Remember that old commercial.. “Stay Fresh a little longer… say goodbye a little longer..”, The actual products dont stick, but the songs often do. If you dont remember this one its probably because, well, it doesnt exist. Its actually a Wrigley Big Red gum commercial that goes “So kiss a little longer…”, and the fresh part was only in my head. But the idea of the commercial is that the gum will keep you fresh longer than normal so you could kiss longer, for some reason. Why would anyone want to do it in public is beyond me. Kissing in public for more than 3 seconds is rare, awkward and should be banned frankly for the safety of the individuals and motorists. You practically asking for herpes. And at home you have Listerine for that.
But last time I checked, this is not Hygiene With Ziggy. Its a food blog. Major Food Group’s Santina, five years later, still feels fresh and unique. With the ever changing regional Italian scene on the island, Santina stays true to its concept – fun, inventive spin on coastal Italian. Italians, like in many cultures around the world, generally live very close to their land. On the coast of Sicily for example you may find beautiful sweet Gambero Rosso (red shrimp). While 10 km inland, you find yourself wrapping Focaccia around sausage and ricotta. Coincidentally, ever wonder why we have so many lobster/crab shacks, and various seafood joints by the water? Its not like any of the seafood comes from the Hudson or Buttermilk Channel near Red Hook.
Much of Santina’s originality is attributed to one item, Cecina. While Santina bills itself as coastal Italian, mainly Liguria and Tuscany, this chickpea pancake is different than anything we had between Genoa and Lucca. Its softer and spongier, but not in a bad way. On recent visits I enjoyed it with tuna infused with Calabrian chili, and avocado thats essentially the best Guacamole within a two mile radius. Once wrapped with the Cecina ‘slice’, you get four tasty snacks. Add the accompanied red sauce to the second or third Cecina for a change of pace and maximum oomphness. The Cecina is reason #365 why you should stop reading Infatuation. Clearly I cant!
The only thing better than a restaurant with a signature dish is one with two. The Squash Carpaccio is a brilliant combination of thinly sliced squash, pumpkin seeds, brown butter, pink peppercorn, and crème fraiche dropped like Hershey kisses. Another recent discovery is the Capellini Blue Crab – simple but effective. Perhaps a spoonful of crab shy from being VERY effective. Avoid the boring wild rice calamari. The spicy potatoes side is one of those dishes I’m seeing elsewhere nowadays, but rarely comes close to Santina’s version. In previous visits we’ve also enjoyed the chicken, Shrimp Zingara, and Santina Fusilli that are menu staples.
Santina
820 Washington St (under the begining of the High Line, south end)
Rating: 2 Z’s (out of 4)
Stars range from Good to Exceptional. Simple as that
Recommended Dishes: Cecina, Squash Carpaccio, Capellini Blue Crab, Spicy Potatoes, Shrimp Zingara, Santina Fusilli
This is it folks! The moment none of you have been waiting for you. Fresh, off the boat, Cinque Terre pictures that look the same or worse than the millions of CT pictures out there. It took me 8 trips or so to finally see the famous five villages – Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, Rick Steves, Monterosso. Its not official yet, but as you can see, there’s a strong push to rename one, so I’m just one step ahead.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may or may not have noticed a slow moving shift. A shift in the type of establishments I frequent, and write about. Gone are the days of the almost weekly expensive meals. Hooray fast-casual! There was a time when I would enthusiastically read the power rankings and 
Owners Riccardo and Elena live upstairs, and the only thing missing in their little place on Court Street is a bell. “Like eating in someones house” is a cliche these days, but there’s no better way to describe this one. Perhaps one day they’ll get busy enough to hire more staff and function more like a regular restaurant. But for the time being, its like walking into your neighbor’s house, grabbing a newspaper, pretending you can read Italian. And after chatting about politics, and 80’s Eurotrash with the owners, about an hour later, maybe eat something.
The Crescia is like a cross between a Piadina and Laffa flatbread where you can mix and match various meats and cheeses. The Mortadella and Gorgonzola settle nicely once the taste buds get over the initial Gorgonzola funkiness. One thing about the new Italian immigrants is they dont mess around with the raw materials. No need to bastardize much these days like the old Sicilian immigrants did. Another such example here is the excellent Tiramisu.
When you visit Montefalco, a medieval stunner, smack in the middle of landlocked Umbria, it wont take you long to see which is the star restaurant. About 5 minutes in fact after you enter the main gate. 30 minutes if you get distracted by more truffle sauces and hanging grandpa’s balls (Palle di Nonno). Its the one in the main square with all the happy people occupying every inch of the space. Some of the happiest ones are munching on pigeon done five different ways. And while the star restaurant does not always deliver the results you’d expect, this one shines.
But the undisputed shining star, and a dish of the trip nominee is the pigeon. Just like Onion Parmigiana, pigeon just never jumps out at you when you read a menu as such. But then we recall the tasty pigeons of nearby Tuscany, especially the one made by another female magician 
Its been 8 months since the last update. 5 in, 5 out this time. The Z-List is essentially my favorite 50 restaurants in NYC today. I try to conduct surprise inspections as frequently as I can. I show up wearing a hat and fake mustache. Even though they dont know what I look like, you can never be too careful these days. Rumors out there that I look like Tom Branson from Downton Abbey are unfounded. I know because I founded them. Anyway here are the changes…
EV Bites is a [whenever I feel like it] feature that showcases five places in or around East Village you should know about. I will occasionally extend the border to surrounding hoods and maybe even mention a name more than once. The neighborhood of East Village in case you are not aware is an incubator for top industry talent, and a goldmine of world cuisine.
886 – Sometimes new places “expire” in my head, and I forget all about them, before they resurface somehow out of their hiding. This Taiwanese was hiding in plain sight right on the busy, glitzy side of St Marks. 886 offers one of the better lunch specials in the area where you can choose dishes like the visually pleasing sweet Taiwanese Sausage and Fried Rice, and the absolute best Popcorn Chicken I’ve ever had.
Village Square Pizza – Pizza joints in all shapes and sizes come and go in that part of the island. The intense competition in the area created a survival of the fittest environment, except that its almost impossible to determine the fittest. Sometimes I try new pizza and can pretty much pinpoint the month they’ll close (Rolio Pizza), but then there’s the curious case of Martina. Village Square is run by former employees of the famed Prince Street pizza in Soho. This is where you can get the famous Pepperoni Sicilian (square) without the hoopla (meaning tourists), and their signature white (fresh ricotta, garlic, mozzarella, honey).
Foxface – I 
When was the last time you did the chicken dance? They still do them in weddings and events all over the continent as far as I know. Legend has it, the first chicken dance was in Florence in the 13th century when Florence seized control of much of Chianti from rival Siena (more on that later). So in order to give the proper homage to this famous wine region, and unless you’ve been to a Bar Mitzvah lately, start practicing that ancient dance. You will see that famous black rooster all over Chianti, sometimes proudly presented as larger than life statues. Wish to visit Chianti on a day trip from wherever (I recommend basing 
Head to Osteria Le Panzanelle, 5 km south of Panzano, with reservations in hand of course. Its an institution, popular with locals and visitors alike. Start with the luscious eggplant Involtini and/or green bean flan. Move on to the fresh, eggy Papardelle with a wild boar ragu that carries some serious depth. Then your choices are an excellent fried rabbit and chicken, or the very fine, and surprisingly affordable 
After lunch, your options are to head to the nearby hamlet of Volpaia, and/or perhaps skipping the next destination, but I suggest not. Castello di Brolio is yet another stunner. You can participate in more activities and tours, a la Castello di Verrazzano. But for the purpose of this post, we’ll just pay the entrance fee, walk around the castle, enjoy the views, and read about the history. This one feels more subdued and isolated, adding about an hour of travel time overall. You are entitled to a glass of red on your way out, but then you have more driving to do and its getting late. Safety 6th is the motto of Eating With Ziggy Tours.
Ahhh, Genoa! The name that triggers no emotion, confusion, and even anger sometimes. Why is this guy writing about Genoa now. What happened to Venice, Rome, and that Cinqua Terras place that he supposedly visited and only wrote about 
This is not a drill, nor a sales pitch. Just a friendly heads-up. Last year during the last few months of the year, I answered so many requests starting with the word “Unfortunately” that my smart phone started completing “Unfortunately” every time I started a sentence. This year its happening much earlier. I got plenty of availability between now and then, but the month of December is looking mighty busy already, especially with Brooklyn tours.
Chuck’s steakhouse – Best meal of the trip as expected. Superb quality especially from the striploin/New York cuts surprisingly over the Wagyu and Rib Eye. Very clever sides (cauliflower!) and even better desserts. I would skip appetizers here altogether and just concentrate on the prize. If you are more than three, share some cuts that add to about 8-10 ounces per person, a few sides, and you are golden. This is NYC quality stuff.
Indian Curry House – We know Indian. We love Indian. This is good Indian. By the last day we were craving something spicy and tall buildings. ICH took care of one part, while Calgary took care of the other. Not everything was super authentic like the too tomatoey Chana and the surprisingly mild beef (yes, beef is allowed here) Vindaloo (get it still), but really excellent Chettinad among other dishes
Bear Street Tavern – We know pizza. We love Pizza. This was not good pizza. But its popular pub fare, with a solid beer lineup. Skip the mooshy wings
For breakfast head to Wild Flour Bakery and get the Frittata sandwich. One morning we picked up their fine baguettes and just bought butter elsewhere for a Parisian breakfasts in the hotel room. Best full breakfast was at 
