theresa caruso

Thank you for your reply, Nathan. I am very familiar with all postings to the Lupa thread. I have found favorable and unfavorable postings since the inception of the topic when Mark Ladner was the executive chef. Of recent postings, there were only a very few that seemed unfavorable. I recognize that a high-volume restaurant can cerainly have off nights and it is a constant struggle to keep consistency. People are certainly entitled to their opinion. Although, I do take all comments with a grain of salt because I do realize people use their posts as a trashing board without necessarily having their facts straight. I would never base my opinion on the impression I get from other people's comments. I would want to back it up with my own experience. And I could hardly use such strong wording saying that a restaurant has "deteriorated" based on sampling a couple of secondi.

Nathan, Interesting observation about Lupa... Just out of curiousity, in what specific ways have you found it has deteriorated? Have you had a bad experience? Thx

Hi, Juiceman & Vivin: You can certainly freeze pasta in individual portions and I imagine that you would have to do this if you had so many fresh pastas on the menu, which Lupa doesn't. So glad you enjoyed the pork with rose petal glassato. It is a regular item on Lupa's menu.

Do you want to stay in Manhattan or are you in the mood to be adventurous and head into Queens for something really different? If so, drop by Sapori d'Ischia in Woodside - as close to the real thing in NYC as you can get. Not fancy, but outstanding food and pasta - and a pure Italian wine list. Anyone who knows anything about quality Italian food eventually winds up there. If you're looking to stay in Manhattan, most of the Italians are average to somewhat above average. It depends how upscale you want to go. There's always L'Impero, Alto, Babbo, Felidia, Del Posto (if you want to burn some real money)or Lupa. None of those will set your world on fire, but they'll take your money and the food will range from okay to good. Some rise above that, but all have their own version on what's really Italian - some will even tell you they cook in the Italian Hudson Valley style?????? In my mind the city's best Italians are in the outer boroughs. If I was set on staying in Manhattan I'd choose WD-50, Landmarc, Blue Hill, Tasting Room, Cru or Mesa Grill. That's a wide selection and all very different, but all have terrific food and some even have a bit of ambiance. Italians in Manhattan just don't measure up to what they should. ← Hi, Rich!!! I just find it interesting that you believe the best Italians are in the other boroughs. My experience has been the opposite. Honestly, I cannot speak very well for Queens and the Bronx. But, Brooklyn and Staten Island??? Perhaps there are 1 or 2 notable places in Brooklyn - "Al di La'" being one of them. And, honestly, they don't exactly entice me to cross over the bridge... There are enough similar restaurants in Manhattan that do the same thing better. And, as for Staten Island (from which I hail) it is a gastronomic wasteland. It is so disheartening for me that, in a borough where the majority of the population is of Italian descent, the only Italian restaurants you find are the red sauce ones doing the same schtick - parmigiano, veal piccata, marsala, milanese, sorrentino, etc. etc. People are not interested in anything even remotely authentic...all they want is lots of food...and cheap. As far as I'm concerned, that's one borough that is light years away from any Italian restaurant in the city.

Hello Pan and Weinoo!!! Pan, in answer to your question about chiodini mushrooms, I cannot say for certain because I am seriously allergic to mushrooms. From the aroma, they seem pretty intense. From what people tell me, they have a woodsiness but are not as earthy as porcini or hen of the woods. In answer to your question, Weinoo, I cannot deny that certain ingredients are transformed into ragu'. As any good cook does, ingredients are never wasted and are put to creative good use. Lupa is a high-volume restaurant so most of the time the issue is whether we have enough rather than having too much. Braised meats are time-consuming to prepare and benefit in flavor from sitting a day-so often times we will prepare extra for the sole purpose of making ragu'. Thanks for loving our restaurant and please understand that we take a great deal of pride and put our heart into what we do here. Sorry to be so defensive but it's only because I have a great deal of respect for this restaurant and I wouldn't defend it if I didn't.

Hello, weinoo. I am afraid you have got your facts wrong. At Lupa, the pasta prices do not change at all from Thurs night to Sat night. And the highest you will pay for a pasta -such as the tagliatelle with pork ragu -is $22. The only exception is if the pasta is made with expensive ingredients (as the previous poster Pan pointed out) such as truffles, etc. On the Saturday night in question, the only truly expensive pasta on the menu was a special: ravioli stuffed with pork stracotto and served with a mushroom butter sauce containing whole fresh chiodini mushrooms (which happen to be very expensive). And that pasta was only $24. The majority of pastas range between $12-17, which is a damn reasonable price here in New York considering that they are being made with the freshest ingredients and as good as any Italian grandmother. All the fresh pastas are made and shaped by hand. The tagliatelli that you so lovingly refered to as "leftovers" are not. And the tagliatelli are made fresh daily, each noodle painstakingly hand -cut by a human being. Fresh pasta at the end of the night is not served to customers the next day. It is rather sad that such artisanal pasta- making is going unappreciated and that there are people out there who are trying to nickle and dime quality.