Take Us Back to Pulinos, Puleaze!!

Nothing is better in New York than good food, good wine, or good company. And last night we had the perfect combination of them all. We Magpies were looking for a trendy restaurant to go to that was popular and hopefully not too pricey. We decided to try Keith McNally’s (owner of Balthazar, Schiller’s and Minetta Tavern!) newest venue, Pulino’s, located at the corner of Bowery and E. Houston, which has a really hot reputation. It’s a hip-looking space with distressed metal accents and backlit liquor bottles lining the walls. It also has a fabulous amber-lit glow that makes everyone (not only the super models!) look good!

The table spacing is quite tight and the noise level is way above conversation level, but hey, who cares when you’re eating good food and checking out possible celebs that might be dining there too! We decided to order several different dishes because there were so many unusual items on the menu (and we just couldn’t make a single selection!) We started with the roasted olives, which was so interesting – warm olives, dried fruit (yellow raisins…yum), almonds, peanuts and chickpeas, tossed in Moscato vinegar.

Then we shared the melon salad – freshly sliced (juicy!) honeydew and cantaloupe, topped with red onions, crispy prosciutto (think bacon bits!), basil, and a mint & goat cheese cream drizzle – perfect for a hot summer night!

For entrees, we first ordered a meatball platter, which was unusually delicious – hot tasty meatballs (still sizzling!) served over a bed of cool roasted corn, green beans, cherry tomatoes & basil  – in a light broth and not the standard tomato sauce.

And we could not resist ordering a pizza, the house specialty, to top off our selections! We went with the mushroom pizza – mushrooms, tomato, mozzarella, pancetta & grana – and just to feel a little more like foodies, topped it with a fried egg! The pizza is VERY thin, cracker-like, and cut into squares.  If that’s your style (and it’s most definitely ours) – you must get the pizza – it was really good!

We ordered a carafe of wine (perfect for two) which paired well with all our food choices – though we should note that Pulino’s has a full bar, with a great selection of specialty drinks and a long list of  Bloody Mary’s. The restaurant serves brunch (home of the breakfast pizza-obvs!) and lunch in addition to dinner – plus, it’s open very late. We lingered there for quite a while without being rushed or chased from our table. We really enjoyed Pulinos and even though it was a bit more expensive than we thought it would be - we definitely plan to return to Pulinos soon! Well, maybe even today, puleaze!