PASTRAMI On RYE "NEW YORK'S OWN SANDWICH

PASTRAMI
On RYE
KATZ'S DELI
New York's Own Sandwich
LOWER EAST SIDE, NEW YORK

NEW YORK ITALIAN RED-SAUCE RESTAURANTS "Past & Present"

GINO'S

NOW DEFUNCT

INSIDE GINO'S DINING ROOM

With IT'S

FAMOUS ZEBRA WALLPAPER

GINO'S 

WAS On Lexington Avenue

Across From Bloomingdale's

Now SADLY DISEASED 

I MISS IT SO

Second Avenue Near East 11th Street

Still There

Not as Good As It used To Be

But It's Still There and It's Over 100 Years Old

And Definitely OLD SCHOOL RED SAUCE ITALIAN

JOHN'S

SINCE 1908

And STILL GOING STRONG

Above and Below

ROCCO'S

In BETTER DAYS

NOW DECEASED

CARBONE IS THERE NOW

THE FAMOUS

ROCCO

NEON SIGN

The FAMED ROCCO SIGN

SUPERIMPOSED With CARBONE

CARBONE

In THE FORMER ROCCO SPACE

HOPING To BECOME 

A CLASSIC OLD SCHOOL

ITALIAN RED SAUCE JOINT

BUT THE PRICES ARE PROHIBITIVE

"VERY EXPENSIVE"

AND NOT IN-LINE

WITH WHAT AN OLD SCHOOL

ITALIAN RED SAUCE RESTAURANT

IS And SHOULD BE

THAT IS

A WELCOMING CASUAL RESTAURANT

THAT HAS A WARM ATMOSPHERE 

AND TASTY ITALIAN and ITALIAN-AMERICAN FOOD

At FAIR MODERATE PRICES

THE FOOD IS QUITE GOOD

AS IS THE AMBIANCE

AS FOR THE PRICES???
YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD

QUITE FAR FROM MODERATE

VERY EXPENSIVE !!!

IS CARBONE CLASIC RED SAUCE?

The PRICES AREN'T

THAT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED

IF IT WILL BE A CLASSIC

TIME WILL TELL !!!

La TAVOLA IS NEW YORK ITALIAN RED SAUCE 

AND ALL

BAR at GINO'S

GAY TALESE on GINO'S,  THE NEW YORKER, May 31, 2010

BASTA !  

by Gay Talese

An Italian restaurant called Gino, which opened in 1945 on Lexington Avenue near Sixty-first Street, has been known primarily for its moderate prices, its tomato-red wallpaper printed with three hundred and fourteen leaping zebras, and its determinedly uncreative chefs, whose regular customers are so amiably resigned to the kitchen’s limited and unchanging cuisine that it has never been necessary for these customers to consult the menu.

All the items on the menu appear on a single plastic-covered page and were handwritten in ink sixty-five years ago by the restaurant’s founder, Gino Circiello, a dapper and debonair trendsetter in 1945 who thereafter ignored all trends. Even a year after his death at eighty-nine, in 2001, when the restaurant was described in the Zagat Survey as “frozen in the 40’s,” the regulars liked to boast that, at Gino’s, nothing was new: within the zebra-covered walls of this place everything remained the same, including the fact that a stripe was missing from the rumps of half the zebras—a mistake made by the original designer which Mr. Gino, a superstitious Italian of Neapolitan origin, chose not to correct, because to do so, he feared, might bring him bad luck.

So the restaurant’s décor as arranged at mid-twentieth century extended into the twenty-first: the same twenty-seven wooden tables and seventy-four chairs, the same small kitchen (ventilation provided by a half-opened skylight). And, week after week, the same daily specials: on Mondays it was osso buco, on Tuesdays it was nothing special, on Wednesdays it was lamb shank, on Thursdays it was veal Genovese, on Fridays it was fish soup, on Saturdays it was the same as Wednesdays (lamb shank), and on Sundays it was lasagna.

Gino’s most faithful customers, creatures of habit, feasted on consistency and the devoted attention of a single waiter, who (as one of nine waiters sharing the afternoon and evening shifts) oversaw each of his assigned tables for the duration of the meal. In the interest of controlling the overhead, Mr. Gino regarded busboys as an unnecessary expense, and he felt similarly about floral decorations. While the cost of the fresh flowers at La Grenouille is three thousand dollars a week, the plastic flowers at Gino’s—tucked into a half-dozen pearlescent plaster cornucopias that hang from the walls between the zebras—cost six hundred dollars a year.

The responsibility for purchasing these artificial flowers fell to one of the restaurant’s two current owners, a Neapolitan of sixty-nine named Michele Miele, who is also the chef. He buys the flowers at a Wal-Mart near his home in Sullivan County, and he washes them in the restaurant’s kitchen three times a year. Right now, the cornucopias are filled with spring flowers—plastic daisies, daffodils, tulips, lilies—and during the holidays he replaces them with chrysanthemums.

But there will be no chrysanthemums at Gino’s this Christmas and no more lamb-shank specials on Saturdays. Mr. Miele and his seventy-year-old partner, a fellow-Neapolitan named Salvatore Doria—who came to Gino’s as a waiter in 1974, after a decade at Barbetta, on West Forty-sixth Street—revealed last week that, owing to an eight-thousand-dollar-per-month increase that would drive the rent to more than thirty thousand dollars, plus the health-care costs sought by its employees’ union, the restaurant will close after Saturday night’s dinner on May 29th.

• FROM THE ISSUE
• CARTOON BANK
• E-MAIL THIS

The tenant who said he will replace Gino’s at 780 Lexington is a Beverly Hills bakery entrepreneur named Charles Nelson, who, with his wife, Candace, owns and operates Sprinkles Cupcakes shops not only in California but also in Texas and Arizona. Gino’s will vacate the premises in mid-June; Doria says that he plans to retire, and Miele says that he would like to open another restaurant nearby if he can find a backer—a big if in this economy, he concedes, given that he has already failed to attract new partners to confront the rising costs of operating Gino’s.

Meanwhile, Miele has abandoned his chores in the kitchen to his subordinates and has taken to sitting in the dining room exchanging greetings and condolences with regular customers, who, having got the word, are now coming in almost every day in anticipation of the time when there will not be a menu for them to ignore. In the crowd recently were the architect I. M. Pei and his wife, Eileen, who have been eating at Gino’s for sixty years. “Oh, I’m so sorry this is ending,” Miele said. “But we tried to listen to Mr. Gino, who told us, ‘Take care of the customer, don’t change anything, and Gino will never die.’ ” Doria added, “Yes, we used to say, ‘The world changes, but nothing changes at Gino.’ ” ♦

ITALIAN WINE MASTERS

  Well, I went to the Italian Wine Masters Tasting at The Metropolitan Pavilion (New York, NY) yesterday. The Italian Wine Masters Tasting, better known to New York Italian Wine Guys like myself, as the Brunello Tasting, for this is thee Brunello Tasting of the year and second most important of the year after the Tre Biccheri next week. "The Brunello Tasting. Once Upon a time, not too long ago there was a tasting soley of Brunello. The past 3 years has seen the Brunello Tasting paired up with Chianti and Vino Nobile. Sadly this has brought the prominance and overall quality of Thee Brunello Tasting, way down. Not that I'm against drinking Vino Nobile, Prosecco, and Chianti which is now tagged on to The Brunello Tasting, no, but I can drink these wonderful wines at another tasting. And I do. With the Brunello's coupled with these other wines, instead of getting about 150 Brunello producers, you get just 38. Thirty-Eight
      Great Brunello's of the day were: one of my All-Time Favorites, Fattori Barbi Brunello Riserva 2006 "Awesome," the Brunello Castelgiocondo 2007 from friend Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi of The Nobel Florentine family The Frescobaldi's, This wine was quite tasty, also from the Frescobaldi Family their Brunello Di Montalcino "Luce della Vite" 2007 is absolutely "Superb,"
    The Conti Cinzano who owns the Col D'Orcia Estate in Montalcino had the most amazing line-up of the day as he brought a Vertical of multi vintages of Brunello of which the Brunello Poggio Vento Riserva 1995 won my prize of Most outstanding Brunello of the day. Absolutely "Amazing" and I didn't want to put my glass down after taking three wonderful mouthfuls. Outstanding! Thank You for the special treat oh Conti. And I msut point out that this was a special tasting from the Count Cinzano as this was the release of the 2007 Brunello's and 2006 Riserva counterparts, the 1995 Brunello Poggio Vento was outside the box of the tasting. Of the released date Brunello's the Frescobaldi CastelGiacondo Brunello 2007 gets my vote for Best Normale and top Prize riserva goes to Fattoria Barbi for their Riserva 2006.
  A lot of lovely wines on the day, and looking forward to next year as i received some inside information yesterday that The Brunello tasting is going back to the format it is best at at most loved for, solely Brunello.
 


Daniel Bellino Zwicke

MARCHESE LAMBERTO FRESCOBALDI

with HIS BRUNELLO

CASTELGIOCONDO 2007

Best in SHOW

BIG BOYS of ITALIAN WINE Piero Incisa Rochetta, Giovani Folnari, Daniel Bellino Zwicke, Sebastiano Rosa and ,A. Chiarlo at Recent new York Italian Wine Tastings

             














Piero Incisa Rochetta of SASSICAIA with Giovanni Folnari (Nozzole in Greve) and Alberto 
Chiarlo of MICHELE CHIARLO BAROLO






  






Sebastiano Rosa with Daniel Bellino-Zwicke and Giovanni Folnari

New And Old Ideas Of Absinthe

Absinthe or as it is called, The Green Fairy, has quite the reputation to live up to if one were to believe all of the accusations made against it of bygone days. The drink, a bright green alcoholic beverage is made up of herbs and ethanol. Those who made it famous during the early 19th and 20th century include many artists and writers such as Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec, Charles Baudelaire, and others. While there is an essence of creativity tied to the drink, there is also a history of lunacy or outrageous behavior. In this, the drink became outlawed with the belief that it had high doses of the ingredient thujone, which was making people act bizarre or insane. It hasn't been until the last few decades that advocates of absinthe and scientists alike have taken another look at the drink to see why it received such a bad rap. With modern technology, it was determined that the drink itself was not dangerous at all and the amounts of thujone were actually rather innocuous. Scientist Ted Breaus published a treatise in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, stating that most absinthe-based liquor being produced now contains the chemical in a 5:1,000,000 ratio. That's 5 parts thujone to a million parts of absinthe. So why did it make people behave so bizarre? And why have countries spent years treating absinthe as contraband only to be purchased on the black market? Historical evidence has shown that during the early days of producing absinthe, many of the home brewed or bootlegged brews did not undergo any type of distillation or sanitary processing. This may have caused impurities to show up in the drink and contaminate it. Such impurities could have caused dangerous forms of hallucinations. This, followed by early researches done on the drink proving it bad, can also now be proved to be faulty. In truth, people just drank too much of it and the bad behavior of people was simply about being very drunk. Today, like all alcohol, absinthe is highly regulated by both international and national laws. Only absinthe liquors with thujone-free labels (or less than 10:1,000,000/10ppm thujone.) are allowed to be put up for public sale. There are also medical warnings included regarding over-consumption of liquor. Many countries that had outlawed absinthe in the past are now changing their laws around. In the 1990s, the European Union began to reauthorize absinthe's manufacture and sale. As of February 2008, nearly 200 brands of absinthe were being produced in a dozen countries, most notably in France, Switzerland, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Commercial distillation of absinthe in the United States resumed in 2007 Other countries never banned absinthe, notably Britain, where absinthe had not been as popular as in continental Europe. Absinthe was also never banned in Spain, and its production and consumption has never ceased. Australia was another country that never prohibited the manufacturing or use of absinthe, although they do have strict rules on importing any product containing oil of wormwood. In 1906, Belgium and Brazil banned the sale and distribution of absinthe, although they were not the first. Absinthe had been banned as early as 1898 in the colony of the Congo Free State. The prohibition of absinthe in France in 1915 led to increased popularity of pastis (and of ouzo, to a lesser extent), which are anise-flavored spirits that do not contain wormwood.

In Switzerland, the ban drove the purchase of absinthe underground. Clandestine (illegal) home distillers produced absinthe after the ban, focusing on la Bleue, which was easier to conceal from the authorities. In the Netherlands, restrictions on the manufacture and sale of Absinthe were successfully challenged by the Amsterdam wine seller Menno Boorsma in July 2004, making absinthe legal once again. Belgium, as part of an effort to simplify its laws, removed its absinthe law on 1 January 2005, citing (as did the Dutch judge) European food regulations as sufficient to render the law unnecessary (and indeed, in conflict with the spirit of the Single European Market). In Switzerland, the constitutional ban on absinthe was repealed in 2000 during an overhaul of the national constitution, although the prohibition was written into ordinary law instead. Later that law was repealed, so from 1 March 2005, absinthe was again legal in its country of origin. Today, matter-of-fact, most members of the European Union are now allowed to sale absinthe, as long as it is limited to 10 milligrams of thujone per kilogram (some of the absinthes of yesteryear boasted up to six times that amount). You can buy absinthe in grocery chains in the Czech Republic and in liquor stores in Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand and Japan. Bars and restaurants in Britain began serving it when they discovered it was never formally banned in the country. Yes, the legacy of absinthe as a mysterious, addictive, and mind-altering drink continues to this day - this is why it is said there is an absinthe of old and new. But even with this legacy, more and more people are starting to enjoy absinthe again, knowing it is a safe yet unique drink, finally back on the shelves for consumption.Green Devil provides information, tips and kits on the making and history of absinthe throughout the ages. Learn more about the allure this beverage has held over the centuries or make your own absinthe alcohol and find out for yourself. Visit online for more information.

by ROBERT BELL

Why Don't More New Yorker's Do New Orleans??? !!!

"Arnaud's" it's awseome !!!
A "Muffuletts Sandwich" from Central Grocery.
Me and my "Muffuletta"


"Why Don't More New Yorker's Go Down to the "BIG EASY"?? "New Orleans" is the Bomb!!

This Question i Ask, truly Misti fies Me !!!!

I have traveled the World over! Been almost everywhere you can imagine, from; Cambodia, Saigon, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Bangkok, Thailand, Phuket, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, Havana, all over Europe from the whole of Italy on more than a dozen trips, to Paris, Monaco, Brussels, all over the united States, "you name."

Yes, I've been all over the World and love and adore many places. New Yorker's are great travelers. They travel the World more than any other Americans, yet for some reason they don't do new Orleans much, other than Frat boys and Girls looking to get "Their Wild-On" during Mardi Gras. but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the real New Orleans. The New Orleans of "Great Restaurants," wonderful food, awesome architecture, Cool People, Great vibe, and the greatest Music Scene on the planet. "Yes, I've traveled the World, and i can tell you that New Orleans is one of the "Coolest" most wonderful cities on Earth, "though you hardly ever hear people say." It is!

Why don't New Yorkers go there, instead of lame places like St Thomas and Aruba???
I love the town. been there 5 times, and I'll keep going. I constantly extol the virtues of "The Big Easy," and not a one of all the people i know who travel a fair amount has ever been there. I'm on a perpetual effort to promote this city i Love, especially since Hurricane Katrina, for the people and the city of New Orleans can use our help. They need people to go down there and spend money in their restaurants, hotels, and bars. The people of New Orleans love to and are used to having people come to their city for a good time. They'll welcome you with open arms.
Yes I'm a great advocate of New Orleans and constantly tell people about how great it is. Even before Katrina. "So America, and New Yorkers, you gotta check it out. "It's truly one of the Worlds great Cities."

KEITH RICHARDS LIKES IT !!! Artichoke Pizza

"Raoul's" New York's Best Bistro

Raoul's, "COOL"

Best Cool French Bistro in New York

When it comes to Bistros in New York City, there is one that stands alone. No other can touch it. "Raoul's" on Prince Street in Soho is far and above any other Bistro in all of New York. The total combined elements of Ambiance, Food, Music, Service, and combined Vibe, just can't be beat. Raoul's is just plain "Cool." They serve some of the best Foe Gras in the city, along with a famous "Steak au Poive" and other Bistro Classics, along with the cool well-worn decor and the a great blend of music like; The Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, Edith Piaf, and Best of All, "No Hip Hop."

At "Raoul's" they know what they are doing. They should, they've been doing it for some 30 years, and the way the do things, we're sure they'll be around for a long time to come.

RAOUL'S 180 Prince Street, Soho NY, NY (212)966-3518 www.raouls.com

Pricing: on the Expensive Side

$1.00a Slice Pizza on St. Marks

Sign in front of 2 Bros. Pizza, 32 St. Marks Place, "Inflation Fighters" $1.00 a Slice or 2 Slices and a Soda for just $2.75 "How can you beat That?"
A 2 Bros. Pizza $1.00 slice.

DUMPLING HOUSES NYC

FRIED DUMPLING SHOP

ALLEN STREET

LOWER EAST SIDE

NEW YORK NY

ALLEN STREET DUMPLINGS were the ones who started it all. The Chinese Dumpling Craze.

5 Tasty Pork Dumplings for a mere .99 Cents. OMG ??? !!! There was Nothing Cheaper !!!

Probably at the time, the Best Food Bargain in The Entire World, considering how High Prices are in NYC. Damn ? This was just as cheap as Eating in South East Asia. Just a Dollar for a meal. In New York ? You couldn't beat it.

Eventually the price went up to $1.50 and then $1.99, but still, they were Damn Cheap.

Four of My 5 DUMPLINGS

VANESSA DUMPLINGS

VANESSA DUMPLING HOUSE

ELDRIDGE STREET

NY NY

After ALLEN STREET, VANESSA DUMPLING HOUSE opened, and things really took off. Five tasty Pork Dumplings for .99 Cents. A Bargain !

At first Vanessa was tiny. A narrow shop just about 4 feet wide. There were a few seats you could eat at, at the counter.

PROSPERITY DUMPLING

About 4 blocks down on ELDGRIGE 

from VANESSA DUMPLING HOUSE.

This is where I'd go after my Haircut. Vanessa had gotten way to crowded and popular.

"

Keith McNally to Re-Open MINETTA TAVERN

Keith McNally, the man who brought New York some of its most wonderful Landmarks in the form of the ODEON, Cafe Luxenbourg, Lucky Strike, Pravda, Balthazar, and Pastis is at it again. He has purchase the venerable old Greenwich Village institution "The MINETTA TAVERN" on Macdougald Street at the corner of Minetta Lane. Mr. McNally will be opening the Minetta Tavern sometime in the early part of 2009 with Executive Chefs RIAD NASIR and Lee Hansen who both helped Keith open and operate Balthazar, Pastis, and Schiller's. The food is supposed to be Classic French.

GIOVANI TOGNOZZI, the man who mkaes it happen at Bar PITTI

George Carlin dies at the age of 71

Famed comedian George Carlin passed away at the age of 71. Did you know he was from New York? I didn't either and niether did a couple of my friends who were talking about just that today. And we're native New Yorkers. Most people assumed he was a Californian. He fit the bill, Old California Hippy. Great Comedian. Adored by many. He will be missed.

A COOL RESTAURANT I BET You Don't KNOW ABOUT

This joint is one of my FAVES!!!! Nobody knows about it! Garaunteed if ask 1,000 New Yorkers if they've ever heard about this place or ever went there, you be hard pressed to find a one. I'm gonna let the "Cat Out of the Bag." People should start paying me for this.

Yes native-newyork-pics.blogspot.com F. Restaurant on Clinton Street down on the Lower East Side (LES) of New York is without a doubt one of the Coolest restaurants you could ever dream of going to. Paris Hilton has never been there.

F. Restaurant is a restaurant that serves incrediably tasty Puerto Rican Cusine. "Bet you've never had any? Yes you!"
You will pretty much only find Lationos and Latinas at this joint. i've been going their for about 15 years now. "Love It!"

The food is oh so tasty, and the prices are tailor made for the sluggish ecconmic times we now live in (2008). Hope we go on a upswing soon. "Very soon." Most dishes are about $1.20 or $1.50 a piece. Yes this is not a typo, dishes that cost $1.20 a piece. You can make a small meal out of just two. if you're Papa Relleno which is a Fried Potato Ball that isstuffed with ground beef as well. "Yum!" They also have wonderful Morcilla (Blood Sausage) and Pollo Fritto (fried chicken).

The have this great sign hanging over the counter area that says in both Spanish and English, and reads like this, "If your wife can't COOK, Don't Divorce Her, Bring her here to eat with you."
You've gotta LOVE IT, and if you ever go, you'll just Love "F. Restaurant" down on the Lower East Side

by DBZ