On Oct 15, 5:23*pm, Lawrence Leichtman > wrote:
> 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.

http://www.convivionyc.com/home.html

The normal prix fixe is:
either one antipasta or two "sfizi" (hors d'ouerves)
one primi (pasta)
one secondi (meat or fish)
dessert
For people like me that don't do dessert, they offered option of 2
sfizi, antipasta, primi, secondi.

It was $118 for the food, 4 glasses of wine, prices from $9-16
(healthy pours, and as I mentioned he even refreshed my Etna Rosso).
With tax $189, I left $230. There are plenty of second tier
restaurants I could easily spend that much. And the amount of food was
substantial even for me (I'm about 6'2" & 230 and have left tasting
menus feeling hungry)