Last night I met up with some friends to try 'inoteca, located in the lower east side. The concept behind 'inoteca is to bring new and different Italian wines to the table while enoying a simple meal. The night definitely had its ups and downs: The wait was frustrating, to say the least (about an hour and a half) - I shouldn't even complain because the subways made me late so I only waited an hour; Amanda was the one waiting for the full 90 minutes... What made the wait a little more frustrating was the wierd sewer smell coming from the streets...
We were finally seated in a not-so-primely-located table in the basement and given a waiter who was a little scatter-brained (at one point, he explained that he had to excuse himself to address the espresso that he had spilled!) but still nice!
BUT, despite these setbacks, I really liked this place! The plates are small and meant for sharing, and the menu has lots of antipasto and cured meat choices. We decided on splitting a truffled egg bruschetta dish and a salad of beets, fennel, oranges, hazelnuts, and (my favorite), a generous helping of romano shavings. Then, we each ordered a pannini, only able to finish half. We split the panna cotta for dessert. Being that 'inoteca is also a wine bar, I decided to try something completely new to me: a red spumante. I was expecting it to be like a rose champagne, which has a pink hue, but this was the color of a dark red wine, just bubbly! It was delicious (Its name is Lambrusco La Luna, for those of you interested...). I also capped off dessert with a glass of delicious, sweet Muscato wine. The prices were very reasonable; the paninis and small plates were all around $8 or $9, and there were many glasses of wine available for around that same price. I'd definitely recommend giving this place a try, but maybe going a little earlier when there may be less of a wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment