Monday, November 19, 2007

Esca
402 West 43rd Street (at 9th Avenue)

My readers know how highly I rate Esca as a dining experience. The food is fantastic, the wine is amazing, and it is just a fun place for a night out. A bit loud and crazy at times, but all in good fun. My previous visit encompassed all that...plus a nightmare of a hangover...

This time I went with a friend of mine, hoping to break a trend of several bad meals (such as Five Points, Cafe Gray, Euzkadi and so forth...), and Esca was about as safe as it goes. We enjoyed a nice bottle of Lagrein, one of my favourite reds, and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

My friend went with the crudo tasting of various raw seafoods, from sea urchin to yellowtail. I chose two a la carte -- the razor clams (delicious) and the swordfish (absolutely dreamy). We were more than happy by then with the excellent starters, the definition of fresh and tasty.

My main was the usual maccheroni alla chittara -- with sea urchin and crab. Fabulous as usual, with ample crabmeat. It could have been a bit saltier (sea salt would have been great), but it was excellent I shared half of it with my friend as he gave me half his spaghetti neri -- with ink and cuttlefish. Excellent.

We were both happy and spent, but went with a dessert -- he had the gelati and I had the sorbetti. All very creative, from a cheese-based sorbetto to exotic fruits. Fantastic. And with a wine-glass of grappa (!!!) and espresso, we left this place full, happy and finally satisfied from this string of bad luck!

This place is always safe for a great meal. I always recommend this place. If you can get a table, do it. You won't regret it. The awesome selection of crudo is enough to bring anyone into this place. It does get noisy and boisterous (like the table next to us), but it's all in good fun.

Food: A--
Atmosphere: B
For Lone Diners: B (*)

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