New York City
Sunday, March 4, 2007

Lunch at Lombardi’s Pizza

Our original plan was to travel over to Brooklyn to grab some slices at Grimaldi’s, known for their fresh mozzarella and garlic pizzas, but we were both too tired to make the trek over. So, we headed to another NY favorite: Lombardi’s. It was not a disappointment, and was in fact, quite a treat. We ordered a full pie with fresh parmesan and ricotta cheeses, kalamata olives, shitake mushrooms, spinach, roasted red onions, sausages, and coal oven roasted tomatoes–HEAVENLY. The pie just melts in your mouth, and the best thing about it is that it just appeals to your senses. The ingredients awakened my nose, not just because they were coming from a coal oven, but because the freshness of the vegetables was evident by the poignant, garden-y aromas they emanated. Another thing that stood out was the texture of the dough. Often, regular ol’ pizzas have dough that is too overcooked that the dough is dry and sloughs its way through your throat or that is too undercooked that you can tell exactly what type of flour was used. This dough was different–it was cooked enough to capture that "oven taste", but it was so soft and chewy that you could taste the garlic weaved throughout. It was because of this that I was able to chow down 2 pieces.
Overall impressions: A must-eat in NY. It’s a legendary restaurant with a reputation well-deserved.

Dessert at Pinkberry

I had first heard about this place from my friends who live in LA (since Pinkberry opened a store there) and rode it off as another Asian popular phenomenon. Non-fat frozen yogurt with toppings? Whoo-flippin’-whoo. But, the minute I saw the pink and green sign while walking in Koreatown in NY, I felt inclined to stop in to see what the hype was all about.
This time around, hype is not such a bad thing since it’s backed by a legitimately good and unique product. I ordered a green tea non-fat frozen whipped yogurt with fresh blueberries, kiwi, mango, and yogurt chips and was blown away by how something so healthy could be so incredibly satisfying, refreshing, and satiating. The yogurt was like no other frozen yogurt–the texture was creamy with milky, buttery accents laced with a subtle hint of green tea and just melted on the tongue. Paired with the fresh fruits and delightfully crunchy and sweet yogurt chips, the yogurt tasted like a cool parfait on a sunny day. I was in love.
The only sour thing about this place was the Sang Mi, the girl who worked the cashier and barked at the servers. On the outside, this girl looked like another cute and innocent Hello Kitty loving teenager with her hair in a ponytail, beautiful porcelain skin, and eclectic (if not a tad fobby) wardrobe ensemble. However, the minute she opened her mouth to speak, it was if Hell rose up and slapped me a few times across the face and then some. Talk about a rebellious, aggressive customer service rep–apparently, in her world, it’s okay to throw change at customers, to yell when someone asks if there’s a bathroom, and to cluck the tongue and mutter phrases under the breath if a customer dare asks for extra toppings FOR WHICH THEY PAY FOR. Aiya. Just thinking about that chick makes me all livid..and ready to move on to dinner!

Dinner at Basta Pasta

Dave’s sister, Effie, recommended this Japanese-Italian fusion place to us, and because Effie is a former New Yorker and has impeccable taste, we prioritized this place pretty highly in our travel plan.
Tucked away in a corner in the Union Square district, Basta Pasta is a small, cozy modern set up with your typical Asian flare to it with the simple wood and bamboo furnishings and modernistic Asian paintings. But, what wasn’t so typical was the food. Have a craving for oxtail pasta or miso pasta noodles? You can find them here. What’s even neater about this place is that the concoctions, if a little strange, are prepared very skillfully so that you get the fine-tuned, delectable simplicity and sophistication that you get with Japanese cuisine and the robust, colorful complexity of Italian cooking.
I ordered a simple cream sauce pasta with salmon and bowties (not very Japanese, obviously) and Dave had the oxtail meat sauce pasta. My pasta was very well prepared–the noodles were perfectly al dente, which I haven’t experienced at any restaurant in the last year or so, and the cream sauce was very lightly infused with a bit of lemon peel, garlic, and white wine, giving the pasta a very digestible nature. The salmon was lightly cooked, if not a little raw, which gave the pasta its Japanese side. As for Dave’s pasta, I’ll let him comment as a guest on his dish–but I have to say that it was very unique..
The service was impeccable and the ambience was light and cheerful. I especially loved how, for someone’s birthday, they all gathered to sing a fun song. You never get that these days.
This place is a must-go. Enough said.