memoirs of a palate

BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD






Dan and Steveo stopped by last night after work! We hadn't seen them since the holidays, so it was a nice surprise to have them in Manhattan for a minute. Due to the fact nearly all of us had very recently eaten Indian and we'd been on the Korean kick, the neighborhood pizza joint seemed in order.

Now, Lil Frankies makes a big deal out of being your "neighborhood" pizza joint, but it's more than just that. I mean, it is really comfortable and as advertised, you could probably read a book and drink coffee there, but it's not just a pizza joint. The pizza is excellent and the pasta is always strong. Cheap wine and beer, good (albeit loud) music (heard Priestess and Tribe Called Quest in the same sitting, FYI) and friendly people ... you can't ask for a whole lot more. Anyway, it was just what we wanted.

Dan and Meena had the:
- Rigatoni with baby meatballs

Steveo had the:
- Le Piadine Caprese with tomato, basil, mozzarella, & arugula

Alec had the:
- Pizza Marinara with tomatoes, sliced garlic, oregano, E.V. olive oil and a little peperoncino

As always, everything was rad. Meena and Dan were both huge fans of the pasta. Meena gets it every time without fail and I think Dan may have just joined the club. I think our resident veg head, Steve, was feelin' the caprese concoction. It was like a pizza with all the traditional caprese salad elements folded into sandwich like bites. The running joke is that I order that pizza marinara every time and they ALWAYS remind me there is no cheese. I'm apparently a guy who looks as if he needs more cheese in his diet because they always offer to add it. I always decline. It's really good without. The place is so dark, so my apologies for the photos turning out like they have (I do like the photo of Meena's empty bowl though. Very nice). I nabbed some from their site so you get a better idea of the joint. Anyway, I think a great time was had by all.