Salvatore & Mr. Smooth at Salvatore's in Port Washington, NY

Salvatores is an old fashion pizza parlor. It is a place for family and friends to come an socialize over a light meal and great music. Salvatores ambiance is reminiscent of a world gone but not forgotten and with pizza pies baked in an authentic "coal stoked" brick oven.
It is a tradition which began in 1929 when Pat and Aunt Carmella Lancieri opened Patsy's on First Avenue in Harlem, New York. They still use the same family recipe of making pizza today that Uncle Patsy used to make his pizzas famous.
Ask for Kayanne and tell her Mr. Smooth sent you.
Mangia Baby!

Kuh Kuh Kuh Katy's Cuh Cuh Cuh Carrot Cake

...but not just any carrot cake.
Katherine Z is the modest baker.  After many moons riding the LIRR with her and her hubbie Jonathan...and after hearing about her carrot cake and baklava (two of her many creations) more than once and not yet tasting it, I decided it was time to finally get that taste. I was hoping deep down inside that she would say "I'll bring a carrot cake" when I invited her and Jonathan to join me, Sandy and a few friends for dinner at our home. Guess what? She did!
In short...Hype lived up to big time!
I'll try to get the recipe for one of my upcoming posts. Stay tuned.
Until then...thank you Kuh Kuh Kuh Katy for the time and effort you put into creating your faaaaablous Cuh Cuh Cuh Carrot Cake.
Maybe I'll see you folks on the train this Thursday.
Bert

Silvio Irece of Vincent's in Albertson with his "Old Fashioned Sicilian"

How does one pick a truly great pizza when there are soooo many pizza restaurants in this world?
The answer plain and simple is you have to be lucky enough to find Vincent's Restaurant & Pizzeria at 1004 Willis Avenue in Albertson, L.I., NY.
A little pizza history.
We all know Neapolitan pizza served in the USA is a round thin crust pie with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce.
Authentic Neapolitan pizza...also known as Margherita is typically made with tomato, sliced mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil. More authentic is made with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala.It's variations between ingredients can include fresh sliced tomatoes and/or tomato sauce.
Grandma pizza is Thin Crust Sicilian Pie Baked with Mozzarella Topped with Marinara Sauce and
Grandpa Pizza is Sicilian Pie Baked with Fresh Mozzarella,Tomato and Basil.
Of course, there are slight variations of the same pies that may include fresh basil and or a bit of pesto.
Let's not forget the traditional Sicilian Pie. Sicilian Pizza has its toppings baked directly into the crust."Sicilian" pizza in the United States is typically a different variety of product, made with a thick crust characterized by a rectangular shape and topped with tomato sauce, cheese and optional toppings.
In short...the variations are endless.
Now, back to the award presentation.
The brothers Silvio and Ray Irece, in my opinion, have come up with a real winner...and as a result, have won my Plain & Simple Fourth Guarantee Award for their "Old Fashioned Sicilian" pizza pie.
Order a slice and ask Silvio to make it nice and hot so it has a chance to crisp up a little underneath. The flavor and freshness can't be topped as you can see in the pictures below.
Thank you brothers Irece for your creativity...and personality!


Bert's Note: Please remember that I am not writing a review for the restaurant. The purpose of my award addresses the Irece brothers "Old Fashioned Sicilian" Pizza.
Please feel free to comment. If you have any finds for me or have something to say or add with regards to my award for Vincent's..don't be shy...please comment.

Mangia Baby!
Bert

Little Cup Cake Bake Shop...A NYC Find!

Ahhhhhnother Sign of Spring

Plain & Simple...The Best Cheesecake

Plain & simple...I wasn't a true cheesecake fan until I had my first bite of the Original Lindy's Cheesecake on Broadway and 52nd St. back in the mid 1950's. The jelly roll...that's another story.
When Lindy's went out of business years ago, cheesecake never tasted the same and whatever I tasted afterward tasted like an imitation. Somewhere along the line, I tasted the Carnegie Deli cheesecake and I thought "Hey, this is good...almost like Lindy's". Almost. Nevertheless, a strong 2nd best!
It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I found my current fave, D'auito...formerly Baby Watson Cheesecake. This cake reminded me of the flavor and texture of the Famous Lindy's and I feel good enough to post in on my blog for all of you as the latest "find"!
The place has been there for years and I never knew about it until recently. Where have I been?
Well...Magnolia Bakery in NYC, Billy's Bakery in NYC and Tartine's in San Francisco to name just a few more finds.
Either way, famous last words..."Trust me"!


Below are just a few comments from those D'aiuto faithful and one comment proving there's two sides to every story.

D'aiuto Baby Watson Cheesecake 

405 8th Ave 

(between 30th St & 31st St)

New York, NY 10001

Neighborhoods: Midtown West, Chelsea 

(212) 564-7136

 I'm no expert on cheesecake - basic or New York, so I have nothing to compare this to, but I can tell you that the cheesecake here tastes bloomin' gorgeous.
However, I bought a slice each for me and my boyfriend - big mistake - after polishing them off we both lay like pythons who'd swallowed a goat and were unable to move for hours. This stuff is insanely sweet and rich and delicious though - just don't eat too much.  That said...I'm now ready for another slice I think....

.

Yumeriffic since the roaring 20's!  We walked all over NYC to find the best cheesecake - D'aiuto's won it for us!  We really could not have been happier slowing untying our little pasty box and savoring every last bit of cheesecake...  yum yum yum..  We will be back D'aiuto's!

You won't find a better cheesecake.  Period.

The service is terrific.  There is nothing that makes me feel warmer on a cold winter evening than being called "Hon", "Dear," or "Sweetheart," by, who has to be the sweetest old lady on the west side.

The cheesecake is fresh and has that perfect homemade taste with a perfect texture on top - not too flaky and not too soft, and a perfect consistency inside.
It just doesn't get any better than this.  The End.

The cheesecake was unreal, alright. Unreal how Yelpers even gave it anything better than 2 stars. Ugh. What a Yelp-fail.

After having a fantastic cheesecake at Chickalicious, D'aiuto's was awful. First off, crustless. I didn't know that until I started eating the cheesecake. Everyone knows graham cracker crust is the best part! Secondly, it was dry and bland. Didn't taste like anything.
  I do not recommend this place!

Bert''s note: Until I get to Chickalicious (Chickalicious?) right here in NYC, I'll have to go with D'aiuto's or Carnegie Deli.
Enjoy......and please feel free to comment.
Remember, It's more fun NOT to be shy...so...if you have something to say or some place you feel I would enjoy...send it in.

Bert

Call of Madeira & Port

Madeira’s longevity earns it a special place in the realm of old wine. What other wine requires over a half century to mature? And what other wine, when a century old, still benefits from several hours of breathing and can stand up to several weeks in a decanter without losing its complexity or its richness? And...how many wines can live for two centuries and still offer not only the pleasure of their antiquity, but also the enjoyment of drinking?
First and foremost, we should thank Anthony Dias Blue, Editor in Chief of Tasting Panel Magazine (www.tastingpanelmag.com) and his staff for producing events like the Blandy's Madeira Bicentenary Tasting.

The hostesses for this March 24th, 2011 NYC event were the gracious marketing and events director, Allison Levine and the assistant executive editor of "Tastings", Nicolette Teo.

Moving right along...
Where is Madeira and, as well, where is it in relation to Portugal...the home of Port?
The Madeira Islands are 540 miles southwest of  Lisbon, Portugal in the north Atlantic Ocean. They are an autonomous region of Portugal, with Madeira Island and Porto Santo Island being the only inhabited islands.
They are a popular year-round resort and famed worldwide for their Madeira wine.

What is Madeira wine and how does it differ from Port wine?

Port originates in the Douro Valley, Portugal. The valley stretches east from the city of Oporto to the border with Spain. The term "port wine" can only refer to these wines, much like French regions lay claim to certain titles such as Champagne or Bordeaux.

Both Madeira and Port are 'fortified' wines; the wine has had grape brandy added to it after a couple of days' fermentation, making it about 80% wine and 20% brandy. The main difference is in the regions the wines originate and the grapes used, making Madeira a bit more exclusive. Madeira is made with four varieties of grapes, and a bottle of madeira should be labelled according to which were used in it. These are:
-sercial, a very dry taste, light color
-verdelho, medium dry, golden color
-bual, medium sweet, velvety, dark gold to brown
-malmsey, the original grape, sweet, chestnut-brown

Back to the show...

I didn't know a lot about Madeira wines, however I owed it to myself and my clients to learn what I could and to make it part of my service @ BetsaPasta.

To me, a Madeira was akin to a Tawny Port and a bit on the sweet side with that creme brulee smoothness and taste.

To a great degree, this is true...however primarily in the young wines and not true in the older vintages.

Upon entry, the tables were set in such a way that you were able to taste the younger 5 and 10 old wines first. Next were the older 15 year, 25 year and 35 year old vintages. Last were the 40-45 year old vintages, and rounding out the last table was the 90 year old 1920 Bual. Just to get to taste a wine this old is very special, however being a relative beginner in world of Madeira, I am probably a number of years away from truly enjoying and appreciating a wine of that magnitude.
I'm not going to discuss prices, however I will tell you retail Madeira costs range from quite affordable to very very expensive.

To complement the wines of the day, the hors d'oeuvres included empanadas with mango salsa, caponata with goat cheese, grilled chicken & cacciatorini (Italian salumi) pnini's and a blockbuster short ribs (pulled pork style) with a parmigiano crust.

Getting back to the wines; I found the younger ones quite enjoyable...taking nothing away from the older vintages that were in a different class.

It's clear the number one goal in any business is sales, and you can't sell 45 and 90 year old wines exclusively and expect to survive. You must have a balance between all the ages available and in doing so please all the age levels of your customers.
To this point I would heartily suggest everybody go out today and start with a purchase Blandy's 5 Year Old Alvada Madeira. It's a perfect start into the world of Madeira wines. You can sip this wine as an aperitif or after dinner with dessert,  or you can mix it with tonic water and a slice of orange. Fabulous!

(75%-80% Tonic...20%-25% Old Alvada)

As one grows with Madeira, one's taste buds will yearn for a more sophisticated taste and then onto the older wines.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet many interesting people and pose with the biggest names in the world of Madeira and Port, namely Michael Blandy and Rupert Symington, a Fourth generation Symington from the Symington Family Estates (www.symington.com), the leading producer of premium quality Ports.
They probably would  have felt the same about me if they knew they were hanging with a 'brilliant' chef.  

The gentlemen were really quite gracious, and Rupert couldn't help but sneak a queek peek at my BetsaPasta badge. He's probably still wondering where pasta fits into the equation.
If he were to have asked, I probably would have told him to simply saute an assortment of mushrooms, leeks and a bit of garlic in olive oil and sweet butter until golden...add some flat leaf "Italian" parsley, kosher salt and fresh ground white pepper...and then Madeira wine. Toss with fini linquine or thin spaghetti...and Mangia Baby!
Ahhh...he probably knew that anyway.

Thanks to Drew Kligman (above) for pointing the virtues of the 5 year old Alvada and the other young Madeira's... and posing for my pic.

Pierre Dumas, the Canadian connection to Madeira wines was quite informative as was Ricardo Tavares, the Sales Director (it was his mixed drink recipe you will find above), and Arnold Trabb, the east coast account manager and gracious host of the 45 and 90 year old tasting table (Vintages 1966, 1968, and 1920).

I also have to thank Paul (last name missing) for taking the picture of the big guns and Bert.

To Dave Handschuh, a photographer at the Daily News newspaper in NYC and fellow foodie...I'm sorry I missed riding down with you in the elevator. Here, however, is the blog entry I said I would forward to you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we all enjoyed the afternoon!

Please note: A bit of technical information relating to geography and history was pulled directly from the Internet and I tried to be as accurate as I could with answers to my own questions.
Either way, please feel free to communicate with your "comments" and, as well, in order for me to correct any information that is not 100% accurate.
Enjoy...and thanks for staying posted to phoodographs and finds!
Bert