Great New Basque Cuisine In The Lower East Side!
Read moreNYC FOODIE OPENING OF THE WEEK: AMADA
Great New Tapas Downtown.
Read moreNYC FOODIE OPENING OF THE WEEK: HUERTAS
New East Village Spanish/Pinxtos Joint.
Read moreNYC FOODIE QUICK BITE: DONOSTIA
Spinach and Leek tortilla. Fabulous.
Oh, how I love discovering gems. I recently stumbled upon one right across the street from Tompkins Square Park, on Avenue B and 10th Street. It's called Donostia, it's serving tapas all day, and I've experienced nothing like it in NYC.
Read moreNYC FOODIE OPENING OF THE WEEK: TORO
The hottest restaurant in NYC right now is the Boston import Toro. A spanish tapas joint serving an extensive menu of Spanish bites from chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, in the former Nabisco factory.
Read moreNYC FOODIE OPENING OF THE WEEK: PLAN B
Get some unique Northern Spanish tapas on at the new Nolita joint Plan B on Mulberry Street. What was once a jewelry store, is now a great space serving a contemporary take on tapas influenced by Barcelona and the Basque region. I had a little tasting last week with some delectable bites.
Read moreNYC FOODIE QUICK BITE: MANZANILLA
Tasty tapas and unique Spanish fare await you at the Spanish Brasserie, Manzanilla, from Spain's acclaimed chef Dani Garcia, and owner Yann de Rochefort (Boqueria). I stopped in recently and had a delightful meal.
Read moreLa Vara
I've been finding many gems as of late, and I found another one in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. From the team behind Txikito and El Quinto Pino in Chelsea, two awesome Spanish tapas joints, comes the new La Vara, another fabulous tapas spot. This place is true perfection.
Read moreTABLE FOR ONE: CASA MONO
Last weekend I went to a Spanish tapas restaurant I have been wanting to go to for a while; Casa Mono. It was conceived by chef Andy Nusser and is one of Mario Batali's restaurants as well, so I expected a high quality experience.
The restaurant is not huge. It's a small box of a restaurant with a bar counter overlooking an open kitchen as well as a real bar in the back. I took a seat by the bar at the open kitchen and was excited to have this dinner and a show.
I ordered a special Langoustine entree ($18), a Duck Egg entree ($16), as well as a Cuarto of a nice Spanish wine called Vinos Pinol ($16).
The Langoustine entree came over a bed of some greens and fava beans, and drizzled with a nice helping of olive oil. It basically was a really lovely salad which I enjoyed immensely for it was simple and clean, yet tasted good. I will say that it wasn't easy getting all the meat out of the two langoustines, but the meat I did get out was tender and juicy.
My Duck Egg entree came with Mojama and potatoes. The plate came out with the duck egg resting neatly on a bed of the potatoes, with the mojama (thin slices of tuna) balanced on the side. It was a very pretty plate that I was about to destruct. I cracked the yolk and let it run all over the plate and devoured everything. I truly loved this dish for everything complimented each other perfectly and was extremely delicious! I would say that this duck egg entree is one my favorite and most memorable dishes I have ever encountered.
In fact after my dinner at Casa Mono, it has become one of my favorite restaurants in NYC. I love the open kitchen, it really adds to the dining experience, and the atmosphere is very comfortable. Casa Mono has all the qualities of a great restaurant and I highly recommend it. Also note, since the place is not that large, they have wine bar right next door called Bar Jamon, which is also a great place to grab a glass of wine and a plate of ham. (My first time at Bar Jamon I had a great bottle of wine and Jimmy Fallon bought me a plate of ham!)
Casa Mono
52 Irving Place (at 17th Street)
New York, NY 1003
