Artisanal

Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro- 2 Park Avenue (entrance on 32nd St bet. Park & Madison)
(212) 725-8585; http://artisanalcheese.com/

Cheeseheads rejoice!
Artisanal is not on the list of "new restaurants" for our club, but it is on my list of the very best places to eat in New York City. This place is the holy land for people who love fromage, and has the most extensive cheese list I've ever seen. If you're in the market for, say, a sassy but friendly pungent slimy cheese from a specific region of Budapest, you can probably find it here. They age their cheeses in a special cheese cave in the restaurant and also sell and deliver cheeses from all over the world.

The cheese cave, unfortunately, is a problem for my husband. When you house such an extent of product, it comes with a (not necessarily bad) by-product. Artisanal smells like cheese. And my husband, despite his own extensive variety of not-so-glorious smells, is unable to stand the stink enough to enjoy the food there. So I am only allowed to go there once a year, as a special gift for my birthday. On this one glorious day, my husband endures the pungent odor of Livarots, Limburgers and the like so I can enjoy my favorite meal.

So let's get to the goods-- fondue. If you go to Artisanal, you have to have the fondue. This is the real deal, with rich real-cheese flavors (they have a variety, including a special of the day) and substantial, crusty bread for the dippin'. Feel free to add some apples or sausage to your dipping plate and make this your meal. But then you'd be missing out on the steak frites, which are sensational (the pommes are perfection and go straight to your happy thighs). And the rich macaroni and cheese with it's yummy crusty topping, which makes me practically cry out in delight. Pair it with a nice mesclun salad and you can even pretend you're being healthy. Yeah, right.

Oh, I almost forgot to wax rhapsodic about the gougeres!! What? You've never had a gougere?? If there is a heaven and there is a God, I can assure you that this is the food served up on a platter at that head table in the clouds. These tiny cheese puffs are way too expensive, but they are exquisite and a definite must-eat (even if you have to pawn your car to get enough to feel sated).

Ok, so you're stuffed and smiling, polishing off your glass of cabernet and breathing a stinky cheesy breath into your unhappy husband's face. Now what? Well, you are by no means finished. You can peruse the cheese list and pick out anything you want. You can ask for the cheese man to pick you out a selection for your tasting pleasure. Or, and this is what I usually go for, you can have some more fondue. This time it's decadent chocolate, with fruit and cookies to dip. It is your birthday after all, forget about the scale!

Rating: 9/10 hearty belches
Pros: Food, cheese, food, cheese, GOUGERES
Cons: Crowded, service can be spotty, it smells like cheese

UVA

Uva - 1486 2nd Ave, between 77th and 78th
http://www.uvawinebarnewyork.com/

Ok, so I'm unoriginal. This is our second rustic Italian bar/restaurant in a row, but I was hoping to improve from Jon's suggestion last week. Uva, Italian for "grape", was highly recommended to me by my fellow Upper East Sider (and killer left-handed volleyball player) Dana. Since it was very close to our apartment and I wanted to get Jon back for making us travel last week, I decided this was my best choice.

And what a choice. This place is a hidden mecca surrounded by the cruddy 2nd avenue bars that we walk our dog by every night. We were seated immediately toward the back, after walking by a crowd of young attractive people (my male cohorts noticing an unusually favorable ratio of females to males), and were quickly approached by a beautiful waitress, who Jon promptly fell in love with. A bucket of tasty bread and dipping oil arrived about the same time as our wine, which we chose from an extensive wine list of over a hundred bottles. Yum.

I started with a focaccia with robiola cheese and black truffles, which was divine. Chris and Jon both reeled at the smell, but only Jon was brave enough to try it. He quickly deemed it one of the foulest things he had ever tasted, and they asked that I move it as far away from them as possible. Picky eaters strike again.

As far as entrees, I went with the waitress's suggestion and had the Crespelle Alla Trevisana (baked crepes with asiago cheese, raddichio and walnuts). OH MY GOD. They were SO good. Creamy and decadent and wonderful. Chris had chicken and Jon had some dish with candy-shaped noodles and they both thought their meals were fine. They were more interested in drinking and ogling the waitress, though, so I didn't get in-depth reviews.

Finally we ordered some dessert. Jon and Chris had something called a chocolate salami (let the gay jokes begin), which is an oreo-type cookie/chocolate concoction that is served on a cutting board with real whipped cream on the side. They were smitten. In fact, we've walked many many blocks to return and have it again with other friends. This is my husband's new favorite dessert, and for 5 bucks, it's a real bargain by NYC standards. I enjoyed an almond and pear dessert, but pretty much wished I had taken part in the chocolate salami gorging (their lip-smacking and moaning was hard to bear).

Rating: 8/10 belches
Pros: Food, Ambience, Clientelle
Cons: Much treadmill time required after eating here

Three of Cups

83 1st Ave @ Fifth Street
http://www.threeofcupsnyc.com/

Three of Cups is a bustling Italian joint downtown near Jon's apartment. As he was the one who came up with the idea for our new restaurant club and was organizing the first official session, he chose a place he had walked by several times and always wanted to try.

We arrived around 9-ish- or at least Jon did. Chris and I got lost trying to get from the 6 train to the restaurant, but don't assume it's because this place is hard to find. We're just idiots. So we arrived a little after our lazy, "I walked two blocks to get here" friend did. Three of Cups does not take reservations, so we settled in for a drink at the small bar area by the front door.

The restaurant is a small place with a rustic feel and on the night we went it was filled with a younger, eclectic crowd. It was very busy for a weeknight, but the host was attentive to us and made sure we got a table in the order in which we arrived. One nice glass of Chianti later, we sat at our wooden table in some very uncomfortable wooden chairs.

Our waitress was swamped, but we didn't mind as we ate bread with olive oil and perused the menu. When our frazzled but sweet waitress arrived she misunderstood our wine order and brought us the cheapest bottle on the menu, something called Gato Negro. Realizing that we know very little about wine and that to our uninformed palates, they all taste pretty much the same anyway, we didn't mention the mistake and focused on what to eat.

We were all in a pasta mood, though according to reviews the pizza is quite good. Chris had the fusilli bolognese (which is close enough to penne bolognese that he was appeased) and I had the linguini portofino. Jon chose the gnocchi of the day and despite an attractive presentation, neither of us were very impressed. The food was rather forgettable, so we passed on dessert and decided that next week would be better.

Final Rating: 6/10 belches
Pros: Nice decor, friendly service
Cons: Food is nothing to write home about

The Players

Here are the most common attendees of our New Restaurant Night...

Chris
My husband, a silly but kind man-boy content to subsist solely on the following food items for the rest of his life: grilled chicken, Cheerios and raisins (with milk on the side), apricot fruit leather, steak medium rare, green beans, penne with meat sauce, a specific brand of pb and a specific brand of j on a specific brand of bread and-- on occasion-- some Milano cookies. His brain is filled with Simpsons trivia and baseball statistics. He does not like cheese or dessert.

Jon
Our friend from the University of Rochester; the best man at our wedding. His head is long and narrow, making the pursuit of glasses that fit a lost cause. He likes candy, specifically Sour Patch Kids, and eats a good deal of Zesty's pizza. He likes the Red Sox and Bill Murray, and can drink 8 Amstel Lights without getting buzzed. He is, surprisingly, single.

Me
Obsessed with dessert and our dog, I enjoy the dog park just about as much as a slice of homemade pie a la mode. I am also quite picky about food (I have an aversion to certain textures, like slimy onions or crunchy celery in tuna fish) but look like the Indiana Jones of eating compared to my über-picky compadres.

Welcome To The Picky Gourmand

gour·mand (gr-mänd, grmnd) n.
1. A lover of good food.
2. A gluttonous eater.

Hello and welcome to the Picky Gourmand, a blog devoted to good food and gluttonous behavior. This blog all started with the creation of our Thursday night "new restaurant club" here in New York City, where a small group of friends gathers weekly to explore the famous and not-so-famous gastro-temples and culinary cubby holes here in the city that never sleeps. We drink wine, we stuff our faces, we wake up the next morning feeling fat and happy. Life is good.

Sadly, my two most frequent companions are what the kids today like to call "wussies" when it comes to trying new things. Happy to consume only the foods they know they'll like, they are satisfied with a steak or roast chicken dish everywhere we go. It occured to me that many men (and some women) out there are probably the same way. So where are the retaurant reviews of the "safe" and boring menu items for your restaurant-selection-assistance? The answer is HERE on this very blog!

Please feel free to check out our opinions and post your own thoughts. Suggestions/disagreements are welcome. Happy eating, NYC!

-MJP