Perfectly Patsy's

February 17, 2009 6:05 pm

$Behind the Burner: Perfectly Patsy\'s$

My mother recently visited the "Big Apple" from Texas in order to help my oldest sister and her family of four begin a smooth transition to their new-fangled life in New York from their older one in California. Hence, she was "The Babysitter." As much as she loves being around my sister and her grandchildren, I knew that my mom needed to allocate the last hours of her day to mature conversation while sipping an adult beverage. When I asked for suggestions on where to take my mother for dinner and drinks on the Upper West Side, I was stunned to find the answer in Patsy's Pizzeria.

I have walked the streets of Manhattan one hundred times over, passing the numerous Patsy's locations with only a notion of, "oh that's a cute place," but never with any intentions of dining there. Now, I am frustrated with myself to have ever let the experience pass me by. Not only was the company of my mom and sister delightful, but the wine, food, and atmosphere were delicious and comforting at a highly reasonable price.

The menu contains small and large sizes of coal oven pizzas (offering every topping known to man), an array of soups and salads, and nearly twenty different pasta bowls (individual or family style). For the three of us, we decided on three different salads, which we would then pass, as well as one family style pasta bowl.

Now, which bowl to select? I knew all of the pasta options were cooked in the classic Italian manner. You could smell the tradition before you with each passing plate. We decided on the Chicken Cacciatore and prayed that it was a good decision while munching on our homemade dinner rolls dipped in extra virgin olive oil (a.k.a. Heaven with a proofing period).

As noted in a recent article, staying faithful to a region is the best way to pair wine with food. Since I was going to be eating Italian cuisine, I decided to select a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
and "kept em' coming" for the remainder of the meal.

During the few lulls of conversation, I couldn't help but notice the amount of children and families that were dining at Patsy's. But, I could very well turn my head in another direction and see a youthful couple out on a date. The noise was boisterous without being annoying, in the "Old Italian" style...in Manhattan of course.

The waiter placed a gigantic bowl of Chicken Cacciatore in the center of the table and our eyes grew to the size of our dinner plates. The portion could have easily served a family of four or five, but we dug in as if the three of us were eating for two, and I can assure you none of us are! The flavors in our mouths made us want to savor each bite a moment longer before we had to swallow,--even knowing that we were going to get another bite.

When asked what we wanted for dessert, we could only answer, "a doggy bag please."

Hailee Moore

Patsy's Pizzeria
Upper West Side Location:
61 West 74th Street, New York
(212) 579-3000

For more locations: www.patsyspizzeriany.com