I wasn't ready for NYC public transit...Maybe it is because the first time I took the subway I was 21 and let's face it NY subway had a really bad reputation!
You took the subway only if you really needed or if you wanted to die.....
Anyways this year I decide to grow a pair and master the NYC public transit. The minute we arrived
at Laguardia I asked where I could buy a transit card and off we went!
Armed with our cards, we took the bus and the subway everywhere! If you go get a subway map!
It is so useful!
I had made reservation to Gato Bobby Flay's Mediterranean restaurant in the Village and on the way there we wanted to stop at Eataly Mario Batali's and Lidia Bastianich mega Italian food emporium.
Before going to NYC I asked my BF where he wanted to go. I then make a list and then plan the transit.
yeah I am crazy like that!
Italy did not disappoint! It is huge, there is so much stuff you don't know where to look and there is tons of produce I have never seen in my grocery store (Shishito peppers anyone?).
I didn't take as many pics as I wanted because there was a lot of people as well!
Eataly is a destination for tourists, a mega food emporium for neighborhood folks, a huge food court and a restaurant too!
Did I mention you can take classes there too?
Walls of cheese people!
Cheeses you never imagined existed!
Those are actual wheels of Parmegianno Regianno
not styrofoam mock ups!
More cheese!
We bought some Italian chocolates that were delicious and
24 months aged Prosciutto and some weird paper thin cracker that Dad would've loved.
Dad was a huge weird cracker lover!
so we spent less than $20 and were happy. The Prosciutto was melt in our
mouths good ($6)
Then we hopped on the bus for our 6:15 pm reservation at Gato.
We met a fantastic little oldish lady who had lived all her life in NYC.
She heard us talking and told us to stick with her because she was getting off at the same stop.
along the way she pointed buildings where famous people live (Mario Batali we know where you live..... )
and assorted landmarks....
On to Gato.
of course we expected great things since Bobby Flay beats nearly everyone on Beat Bobby Flay....
Now I think this show is rigged!
The place looks great. It is in an old factory.
You can't take pictures because it is too dark. the lady next to me had her phone out with the light on to look at the menu.
we repeatedly tried to take pictures but it looked like crap!
We took 3 bar side amuse bouche (a better term than appetizers because of their micro size)
Seared ahi tuna, eggplant and manchego and pork belly .
Tuna good, eggplant amazing I could eat that every day, pork belly beautifully cooked but
with a weird sauce.
for our mains we ordered lemon and clam risotto.
it was way too salty, not enough lemon rind or white wine and parsley would have
been nice for freshness.
we skipped dessert because at $14 a pop we were afraid to be disappointed.
I think Bobby is in love with chili oil because there was some in every dish we ordered.
yes it was thrilling to be in a celebrity chef restaurant but for the price we need actual magic not
someone going through the motions.....
since I loved the eggplant and manchego dish I looked it up on the internet and there's a version of it
on Food Network by Bobby Flay!
I did toy with the idea of visiting a Mario Batali or Lidia Bastianich restaurant in future
visits but after reading the reviews....I will abstain
The lesson learned here? When you are too famous and too big you can"t quality check the way
you should!
Thank you all for reading through this looooong post with nearly no pics!
See you soon!
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