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All Posts Tagged: ‘insieme’

Foodievents

6/27/08

5:00 PM

Four Chefs to Face Off in Tofu Battle

A blank page, as yet unwritten.Photo: iStockphoto

Tofu, a substance that can be everything and nothing, is the perfect ingredient for a chef battle. That’s why House Tofu, a Japanese brand, is sponsoring one on July 22 at the Astor Center. Ed Higgins, chef de cuisine at Insieme, Wylie Dufresne of wd-50, Erik Battes, chef de cuisine of Perry Street, and Akinobu Suzuki, the executive chef of Sakagura, will all prepare a sweet and a savory tofu dish. The winner gets $5,000.

More: Foodievents »akinobu suzuki, astor center, ed higgins, erik battes, insieme, perry street, sakagura, tofu, wd-50, wylie dufresne

Two for Eight

6/27/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Abboccato and Felidia; Il Buco and Del Posto Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »abboccato, alto, bar milano, del posto, felidia, fiamma, il buco, insieme, l'impero, scarpetta

Two for Eight

6/26/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Insieme and Rose Water; Esca Fully Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls, but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Haute Barnyard.

More: Two for Eight »barbuto, blt market, blue hill, cookshop, esca, insieme, Mas (farmhouse), park avenue summer, rose water, telepan

Two for Eight

6/13/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Fiamma and Insieme; San Domenico and Scarpetta Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »abboccato, alto, bar milano, del posto, felidia, fiamma, insieme, l'impero, san domenico, scarpetta

Two for Eight

6/12/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Rose Water; Blue Hill and Mas (farmhouse) Mostly Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls, but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Haute Barnyard.

More: Two for Eight »barbuto, blt market, blue hill, cookshop, esca, insieme, Mas (farmhouse), park avenue summer, rose water, telepan

Two for Eight

5/30/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Abboccato and Del Posto; Scarpetta Fully Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »abboccato, alto, bar milano, del posto, felidia, fiamma, insieme, l'impero, san domenico, scarpetta

Two for Eight

5/29/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at BLT Market and Esca; Blue Hill Mostly Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls, but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Haute Barnyard.

More: Two for Eight »barbuto, blt market, blue hill, cookshop, esca, insieme, Mas (farmhouse), park avenue summer, rose water, telepan

Two for Eight

5/ 9/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at i Trulli and San Domenico; Del Posto and Il Buco Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: Haute Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, babbo, del posto, felidia, i trulli, Il Buco, insieme, l'impero, san domenico

Two for Eight

4/23/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Morandi and Insieme; Del Posto and Il Buco Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: Haute Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, del posto, felidia, i trulli, Il Buco, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

Two for Eight

4/ 7/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at A Voce and Felidia; Babbo Fully Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, babbo, del posto, felidia, i trulli, Il Buco, insieme, l'impero, san domenico

Back of the House

3/18/08

3:30 PM

‘Esquire’ Escalates Chef-Fashion War With ‘Maxim’

john macdonald and piero trotta

I say, old man! Where did you get that tie?Photo courtesy Esquire

Has it really come to this? Maxim and Esquire are going at it hammer and tongs to see who can print more ridiculous images of chefs as fashion models. Esquire started it, with a never-to-be-forgotten Simon Hammerstein–David Chang tough-guy shoot. This year, Maxim released its April spread early to get the jump on Esquire, but both mags shared a few models (formerly known as chefs): Michael Psilakis of Anthos, Neil Ferguson of Allen and Delancey, and Craig Koketsu of Park Avenue Winter. Psilakis, for his part, is even wearing similar suits in both spreads. (Did he leave the Maxim refrigerator and head straight to his Esquire lunch at Insieme?) Other chefs of note in the shoot include Ben Chekroun, the elegant maître d' of Le Bernardin, whom we interviewed for Ask a Waiter back in the day; San Domenico's affable wine director, Piero Trotta; and the boyish Wesley Genovart of Degustation, tucking into a plate of duck and soba noodles. We give Esquire the edge for shooting the dapper John McDonald at Keens. Though he’s more of a bon vivant restaurateur than a chef, Johnny Mac is a quintessential Esquire man.

Man’s Gotta Eat [Esquire]
Related: Chefs Put on Something a Little More Comfortable
When Chefs Play Dress-Up

More: Back of the House »ben chekroun, craig koketsu, degustation, esquire, insieme, john macdonald, keens, maxim, michael psilakis, neil ferguson, piero trotta, san domenico, wesley genovard

Back of the House

3/ 5/08

2:45 PM

Adam Platt on Best of New York: “It's a Matter of Taste, Cutty!”

Having pawed and pondered this week's Best of New York issue endlessly, we knew that the only way we could possibly make up our minds about it was to pester Adam Platt into giving us his thoughts on why he made his picks, who he had to leave out, and what his reasoning was. Since Platt is always readily available on IM, the following chat answered our questions and made our peace with his picks.

More: Back of the House »adam platt, best of new york, dovetail, fiamma, insieme, kori, lasagna, lucky 8, marco canora, momofuku noodle bar, ramen, ramen setagaya

Two for Eight

3/ 4/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Abboccato and San Domenico; Babbo Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: high Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, babbo, del posto, felidia, i trulli, il buco, insieme, limpero, san domenico

NewsFeed

2/ 6/08

4:15 PM

Terroir Video Reveals the Depth of Paul Grieco’s Madness

Anyone who knows Paul Grieco will tell you that he is patently insane. Final proof, if any were needed, lies in this video promoting his new wine bar, Terroir. Grieco, the co-owner, manager, and wine director of both Hearth and Insieme, is the mad genius of the city’s wine corps, and Terroir is his padded cell and laboratory. The teaser site gives some hint of the white-knuckle wine-geek intensity that courses through Grieco’s veins: Among the vitriolic mottos that flash are “Our wine world is now dominated by over-manipulated, oak-chip-flavored, micro-oxygenated wines that have nothing to do with what Mother Nature, God, or the Cistercian Fathers had in mind” and “To go to Friuli for red wine is like going to Las Vegas and expecting to catch Arthur Miller's The Crucible.” But to really get a measure of his madness, watch this video. You won’t be sorry.

Related: Wine-Geek Heaven on the Way to the East Village

More: NewsFeed »east village, hearth, insieme, paul grieco, terroir, wine, wine bars

Chefwatch

2/ 6/08

12:30 PM

Jordan Frosolone Tends Hearth Every Night

Jordan Frosolone: Marco Canora's alter ego (for now).Photo: Melissa Hom

Each week, we'll be highlighting one of the great but obscure young chefs who are actually running one of the city's major restaurants. .

Name: Jordan Frosolone

Age: 31

Restaurant: Hearth

Background: Forsolone, a native Chicagoan, put in time at Coco Pazzo, Blackbird, and Nomi, before hitting Italy for a year of heavy duty in Florence and Umbria. He then started in as a line cook for the famously demanding Marco Canora, at Hearth. When Canora went uptown to open Insieme, Forsolone was promoted to chef de cuisine and given the keys to Hearth.

Self-described Style: “I’m definitely in love with the greenmarket. Focused and balanced Italian and southern French.”

More: Chefwatch »east village, hearth, insieme, jordan forsolone, marco canora

Engines of Gastronomy

1/11/08

5:15 PM

At Insieme, Marco Canora Makes Pasta Like It’s 1875

Insieme's crank yankers.Photo: Brian Kennedy

In the wonderful world of pasta, there is the fresh (usually made with eggs and rolled-out), and there is the dried (usually eggless and extruded). And then there is the unusual hybrid of sorts that Marco Canora has recently introduced on his Insieme menu. While surfing the Web, as all blog-obsessed chefs are wont to do, Canora discovered an old Venetian–style hand-cranked pasta extruder known as the Bigolaro, a.k.a. the Torchio, and if he had his doubts about its decidedly low-tech looks, the price, at $280, was right. The rustic gadget, which was patented in 1875, clamps on to any sturdy tabletop, and although it requires the strength of two Greco–Roman wrestlers to operate, the results are worth the effort.

More: Engines of Gastronomy »insieme, marco canora, pasta, pastabiz, torchio

Two for Eight

12/20/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at A Voce and Insieme; Il Buco Mostly Booked

It's 4:30 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, del posto, felidia, i trulli, il buco, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

NewsFeed

12/12/07

9:30 AM

Pig Farmer to Deliver Pigs in Pig-Fueled Truck

This is not Eggleston's fleet, though we wish it were.Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Bev Eggleston, the Virginia pig farmer trying to revive Ossabaw pigs, has refitted his truck to run on barbecue grease! He's struck up a symbiotic friendship with Hill Country’s Robbie Richter (Richter gets to try great pork, Bev gets to eat great barbecue), and the two have come to an understanding by which Richter will save his grease for Eggleston’s special diesel engine. The idea’s not as crazy as it sounds: San Francisco asks restaurants to recycle grease for the city's bus fleet.

More: NewsFeed »bev eggleston, blue hill, craft steak, gramercy tavern, hill country, il buco, insieme, pork, robbie richter

Two for Eight

12/ 3/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at i Trulli and Insieme; Il Buco Mostly Booked

It's 4:30 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, del posto, felidia, i trulli, il buco, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

Ask a Waiter

11/27/07

5:18 PM

Nelson Hernandez of Insieme Is Waiting Out the Broadway Strike, Liquor Board

Nelson Hernandez

Nelson Hernandez will upsell you a white truffle in a flash.Photo: Melissa Hom

Nelson Hernandez was a teacher for ten years before he decided he’d rather make art than teach it. He now performs around town as a singer-songwriter and pays the rent by waiting tables at Marco Canora’s joint Insieme. Since Insieme is located directly across from the darkened Winter Garden, we thought Hernandez might be just the person to tell us what the scene has been lately at a restaurant that caters both to theatergoing tourists and to homegrown aficionados of contemporary Italian cuisine.

More: Ask a Waiter »insieme, marco canora, times square

NewsFeed

11/13/07

10:50 AM

Theater Strike Could Drop Curtain on Midtown Restaurants

Marco Canora: not a happy camper.Photo courtesy Hearth

The fuel that fires the midtown's restaurant economy is, like electricity or natural gas, indispensable. It's that bustling, shuffling mass we like to call tourists, and with 27 theaters currently dark thanks to a stagehand strike, the tourism machine may be poised to shudder and stop. “The strike has a huge effect on us,” bemoans Insieme chef Marco Canora. “That's like 40 percent of our business.” Thanks to Insieme's high repute, the place gets a good seating between pre- and post-theater, but other restaurants are even more vulnerable.

More: NewsFeed »carnegie deli, insieme, marco canora, sandy levine, theater district

Two for Eight

11/12/07

4:35 PM

Tables Available at Abbocato and Morandi; Babbo Mostly Booked

It's 4:30 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, babbo, del posto, felidia, i trulli, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

Mediavore

10/29/07

10:00 AM

Chang Has Big Dreams for Vegas; Nobu to Cater

David Chang plans to open a Momofuku in Vegas where everyone “wants you to do well. [And] there are no government officials who go after you and none of the bull[bleep] that’s in New York City.” [NYP]

Nobu heads to the Sundance Film Festival this January as the first push to establish a catering arm of the company. [NYP]

Gordon Ramsay at the London, Insieme, and Toloache are some of the newer restaurants spicing up pre-theater dining. [NYT]

More: Mediavore »'ino, cru, david chang, franny's, gordon ramsay at the london, insieme, julian medina, l&b spumoni gardens, lenny kravitz, momofuku, nobu, toloache, truffled egg toast

Two for Eight

10/24/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Morandi and San Domenico; Del Posto Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, del posto, felidia, i trulli, il buco, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

Two for Eight

10/17/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Rayuela and Provence; BLT Market Fully Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls, but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Reviewed by Adam Platt.

More: Two for Eight »accademia di vino, bar stuzzichini, blt market, centro vinoteca, insieme, p*ong, perilla, pong, provence, rayuela, suba

In Other Magazines

10/16/07

9:30 AM

‘Esquire’ to New York: Drop Dead

Esquire paints Dennis Foy as top twenty in the nation.Photo: Courtesy Dennis Foy

Are you kidding us? Only a trio of New York spots made Esquire’s “best new restaurants” list. And while the places described all sound good, if the likes of Rialto in Cambridge have all but three New York restaurants beat, then Pace is the new Harvard. The fact is this list represents a kind of trans-Hudson affirmative action for the restaurant world. Food columnist John Mariani picks good restaurants located outside New York in place of the more deserving restaurants inside the city limits, such as Insieme, Sfoglia, Ssäm Bar, Suba, Hill Country, and many others. It’s not their fault that New York has more good places than the rest of the country put together!

More: In Other Magazines »anthos, dennis foy, esquire, hill country, insieme, john mariani, peter luger, sfoglia, ssam bar, suba

Two for Eight

10/ 5/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at A Voce and Abboccato; Babbo Fully Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, babbo, del posto, felidia, i trulli, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

VideoFeed

10/ 3/07

2:00 PM

Two Chefs (and One Good Eater) Take a Trip to the Bronx

If there's something you can think of better than going up to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx in a big white Buick, for the express purpose of eating sandwiches with your two favorite Italian chefs, then we would like to know what it is. We heeded our lust for salumi and mozzarella and recorded the results for Grub Street posterity.

Grub Street Video Archive

More: VideoFeed »alto, arthur avenue, bronx, hearth, insieme, l'impero, marco canora, michael white

Two for Eight

9/28/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Insieme and Wild Salmon; Perilla Nearly Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls, but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Reviewed by Adam Platt.

More: Two for Eight »bar stuzzichini, insieme, p*ong, perilla, pong, provence, rayuela, rosanjin, suba, the e.u., wild salmon

Back of the House

9/26/07

3:30 PM

Ov-er-ra-ted! (Clap-Clap-ClapClapClap)

Junior's cheesecake really isn't all that…Photo: Corbis

The Post returned to an evergreen feature idea today, every editor’s best friend: the “overrated” list. Since our philosophy has always been to slavishly ape the Post in every way short of peppering our posts with the phrase “tot-slay suspect,” we thought we might add a few of our own. Since the Post didn’t limit itself to specific dishes at specific restaurants, we won’t either. Here are a few things that we find ourselves less than overawed with these days.

More: Back of the House »a voce, alto, carnegie deli, insieme, jamon iberico, junior's, juniors, l'impero, san domenico, the palm, the stage deli

Two for Eight

9/20/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Abboccato and I Trulli; Morandi Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: High Italian.

More: Two for Eight »a voce, abboccato, babbo, del posto, felidia, i trulli, insieme, l'impero, morandi, san domenico

Two for Eight

9/14/07

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Insieme and Provence; Rosanjin Fully Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Reviewed by Adam Platt.

More: Two for Eight »bar stuzzichini, insieme, p*ong, perilla, pong, provence, rayuela, rosanjin, suba, the e.u., wild salmon

The Other Critics

9/12/07

11:30 AM

Bruni Finds Bar Stuzzichini Good Enough; Sietsema Worships Insieme

Frank Bruni gives Bar Stuzzichini one star, praising its small plates (which give him his obligatory Zeitgeist paragraphs at the top) and then pointing out that the room and service are basically that of a “midtown mess hall.” The moral? Aim low, price right, and execute, and the critics will give you the guarded praise you need to stay open. [NYT]

Here's one we never would have predicted in a million years: Insieme getting the panegyric it deserves from Robert “horsehead soup in the Bronx” Sietsema. Interestingly, the one thing he didn't like was the lasagne, which was the place's proudest boast when it first opened. [VV]

We predicted recently that it was just a matter of time before someone came down on Wakiya, but we never dreamed it would be Danyelle Freeman. She hits the place hard, mostly for the “dull” and “skimpy” food but, not a killer at heart, gives them credit for service, cocktails, and soup dumplings. But it won't be long before another, meaner critic really lets it fly. [NYND]