Tagged: Scuderia

Restaurant Review: El Toro Blanco

El Toro Blanco

El Toro Blanco has been on our secret, or not so secret if you follow us on Twitter, list of places to try before the year is over. John McDonald and Josh Capon of Lure Fishbar and Burger & Barrel have opened a new, upscale Mexican restaurant right across the street from the popular, scenery Italian restaurants Da Silvano and Bar Pitti. El Toro Blanco is actually in the same location of the late Italian restaurant that was owned by Silvano Marchetto, of Da Silvano, and his daughter Leyla. We were shocked to find that Scuderia had closed especially since we enjoyed the food much more there than at Da Silvano (we regularly went out of our way to get Scuderia’s Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragu for take out, that’s how good it was). While we knew that El Toro Blanco has some great operators behind it, we were a bit confused with the location. That block has always been known as the “Da Silvano and Bar Pitti” block so to see a new comer that can draw in an equally high end crowd will be interesting to see over the next few months. Also, the restaurant is also close to Serge Becker’s Mexican restaurant La Esquina that is also known for it’s great food and even better people watching. Having two restaurants that cater to the same crowd may be problematic in the future but perhaps El Toro Blanco can benefit from La Esquina’s tough reservation policy. Also, El Toro’s outdoor seating will be a crowd pleaser in the warmer weather.

The restaurant itself is upscale but we never felt that El Toro Blanco was pretentious or was trying too hard. The deep red and blue subway tiles help give the restaurant a more casual feel while the dark woods and paneled ceiling give the space a very trendy vibe. We also enjoyed the small guacamole bar towards the front of the restaurant and the more intimate seating space located directly behind the bar. This area seems to be similar to the balcony seating area at The Lion. Those seated there can still have a great view of what is going on throughout the restaurant but ensures those sitting there a great deal of privacy. The menu is split up into different parts such as Tacos, Empanadas, Ceviches and Entrees. While this may seem a bit strange, ordering at Mexican restaurants can be difficult due to our allergy to nuts and peanuts. However, the staff took the time to guide us through the menu to make sure we could try a bit of everything while still ordering nut/peanut free food. While this is not to say the service at La Esquina doesn’t take food allergies seriously, we just felt a little more attention was given by the staff at El Toro Blanco.

The food at El Toro Blanco was actually a lot better than we expected. With most trendy restaurants, we find that the scene seems like much more of a priority to the staff than the food resulting in a meal with great people watching but mediocre food. This is not the case at El Toro Blanco. The menu consists of Mexican street food that is tweaked and given a more modern spin while still remaining authentic to its roots. The Made to Order guacamole was one of the best guacamole’s we’ve had in the city. The Elote Verde (corn Tamale), which was recommended to us by our server, was shockingly good. The ingredients were all fresh, which was important since this was a very simple dish. The thicker texture of the cornmeal paired well with the spicy flavors of the fresh salsa so that the dish was never bland or overly spicy.

The Cabrito taco was also very good. The slow roasted goat was very moist but the sauce, while packing a lot of flavor into the small tacos, was a bit oily and greasy. However, these tacos tasted so good that we’ll let that minor flaw slide. However, the Tinga de Pollo was simply “okay”. While the menu did indicate this, the chicken was basically covered in barbecue sauce, put on a taco and then was topped with an avocado slice. The flavors strongly resembled something you would find at an American barbecue restaurant such as Hill Country. While it was more bizarre than anything else to have such American flavors in a Mexican dish, perhaps we’ll be sampling one of the other tacos on our next visit.

Despite the “out of the way” location, we enjoyed El Toro Blanco very much. The food is quite good and relatively inexpensive when compared to its competition (Dos Caminos and La Esquina). It’s even worth it to pop by for a cocktail and an order of guacamole but, if you have the time, we really suggest you sample some of the other dishes on the menu as well. The cooking is authentic, with a modern twist of course, and the staff gives each table their full attention. A meal for one can easily cost under $30 if you know how to order (ours was about $25 a person after tax and tip) and the portions are generous. We recommend El Toro Blanco to anyone in the area wanting great Mexican food and especially to those having trouble getting a reservation at La Esquina. Both places serve excellent food and have the same great people watching.

Also, just as an afterthought, El Toro Blanco can you please get an actual website rather than your current Tumblr page. While Tumblr is an excellent platform for blogging, it looks really unprofessional as an actual restaurant page especially with the “Follow, Dashboard” icons at the top. We just wish your webpage could match the chic and beautiful decor of your restaurant.

El Toro Blanco

Ambiance: 8

Food: 8

Service: 9

Overall: 8

Verdict: Oasis

257 Sixth Ave.

New York, NY 10014

212-645-0193

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El Toro Blanco on Urbanspoon

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Da Silvano

Da Silvano on Urbanspoon
Yesterday (May 1st 2010) was Da Silvano‘s 35th anniversary. Sadly by the looks of their lunch service, no one really cared. Aside from the outside seating, the inside dining area was pretty much empty at around 2 PM (prime-time for a Saturday lunch). For the most part the outside area was full but of course the host at Da Silvano had to make it seem full to capacity and didn’t want to seat us outside…though I pointed at two tables that could have seated both me and my friend. Like for Bar Pitti, I would never want to eat inside Da Silvano. The decor sadly doesn’t match the price tags. Traditional trattoria ambiance for a $19 plate of small portioned pasta, I don’t think so. Once seated outside, and it took a bit of persuading, there was a bit of a scene going on. Though quite frankly now after being at Da Silvano, the scene at Bar Pitti is much better. The customers at Da Silvano are blatantly going there only because its “Da Silvano”. Think like a much more “wanna-be socialite” version of Cipriani Downtown. The scene at Bar Pitti is a bit more genuine in that the people actually go there somewhat for the food, mainly for the outside seating though, and since the prices are lower.

The service at Da Silvano is actually what turned me off the most. I’ve found that as these “chic” Italian restaurants, the host and servers often think they’re better than you. This requires that you have to be a bit arrogant and assertive in order to get what you want. For example, when telling my waiter about my allergy he knew there weren’t any nuts/peanuts in my dish but couldn’t tell me what oil they fried in, and I felt that was important for me to know. He clearly didn’t want to ask the chef, but after telling him about three times to he finally went over to Silvano himself to ask what exactly was in the dish. Then and only then was I assured that the food was safe to eat. But at a restaurant like Da Silvano, I shouldn’t have to fight with the staff to find out if the food is safe to eat.

Once my fighting with the staff was over, I just hoped the food at Da Silvano was very good. Though I still prefer the Cipriani, Da Silvano’s food isn’t awful. The Lobster Gnocchi was very good, though it was really small portioned…actually it was appetizer portioned. The gnocchi could have been cooked a bit less, but the sauce was great and the lobster was fresh (though there could have been a bit more lobster in the dish). Then, since we were still hungry after our “appetizer”, we ordered another appetizer of Fried Calamari. Since I don’t think I can go too much in depth about fried squid, basically it was average and no different than any other normal Italian restaurant in the five boroughs.

Overall I wasn’t impressed with Da Silvano. I expected much more especially with all the hype surrounding it. The food was good, but the service was awful and the atmosphere leaves more to be desired. Its not cheap either. My lunch was $50, which in reality isn’t so bad, after tax and tip and I got the same amount of food as the Cipriani Downtown. As far as Italian restaurants go, I’d still pick the Cipriani Downtown over Da Silvano any day. Actually I’d pick Bar Pitti, Nello, Scuderia and Sandro over Da Silvano. The only time I’d go back to Da Silvano is if I couldn’t get a seat at Bar Pitti or Scuderia and I didn’t want to take that 5 minute train ride over to Soho to go to the Cipriani.

Ambiance: 6

Food: 4

Service: 6

Overall: 5

Verdict: Mirage

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Scuderia – CLOSED

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Today was gorgeous in Manhattan. It was 76 degrees, sunny and breezy so it wasn’t too humid outside. So of course I had to check out Bar Pitti for its fantastic outdoor seating and decent pasta. But to my dismay it was a 20 minute wait for a table outside, and why would I sit inside at Bar Pitti during the Spring…the food isn’t that great, I’d rather shell out the extra $30 for a window seat at the Cipriani in Soho. So since I’m going to Da Silvano tomorrow, I walked across the street to Scuderia. Scuderia is owned by Leyla Marchetto who is Silvano’s daughter. Scuderia is priced in between Bar Pitti and Da Silvano, but in actuality the pricing is a matter of a few dollars. A plate of pasts costs $13.50 at Bar Pitti, $16.50 at Scuderia and $18.50 at Da Silvano. The main difference about Scuderia’s menu is that they serve pizzas (which I didn’t get the chance to try sadly).

Scuderia is basically a Da Silvano for the people who want the non-pretentious attitude that come along with it. However, most people to choose Da Silvano and Bar Pitti over Scuderia. Both restaurants were fully packed today however, Scuderia was full outside but not a single patron was seated inside. Also, you kind of feel a bit isolated from the “party” that is 6th Avenue & Bleeker Street since Scuderia is on the opposite side of the street from Bar Pitti and Da Silvano.

The food at Scuderia is what made it stand out over Bar Pitti. Though the scene is much better at Bar Pitti, I enjoyed the food better at Scuderia. The menu is bigger and features much more than Bar Pitti, but its very similar to Da Silvano’s menu (except for the pizzas). I had the Papardelle with Wild Boar Ragu. The pasta, though a bit small portioned, was very good. The ragu was wonderful and almost beat the veal cheek ragu at the Cipriani (though my heart belongs to the Cipriani in Soho when it comes to Italian restaurants). In addition, the pasta was cooked well.

The only problem I encountered at Scuderia was the service. I’m accustomed to crazed service at restaurants like this, but I had many servers at my table and none brought me my water I had asked for till well after 10 minutes I had been seated. I was quite frustrated…I wanted my water…and it took a while to come. Also, finding a host to be seated is quite a mission. I had to search both inside and outside to find the host and eventually asked a bus boy to seat me.

Overall I liked Scuderia. Am I running back, not really. That area is a bit out of my way and the scene isn’t good enough to make it a regular destination for me. Though the food is pretty good and its priced right, I kind of want to be in the midst of the action going on at Bar Pitti and Da Silvano and sadly you’re kind isolated at Scuderia!

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Bar Pitti

Bar Pitti on Urbanspoon
Sixth Avenue & Bleeker Street in the West Village belongs to the Da Silvano crew. Da Silvano essentially take up one entire end of the side walk during warm weather and the party doesn’t stop there as Scuderia is just right across the street. Actually, though the roots of Bar Pitti started with Silvano Marchetto, Giovanni Tognozzi (Silvano’s partner) split away from Silvano after he was accused of stealing Da Silvano’s famous meatball recipe. With that Bar Pitti contains similar Tuscan dishes such as Pappardelle Alla Fiesolana and Prosciutto Cotto E Mozzarella Grigliato and has the same chic sidewalk seating that draws massive crowds. The main difference between Da Silvano and Bar Pitti is that the prices are substantially lower at Bar Pitti than at Da Silvano. A plate of pasta costs around $20 at Da Silvano, which is nothing compared to the $39 plates of pasta at Nello, but only $13.50 at Bar Pitti. Of course that extra $6.50 buys you that slightly extra glamorous feel but its not that much of a difference and Bar Pitti is often more packed than Da Silvano and has the same clientele. Though at Bar Pitti the only place you should sit is outside. The inside is very tiny, narrow and gloomy and Bar Pitti doesn’t even have a bar which you could sit at. The outside seating is where its at. The service is very jittery and chaotic as the five waiter run around the Bar Pitti sidewalk and try to serve all tables at once resulting in hit-or-miss service. My table was fine, but this guy at table next to me got cheese grated on his lap instead of his pasta. As for the food, the pastas are pretty good and well worth the inexpensive price tag. I was served a generous portion of Rigatoni Pitti with turkey sausage, peas, cream, tomatoes & parmigiano which was great. The pasta was cooked al dente and the cream sauce had the flavors from both the smoked turkey and tomatoes to make it more than just the average pasta with cream sauce. The Penne Arrabbiata with tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil & crushed red pepper was a pretty simple Italian dish with a little spicy taste to it to make it less bland than a traditional Penne with Tomato Sauce. Bar Pitti is a place to see and be seen with out the Nello or Cipriani price tag. Though its not exactly glamorous on the inside, the prime sidewalk real estate is where the party is and don’t be surprised if you spot a celebrity or two and if you can bear with the service, you’ll get to enjoy some good Italian food at the same time!

Ambiance: 7

Food: 7

Service: 5

Overall: 6

Verdict: Mirage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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