Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Bread & Tulips

With a name like Bread & Tulips, how could I resist going in?!  Located in the Hotel Giraffe, Bread & Tulips occupies the space that used to be Barna. 



I arrived a touch early to snagged a seat at the bar to wait for my dining compadre (with a cocktail and my Kindle to keep me company of course).  Bartender was friendly and the bar area spacious.  Also great - you can transfer your bar tap to your table (its surprising how many restaurants won't do that...).

Cocktail menu
Cocktails and Kindle!  Loveee
As dining compadre and I were shown to our table, I did see fresh tulips on every table!  The rest of the space was simply decorated with an open view of the pizza oven.


Simple and clean setup with tulips on each table
Looking at the menu, Bread & Tulips offers an Italian style menu with antipasti, crostinis, pastas, secondis, and pizzas.  Also served with the menu, a basket of great bread (the kind with crispy outsides and soft insides) and olives.  I'm not a big olive fan, but dining compadre said that these were excellent. 

Menu - lots of variety
I love my some bread basket!  Dining compadre loved the olives
After placing our order, we were surprised with an amuse bouche of risotto balls with olive tepenade!  Perfect cause I was starving and couldn't wait to get started on dinner.  Or maybe it was to smooth things over after a woman fell off her chair into our table (the leg of her chair broke if you can believe it!).  Either way, it was a nice gesture - thanks! 

Surprise amuse bouche: risotto balls w/olive tepenade
First up were our appetizers of Burrata and Housemade Ricotta.  That's right - we went with TWO cheese dishes.  The Burrata, which is a personal favorite cheese of mine, was served over fresh heirloom tomatoes with fresh herbs and a touch of olive oil.  

The Housemade Ricotta was excellent excellent excellent - can be rivaled with the ricotta at Locande Verde!  It was oh so fresh, light and fluffy.  The herbs were perfect and complemented the ricotta - I definitely recommend!  Served with buttered toast, I just couldn't get enough of this dish.

Burrata
Housemade Ricotta
With such rich appetizers (and a bottle of wine between us), dining compadre and I decided to go easy on the main entree and split the Handmade Trofie.  This twisty pasta was served with veal bolognese and a dollop of ricotta on top. The sauce was flavorful and went well with the ricotta, but the pasta was overdone and soft.  Hmm...

Handmade Trofie
And to top off our meal, we couldn't resist the call of the panna cotta.  Served with peaches on top, I was surprised to note that there was a hint of alcohol in the panna cotta.  Boozy dessert!  I wanted to love it, but other than the hint of alcohol, there was nothing really special with this dessert.

Panna Cotta
Overall, I liked my meal but didn't love everything.  What I definitely did love was the Housemade Ricotta and the Burrata!  Given the spacious bar area, friendly service, and excellent antipasti and crostini selection, my next trip out will probably be for drinks and antipasti/appetizers. Give me that Ricotta!!!

Piggy says eh...

Bread & Tulips
365 Park Ave South (btwn 26th and 27th St)
212-532-9100

Thanks for reading - Piggy KK

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