The Looney Foodie was out and about recently with a group from his software gig, and we had a farewell lunch for one of our colleagues who fancied Italian fare.
Usually it’s Thai food, or Indian food, or Vietnamese food, but on this day it was Italian.
The Foodie has some Italian and Sicilian blood running through his veins, and grew up with a mother of Italian American ethnic background, so the Looney Foodie knows Italian food like the back of his, er, stomach… or something like that.
So on that day someone chose Da Nico among the many Little Italy restaurants that could have been chosen.
When walking that way, there are many Little Italy restaurants to choose from, and they usually have a guy outside trying to get passers by to come in and eat.
It’s somewhat strange to be called out like that on the street, and the guys are usually friendly enough, even when you tell them that you either had reservations somewhere else or that you are on your way back from already having lunch.
The Foodie recommends every person longing to visit New York City to venture over to see the many Little Italy restaurants that greet the eye as you walk around this colorful and good to smell neighborhood in New York City.
So we walked and walked and then came upon our target – Da Nico.
The Foodie, at the time, didn’t realize that he would use this to make a blog entry, although he should have, so while he took photos, some were blurry because he was walking too fast to the dining area, and they blurred a bit. You’ll just have to forgive that the allure of the culinary fare made him hurry when he should have been snapping better photos.
So, the tables were set nice. The place looked empty. Well, it is mainly a dinner joint, so we had the pleasure of being the center of attention for the very polite wait staff.
There was a patio out back full of tables for better weather, but, alas, didn’t get a photo. (slaps wrist – more self scolding yet to come)
The menu…
As you can see it’s pretty reasonable, and you CAN eat reasonably in New York City and even at Little Italy restaurants, if you know where to go.
The bread on the table was great, what you would expect in Little Italy, and you have to have that bread because that’s how Italians eat. I can still hear my dearly departed Aunt Rosalie talking about how she couldn’t have a meal without first having the bread.
Eat the bread.
The Looney Foodie didn’t go around snapping photos of everyone’s lunch, although there was that urge.
The only pictures were of a few pieces of fried Calamari, the Chicken Marsala with the side pasta that the Foodie himself ordered, but I can attest that everyone enjoyed their meal, the staff was attentive and polite, and the atmosphere of this place almost took one to Italy.
As we were all watching our waistlines, no one ordered dessert, but they graciously provided a donut like confection which was a very pleasant surprise after the main meal.
What? You’re part Italian and you don’t know the name of that? Well, I can’t recall. I’ve had that at various old Italian relatives’ houses through the years and at holidays, but I can’t remember what it’s called. But they were great. Kind of like a small deep fried then powdered donut, or a small mini zeppoli. Kind of like a carnival confection.
As for the Foodie’s meal, the fried Calamari appetizer was light, crispy, squiddy goodness, and the Chicken Marsala had that marsala wine sweetness that made me want to get into the kitchen and raid the pot for more.
Listen, you pretty much can’t go wrong in choosing from the many Little Italy restaurants, and this one was very nice and a pleasure to go to at lunch time.
We weren’t the only people there, as they had tables with 2-4 people filled at the front of the restaurant.
We had the back room to ourselves, which was a great thing because we could be as loud as we wanted without any problems.
The Foodie is literally kicking himself up the backside for not taking better photos of everyone’s meal, but didn’t want to annoy the other people by saying, “oh don’t touch your food yet as I want to freeze it in time with my phone camera”, but on the next outing I will indeed try.
As the Looney Foodie blog grows in readership and appeal, more frequent gourmet stops will be necessary for blog appeal and content creation, so expect this to grow in quality as time proceeds and my greater willingness to annoy my co-eaters also swells.
I hope that you will consider Da Nico when visiting New York City and checking out the Little Italy restaurants scene.
Foodie out.
