e a t e r y R O W

WINEGASM

31-86 37th Street

Astoria, NY 11103

(718) 932-3331

Myna and I clearly are in the coveted wine bar demographic in that they covet how often we go to them. The latest on our rotation was Winegasm closer to her neck of the woods in Astoria. If anyone ever wondered where all the post-college folks go when Brooklyn gets too cool for its own lease renewal, it's Astoria. New restaurants open every five minutes, housing stock is tight but still relatively cheap, there are taxis, the age of tenants has plummeted, and you can still grab a beer at Bohemian Hall like your ancestors did. Parking sucks a big fat golf ball though, so take the subway. Learn from my failures.

I was disappointed that the rabbit plate that was on the online menu was gone from the real one, and sadly, the kitchen had run out of calamari. Still, we were easily able to find seven things that looked good. First up, the Baked Bacon Prunes, a wine bar staple. They arrived scalding hot, so if you get this (and, of course, since no one goes to wine bars and doesn't get this, you will) be careful of biting in too quickly. They're sweet and salty and savory all at the same time and it's a small enough little dish that you can inhale them quickly enough without ruining your appetite. This was followed by the stunningly good Potato Mushroom Croquettes, which, because they were potato, probably could ruin your appetite if you had enough of them. However, they're small and you only get two, so we plowed through unperturbed. At this point, there was a rush on the kitchen and as a way to tide us over while other items cooked, we ordered the Spiced Truffle Honey spread. This will also fill you up since it's pita bread, honey, and goat cheese. The honey spread was good, but sweet and heavy. Sadly, the pita bread was not better than mediocre and since it was untoasted, left my mouth feeling a bit clammy. I'd certainly recommend picking up a spread dish (whether it's this or hummus or pate or whatever you want) as an alternative to appetizers as opposed to in addition to them and I'd make sure that they lightly toast the pita bread.

All of the food was good, but the weakest of this goodness was the Margherita Pizzetta. This was wholly the fault of the balsamic syrup that had been been drizzled on the top. Margherita pizza, with its specifically sweeter tomato sauce and sweet basil leaves is already sweet enough. Adding the balsamic syrup, which was itself very sweet, turned it into a candy. It was too much, at least for me. The opposite of this was the Pork and Apples, a pork belly dish that was also sweet, but in a good way. The pork was cooked to have a crisp crust and it wasn't half fat. The meat came served on a small bed of apple sauce and thin slices of apple. It was delicious. Finally, we ordered both crostinis on the menu, the Mushroom Crostini and the Steak Crostini, and both were very very good. The mushroom crostinis were piled high with mushroom and asparagus that had been sauteed in red wine under a cheese blend. The steak crostinis were piled high with seared chimichurri marinated hangar steak, mozzarella, and peppers under a lemon caper aioli. The toasts were neither limp nor burned to a mouth slicing crisp. These are the kind of small plates I wish I could make.

Winegasm has a cocktail menu as well as a wine list. So, since trying new cocktails is a favorite pastime of ours, Myna and I started with a cocktail each before moving on to wine. Both of the cocktails were fine, but not much better than fine. Also, and I fully recognise that this is entirely pretention, one of the cocktails used blue curacao; blue cocktails always conjure up a gimmickyness that I associate with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reruns and suburban girls-night-out parties at TGIFridays. Next time I'm going to stay with wine.

CACIO E VINO

80 Second Avenue

New York, NY 10003

(212) 228-3269

There is no short supply of wine bars in New York. I live in central Queens and can walk to two. There is also no short supply of Italian restaurants. I live in central Queens and can walk to seven hundred. The trick is being able to blend them together into something enjoyable and Cacio E Vino in the East Village (which seems to be where I live these days) manages to do this. If you want a place that avoids pretense and allows you to feel like you live two blocks away, Cacio E Vino is where to go. If you want something more, it's not.

The truth is, Cacio E Vino is pretty generic. It did nothing wrong, but it didn't do anything that stood out either. The service was fine without being amazing. The food was pretty good without being amazing. The wine list was decent without being amazing. The decor was fine. I would probably go here every so often if I lived a block away, and if I had a friend who wanted to go here I would far from bemoan their request, but if I was going to choose a place to travel out of my way for, I don't think Cacio E Vino would be on the list.

My entree was the Involtino Di Pollo Al Marsala, a chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto, spinach and primosale cheese. It came with thin potato slices and broccoli and was topped with a marsala sauce. Making a stuffed chicken is hard and it takes a lot of skill getting the meat to that sweet spot where it's moist without being raw and cooked without being dry. This was a little dry. The sauce was nice but the steamed broccoli seemed boring and uninspired. I realize how douchey that sounds. But I'm saying it anyway. Myna went for the Branzino Filet, a pan seared fillet served with spinach, pine nuts, raisins, and mashed potato. She enjoyed it and preferred her fish over my chicken, but I was, yet again, nonplussed. My advice: take her word for it over mine.

Tiramisu has always been a favorite dessert of mine, ever since I was a little kid. Myna, not so much. But reason won out and we ordered it. It was enjoyable. Like so many places, Cacio E Vino went a little heavy with the espresso powder. But other than that, it was a good choice.

GALLI

45 Mercer Street

New York, NY 10013

(212) 966-9288

Myna had a surprise spa appointment in Soho (courtesy of her awesome boyfriend) and I wanted to browse REI for some ski stuff. Getting dinner in Soho was only logical. Plus, it's what couples in their 30s do. They eat in Soho at trendy spots filled with other people in their 30s who live beyond their means before shopping. Or after shopping. Either way, shopping's in there somewhere.

Galli is actually a good sized restaurant. But it's narrow and divided into four sections (front dining room, bar, middle booths, rear dining room), creating a sense of small intimacy no matter where you sit. We sat at the bar for a few minutes shaking off the cold and having a drink while our table in the rear was being prepped. We wound up getting a nice corner seat that allowed us to scan the room without looking as obviously voyeuristic as we clearly are. "Everyone here is attractive" Myna noticed. It was freakishly true. You probably won't enjoy Galli if you don't look in the mirror that day and say "I look good." I remember going to Beauty & Essex where dolling yourself up is part of the game. Galli is relaxed. Jeans instead of glitter. But the same people are there. I'm always amazed these places let me in the door. (I am aware that there is a very well-behaved little kid at that table. Half an hour later, the family headed home)