Il Posto Accanto

Petunias, late post!!
But figured to start the week, we would share some .
Just making sure we are all on the same page.
So join us at Zee spot for horrible specials / other goodies, the grumpy owner.
But remember "You are beautiful & loved"

Thanks to Bradley the Don, for kicks!!

PETUNIAAAAAAAASSSSS happiest of Fridays! Market was just perfect and I came back home and prepared coffee for babycakes and food for the “Peludos” and, even though the sun is trying to make a break through the clouds, I still think it is the perfectest weather for our Vodka Sauce. Yes Petunias, I am an unapologetic victim of food from the ‘80s and I like it. Creamy, spicy, divine Vodka sauce with fresh gulf shrimps from the amazing team at topped with crispy Italian Guanciale. Not a fan of pork? Just ask to omit and we will gladly oblige (more pork for me). The local loin of cod is served “alla Puttanesca” with Italian fava bean puré and the mussels are so so plump that I cannot help myself and have to put “Padellata” on the specials. OMG it must be and we love it!

Come one come all to zee spot, the city is quiet, the schools are closed, everybody is away AND we love that too. Grumpy babycakes on the 1s and 2s all night long

Without further ado, because if it were any later I would have to post tomorrow’s special, here is a little something something to make your Saturday special ven more enjoyable, at least I hope so.

Everything else is on stories or you will just have to show up and see for yourself. Check the stories out for market happiness and dessert special.

Come one come all to zee spot where food is meh, we are rude and nobody cares.

Let love rule today and every day my gorgeous Petunias! from our family to yours and make everyday the 14th and, if you don’t have a Valentine, their loss and you always have us ❤️❤️❤️

Festive menu today, a mix of our favorite dishes plus some super celebratory “once in a while” specials like “Tuna Crudo” “Steak Tartare with black truffle” “Duck Ragú” i made extra don’t worry and many other treats

Come one come all to zee spot where we love you every day while being grumpy

And a super wonderful Tuesday morning to all my little Petunias near and far and far far far away.

Please do not let a couple of snowflakes keep you from the ray of sunshine that is our “Tonnarelli Fatti in Casa Cacio e Pepe with Artichokes” because that would be sad for you and for us. Also nice spicy and smoky Chicken Parm, the Italian American version with magical spicy tomato sauce and smoked mozzarella from the good folks at ❤️❤️.

Come one come all to zee spot where it is so cozy with the snow, Babycakes is still so grumpy and food is still so meh

Because the stars are aligned, yesterday “Shushan Valley Farm” was at the market with nice tomatoes, we made t and the sun is out, today you can enjoy this “Chicken Pizzaiola” on steroids! Pan sauteed golden free range chicken breast withheirloom tomatoes marinated with market garlic and Sicilian oregano, Sicilian capers, Italian cured black olives and buffalo milk bocconcini for the win!

It is and today’s German Butterball Potatoes Gnocchi are with everybody’s favorite Amatriciana sauce, crispy Italian guanciale (face bacon), spicy tomato sauce and pecorino romano. Horrible!

Come one come all to zee spot, it is like eating at home but you do not have to do the dishes.

Petunias,Happy Sunday,Happy binging of February Happy Year of the Dragon.
Sorry for the late post and History lesson!!

Back in 1999 in February we opened and mentioned and recommended ..
It was are first mention/ review we thank and for that.
We also thank and appreciate all those that have come after.
We are so very thankful that for the past 25 years through thick and thin, you Petunias have supported us.
I can't do the math, but that is a lot of Sunday Lasagna 😂
So come one come all to help us celebrate 25 years of Horrible Food,Lasagna, Friendship and Love.
Reserve your Lasagna or spot , call
212-228-3562

And just like that, February and also just like that it is Smoky German Butterball Potatoes Gnocchi Carbonara! Smoky because my mom did not really care for “guanciale” so we would drive to the American Supermarket in Via Cassia and buy bacon.

So if you have nothing better to do, you could come and visit for dinner and see for yourselves.

Come one come all to zee spot my little Petunias, because we love to make your belly happy

Petunias we really love to work extra hard to lift and dissipate your Monday blues and lure you into zee spot. Today we are imposing on you this super meh looking “Orecchiette with Broccoletti and Sausage” and slow cooked non GMO super creamy polenta with Berkshire Pork Spare Ribs and sweet Italian sausage slow cooked in passata with veggies and soooooo nice NOT!

Come one come all to zee spot, Where the food is so bad, you forget it is Monday!!!

Happy to all my little Petunias near and far and far far away. We are going back to 2018, with this oldie but always goodie that depicts in detail how we feel about naysayers and not nice people all over the galaxy every minute of every day.

It is raining so you know we work extra extra super hard to make your visit to zee spot somewhat decent.

Today we are serving “gnudi” Roman ricotta and spinach gnocchi the size of an egg. “Gnudi” means “naked” and it refers to the filling of Ricotta and Spinach Ravioli served without the “skin” or dough.
I remember eating these every Summer at Il Pescatore in Ansedonia, Monica’s mom prepared this dish from scratch, daily, with love and they were absolute perfection. Brown butter and sage sauce.

Burrata with everybody’s favorite “fried focaccia dough” Pizzella and Veal PIccata but with Meyers lemon because why not.

Thank you thank you thank you always to all of you of the love and support, in person or from far away. Thank god love is able to cover great distances, in an instant! Let’s spread love and kindness, it is free and effective.

Come one come all to zee spot the bathroom attendant is rude, the service id everything but “service” and the food is meh but we can make you laugh!

This for the OOGs Happy Birthday in heaven Mikey! Every time I smell burnt toast I think about you.

For the new Petunias, Mikey was a character and we belonged to him. People thought he was my husband and the owner of IPA. He hired himself and was with us until death did us apart.

Thank you thank you thank you to all the Petunias that came yesterday and have reservations for today. I hope we will be making it worthwhile, specials are banging and I will post them in stories in a little bit.

Come one come all to zee spot and support this huge dysfunctional family because FA LA LA is who we are.

It is at zee spot my little Petunias. The mussels are INSANE and we have not served this match made in culinary heaven in a while so, in case you decide to visit, today is one for the books! Vermicelli Artigianali Pecorino e Cozze AND the local wild Hake was too fresh and divine to not buy. I have been preparing it at home for a while with capers and rice wine vinegar and I think it is time you try it too. Got some wonderful parsley from (amongst many other things) and it will complement both dishes with extra magic.

Come one come all to zee spot, the food sucks and the owners are jerks!



And I am super excited for the ragú we will serve tomorrow. It is a recipe from the book “la Cucina Napoletana” and I have been thinking about it for a while and I am super inspired

Ultimate Roman situation my little Petunias, because gnocchi on Thursdays is a Rome thing, and Cacio e Pepe is a Roman thing and lets not even start with artichokes…super Roman! And there you have it, Roman trifecta for the winnnnnnn!

Good morning my little Petunias and sunshines near and far. Do you prefer warm and cloudy or cold and sunny? Please do not answer “warm and sunny” as it is not an option. I’ll take cold and sunny, please and thank you.

Come one come all to zee spot where the food is barely ok but our love will warm up your soul. Grumpy is still grumpy and that works too.

We love our thick Pappardelle Fatte in Casa with any sauce…but this vegetarian Tomato Basil mixed with Burrata for a hint of creaminess might be our favorite, at least today it is 😜!

oh and check out the stories for todays chicken breast Cacio e Pepe with black Italian truffle

hello my little Petunias, hope you all are well and doing what you love. Thank you for hanging in there with us and keeping Il Posto Accanto family in business, love you to the the farthest planet from earth and back many many many times

Good morning my lovely Petunias darling all of you. Another sunday and another lasagna. We embrace at zee spot and in life, beauty in imperfection is our jam! Sometimes the lasagna stands tall, sometimes she has a mind if her own and shows up disheveled. To us she is always beautiful, tastes pretty ok and makes your heart happy.

For the fan of the Italian fava beans puré, today is your lucky day and it comes with burrata. Tasting is believing.

What else can I say? Don’t miss the magic that is starting at 3.
Come one come all to zee spot where it is always sunny besides Babycakes and his grumpiness 😄😄🙈

What is a Saturday without ragú? It is illegal!!!

Happy Befana and Three Kings to all who celebrate, favorite holiday out of all the “Holiday Season”

I am sitting in the car at the Farmers Market, looks like they need a little extra time. January is a tough months for vegetables and green and I am so thankful for the dedicated Farmers that hang in there with us and bring all their goodies.

Oh and by the way, today Paccheri with sweet and spicy Italian sausage ragú with fresh ricotta. Because this cold burns calories in a minute and your bellies deserve to be happy.

Come one come all to zee spot where we care about your tummies and the beat always goes on ❤️❤️❤️✨

Happy and wonderful Friday to all my lovely Petunias and nice humans and aliens of the galaxy!

I hope that after my mini PSA you will love us as much as I love Babycakes in this photo!
I am the bearer of somewhat bad news in case you are trying to join us for Friday, today. Today the restaurant at zee spot CLOSES at 4.30 and the bar CLOSES at 6. We are truly sorry for any inconvenience this brings. Join us for lunch or super early dinner (linner) today we are serving Branzino in a buttery lemon capers sauce and spaghettoni with clams, mussels, Italian pomodorini del piennolo and fried artichokes and as per usual FA LA LA will be on the menu.

Come one come all to zee spot, because we love to see you even if it is just for half a day

HAPPY FIRST OF 2024 PETUNIAAAASSSSSS. Can you actually believe it is the 4th already? I saw Valentine’s Day stuff out on the shelves in stores and I had a mini heart attack! For us, the next holiday is or on January 6th. That is when we hang the stockings in Italy and you get coal and fresh fruit and treats. One year mom stuffed into my stocking some really cute Fiorucci’s leg warmer to wear on top of jeans while skiing, I was overjoyed. She always stuck something fun. What else? Oooohhhh yessssss today you are particularly unlucky because we are serving “Gnocchi Carbonara” and they are blasphemous because i use bacon as we love it “smoky” . Do you need to say anything else?.

Come one come all to zee spot where FA LA LA is the way and gnocchi on thursday is what we say

PETUNIASSSSSSSSSS is everybody ok? Are we all accounted for? Should we count ourselves? Am I the only one that feels like Thanksgiving was like 3 months ago and Christmas 2 months ago and NYE happened 2 weeks ago? Good grief! 🙈🙈😂😂😂 Petunias I know some of you are coming to visit today, and and I thought your effort should be rewarded with “meh” looking Pappardelle Fatte in Casa con Sugo di Brasato ai Funghi and you can have without mushrooms if you so wish. what else? I prepared extra cotechino because I wanted everybody to try this piece of my culinary heart. It was never about cotechino on the 31st…we would all eagerly wait for the next few days when it would be breaded and panfried and OMG!!!

Enjoy my darlings and come one come all to zee spot because if you have food prepared with love at the beginning of the year, you will have food prepared with love for the rest of the year

#2024

Happiest and Merriest of all the New Years from babycakes and I celebrating in 1997 in Il Bagatto or 1998? Every morning we wake up it really is a New Year and we have the opportunity to make changes and start a new chapter BUT this one day is extra special. Lots of love and gratitude to all of you my darling Petunias, thank you for keeping us in business and for always having the most amazing sense of humour and for being understanding, we are so lucky!!!! I love each and everyone of you a lot!

Come one come all to zee spot for terrible food, terrible music, terrible wine and forgettable atmosphere.

Happiest of Saturdays to all of you my darling Petunias and lovely humans and aliens of the galaxy. Special extra love for all the humans who struggle during this time of year or that have recently lost someone they love, it sucks!

I thought that we would prepare something light and demure for this Eve’s eve…NOT, but we have not served our baby back ribs ragú with rosemary flavored Pici in forever and we thought it would be nice to have it on this last Saturday of 2023.. Also found some super duper scallops at the market and you can have them today. Chicken Parm because why not and the usual and boring, terrible stuff.

Come one come all to zee spot where we don’t do anything right, we are grumpy but we are funny

Good morning sunshines and Petunias and lovely humans and aliens of the universe. Because this is a bit of a slow week end, we are able to feed you dishes that sometimes are just served on weekdays, see photo number 2. Todays ragú is divine white ragú of Berkshire pork and Piedmontese beef chuck slowly slowly slowly braised with hint of spices from far away lands and Martini dry vermouth, married with our silky, eggy, ribbony pappardelle fatte in casa. Of course there are many other things but you will have to come and see for yourself because duh.

Come one come all to zee spot because it will only be us and we need to share Babycakes’ grumpiness

Petuniaaaaaas i know it is raining but we are preparing an inordinate amount of treats to make the your schlep worthwhile. From this amazing Italian heirloom beans with Sicilian shrimps and mussels - I know we have not served this in forever - to chicken liver crostini, to pici with a sausage mushroom and pork ragú to the most tender pork pot roast. Come one come all to zee spot because nobody cares but we try to make it interesting everyday

It is a grey icky Monday and you know what is going to make everything better my adored little Petunias? This heaping mountain of small batch bucatini Amatriciana with magical spicy tomato sauce, crispy Italian guanciale and grated pecorino Romano, I promise you and you can trust me 😜 come one come all to zee cozy spot where snowflakes ❄️ are always white and never turn into slush.

Petuniasssss sorry I have been MIA, i am having the worst, paralyzing sciatica attack, last time was like in 1997 and argh! But onward we go and writing about specials is making me feel better already. Any advice? But let’s move on to better things like this very doubtful dish of “Broccoletti e Salsicce” with peperoncino calabrese, that we have not served in forever. Today the stars are aligned and you can come and see for yourself all day and night today, Tuesday.

The mussels are looking super divine, so we are serving them sauteed with garlic, Italian parsley, peperoncino Calabrese and a sourdough crostino for mandatory dipping.

Come one come all to zee spot, babycakes will be wearing a tiara and be grumpy.