A Voce Columbus

I love good Italian food. But, there seem to be a high number of “okay” Italian places and very few amazing ones. In other words, an Italian restaurant really has to wow me to receive anything close to a rave review. Frankly, there are far too many Italian restaurants around to be okay with dining at a mediocre one. In my pre-dining research on A Voce, I heard very mixed reviews about various people’s experience dining there. Some people told me that they had a fabulous dish there, while others said they were underwhelmed. Nevertheless, I went in with an open mind and hopes that I would find a “wow”-worthy Italian restaurant.

A Voce Columbus is in the Time Warner Center, which lays claim to three restaurants with Michelin stars. The restaurant overlooks Central Park and as such most tables offer beautiful park views. The kitchen has windows that are a bit higher than eye level when you’re seated, but on your way to your seat these windows offer nice views into the pristine kitchen. Honestly, I have no idea how any of the chefs get anything done as they also have windows overlooking the park.

The space is very sleek and the weeknight we were there it was populated with a large number of couples with their teenage kids and a few tables of businessmen that matched the sleek design. We were seated by the big window in a booth overlooking the park. The view alone makes a trip to the restaurant worthwhile (did I say that already? Sorry, but we went there on a gorgeous summer evening just as the sun was setting and it was an “I love New York” type view).

The housemade cocktails were quite interesting sounding so my friend opted for one of those, while I went with a delightful glass of Nebbiolo. After we placed our order, a plate of focaccia with ricotta with mint, olive oil and fresh cracked black pepper arrived. The focaccia had a gorgeous texture and the ricotta and mint was lovely smeared on top of it.

We had two appetizers, Cassoncini and Pancetta. The Cassoncini are listed on the menu as swiss chard and crescenza cheese filled fried dough, prosciutto de parma. I thought the prosciutto would be in the pockets and warm but it was actually cold and layered on top. I would have preferred that the prosciutto be inside the pockets because the way they were made the overall flavor of the dish was overwhelmed by the swiss chard. Basically, these were just a disappointment in a way that fried dough pockets should never be. The pancetta was a long strip of pork belly with figs, balsamic vinegar, and pistachios. This was okay but also a bit underwhelming. The pork flavor was mild and it just didn’t have the salty smoke flavor of pork belly that I adore nor did it have the texture that I prefer in pork belly.

For her entrée, my friend decided on the special ravioli with goat cheese and pistachios. I had the trofie with clams, ramps, lemon, and taggiasca olives. Both of these were good pasta dishes but neither of them knocked my socks off. The ravioli had a mild goat cheese flavor and was in a nice butter sauce. The texture was very good, and the dish won best entrée of the table. The trofie looked like little devils and the clams in them were cooked perfectly, but there weren’t enough clams or ramps and the lemon flavor was far too mild. It tasted more of butter than anything else. In other words, I agreed with my friends that had only okay experiences with A Voce. This experience made me wonder whether the other A Voce would disappoint me equally or whether it is superior to this location. I’m willing to give it a chance and have hopes it will win a “wow”.

My friend had a number of raviolis left, so she decided to take them to go. The waiter cleared our plates away and then instead of returning with the doggie bag, he returned with a coat check ticket and told her she could pick up her leftovers at the coat check on the way out. This was definitely one of the classiest ways to handle doggie bags that I’ve ever seen. I kind of loved it…maybe even more then the food I had that night.

For dessert, it’s difficult to resist doughnuts with bittersweet chocolate dipping sauce so we didn’t even try. These were pretty good, but sadly not the best doughnuts I’ve ever had. The bittersweet chocolate was awesome though.

All in all, I think A Voce has scene/atmosphere going for it. Sadly, the food just doesn’t live up to the view.

Sushi Azabu

Sushi Azabu is located in the basement of Greenwich Grill and boasts a modest eight seat counter sushi bar with a few banquettes lining the opposite wall. You enter through the Greenwich Grill’s main entrance and when you inform the hostess you’re there for the sushi bar she radios down to find out if they’re ready for you. You’re led down the stairs to the basement and through a series of curtains to arrive at Sushi Azabu and you’re welcomed with the typical sushi bar greeting from the itamaes behind the bar. The small space is modestly decorated and there are three itamaes behind the counter.

The gimmick worked on me and I was immediately in love. I honestly don’t know if it’s feeling like I know something that others don’t or basement hideouts that appeal to me more. We ordered the omakase that they’re willing to alter the content and price of according to your needs. We decided to go with the recommended $100 price point and a side of Sapporo. I personally far prefer beer over sake with sushi, but if you’re into sake they have quite a list.

Our first bite was octopus and daikon radish in a miso and soy glaze. I loved the daikon in this and parts of the octopus were delightful while others were a tad too chewy. This bite was followed by the largest oysters I have ever seen in my entire life. A series of 3 giant Japanese oysters were arranged on this mammoth oyster shell with a minced, slightly hot pepper and Japanese sauce atop it. The oysters were a delight and unexpectedly were oddly creamier then their smaller, US brethren.

At the start, the food was arriving at a much faster pace then I prefer. It’s a very delicate science as to the right speed for food to arrive. I don’t like when you start looking around wondering why you haven’t gotten anything, but I despise when one plate is removed and another immediately placed in front of you. I’m not a competitive eater and I like to slowly enjoy my food otherwise I don’t have room for my dessert! I really wish they had been a bit slower with the food.

Next up was the sashimi plate, which had two or three pieces of four different types of fish. My favorite was this white fish that was buttery heaven. My next favorite was the fatty tuna. I didn’t love either the clam or the mackerel, the latter of which tasted a tad bit fishy to me and had the skin still on.

The theme throughout the night was without a doubt Fatty Tuna. We had many different preparations of it and most had different levels of fattiness. I loved each piece of fatty tuna we tried, but I would’ve liked a bit more variety in the fish because it seemed like they had a good selection on the regular menu. I couldn’t help but wonder whether they were putting forth their best fish or trying to get rid of something they had in large supply.

After our sashimi, a piping hot ramekin of egg custard was placed in front of us. It was so steaming that we had to wait a good 5 minutes before it was cool enough to try. This was an interesting little dish with mushrooms and egg. It was tasty, but nothing special.

The next dish was a cold crab and cucumber salad in vinaigrette. This was very good fresh crab in a really nice rice wine vinaigrette with crisp cucumber. But again, it was nothing that blew me out of the water. The following dish was fatty tuna marinated in sweet miso sauce. To me there is absolutely nothing as delightful as fish in miso. It’s just a match made in flavor heaven. So it was no surprise that I loved this, but I will say I prefer black cod miso.

Then the main event and my absolute favorite part began. The itamae made us single sushi pieces and placed them ceremoniously on the board in front of each of us. I loved watching him mold the rice for each piece and delicately place the fish atop it. Each piece contained the proper balance of flavor on the rice (we were not given soy sauce to dip the pieces in but rather the chef included the proper flavorings on each individual piece whether that be soy and wasabi or something else). We began with a fatty tuna piece that was fabulous. Our next sushi was scallop. I’ve never had scallop sushi, and I’m sad I haven’t because this was really delightful. The thinly sliced scallop was layered over the rice, and the bite just melted in your mouth. The next was salmon roe roll, which was okay but a bit too much roe flavor that to me should have been offset by something else being in the roll. Then there was a piece of mackerel that was far better than the sashimi mackerel. And then our itamae pulled out a blow torch and seared a piece of fatty tuna that had been brushed with a soy-miso glaze atop rice. Holy cow…it was awesome. Next was my favorite, the horse mackerel (Aji) that was just buttery goodness. Then, he passed us a cone of fatty tuna that was excellent. Our final role was a miso black cod roll that was fish candy heaven on rice. After we had digested for a few minutes, he came over and said I am going to make you each one more of whatever was your favorite roll. I picked the Aji and Susan opted for the miso black cod. This entire portion of the night sold me on this place.

After our sushi board was cleared, our waitress brought us shrimp head miso. This was far too strong of a shrimp taste for either of us and we were forced to feign complete and utter fullness to avoid any awkward we don’t like this at all conversations.

All in all, a wonderful experience at the sushi bar. I would have definitely enjoyed seeing a greater variety of fish, but adored the majority of what they served us. It hasn’t stolen my heart as my favorite sushi bar in the city, but it is a cool place that serves excellent quality sushi.