Earlier this summer my man was teaching me how to play
Bocci. It’s a huge game his extended
family enjoys playing. While at a
barbeque a friend told me of a restaurant in NYC that has a Bocci court IN the
restaurant. She couldn’t recall the
name, but nonetheless I was intrigued.
After a quick search on the internet I discovered the name and
venue that is Il Vagabondo. http://www.ilvagabondo.com/
And on Sunday of Labor Day weekend it seemed a good a time as
any to trek in and see how it faired. The
unassuming location of 27th Street between 1st & 2nd
Avenue lends a venue a less than commercial appeal. I happen to think is a good thing.
While some others enjoy crowds I like finding
a quiet gem in the rough.
We arrived just it was opening this evening. The entrance revealed a bar with an
understated atmosphere with a few photographs featuring bocci balls in all
different types of scenarios. We were lead up
through an open kitchen area to our table. While the restaurant had three dining rooms tonight one this one were patrons seated into.
As our appetizers, we ordered Baked Stuffed Mushrooms filling
includes prosciutto. We also ordered Tomato
& Mozzarella with fresh basil. The stuffed mushrooms were very tasty, I
could have eaten more of them.
For dinner my beau
ordered something called Veal Vagabondo which is veal in a brown wine sauce
with prosciutto and cheese. The veal was
tender and moist although I thought the portion was rather small.
I ordered a fettucine
dish that was on the specials of the day BUT when my food arrived it was NOT
the fettucine. Instead they brought me
meat lasagna, sausage lasagna to be exact. Okay, so on the one hand they made an
error. The error being they put Saturday’s
special on Sunday’s menu. So the chef
just gave me the pasta special for Sunday which was lasagna. It was a delightful error. Abit heavy but delicious.
Management was falling
all over us with apologies and honestly I wasn’t that offended at the situation
since the food WAS good and I could see they were earnestly apologetic.
Management made up for
this error by giving us complimentary coffee and dessert. I had cheesecake and my beau had Mississippi mud
cake. Yep I’ll take that ; )
So onto Bocci. In the first empty room there is a bocci “pit”. You open the gate and step down onto
the court. For insurance purposes you do
not use a belini but instead of use a large metal washer because they worry
about balls flying at the nearby diners.
It was a nice way to
end the evening. We played a short game
(which was free by the way) and said our goodbyes. My man kicked my ass at that game but what else is new?
Not the best Italian
food I’ve had by far, BUT it was a nice unique experience.
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