Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Torrisi Boys Expand


CARBONE
and
The Former ROCCO'S SIGN

Thompson Street
GREENWICH VILLAGE
NEW YORK


The juggernaut, as the New York Times recently called then, The Torris Boys (Major Foods) is going corporate. "Watch Out Boys and Girls," that means exclusiveness, cachet, and overall cool factor goes down. Major expansion, they going corporate, McDonaldesque if you will. Well not quite, but you know what I mean. The so called Torrisi Boys, Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and partner Jeff Zalaznick who own and operate; Carbone, Parm (2 locations), Torrisi Italian Specialties, and ZZ plan on major expansion in the next couple of years with a large bakery/ restaurant downtown, that will partner with Melissa Weller and feature fresh baked; Bagels,Danish, Bear Claws, Challah Bread, yeast based and other baked goods. Jeff Zalaznick states, "It's going to be our version of Barney Greengrass."
     The partners whose Parm Restaurant on Mulberry Street next to their first place Torrisi Italian Specialties has been super successful from day one and quickly spawned a sister Parm at Yankee Stadium. The Torrisi Boys (Major Foods) plan on opening several more outposts of PARM all over New York, in; Battery Park, 2 in Brooklyn of which one be near to The Barclay's Center and another in Williamsburg, the Upper West Side and who knows where else? The New York Times says they plan on building Parm into a citywide Shake Shack style franchise. "Good Luck." Corporate, make a ton of money, but majorly lose cachet and so-called cool-factor. You can't have it all boys. They probably do.
    Most well-heeled New Yorkers hate chains a corporate conglomerates when it comes to restaurants. Many giant nation-wide food chains who've made it big in a large part of the country thought they'd come in to New York and knock-em-dead. Not! Discerning New Yorkers tend to like small independent restaurants, not corporate like Applebee's and Bennigans. When you see restaurants like Red Lobster and Olive Garden doing well around Times Square it's tourists and the less well healed New Yorkers going to them, the rest of us hate chain restaurants. 
    So it will remain to see what happens with Parm, Carbone and the now much smaller Major Foods (Torrisi Boys) empire. With a good number more Parm Outlets open, will the original loss it cachet and hot-factor? Who knows? Probably. And what of Carbone, the flagship of the corporation which has from day one and to this point (March 20, 2014) been uber-hot and still New York's Hottest Restaurant Ticket in Town? Time will tell, and ...


DBZ





PARM

Mulberry Street


Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin



FRANK & DEAN

NOW THAT'S COOL" !!!!











Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Italian America Greatest Hits Cookbook Bellino







ITALIAN-AMERICA'S GREATEST HITS  COOKBOOK
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
Ladies and Gentlmen, here it is! My latest, Italian-Americans Greattest Hits ... It's almost ready and should be out for publication in about 3 months ... As the title implies, the book is a Greatest Hits Book ...  The Greatest Hits of Italian-American Food that is !!! The book includes recipes and always stories of Italian-America, the people, the kitchen, the Food, places and all things Italian (Music,Wine and such). Some recipes are previously published from some of my other books (it's a Greatest Hits Album so to speak). With some of these previously published recipes, there are many new ones as well). Maybe you've purchased one or two of my books (Thank You!) and maybe you like the work, the stories, the recipes, and you like to get some of my work as a gift to a loved one, a friend, whoever, you might want to get a copy of this as a compilation of my work. Anyway, look for it, Italian-America's Greatest Hits  -  Spaghetti Meatballs Sausage & Peppers  .... Oh, there's much more .. Favoirte dishes of The Italian-American Table, "You know what they are."

CURRENTLY Available from Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
SUNDAY SAUCE  .... Learn How to Make SUNDAY SAUCE alla CLEMENZA  and ...






La TAVOLA is NEW YORK ITALIAN

LEARN HOW To Make a NEGRONI and more vital skills of Italian-America ...







THE FEAST of THE 7 FISH

LEARN How to Make It !!!!

with Daniel Bellino-Zwicke 's

The FEAST of THE 7 FISH






Ingredients ?



The NEGRONI

Recipe in La TAVOLA

by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke




INGREDIENTS ?





SUNDAY SAUCE

"GRAVY"










RONZONI

SONO BUONI !!!




PASTA of My CHILDHOOD 



FRNAK !!!



SINATRA 



MAKE a da SAUCE


alla CLEMENZA

Richard Castellano
&
Al Pacino

The GODFATHER





CHIANTI !!!






Tuesday, March 11, 2014

RAVIOLO & RUCHE at SD26




RAVIOLI di UOVO
SD 26






RUCHE The PRINCE of RED



Enrico B. of Solaire Wines and Paoulo the export manager at Montalbera wine estate in Monferrato (Peidmonte) held a nice little wine lucheon at SD26 Restorante in New York today .. Montalbera is a little gem of a wine property of Monferrato near Asti in the Peidmont wine region of Italy that is most famous for the celebrated wines of Barolo and Barbaresco .. Also well known but more of everyday wines of Peidmont are Barbera and Dolcetto ... Yes, Americans know these wines but Peidmont as well as the whole of Italy has many lesser known gems available for those who journey furhter into wines, the world of wine, and Italian Wines in particular.  In Peidmonte they have a number of wonderful wines that are relatively obscure and unknown. Very few Americans ever drink them, and even not that many Italians in other regions know of the wines as well. Some of these tasty little gems of Peidmonte are wines such as; Freisa, Brachetto, Grignolino, Arneis, and Ruche .. At this particular luncheon / tasting we were lucky enough to be drinking 2 of the previously mentioned wines of Ruche and Grignolino ..  And the producer of Montalbera is a specialist of both .. We started the luncheon with a very rare wine of Sparkling Grignolino which was a truly pleasant little surprise that everyone at the table loved. The wine was light and crispy and a joy to drink and was a perfect pairing for our tasty antipasto of Carpaccio of Big Eye Tuna & Wild Bass with Blood Orange and Fennel Pollen "Delish" !



Montalbera Vinyeards, Monferrato


For the second course of our luncehon we were served the signature dish of the former San Domeneico Restorante which has now morfed into SD26, signify SD= San Domenico and 26 for 26th Street where SD26 resides. The famed signature dish in question is SD26's Raviolo di Uovo, which is a jumbo homemade ravioli filled with Ricotta Cheese with an egg yolk in the center. When cooked the egg yold stays lush and parially cooked and the Raviolo is dressed in a decadent Truffle Butter Sauce ... We were served the Montalbera Ruche  di Castignolae Monferrato Tradizione 2012 wthe the Raviolo, and the two were a match made in heaven, abosluely fabulous. The Ruche Montalbera is text-book Ruche, whhich is to say alight bodied wine, full of flavors of ripe small red berry fruits like Rasberry and Red Courrant with nice floral notes and a twinge of spice. This wine is a pure joy. We also had a the Montalbera Grignolino  d Asti Grigne 2012 which was in perfect balance and very pleasant .. The Montalbera Ruche L'Accento  is a pumped-up Ruche that has 5% of the grapes dried (Apassimento) and is aged in barrique .. This wine is nice, but I feel it distracts from the true Ruche just a bit and I wholey prefer the Ruche Tradizione ... The Montalbera Barbera d'Asti  "Lequilibrio" 2010 is a bit of a pumped up syle of Barbera being aged in  French Barrique. The wine is just slighly big, but not too over the top. It's pleasant to drink and will be very satisfy for those who like a Barber that is a little bigger and more full bodied than the Barbera norm.
The luncheon was quite nice,  tasty the wonderful wines of Enricao Morando and his Montalbera Estate ... Everyone at the luncheon truly enjoyed the line-up of lovely wines, paired beautifully with our menu by Chef Matteo Bergamini, and the company of people on hand ...



Daniel Bellino-Zwicke 




Note: I've been serving The Montalbera Ruche Tradizione 2102 at my restaurant for the past two months now .. The wine is truly wonderful and his been a big hit with each and every customer I've served it to. They love it ...




RUCHE
MONTALBERA








Saturday, March 8, 2014

SINATRA


FRANK !!!








FRANK & AVA

MANGIA BENE !!!


  FRANK SAMMY & DEAN


THE RAT PACK

Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.
and

 FRANK SINATRA

OUT On The TOWN !!!





Frank Sinatra, Shirley McClain, Dean Martin


PARTY HARDY !!!





CLASSIC SINATRA






YOUNG FRANK

Francis Albert Sinatra




FRANK'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT




PATSY'S

West 56th Street

NEW YORK,  NY




SOME of
FRANK'S RECIPES

and FAVORITE FOODS

in SUNDAY SAUCE

When Italian-Americans Cook

by  Daniel Bellino-Zwicke


For 
SUNDAY SAUCE

And
SINATRA








PATSY'S PIZZA NEW YORK




PATSY' PIZZA

East Harlem

NEW YORK


When it comes to PIZZA, and in particular the Best Pizza, New York leads America at the "Top of the List." No other place in the country comes close. "And that's all there is to it." That slop they make in Chicago is not and should "Never Be Called Pizza." It's Deep-Dish-Pie, just don't call it Pizza. It's not.
Now, back to New York, the Undisputed Heavyweight Champ of Pizza in the United States of America, and some the Best Pizza on the Planet, and that includes Italy.
New York has such renowned Pizzeria's as John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Stree in the Village, the great Tottono's on Neptune Avenue, Coney Island, Lombardi's, Gimaldi's, Ben's in Soho, and on and on. Let's not forget Patsy's, way up in East Harlem, a stones throw from the hardest table in New York, "Frankie No's" Raos.
Yes, and speaking of Patsy's coal oven Pizza that has been operating in East Harlem since 1933 when the neighborhood was primarily a Italian one at the time.
Plain and simple, Patsy's makes a pure and simple Neapolitan Pizza at the fairest of prices. Imagine a large Pizza Margherita for just $12.00 a Pop and a Slice will only set you back $1.75, at a time (2011) when most slices are $2.50 or $2.75 ..
Patsy's is a New York institution who has had such customers as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Benett, Phil Rizzutto, Yogi Berra, jo DiMaggio and many others call Patsy's their favorite Pizza. Now top that.
yes Patsy's is waey up in East Harlem and quite a trip for Downtown Manhattanites, but it's definitely worth a trip every now and then . Patsy's, try it!



by Daniel Bellino Zwicke







MEATBALL PARM SANDWICHES



The MEATBALL PARM





MEATBALL PARM MONDAYS


   The Meatball Parm Sandwich, as stated earlier, the Meatball Parm is one of thee Italian-American males most treasured things in life.  Things he needs to live a happy, normal, satisfying life, and an actual necessity for true Happiness. It’s right up there with Mom, Grandma, Sausages and Sunday Sauce. We ask not for much!
    No you do not have to be a Man or a Boy to eat one. Ladies and Girls eat them as well.  It’s just that the male of the species happens to Eat 5 Times the amount that Italian-American Women do. Not only that, but the male of the species holds Meatballs and Meatball Parms in much Greater Reverence, than do the females. They “Exalt” it, as the Meatball Parm, it deserves such adulation.  The men and boys adore it and get quite excited at the prospect and act of eating one, the “Meatball Parm.” And ladies who make them, know how much it is loved, cherished even.
    Yes Italian-American ladies and girls like this thing called the Meatball Parm too, but they  don’t get quite as excited about this sandwich as the males do.  Meatball Parms are held  quite dear  to Italian  men. Yes, it’s a guy thing, and more specifically, an Italian Guy thing. Yes, Italian-American males have given the Meatball Parm Iconic Status within our lives and realm of food. Why? We’re Italian, that’s all.
     The Great Ritual of the Meatball Parm Monday and it ties to the Sunday Sauce. You make the Meatballs for the Sauce, The “Gravy.” On Saturday you will buy all the meat, the Sausages and the rest of the ingredients for your Sunday Sauce (Gravy) to be made on Sunday.  However, on Saturday you are already thinking about  those Meatball Parms for Monday’s lunch.
   Yes Meatball Parms on Monday, following the previous days Sunday Sauce. You see, you have to think ahead.  Every good Italian knows that when you go through all the effort and time it will take to make a  pot  of  Sunday Sauce,  that you don’t just make it  for  Sunday’s consumption alone. No, that would be a waste of time to make just enough to eat on Sunday. It takes  time, effort,  energy,  and work to make  a  Sunday Sauce,  which  of course  is well worth it. You do not mind the work involved at all, for in the end, the “Rewards are Great.”A Sunday Sauce will yield, the beloved Sausages,  Gravy,  Braciole, succulent Ribs,  and Meatballs for Monday’s Meatball Parms.
    It does not really take much more time to make a larger quantity in order to have leftovers for the next day or two, and this is just what one wants to do, is to keep  the sauce going,  and going  for  another day, even two.  And in those leftovers are the much Prized at Monday’s Lunch for, of course “Meatball Parms.”  Yes, the men love and need Meatball Parms on Monday,  for the Ritual  of the Meatball Parms of Monday  is  “Time-Honored” and enjoyed by many. As the saying goes, “The Simple Pleasure of Life,” here it is quite apropos.
    So, you see, on Saturday when one goes to buy the ingredients to make the Gravy, they automatically  know to make sure they get  enough  ground meat to make plenty of  Meatballs that will last the  Sunday  Supper  as well  as yielding numerous left-overs for Monday’s Meatball Parms for Monday. The men, methodically make sure that there are enough leftover Meatballs for Monday’s lunch. When all are finished eating the great “Sauce” on Sunday, they set some Meatballs aside for the next days Meatball  Sandwiches. These sandwiches will make a dreaded Monday so much better. Think about?
    And if there are leftover Sausages? On Tuesday one can make Spaghetti with Sauce and Sausages, or even a Sausage Sandwich.  Think ahead boys and girls, and Mangia Bene!”




by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

Excerpt from SUNDAY SAUCE



SUNDAY SAUCE is Available in Paperback and Kindle Editions on AMAZON.com