Mangia: The Best Italian Food in New York City

Rating:
Summary: mangia
Review: NYC is a great place to eat Italian and this book is a terrific sourcebook---with all sorts of intimate detial--to find it. The research seems to be impeccable. And, finally, someone discusses wine stores and wine lists!

Rating:
Summary: Get Stuffed, Italian-Style
Review: Readers in a hurry to plunge into the best of Italian food needn't waste much time with this review--just order the damned thing. The price is low, the quality's high and the author, Jack Robertiello, has had a long career in the journalism of food and wine. He knows his stuff.

His subject is the Italian food of New York City, which means--with just a few exceptions--the best in this country, even this hemisphere (if you've ever tried Argentine or Chilean Italian cooking, you know what I mean). He divides New York City, wisely into several areas for the reader's convenience. First there is Manhattan, which is subdivided into neighborhoods also, thus putting the best and the most on display, conveniently formatted so it's easy to find out opening hours and days and time, which credit cards are or are not accepted, and so on. Information at your fingertips is the rule here. Then you come to the meat of each review, which ain't chopped liver. No snappy one-liners here, no "witty" and quick dismissals: the author actually discusses each establishment at a length that convinces you he's seriously studied it. Robertiello does have a sense of humor--he just doesn't use cheap laughs as a cover for shallowness.

From Manhattan he goes on to Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx, all of which have jewels that are missed by diners--and critics--who are afraid to cross the river. The only borough he's missed, it seems, is Staten Island, where there is a Sicilian vasteddi shack he needs to know about.

Restaurants are the main dish in this guide but far from the only one. There are also bakeries (some for pastry, some for bread), cafes, pizzerias, snackeries, food stores, butcher shops and joints. (A joint is a raffish sort of place whose charm usually escapes your friends, who think it's a dump.) He rates some on their overall cooking and others on the basis of specialties, which is important to folks who are, for example, eternally searching for the Best Pizza. He even has a 'best restaurant with music.' Such a place is normally to be shunned but the wordly-wise Robertiello knows full well that it can be a life-saver when you need to treat the in-laws to a memorable evening while ignoring them at the same time. A Top Ten list of Italian restaurants is provided but hardly necessary because the level of Italian food in the city is quite high. But his short courses on wine, pasta, olive oil and cheese will be of great help to neophytes.

Civilized men can disagree, and I have to quibble over his estimates (too high) of Bruno Ravioli and Manganaro's Food. Maybe that's because I make ravioli myself and life almost nextdoor to Manganaro's. Neither am I convinced that coal cooks pizza better than wood. Those sre small matters: This book is the real deal.

--Bill Marsano
(Winner of a James Beard medal for his writing one wines and spirits, and several Lowell Thomas awards for travel writing.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rating:
Summary: Reliably the best
Review: This book provides what all of us crave, especially when we venture out in New York City -- an attentive and authoritative guide. It whets your zest for the great New York chase to find the best, and to know its inside story . . . "great pastries, freshly ground sausages, lovingly handled and well-made cheeses . . ." Hungry yet? Intriguing recipes (for swordfish agliata, e.g.) spice the tour of Italian food emporia and restaurants, specialty purveyors, pasta makers and bakers. The writing is as sharp and delicious as its subject.

Rating:
Summary: satisfy your italian appetite
Review: what a complete guide--from restaurants to hidden secrets to where to find the best italian anything--i can't wait for my next trip to new york to start my stateside italian adventure!
it's a great gift as well.