Trattoria Trecolori

254 West 47th Street

(between Broadway and Eighth Avenue)

After watching a weekday evening performance of the smash Broadway play Hamilton (which absolutely lived up to its hype!), we were in search of a nearby restaurant whose kitchen was still open.

Around the corner from the play, we came upon a very cute, low-key Italian restaurant—Trattoria Trecolori.

 

Feeling starved and seeing that they offered homemade black squid ink pasta, it was really a no-brainer. We both ordered the Linguine Nere alla Monsignore. It came with shrimp, scallops, squid, clams, and mussels in a marinara sauce. Delicious and definitely tasted homemade!

We started off with an order of the Caprese (fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil). Very light and refreshing. Perfect, as we wanted to make room for our main course!

 

To accompany our meal, the server recommended their rosé—a 2014 Abadal: a light and refreshing option to pair with our heavy entrées. As with Mercato, the restaurant only had one type of rosé on their wine list.

 

After a tasting, we decided to order a bottle.

For dessert, we ordered their homemade tiramisu. Another no-brainer, as I always order the tiramisu if it’s on the menu. And like the homemade pasta, their tiramisu tasted fresh and homemade.

 

To cap off the dinner and to accompany the dessert, I ordered a glass of Frangelico—a kind of lighter version of brandy. I haven’t had Frangelico in a loooong time, but decided to treat myself to one. I also highly recommend adding it to your coffee (in lieu of milk and sugar) as an after-dinner drink.

Wonderful way to end a memorable night at the theater!

Pros:

Relaxing atmosphere.

Friendly, excellent service.

Authentic homemade Italian pastas and desserts.

Cons:

More rosé options.

Final Thoughts

Will definitely return, especially after seeing a Broadway play.

Mercato

352 West 39th Street

(between Eighth and Ninth Avenues)

A great small, cozy Italian space that has the feel of being in one’s living room.

The food is absolutely delicious. Starting with the thick dipping sauce (made up of lentils) for the bread. There was also a hint of sun-dried tomatoes as well.

We started off our Italian meal with a small dish of mixed olives marinated in fennel and rosemary. Some of the olives also had a bit of spiciness to their taste, but wasn’t sure if it was due to the brine or the specific olive. It was a perfect pairing with the bread and its accompanying dipping sauce.

We also ordered the Polpette Con Crostini (meatballs, tomato sauce, and garlic crostini) as an appetizer. This dish was probably the weakest of our appetizers as I felt the meatballs were a tiny bit dry.

 

The most interesting appetizer had to be the sardines we ordered. The appetizer came with two grilled whole sardines topped with salmoriglio sauce (a garlicky herb and lemon sauce). Salty goodness! But beware of the bones!

 

We then shared an order of the Linguine Al Frutti di Mare (linguine with mussels, calamari, shrimp, clams, and spicy tomato sauce). The kitchen very kindly separated the dish for us and served it to us on separate plates. Definitely spicy!

For drinks, I started off with their rosé (Puglia 2014). They only offered one type of rosé offering, but it was refreshing and light and went perfectly with the spicy food.

 

Also had a glass of their Primitivo (Amastuola Puglia 2013). Always love a Primitivo (as they tend to have a very smooth finish while still having a full body taste), so I try to order a glass whenever I see it offered on a wine list.

Only off note was their dessert special of a flourless chocolate cake. Disappointingly dry. Glad that I had my glass of Primitivo to wash it down!

Pros:

Relaxing atmosphere.

LOVE the dipping sauce for the bread.

Friendly service.

Cons:

Dessert.

Final Thoughts

Will definitely return if I’m around Penn Station or Port Authority. And to try their other desserts!

The Shakespeare

24 East 39th Street

(between Madison and Park Avenue)

The Shakespeare is a classic English pub located beneath The Peacock hotel.

 

Of course ordering a pint was a must! I went for a glass of the Fuller’s London Pride Pale Ale. A medium beer, which was one of their beers on draught. Very good and very refreshing.

 

The beer went particularly well with their mussels, which was made with beer, bacon, and celery. It came with a side of garlic bread. And this was their SMALL portion!

Of course you can’t eat mussels without ordering a side of fries (called “Triple Chips” on the menu).

 

Perfect pub fare!

 

Pros:

Relaxing atmosphere.

Nice-sized bathroom.

Cons:

Service was a bit slow, but that could have been due to the fact that I was there between their lunch and dinnertime.

Final Thoughts

Will return if I’m in the neighborhood and in the mood for beer.

Florian

225 Park Avenue South

(between 18th Street and 19th Street)

Christmastime is here!!!

And what better way to celebrate the holidays and cap off a year of visiting high-end pizza joints, but with Florian—another restaurant specializing in Neapolitan pizza.

The restaurant was also festively decorated in honor of the holiday season!

To continue with the festive spirits, we started off with drinks.

My friend ordered the sparkling prosecco rosé (foss marai, Veneto), which was served in a beautiful glass. Sparkly indeed!

 

I ordered the Pinot Noir 2013 lo triolet (Valle d’Aosta). A very drinkable and not a heavy red.

 

For dinner, we decided to share all of our dishes and Florian made it easy as they serve their meals family-style.

As a starter, we went with the roasted beet and heirloom tomato salad, which came with baby kale, red sorrel, burrata, celery leaves, and basil. Delicious! One interesting side note: It was served on a plate that was very similar to the plate style of Marta (the Italian pizza restaurant I reviewed back in May 2015).

 

We then ordered a small pizza: the Prosciutto di Parma and arugula with burrata mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The flavors worked wonderfully well together. One slight quibble though—the crust was so thin it seemed like we were eating matzoh bread. It literally crumbled when you picked it up, and it was hard to eat with a knife and fork as prosciutto is hard to cut!

We also ordered a small portion size of the spaghetti and short rib meatballs with Sunday gravy. My friend had a hankering to try their short rib meatballs as it was offered on several of their menu options so it must be a specialty. Very good and perfect as small portion as not sure I would want it as a full-sized entrée.

For dessert we had the cheesecake with strawberries and chocolate sauce ($12). So glad we ordered it to be shared as it’s dense and super rich. I can’t imagine one person eating it all in one sitting.

Best of all, at the end of our meal a server came by with a tray of freshly made chocolate chip cookies. We were so full, but how can anyone pass on fresh-made cookies!

 

Overall, the service is impeccable, the décor is lovely, and the food is delicious. What better way to celebrate the holidays!

 

Pros:

Relaxing atmosphere.

Good food and family-style restaurant.

Friendly service.

Cute bathroom!

 

Cons:

Pizza crust is too thin.

Final Thoughts

Must return to try out their whole lobster (yes, WHOLE lobster!) pizza.

The Bao

13 St. Marks Place

(between Cooper Square and Astor Place)

Located directly above Spot Dessert Bar. I’m sure many first went to dinner at The Bao and then headed downstairs to Spot for dessert.

I confess that my friend and I did the exact opposite.

We were wooed by the soup dumplings and the restaurant’s quirky décor.

 

We of course ordered the Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao (6 dumplings). The dumplings were small and thin-skinned. But unbelievably the skin was strong enough to not break open when picked up with the tongs. Perhaps it had to do with the dumpling’s small size?

 

 

I hate it when the juice spills out onto the dish before it can even get on your soup spoon! But not in this case. It held together and the soup was warm as opposed to burning hot, which is another concern of mine whenever I order soup dumplings.

 

We also had an order of turnip puffs (4 pieces) as I LOVE turnips. Unfortunately, it was way too greasy and was definitely in need of a dipping sauce.

 

We shared a bottle of Crabbies (an alcoholic ginger beer from the UK). I had never had ginger beer before, so wanted to sample. Glad I tried it, but would not order again.

Pros:

Very good soup dumplings.

Nice atmosphere.

Above Spot Dessert Bar.

Cons:

Rather small restaurant, so think it might get very crowded during prime lunch and dinner time hours.

Final Thoughts

Will definitely go back for their soup dumplings!

Spot Dessert Bar

13 St. Marks Place

(between Cooper Square and Astor Place)

A tapas dessert bar? You betcha! And the desserts offered are whimsical and delicious.

It’s $9.75 per dessert, but they offer Tapas Sets, which I highly recommend.

We ordered the 3 tapas set for $25.45, which was perfect for two to share.

And we went for three of their signature desserts:

First up the Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake (warm dark chocolate cake filled with green tea ganache, green tea ice cream). Probably the most sophisticated of the three we ordered. And the fact that the “lava” is both the dark chocolate and the green tea ganache is pretty cool!

The second dessert was the Golden Toast (crispy honey-buttered toast, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, condensed milk ice cream), which is basically ice cream with French toast. But the condensed milk ice cream is what made this dessert. Could eat a whole pint of it!

The must-try option would have to be The Harvest (layers of berries, soft cheesecake, meringue kisses, raspberry sorbet, black rose milk tea). The presentation is everything. And when the dessert is placed on the table, the server tells you to water the plant with the black rose milk tea (LOL!). Very fun!

It looks like you're eating dirt!

They don’t offer alcohol, but they do offer Bubble tea! I ordered the Spot Milk Tea (which can also be served hot) and I drank it to the last drop.

My friend ordered the Bubble Tea Iced Green Tea Latte (which can also be served hot). But don’t think she liked it much as she still had over half her drink left in her glass.

Please note that it might be easy to miss the dessert bar, as you have to walk down a few steps to get in.

There’s also another Spot Dessert Bar on the same block (I guess to handle spillover from the primary location?), located a little further west, but this “spot” has a bit more character and personality. There’s also another Spot location on the top floor of the Food Gallery 32 in Koreatown, which I must try as well.

Pros:

Great dessert options.

Cons:

Small restaurant, which fills up quickly.

No alcohol (as some of the desserts would pair well with a red wine).

Final Thoughts

Will definitely go back as I want to try every item on their menu!