set out to search the best that agriculture has to offer, from the Langhe to Sicily and Central America. The standards are strict: only fresh seasonal fruit, coming from the best consortia in Italy and from our farm Mura Mura no colorings or artificial additives, Lurisia mountain water for the sorbets and high-quality whole milk for the creams, organic eggs and a selection of the best cocoas and coffees from central America. In 2007, Grom opens its first shop abroad, in New York City, with lines of over 30 meters forming immediately. In the same year, we finally realize one of our most ambitious projects: the purchase of 8 hectares of land in Costigliole d'Asti to start our farm Mura Mura, where old cultivar varieties of peaches, apricots, pears, figs, strawberries and melons are planted. The goal is once again to obtain the best fruit possible, cultivated organically and in compliance with the times dictated by nature and the environment. In 2008, we open in Paris (with great reviews by Le Monde) and in 2009 we open the first store in Tokyo, Japan; at the same time, we start an important green project "Grom Loves World" Grom loves World motivated by the respect of the environment and the eco-sustainability…all plastic (spoons, retail and garbage bags) is therefore replaced by Materbi, an extraordinary material derived from corn starch and vegetable oils that is completely biodegradable, and all paper is replaced by Fsc certified paper, a prominent international entity caring for responsible forest management and the life conditions of the indigenous populations; all this complemented by eco-friendly waste management and the acquisitions of new low emission trucks for the logistic.

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+ Keste is Neapolitan for “This Is It”

San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella flash-frozen in Campagna, Italy before shipping to New York, sea salt, volcanic stone heated to one thousand degrees: these are just some of the necessary ingredients for a true Italian pie at Keste Pizza & Vino. And this attention to authentic detail is working, as the newest contender for the best slice in New York, it has already ranked #1 on NY Mag's list of NYC's Top Pie.

Keste Pizza & Vino offers over twenty pizza pies ranging in price from $9 to $19 with striking toppings such as imported cooked ham, butternut squash cream and truffle spread. Once the order is placed and the toppings are spread over the dough, pizzas cook in just one minute thanks to the thousand degree oven.

Chef-owner Roberto Caporuscio is a traditionalist when it comes to making his twelve-inch Neapolitan pies. With an oven that was made by artisans flown in from Naples, Keste Pizza & Vino is the newest contender for the legendary New York slice status, even if it is through and through Italian. The name sake pie has tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto di parma, arugola, gran cru and extra virgin olive oil. And for the purist there is always the simple elegance and perfection that is the equally popular Margherita.

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+ Italian Culinary Heavyweights Deliver at Del Posto

For an authentic yet modern, inventive Italian meal, not many restaurants in NYC deliver in style like Del Posto. With both Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich at the helm- er kitchen- from the first steps guests are greeted to a grand experience:

classical pianists set the mood in the ballroom of a dining room with balcony seating, three sets of marble staircases, wrought iron railings, and wooden beams in the high ceilings. Start your meal with the Abalone Carpaccio with Grilled Asparagus and Young Ramps or with Lidia's Lobster Salad alla Catalana with Tomato and Celery. For your primi course, the hand made Orecchiette with Lamb Shoulder Sausage, Crispy Morels, and Minted Soybeans is worth it for the minted soybeans alone. For your secondi course, there's no way to go wrong, but if you are feeling adventurous try the Roasted Turbot – from the Mediterranean – with Caponatina, Crunchy Fregola and Moorish Spices. To finish, the Chocolate Ricotta Tortino with Toasted Sicilian Pistachios and EVOO Gelato is a masterpiece of a dessert and the perfect ending to a beautiful Italian meal. At Del Posto, the atmosphere and the service are impeccable, but in the end, it is all about the food – as it should be.

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+ Tuxedo Wearin’, Soprano’s Stylin’ at Acappella

Ever wonder where those classic Italian restaurants that are always in gangster films exist? Look no further than Acappella. Featured in the first-ever Soprano’s episode, the food, service and ambiance make you feel like you are in a scene from The Godfather. The menu is filled with authentic and traditional Northern Italian cuisine, from veal to lobster to pasta. Be sure to try the Bandiera Italiana, consisting of fettuccine with wild mushrooms, cavatelli with pesto, and green and white “hay and straw” pasta with fresh plum tomatoes and herbs. Everything is fresh, and the pastas and desserts are homemade. There are also seasonal specialties, such as wild rabbit, wild boar and buffalo meat in the fall or winter. The wine list is impressive as well, with plenty of domestic and imported wines, including specialty Italian wines. With sixteen foot high beamed ceilings, oversized columns, brick walls, Italian tapestries, and tuxedo wearing waiters, the experience is unique and very Italian. Like the motto says, “We will make you a dish you can’t refuse!”

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+ New Museum’s Lisa Phillips Dines at Gemma

As the director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Lisa Phillips knows a thing or two about the "renaissance," as she calls it, of Bowery Street. The New Museum, is after all, at the center of that explosion of art on Bowery with its Guggenheim-esque new building that opened on December 1, 2007.

When Lisa isn't at the forefront of all things innovative, she heads up a few blocks on Bowery to the New Museum's antithesis, Gemma. "This is where I spend most of my time and eat most of my meals," Lisa told citybuzz of the East Village area. Gemma's an Italian restaurant that's as rustic as you can get in ultra-modern New York City. There's the classic thatched red wine bottles, wooden table tops and copper covered bar that evoke a feeling that Dorothy is no longer in the East Village anymore. The menu is filled with tried and true favorites like delicious wood-fired pizzas and soft gnocchi with a hearty Bolognese sauce. The easy setting and reliable food leaves diners like Lisa Phillips with the impression that, as the New York Times stated,"Gemma has an unlabored panache that makes an evening go down very easy." *** Lisa Phillips has been the Director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art since 1999.

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+ Maialino is Danny Meyer’s New Crown Jewel

Restaurateur Danny Meyer is known as the "King of Union Square" owning landmark restaurants like Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe. With the very recent opening of his high-end restaurant, Maialino, in the chic Gramercy Park Hotel, it seems he has the new crown jewel to his empire. Meyer has professed that it's been his dream to open an authentic Italian restaurant and Maialino is the culmination of his hard work and vision. The name is actually Meyer's nickname, meaning "roast suckling pig," from when he lived in Rome in his early twenties. Of course, the signature dish at Maialino is the suckling pig. One part wine bar, one part trattoria, the Roman-style restaurant serves dishes in true Italian style with primi, secondi and antipasti courses written in Italian. The dishes are simple, elegant, and fresh, using the local Greenmarket as its supplier. Just like the food, the restaurant reflects the juxtaposition between rustic Roma and modern NYC. The restaurant is outfitted in shades of brown and blue checkered tablecloths, but keeps its clean and modern lines. In true Meyer fashion, Maialino serves consistently delicious food inside an elegantly designed restaurant. Yet this one has the added bonus of generous views of the private Gramercy Park inside one of the coolest hotels in Manhattan.