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A slice of caprese (fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, fresh basil; sundried tomato; $3.25) tasted predominantly of tomato sauce. Pretty as it was, its thin crust was too even: no charring, no bubbles, no character.
Rigoletto
208 Columbus Ave. (69th-70th Sts.)
212-721-2929
Specialty sandwich No. 5, rare roast beef with tomato, romaine, and horseradish sauce on a Portuguese roll ($5.95) delivered on almost every count. The sauce was little more than a lubricant, but the rare meat was piled high, the lettuce and tomato was fine, and the roll was nice and crusty. Very good deal, especially for the neighborhood.
Another lunchtime not long after, prosciutto, salami, and provolone on a Portuguese roll ($6.75) with romaine, tomato, and sundried tomato sauce, wasn't quite the match for the rare roast beef. It would have come much closer if the lettuce and tomato were included as advertised; discovered this, of course, only back at the office. Nice classical string music while I waited for my order, at least.
Crystal Café
229 West 57th St. (Seventh Ave.-Broadway)
212-246-2630
Chocolate pudding ($5), with whipped cream and grated chocolate, was OK. A large slice of all-chocolate cake ($5.50) was very moist; enough to share.
The Chocolate Room
51 Fifth Ave. (St. Mark's Ave.-Prospect Pl.), Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-783-2900
Half of the hot and cold buffet ($5.99 per pound) was boarded over as a platform for packaged goods. Of the prepared food that remained, I felt safe with a salad of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green peppers, and onion.
Chul Gourmet Deli & Grocery
117 West 58th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves.)
212-586-4844
A slice of pizza bianca with mushrooms, olives and fresh mozzarella ($3) was a little dry, but they'd been firing up the brick oven for only four days; worth another go.
Bella Vita Pizzeria
158 West 58th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves.)
212-664-7670
(This venue is closed.) Though mightily tempted by the oatmeal-apricot-pistachio cookie, I chose its cousin, the snicker doodle ($2.25) — brown, crusty, and cinnamon-sugar-laden outside, golden (though dry) inside. Also an eight-pack of cinnamon toothpicks (15 cents). Though takeout here comes highly praised, a large part of the menu is devoted to burritos, which usually don't tempt me (even though Kitchen/Market goes so far as to distinguish between Los Angeles and San Francisco style). Another time, perhaps, I'll try that smoky tomato corn soup with lime and the Oaxacan blue cornmeal cornbread.
Kitchen/Market
218 Eighth Ave. (21st-22nd Sts.)
212-243-4433
(This venue is closed.) Had another restaurant in mind for lunch, but halfway through Jeffrey Steingarten's essay on turducken, I stopped in this Chelsea old-timer for the first time in 10 years. Same old bar up front, plus some rickety pub seating; nicer tables in back. My jambalaya (about $10) amounted pretty much to rice in a tomato-based sauce, with sausage, pork, and chicken; no seafood.
Cajun
129 Eighth Ave. (at 16th St.)
212-691-6174
(This venue is closed.) Coconut almond joy ice cream was cloying; Damson plum sorbet, interesting; strawberry ice cream, very good.
Mary's Dairy
158 First Ave. (Eighth-Ninth Sts.)
(one of two locations)
212-254-5004
Sue and I had an easier time than I expected landing one of Frank's personable, mismatched tables, but only because we arrived for dinner before 7:00. A cherry tomato salad ($9.95) with arugula and shaved parmesan in a vinaigrette; calamari ($10.95) sautéed with plenty of garlic; rigatoni al ragu ($10.95) with lots of flavorful sausage; and orecchietti with broccoli rabe (special; $14.95) were all nice enough, but the calamari, rigatoni, and orecchietti each seemed like one-note dishes that would be better shared. Good bread, likely from the wood-burning oven as sibling restaurant Lil' Frankie's.
Frank
88 Second Ave. (Fifth-Sixth Sts.)
212-420-0202
(This venue is closed.) Poking through the pop-lit section downstairs, I narrowly avoided buying the large box of Red Hots, only to give in to a Mike & Ike's movie pack (cherry, orange, lemon, lime, and strawberry; $1.99). I like the texture of Chuckles better, and I miss the licorice, too.
Virgin Megastore
52 East 14th St. (at Broadway)
212-598-4666
Thank you!
