Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Walkers is Cool Old School NYC

 



WALKER'S

NORTH MOORE STREET

TRIBECA





Inside WALKERS

NEW YORK NY


New York City may be slowly but surely losing its historic neighborhood taverns, but as long as the doors stay open at Walker’s, a slice of Tribeca’s past remains. These days, the haunt plays host to a steady lunch and after-work clientele who drink and dine at the well-worn bar or at the paper-covered tables crowding the slightly cramped front room. Years of late nights (and pre-Bloomberg) smoke have aged the thick paint on the pressed tin ceiling to a mellow patina, while black-and-white photos of bygone street scenes add to the good-old-days luster. As each evening progresses, patrons follow the bar leading to the two quirky, hall-like back dining rooms, leaving the bar to serious drinkers. Straightforward American cuisine is the backbone of the ample menu: shell steak served with roasted potatoes and vegetables, herb-roasted free-range chicken or cowboy chili. But, in a nod to more sophisticated palates, there are more continental dishes, such as grilled yellowfin tuna over field greens and pan-roasted salmon with asparagus, chickpeas, and grape tomatoes. The no-frills tavern burger, meanwhile, is better than you might expect.

Walker's Bar, is a hsitorical bar,  whose first Saloon Licsense w the 1880's. Walkers serves great food at reasonable prices. Everyone is welcome!  At this Varick St and N. Moore St location, there has been a bar and restaurant since the building was first occupied in the early 1880′s. The neighborhood has seen many changes in history. As the neighborhood evolved, so did the bar and restaurant. One thing has remained — a remarkable eating and drinking establishment. 




First Saloon Liquor License

Issued in 1895


 The ceiling is Tin and old wood floors are still there. There are many places that looked like Walker’s back in the day, not so many more. Walker’s evokes the feeling of an old NYC saloon while serving great Guinness Pints (20oz), local brews on tap as well an extensive selection of bottled beer too. 

 WAlker's has been serving great food and spirits for generations. Located in historic Tribeca, there has been a eating and drinking establishment since 1895.

 Great food and drink. In addition to 20oz pint of Guinness, we have nine other brews on tap. Great bottle beer too! We have a great wine list by the glass or bottle (check our daily wine specials). 

The food is great everything from our famous burgers, steaks, salads plus specials every day, And last, but, not least our fabulous brunch on Saturdays and Sundays by Gabriel Cruz. 







AMERICA'S FAVORITE DISHES

And SECRET RECIPES

BURGERS TACOS BURRITOS

STEAKS

BONE SUCKING BBQ SAUCE

SOUP & BREAKFAST

FRIED CHICKEN - MEATLOAF 

And MUCH MORE ...











Monday, March 21, 2022

Brooklyn Pizza The Worlds Best

 



AMERICA'S TWO GREATEST PIZZAIOLO

MARK IACONO and DOMENICO DeMARCO


LUCALI & DiFARA PIZZA





BROOKLYN PIZZA

The WORLDS BEST





NEW YORK PIZZA








SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO






JOHN TRAVOLTA Eats PIZZA

"LENNY'S PIZZERIA"

Brooklyn, New York

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER




















Friday, March 18, 2022

New York Mourns The Loss of Dom DeMarco





DOM De MARCO

1936 - 2022

"We'll Miss You Dom"

And Your Fabulous WORLDS BEST PIZZA

GOD BLESS



DeMarco emigrated from Caserta in Italy in 1959. He opened Di Fara Pizza in 1965 with his business partner Farina. The name Di Fara comes from a combination of his and his business partner's names. DeMarco bought out Farina in 1978, but kept the name the same.

DeMarco heavily influenced Brooklyn pizza including younger pizzaiolos Mark Iacono of Lucali and Frank Pinello of Best Pizza. Iacono referred to De Marco as the "Joe DiMaggio of pizza".  Others have referred to DeMarco as the godfather of pizza.

Many consider Di Fara's to be the best pizzeria in New York City.

In 2015, DeMarco received a haircut in the pizzeria on his 79th birthday from Brian Girgus, a drummer, barbershop owner, and "pizza freak" from Los Angeles.


On March 17, 2022, DeMarco died at the age of 85.




From The NY POST ... March 20, 2022



A pizza man died last week. The pizza man.

Dom DeMarco was a legend. The immigrant from the Italian province of Caserta opened Di Fara Pizza on the most nondescript stretch of Avenue J in Brooklyn back in 1965.

The shop name was an amalgamation of his last name and that of his partner, whom he bought out in the late 1970s. He never bothered changing the name: It was all about the pizza.

A lot of New York experiences come with a side of New York attitude. Your waiter at Peter Luger will be gruff. The hostess at the hot-restaurant-of-the-week will sneer. Be ready to order when it’s your turn at the Zabar’s counter or else.

But Di Fara has never been like that. It gets busy, sure, but Dom and his kids, who run the shop, always had time to exchange pleasantries with the regulars.

And patience for the tourists. I watched Dom’s daughter Maggie take a pizza order from a visitor who wanted a different topping on each slice. She laughed and wrote it down, and they made it. (Please, tourists to New York, do not do this.)

Dom was a true artist, and everyone knew it. Each pie was a masterpiece. He’d drizzle the oil over the finished pizza and carefully trim, with kitchen shears, the basil that grew on his windowsill. All the ingredients were super high quality.

Few were not dazzled.

He didn’t want to wear the little hat the health department insisted on. He did not wear gloves. He would plunge his hands into the oven to take a peek at the pie inside. Unsatisfied, he’d rotate it until the bottom of the pizza met his expectations. His fingers were gnarled from decades of doing this. Every pie was perfect.

It was not, by any means, a quick process. For a long time, Dom was the only one who touched the pizza. People imagined they could place their order and go for a walk, returning to find their pie waiting for them. Amateur mistake.

I’d go to Di Fara as a kid when I was too young to appreciate its uniqueness among the other corner-slice shops. My first time at Di Fara in adulthood, we placed our order and took a seat. Error. The crowd around the counter was marveling at the man and his work, yes, but people were also keeping up with their place in the line. Ninety minutes after our arrival, starving and miserable, we checked on our pizza only to be told it would still be a while.

We discussed amongst ourselves. Should we leave? Nothing could be good enough to endure this wait! But how could we give up now? We couldn’t. We waited and then waited some more.

Then it arrived. Piping hot, steam rising. Dom snipped the basil on top, grated the Grana Padano cheese. Every pie had his personal touch. “Give it a minute,” his daughter Maggie told us. We couldn’t. We didn’t. We burned the roof of our mouths and loved every second of it. We had never had pizza like this, not ever.

Last week Kim Kardashian made news when she offered her advice to people who want to succeed: “Get your f–king ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.” Dom would be surprised to be mentioned in tandem with Kardashian (if he even knew who she was), but he shared this intense work ethic. His children would talk about forcing him to take days off. As he got older, we could hear them encouraging him to sit down.

The last time I had pizza made by Dom DeMarco was in October 2018. Just like the first pie, the last one stayed imprinted in my memory. We’d see him at the pizza shop after that, but he wasn’t making pizza anymore. He had passed on his gifts to others. The pizza at Di Fara is still incredible. 


"But there will never be a Dom DeMarco again."






"Dom"







SUNDAY SAUCE

"WHEN IATLIAN-AMERICANS COOK"







 

Friday, March 4, 2022

The CHIANTI Tasting New York 2022

 



CHIANTI in NEW YORK

GRAND TASTING

2002





Join Chianti Classico at this Grand Tasting as they introduce the newest vintage as well as the new Additional Geographic Unit System.


About this Event: 


***The Chianti Classico Grand Tasting on Monday February 28th is currently sold out.***
*If you are still interested in attending please email chianticlassico@colangelopr.com*
---

Celebrate one of the world’s most prestigious wine denominations, Chianti Classico, at a Walk-Around Tasting with over 50 wineries and educational seminars by renowned wine cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti at The Altman Building in New York City on February 28, 2022.

In June 2021, Chianti Classico approved the project of the UGA system (Additional Geographic Units) to differentiate and highlight the differences in climate and soil type of 11 villages of the region. The introduction of the UGA system marked a milestone for Chianti Classico and will help define and better explain the unique taste profiles of its wines.

The New York event will offer a fully immersive experience to attendees who will be able to viscerally experience the unique landscapes that make Chianti Classico wines so sought after.

During the event you'll be able to taste Chianti Classico wines and speak with winery representatives, from small boutique wineries to some of this region's more established producers as well as learning about the UGA system from Wine Cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti.



Monday February 28, 2022   

CHIANTI GRAND TASTING  ...  New York


Yes, the Grand Chianti Tasting is today. Having my morning coffee, and getting ready to head up to The Alman Building for the tasting. Well, two down and one to go, for this latest barrage of Italian WIne Tastings that started with the Brunello Tasting on Wednesday, followed by Tre Bicchieri on Friday, and now the CHiant Tasting today. Quite something. After two years of no tastings at all, due to the Pandemic, we now see a concentration of the 3 biggest Italian Wine Events of the year, all in a short 8 days time.


I'm looking forward to tasting some great CHianti and other wines made in the CHianti Zone. There will be a lot of wonderful Chinti wines to taste among the 50 participating estates, but I always have my sentimental favorites, which include Castello Verrazzano in Greve, from my good friend the Cavalier Luigi Cappellini, always some real authentic ( no Merlot, No Cab) Chianti wines, along with the estates great example of Vino Santo. Also in Greve, and along with Verrazzano as my two favorites are the wines from Villa Calinaia and my friends Conti Capponi, Sebastiano and Nicola Capponi, two brothers of the noble Florentine Family of Capponi. Villa Calcinaia is one of the most and important estates in all of Chianti Classico. The Capponi Family have been making wine in Greve for more than 500 years. Quite a pedigree. 

Third on the list, and along with Villa Calcinaia, the estate of Fontodi from Giovanni Manetti in Pnazano, the next town south of Greve on Chianti Classico'S Chaintigiana Road that runs sout from Florence in the North, to Siena on the southern end. On the first day that I ever visited a wine estate in Italy, and was given a private tour and tasting by the owner of the estate, the first estate was Villa Calcinaia and The Conti Capponi, and after we took a tour of Villa Calciania and had a wonderful lunch with the two Counts, we left and made our way to Panzano and the Fontodi Wine Estate to meet up with Giovanni Manetti, who took us on a tour of the cellears and the vindeyards, before bringing us inside for a tasting of Fontodi's wonderful Chainti, Vin Santo, and Super Tuscan (Flaccinella) Wines. It was quite a day, and one I cherish to this day,


Well, Boys and Girls. It's time to go. Up to 18th Street and the Altman Builing where all the wonderful Chianti, Vin Santo, and my Tucan Friends await. I will taste the fine wines, visit and chit-chat with friends, and I will report back to you tomorrow to let you know about the wine and how the day went. So Ciao for now. 


Daniele Bellino Z   "Teh New York Italian Food & Wine Guy"


Basta !













BEST CHIANTI of The DAY

My Favorite Chianti of The Day

Was CASTEELO VERRAZZANO CHIANTI CLASSICO Reserva 2016

An Amazing WIne, in Perfect Balance.

Any Wine that I say is Perfect Balance, it means the Wine is Great and as Good as It Gets








The CAPPELLINI'S

Silvia Cappellini and Daughter M. Cappellini

CASTELLO VERRAZZANO

GREVE, ITALY


At The CHIANTI GRAND TASTING in NEW YORK

Feb. 28, 2022



Just got back from the Chianti Tasting (New York). I drank a lot of great Chianti and some phenominal Vin Santo, and no Super Tuscans, which I thought they would be pouring at the tasting, but no. No problem. I was toatlly satisfied to be drinking just Chianti, and Vin Santo, the two great wines of the Chianti Classico Region. No need for any others.

I tasted at least 40 CHianti, and really enjoyed them. I loved the Chianti from ny friends the Capponi's at Villa Calcinaia, and the wines from my pal Cavaliere Luigi Cappellino of Catell Verrazzano in Greve. I have to sat, after tasting all of these wine, my favorite CHianti of all was the Chianti Verrazzano Reserva 2016. The iwne was amazing. It was my favorite CHianti of the day, as well as being my favorite wine of the past 8 days of 3 Major Italian Wine Tastings in the past 8 days. The Verrazzano Reserve Chianti 2016 was my favorite of hundreds ofItalian Wines in the past 8 days, plain and simple.

I tried about 15 VinSanto offerings from : Villa Calcinaia, Verrazzano, Felsia, Quercetto, Badia Colto Buono, Vicchamaggio and many more, and loved every single Vin Santo I tasted. They were all dilicious, but if I had to pick one that was my favorite, I'd have to say that it was the Vin Santo from Villa Calcinaia in Greve, in Chianti.

It was a great day of tasting. I saw a few good friends from Italy and a few New York Italian Wine Friends as well. Any day is great day when you drink Italian Wine.







Me & Conti Sebastiano Capponi

Of VILLA CALCINAIA

GHreve in Chianti






GIANTS of CHIANT

CONTI SEBASTIANO CAPPONI (L) Greve

With GIOVANNI MANETTI of FONTODI (R) in Panzano

With ITALIN FOOD & WINE WRITER Daniel Bellino Zwicke







Margherita Manetti

 Of FONTODI

The Daughter of GIOVANNI MANETTI

The Owner of FONTODI 

and President of The CHIANTI CONSORZIO



It was very nice to meet Margherita Manetti, daughter of my pal Goivanni Manetti
of Fontodi Wines, Panzano Italy.

Margherita is alovely young lady, and it was nice meeting her and cahtting with her about the family's wines and wine estate in Panzano. Naturally I saw her father, an old friend, Giovanni Manetti. 




VIN SANTO

From VILLA CALCINAIA

And VERRAZZANO

Both Estates in GREVE, ITALY




BACCHUS

The ROMAN GOD of WINE