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'Cesca


jbraynolds

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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.

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

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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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.

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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.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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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.

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How could you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!??

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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! :laugh:

Check out the latest meal!

Itadakimasu

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  • 4 weeks later...
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

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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! :biggrin:

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Modest potential? Phooey!  :biggrin:

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

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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).

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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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.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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

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

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.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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I agree with you, Bux.

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

Yeah, but, tripe IS disgusting.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

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