La Boca
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:31 am
JAG is leaving me for 10 days. (Yes. Hard to believe I am not that irresistable.) So we hit up La Boca and you haven't been to a restaurant until you have been to La Boca with JAG. (And not just because she's hot. You get treated really well.) Orestes greeted us at the door. We were seated at a great table by the window overlooking Fulton Street.
The waiter recommended a wine for us: the 2005 Tritono Malbec. We were told this was a limited production wine and the restaurant was lucky to get 12 bottles of it. Well, they have 11 left. This was by far the best wine JAG and I have had in the last month. It was deep, complex very fruitty. This is Malbec at its finest.
We split the gnocchi with pancetta and peas for our appetizer. I have ordered this before, but I may have forgotten how truly great this dish is. While the steaks are terrific I think this dish really encapsulates Jared's gift for taking disparate ingredients combining them into a majestic harmony where the parts on their own are equally as flavorful as the whole. I literally couldn't decide whether the tender gnocchi was to be devoured on its own or in concert with the peas, ham and parmesean cream sauce. Possibly the best dish in the city right now.
Next came the steaks. JAG had the skirt, skin off. I was watching her when she took her first bite. She made a face I had seen alot of this past month, just not when we have been eating. I had the hangar steak. By far my favorite cut of meat. What I love about La Boca is this, if you go to Charlie's or Ruth's or Shula's, you can go with a group order five or six different cuts but there's no point in sharing. It all tastes the same. But here, each cut is sourced from a different producer and it shows. I didn't know beef could have such disparate flavors and textures. The skirt almost expands in your mouth with plenty of chewiness. Contrast that with the hangar which instantly melts in your mouth. We had the La Boca fries. Mandatory. And some grilled asparagus, which were cooked perfectly and had a nice crunch to them.
For dessert, we were debating between the white peach cheesecake and the amaretto ice cream cake which JAG has been craving since her birthday. The waiter gave us the pros and cons of both and then said "you probably won't be satisfied until you have had the amaretto ice cream cake." To which I deadpanned, "No she's plenty satisfied." Anyway, due to the fact it is summer and a special, we went with the white peach cheese cake. It comes served in this waffle like basket with a white peach reduction on top surrounded by sliced white peaches. JAG pretty much ate all the white peaches even though she will claim she didn't. The dessert was great. And it was perfect end to a perfect month.
The waiter recommended a wine for us: the 2005 Tritono Malbec. We were told this was a limited production wine and the restaurant was lucky to get 12 bottles of it. Well, they have 11 left. This was by far the best wine JAG and I have had in the last month. It was deep, complex very fruitty. This is Malbec at its finest.
We split the gnocchi with pancetta and peas for our appetizer. I have ordered this before, but I may have forgotten how truly great this dish is. While the steaks are terrific I think this dish really encapsulates Jared's gift for taking disparate ingredients combining them into a majestic harmony where the parts on their own are equally as flavorful as the whole. I literally couldn't decide whether the tender gnocchi was to be devoured on its own or in concert with the peas, ham and parmesean cream sauce. Possibly the best dish in the city right now.
Next came the steaks. JAG had the skirt, skin off. I was watching her when she took her first bite. She made a face I had seen alot of this past month, just not when we have been eating. I had the hangar steak. By far my favorite cut of meat. What I love about La Boca is this, if you go to Charlie's or Ruth's or Shula's, you can go with a group order five or six different cuts but there's no point in sharing. It all tastes the same. But here, each cut is sourced from a different producer and it shows. I didn't know beef could have such disparate flavors and textures. The skirt almost expands in your mouth with plenty of chewiness. Contrast that with the hangar which instantly melts in your mouth. We had the La Boca fries. Mandatory. And some grilled asparagus, which were cooked perfectly and had a nice crunch to them.
For dessert, we were debating between the white peach cheesecake and the amaretto ice cream cake which JAG has been craving since her birthday. The waiter gave us the pros and cons of both and then said "you probably won't be satisfied until you have had the amaretto ice cream cake." To which I deadpanned, "No she's plenty satisfied." Anyway, due to the fact it is summer and a special, we went with the white peach cheese cake. It comes served in this waffle like basket with a white peach reduction on top surrounded by sliced white peaches. JAG pretty much ate all the white peaches even though she will claim she didn't. The dessert was great. And it was perfect end to a perfect month.
