RAO’s, Eataly and Parm – we’re kickin it old school Italian this week. If there’s one good thing to come out of this pandemic, it’s we’ve finally had a taste of the rarified Raos, (read on to get the inside scoop) and Eataly and Parm are delivering pizzas that we can’t seem to replicate at home, and mozzarella sticks that thank goodness we’re not replicating as we’d like that top button to continue to fit.
The Restaurant: RAO’s
Yes, that RAO’s, impossible to get into in East Harlem Rao’s. They’re doing their part this pandemic to give everyone – connection or not – A Taste of Rao’s. It’s normally some penne with their famous sauce, the house salad with fennel, tomatoes, onion and iceberg and chicken parmesan, for a reasonable $80 including tax and tip. For vegetarians they can substitute eggplant parmesan, or order one of each to feed 4-6 people. The catch is it’s cash and takeout only, so if you have a car, take a field trip. Otherwise we’ve been using RDS to make these deliveries happen when we’re out of the zone.
The Restaurant: Eataly
This pick is both the best grocery shop we splurge on through Instacart, and best everyday delivery of home cooked Italian via Caviar. We haven’t been able to convert our oven to a pizza maker, and on any day it’s hard to beat the pies coming out of Eataly’s oven. The pastas really shine, like the seasonal spring pea-filled ravioli in buter with pea shoots and the agnolotti del plin, which is filled with veal and pork filled pasta in a beef reduction. Now if we could only get some of their fritti, which we’ve been known to stop for in the days when we could eat in. Desserts realy shine – they’re offering their famous tiramisu and their profiteroles.
The Restaurant: Parm
We forget how good Parm is until we randomly order, and those fried mozzarella cheese sticks get us every time. Parm brings us back to the days when Torrisi was making that warm mozzarella and garlic bread, which have found their way onto Parm’s menu. We love the crispy zuccihini which are prepped as matchstick thin pieces and their eggplant and chicken parm dinners. You can also get their rigantoni fra diavola with gluten free pasta, that’s the perfect combination of spicy in a pink sauce with the right amount of onions to make it interesting.
