Being a foodie, and taking a trip to NYC involved a lot of research. I knew there were a few places I just had to eat at, and Carbone was one of them. A reservation was tough to get, I called about 8 weeks ahead of time and got a 5:45 pm seating on a sunny Saturday evening in August.
Carbone is located in Greenwich Village. A gorgeous area of beautiful homes and small boutique shops and restaurants. Carbone is an Italian-American restaurant created by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick. The restaurant pays homage to the essence of the great Italian-American restaurants of mid-20th century in New York, where delicious, exceptionally well-prepared food was served in settings that were simultaneously elegant, comfortable and unpretentious.
When you walk into Carbone’s it is like walking back in time.. or at least onto a Godfather movie set. It has a funky old school vibe. We also happened to be sitting 2 tables down from Jason Biggs of American Pie fame, so we are pretty cool. 🙂
The food. Bring your wallet and then bring someone else’s wallet. The food is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but the bill could give you indigestion.
They start you off with a delicious bread basket, a huge chunk of Parmesan cheese drizzled with honey and pickled veggies. The menu is full of wonderful items like pastas, veal dishes, seafood, but no prices. For an appetizer we had oysters on the half shell. Tasty. Then my husband had a steak (he ate it so fast I could barely take a picture of it) and I had the lobster special.
Lobster special you ask? It was a 2 pound… yes a 2 POUND lobster stuffed with poblano chili’s, corn and basil. It was amazing, it also cost 89$.
At the end of the meal they offer you either limoncello or grappa.. both are like drinking gasoline IMO. The experience was fun. The food was delish. Would I go back? Yes of course.. after I rob a bank win the lottery. Dinner for 2, 2 drinks each, shared appetizer, and two meals cost $367.
All in all it was an experience. I had fun 🙂
I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ www.monicaskitchen.com