All the Stars Align as we eat up Carbone in the Village Bleecker April 16, 2015 Dinner, Featured, Food Types, Greenwich Village, Italian, Neighborhoods, Restaurants, Reviews How do I even begin to write about Carbone? I really don’t even have words to describe the amazing dining experience that happened at Carbone. I’m still processing what I can easily, and without hesitation, claim was the best meal of my life. Before I even get to the food, the single thing that impressed me the most was the quality of the service at Carbone. I’ve never had a more respectful, helpful and hilarious meal with the staff of a restaurant. Jason, who claimed he was the 5th best captain of Carbone, was by our standards number 1 and helped us throughout our dinner. Carbone Beginnings When you are seated the first course delivered to the table is bread, Parmesan, salami and pickled cauliflower. Our favorite was the bread with the tomato on top. Everything was perfect. Antipasti at Carbone Eggplant Torrisi was totally not what I expected. It arrived and looked more like a layer cake than an eggplant. But when I finally tried a bite of this masterpiece my brain exploded. It also came with the most delicious mozzarella, it was the perfect cheese and with a little salt it only enhanced the flavor. The Octopus Pizzaiolo was another great addition to our meal. A little heat and sweetness from different peppers complimented the dish well. The octopus was crispy on the outside and tender in the center and had that great grilled flavor. We didn’t mess around when it came time to our order, Jason suggested for our group that we consider getting either the lasagna or the Prime Porterhouse. Carbone only makes two lasagnas a night so there is no way we could pass up on this dish. So obviously we got both the lasagna and the steak. This is the Eat Up New York rockstar experience! The porterhouse steak was broken up into two courses for us. They prepared the tenderloin side as a tartare. This tartare was so delicious I’m not sure I could ever order tartare anywhere else again. It came with some beautiful toasted bread but we didn’t feel it was necessary to disturb this amazing dish by putting it on toast. Pasta at Carbone After our antipasti the lasagna came out and everyone in the restaurant turned to look at this awesome pasta headed to our table. Carbone only makes two of their lasagnas a night and it is a perfect dish for several people. It is presented right out of the oven and cut tableside. It takes two people to serve the Lasagna at Carbone. One person is needed to cut the giant order into pieces and another standing by with scissors to cut the cheese as the pieces are lifted out from the ramikan. So go with a group and go early so you can score this heavenly creation. Their lasagna is decadent in everyway possible. Jason informed us that it was green lasagna, meaning they use spinach noodles. It is layered with not only ridiculous amounts of cheese and red sauce but also broccoli rabe pesto and insanely awesome béchamel sauce. At Jason’s suggestion we tried the lasagna without the addition of the side red sauce and then tried it with the sauce. Both ways were amazing but distinctly different. We loved the Carbon Lasanga with and without sauce – It’s a win win! If you go to Carbone and this isn’t on your table, you are making a mistake. Along with our lasagna came our meatballs. Although Jason joked with us that they were “just” meatballs we knew that this couldn’t be further from the truth. These are real meatballs done the right way. They were made with lots of sausage and the taste of fennel seed put me right in my happy place. Prime Porterhouse Carbone Then the strip side of our Prime Porterhouse came to the table. It came with the most amazing roasted garlic and some house made steak sauce. Both of which were delicious but the steak was so outstanding that neither were necessary. The Prime Porterhouse at Carbone is dry aged for 60 days and it really did make a huge difference in the flavor. Hands down we all agreed it was the best steak we ever ate. Along with our steak we also got some broccoli rabe, which although it is not my favorite veggie was prepared very well. They grill the broccoli rabe and manage to eliminate the usual bitterness I don’t like. The grill also gave it a unique smoky flavor that we loved. Dessert If you are going to get one dessert at Carbone it should be the carrot cake, it is just as beautiful as it is delicious. You’ve never had a carrot cake like the one at Carbone, the ginger cream cheese frosting just takes the whole thing to the next level. The bananas flambéed was prepared at our table and once again had the whole restaurant staring. It is also massive and one order is enough for four people. The flaming fruit is served on top of massive amounts of ice cream and banana bread and topped with crumbled wafer cookies. What can I say except Carbone is amazing. Although I might be ruined for eating the rest of my life I found my happy place over and over again through each course at Carbone. For more information on Carbone check out their website.
