Results tagged: Gottino

On Monday night we had the privilege of helping the James Beard Foundation's editorial team with their live blog of this years awards. We were joined by Jennifer Leuzzi of snack blog, writer Adam Sachs, Meredith Arthur from Chow, Jody Williams of Gottino and Louise McCready of Savory Cities & Huffington Post.

This years live blog coverage chronicled the night from the first arrivals on the red carpet to the best moments on stage to the last bite of octopus carpacio at the gala afterwards. For all the juicy bits check out the James Beard Foundation blog. The JBF also kept a close eye on all of the awards-related Twittering going on and retweeted the best ones. Relive the minute by minute action on @beardfoundation.

Much like at last year's awards we shot video of Jennifer Leuzzi interviewing the bold faced names as they arrived on the red carpet. Find out how award-winning celebrity chefs start their day in the video below and then watch the full set of videos over on the JBF blog.

// This Week on Savory Cities //

Gottino, Jody Williams' popular enoteca on Greenwich Avenue in the West Village, is as good a place as any you'll find in NYC to enjoy a nice glass of wine and small bites of crostini, charcuterie, cheese and more. New York Magazine, Time Out and The New York Times all seem to agree and have praised Gottino's casual atmosphere and creative menu.

Watch the Savory Cities Gottino video to hear Jody Williams talk about what to expect when you visit and who's allowed to sit in the charming back garden. 

// Recently Opened //

• PetalBelle - The owners of Lombardi's have opened this cozy spot specializing in traditional Belgian waffles.
• Lulu - A new SoHo spot serving contemporary European and American cuisine.
• La Superior - Inexpensive, authentic Mexican in Williamsburg.

// This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• NY Times: Frank Bruni reviews Persimmon and gives it 1 of 4 stars. "Chef and owner, Youngsun Lee, is interested first and foremost in making his cooking -- which veers from daringly creative in one dish to steadfastly authentic in the next -- as accessible as possible. He wants to ease you into a meal that won't be all that familiar, even if you're versed in Korean cuisine."
• New York Magazine: Platt is off again. In his place, The Underground Gourmet visits The General Greene and calls it the "epitome of NBC (New Brooklyn Cuisine)."
• The New York Sun: Paul Adams reviews Forge restaurant in Tribeca.  This is the second review to rave about Larry Forgione's son adeptly taking the torch and running with it. "The food is solidly American -- American even to the point of pointedly poking fun at itself, as in an appetizer of chicken nuggets ($12). These could not be a farther cry from the lifeless, extruded, synthetic-tasting fast-food ones. You get three bite-size spheres of dark-meat, free-range chicken that tastes as rich as confit, breaded and fried and served with a smoky mayonnaise; it's a show-off dish, with tremendous flavor."

// Blogs, Newsletters...etc. //

• Harold McGee, New York Times contributor and author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, is answering reader questions over at Diner's Journal.
• GQ Forked Blog: It's a good one this week as Alan Richman visits two Japanese restaurants specializing in kaiten sushi, or sushi delivery via conveyor belt. First up Richman has positive notes on East Japanese Restaurant in Murray Hill. Up in Midtown he checks out Sakae Sushi, which opened in the spring. Richman has two negative experiences at Sakae, including an order of maguro sashimi that "came to the table frozen solid. It was like eating a tuna ice pop."
• Insatiable Critic: Gael Greene writes a short blurb about her visit to Convivio. Includes some positive and some negative comments.

// In Other News //

• Add another restaurant to Graydon Carter's budding hospitality empire. The Vanity Fair editor has purchased Monkey Bar from The Glazier Group, who has owned the restaurant since 1994 (per NYTimes). The restaurant served its last dinner on Aug 4th and is now closed for renovation.
• Restaurant Daniel is closed for renovations.
• Danube closed August 2nd and will reopen in 1-2 months as a French/Italian/Mediterranean restaurant.

// Upcoming Events //

Join the 'Crayfish Week' celebration at Aquavit from August 11th to the 17th. The Cafe is offering a prix-fixe menu for $48 as well as a la carte items like 1lb of crayfish plus boiled potatoes, garlic bread and cheese for $25.

A few months ago I wrote a post wondering if Jody Williams was the David Chang of the Italian wine bar. At the time Williams' new enoteca, Gottino, was getting accolades from NY Mag, Time Out and others. A few months later Bruni co-reviewed Gottino and Terroir and pointed to them as indicative of a trend toward thoughtful, high quality food presented in casual atmosphere saying, "they reflect the increasing degree to which distinguished cooking pops up in the unconventional, informal settings that many food lovers often prefer."

It's not just that the cooking is distinguished or consistently well executed that make Gottino a great place to sit down for a drink and a bite. It's also the heavy dose of personal creativity balanced with respect for tradition that that brings people back and gets Williams the kind of media praise that David Chang has been enjoying lately.

Watch the Gottino video below (or here) to hear Jody Williams talk about her sense of creativity and what it means to have no boundaries.

Gottino
Greenwich Village
52 Greenwich Ave
(btwn Perry and Charles Sts)
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-546-7892

View Gottino's listing on Savory Cities

The recent spate of good press directed toward Jody Williams and her new "gastroteca," Gottino, in the West Village has us wondering if she's on her way to becoming the David Chang of Italian wine bar owners.

Here's a sample of some of the recent media praise:

• Time Out New York awarded Gottino with a Critic's Choice Award for Best Reason to Abandon the Tapas Bar
• New York Times' Dining section front page article, "Wine Bars Grow Up and Squeeze In" featured Gottino prominently.
• New York Magazine lavished early praise on Williams' pig's-feet meat and chestnut bread stuffing, gave her 3+ stars and in March named Gottino the Best Wine Bar of 2008 in its Best of New York Awards.