Terrific Takeout: Spiga Summer 2016 Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Owner of Spiga, Luigi Corea and Peachy Deegan with her favorite dessert of the summer, Mango Semifreddo!
"Summer presents a wonderful opportunity for new guests to discover the joy of Spiga as so many of our regulars vacation away from the Upper West Side. Our classic nature reflected in the high quality of our authentic Italian cooking always impresses newcomers that we are so happy to meet. We've been here a decade and we are still new to some, so come visit and rediscover us!"
-Luigi Corea
You will also absolutely revel in the sensational seasonal hit Pan Seared chatham cod fish, above, and the succulent Breast of duck, below
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Spiga is simply one of the best places you can dine at in Manhattan that you might not know about yet, unless you read our other posts on the brilliance of our friends and owners Luigi and Stefano, the chef! Tucked away on the upper west side's West 84th Street, Spiga is a bastion of authentic Italian goodness that you are going to just love.
Spiga was most recently featured this past winter:
and we have loved it there since 2012:
When you visit on a warm summer day, you'll find their beautiful windows open after you ascend the stairs to their elevated level. Luigi is the ultimate host and gentleman who greets his guests personally; charisma is probably his middle name. We always look forward to seeing him and seeing what he and Stefano have created to welcome each season as it blooms on their plates.
For our green salad, we chose the Carciofini con pistacchio, valeriana (see that is how you say Microgreen in Italian!!!)
e scaglie di parmigiano. If you don't speak Italian well either (aside from knowing how to say your name and the fact that you like Italian shoes...and the feet-enthused readers should know we met a fantastic Manhattan podiatrist recently stay tuned!) you should know that this means sauteed baby artichokes with pistachio over microgreens/mache salad and parmesean cheese. They carefully put the dressing on the side for Ms. Superpicky and she appreciated it, although she did enjoy the dressing! She likes to control dressing application.
A quintessential classic that Spiga excels in under appetizers is the incredibly delicious Timballo di zucchinie alla parmigiana: zucchini parmesan timbale over tomato sauce that will hit the spot in your stomach like a home run. Of course, Luigi and Stefano hail straight from Italy and this is just perfection.
The buildup to a crescendo trumpeted the pasta course which was essentially orgasmic: Homemade artichoke ravioli with mixed mushrooms, brown sugar, sage and truffle pecorino!!!
In other words for the purely Italian readers (and you know you can translate us into dozens of languages-see top right) : Ravioli di carciofi e funghi misti al burro fuso, salvia e pecorino tartufato. Of course, tartufato is one of our favorite Italian words, since truffle is one of our most favorite English words. The sensational flavor of this culinary achievement will take your tastebuds on a vacation from lesser pasta courses and bring you a truly elevated experience.
We publish right before dinner time to torture you!
You know where you want to go for dinner.
We just love it when plates are this gorgeous, and don't hate them because they're beautiful: eat them. The breast of duck dances brilliantly in a striking merlot sauce with tender cherries, splendid potato gratin and Brussels sprout. The flavor emanating from this wonder is tremendously satisfying and we love the fanned out arrangement. The duck is ideally medium rare and arrives in style from the talented Ottomanellis on Bleecker.
Though it is a quacker, it was an oinker-HAM- for the camera.
Seafood always sings the song of summer, and at Spiga, the chatham cod fish sails in from Massachusetts's Cape Cod three times a week. Just delicious, this poisson is a generous size and revels in a puree of red onions and is set off by lovely fried artichoke.
The mango semifreddo is the BEST DESSERT WE HAD ALL SUMMER. And we have had an awful lot of superb desserts...
This mango does a tango in mint, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and it will silence even the most talkative. It is perfection on a plate, resting upon graham cracker and pistachio.
In the Summer Olympics of Peachy's stomach, it won a gold medal.
Spiga is definitely Terrific Takeout and continues to be Highly Recommended!
We look forward to Spiga joining Twitter and Facebook!
Someday!
