Vittorios, Amityville

I have been dying to try Vittorios for over a month now since my friend hyped it up, being one of their regular customers.  Finally we picked Friday for me to experience this supposedly unbelievable establishment.  And I must say, the wait was definitely worth it. To start of, we arrived and I was a bit nervous because it wasn't busy really.  I read reviews that the bar placement, which is as soon as you enter, is inconvenient because of the crowd that gathers at vittorios on the weekend.  But, as I was told, last night was not even close to a usual Friday for them (the combo of no meat on Fridays for lent and the night before St Pats did it.)  We took a seat at the bar waiting for one more person to arrive and I started with a glass of Riesling.  Everyone knew my friend there so we were talked to by our waiter and allowed to ease into our 630 reservation, not sitting down until about 730.

As we sat we wanted to just have our drinks and relax, which the waiter was more than accommodating.  He brought out the hot steaming bread, purchased daily from a brick oven place in Brooklyn.   The crust was nice and crispy and the inside was warm and soft, perfect.  I wanted to let my friend do the ordering so he said we have to, absolutely have to order the tuna tartar appetizer so we ordered two of them.  Also, we got mussels luciano, the crab cakes, and fresh mozzarella with roasted red pepper.  Oh my god for the tuna tartar, a must have appetizer.  It is so fresh and the presentation is really nice. The wine sauce with the mussels was phenomenal, as I soaked it up with the bread.  The mussels were not fishy at all.  The fresh mozzarella was the way it should be and the crab cakes, which I tend not to order because I do not like them pan seared, were melt in your mouth.

My friend left ordering a nice bottle of wine up to me, with my bit of wine experience.  I picked the argyle pinot noir and it was a perfect pick.  It had a red cherry taste with a bit of complexity.  We relaxed and had the bottle of wine, letting our stomachs digest the redic. amount of appetizers we had.   What I really like was that the restaurant knows how to provide appropriate service.  After finishing the apps, a bunch of waiters came and cleaned up the table, ensuring there were no crumbs and everyone had their silverware. And even though I was full, I was just too enticed not to try an entree.

I left this choice up to the waiter, who was nice and very receptive of what the customer enjoys.  I told him I am not much of a meat person and right off the bat, he said off the menu I would absolutely recommend the striped bass.  I never have had striped bass before but he said I could not go wrong.  My friend ordered the lobster tail, along with my boyfriend, and someone else tried the spaghetti with fire roasted pepper and prosciutto while the last person ordered garganelli with a veal and sage ragu.

I picked the second bottle of wine to come with our dinner, which was the cab sauv stags leap.  Another excellent choice, a bit heavier than the pinot, perfect for dinner.

To start with my food, the tomato brodetto the fish was cooked in was to die for.  A generous portion of the bass was on top of a bed of spinach.  I was so full but had to soak up as much of the tomato brodetto as I could.  My boyfriend and friend's lobster tail was oversized and served with spinach and mashed potatoes.  My boyfriend said the sauce was rich, a perfect compliment for lobster, and the lobster was cooked perfect.  The spaghetti had a nice spice to it since it was fire roasted sauce, and the garganelli was a nice specialty to have, with a generous portion of veal in the ragu.

After sitting now in the restaurant for 3 hours and digesting everything, of course not finishing our entrees, my friend said we will not leave without ordering dessert.  Of course they bring a dessert tray over where you pick what looks the best, and of course nothing looked bad!  I left it up to him to order the dessert, and he said we had to order the cheesecake and the chocolate molten cake.  I am not a chocolate person but it was dark chocolate heaven when you ate it.  And you even have the option of a dollop of peanut butter underneath it.  I am not a cheesecake person, but my boyfriend said the cheesecake was smooth, light, and delicious.

We sat a bit after dessert to finish off the wine and ending up leaving the restaurant at 1130, 5 hours after getting there.  But those were the best 5 hours I have ever spent at a restaurant.  The service made you feel like family and that you were their priority, the way a diner should be treated.  I will be returning to try the countless other items on the menu that sound amazing.  And, as I was told, the specials of the night are always the best part (mmmm tuna tartar!!)

I highly recommend everyone getting down to Vittorios, use a reservation on the weekend, and taking a step into food heaven!

Two in one... Sapporo & Rachels Waterside Grill

So so busy with work and interviews but time to update this.  Haven't been going out to many restaurants since I have to save money but two that I just did.

So Valentine's Day made a necessary excursion to a restaurant since I don't have my own house so cooking the romantic dinner wasn't happening.  Me and my boyfriend wanted to keep it low key since we didn't want to be in a restaurant with price fixed menus swarmed with thousands of couples, being rushed and pushed by the waiting staff, and crammed into an available table.  We decided sushi was a necessity, specifically with a love boat in mind, and actually made restaurants at Sapporo in Wantagh on Merrick Road.

This Japanese restaurant has been a usual for me and my boyfriend because of its' traditional atmosphere with a room to sit on the floor, a couple of mid level booths and the regular tables.  We have been going to Kiku in Massapequa as a regular sushi place but definitely not for the atmosphere just merely the great quality.  But I would say Sapporo's quality is comparable to Kiku, just the prices tend to be a bit more.  So we arrived at 7 with reservations for a booth since my bf doesn't like sitting on the floor and we came to Sapporo for the environment, so the regular tables were out of question.  But when arriving apparently they didn't really plan it well to have a booth open and were going to just be sat at a table, without even asked.  This started off my night with a bad experience but since it was Valentine's Day I kept my cool and my bf wanted me to be happy anyway so he agreed to the floor.   It actually worked out  though because we were sat in a section a step higher than the other section so it was pretty private, only one other floor seating available.  As we sat down, we weren't given/offered water but it was fine because we wanted to order drinks.  I had to ask the young girl who sat us for a menu and she came pretty quickly.  But for the waitress to come to actually take the drink order didn't really happen.

Another couple was seated about fifteen minutes after us and was served water and also had their drink requests taken immediately.  This was a bit irritating but once again it was Valentine's Day and we were doing it low key so no biggy.  Finally fifteen minutes after that couple's drinks were given our waitress took our drink order (same waitress as them).  We decided we wanted something hot so did a large hot sake but also wanted a bottle of wine and were intrigued by the plum wine.  The hot sake was very good so we were definitely happy with the choice.  The plum wine was a bit sweet for our liking with dinner but it was something to try and was very good so we couldn't complain.  It took a bit of time for the waitress to take our order but she brought own green beans with a soy based sauce on top and it was a nice hold over.  All of a sudden we were brought an appetizer.  I know we didn't order one and the table next to us did, but at Kiku they serve a free appetizer so I figured maybe it was a Valentine's Day treat.  Well halfway through it we could tell the person who served it messed up and it was meant for the other table but oh well.... they served us real slow anyway.  And the waitress had the nerve to come over and say it wasn't even for us.

So when we had ordered the menu said soup or salad but the waitress never presented the question, which I really didn't notice.  Unfortunately I really like the salad with ginger dressing, but not so much Miso soup.  Well the two soups came out and I figured might as well try it.  The soup actually was not half bad.  It wasn't too salty and I didn't hate the tofu.  I was pleasantly surprised.  We also ordered the large sushi platter since I had my idea of a love boat Valentine's dinner but this time was unpleasantly surprised.  Out came our sushi platter that was smaller than the price charged and on a plain white plate,  no presentation or boat.  This was another strike on the restaurant, especially since the table sat 15 minutes after us got their food 30 minutes before us.

We were pretty hungry at that point and dug in.  Another unpleasant surprise.  The sashimi was a bit fishy, and the sashimi octopus was incredibly chewy.  Not something I wanted.  There were rolls with tempura crunch flakes inside, something me and my boyfriend both hate.  I don't like mayonnaise or spicy mayo but at Kiku when we get the spicy tuna roll, there is such a small amount of mayo in it that I don't hate it.  Well here it tasted like a teaspoon of mayo in each roll.  IT was horrible.  My boyfriend, who loves spicy mayo, did not even eat it.  This was probably the most disappointing sushi experience we have had in awhile.  What made it worse was we had not had sushi in a month and were really looking forward to it.  This is big deal for a couple who eats sushi once a week typically.. but got to save money.

We definitely did not want dessert and ran out as fast as possible.  But when the bill was bought our waitress said oh and the appetizer was compliments of the chef.  Well if you mess up a dish and bring it to someone who didn't order it, you would only hope the restaurant would not charge... thanks for nothing.

Sapporo is somewhere that will have to earn my credibility before even considering returning.  It will be Kiku from now on.. stay tuned for the next review :)

So shifting gears a bit from a bad to a great experience we move on to Rachel's Waterside Grill in Freeport.  Me, my bf, and my friend from The Netherlands visited this establishment on Sunday, March 4.  I needed to bring my friend somewhere good since she never visited LI and only been to NY once.  I thought that the Nautical Mile had to be best since it has an awesome view and fresh seafood (she hardly gets fresh seafood back home).  She also loved the varietal menu so we ventured out around 7pm.

Getting there there was no one there, well typical for a Sunday during March.  I was most excited because they built glass around the patio deck on the water to make it winter accessible with a nice working fireplace.  During the summer the glass opens to have the wonderful water view.  As we were seated against the water, the waiter asked to take our drinks.  We weren't quite ready yet but I did ask if they had their sangria since it is definitely my favorite sangria, but unfortunately only a summer thing (guess I'll have to go back ;) ).  My friend went with a glass of sweet white (can't remember which variety), I went with the house cab sauv, and my bf the dirty martini.  Our drinks came out with a great bread basket which I was excited since I love their brown bread with raisins.  The wine was very good for a house and everyone else liked their drinks as well.  

Our waiter let us call him over once we were ready since there really was no one there.  I decided to be adventurous and try the ahi tuna served with seaweed salad.  I love seaweed salad but never had ahi tuna before.  I really like tuna sashimi so decided there couldn't be much harm in trying it.  My boyfriend went with a nightly special of a white fish, can't remember the type, served with new potatoes and a thai lemongrass sauce.  And my friend decided to get the steamed seafood special.  It included clams, scallops, shrimp, and seafood stuffed flounder.  We also went with a half dozen baked clams.  

The clams came out first and that was in fact a bit of a mistake.  They were tiny tiny and overpriced.  But I must say they were delicious.  During the summer I order the Rockefeller oysters, much better choice and excited to come back for them!  Our food came out in a timely manner, giving us time to digest but not get impatient. 

First I tried a piece of the tuna, which had a wasabi sauce drizzled on top.  I actually ended up hating it! Turns out ahi tuna kinda tastes like steak, something I hate more than anything.  I only eat chicken and seafood so that was bit of a disappointment.  But the seaweed salad was absolutely delicious, and that is very important to me since last time I got seaweed salad it was from Asian Moon in Massapequa and I got terribly sick from it.  My boyfriend tried a piece of the tuna and he loved it (probably because he is steak obsessed).  Yet the wasabi dressing was amazing so I asked for more of that it put a lot of it on it so I could eat something.

The special my boyfriend ordered, on the other had, was right up my alley.  It was delicious and had a more than perfected thai sauce.  The fish was not fishy at all and the potatoes tasted perfectly marinated in the sauce.  He let me eat one piece of the fish while he hate the other since the portion was tremendous, as well was mine.  Next time I think I will try to get something similar to that, or stick to my favorites such as the stuffed LI flounder or scallops.

My friend loved her over sized, bang for your buck priced seafood platter.  And she got mashed potatoes, something she eats almost daily at home but hasn't had in the US.  (she was doing an internship from January until March in DC).  She was just impressed with the quality and tastiness of the fish, glad to make her happy.  I have had that platter many times before and was not surprised by how much she liked it.  I was glad she found something enjoyable.

We all were unfortunately too stuffed for dessert and decided to head out afterwards.  I easily will say, Rachel's impressed me once again, with the atmosphere and the seafood quality.  To go out to eat, not like your dish at all, yet still come out with such a positive experience really defines a restaurant doing it right.  And don't get me wrong, my dish was perfectly prepared and acceptable, but I just found out I am not a fan of Ahi Tuna.