in nyc for a few days, so of course the first place i want to hit for dinner is torrisi... a fellow beard nom for best new restaurant that has everyone in nyc talking, and yup, i waited outside for a chance to have dinner.  i hope to hit all four of the nominated restaurants at some point this year, but this place has intrigued me since hearing kate krader from food & wine magazine go on about how great it is.  know what?  she and everyone else are right.  awesome place.

we were lucky enough to have our friend mike make a call to an old cook friend to hook us up with a reservation (since they are one of the smallest places i have ever dined in and they do not take resos)... one of the perks of being in the industry.  we walk in and the first people we see are daniel bouloud and eric ripert... when those two guys are in a place, you know it is going to be great.  kind of like choosing the restaurant where the locals hang out rather than the tourists when you are on vacation, you know that is where the goods are at.

and great it was.  from the service… my friend heather asked our server no less than 40 questions about the wine list before we chose, and our server led us towards the perfect wine… she also later spilled a glass of set wine while we were chatting with daniel (not at all awkward) and they were very quick to clean up the spill before it hit my lap… to the food… fresh pulled mozzarella in garlicky butter to start; crisp sweetbreads with pickled veggies; clam and roasted dough ‘pizza’; fluffy gnocchi… to the ambiance… feels like you are in a secret restaurant that opened that night just for you.  all amazing.

on a selfish note a highlight for me was seeing two chefs that i look up to dining five feet away.  the visit from daniel, though interrupted by a little spill, was sweet as can be as he always tends to be.  on their way out i heard daniel say to eric ‘she’s kicking ass’ or something to that affect.  now there is a very good chance he was talking about his trainer or one of his favorite female basketball players, but in my wine/food buzzed state, i took it as a comment about me.  and it made my night.  week.  month.  so i’ll just pretend it was the coolest thing i have ever heard:)

thank you torrisi for an amazing night in nyc!  extremely proud to be nominated along side you!

(the dining room at torrisi as seen from moosefan68’s eyes)