Centosette

My gal pals and I were on the hunt for a new Happy Hour spot--but budgetary contstraints are always a hot topic. We'd planned to hit up the Thirsty Scholar on the Lower East Side's Second Avenue, but they were mysteriously boarded up that sunny September day. We crossed the street and found a lovely, open Italian spot, Centosette, and wandered right up to the bar.

The bartender made us feel right at home and poured us each a drink. I opted for the Cabernet, while one gal got the Montepulciano and another got a margarita. The Montepulciano was not part of the buy one-get one free HH deal, but my friend felt like splurging. I heard the margarita was not that great, so my friend opted for a strawberry one on the next round, made with fresh, ruby-red berries. That was pretty yummy!

After our first drink, we thought we might get a few bites. First up: Caprese salad with Mozzarella di Bufala (my favorite). It was very pretty and very fresh. Not the best Caprese ever, but still yummy. Between 3 girls, it was one slice of cheese and one tomato each..so we were still hungry....

So up came the Chicken Marsala. I love this dish, and used to make it quite often (but usually in the cooler winter months). This version was not great. Too sweet in the sauce, although the chicken was tender and yummy. Skip it, though...meh.

I split the grilled shrimp and roasted veggies--also freaking delicious, but not a heaping serving. No problem--we weren't there to stuff ourselves, just have some happy hour noshes.

3 shrimp and 2 broccoli florets are not gonna fill up this foodie...so we went on to share....

Spaghetti. Bolognese. DELISH. This dish went in no time. Sometimes bolognese can be heavy, weighed down with lots of cream, etc. This was light, delicious, satisfying and scrumptious. I would absolutely get this again. I will get this again. It was a great dish to share with two other people, too.

We also tried the pizza there, having seen it touted as a delicious brick-oven variety. By this point I was getting full, but I had a bite of the pizza that comes with basil, tomato sauce, and more Bufala di Mozzarella. THIS was good pizza. Perfectly cooked, not oversauced, and NOT SWEET. I hate sweet sauce. Fresh, fresh yumminess.

This was a great setting for a beautiful, sunny, cool September afternoon. We'll be back, no matter the month! Oh, fall in New York, how I love you!!!