La Niña

I've had frog congee several times in recent months, which I've enjoyed.

I agree the heroes are great at Cono's - but not nearly close to Dafonte's, Corona Heights, or Leo's. And he's trying pare down the list. I do really like Cono's restaurant, though. Tomasso can be very good when it's "on." I've had two excellent meals there. Lots of people have mixed feelings about Parkside - what can I tell you? Bamonte's is so "real" somehow - that's one reason to go. I think Parkside is a little pretentious (in the true sense of the word), a little full of itself. And the fact that they show off this bound big wine list yet don't have any vintages listed is not a great sign. It's like they're trying to be something they're not and they miss the mark. If it were cheaper, or a little homier, I'd feel differently. Bamonte's is the real deal - what you see is what you get.

I understand that it's common practice. That doesn't necessarily make it legal. There are laws about volunteering/interning, and when work must be paid for. Again, worthwhile to know the law and the risks before jumping in. edit: oops, I meant to post this in that new Stagiere thread - maybe somebody can move the appropriate posts from here to there?

Call it what you want - it may very well still be illegal. If the work product of the person is being used in the restaurant for profit, I believe by law that person must be paid. I'm not sure you can call that person an intern by law. Worth knowing the risks involved before making a decision - although the risk is primarily the restaurant's, not the worker's. If the person is working illegally in terms of the INS - well, that's another can of worms entirely.

Dafonte's is in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Corona Heights Pork Store and Leo's are both in Corona Heights, Queens. You could do those two in one visit by sharing heroes (one hero is huge - would be hard to eat more than one). Yes, Da Tomasso is in Brooklyn. It was spotlighted in the new Saveur, FYI. Leo's Latticini was spotlighted recently too - in Food & Wine I think?

A question - are you interested in sit down restaurants only? Because if you want some amazing Italian food, I'd add the Corona Heights Pork Store, Leo's Latticini, and Dafonte's for truly mindboggling heroes of various varieties. Life-altering stuff, no kidding. I'd dump Max off the Manhattan list. Il Mulino is worth adding. But be prepared to wait and be annoyed, unless you go at an off time. Patsy's is the one on 117th & 1st Ave. Go and have a pizza there sitting down, as in a fresh pie - no slices. Don't just get slices anywhere except DiFara's (and even there you should get a fresh pie, but get a Sicilian slice too) - at L&B a Sicilian slice is fine too actually. Patsy's up there has other food now, but I haven't tried it yet. Jury's still out, I think - they just started non-pizza food fairly recently. I'm having a hard time paring down the Brooklyn list. If I had to eliminate one, I'd kill Cono O'Pescatore, I suppose. Areo is quite upscale. I haven't been to Manducatis, but I think you should go, if for no other reason than it has an insanely good wine list, and it's an experience not to be missed.

That's a good pizza list. I'd add L&B Spumoni gardens for the Sicilian pie. Note that Sally's is in New Haven, not in New York. I'd try Pepe's and The Spot too, maybe Modern Pizza also, if you're going to make the trek to Connecticut. I hereby volunteer to chaperone you (it being the land of my birth and upbringing, besides my pizza cred).

Your loss.

La Locanda dei Vini, on 9th Ave. & 50th St. My theatre district place of choice when I'm not doing way upscale. It's a nice, pleasant room. Casual but tasteful. Good Italian food with a flair. Friendly, professional service. Not expensive, not cheap. They have some interesting specials usually. Plenty to choose from. I keep going back there.

I went to the Corona Heights Pork Store a few weeks ago so I poked my head into Parkside just to have a look, having heard lots about it. Looked at the wine list - no vintages listed. And the place ain't cheap, by the way. Looked a little worn at the edges in general. I'd be curious to know if anyone has eaten there lately and how the food is.

Anybody remember when Gnocco was Cafe Lola? I liked it so much better then.

edit: nevermind. please remove when possible

edit: nevermind please remove this when possible

I'm predicting the place will be packed every night. It's going to be an enoteca and a pizzeria and they're going to do the salumi thing. And it's one of the most widely anticipated restaurant openings in quite some time.

I got others to think about, and wonder about people's recent experiences: Bamonte's Cono O'Pescatore Queen Minetta's Patsy's (they have non-pizza food now on 117th St.) Al Di La

There are a couple of separate points here. Batali would have been economically foolish not to comply with the wishes of diners who were buying expensive wines. If they decided to up and go without paying (not that I'm condoning that) the restaurant would've lost a whole lot of money on unpaid wines. Also, if they are big spenders then you want them to become regulars. Second, I understand the kitchen is tiny at Babbo. I realize many restaurant kitchens are, but I got the impression Babbo's is more so than most. Wouldn't that maybe go against the practice of cooking special dishes for diners? I think given circumstances that would benefit the restaurant (in the restaurant's view), they'd manage somehow to satisfy the customer's demands.

I hope it opens soon already. They've postponed about 6 times, starting in October, I believe.

Wilfrid, you gotta include the outer boroughs if you want a real survey. In Brooklyn, I would urge you to try Areo and Da Tomasso. In Queens, Piccolo Venezia. There are others - those are just the ones that come to mind that I wouldn't leave off your list for such a project. Cucina might be a contender for the list, but I haven't been since Mark Strausman took over the kitchen (formerly of Campagna).

Does anybody remember that part in the New Yorker issue when it talked about some people who sent back dishes several times and when Mario realized they were buying expensive wines, he suddenly no longer had a problem accomodating them? I remain convinced that given the right circumstances and the right signals from table to server, from server to kitchen, that special attention/cooking would happen.

Okay, Mario, or "the kitchen," - whatever. My point is that I think they would cook for a table if they felt it made sense.

I am sure that if someone were a regular, or indicated they were going to spend lots of money, or buy particularly interesting/expensive wines, or some other "signals" that a savvy server would relay back to the kitchen, Mario would cook for them. It's an inherent part of how a restaurant attracts and retains good customers.

How do you mean? What's spanish or tapas-ish about it?

Heheh. Nope - we had to rush back to Manhattan to catch a movie.

Last night Cabby, the Beau, some friends and I went to Spicy & Tasty in Flushing. I have been wanting to go for a long time. I don't have a lot of time now, and I"ll fill in more later, but I thought it was truly good. Well worth the shlep. I'm sure Cabby will remember much more detail than I do, anyway. I loved the tendon dish we had as an appetizer - sliced very thin, much thinner than I've seen elsewhere, and the lamb dish we had was a bit oily but the flavor was just wonderful - rich and satisfying, too. Tea-smoked pork was very good, as was crab cooked in beer in casserole. We had other dishes, too, which I hope Cabby will mention. Some links on Spicy & Tasty: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0242/sietsema.php http://query.nytimes.com/gst/nytoday/rst.h...d=1022576009648 http://www.newsday.com/features/food/ny-fd...y-foodday-print And Flushing is just miraculous.

We used creme fraiche d'Isigny which I bought at Zabar's. It was delicious. I'm familiar with the Vermont company jaybee used too - and I've had their butter as well - very good stuff. Never tried their mascarpone - but that's a good tip. I'll keep an eye out for it.