Our $228 meal

Last night Gus and I went out to eat with our friends Alex and Erin at Giorgione (pronounced, jor-JO-nay).  Named after the Italian painter (if the name doesn't ring a bell, you'll recognize his Sleeping Venus), Giorgione is basically everything you want in a NY restaurant: great location, lots of patrons but not too crowded, friendly unobtrusive service, decent prices, and of course, great food.

Photo from NYMag.com

We called a couple hours ahead and miraculously got the best seat in the house: a four-person table in the front of the restaurant, half-inside, half-outside looking out to the sidewalk.  The laid-back, unpretentious atmosphere, combined with the balmy weather, made for a relaxed night.  So relaxed, in fact, that I apparently forgot I'm on a publishing salary.  We ended up ordering four glasses of wine at the bar before we were seated, three appetizers, four entrées, another bottle of wine mid-meal, and two desserts. 

Now normally, I'm the type of person who orders a water and one of the cheapest entrees on the menu when I go out to eat, sharing when I can.  So when we got the bill my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I tried to make sense of the numbers.  But, in the end, it was money well spent.  Good food and good company isn't always that easy to come by (well, they usually are in NYC but let me rationalize).  Here's what we ate (I'll spare you the Italian names):

Appetizers

Gus sampled three different types of oysters; two varieties from the West Coast and one from Maine.  He said he enjoyed the taste (even if the texture resembled boogers)

Roman Jewish Style Crispy Artichokes (an odd description; the artichoke hearts were nice and meaty)

Buffalo Mozzarella, Stewed Red & Yellow Peppers, Baby Arugula, Fresh Marjoram (you can't get bad buffalo mozz in this city!)

Entrées

Gus ordered the pizza with Sardinian Sheep’s Milk Ricotta, Spinach, Sea Salt.  A waiter also brought out hot pepper-infused olive oil to pour over the top.  The toppings (unlike a lot of other pizza places we've been to as of late) were plentiful.  De-lish.

I ordered the Spaghetti Puttanesca (you should know this dish, but if not, the sauce is Anchovy, Tomato, Olives, Capers, Parsley).  If it had a little spice it would've been perfect.  The olives were really tasty and salty.

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 Puttanesca, photo from Giorgionenyc.com

I didn't sample Erin & Alex's meals, but they looked great: They got the risotto and tortellini (one of the specials).

Dessert

Alex ordered a goat cheese gelato to spite me and Erin, who, for the record, both love gelato, but thought the goat cheese was pushing it.  (Of course Gus was on board because it contained cheese.)  The gelato was actually pretty good: It did carry a distinct goat cheese flavor but it wasn't overpowering. And it was mixed with cherries which tempered the cheese flavor.

Erin and I ordered the roasted peaches, which were served warm in a glaze with a dollop of marscapone cheese.  I don't even need to tell you how they melted in my mouth because I think the description speaks for itself.

So yes, I may have maxed the "restaurant & bars" budget I just set in Mint.com in one night, but a little splurge every now and then never hurt anyone--as long as you appreciate it (and vow to eat tuna for the next couple of weeks).