April 10th, 2012
Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar, Italian Cuisine, 36 East 4th St., NoHo, Restaurant, Review, New York City
New York City was a little cold and windy when I visited at the end of March. That did not stop us from walking and enjoying some of the many attractions that this international city has to offer.
Eating in New York is an experience and everyone has an opinion to which restaurant to try.
I was visiting New York to catch up with my cousins who were traveling back to Puerto Rico from Spain. The three of us were going to also get together with a childhood friend. I cannot believe we had not seen him in probably 38 to 40 years.
When I was talking to him on the phone and were trying to figure out where to go, I told him I wanted an intimate restaurant, where we could catch up after so many years.
Luigi delivered a neat restaurant called Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar. It is in the Historic District of NoHo, at 36 East 4th St., between Lafayette & Bowery. Tel. 212-375-0100. Website? http://www.aromanyc.com. Aroma opens 7 days a week.
In the 1970s and 80s artists started to occupy the area’s loft buildings, calling it NoHo to distinguish it from SoHo. NoHo was previously known as “warehouse district”. The Historic District of NoHo extends from north of Houston St. to East 9th St., and east from Broadway and Mercer to Lafayette St., and west of Cooper Square. This district remains intact. If you want to know more, please visit http://www.nohony.org.
Aroma opened in 2005 and already is the recipient of several accolades: Michelin 2012 Bib Gourmand Pick, 2012 Top 10 Wine Bars in NYC, and 2012 Top Value Restaurant in NYC, and New York Sexiest Wine Lists, among others.
The bar was at the front of the restaurant, right as you stepped in. There were different dining areas at Aroma; Main Dining Room, Farmhouse Room and La Tavernetta Room. We were escorted down through very narrow stairs to the Farmhouse Room, which gave me the feel of a wine cellar in a country side home. It was so cozy with a communal table, lit with candles and chandeliers. Very intimate, indeed.
Luigi came in looking “igualito”; just as we remembered him. Same smile. Quickly put us up to date on his life, as we waited for Aroma’s sommelier to come to our table to help us with the wine selections. They do have an extensive wine list.
Bread, olives and olive oil were immediately brought to the table. It is worth mentioning most everything is made in-house.
So, we wanted to start with a few appetizers.
An order of Arancini. Arancinis are fried; sometimes baked rice balls coated with breadcrums. Different fillings could be used. To tell you the truth, I had never had them and immediately knew I would like to try making them. It is a very old recipe and the word comes from Arancia which means orange in Italian. It is just the look; nothing to do with oranges.
We also ordered the meatballs. Neapolitan ragu, and smoked mozzarella. They were very good. One order for dinner, as well.
An order of grilled baby octopus with corona beans, potatoes, paprika and mint oil.
For dinner, an order of potato gnocchi gratin, porcini, truffle bechamel and fontina. My cousin commented that they were very good and perfect portion, as well.
I decided to have the strascinati pasta dish. Wild mushroom sofrito, spicy lamb sausage, roasted peppers, moliterno. The strascinati pasta is a simple pasta; only flour, semolina and water. It looks like an orecchiette pasta. It had a nice kick to it and loved it.
Luigi, who comes to Aroma often, ordered Leidy’s pork short ribs with smoked paprika, shiitake, and Anson Mills polenta. They looked beautiful and he said they were delicious, as well.
Even with everything we had eaten so far, we still had room for dessert. Too good to pass.
For me the chamomile panna cotta, moscato, poached figs and mascarpone what the dessert to get. I love figs; I do have my own tree in Rehoboth Beach. The panna cotta is the simmering together of cream, milk and sugar. Then, mixing all of this with gelating and letting it cool.
Some other ones preferred the molten chocolate cake, vanilla gelato and nutella cream.
And, Luigi decided on Di Palo ricotta cheese cake, berries, orange curd and grapefruit.
Coffee and more laughter ended one very nice evening…
Margie & Sonia (cousins) and the stairs.
Note: Aroma has space to hold special events for large parties and private events. Check the website and give them a call.
By the way, how could I forget? Our service was excellent!!
Tags: Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar, Full Bar, Italian Cuisine, Italian Restaurant North of Houston, New York City, New York Italian Restaurant, Restaurant in NoHo, review, seafood restaurant
