Last year, we attended an overcrowded press party at Travelers Poets and Friends, where there was little to no food or libations, and left looking for something to eat. We liked what little we sampled, so we decided to try it during Restaurant Week for their $30 dinner. It’s an Italian bakery, cafe and market serving pizza, pasta, pastries and other goodies in a casual setting.

Our appetizers consisted of the fried local calamari with spicy San Marzano marinara sauce, the chef’s pick of seasonal greens and veggies with a Manodori balsamic and the grilled sourdough bread with eggplant caponata, pine nuts and stacciatella cheese. One was yummier than the next.

For mains, we shared the housemade pappardelle with a beef and pork Bolognese; the housemade riatoni with a pistachio pesto and garlic confit, and the fior di latte mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and Parmigiano Reggiano pizza Margherita. All as good as the delicious starters,

We washed all that down with “Restaurant week” ($10 a glass)  Falanghina DOC Feudi Di SanGregorio, 2023, Campania.

We each chose a flavor of gelato or sorbet to finish. Mine was the white creamy chocolate chip mint!

I highly recommend a visit! I know I’ll return.

Travelers Poets and Friends
Greenwich Village
457 6th Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 420-0057
travelerspoetsandfriends.com/