#TerrificTakeout #PeachysPicks #PeachyDeegan #GrifoneNY #WhomYouKnow #Manhattan @ManhattanPeachy A Peachy's Pick Since 2012, #Grifone Since 1986 by Mario Belich Summer 2018
BRANZINO!!!
Summer Perfection: Linguini alle Vongole! Clam sauce, bien sur!
It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we know Mario Belich, owner of Grifone, a fine Italian establishment serving those with discriminating taste on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan. Popular with highly esteemed regulars, Grifone is the best kept secret if you haven't been there yet, partly because since 2012 when we started working with him, Mario's main lifeline to the internet is Peachy! No, Grifone does not have a website. The only way you can get away with that and be featured is to serve top-notch cuisine flawlessly.
Grifone was most recently featured this spring:
Grifone was first featured as a Peachy's Pick in 2012:
Now we are living in the trends of fast casual, which will inevitably come and go, and Grifone which has been around since 1986 endures in its class and charm, rarely found at anywhere new in Manhattan. Of course it is beautiful and clean at Grifone.
We began with the Beet Salad, a special of the night. The red beets were perfectly chopped and outstandingly fresh, and normally they are served with goat cheese. Peachy personally finds goat cheese appalling so Mario put parmesean cheese on it for her, which is obviously her favorite vegetable. The wine selection is terrific at Grifone from Merlot to Chianti. Of course, it is ITALIAN.
We are over the trends (and maybe were never into them anyway as we think independently) and just wanted to feature classics done well, which is why we are reminding you how amazing spaghetti and meatballs is even in the heat. It is what we chose for our red pasta dish and it was the first item to completely magically disappear in Peachy's stomach. Veal, beef and pork form a trifecta of flavor to make the meatballs which are perfect. Everyone thinks they make great meatballs but in reality few do. We hate filler. We like meatballs to have meat, precisely like this:
The white pasta we chose was the phenomenal Linguini alle Vongole, another classic. White clam sauce rarely is as good as Mario's! This is summer perfection and you will rejoice in every bite. Everyone by now has heard a million times how Peachy ate chicken parm in lower (dining hall) at Boston College and it was a real tragedy when she first got to New York and did not know where she could get her Chicken Parm lifeline.
Meet Pollo Parmesean! The ratio of cheese to sauce to chicken which is not overly breaded and is just right for Goldilocks Peachy who can find lesser Chicken Parms offensive is exactly what we are looking for at Grifone. This is a hit-the-spot kind of entree.
We want to see a whole fish for dinner, like this, not part of a fish.
Meet BRANZINO.
This is what a fish entree is SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE!
Sauteed gorgeously in lemon and chablis for its summer incarnation, Branzino has traveled to your tastebuds from the Mediterranean and comes dotted with capers, adding festivity and flavor. Light and popular, it is what you want for dinner now in this heatwave.
We are extreme fans of green vegetables and at Grifone, from the Broccoli di Rabe (Italian) which is attractively bitter to the softness of the Spinach to the crisp of the Fagiolini (String Beans), green vegetable gloriousness awaits you at Grifone to up your meal in color and nutrition!
People that are really great show us what they can do that exceeds our expectations.
Meet the stuffed chicken, and no, we are not talking about Peachy herself.
This was a special the night we arrived and inside the chicken you will find a brilliant combination of tomatoes, scallions, mushrooms and mascarpone! Mario will tell you this is a secret what is inside, but we made him tell us so you will know. Sfogliatella is an amazing dessert for summer and they even do a great cappuccino.
Grifone continues to be Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.
