e a t e r y R O W

VERO

Going to a wine bar for cocktails may seem counterintuitive, but I’ve never been to Vero for the wine. Still, if you’re looking for a wine menu with regional variety, Vero’s the way to go. From The West Coast to Europe, with day trips to Australia and Argentina, you won’t get bored. Almost every wine is available by the glass, so if you find some tasteless plonk, you won’t have to suffer through a bottle of it. Take a peek at the wine menu. I think next time, I will.



But not this time. This time we went for cocktails. Cocktails and paninis. Cocktails and paninis and a huge plate of meats and cheese.

We got out of work early… relatively speaking. Being told on the phone that the place was dead and that finding a table wouldn't be a problem, four of us hopped a cab, got there licketty split around 9pm and squeezed past the crowd to get the last table way in the back. Suffice it to say, if this is Vero in dead mode, I can only imagine what it's like when there's a crowd.

Starting our mostly liquid dinner off we ordered a round of drinks. I ordered the Coffee Martini which tasted like a coffee (black, no sugar) made with vodka instead of water... in other words, pretty kickass. A Mojito, Mango Bellini and Raspberry Bellini were also on the list. Next thing I know, another round of bellinis (girls apparently really love bellinis), a Tropical Sangria, and a custom drink for me (2 parts vodka, 2 parts Baileys, 1 part Chambord, shake, serve).



So by this point, we're starving and starting to get mildly drunk. Time for food. The Assorted Meat and Cheese Plate was the way to go. We quickly devoured the variety of prosciutto, sopressata, and salami meats and ricotta , truffles, parmesan, pecorino, fontina, asiago and provolone cheeses. Quickly. Naturally, we needed Bruscetta. We ordered the Tuscan White Bean Spead with lemon basil pesto and bacon (amazing), the Braised Chicken with Arugula, and the Three Cheese (ricotta, asiago, and pecorino). The foodie in me won't waste anyone's time by describing the dishes. Trust that they were good, order them, chew, swallow, yum.

More drinks? Yes Please. Strawberry Bellinis , a Vero Lemonade, a Strawberry Martini, and a Raspberry Martini.



Panini time. There were two orders of the Smoked Turkey Panini, which has fontina, pesto and tomato. There was one order the Mozzarella Panini, with zucchini, tomato, onion and pepper. Everyone loved (capital "L") their paninis. I didn't eat them. And actually, I didn't like mine. My choice was the Proscuitto Panini, with figs, gorgonzola and rosemary oil. It was exceedingly sharp, to the point of not being able to taste anything. It's simply not something I'm gonna recommend. I should have ordered the Chicken with Frisee, Sweet Onions and Bacon. That sounded good. But I wanted figs. Rats.



We were told good things about Vero's signature dessert, the Cookie Monster. So we ordered one. It's a huge, warm chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream and buried under a mountain of whipped cream, chocolate syrup and strawberries. Ohhhh man. This lasted about 45 seconds so we got another one. Good healthniks be damned, this time without those strawberries giving off unnecessary vitamins.



Monday is free panini night (with the purchase of glass of vino), and they'll be doing wine tasting classes this fall. Plus I hear that they'll be opening another location further south very soon.

A large appetizer, three bruscettas, four Paninis, two desserts, and thirteen drinks plus tax and tip came to $280.



UPDATE: 2/12/09VERO MIDTOWN, 1004 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10022, (212) 935-3530
I returned to Vero about a month ago to try out their newer one in Midtown at 53rd street. This newer Midtown expansion is a lot less playful and felt a lot less casual. I'm sure that this had to do with the crowd coming right after work, but still. Go uptown for a fun date. Go here for a more seductive one. There are seats in the back where you and lots of people can go and hang out. But since I went with just one other person, we sat at one of the windowside tall round tables.

She and I sat and ordered a few drinks before picking out some entrees. This should not be done, as you will smack yourself for having ordered $30 worth of cocktails before realizing that your date isn't going anywhere (side note, I usually NEVER blog about my dates unless the girl actually wants me to, but I haven't had a chance to return and have been putting off doing this update for just too damn long. Besides, I didn't tell you anything about the date anyway.).

I ordered the Pan Roasted Quail with fingerling potatoes and cippollini onion hash under a mushroom jus. Delicious. Tender. Crisp. A little on the small side. But order it anyway. No one outside of a mental institution will fail to enjoy eating this. She ordered the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare, served with capers, red onion, olives, lemon and an anchovy oil. She though it was very but felt that she should have ordered something more substantial. Especially given that we had already hada few drinks by the time the food came. So we ordered the Assorted Meats and Cheese Combo Plate to back it up. It was okay, but I remember it being better at the one uptown.

LANTERN
311 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 777-2770

Lantern, which also has an outpost in Brooklyn, recently cropped up in Gramercy after the demise of Pongsri Thai. Lantern, also Thai, changed it up by removing the old fashioned traditionalism of Pongsri and replacing it with a space that is far more bright, trendy, and young. I grew up in this neighborhood and always remember Pongsri having a pretty good rep for cheap, tasty Thai grub. I'm glad to see that the tradition is continuing at Lantern.



I forget how exactly I found the time to eat out this past week, given the workload and late nights, but somehow squeezed it in and convinced Mr. Dogz to head down from the Upper West Side to join me.



I got there early and was given a table where I ordered a Lychee Martini and perused the menu. Lantern, you will immediately notice, is dirt cheap. The appetizers average $5 and the entrees average $12. The most expensive thing on the menu were the red snapper dishes at $17 and my noodles were $9. The drinks are a little more expensive than the rest of the menu implies, with all cocktails costing $9. It seems that Lantern, much like Joya, makes a good portion of its money on liquor. Sadly, my lychee martini was mediocre. Not very strong and kind of bland. Thankfully, the rest of the food we ordered was top notch.



To start with I ordered the Curry Puff Chicken; curried chicken in a potato puff pastry shell with a sweet cucumber dipping sauce. It was very good, but a bit doughy. Too much potato. Still I'd order it again without reservation. I also decided to try the Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp. Normally at Thai restaurants, I find myself ordering a coconut-based soup and the time came to break out of my rut. This soup was the weakest link in the meal. It had shrimp, lemongrass, chili paste, mushrooms, and a hint of lime. But that was it. There were three (3) shrimp, and could have used vegetables instead of just mushrooms and broth. There just wasn't much there and what was there was reaaaally spicy. I like spicy and it was hot even for me. Mr. Dogz ordered the Tuna Tartare. Neither of us expected it to be quite so large. The dish came with large chunks of tuna and avocado, on a salad with a dressing (of sorts) of miso mustard puree. It was delicious to begin with and, given its size, very well priced. At any other restaurant, it would have cost twice as much, at least.



Dogz then moved on to the Green Curry with Vegetarian Duck. The dish has bamboo shoots, eggplant, bell pepper, basil, and of course, the vegetarian duck. I never even knew that vegetarian duck existed, but there it is. I tried it and liked it, but didn't really have enough to render a thoroughly valid opinion. Mr. Dogz, however, gives it a rave review. He felt that it was better than the green curry he's used to ordering at Land, his previous top pick for cheap Thai. The curry sauce, he says, was sweeter than Land's and the spice, while there, wasn't overpowering. I ordered the Beef Pad Se Ew; beef, flat rice noodles, egg, broccoli, and a dark soy bean sauce stir fried together. Delicious. I can't really compare it to any other Pad Se Ews I may have had since my South Beach brain does a pretty good job steering me away from noodle dishes, but this was truly a great dish. And it wasn't even all that heavy. This isn't a spicy dish. In fact, it's so mild that your friends who don't like "ethnic" food (alternatively known as out-of-towners) will find themselves enjoying it. It certainly doesn't lack in flavor. And like the green curry, was a relatively sweet dish. I definitely found myself wishing that there were more of it, even though I was so full that we skipped dessert.




Our three drinks, three appetizers, and two entrees, plus tax and tip totaled $73.