In article
>,
DaleW > wrote:

> Last night we had our slightly belated anniversary dinner at Convivio
> in Tudor City in NYC. Excellent food, wine service (though I only
> ordered by the glass), and table service. The $59 4 course prix fixe
> is an extraordinary deal for a place of this caliber.
>
> We had some fantastic olive bread, then Betsy had a couple of "sfizi"
> (eggplant rolled with ricotta, mushrooms with vin cotto) while I had
> the
> quail with lentil puree and pickled mushrooms. The primi choices all
> looked good: I got rabbit ravioli with mushrooms, Betsy got a
> gnocchetti (like gnocchi not potato) with crab and sea urchin. Her
> secondi was
> lamb chops with beans and escarole, mine was a HUGE Berkshire pork
> chop with oyster mushrooms and "spigarelli" greens (lightly bitter,
> kind of broccoli rabe meets dandelion). She had a trio of sorbets,
> since I don't eat dessert they allowed me to substitute a pair of
> sfizi- crostini with chicken livers & marsala sauteed onions, and
> saffron risotto croquettes (they said I could have at start or end, I
> chose to have them while Betsy had dessert). Food ranged from very
> good to extraordinary, mostly the latter.
>
> With this range of food, hard to choose a bottle, so I went with the
> thoughtful by the glass list, with some help from the sommelier. All
> were interesting:
>
> 2006 Mastroberardino "Radici*" Fiano
> Light, a little lean, floral, citrus, smoke. Fun and good. B
>
> 2006 Dettori Bianco
> One of the "orange wines." Hazy, citrus, herbs, orange peel, tannins.
> A little nutty note but not overly oxidative, more like a Lopez de
> Heredia rose than a Radikon to my taste. Fun wine, I quite enjoyed. B
> +
>
> 2008 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso
> Light, fresh, a little leafy/herby. Good acidity, nice if not as
> complex as the Biondi Etna (or maybe the upper end Terre Nere). In any
> case far better than any btg selection at 90% of NYC upper end
> restaurants. As a bonus, they gave me a little extra pour as I was
> running low trying to finish the huge pork chop. B
>
> 2005 *Vestini Campagnano Pallagrello Nero
> I believe Pallagrello Nero is the grape. Dark color, evident but
> supple tannins, dark berry fruit with a little herby/anise note. Very
> good match with rare lamb chops. Never hard of this, but will look
> for. A-/B+
>
> Solid and interesting list, nice Schott Zweisel stems, all served at
> perfect temp.
> One of the best nights I've had for a (non-vino-centric but vino-
> interesting) dinner for a long time. Pretip bill was $189, I'd call
> that extreme value for the level
>
> PS Minor judgemental rant : Some friends recently attended a BYO lunch
> there, said wine service was superb. I can definitely see paying
> corkage for the kind of wines they served, but in general the wine
> list is so interesting here (and reasonably priced) I would generally
> just buy off list. While I try not to be too judgemental, I admit to
> wondering "what's the point" at a nearby table where they were
> drinking Aalto with the Winebid sticker still on it. Didn't seem to me
> to especially match food, just an odd choice (who knows, maybe
> sentimental reasons?).
>
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an
> excellent*wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I
> wouldn't*drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I
> offer no*promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of
> consistency.**
> *

Sounds great and the price. I assume the prix fixe did not include wine
for $59 with that meal. Even with wine for 85-90 without tax is amazing.