Gotta give it up for the Ippudo Westside

Ippudo Westside: Shishito Pepper

Ippudo is one of our favorite Ramen places in the city, so when we heard they'd be opening up a new location on the Westside we made sure to head there as soon as we could. We took our seats at the bar, ordered a couple of Sapporos and the Shishito Pepper, and settled in.

Gee, I know this great Italian Place: Giano!

Giano Restaurant

Tonight, I was invited to try Giano and as I walked down the street past some of my favorite East Village restaurants, I was excited because to hold your own in this neighborhood, you have to be something special. I walked in and was immediately enchanted. I'm pleased because usually I don't get great interior shots, but I really love how this one captures the restaurant.

The weather is just starting to cool, so it was just a little too chilly to dine in the back garden, but it was still nice enough to leave the entire front part of the restaurant open and enjoy the evening. Our first plate of the evening was a trio of Appetizers: 

Press Dinner: The MasalaWala

Mumbai Samosa

I was invited to a press dinner to get a taste of what father/son run The MasalaWala has to offer. The restaurant is a cozy cafe that serves their favorite street food recipes selected from all across Southern Asia. By offering a taste of popular dishes from all across India and even some from Pakistan and Sri Lanka, their hope is to expose New York diners to Indian Cuisine beyond the standards like Chicken Tikka Masala and Lamb Vindaloo.

However, that is not to say that you can't find some of those favorites here. Case in point, we started with a taste of their Mango Lassi and an order of their Samosas. Such a pleasant surprise to find samosas made in-house and not frozen/store-bought!