Going to be in the city Jan. 31st; would Zabar's be a good place to get Pasta, fresh, refrigerated or frozen? Also, I'll be near Rockafeller Center to have dinner with my sister, also coming in from out of town. TIA!
By littlecmad
on Jan 18, 2010 08:13 AM
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I don't know if they sell pasta, but you could check the Dean & Deluca outlet in Rockefeller Center. If you're going to travel, I'd recommend Agata & Valentina, Fairway, DiPalo...
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If you're willing to travel further downtown, Raffetto's in the Village has fresh pasta. Full disclosure: I've only had the ravioli (which was excellent).
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Raffetto's
144 W Houston St, New York, NY 10012
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Raffeto's is nothing special.Not bad though and it is inexpensive.
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Rafetto's range of pasta is superb but they will not be open on Jan. 31.
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Fairway carries some of Raffetto's ravioli.
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The fresh pasta at Citarella (about 6 blocks south of Zabar) is decent.
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Avoid any pasta at Zabars.
One goes to Zabars for cheese, bread or smoked fish...not for pasta.
Little Italy is yr best place...stick with the old-world, true Italian places like
PIEMONTE
190 Grand St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 226-0475
www.piemonteravioli.com/
Take the B or the D train right to Grand Street
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How does Piemonte's pasta compare to DiPalo's? If I'm not mistaken, Piemonte is on the same block and just one or two storefronts away. We got so tired of waiting to be served in the counter line at DiPalo one busy Saturday afternoon and eventually left. Piemonte was empty (or relatively uncrowded) and we were tempted to go in to buy pasta. We hesitated as we had our sights set on DiPalo, after receiving a gift of some delicious figs from there. Should we just go to Piemonte next time? Is DiPalo worth the wait? We would also buy things other than pasta.
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I don't think the pasta at DiPalo is amazing - though I've only tried it a couple of times. Haven't tried Piemonte. In terms of the line - yes, it just is long (though better if you can arrive when they open on the weekend) but I always think it's worth the wait. Have you been to the store since they enlarged it? Doesn't help with the line, but makes waiting a little more comfortable.
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Yes, we went earlier this year and saw the new space. Not sure if it was typical but the counter service was incredibly slow. I mean, it's great for the person being served to get so much individual attention (such as details on how to combine various ingredients to prepare some dish) but we just had too many other things we still had to get done that day and ended up leaving. Definitely hope to return when we're in less of a rush!
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The counter service is incredibly slow, but that is just the way it is. And when it is your turn at the counter, you appreciate it. (Well, I do.) That's one of the things I love about the place, and it's pretty much my favorite food store in New York. So it's worth going when you have time to hang out. I'm fortunate enough these days to go down during the week and, while there still can be a long line (you'd be amazed at how much some people taste and buy), it's not as bad as on the weekend.
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I adore DiPalo, which is also my favorite food store here, but their fresh pasta is nothing special. I am not sure that they actually make it. Although this will not help with the original question, my opinion is that once you have tried the fresh pasta from Borgatti,nothing else will do. It is definitely worth the trip to the Bronx, as it freezes very well. I have tried just about every obvious venue for fresh pasta and nothing comes close to theirs.
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How do you freeze the Borgatti pasta (which I love as well)? When I've done so, it's all clumped together when I try to cook it.
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MMRuth: When I buy it, I ask them to give me packages of a half pound each, which is the amount I cook for two people as a main course. Once I am home, I put the paper-wrapped packages into a zip loc bag and freeze. Just before use, I take them out of the freezer and put into the boiling water after shaking off the large amount of cornmeal that they are packed with. It does look clumped together when you put it in the boiling water, but I have never had a problem untangling it as it begins to cook. It only takes about 3 minutes.
On my last visit, after many failed attempts, I finally learned that there are two types of dough for the fresh pasta. There is the lighter chitarra dough used to make the shapes pictured on their little cardboard chart showing the sizes by number. And there is the "heavy" spaghetti dough used for round spaghetti (round vs the squared chitarra strands). I prefer the heavy dough and have never found a fresh pasta that has such a springy "chew" to it.
For some reason their fresh cavatelli comes with instructions on the label saying to cook it for 35 minutes. This is to be ignored. They seem to usually have the cavatelli on hand and it is quite amazing, also. After having pasta from there, I am spoiled and find that even DiPalo falls short.
Speaking of Di Palo, they finally have in stock the dried Senese peppers from Basilicata that are featured in the recipe in Saveur magazine's article on Basilicata:
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes...
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I am really looking in particular for Pumpkin Ravioli and Bertagni brand if possible. When I originally posted, I didn't think that would really matter, but now, from the responses, I think it does.
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