Doolittle

Brooklyn-Italian platters of eggplant parmigiana, baked ziti, veal & peppers, chicken francese, and lots of bread and wine (gallon size jugs).

Get thee to Caputo Bakery (Court and Union)...The ciabatta, olive loaf, lard bread and classic semolina italian bread are to die for...the also have killer breadsticks and lard/pepper biscuits...head down the block to Court Pastry for the best cookies, lobster tails and sfogliatelli in the free world.

We went last nite and it was great. They offer Strip, Ribeye, & Filet as part of the $35 deal. We were started w/ a gratis plate of Babaganoush, olives and warm pita. The apps our table chose were the onion soup and the caeser salad. Each was massive and could easily have served two people. One of the diners w/ us wanted to substitute Lamb Chops and she got two rare, double-cut, rib chops that had been marinated in garlic, olive oil & parsley. I got the ribeye, grilled medium rare.....yum. The steak was huge, approx. 3 inches thick and 24 ozs. It was well charred and rosy pink on the inside. The sides were served family style....lovely mashed potatos, mushrooms w/ whole roasted heads of garlic , and the best of all, chopped creamed spinach. This was all washed down w/ bottles of Ravenswood Lodi ranch Zin. (On sale, along w/ the Mendacino and Almador single lot Zins, at Michael Towne Wines in Bklyn Heights, for $12.99 !!!) We couldn't think of ordering dessert, but were given a vanilla ice cream w/ caramel sauce on the house. Go there hungry or don't go at all.

The wife and I just finished a bottle of stellar Cotes du Rhone from Les Grandes Vignes Du Roy. This unfiltered beauty was from 2000 and went well with garlicky roasted red peppers, goat cheese and olive bread (Caputo Bakery in Bklyn rules!!). It offered a mouth full of fruit and tannin that raised a humble meal into a feast. It can be had at Heights Chateau on Atlantic Ave for $12. Enjoy!

This post has dredged up such good memories that I have converted from a lurker to a member! One word says it all............Schmidts. In 1980, I was 16 and a warm six pack of Schmidts cost 99 cents. The beer was crap, but what good times we had. Every weekend my friends and I would throw our pennies together and buy as much warm Schmidts as possible. From what I remember, it tasted lke a blend of dishwater, Ivory soap, and tree bark, but it was all we had, and tasted like nectar at the time. Ahh, memories...