A Peachy's Pick Since 2016, Mozzarella e Vino Fall 2017 by Gianfranco Sorrentino and Vito Gnazzo Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Peachy Deegan, wearing Donna Degnan, and Owner Gianfranco Sorrentino
Fall is here! Meet the new entree, Chicken Medallions
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Or to be more specific according to Peachy Deegan, ITALIAN WINE!
Mozzarella e Vino is the youngest restaurant child of the three owned by Gianfranco Sorrentino and Executive Chef Vito Gnazzo, and has been a Peachy's Pick since 2016, when it was first featured:
We love these three restaurants! The other 2 are the Leopard and Il Gattopardo (Leopard in Italian).
Mozzarella e Vino was last featured earlier in the spring of this year:
Mozzarella e Vino is by far the best wine bar in Manhattan, and it is concurrently a fabulous restaurant for anything from appetizers to entrees and most notably, mozzarella sourced directly from their brand owned by them in Italy. Not every restaurant takes part in owning a mozzarella brand and you'd better believe when you are the owner of the product source, your guests taste the freshness that outshines your competition.
They have a lovely courtyard in back and if you are as good at timing your eating as Peachy you might see the stars come out over Manhattan through their glass roof.
We recommend you begin your experience with the Barbaresco Riservo 2010 Terre del Barolo which is perfectly welcoming and on the lighter side. Its approachable spirit makes it a wonderful liquid companion to your edible endeavors to begin with.
Not only is their bread fantastic with their Partanna olive oil from Sicily, but also their bread sticks rule. For someone that doesn't eat bread sticks anywhere else or like them anywhere else, Peachy Deegan certainly ensures these bread sticks have quite short lives. Carbs do not count here, and we would only like the bread sticks better if they were shaped like hockey sticks because you know they will score hat tricks in your stomach.
Although they excel particularly in cheese and wine, there is no area of this menu that is weak, another reason why this is superior to all other wine bars that come and go. We see weak areas of menus but never at these three restaurants. The salads are always superlative, fresh and fabulously creative. The Citrus and Avocado salad extends summer to your stomach with fennel and gaeta olives (pits out of course - they are professionals here) and Ms. I Do Not Like Most of the World's Salad Dressing did indeed like the Fresh Mint Dressing. Oranges, white grapefruit and ruby red grapefruit were the main players in the citrus party.
Gorgeous, darling!
There were two items in this lineup that did not make it home because Peachy is a mozzarella monster and now a Carrot Cake monster also. You will fall in love with the Burrata Pugliese beautifully scented with basil oil served with perfectly ripe halved cherry tomatoes and toast. Though simple, the tastes are phenomenal and every aspect of your attention will be captured by this plate that you will also delicately devour.
There is an entire menu page devoted to the Affettati and Formaggi: Cheese and Meats. Above please meet the Prosciutto San Daniele, which arrives in three lovely slices. It is sourced from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the high quality pig's legs are sea salt cured and low temperature, aged for 24 months. It's served with pear fruit mustard with mustard seeds, blueberries and walnuts. The second item we ordered from this page was the Buffalo Caciocavallo from Campania; its name means cheese on horseback from the way duos of gourd-shaped rounds are rope-bound and slung over a wooden board to drain and age. The gorgeous rich complexity of this cheese announces quality well done and the depth of flavor will only be outdone by the Super Tuscan...
An antipasti not to be ignored is the terrifically warm and comforting Grilled Eggplant timbale, enhanced with smoked provola mozzarella and slow cooked tomato sauce. As the weather cools down like it has this week, this is your go-to pick-me-up appetizer that will be like a winter sweater for your taste buds!
The Zuppe section boasts savory sensation Green Zucchini and potato puree scented with mint, yielding phenomenal consistency: not too thick and not too think for Goldilocks Peachy (who is now brunette.) It is a nice refresher in-between courses and nicely cleanses your palate.
Supertuscan 2014 Il Bruciato Bolgheri is a dream in a bottle. When people dress up as super heroes for Halloween, we think they should consider the super hero Super Tuscan. The robust superlative flavor makes this one of Peachy's favorite wines in all of Manhattan. The depth of the wine list here is tremendous as well.
All paninis are not the same. Some are just superior. The newest panini to grace this menu is the Chicken Cutlet winner, pounded perfectly and served on artisanal whole wheat, the perfect spread of fragrant mustard mayo sauce, beef tomato and Italian radicchio, a particularly nice touch. This was largely triumphant over any other chicken sandwich we have had in 2017. The crunch was satisfying and the baked quality was divine.
You absolutely must meet the ravioli.
By the way, it goes without saying that everything is served perfectly at the correct temperature, and in this case, that is hot. Our pictures do not lie. Believe it or not in the fine dining world of Manhattan you do not get piping hot food everywhere.
Ravioli del giorno - homemade ravioli of the day- was elegance embodied. We let it cool a tiny bit and then took a picture so you can also visually discover that ricotta and spinach came to the party the day we visited. They are wonderfully fragrant and five of them arrive.
They are smiling!
A new entree at Mozzarella e Vino is the Chicken medallions, and this is no ordinary chicken. Nothing is ever ordinary at any of these three restaurants. These medallions are enlightened by black summer truffles, the epitome of chicken with its pinkie out. Fresh french green beans, fingerling potatoes and organic cherry tomatoes rejoice in this elevated poultry that is a wonderful dinner.
There are two new desserts at Mozzarella e Vino and neither are to be ignored. Chocolate is ALWAYS the right answer in the world according to Peachy Deegan and the Chocolate Cake is brightened in flavor by Sicilian orange compote, a brilliant combination. Though ordinarily chocolate is our favorite, in this circumstance we next ate the very best Carrot Cake we have ever had in our lives!!!!! Meet carrot cake topped with robiola cheese and mascarpone mousse, which will delight all bunny rabbits and humans alike. You have to have it. From the fabulous flavor to the moist delicious consistency it is a blue ribbon hit.
Mozzarella & Vino continues to be Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.
We love it there!
No not only the big pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the big mozzarella!
