As you may know, the lovely Egle Armani has been here in New York all week working with her NY-NJ importer, meeting restaurant and retail people, telling the Albino Armani story. We were lucky enough to have her company yesterday evening, her last in New York before heading home to Verona.
I had hoped to take her to Falai, but we waited too long to reserve a table there. And our party grew from three to seven; Ken's sister Amy and her kids were in to see a play, and her husband Richard joined us at dinner.
Above: Beauty (r.) and Beast (l.) at il Posto Accanto before dinner. Remember: Always show product.
We ate dinner at Perbacco, another favorite of ours in Alphabet City. I was afraid Egle would find it boring to have Italian food, since she has had nothing but in New York. Not to worry -- she thought the food at Perbacco, while very good, wasn't exactly "Italian" but more American with an Italian inspiration. That thought extended to the size of the portions; even though we selected the tasting menu, the number of dishes and the quantities of food were huge. (Amy and Richard took home doggie bags.)
The sommelier/waiter, Gaetano, guided us well in the selection of wines. We started with a spritely recent Sancerre, moved on to a lovely chewy Gigondas (Ch. Gayron, I believe) and a wonderful "Oremus" Tokaji Aszu (5 puttonyos).
Note no Italian wines; Gaetano said that the restaurant is going more international. 40% now non-Italian: "Good wine is good wine." They want the best food matches possible, perhaps another sign that the food is venturing away from the Italian matrix. Certainly the Italian wines we sampled weren't as fine a match as the French ones we chose.
Above: Gaetano and Egle, i due calabresi
My sole complaint was that the wines were afflicted with New York pricing -- big markups that were out of whack with the reasonable foods prices. This is a very different philosophy from what you usually see in Italy and France, where the wine is not priced or viewed as a luxury item.
OK, I do have another complaint. At 9:15 -- after two hours, which is barely enough time to get started on your meal in the Old Country -- they were putting out new place settings as a subtle hint to get lost, "We gotta turn the tables" and all that. I know rents are really high in New York, but, shit, when you're spending $x (with tip)...
Whatevah. We had a great evening. The food and sommelier service were wonderful.
Everybody loved Egle (how could you not? If I were straight...). We felt convivial as all get-out.
And so I believe Egle will have a warm memory of the last evening of her week in New York. Buon viaggio, carissima!
Belated birthday celebration for Richard and Terence
Richard loving the juice
Hey, I didn't take this blurry picture!
Arrivederci not addio
What a great evening. Another memorable meal!! The tasting menu should be renamed the Energizer Bunny menu, it keeps on going and going....
Posted by: Richard | April 29, 2007 at 07:52 PM
I like that description. Bravo, old boy. Wasn't the Gigondas terrific?
Posted by: Terry Hughes | April 29, 2007 at 07:55 PM
A very nice wine. BTY, I once had a Cal wine, Carlisle I think, that was a blend of 5 Rhone grapes, similar to Gigondas. It was also very good. I'll see if I can get a hold of another bottle...
Posted by: Richard | April 29, 2007 at 10:02 PM
First, you didn't HAVE to tell us who was Beauty and who was Beast in that photo. She does seem quite gorgeous. We can tell when you have a crush.......
Second, I HATE it when restaurants do that, you know, sending out subtle and increasingly unsubtle hints that while you may be spending huge wads of dough on food and especially wine it's time to get your asses in gear and abandon that table so more people can come in and spend wads of dough. And sometime it seems as if when restaurants "internationalize" their menus and approach, it's an excuse to call in lots of expensive "international" wines and jack up the prices. Give me a great little Barbara d'Alba or Valpolicella Superiore anytime over a high-falutin' cabernet blend that could have been made in Tuscany, St. Estephe, Napa or Barossa. Of course that 10 percent sangiovese is supposed to make the wine more "authentic."
But I'm glad you had a good time.
Posted by: Fredric Koeppel | April 30, 2007 at 10:32 AM
Sheesh, calm down, old boy. The food was still good even though they place may be losing its focus...don't get a certain wineshop owner from the area started on it.
Yes, we had a great time.
Yes, I have a little crush on Egle. (Hard not to. She's such a nice person too. And the wines are good!)
Damn it, I was kidding about Beauty/Beast. Plain as the long teeth in my grizzled head.
Posted by: Terry Hughes | April 30, 2007 at 10:37 AM
hahahahaha, so was I! (kidding)
yes, i can imagine what Gabrio would say.
Posted by: Fredric Koeppel | April 30, 2007 at 11:42 AM
Terry, is that what you meant when you said you wanted to have a relationship with someone in the Italian wine business?!?!?!
You know I couldn't let that opportunity for a crack slip by.....
Posted by: Richard | May 01, 2007 at 03:15 PM
Oh God, I should delete that one. But that's what I get for wearing my platonic heart on my sleeve.
Posted by: Terry Hughes | May 01, 2007 at 03:35 PM
I am thinking up a joke about the difference between a crush on Egle and a crush on grapes, but it I haven't finished it yet.
Posted by: Richard | May 01, 2007 at 04:07 PM
If you do, please...keep it to yourself.
Posted by: Terry Hughes | May 01, 2007 at 04:09 PM