Food and Drink: January 2007 Archives

So I took fellow Brooklynite Ben Kweller's advice and I ate at Savoia on Smith Street for the first time. Don't know why I'd never stopped by. Perhaps it's just one of those places that becomes part of the scenery and you forget exists to be tried. On Friday night, we sampled three items: the ravioli special, which was ravioli in a butter-herb sauce, one of the restaurant's apparently famous wood-fired pizzas--we tried one with a super spicy soppresetta--and shared a fennel salad. The portions were generous, the prices were reasonable ($33 bottle of wine); though perhaps my one complaint is the closeness of the tables. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but we happened to sit next to a semi-annoying couple. You know, the ones who need attention right away, always ask for something extra, send a dish back, and then rush off to something more important. Besides them, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, and no one rushed us to finish our bottle of wine. I think it's going to become our new neighborhood favorite. One question: I noticed they do brunch on the weekends--is it any good?

Glad to see the old Viola space  at 220 Smith Street showing new life, but what is up with the chef drawing for the replacement spot, Jessie's Brooklyn Kitchen? It took me and La Penguina several sober minutes to decipher exactly where the head was in this line drawing. Are we slow, or is it a bit obtuse?

Smith and Vine outgrew its space on 246 Smith Street a long time ago, but the good news is that the fab wine store is moving down the block to 268 Smith (across from Chestnut and Zombie Hut). They'll make the move the first week of February. Here's to more space for more wines on the $10 and under table!

Leo's at Court and Nelson streets (the former Sparky's) appears to be planning a comeback. The interior looks cleaned up and there's now a big "classy" white sign outside re-affirming the name. Do I smell an opening soon?

I thought I'd heard that restaurant/movie theater/music space Monkeytown was closing soon, but based on the bustle of activity on its website, it doesn't sound like it's going anywhere soon. Tonight, you can watch the original Dirty Dancing side by side with its Bollywood remake. Why anyone would want to do this, especially while eating, is a little beyond me--just chalk this post up to Monkeytown cheerleading and a groggy Saturday morning brain. For an event that sounds truly fun, and not it an "irony rocks!" kind of way, try Sunday at Studio B, where there's a DJ Battle between Klash (featuring Flosstradamus ) vs. XXX. I don't know much about those crews, but I do know that the host, MC SpankRock, put out one of my favorite albums of last year.

A month or so ago, Dennis got a mushroom growing  kit as a post-birthday present, and we just had our first harvest. I gotta say, we grew some damn fine portabellas  (and rather tasty when sauteed with garlic and butter). If you want your own tasty mushroom kit, check out Mushroom Adventures.

Beatsme already supplied us with at atmospheric night-time shot of Layla Jones and a favorable review of the new Cobble Hill restaurant's pizza. After two pies there over the weekend, we're going to have to agree to politely disagree with his assessment. It's not that the pizza is tasteless or the ingredients are of low-quality, because neither off those things are true. It's that the pizza tastes like something my mom would make from Pillsbury Ready Crust Pizza dough (and maybe that's OK for this obviously kid-friendly joint).

The crust was moderately thin, although it didn't come near the thinness of other famed neighborhood joints, and, unfortunately, it was a soggy mess. We decided the problem was the pan. It appears that they cook the pizza in a baking pan, instead of directly on the hot oven surface (in home cook's parlance, on a pizza stone). We did really like the sweet sausage topping (skip the red peppers as they increase the sogginess), but left feeling like we'd paid $16 bucks (plus tip) for something that was less tasty than a homemade Boboli.

I feel bad disliking a place with a cutesy little story (they named the joint after their kids). And kudos to our waiter who was pretty much the nicest person to ever walk a pizza to a table. Sorry, Layla, but I'd rather have a $3 slice from Vinny's.