'Cesca

[jbraynolds]

Maybe I'm out of the loop but Adam Platt refers to "the famous Valenti pork shank" in this week's review (quite positive). When did Valenti change from lamb to pork? And if there's a "famous pork shank", shouldn't it be Burke's? Call me nit-picky.

[Fat Guy]

Certainly, the lamb shank is Valenti's longtime signature.

[Felonius]

Have any eGulleteers been to Cesca? I'd love to hear about it, as I live nearby. The UWS culinary scene needs all the help it can get!

[jbraynolds]

Lame attempt at sarcasm on my part...for what it's worth, the New York review was glowing. Lots of the dishes sound really good. I'll be giving it a shot shortly, for sure. Prices sound reasonable (apps $7-$13, mains $17-$28) as well.

[Suzanne F]

Isn't the famous pork shank at Maloney & Porcelli? Or am I missing your sarcasm?

[Bux]

If Valenti's doing a pork shank, maybe it will become famous, but it's got a ways to go to beat out his lamb shank. I'd love to tell you more about Cesca and expecially its food, but as we got a lot of busy signals and only an offer of 5:30 and some late hour in the middle of the week when we finally got though, we didn't haven't eaten there yet. It appears to be doing a good business. I haven't eaten in Ouest in a while, but I've loved Valenti's food and it's great winter food in general so I guess we'll be making the extra effort.

[jbraynolds]

Yes, the pork shank is Maloney & Porcelli (David Burke creation). The New York article clearly has the shanks confused.

[ellenesk]

Looking for suggestions at 'cesca for dinner

[Fat Guy]

Wear comfortable shoes so your feet don't get sore while you stand waiting an hour for a table.

[jeffperez62]

Had a great time and a good meal there last week (I went early on a Sun.) walked in at 5:30 and by the time I left a 7:30 the place was jammed!! Food was good, nice room and I will return soon.

[ankomochi]

I went 'Cesca the day before Thanksgiving, and it was so crowded. My friend and I arrived there around 9:30pm without a reservation, and we were able to be seated in 20 minutes or so. We were told that beef Ragu pasta was the popular dish in the restaurant, but that night the dish was sold out. So, we ordered homemade Linguini with tuna. Nice tuna flavor and al dente linguini! It was very nice, but it was a little salty for our taste. I just mentioned to the waiter how salty the dish was, then he brought me a complimentary desert, which was a chocolate waffle with pistachio ice cream!

[SobaAddict70]

Grilled lamb chops, dark and gamy, are served as a kind of mixed grill, with dense, nearly black lamb sausages on the side, an intensely flavored cauliflower stew and mint. Pork shanks are no joke either, slow-cooked until they fall off the bone, and arranged with roasted calf's liver cut into plugs and wrapped with pancetta. A tart agrodolce sauce mercifully cuts into the richness of the dish.

Buttermilk panna cotta with blood orange sauce is simple and straightforward, just the kind of dessert you want in a trattoria, but there's a more intriguing choice in the same vein, a smooth scoop of honey and goat cheese gelato, with anise cookies.

'Cesca (William Grimes) (from our year-end DIGEST update. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.)

Chef Tom Valenti, also of Ouest, offers "honest, uncomplicated food with strong, clearly defined flavors" in an informal Italian-style trattoria in the Upper West Side.

Soba

[Pan]

Well-written review as usual, but as a tripe-lover, I took some umbrage at this:

Tripe in the wrong hands can be a slippery, unchewable mess. Mr. Valenti, like a great coach, brings out every bit of its admittedly modest potential.

Modest potential? Phooey!

[marthapook]

Modest potential? Phooey! 

double phooey

tripe can be delicious

only i wasn't impressed with 'cesca's - a little too tough and it tasted more like carrots than tripe

i grew up eating the stuff cut into much smaller pieces and a bit softer - tripe is definietly not something you wanna fight with on your plate

mom always added a stick of cinnamon during the initial boil - it didn't mask the nasty smell but it did add a nice effect to the tomato base it then simmered in

nice to meet you pan

[Pan]

Likewise, Martha.

Have you also been to Ouest? If so, how would you compare the two? I went to Ouest once and was satisfied, but my mother felt her duck confit was too fatty. Nothing was mind-blowing about Ouest, though, and I can't remember what I ate. All I remember is having some Chinon before the meal and thinking the price for the glass wasn't bad ($8, I think).

[marthapook]

Have you also been to Ouest?

nope, not yet

cesca was the first time i tried his food - about 2 weeks or so after opening

sadly the only thing i do remember is the tripe

hmmm?

[Bux]

As I read Grimes' review, I was thinking it was a fitting departure. In a separate article he wrote of the changes that have occured in the restaurants. In his early reviews, and in so many to follow that I didn't largely follow his reviews that closely, I sensed a lack of interest in food, or at least a lack of any interest in conveying a love for his new metier. Here is his review of 'Cesca, which I read because I've been a fan of Valenti's food and because it's a seminal piece, (assuming of course, that this is the start of some new aspect of his career) I sensed a real appreciation for food. That is I sensed it up until I read what he had to say about tripe. Filet mignon in the wrong hands is perhaps less a gastronomic treat than tripe in the wrong hands, but tripe at its best is a joyous preparation. If potential represents the potential for improvment from a raw product, tripe obvioulsy has great potential it's inedible raw, but from a gastronome's viewpoint, at least from this one's, if potential only meant hitting great heights, tripe would also have great potential.

[Pan]

I agree with you, Bux.

But try to convince someone who thinks tripe is disgusting (like my mother).

[Bux]

But try to convince someone who thinks tripe is disgusting (like my mother).

You're mother ain't writin' restaurant reviews for the NY Times.

Seriously, what I want from a food writer, or restaurant reviewer, is to not to tell me a food has less potential than I think it has, but to open me up to the potential I didn't already know it had. I want my horizons expanded and I want to read articles by those willing to show me the way.

[Pan]

That makes a lot of sense to me.

[Jason Perlow]

I agree with you, Bux.

But try to convince someone who thinks tripe is disgusting (like my mother).

Yeah, but, tripe IS disgusting.

[SobaAddict70]

Then you've never had tacos con tripitas, Jason. (Tacos with tripe cracklings)

Try it next time, it's a revelation. It'll make you a believer of tripe, and that's a short step to tripe, 'Cesca style.

Soba

[Pan]

My suggestion would be Tripa alla Romana, but I don't know where you could get a really fabulous rendition of that in the New York area.

[slkinsey]

Babbo's tripa alla parmigiana is amazing. But we digress... isn't this thread about 'Cesca?

[SobaAddict70]

As I read Grimes' review, I was thinking it was a fitting departure.

Fitting indeed. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Let's hope that his successor will have as much oomph in his or her reviews as did his predecessor.

Soba