More Local Eats...

Last night I went with a friend to our neighborhood's newest addition, The Castello Plan, a hip little wine bar. We went in expecting to get "small plates," but didn't realize just how small they'd be. That's acceptable, though, since the food was rather impressive... Here's what the Village Voice has to say.

We had melt-in-your-mouth mussels in white wine sauce, deliciously seasoned "sprats" (sardines) with a spiced mayo-covered quail egg, some incredibly delicious mushrooms stewed with sour cream and dill, and a really great charcuterie of boar sausage, lamb prosciutto, and some other incredibly fatty and delicious meat. And to top it off, we had a chocolate truffle (sliced like potatoe chips that keep falling apart) that you could sprinkle with either paprika salt, anise seed, or crushed almonds. Plus the last round of wine was on the house... Amazing!

We'll be back very soon to try the raw oysters, although I'm amused that they made a mistake on the menu. They refer to them as "Belle Soleil" but that's not right, as I thought last night but wasn't sure... It's Beausoleil, or Beau Soleil. Silly foodies, you don't know your seafood.

Anyway, when spring finally comes it will be extra special nice to sit out in their little side garden and down countless bottles of delectable wine. I can't say that I know anything about wine, but I know what I like and I think that's enough. Of course, we're bound to run into foodie hipster wino assholes at some point, but I can deal.

It's kind of frightening how hip Cortelyou Road has become, but I certainly don't mind. It's nice to have options when I want to go out to eat, which is more often than not, and to enjoy fine dining in an intimate setting without the Manhattan pretention. I'm not "local" enough in the neighborhood to be able to complain about gentrification... I AM gentrification, and I don't care. I like to eat good food, dammit, and if I only have to walk 5 blocks to get it, well then, I'm satisfied.

Here's what Serious Eats has to say about the evolution of Cortelyou Road.