A Couple of New York City Notes

I spent the past weekend serving as a tourguide for friends in the Big Apple. We had some experiences positive and negative at a couple of places that I have written about here in the past

Il Menestrello

Located across from the Omni Berkshire Place on 52nd Street, it was one of my favorites for a solid, if not extrodinary, nice Italian meal for year. Unfortunately, I must report back that Il Menestrello has slid down the slippery slope of quality quickly. My carpaccio was gummy and swiiming in a veritable sea of oilve oil over a bed or Argulat chopped the consistency of iceberg on a Whopper. The Ossobuco was tepid in temperature and had little flavor. The accompanying barley risotto was largely flavorless.

One of my dining companions noted that his nightly special of zuppa de pesce was ok, but hardly worthy of praise. The serving size seemed really small to me.

Miss Mamie's Sppoinbread

Back in the day, when i would visit this 110th Street eatery located across the Street from the magnificent St. John The Divine Cathedral, it had really good sould food and very few customers. I'm happy to report that the Soul Food is still spot on and the dining room is now packed after the place has gotten loads of PR via the Food Network in recent years.

The fried chicken was golden and crusty with the slightest hints of garlic and cayenne. The sweet potatoes wre fragrant of a wonderful orange zest, the mac and cheese goey with chunks of sharp cheddar and served cut in custardy squares.

The iced tea is the sweetest I've ever tasted and the dining room is an incredibly interesting combination of folks from various socio-economic backgrounds.

Shun Lee West

Being in the Lincoln Theater area, we we're looking for very good and reliable Chinese American at the requests of my guests. The highly rated and highly thought of Shun Lee West served us well.

Lobster with Szechuan Sauce came shelled with a tangy though not overpoweringly hot tomatoe based sauce. The duck fried rice was wonderful and one of everyone's favorites. The rice remained tender and fluffy in the stir frying process. Finally, we had an appetizer of Country Chicken, deep fried and served with a spicy sweet sauce reminscient of General Tso's. The chicken was breaded rather than battered and the sauce was somewhat lighter than what we see in Chinese American here.

Shun Lee can be expensive. However, there is a Shun Lee cafe located next door which is more informal and less expensive than Shun Lee West or Shun Lee Palace.

YourPalWill wrote:
Il Menestrello

Located across from the Omni Berkshire Place on 52nd Street, it was one of my favorites for a solid, if not extrodinary, nice Italian meal for year. Unfortunately, I must report back that Il Menestrello has slid down the slippery slope of quality quickly. My carpaccio was gummy and swiiming in a veritable sea of oilve oil over a bed or Argulat chopped the consistency of iceberg on a Whopper. The Ossobuco was tepid in temperature and had little flavor. The accompanying barley risotto was largely flavorless.

I hit Il Menestrello about eight or ten times a year (almost always on a business friend's expense account, since its very pricey). This is terrible news. I will report back to either confirm (sad sigh) or differ (hopefully).

I pretty much always order the veal chop, when its fresh--the scampi of head on fresh langoustines, and always the ricotta cheesecake. Never tried anything braised or raw. The minestrone is fresh and light--sans meat like you find in Chicago.

Did you go for lunch or dinner, week night or weekend?

I was introduced there by a long-time customer, so we routinely get special treatment. Although not so special that the one time I asked for an off menu dish (rapini, beans and sausage) at lunch, they made it and made it quite well--but charged me $26! When I saw the check, I just laughed and paid.

"The minestrone is fresh and light--sans meat like you find in Chicago."


Meat in minestrone? I've never seen that here. Any particular place?

JeffB wrote:"The minestrone is fresh and light--sans meat like you find in Chicago."


Meat in minestrone? I've never seen that here. Any particular place?

I think the term minestrone perhaps has gotten something more of a fixed character here than it has in Italy, where of course it just means 'big (i.e. hearty) soup' with considerable variation in ingredients from place to place, season to season, family to family, pantry conditions of the day. That it is a soup that especially features vegetables is beyond dispute and that it very or even most often occurs sans flesh is also a reasonable claim, but the presence of some meat, especially pork products, doesn't strike me as unacceptable barbarism.

Now, having said that, I have no opinion whatsoever on whether there is a particular tendency here in Chicago regularly to include meat or not.

Antonius

I didn't mean to suggest that minestri shouldn't have meat, just that I've never been served minestone in Chicago that had any.

A particularly flavorful version is at La Gondola, the strip mall takeout pizza and pasta place on Ashland run by paesani who are kind of mailing it in these days, but do come through on some items, such as the trippa alla Fiorentina which oddly stays on the menu despite my suspicion that I'm the only one who ever orders it. The free bread is good too, perfect for the tripe.

Meat in the minestrone: Palermo's 95th near cicero, Gianotti's, La Scarola.

I just figured it to be a Chicago legacy thing, as I had always had it served as a melange of beans and vegetables, the most successful versions given body with eggplant (come to think of it, bread would work well too).