An Italian Culinary Experience with Casa Vinicola Zonin and Osteria Del Circo!

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I was recently invited by Casa Vinicola Zonin for an Italian Culinary Experience. This is my second event of that sort and I admit that I love it, because it is not only about the wine, but also about the marriage of wine and food. This time, the wine was paired with the food from Osteria Del Circo, one of the many restaurants from the Maccioni family. If you are a foodie, this name cannot be totally unknown! They own few restaurants, the iconic one being Le Cirque! And we got the privilege to meet with one of the Maccioni brothers: Marco. We even spoke with him after the event, for couple of minutes and he was very nice! During the evening, organized at The International Culinary Center, he entertained us with great stories from his family, and making me realizing how big Le Cirque is, considering how many renown Chefs worked there, from Francois Payard, Jacques Torres, Daniel Boulud or Geoffrey Zakarian. The way Marco told these stories, you could feel that he was proud and it was not pretentious at all, making us forget that we were at a marketing event, and giving us the impression that we were invited at some friends' gathering and Marco was one of the guests. 

Interesting enough, he presented Osteria Del Circo as the anti-Le Cirque, giving as an example the fact that you have to wear a tie at Le Cirque and not at Osteria Del Circo. We saw few years ago a documentary called A Table in Heaven, where the brothers tried to persuade their father not to impose such a formal attire. We mentioned it to Marco whose reaction was "Oh God!"...  

Also present was the Casa Vinicola Zonin crew, Jelena, Paolo and Francesco, as well as Chef Alfio Longo who is the executive chef of the kitchen at Osteria Del Circo.

A student from the ICC, Chef Alfio Longo, Marco Maccioni, Francesco Rabellino and Jelena  Meisel
(Paolo, where were you???)

Chef Longo has an interesting story: born in Germany to an Italian family, he was raised in a small town close to Florence called Pistoia. After developing a culinary passion and studying at the F. Martini Culinary & Hotel Management & Tourism Institute in Montecatini where he graduated in 1998, he worked in famous restaurants in Italy. In 2003, as a sous Chef at Uno Piu Restorante in Montecatini, he impressed Sirio Maccioni and his family so much, who were spending the summer there as it was their hometown, that they proposed him a job! After many tribulations and travels around the world, he was appointed Executive Chef at Osteria Del Circo in New York City.

So, with such a cast, we were ready for this long awaited Italian Culinary Experience! 

We started off with canapés, one bite food. The first one was tomatoes and mozzarella:

Then, my favorite: prosciutto wrapped figs!

This was simple, but heavenly good, with the saltiness of the prosciutto and the sweetness of the fig complementing each other.

After, smoked salmon canapés:

This was a fantastic way of preparing our palates for what would be an incredible experience! These canapés were served with Zonin Prosecco, which was also the welcome drink.

Then came the first dish: Vitello Tonnato, salasa verde and capperi or veal tenderloin, tuna sauce, salsa verde and capers:

The way the Chef prepared it was by cooking the veal in boiling water for one hour, making it moist and tender, then cutting it carpaccio style. He will then roll it around the marinated canned tuna mixed with aioli (to simplify, mayonnaise with garlic) and capers. The salsa verde was made with parsley, mint and avocado.

This was a surprising dish in the sense that I never had meat and tuna together. Canned tuna and mayo does not scream elegance, but I think the Chef succeeded in elevating the dish and make it elegant. I really liked the different flavors and wanted more of the salsa verde that was not too overpowering, added some freshness and let the other components of the dish shine.

It was paired with a glass of Vermentino Calasole Rocca Di Montemassi 2011, a dry white wine, tangy and crisp.

The second dish was Pasta Paccheri All Anatra, Zucca and Funghi or Del verde paccheri pasta, with braised duck, butternut squash and mushrooms:

It was a very hearty dish, made with pasta that I never tried before! Chef Longo picked this pasta, not only because they are not common, but also because he wanted thick pasta to go with the duck ragout which had robust flavors. Chef Longo cooked the duck in red wine and vegetables (celery, carrots and onion) for three hours. That is true that the pairing with the thick pasta, as well as the butternut squash was perfect to add a bit of texture and the latter added a nice sweetness, subtle, but nice.

The wine served with it was my favorite of the night and will be in store in approximately a month: Berengario Zonin.

This wonderful wine from Northern Italy is made of grapes from merlot and cabernet sauvignon, named after the first king of Italy.

Dry and soft, it was perfect with the bold flavor of the ragout.

The next dish was Trippa classic con crostone ai carciofi or Italian-style tripe with a gratiné artichoke bruschetta:

It has been so long I did not have tripe and I was very excited to try that dish! It is a traditional dish where the tripe is cooked for four hours in tomato sauce. It smelled very good and the first bite was divine. The tripe was not chewy and perfectly cooked and the sauce had a robust flavor,  counterbalanced by the bruschetta (first eat the tripe, then the bruschetta); another hearty dish for sure.

It was served with a glass of Chianti: Classico Le Ellere Castello D'Albola 2009.

This was another great red wine (yes, the bottle is empty, but it is not my fault!). The way they describe it is: 

"Offers a medium red ruby color and a perfumed light cherry nose with touches of toast. The wine finishes soft with round tannins and dry sweet fruit flavors".

That was perfect for this dish that was rich and had strong flavors.

Last was the dessert: tiramisu!

If there is one thing that an Italian restaurant must make perfectly is tiramisu and Chef Longo made one that I will remember for a while!!! It was amazingly delicious: creamy, with the right balance of ingredients, with the perfect amount of coffee and not too sweet. In fact, they paired it with a glass of Rosato Castello Del Poggio that we tried the last time, which was a great choice for this dessert.

This wine is made with a blend of moscato bianco and pinot noir grapes. I love the way their describe the bouquet and flavor:

"Fruity and floral, with delicate rose and exotic fruit scents.Fresh and pleasantly sweet with a taste that reveals its varietal characteristic".

Thank you to the Casa Vinicola Zonin, Osteria Del Circo, Delverde pasta USA and the International Culinary Center for hosting us: this was a great evening that not only allowed us to discover some great wine and food, but also to learn more about one of the iconic families of the culinary world in this country.

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

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East Japanese Restaurant in NYC, New York

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I recently had dinner with my coworkers at East Japanese restaurant, a...Japanese (duh!) restaurant located Midtown Manhattan. I was excited to go there try some unusual dishes, far from the regular sushi and sashimi. The place has nothing very particular, besides the karaoke upstairs (!) and its layout that is long...After passing few tables, there is a counter were you can sit to admire the dexterity of the Chefs.

Next to it is the kitchen, and then few tables in the back. 

After ordering some sake (cold), and a cup of green tea, we placed our order. 

We first decided to share some appetizers. We started off with the spicy tuna carpaccio.

It was served with salmon roe, avocado (ripe) and spicy mayo (quite spicy in fact). This was a great appetizer, both presentation wise with all the colors, and taste wise. I think that raw tuna and a ripe avocado pair perfectly, the avocado adding some smoothness and enhancing the taste of the tuna, the samon roe adding some texture.

The second appetizer was broil squid (yaki ika).

The presentation was appetizing for sure!

The squid was tender and had a nice char to it. If you like squid, do not miss this fantastic dish!

The last appetizer was shrimp gyoza. 

I admit hat it was the first time I tried a shrimp gyoza; usually, it is either vegetable or pork. The gyoza were good, not greasy, with a nice shrimp taste.

Then, for the entree, I decided to go with the eel, specifically a dish called "Hitsumabushi” that is from Nagoya, a city in Western Japan:

It was eel over rice with sweet steamed egg cubes (tamago yaki) and edamame.

It came with a bunch of condiments such as wasabi and chopped scallion:

Toasted sesame seeds:

Japanese "oshinko": pickled cucumber, carrots and eggplant.

Shredded shiso mint leaves:

Spinach, enoki mushrooms and edamame:

Shredded nori seaweed:

The way you eat it is by putting a little bit of everything in a small bowl and then add some broth:

It was delicious and full of flavors, between the dense and meaty taste of the eel, the sweetness of the egg cubes, the edamame and the various condiments I put in it, trying each time to make it different!

I also tried the chirashi that is made of various raw fish over rice:

As well as the shabu-shabu, a Japanese dish where you will cook thin slices of meat in boiling water.

This was beef shabu-shabu:

That came with a bunch of veggies:

Et voila!

I had a good time and the food was fantastic! This is definitely a good address to know for Japanese cuisine!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Korean BBQ at Kunjip in NYC, New York

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As we were craving Korean BBQ, we roamed around Korea Town and picked the first restaurant we found that followed the following criteria: we've never been there, it has an A grade and it proposes BBQ. We found this place called Kunjip. It was of medium size and, as it was before noon on a Saturday, not packed. I should say not yet, as, by the time we left, it was crowded, with people waiting for a table. 

The sat us on a table of 4 and put a divider in the middle to separate us from the person who was already sitting there. 

It was tiny and I told the waitress that we were there for a BBQ, but she said it was ok...

We decided to order some green tea with our meal, not expecting to pay for it ($2.50 pp). I know, people always complain about paying for tea in an Asian restaurant, but find it normal anywhere else...Anyway, it was an interesting tea: brown rice and green tea. You could definitely get the slight taste of brown rice that was coming through. 

After few minutes, they brought us the banchan, these side dishes that you eat with your meal. 

There was:

Kimchi, that is my all time favorite. It was a tiny bit spicy. 

Fish cakes:

Turnip in a red sauce that was not spicy. 

Squid, crunchy and sweet:

As well as soy and Seaweed (sorry, I'll pass). 

For the entree, we decided to try fried tofu:

The tofu was firm and a bit if a challenge to cut...Served with seaweed and green onions, it was deliciously fried, not greasy and perfect with the scallion sauce that came with it. 

Then, they brought the device for BBQ. 

And, as I expected, it was a challenge to get everything on the table! We had to find a way, putting plates on top of the others and hoping that nobody would knock off the hit tea! They also brought the marinated ribeye for the Bulgogi:

With it, were some onions and glass noodles (love it)! Next to the plate, you will notice a pair of scissors: it is used to cut the meat in smaller pieces.

As well as lettuce:

Then, nothing. We were wondering if they would take care of putting the meat on the BBQ device or if we should do it ourselves, especially as the broth that was in it started to evaporate! After few minutes, I courageously decided to do it myself... What I did not expect was the smoke coming out and, suddenly, the staff realized we were there. 

One guy started to rearrange the meat, before being yelled at in Korean. He then rushed to the kitchen and came back with some more broth. 

The lady who yelled at him made sure everything was properly dispatched on the device, and we were back in business. 

The glass noodle that were white at the beginning, became translucent, absorbing some of the marinade and juice from the beef. That was delicious: I just wished there were more!

Then, we had to eat the beef. The way it works is that you pick a salad leaf and put the beef with whatever ingredient you like. Then, you add the red sauce Ssamjang that is a thick, sweet and not spicy. 

You wrap it and eat it. Yes, you eat with your hands! I loved it: the meat was tender and juicy, with the nice taste of the marinate coming through. Then, when biting this little wrap, you get different flavors that will combine in your mouth delightfully. 

As we were in the middle of the BBQ, they brought us an egg dish. 

It tasted like scrambled eggs cooked in a broth, but was creamier. 

Last, when we finished, was a glass of cold cinnamon tea to clean our palate. 

It was very good, refreshing, and a great palate cleanser. 

I liked the food, but it was too uncomfortable to eat, to the point where we just wanted to leave. Too bad...

Enjoy (...)!

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